I Need Help--we missed our Magic Disney cruise 3/17-3/24/07

[Mom24Princesses]

As others have suggested, plan to arrive in Orlando at least a day before your scheduled cruise. Sometimes a day isn't enough either -- ask the passengers of the 2/17 cruise who were trying to leave 3 days early only to be snowed in at home!!!

Kind of related - my brother was telling me about talking to some NYC firemen in Savannah, GA on 3/17 ( St. Patties in Savannah ) telling him they could not get their flights out on Friday (3/16) due to weather and rented vans last min and drove down I-10. It is not THAT much further to PC. If at all possible, I like back-up transportation plans.

 

[Kissimmee]

If I read this clause right, only weather caused delays , not mechanical are covered.

F. MISSED CONNECTION COVERAGE*
This coverage provides up to the maximum amount indicated
in Your Letter of Confirmation per person to cover:
1. Reasonable additional transportation and accommodation
expenses needed for You to reach Your destination
or the departure of Your cruise;
2. Any unused prepaid Trip payments lost as a result of
You missing at least 24 hours of Your vacation.
In order for You to receive benefits, the missing of Your
connection or cruise must be caused by:
1. You or a Traveling Companion being delayed by a traffic
Accident while en route to a departure, even if You or
the Traveling Companion have not been directly involved
in the Accident;
2. You or a Traveling Companion being delayed by bad
weather while en route to a departure provided the car
was scheduled to arrive at the point of departure at least
two hours before the scheduled time of departure; or
3. Your regularly scheduled airline flight being canceled
or delayed solely due to bad weather for at least 3
hours and for this reason You miss Your cruise.
Coverage is secondary to any coverage provided by a
Common Carrier.
Benefits are payable under either Travel Delay or Missed
Connection for any one incident resulting in a delay.
No coverage will be provided for losses due to any
General Program Exclusion or for losses incurred
because You cancelled the Trip even though You were
able to make Your departure or cruise.
Please refer to Your Letter of Confirmation to determine
which benefits are specifically included within the plan
You purchased and their corresponding maximum
amount of coverage.

 

[MississippiMom]

I have never cruised on DCL; first one is booked for 2008. However, I have cruised on three other lines. Most recently, we drove to our port, which took a huge stress off our shoulders, since we didn't have to worry about airplane issues. But I specifically remember our travel agent telling us, (about 7) years ago, that if we booked our air to San Juan with Carnival, that Carnival waits for you before they leave the port or arranges for you to get to the next port. Do things not work this way anymore, or does DCL just handle things differently?

 

[MCourtney]

The Captain of the Wonder did wait for several people on 2/15/07 .....for delayed flights due to bad weather. We actually pulled out of Port Canaveral at 6pm!

 

[Peggy Jean]

Wow! I feel so bad for OP and ANYONE who's had to miss a cruise for reasons beyond their control.

Maybe I'm getting a little paranoid. I guess it all started with our first Disney cruise for Christmas in 2002 on the Magic. While we didn't but insurance, don't know why, nothing like gambling with a $6000 + cost for 4 over the holidays, but what we did do was fly in a night early and stay near the airport so we wouldn't miss the ship.

Now, we not only purchase insurance, but we also fly in at least a day early. Like I said maybe a little paranoid, but I don't want to miss the ship. Plus, travel days are so tiring and at least this way we can just go to the hotel, chill, swim, rent a movie and then start our cruise rested, relaxed and ready to enjoy.

We don't ever have Disney schedule our flights, I can ALWAYS get a cheaper fare and a more convenient fare. I do however understand there are perks for having DCL book the air, but it didn't seem to help in this case.

I wish the OP good luck on settling your case and I hope you can reschedule and have the time of your life.

 

[PhotoLisa]

The Captain of the Wonder did wait for several people on 2/15/07 .....for delayed flights due to bad weather. We actually pulled out of Port Canaveral at 6pm!

On our 2/17 Magic cruise, we departed late too. There were many folks running onto the ship just moments before we left.

 

[nana_b]

I was on the 3/17 Eastern and I am sorry to hear that you missed the cruise. We were at the sail-away party and an announcement was made that we would delay sailing because about 40 people were in transit. I think we started sailing around 6:00 p.m. or so - I assumed that everyone made it on board, guess I was wrong.... so sorry.

 

[Amyg]

I strongly suggest that everyone read their insurance policies carefully. There is literally NO coverage that will guarantee you a refund of your unreimbursed vacation costs for this situation. What you are insuring yourself for is cancellations/trip interruptions primarily due to health issues. About the only trip interruption coverage that is not health related is for a traffic situation than can be documented by police report.

Cruisers beware -- read the insurance you're purchasing before thinking that you're covered for all scenarios.

