What if we miss embarkation??

[av01bps]

Ok.. big worry.. We are flying in on Feb 21 and will arrive in Orlando at 12:15 p.m. IF all goes well and the Weather is fine, we should be ok to "make the boat." We are taking Disney transport to the ship.... we booked through American Express and they said they do this all the time.

But...
What if we miss the boat??

Seriously, has this happened to anyone?

AHHH!

 

[Werner Weiss]

Let's see... Saturday, February 21, 2004, would make it a 7-Night Eastern Caribbean cruise. Right?

If the ship departs before you get to the port, you would have to fly to St. Maarten, where you could join the cruise on Tuesday, February 24. You would miss the first afternoon and evening on the ship, as well as the first two full days at sea.

A large number of people missed a Celebrity cruise that my wife and I took in March 1993 due to closed airports in the East and Midwest, even though the Captain delayed the sailing for several hours. (We had flown down a few days earlier, so we were fine.)

If your tickets cannot be changed, you may want to ask the airline about standing by for an earlier flight on the same airline. Most airlines allow this at no additional charge.

Even if your flight is perfectly on time, you'll miss several hours of quality time on the ship, and many other passengers will already have made Palo and spa reservations.

 

[dzneprincess]

Did you buy your air thru dcl as well? If so, then you do not have to worry, as they will hold the ship for you.

 

[KathyTX]

Wow, that schedule does seem to cut it close...

Is your February weather generally "iffy"?

 

[Werner Weiss]

Originally posted by dzneprincess
Did you buy your air thru dcl as well? If so, then you do not have to worry, as they will hold the ship for you.

How long will the Captain actually hold the ship? I can't imagine that the Captain would hold the ship indefinately for a handful of passengers coming from a city where the airport is closed, if it means delaying the arrival of 2 thousand passengers at the first port.

I has assumed that if the air arrangements are made through DCL, then DCL would fly such passengers to the next port (in this case, St. Maarten) at DCL expense (as well as paying for hotels and other expenses) — but that passengers who make their own arrangements would have to pay the substantial cost of the short-notice, one-way, international flights, as well as all other travel expenses.

Again, let me emphasize that these are just my assumptions. Does anyone who has bought air from DCL know what the fine print actually says?

 

[dzneprincess]

Well OK, but their flight gets in to Orlando at 12:15 pm. The ship does not sail until 5pm. In fact, when we sailed in October we did not leave until 530 as we were being held fpr passengers that had booked through DCL. Again, I assume if DCL has a passenger manifest, than they are aware what passengers booked air with DCL. Therefore, I assume that if there are weather delays on flights, they would be informed and take the appropriate action. IE If the OP's flight was delayed 15mins, 30 mins 1 hrs ETC as opposed to if their flight was delayed by hours or even canceled. I guess that is one the "reasons" to use DCL to book your air. I, on the other hand, prefer to get in the night before, to give my family some breathing room.

 

[Alex]

Werner is obviously correct, they won't hold the ship forever!!
I am pretty sure he is correct on the other parts as well. That is the big advantage to buying air through DCL

 

[brack]

The Magic was over an hour late in leaving yesterday. Something held it up.

There's one thing for certain ... I will never fly or drive in the day my cruise sets sail. There are way too many things that can go wrong. I would never want to watch the Magic (or Wonder) pull out of dock when I should be on it!!!!

If there is any way to change your flight to the day before I'd do it.

 

[kcashner]

There is a wonderful group of people who are based at the port as "trouble shooters." I've forgotten their exact title, but their job is to handle anything that happens to people before they get to the ship that wasn't supposed to happen. They will facilitate getting you to the ship however they can make it happen, get lost luggage to you, etc.

Yes, the ship will be held for a short time IF you booked thru Disney. I know that they have held it when people were at the airport and on the way to the port (about an hour.) However, if (for example), you were snowed in at O'Hare and had not even left the ground yet, they are not going to hold the ship! They will offer you what they can....catching up with the ship at the next port or re-scheduling the cruise. If you bought the travel insurance, there will be no fee, of course. If you didn't buy insurance, I'm not sure how it would be handled.

If you didn't buy your air as part of the cruise package (you bought it separately because you could get it cheaper), then it is your responsibility to be at the port on time. Again, if you bought a private insurance package, it would cover re-scheduling. If you bought insurance thru Disney, it would not cover the fact that your air didn't get you there. Once again, the trouble shooter crew would do what they could

IF you arrive at MCO as scheduled, there will be no problem at all. You'll be there in plenty of time.

 

[AnnMorin]

Originally posted by kcashner
There is a wonderful group of people who are based at the port as "trouble shooters." I've forgotten their exact title, but their job is to handle anything that happens to people before they get to the ship that wasn't supposed to happen. They will facilitate getting you to the ship however they can make it happen, get lost luggage to you, etc.

