4/24/2010 Med cruise: Friends, Romans, Countrymen lend me your Ears

[mrosen]

I am struggling with the idea of booking another flight or not. I can't afford to spend that kind of money but also cannot fathom wasting the money on not going. I keep trying to talk to DH but he is not ready to even listen because after all that is still days away.

I can certainly relate. In the same spot. Really nerve racking!

 

[linkandclover]

I can certainly relate. In the same spot. Really nerve racking!

After all this I need a vacation.

 

[Lhagerty]

Hello everyone,

I'm so stressed out since we can't do anything at this point except wait and see. We are supposed to fly Aer Lingus but I have a feeling that we will get stuck in Dublin and not be able to get to Barcelona in time. I did a Kayak search on one way flights and US Air is coming up with a great rate and actully a great flight schedule. I'm tempted!! I forget who posted it but I think that I'm going to stop and get a big bottle of wine on the way home tonight. Hopefully that will take some of this stress away.

LuAnne

 

[skoi]

After all this I need a vacation.

You said it!

mrosen- we might be on the Heathrow to Barcelona flight with you. We're set to fly out Tues night from Phila. to London, then to Barcelona on the 9:30 (I think) flight.

So we're all in the same boat.

Of course if we were on the boat- we'd be on our way already.
Man I wish we had done the TA. (but with our luck, the volcano would have cause a cyclone at sea or a tsunami or something)

Julie

 

[mrosen]

You said it!

mrosen- we might be on the Heathrow to Barcelona flight with you. We're set to fly out Tues night from Phila. to London, then to Barcelona on the 9:30 (I think) flight.

So we're all in the same boat.

Of course if we were on the boat- we'd be on our way already.
Man I wish we had done the TA. (but with our luck, the volcano would have cause a cyclone at sea or a tsunami or something)

Julie

• We are on the RDU-London flight on Tuesday evening, 20th (on American).
• We are on the London-Barcelona flight on Wed morning 21st (11:20AM on British Airways). Not sure if this is the one you are on?

This whole experience is maddening. I think we are all in the same position. I think those on our Med cruise on the TA right now are the ones in the better spot to make the cruise!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Corinna: I hope that's not the case. If it still looks awful mid-week, could you take the train-ferry-train to Barcelona? It would be a long trip, but is it an option?

Thanks for the offer to update us. If I could just not show up on the inbound and book another airline now.

I don't think it would be an option. This has now spread from the UK to most of Europe. Unfortunately we live on an island and the Eurostar trains and ferries are all fully booked. We had feedback from other European countries and every long distance train has reached capacity and they have introduced mandatory seat reservations.

The UK airspace is now closed until at least 13:00 tomorrow and some airlines have made the decision to cancel all flights until the end of Monday. We are still hanging in there an cancelling our flights as late as we possibly can.

They have now admitted that the situation has deteriorated today and the cloud is spreading and heading in a South Eastern direction (in the general direction of Spain amongst others). Yesterday they were saying that this could go on for a week. Now I even heard that there might be no flights for the rest of the month. I so hope that they are all wrong.

Just spoke with British Airway. They expect to be flying at full capacity by April 20

I really hope that this will turn out to be true.

I am struggling with the idea of booking another flight or not. I can't afford to spend that kind of money but also cannot fathom wasting the money on not going. I keep trying to talk to DH but he is not ready to even listen because after all that is still days away.

I would not book another flight. If it is safe to operate flights, you will be fine. This is not just localized to the UK anymore, but is now affecting a large area of Europe (UK, Scandinavia, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland, Poland) and is expected to spread further. So it is not a question of just avoiding the UK. Chances are also that any tickets that are booked at the moment would not be eligible for refunds and rebooking under the disruption rules. After all, everybody knows by now what is going on.

Corinna

 

[skoi]

Good point about rebooking. We're going to wait, though as of this moment, US airlines are still flying direct to Spain.

I also read about the overbooking on trains. What a mess.

Julie

 

[NC_Tink]

After all this I need a vacation.

And one of those really tall and fruity Sail Away drinks!!

Oh and my contingency plan is not much of one . On Sunday, I'm headed to my brother's in NJ and hoping, that being in an area where I can get to about 8 different airports within a few hours drive, I can catch a flight to Barcelona or somewhere close in Europe. Like I said - not much of a plan.