The insurance we purchased last year from Travelsafe on insuremytrip.com states the following under

Trip Cancellation:
"Other Covered Events" means only the following unforeseeable events or their consequences which occur while coverage is in effect under this Policy:

Air Carrier delays resulting from inclement weather, mechanical breakdown of the aircraft on which you are scheduled to travel or organized labor strikes that affect public transportation; arrangements canceled by an airline, cruise line, or tour operator resulting from inclement weather, mechanical breakdown of the aircraft on which you are scheduled to travel, organized labor strikes that affect public transportation; or a government-mandated shut down of an airport or air traffic control system for reasons other than a Terrorist Act or an act of war;

You definitely MUST read before purchasing insurance. I even make sure I carry the coverage information in my carry on with contact numbers highlighted "just in case".

 

[gottaluvdisney]

There are so many scenarios and I am sure most everyones experiences are different - weather delay, mechanical delay, crew delay due to weather. But what a disappointment on the first day of a long expected vacation.

If you do your air with DCL your destination is the ship, the airline has to get you to the ship (not necessarily prior to it leaving its home port) So the airline will work with DCL to get you to the first port of call. If you book your airfare directly with an airline, your destination is Orlando (or whatever city you fly into) - the airline is not obligated to fly you to the first port of call if you flight is delayed and miss departure from Port Canaveral.

I think many people think the ship will wait for them if they do DCL air. Not entirely true....what if your flight is delayed until 7pm or 8pm? They can't postpone the other 2500 people that are on the ship to wait until 8pm or so to sail from Port Canaveral. I am sure the Captain will try to wait a reasonable time --I am sure it varies from week to week how long he can wait. Also, I am sure the port authority will charge some fees to leave late. Ever watch them drop the ropes...those people would have to wait a few hours to drop the ropes...someone has to pay them.

As someone posted earlier, the OP has not been back - it was their first posting. It doesn't appear that he has actually filed a claim yet with insurance. I would like to know the outcome when he does file a claim with insurance.

 

[fis]

I'm so sorry to hear that you missed the cruise. We were on the 3/17 Disney Magic and heard a number of stories about people who missed -- or nearly missed -- the boat due to airline delays. Some people joined in St. Maarten and looked pretty worse for wear. I would not have wanted to put my kids through that.

Many people are saying here that in the future they would plan to arrive in Florida the night before, just to be safe. Well, for what it's worth, that strategy might NOT have helped on March 17.

We were scheduled to fly down from the northeast early Saturday morning 3/17. When we heard the weather forecasts for storms on Friday night 3/16, we went into a panic about potentially missing the cruise. We even considered paying to switch our flights to Friday night, but every flight was booked, the airline phone lines were busy, and there was no way we would be able to get the whole family on standby. So we set the alarms to get there extra early on Saturday and spent a sleepless night praying we'd get off the ground.

The airport Saturday morning was complete chaos. Thousands of people had been stranded there overnight as one flight after another had been cancelled. Everybody who had been on Friday night flights was still trying to go standby to get out of town. The line to check in was over 2 hours long. Our flight took off 30 minutes late and we barely made it on board.

We realized that if we had tried to fly to Florida the night before, we probably would have missed the cruise.

I'm not sure what lesson there is here except that you can't control what you can't control. If you're retired or have an otherwise flexible schedule, then you can take the train or fly several days early and have no worries. The rest of us just have to buy insurance and hope for the best.

 

[flexsmom]

This may sounds harsh - but from what I've read here, yes, the airfare was booked through DCL and yes, many people were delayed on this sailing. DCL did wait for a period of time, but as others have mentioned, it's not practical to expect them to wait undefinitely, particularly since DCL does bear responsibility for rerouting to the next boardable port. It sounds as if DCL did get peopel who missed the sailing to the next port - St Maarten - albeit, it was 3 days into the cruise. But they did it - if someone chooses to reject that alternate course, then they need to be prepared to live with the consequences and not assume that the company involved will or should do something different! I agree - DCL may very well decide ot let them rebook, but IF the passengers CHOSE not to accept the alternate flights to get them caught up with the ship - which is one of the huge reasons for going with cruiseline-provided-air, then I tend to think they need to live with the consequences, or at least be responsible for being knowledgable of the consequences of the choices they are making!

Sorry - I was a contracting official in a former life, so I can't help it. It just seems that when contract terms to which they tacitly or directly agreed go bad, everyone wants "customer service" and alternate terms - when they go fine, no one cares or mentions it.

Before the flames start - I'm fully aware that I'll probaby be the one here in December with the sob story about the massive blizzard of '07 that kept me from being able to fly to Orlando even the night before!

 

[endkaos]

Well, I'm glad they posted because I am now looking closer at my travel insurance policy and will be comparing policies and prices. Another way to OCD about my 2008 REPO cruise.

 

[Michelle2]

Well, I'm glad they posted because I am now looking closer at my travel insurance policy and will be comparing policies and prices. Another way to OCD about my 2008 REPO cruise.

