May 10, 2008 Ship of Thieves! Stealing the Magic..AGAIN!!! Panama Canal FL to CA!!! Part 4

[LiserAnn]

Check out this blog about the med cruise...it's funny and some pics. The dad posted the link on the live med trip report thread...it's his DW and DDs experiences. I thought it was interesting when they talk about the little DIS gifts their fellow DIS cruisers handed out:
http://www.davidsondrifters.blogspot.com/


I also found this article interesting about a cruise ship running aground in Alaska :
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070514/ap_on_re_us/cruise_ship_aground

 

[granmaz]

Glad to know they changed their description of the Dis gifts since I last read the report!!! Somebody wasn't very appreciative!

 

[LiserAnn]

Glad to know they changed their description of the Dis gifts since I last read the report!!! Somebody wasn't very appreciative!

REALLY...you must spill girlie!!!! I'm curious now. I did think their descriptions of others were colorful...............

 

[kimerinc]

Travel
Nightmare​

I was just notified from Travelocity that my flights for my MED Cruise has been cancelled. I made these reservations months ago. What a nightmare.

How awful! Can you fix them?

 

[birkner]

I will check Virgin....good tip...I had not thought of them.

The flights we are looking at are $1100 Air France Dulles (IAD) to Barcelona (BCN)

I did check Aerlingus....JFK (New York) to BCN.....they were $1,200 round trip.

They said it will take 30-60 days for the refund to process....in the mean time I need to come up with a quick $10,000 to buy new tickets.....

If anyone wants to look and likes to find airfare....

We will fly from IAD - Dulles, BWI - Baltimore, JFK - New York, or Philadelphia.

We need to be at our cruise on Sat July 28th...so the 26th or 27th.

We need to fly to BCN Barcelona

Returning - the cruise ends on 8-8-2007...disimbark at 7am

Did they give you any reason for cancelling the flights? Everything I have ever read on the Travelocity site says the airlines will do everything possible to accomodate their customers in changing flights.

Have you called your credit card company to ask if there is any way they can process the refund faster? I would at least try with them to see if there is any way you can get the refund faster so then it would not be as painful.

Also, have you called the airline which cancelled the flight to see if they will do anything to help you?

I checked flights for that date on the airline sites which I can see are very expensive. I could not find a direct single airfare under the $1100 cost. I could find $800 rt fares to London on Virgin but that would mean another regional flight from London to Barcelona. Iberia which flies from London (Gatwick) to Barcelona would add another $400 to the cost putting the cost at $1200.

I think your best best is to get on the horn with Travelocity and the credit card company and see if they can fix this situation. I would get as high up in the company as possible to get some satisfaction.

 

[pjpoohbear]

checking Kayak, the cost of flights from WAS to BCN has been spiking and dropping over the last month, and $1000 seems to be in the middle, they have dropped as low as $700 and been as high as $1500, since May 3rd. i think this is going to be a daily/hourly adventure to find a good price. I even looked at flying to London then taking a discount airline to BCN and it still is right up there in the $1000/person range. If you are interested, check out flying in to Paris/London then taking either Easyjet or Ryanair to BCN.

 

[disneylover5]

checking Kayak, the cost of flights from WAS to BCN has been spiking and dropping over the last month, and $1000 seems to be in the middle, they have dropped as low as $700 and been as high as $1500, since May 3rd. i think this is going to be a daily/hourly adventure to find a good price. I even looked at flying to London then taking a discount airline to BCN and it still is right up there in the $1000/person range. If you are interested, check out flying in to Paris/London then taking either Easyjet or Ryanair to BCN.

Trying this now.....thanks guys...keep the ideas coming!!

 

[birkner]

Trying this now.....thanks guys...keep the ideas coming!!

On flights.com got a quote for $655 + tax rt from NYC.

http://www.flights.com/

 

[pjpoohbear]

And Jetblue had $49.00 each way from IAD to JFK.

Pj

 

[disneylover5]

On flights.com got a quote for $655 + tax rt from NYC.

http://www.flights.com/

I have never heard of this site.....I did what you said and I got the $655 fare....but when you try and book....

(Total including service fees: $635.00 + tax View Details)


Seats are unavailable for this fare. You can try another fare on this list or modify your travel dates and start your search over

 

[disneylover5]

I have never heard of this site.....I did what you said and I got the $655 fare....but when you try and book....

(Total including service fees: $635.00 + tax View Details)


Seats are unavailable for this fare. You can try another fare on this list or modify your travel dates and start your search over

So I chose $833 the next cheaper fare......

(Total including service fees: $833.00 + tax View Details)


Seats are unavailable for this fare. You can try another fare on this list or modify your travel dates and start your search over

 

[birkner]

I have never heard of this site.....I did what you said and I got the $655 fare....but when you try and book....

(Total including service fees: $635.00 + tax View Details)


Seats are unavailable for this fare. You can try another fare on this list or modify your travel dates and start your search over

Sorry, I will keep checking for you. I did not follow the fare all the way through but thought if they showed the fare, seats were available.

 

[disneylover5]

So I chose $833 the next cheaper fare......

(Total including service fees: $833.00 + tax View Details)


Seats are unavailable for this fare. You can try another fare on this list or modify your travel dates and start your search over

And the $850 fare

(Total including service fees: $850.00 + tax View Details)


Seats are unavailable for this fare. You can try another fare on this list or modify your travel dates and start your search over

 

[kymma]

That is horrible they cancelled your flights so close to your cruise.


Good luck finding something affordable.

 

[birkner]

And the $850 fare

(Total including service fees: $850.00 + tax View Details)


Seats are unavailable for this fare. You can try another fare on this list or modify your travel dates and start your search over

Bummer!!

I just can't find anything cheaper than the Air France flight you found. Since it is high season in Europe, you are going to have a hard time finding anything cheaper I am afraid.

http://www.economytravel.com/europe/airfare-to-barcelona.html

Any luck in talking more to Travelocity and getting them to help you?

 

[kymma]

Bummer,

I was hoping to meet you since we live around the corner from each other and have to meet still. What open house are you doing?

Missed your post until now. Sorry about that.

I am working the open house at JPL. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pso/oh.cfm
It should be a lot of fun if it's not too hot.

 

[birkner]

Missed your post until now. Sorry about that.

I am working the open house at JPL. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pso/oh.cfm
It should be a lot of fun if it's not too hot.

My parents met when they both worked at JPL. My mother went to work there after her 1949 graduation from the University of Michigan and my father after his 1947 graduation from Cal Tech.

My mother was a mathematician/computer programmer and my father was a liquid and solid rocket propellant engineer.

In 1959, they both accepted positions with Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and we moved to Northern California.

Small World...

 

[kymma]

Wow. That is really neat. What a great time period to have been at JPL too.

I have only been here since 1998 after getting my Master's Degree from Georgia Tech.

 

[birkner]

Wow. That is really neat. What a great time period to have been at JPL too.

I have only been here since 1998 after getting my Master's Degree from Georgia Tech.

Computers took up whole rooms and storage was no existant. If my mother loaded a program and it "crashed", she had to reload the whole program. Boy have things changed!!

My friend Susan Parkhurst works as the coordinator for Education Associates at NASA Ames in Mt. View.

http://server-mpo.arc.nasa.gov/Services/eap/Home.tml

 

[nskjerven]

is aunty braty on the med cruise ????