What If A Snowstorm Hits?

[Steveromo]

First cruise is 28 days away! Very excited, but fearful of what to do in the event of heavy snow (Live in NJ, flying out of Philly on Southwest.) I have a contingency in my head and would like feedback from experienced travelers. Our flight is the day prior to the cruise embark day, so I have a full day's leeway. If a potential for significant snowfall is looming, I would gladly push the departure ahead a day and add an additional hotel night prior to the cruise. I'd even drive south as far as it takes to get to an airport that is operating. My question is, has this ever happened to any of you and how lenient were the airlines to make these changes since they were weather related? (Of course, plan B would require changes to both the depart and return flights.) Feedback appreciated!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

First cruise is 28 days away! Very excited, but fearful of what to do in the event of heavy snow (Live in NJ, flying out of Philly on Southwest.) I have a contingency in my head and would like feedback from experienced travelers. Our flight is the day prior to the cruise embark day, so I have a full day's leeway. If a potential for significant snowfall is looming, I would gladly push the departure ahead a day and add an additional hotel night prior to the cruise. I'd even drive south as far as it takes to get to an airport that is operating. My question is, has this ever happened to any of you and how lenient were the airlines to make these changes since they were weather related? (Of course, plan B would require changes to both the depart and return flights.) Feedback appreciated!

I'm sure airlines are more than happy to make any changes you wish, for a cost. Don't know about just switching flights for no extra cost, but I wouldn't think that's really do-able.

 

[dclpluto]

New Jersey isn't getting any snow this year.

 

[AmandaRG]

We always travel with insurance for just these reasons. Thus far we haven't had trouble. Southwest will change flights without fees other than any increases in airfare. Just remember that if you are looking at a storm, others will likely be trying to get out as well, so make those changes ASAP. Best of luck! We cruised in Dec one year and had no issues. Last year we had ice storms in Feb and March.

 

[MunFam]

Southwest is one of the best as far as change fees go because there are none. You will be paying a potential cost in the difference of fares for the new flight vs the old flight. Keep in mind, when weather is an issue (anywhere) the phone lines back up something awful. I always allow 2 days for delays on cruises...it usually takes an airline a day or two to get all of the stranded passengers where they need to go in the event of a storm.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We usually fly JetBlue and when a storm or other weather event may impact travel, they waive change fees and try to get people out on earlier flights - that was our experience anyway. I would just watch the weather and be proactive if the forecast is calling for bad weather on your travel day.

 

[shoes99]

We were on a back to back on the Dream last year in Feb. We changed our flights 2 days before United
started cancelling flights. We paid the $100 each and we were on the last flight out before the airport closed in Newark.
We put in a refund request and they did eventually remove the charges from our account. We were very lucky
to get out since Newark was closed down. We paid for an extra night pre-cruise at our resort.
Post cruise we also had a storm and changed our flight. We paid the $100 change fee each but eventually
got that removed from our cc. I know you are on Southwest, but that was our experience.
This year we are flying down 3 days before our Feb 6th cruise and also flying United out of Newark. I am
already watching the weather and we have 18 days before our flight.

 

[phinz]

We had an ice storm back in February that kept us homebound for a week before we were to leave for our cruise. The streets cleared literally 12 hours before we left -- We drove from Tennessee -- and another ice storm walloped the state 6 hours after we left. Perfect window. I can only imagine the stress of waiting to see if a flight goes out. I'd probably wind up planning a week in a hotel in Port Canaveral just to be safe.

 

[mmouse37]

We just experienced this last year. A storm was closing in on the NY/NJ area and was predicted for a few days ahead of our departure date. We kept watching and checking United's website for weather related waivers of change fees. I was on the phone with them several times asking if flights from Newark could be changed yet without a fee. We wanted to get out of town obviously before the storm hit. They still were not waiving the change fee so we decided to just hop in the car and drive to Florida. We drove down and decided we would not worry about our scheduled flight as I was pretty certain they would eventually waive the fees. As suspected, the storm hit and United sent us an email the day before that we could change our flight. Of course we were already in Florida by then but they issued us a flight credit to use at another time. Was so happy we drove down as they closed the airport due to the storm.

MJ

 

[dyson0715]

Luckily this year has been extra mild. I live in new England and so far only like .25 of snow. I wouldn't worry.

 

[professorandmom]

I wouldn't worry.