Me too!!

 

[metrowon]

Something just doesn't sound right with this....

Dr. I have to agree, something was left out of this thread. To many persons have cashed in on travel insurance, we have a number of times with no hassle. Metrowon

 

[ReallyFunMom]

I'm surprised about the mechanical failure exclusion, you have to wonder what else might be and how useful insurance really is. Somehow I thought anything beyond your control that you could PROVE would be covered, that trip insurance, in general, was more all inclusive. Say you got in a small car accident enroute to airport, no one injured but by they time AAA got to you and towed the car, you missed your flight and ultimately cruise. I would have thought insurance covered you. Would it if WEATHER caused the traffic accident......? It's a shame, you buy insurance so you don't have to worry but if you still have to worry about all the loopholes, it hasn't given you that much peace of mind.

 

[mermaidbaby]

I'm surprised about the mechanical failure exclusion, you have to wonder what else might be and how useful insurance really is. Somehow I thought anything beyond your control that you could PROVE would be covered, that trip insurance, in general, was more all inclusive. Say you got in a small car accident enroute to airport, no one injured but by they time AAA got to you and towed the car, you missed your flight and ultimately cruise. I would have thought insurance covered you. Would it if WEATHER caused the traffic accident......? It's a shame, you buy insurance so you don't have to worry but if you still have to worry about all the loopholes, it hasn't given you that much peace of mind.

People buy policies all the time without reading the whole thing. There are exclusions (not loopholes)in all policies and you must be proactive and read, call and ask if you don't understand certain terms. You have to know what you are buying.

 

[MiaSRN62]

MississippiMom says : Most recently, we drove to our port, which took a huge stress off our shoulders, since we didn't have to worry about airplane issues.

Friends of ours did this back in 2000 or so. Their 3 year old car broke down on I-95 in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. It was a major mechanical problem wich I can't recall right now. Got a tow truck...had to scramble for a way to get to an exit (tow driver took them) and then found a motel. Had ALOT of trouble getting a rental and one never materialized. They missed their cruise.
We were driving to a Williamsburg, VA in 1996 with the kids who were small then. Transmission died about 45 minutes away from our hotel. We spent the following 4 days fighting to get our car repaired....fighting with the company that held the warranty and wouldn't authorize payment (we had just purchased the car 2 months earlier !)....it was a disaster.
So driving isn't always the answer either unfortunately.

fis says : The rest of us just have to buy insurance and hope for the best.

You're not kidding....it seems there are just way too many exclusions to almost make it worth the cost of the insurance ?

 

[birkner]

This may sounds harsh - but from what I've read here, yes, the airfare was booked through DCL and yes, many people were delayed on this sailing. DCL did wait for a period of time, but as others have mentioned, it's not practical to expect them to wait undefinitely, particularly since DCL does bear responsibility for rerouting to the next boardable port. It sounds as if DCL did get peopel who missed the sailing to the next port - St Maarten - albeit, it was 3 days into the cruise. But they did it - if someone chooses to reject that alternate course, then they need to be prepared to live with the consequences and not assume that the company involved will or should do something different! I agree - DCL may very well decide ot let them rebook, but IF the passengers CHOSE not to accept the alternate flights to get them caught up with the ship - which is one of the huge reasons for going with cruiseline-provided-air, then I tend to think they need to live with the consequences, or at least be responsible for being knowledgable of the consequences of the choices they are making!
QUOTE]


No flames but if all of the OP's family did not have passports and the next port is St. Maarten, would the airlines let them board and fly from USA to a foreign country? It seems to me that I have read elsewhere on the boards that no airline will allow you to board without a valid passport.

ANYONE??

 

[OurDogCisco]

What I find unbelievable about this is that Disney would book these people on 3 legs from St. Louis through ATLANTA and THEN to CHICAGO before going on to Orlando. You could drive faster.
So sorry you missed your trip. I hope you get your money back with a huge apology from Disney for booking you on this insane itenerary.

Jackie

That's very common with cruise arranged flights. We did a cruise out of San Juan once and our leg was Sacramento to Los Angeles (domestic). Then, we had to walk to another terminal to get to international and took a flight from LAX to Chicago and then, onto San Juan. This was a red eye too. I decided never to book a flight through a cruise line again after that horror. Plus, we didn't even get to sit next to each other on the plane.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I purchased trip insurance for my Nov 08 cruise and did my best to read all of the fine print and I'm glad I did. The insurance will not cover airlines that have filed for bankrupty and that meant Delta, one of the two big provider's in our regional airport. So when I book the airline I'll have to use USair.

However, reading doesn't necessarily guarantee understanding. I did my best but since I don't have a law degree, I'm sure there is quite a bit I missed.

It does sound like the OP choose to go home not understanding that trip insurance does not provide an automatic 100% refund.