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Sometimes when I read cruise news stories, and travel nightmares, it makes my head want to explode. You know the ones I am talking about, like people who book a shore excursion on their own and then are upset when they don’t make it back in time and the ship sails away without them (yes, this happens all the time).
But then there are ones like the LaSaine family that are over-the-top stupid. So here are the facts per the NY Post. The family was booked on a Carnival cruise and they needed to be all aboard at 3:30PM out of Port Canaveral.
So just when did they fly down to Orlando, Florida you ask? Was it wisely the night before? Nope! It was the same day as the ship sailed and just a few hours before it sailed. The family says:
“The JFK [John F. Kennedy New York Airport] to Orlando flight was scheduled to land at 12:51 p.m. — well before the cruise was set to depart from Port Canaveral at 3:30 p.m.” – NYPost.com
Good grief! Really? Sigh…
First up, looking at the Flight Aware tracking of their DL2019 flight, it tends to be delayed by a bit and that is not surprising. Next, once you get to Orlando, you have a longish ride to get to Port Canaveral (even if your driver is seemingly trying to kill you). So, who in their right mind arrives just hours before their cruise and a long way from the port?
They complained to Carnival, and for some reason, they got all their money back for the missed cruise. They got the media involved and Delta Air Lines gave them their money back and a voucher for each on top of that. I think they should have got ZERO from either company. They could have purchased travel insurance to cover delays but they chose not to do so.
Beyond this, I have so many questions. The obvious one is why they did not fly down the night before. Clearly, they had been on other cruises, per the photos in the NY Post story. (There are plenty of hotel credit cards that offer “free” nights to help offset such costs for people needing a play to stay.) Also, why did they not try to catch up to the ship at the next port or even ask if this was possible with Carnival? Yes, it would have cost more, but if you had purchased travel insurance, it likely would have covered this, and then it would not have been a total loss for their $8500 “dream” 8-day Carnival vacation.
The bottom line is you take a massive risk arriving the day the ship sails and even a greater risk if you are only giving yourself a few hours between the time of landing and all-aboard time. If you are going to even think of taking these kinds of risks you had better have a backup plan if things go sideways as they often do! – René
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I read the article when it was published. Yes, should they have flown down the day before. [personal attack removed]
Former airline supervisor here. I can’t count how many times over the years I had to tell people like that they were not going to make their cruise. Late or canceled flights happen. (I swear these are the same people who show up at the airport at the last minute and miss their flights. )
I tell people to be near the port of departure the day before the ship leaves. I also told people over and over to buy travel insurance.
That is complete you know what that they got their money back. Disrespectful to those of us who schedule flights properly and purchase insurance!
Totally agree with you neither Delta or Carnival’s fault. They should have received goose eggs
100% it’s the passenger fault. The airline and cruise shouldn’t have given there money back. A voucher for the future.
Always a victim…
I’ve gone on over 10 cruises, 2 in Europe. Cruises leaving Miami, I left NY the same day, early morning. Arrive in Miami around 10AM. I’ve been lucky. Early morning flights have less delays. BTW, I always buy insurance.
I work for Royal Caribbean in Miami and a lot of people flew in the same day and they usually did their transportation through us in the office so we definitely will hold the ship if there was a lot of people. But they definitely wanted to save money on a cheap flight no way they would make the trip. Many people use the fly in the day before but same day was normal, we waited till after 5pm many days to get people but the coast guard doesn’t like that very much lol fyi it cost the ship a lot to leave after 5pm.
And I stayed late many times checking people in and it’s no issue back then. They always ask for volunteers to stay late to help people if you call and let us know at royal caribbean, or they will down line you to the next port. MIA airport has flights all over the caribbean.
Twice I flew to Ft. Lauderdale on the day of the cruise (2012 & 2013) Luckily, no problems. Always bought insurance. In 2015, 2018, 2024 I flew down the day before. So much less stressful and worth the extra cost.
Just buy insurance…the airlines and more often the FAA sucks!! They shut down whole swaths of airspace for…rain showers not thunderstorms, novice pilots look out the window and even if nothing is on the radar it looks bad so they go around it ..when enough do…see step one by the FAA.
Always fly day before. Weather happens, it might be beautiful where you are but you don’t know where your plane is coming from.
Please tell me you are not a pilot? We don’t just “go around” stuff that looks bad on the radar. No, the FAA does not shut down airports just because it’s raining. This sort of anti-government screed isn’t helpful to anyone. We have rules for a reason – because we’ve learned from past mistakes, and choose to make Safety First.
In no way Carnival’s but I really don’t understand why people are so quick to defend the airlines who provide worse and worse service, plagued by more and more delays and issues. If airlines can bump me from a seat that I paid for because they sold more seats than the plane has, then they should also have to compensate for every delay. I bet we’d start seeing a lot more on-time departures and arrivals if the airlines were forced to pay for not delivering on their end of the transaction.