Delay, delay, delay

green_rd · #1 (**permalink**) July 15th, 2012, 08:59 PM

This post is not directly cruise related, but it is a reminder that if at all possible it is best to fly in to your port of embarkation at least a day early.

Two weeks ago I flew to Austin and back, two flights each way. Three out of four flights were delayed. The only one that was not delayed was the first flight out of the day. The last leg I took a bump - it was going to get home well after midnight with the time that flight was going to leave anyway.

Last week I flew to Austin and back, two flights each way. Three out of four flights were delayed. The only one that was not delayed was the one I missed stranding me in DC.

This week I will fly to Austin and back, two flights each way. What do you want to bet that I will be there and get home on the scheduled times.

Manuel · #2 (**permalink**) July 15th, 2012, 09:13 PM

Bob, I understand what you are saying.When we fly somewhere we usually face some delays as well.

TM

Dhill · #3 (**permalink**) July 16th, 2012, 07:07 AM

We also have learned are lesson on leaving a day early if we are going on a cruise.March 2011 we arrive at the airport at 4 a.m to catch a flight to L.A to board the Sapphire Princess for a 14 day Hawaiin cruise.We should of arrived in L.A around 9 A.m in plenty of time to board the ship. When we arrived at the airport we were told there was a slight delay.Long story short. Alaskas airlines computers had crashed and a slight delay ended up being 14 hours at the airpot. Needless to say we missed the ship.There is some good in this story tho.Alaska ended up flying us to Kona and put us up in a resort for 4 days.It was a blast we rented a car toured the whole island and on the last day drove to Hilo visted are nephew and boarded the ship for the rest of the cruise.And to top it all off once on the ship we learned that Princess had refunded us for the 4 days of the cruise we had missed without us saying a word about it. Which we thought was some pretty good custumer service

Trip · #4 (**permalink**) July 16th, 2012, 08:04 AM

And from this morning on tv, I saw passengers trying to fly from Shanghai to Newark, were stranded for over 30 hours in the airport. Fisticuffs ensued. Rolling the dice on the day of, you take a chance. DHill, good for you it worked out.

bonnyprincecharlie · #5 (**permalink**) July 16th, 2012, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by green_rd

This post is not directly cruise related, but it is a reminder that if at all possible it is best to fly in to your port of embarkation at least a day early.

Two weeks ago I flew to Austin and back, two flights each way. Three out of four flights were delayed. The only one that was not delayed was the first flight out of the day. The last leg I took a bump - it was going to get home well after midnight with the time that flight was going to leave anyway.

Last week I flew to Austin and back, two flights each way. Three out of four flights were delayed. The only one that was not delayed was the one I missed stranding me in DC.

This week I will fly to Austin and back, two flights each way. What do you want to bet that I will be there and get home on the scheduled times.

I would suggest that you somehow make sure this message is delivered in the first time cruiser section of this blog. They probably need this reminder than a lot of experienced travelers. But your advice is good for all cruisemates.

Moiraine · #6 (**permalink**) July 16th, 2012, 10:22 AM

I just about had a heart attack last year when I found out that my brother and his wife had booked a cruise and had not told me until the last minute. They had their flight going in a few hours before the ship sailed. Yeah, they were first time cruisers. Thankfully, it all worked out for them.

BigMac · #7 (**permalink**) July 16th, 2012, 10:38 AM

The thought of being late to anything really stresses me out.

Being on time keeps me awake at night, sometimes. So for me to have a good time on a vacation I leave a day or two early.

When I ride the Fantasy next xummer I plan to be in FL two days before the ship sets sail. If I get there when I expect to, I will site see in and around Orlando. If anything goes south with my travel plans I can almost drive to FL in two days

ChiTownCruiser · #8 (**permalink**) July 17th, 2012, 11:48 AM

We used to always fly in day of. Guess we were just lucky on all those cruises. Also lucky that we don't usually have to deal with connections when flying from Chicago. However we did have a scary situation when one of the girls in our group missed her flight that changed how we travel going forward.

It's a very interesting story. She got up on time, took a shower, then laid down and fell back asleep. So it was her fault, not the airline, but from then it was just like anything that could go wrong did. Our original flight was actually delayed...and she was standing at the counter talking to us sitting on the plane while the mechanic's were fixing something. But they wouldn't let her thru to board our plane. So they put her on another flight, but didn't tell her it made a stop in Indianapolis. Tell her she's confirmed, but when she gets to Indy they pull her off and tell her she's not confirmed but standby. Finally let her back on that plane. Then gets to Miami and there is some issue with security and there are no cabs! This whole time either me or her were on the phone with Carnival (and they were wonderful by the way!). While waiting on the cab issue, she's told the others waiting that she's trying to make the ship. When a cab shows up, someone who hadn't even been waiting just throws her stuff in the trunk. Luckily everyone else in line knew the story and helped her remove the luggage and get her in the cab. When she got to the terminal, they were literally ready to pull up the gangway. She was such a wreck she couldn't fill out her paperwork (this was back in the days before we filled everything out online) so the shoreside staff filled it out for her. When we got a call on our cabin phone a minute before the boat drill saying she was next door in her cabin, it was a huge relief for all!

To make it even more fun, her roommate that cruise was a last minute name change. She had NO paperwork even showing she was supposed to be on the cruise...just a handwritten receipt from the travel agent for the name change fee. Luckily there we no issues with that part.

So...needless to say, based on that experience we always fly in the day before and also always have travel insurance!

green_rd · #9 (**permalink**) July 19th, 2012, 03:51 PM

Another advanaage of arriving the day before is letting lost luggage catch up

Manuel · #10 (**permalink**) July 19th, 2012, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by green_rd

Another advanaage of arriving the day before is letting lost luggage catch up

Good point Bob. There have been a couple of times that our luggage arrived late.

TM

ChiTownCruiser · #11 (**permalink**) July 20th, 2012, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by green_rd

Another advanaage of arriving the day before is letting lost luggage catch up

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manuel

Good point Bob. There have been a couple of times that our luggage arrived late.

TM

Another great point! We've had that happen too and luckily it was when we were on a land/sea package with the land part first.