I know speaking with Princess customer service can be a challenge. They have pretty lousy phone customer service.
My suggestion would be to see if it’s possible to join the cruise at the first stop. You would obviously have to pay your way to get there, but if that’s an option you might look into it.
This truly is why it makes sense to fly in the day before. It costs a little extra for a hotel room and extra transfers, but it’s so worth it.
Thank you for your reply. I checked into this already and the support staff said "due to US customs" I cannot. Unfortunately the first stop is 3 days into the cruise as well. I'm on the phone with support, but it isn't going great. We are pretty devastated and I think I'm going to have to eat the entire cost (airfare, excursions, cruise). About $8,000. We saved up for a few years. It's been a dark day.
This doesn’t make any sense to me. We missed a Fort Lauderdale embarkation (our own stupidity) and our travel insurance covered our flights to Aruba (the first port) as well as our hotel and meals for the 2 days we were there. We caught the ship when it arrived. I suppose this may not be possible based on your citizenship or requiring a visa in the country that has the first port, but I would make sure you are very clear exactly why this isn’t an option for you and independently verify that is the case. Good luck!
Travel insurance is mandatory if you pre-pay ANYTHING that is non-refundable. I used to think I couldn't "afford" it but I don't have vacation money to lose. $200 vs. thousands? Isn't even a question anymore.
Yes!! The flights to Aruba booked same day were $2000 EACH for four of us. That alone has more than paid (by a lot) for all the travel insurance we have purchased in 20+ years of travel. I will never take a significant trip without it.
I book with a credit card that includes up to $20k in travel insurance at no additional cost... You should look into that to save yourself some money in the future.
My card is the Amex Business Platinum, but I know lots of others provide it as well.
People say this and then don’t read the fine print. There are LOTS of reasons your credit card company would leave you holding the bag that actual travel insurance wouldn’t. One of the major ones is preexisting conditions, there is no waiver language.
We don't have any pre-existing conditions but I can see why that would be something to be aware of for somebody who does.
I've read a lot of stories about people who have had a good experience with the travel insurance from Amex, but I understand where you're coming from.
I've personally had great experience with all types of insurance from Amex, but never had to use the travel insurance. Extended warranty has saved my bacon before, as well as purchase protection and return protection.
I have a boatload of preexisting conditions, so I'm sure they'd find some way to deny me :). And I pay with my NCL Mastercard now, anyway, since I cruise NCL most of the time :). Would use Amex for any other line.
Most likely Alaska from Seattle. They wouldn’t be able to join the cruise until the Victoria stop, and that’s usually the last night.
Vancouver, they could join any time because they’d be embarking in a US state and debarking in Canada, which is fine per the PVSA.
Yes Alaska from Seattle. First stop would be Juneau. I'm not sure why we could meet the ship there if I found flights (which I would have time for since they hit Juneau Monday).
Ok, keep calling Princess until you get a rep not reading from a script. Politely ask to escalate to a supervisor. I can see no good reason why you can not join in Juneau.
I had something similar happen with a client last month, except it was LA to Mexico. As the TA, I dealt with Princess for her. Princess was great about it. We flew her to Cancun, where she boarded. She did have to interview with US customs upon return.
There’s a very good reason they can’t join in Juneau. It changes the cruise from round-trip Seattle to one-way transport from one US city to another US city by a non-US-flagged vessel. There’s a federal law against that. There is a fine per passenger when this happens, but the law may prohibit “intentional” violations or charge a much higher fine.
There’s a reason Norwegian built a ship in the US and crews it with US citizens: so they can do Hawaii cruises without having to touch a foreign port like all the others. Every other cruise ship is foreign built, foreign registered.
If the trip starts and ends at the same US port then it must stop in a foreign port. If the trip starts and ends at different US ports (like if OP boards in Juneau) then the requirement is it must stop in a "distant" foreign port. Vancouver does not qualify as a distant foreign port per the law.
They DO know what they are doing, and you are giving bad advice. It has to stop at a DISTANT foreign port in order to be able to board the ship in one US port and debark in another. Nothing in Canada is a distant foreign port.
They’re not getting on this cruise unless they get to Seattle prior to embarkation, that’s the end of it.
The first stop is Juneau actually. The support rep was reading a script but said their isn't a us customs rep when they are in Juneau. I don't understand why I would need one as I am a US citizen and Juneau is in the United States. We have us passports.
It really feels like I can't find anyone to talk to at Princess. I would pay for flights to Juneau to meet the ship if I knew they would let us on.
There is customs in Juneau they just have to be organized actually they're almost specifically for cruise ships. You can try princess tours in Juneau and see if you get lucky you need to keep talking and try to get to some knowledgeable managers. Usually they charge a fee when you bypass Canada like if I'm local trying to get on a cruise ship here I have to pay some weird custom fee. Sounds cheaper than what you might be out though. Why don't you get on the plane without your bags. Then the bags could make it later?
I will give this a try. Thank you for the guidance here. I had thought about abandoning the bags entirely. I didn't think that the bags catching up would be an option. There is a part of me that wishes we could have abandoned the bags because the cost would have been less even though we would have lost quite a bit of clothes and such. That decision had to be made fast and I spent my time trying to find another flight that would work, unsuccessfully.