I'm starting to think that someone has something against me - 5 years ago when Brian and I cruised to celebrate our 15th Anniversary we sailed right into Hurricane Wilma (ended up being one of those never ending cruises ) Now, we're taking this trip/cruise to celebrate 20 years and we've got a volcano . I can't even imagine what will be thrown our way when we celebrate our 25th (we're hoping to go to Hawaii that year) . I suggest anyone planning on going to Hawaii in 2015 - change your plans because the Langs are going and there's bound to be some kind of natural disaster

 

[Mineu]

I just read on another website (cruise critic) that BA is able to fly into Scotland tonight and will bus passengers to London. They also suggested that some airlines are lifting restrictions on tickets if your dates are now through 4/18-meaning that you can change your ticket with out change fees. Hope this helps...

 

[skoi]

Lubi- I think dd Sadie has a much longer history of vacation related natural and man-made disasters, so let's blame her. I mean, her history goes back to 1997 when we went to WDW the first time.

Our contingency plan is if BA cancels our flights, to fly anywhere close to Spain and do what we have to. I'm thinking Morocco, and then train, ferry, train. Or bus. Anything to get us to Barcelona by Saturday early afternoon!

Julie

 

[linkandclover]

Lubi- I think dd Sadie has a much longer history of vacation related natural and man-made disasters, so let's blame her. I mean, her history goes back to 1997 when we went to WDW the first time.

Our contingency plan is if BA cancels our flights, to fly anywhere close to Spain and do what we have to. I'm thinking Morocco, and then train, ferry, train. Or bus. Anything to get us to Barcelona by Saturday early afternoon!

Julie

I like the Morocco idea. It may be less busy than cities in Europe. DH and I have decided to wait and see what happens on Sunday and then reacting to that. Now if only I could actually do that.

 

[cj'smom]

Hi 4/24 cruisers. We are on the May 5 cruise and watching the volcano with interest as well. Just wanted to say my thoughts and prayers are with you all that you can make it in to the ship safely and on time.

 

[NC_Tink]

Hi 4/24 cruisers. We are on the May 5 cruise and watching the volcano with interest as well. Just wanted to say my thoughts and prayers are with you all that you can make it in to the ship safely and on time.

Thanks cj'smom!!!!

 

[shushh]

Dear friends,

Let's hope that all this clears up. The stress in unbearable. I really feel for everyone who has to fly through the UK. My parents are currently in Holland and will fly on the 21st to meet up with us. I hope that they make it. Although at the moment our flight is not yet affected, as Corinna mentioned the ash appears to be spreading south east. We too are flying on the 20th. Might start looking into trains from Milan to Barcelona just in case. Hmmm how about a cruise from Italy to Spain...

Oh and Dicecatt, I LOVE your FE!!!

 

[shushh]

I spoke too soon....Singapore airlines just cancelled the Singapore-Milan-Barcelona flight for today. That was still operating yesterday. Sigh...

So now I have to figure out how to get to Spain from Singapore!!!

 

[alltheparks]

With all this flight worries, I really wished we were on the TA. The great news is we have come to terms on the house we wanted, and will close on June 30th. The next couple of months will be very busy!

 

[linkandclover]

For all of you worried people out there. I just placed a booking at Iberia air line that I can hold for 48 hours before I have to pay for it. This way I can wait to see what happens in the UK but know that there is a plane I can get on waiting for me to decide on Monday. I feel much better now but warn everyone that while I was trying to decide the price went up $600. Don't hesitate.

 

[RichC17]

To all,

I can say that flights will be back starting Tuesday. The reason that I can say this is that I live in Rota, Spain and I work with the Air Force here. Rota is about 45 min from Cadiz. I will keep ya'll informed.

Rich

 

[linkandclover]

Iberia flight just came down to 2300 for all 4 of us.

 

[skoi]

To all,

I can say that flights will be back starting Tuesday. The reason that I can say this is that I live in Rota, Spain and I work with the Air Force here. Rota is about 45 min from Cadiz. I will keep ya'll informed.

Rich

Thanks Rich.

We'll all be watching and waiting.
Julie