booked my own flights....now kicking myself..

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Debs3

Guest
I am going on the Victory on jan 4th. I booked cruise only then booked myself some cheap airfare on orbitz. Never having cruised before I didn't really think about arriving in Miami the day before, instead I am due to arrive in Miami at around 11am. I am already terrified about delays as I live in Maine and there are plenty of storms that time of year.
Would I be left on my own in Mia to try to book air to cozumel, the first stop? I am trying to think positive but weather is always bad when I bring my husband with me on a trip..lol. Has this happened to anyone?
 
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Petert

Guest
Hi Debs,

Yes there have been people that have missed a sail away due to unexpected weather events. While the odds of your making the embarkation time are in your favor, the nagging concern is there. That is our main reason for arriving a day or two early, the peace of mind. You have no control over the weather, and it is really best to put the concern out of mind and just enjoy the anticipation of a great cruise experience. If worst comes to worst try to have a recovery plan, and realize that you will still salvage most of your vacation. Good luck with your travel plans.

Peter
 
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PEB

Guest
Yes booking the air on your own you will have to set up your own flight to the first port if you still want to catch the cruise. You would be wise to call Carnival and let them know what you are doing.

Keep a good thought that you will make it to the ship ontime. The Victory is a nice ship you will have a good time.
 
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Dan40

Guest
If you didn't purchase it when you booked your cruise, go to insuremytrip.com and buy trip insurance covering your entire trip. You should have it anyway.

DO NOT buy the cruiseline's insurance, it only covers their part of the trip. Not anything you booked on your own.

Had you bought your air from Carnival without scheduling a pre-cruise hotel stay, they would likely have you on the same flight you booked yourself.

MIA is only 20 minutes from the port, less than 10 if traffic is light.
Dan
 
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jakieemma

Guest
You need to prepare for the day.
Remember...you do not have to have a storm in Boston for flights to be messed up or cancelled.
I took a flight for a cruise last year. I live in Boston...was flying Boston to Ft Lauderdale with a stop in Tampa. When I arrived in Tampa, my connecting flight was delayed 7 hours, due to a storm in Detroit. Even though we booked a day before the cruise, we decided to rent a car and drive to Ft. Lauderdale.

You NEED to try and get on "stand by" as early as you can for any earlier flight.

You are not in bad shape, but delays can turn it ugly very quickly.

Even if you booked air through CCL, you could still miss the cruise departing with a bad storm. It usually costs about 50. to change a flight.

How much is piece of mind and a lesson worth ?

Good luck...hope you get great weather...so far we have been stormy !

Can't wait to get away from here !!!
 
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shavey

Guest
I now have the same problem. I took the advice from one of the earlier
replies. insuremytrip. looks reasonable but not sure what coverage I need.
I fly out 1/3 Triumph from Minneapolis keep me informed
 
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Debs3

Guest
Shavey,

I did go ahead and booked through insuremytrip.com and thank who ever it was who gave me that web site. I called them and explained my fears and asked which one I should go with. They told me the in's and outs of different policies and I went with CSA because they were the most lenient with their guidlines. I feel much better now
 
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Sodey

Guest
If I were you, I would pack right now and drive to Miami. Spend the holidays down there in the warm sunshine and get a great tan before your cruise. Pass the time away laying on the beach sipping pina coladas and not worrying about a thing!
 
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cmitch9999

Guest
If It was me flying that time frame from Maine I would bite the bullet and go ahead and rebook the flight down the day before..the price should be either $50 or $100 depending on the airlne...would be the only peace of mind. Last year my sister was delayed leaving New Hampshire due to fog for our Christmas cruise.. they coudn't even make the Mercury departure at 8PM..they caught up with us 2 days later in Grand Cayman..but missed those days on ship and had to deal with the hassle of rebooking flights , finding hotel in Fla and Grand Cayman and the getting the $$ back later. If you want to read about how bad it can be catching up to the ship..check out the thread on the Carnival cruise critic board at the top of the board adventure on the Paradise. Good luck!
Chris Mitchll
 
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masq

Guest
No need to go all the way over to Cruise Critic for the story..... I have just posted the Travel lessons learned the hard way on this board as well.
I can tell you first hand that I would pay the extra $50 bucks per ticket to travel the day before!!
I will never again travel the day of the cruise as too many things can go wrong.
You never think it will happen to you, until it does. You always think that happens to others but not to you, until it does.

This adventure will not sour us from cruising, only made us much wiser!
 
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Debs3

Guest
I read your post masq. OMG that is amazing! I looked into changing but it was going to cost $150.00 per ticket and then also the higher fare because the plane is really booked. I am going with my husband and 3 kids so it would probably be close to $1,000. to change it. I am going to hope things go well, keeping my fingers crossed and I will also make sure I plan ahead. Packing stuff in my carry on etc.

Sorry about the trip.....but WOW it makes a good story.

Debs
 
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shavey

Guest
Debs3

Now the insurance thing is taken care of and hope after reader that other post
I hope we don't need it but. This crossed my mind. How are you getting from
airport to the pier? I am a group of 5. My concern, flight delayed 3 hours de-icing,
and have less than an hour to get to pier and don't make it.
 
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Debs3

Guest
Shavey......

Run like hell!! LOL....


I haven't started worrying about that one!

Debs
 
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Cruzman

Guest
Last week we sailed on the Grandeur of the Seas from New Orleans. The ship was delayed 4 hours due to weather delayed flights(fog in New Orleans), but 60 passengers did not arrive in time. Some were able to join the ship in Cozumel. Had they arrived a day early, the weather was perfect.
 
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buckeyeinmd

Guest
Debs,
good luck! hope it works out. Just to keep you in a positive frame of mind, we had Carnival book our flights in April and it cost us $400 per person to fly from Baltimore to Miami (I could have gone Southwest on my own for <$200) and then to top it off, they couldn't even get us 4 seats together so we had to do lots of juggling to get seats together. I have no idea who thought a 4 year old and a 7 year old could sit by themselves on a plane. Thus, I had to drastically overpay for 4 tickets and since we went a day early, we had to pay the high rate Carnival charges for the Sheraton. All told, having Carnival take care of everything cost me probably an extra $1000. On a good note, we cruised Victory and the boys loved it. Not sure how old your kids are. Just think positive.

Doug

Victory 4/13/03
 
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anniewpi

Guest
Don't feel bad everyone, I booked flights myself and booked them accidently coming in a day early, we would still be at sea and our flight would be taking off, this mistake cost me almost $600.00 bucks extra!! I strongly advise to book the crusie air package together!!
 
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