Not if you book via DVC!!! When we arrived in orlando the day before our cruise (thank goodness it was the day before) and found out one of our bags was still in Ct. I called the port to see if I could have it fedex'd to the port directly. They would not deal with me at all since I was DVC! This was very upsetting. Needless to say I finally found out that you can't have anything shipped to the port after 5pm the night before so we picked it up at DT orlando at fed exp headquarters. BUT do know that if you are booked via DVC you are out of luck when it comes to getting help.

 

[dianedisney]

Did you pick that flight or did your travel agent? As a travel agent myself I would NEVER recommend cutting a flight that close. As Brack mentioned...I always book a flight the day before my cruise, true I live on the west coast but even a redeye can really mess up your day if a flight gets cancelled due to mechcanical problems. Many, many moons ago I cut my flight with a cruise line too close and had to fly to Nassau to catch the ship the next day. I learned my lesson well. Fly in the day before and have a stress free cruise and flight.

Happy cruising
Departing Jan 2 for my Western DCL cruise
I haven't even starting packing....

 

[prymsu]

this is also another reason why i prefer to book my own air, and to fly in the day before. When purchasing air through DCL, you pay a lot more, and you have no control over the flight times.

 

[KathyTX]

Originally posted by prymsu
this is also another reason why i prefer to book my own air, and to fly in the day before. When purchasing air through DCL, you pay a lot more, and you have no control over the flight times.

Actually, that won't always be true. Sometimes we've found good rates on flights we've arranged ourselves, but there have been a couple of times when DCL's bulk air rates were better than any we could find on our own...

YMMV. It could be different for different locations... I know it can be really difficult to find good deals on airfare into and out of Iowa at times.

 

[prymsu]

we actually fly out of Moline a majority of the time and are able to get airfare for anything between $178 to $294 the past few years, and that is a a big difference from the $458 (i think this is the amount) that DCL would charge us.

 

[disneyholic family]

i'm also originally from detroit and i cannot believe you're banking on the weather being fine.....
you should be flying in the day before at the very least (and even that would make me nervous.....how many times has metro airport been closed for more than a day in the middle of the winter.....lots and lots of times.....every winter it closes down at least once due to snow)...

i have to say you're taking an incredibly stupid risk cutting it that close in the winter out of detroit...
sorry for my bluntness but i really think you should change your flights.....

if it were me, i'd come in on thursday, but most normal people would get there on friday.....certainly not saturday in the winter out of detroit...

 

[MrsPete]

I'd be very uncomfortable with this situation myself. Thoughts:

1. Did you book your air through Disney? If so, they'll know that you're late and they'll wait for you. Also, if you booked through Disney, it won't be just you -- it'll be a bunch of other people too.

2. Regardless of how you booked, can you reschedule to fly in the day before? Even the night before -- late would be fine. It'll be well worth it to know that you can sleep in the morning of the cruise and relax before heading to the port.

3. This may or may not matter to you, but you'll definately miss out on the reservations to Palo and the spa -- those things will be scooped up by the early boarders.

 

[tink5697]

Originally posted by KathyTX
, but there have been a couple of times when DCL's bulk air rates were better than any we could find on our own...

.

Stupid question here, what is "Bulk Air Rates?"

 

[Alex]

DCL doesn't pay the same air rate to the airlines that you and I can get, they buy in "bulk" and them mark it up. Once in a while it is cheaper than anything you can book even with the mark up, it never hurts to ask. If the price was the same or even a bit more I would take DCL's because it's then on them to get you there on time.

 

[KathyTX]

Originally posted by prymsu
we actually fly out of Moline a majority of the time and are able to get airfare for anything between $178 to $294 the past few years, and that is a a big difference from the $458 (i think this is the amount) that DCL would charge us.

Wow, sounds like some really good airfares! (My only Iowa experience is with Des Moines... and I NEVER seem to find deals there.)

 

[LAMPSKIES]

The last two 7 nighters (Late November sailings) I checked on airfare out of Chicago (we fly ATA) on Saturday. DW was a little afraid we would miss the ship. Airfare was 274.00 per person to fly out on Saturday. I checked Friday and it was more. I checked Thursday.......174.00 per person flying out Thursday and returning the Saturday of disembarking. So I call DCL and book two nights at POR with park hoppers and transfers. Total cost....774.00. So I spend 774 more subtract the 400.00 I save on airfare that's 374.00. If I was to stay a night (Friday in Orlando or at port) it was about 129.00. subtract that off of the 374 and for 245.00 we had all day Thursday (we arrived at 11:30 a.m at POR) all day Friday and until 12:30 p.m. Saturday at WDW!! And guess what? No stress about snow!!!