Oh, gosh, that's impossible, in my opinion...once you read a few horror stories on these boards it is so hard to get the fear out of my mind...insurance is great for the financial piece but it's the experience that isn't replaceable...fingers crossed and lots of contingency plans are helpful but, bottom line, you'll worry until you are on the ship...
Try to remember the odds are good that you'll be fine...
Have a great cruise!

 

[AmandaRG]

Oh, gosh, that's impossible, in my opinion...once you read a few horror stories on these boards it is so hard to get the fear out of my mind...insurance is great for the financial piece but it's the experience that isn't replaceable...fingers crossed and lots of contingency plans are helpful but, bottom line, you'll worry until you are on the ship...
Try to remember the odds are good that you'll be fine...
Have a great cruise!

True, but with the insurance you can rebook as you haven't been out the finances and so many have saved for quite some time for the experience.

 

[Jennifer777]

If it's something you're worried about, why not just change your flight now and stay an extra day? Worse case scenario, the weather will be fine and you'll have an extra day of vacation. As others mentioned, Southwest doesn't charge a change fee but you will have to pay the difference in fare costs if there are any. The fares often go up significantly the week of your flight so there's a good chance you'll pay less now than if you decide to do it later. Plus, if you're this worried about it, why spend the next month stressing about it? We're from Minnesota so we know exactly what you're going through. We always fly out at least 2 nights early for this very reason.

 

[bumbershoot]

http://www.disboards.com/threads/wh...-is-cancelled-weather-mechanical-etc.1363416/


It's an old thread but a good one.

It's all about preparation.

 

[allears]

Hi Steve! DH and I are also in New Jersey, near Philly, so we always fly out of Philly. We sail in less than two weeks. This year we are flying down two days ahead of our sail date, as the flights were a super price. We mostly sail at the very end of January or beginning of February. So we share the same concern. We fly Southwest for a couple of reasons, changing flights with no fee is one of them. Our primary contingency plan if it looks like we won't be able to get our on schedule is to jump in the car and drive. Since we always fly the day before, we'd leave the night before that after work. Happily we have not run into this issue.

However, after two separate cruises years ago we were "trapped" in Florida due to snow storms here. We had separate insurance on the flights, which covered our out of pocket extras.

Hope you enjoy your first Disney Cruise, we're hooked.

 

[jerseygal]

We always travel with insurance for just these reasons. Thus far we haven't had trouble. Southwest will change flights without fees other than any increases in airfare. Just remember that if you are looking at a storm, others will likely be trying to get out as well, so make those changes ASAP. Best of luck! We cruised in Dec one year and had no issues. Last year we had ice storms in Feb and March.

TRIP insurance..always travel with it also..takes care of the "what ifs"...winter travel can be tricky!

 

[Steveromo]

Thanks everyone for the tips. We DO have insurance, but I'm not so worried about the finances as much as the fact that the ship sails 3:45 on Monday regardless of whether we're on it! I just want to make sure we are there! I have seen some nasty storms mess up air travel not just here, but all over the east coast. So I wanted to have a plan B, plan C, etc. researched ahead of time. Thanks for all the suggestions!! Can't wait!!

 

[professorandmom]

TRIP insurance..always travel with it also..takes care of the "what ifs"...winter travel can be tricky!

If I can't go on my December Fantasy trip booked last May, offering me hours of pleasure planning, FE gift making, messaging fellow cruisers, and generally counting the days and minutes, getting a refund is only a tiny band-aid
It's really not about the money for me...

 

[hanscarlet]

so this is and interesting topic, especially because I live in Philly Area too and flying SW... and so imagine what would you do if your cruise was taking off this coming Sunday? And we're supposed to get socked by the storm on Friday - Saturday?
I think if I was going out in the current forecast scenario, I would seriously consider hopping in the car on Thursday to drive down there because I think there's a strong chance flights will be delayed on Friday and possibly cancelled on Saturday... and VA is supposed to get socked too so if you were to drive you'd have to plan to leave before you hit snow in other states... glad I am travelling in April but yes thanks for posing the question, never really thought it through before

 

[bethy]

This week I'm booking flights from the West Coast to Florida for our December cruise. I am avoiding connections in snowy locations for this reason! We plan to fly *over* the snow

Am hoping Atlanta will do the trick . . . does anyone thing there is much chance of that airport being closed down due to a snow storm?