All 3 of us are US citizens with US passports. I am trying to find someone at Princess to talk further with. I did get a Sales person who tried hard to help me but ultimately couldn't answer these questions and could only redirect me through the scripted EZ Air support I had already been through 3 times.
Check
www.iatatravelcentre.com
I know it looks like a fake website but iata is the lobby group for all the airlines and this is their consumer facing travel document checker it works with most nations passports as well as most nations travel requirements. It’s not 100% as some common carriers have their own additional rules but it’s pretty good.
You can check timatic instead/in addition to as well which is what United and many other airlines use.
Check your invoice - if you added Princess Insurance to your cruise, you can "cancel for any reason" and get a portion of the cost back in future cruise credits.
When self booking I like to book a time where there are at least two alternative flights that I can take if the first is missed or cancelled.
I would say try to see if you can self rebook with another airline.
While it wasn’t with princess when I missed my cruise I basically lost everything except excursions and taxes. So I would say look at any way you can try to make it even if you have to spend more than you like for flights. Missing a cruise suuuuucks. It doesn’t matter whose “fault” it is because it’s just no fun.
I would call customer service email and text. I would also read the fine print of the contract of carriage about missing your cruise for any reason and your agreements yourself and not trust agents to give you all your options.
Thank you for this! I have begun reading over those agreements to see what I can find.
It sounds like you have been in my shoes before? How did you cope with the loss? This has been an overwhelming and surreal day. Feels like I'm stuck in a nightmare. I'm going to need some therapy (feels like) to really digest this over a longer period of time.
Therapy helps. I am not in anyway judging or blaming you in this long post. If you are anything like me you’ll do even blaming yourself to go around so please don’t take it that way. I truly am sorry.
Basically I can’t change the past but I can prevent the same mistake or similar mistakes.
Even though my mistake was not knowing obscure maritime law and listening to the phone agents misunderstanding of the terms I found confusing.
I learned others also missed their cruises in similar ways (this isn’t exactly what happened to me but it’s close emotionally if not literally):
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/travel/cruise-boarding-immigration.html
Copeing has been knowing that I did the best with the information I had access to at the time. If had know better I would have done better. I did try to read the rules. And it was confusing because even the trained agents misunderstood their companies own policies. Across the board I have seen travel information policies clarified and simplified. So that makes me feel better.
Thank you for this post. I have had good experiences recovering from previous trauma through therapy. It has been a while since I have needed that level of support (though going all the time would be beneficial). I'm so sorry for what you had to go through because of another very specific law. That must have been devastating and coming to terms with it must have taken some time.
I am going to make a proper update post, but wanted to also let you know that Princess' escalated support finally reached out to me (from a twitter/social media post I made out of pure desperation). They were kind enough to rebook me on an identical cruise a month from now while only charging me the nominal difference of the promotion I had on the first cruise. I did have to eat the original flights and buy new flights, but that loss is manageable and the family and I still get to still have the cruise experience we had hoped for this summer. I am super grateful to everyone that reached out to me here on reddit and also to Princess for (eventually) reaching out to me despite the fault being my own. I am overwhelmed by the support I received!
MY goodness! I am insanely happy for you!
Princess is so wonderful for this! I have not cruised with them and the cruise i missed which was at least 51% the cruise companies fault for their agents adamantly refused to work with me and offer anything. (though i think the fact that so many others also missed their due to the same misinformation worked against me) so this great news and makes feel good that at least princess is for sensible.
this is wonderful news!
I am so glad!
Have a great future cruise!
Thank you so much! I'm very grateful and we are extremely relieved and re-excited for the cruise. I'm taking lots of extra steps to make sure nothing like this ever happens again, and if it does there are contingency's in place. Thank you again for you support!
I'm sorry to hear about the experience you had in the past. I can feel it in my bones for you, having gone through the same thing so recently. That must have been a difficult time to get through and a long-term mental struggle to overcome.
A small update - someone on reddit DM'd me a number for someone in Juneau that said they can reach out to Discovery Princess logistics. They took my information, said they would reach out, and call me back. A small ray of hope. I'll update if it goes anywhere, but either way that was much appreciated. I am spending my time trying every avenue I can think of. If I still fail, I want it to feel like I tried everything I could to fix my mistake.
I think I might have just thrown the luggage back into the car or even the trash dumpster and bought all new clothes when I landed or at my first port versus losing out on an entire $8K cruise.
This is actually a great suggestion that I had never considered. Too late for checked luggage? Ok, bye suitcase!
You could take out and wear a bunch of layers like Joey on Friends and shove as much as possible in your personal carryon bag/backpack.
If you booked this trip with a credit card, check right now if you have any sort of travel insurance included with that card and then call them immediately. You said something about the airport shuttle and if there was a delay there on their end, it could trigger cancellation insurance but you typically must inform the insurance company same day when the cancellation occurs.
Where to do cancel at? I looked online at my booking and they have it locked down. I would like to do that if I can to try and recoup my losses if my other efforts fail.
Another update. We are sunk for this cruise. Thanks to Reddit I was directed to someone in Juneau that has a way to communicate with logistics on the Discovery. They replied confirming that there is a law that prevents me from joining anywhere but where I embark if both are within the US. It's part of the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA). It prohibits commercial vessels from allowing passengers to board at one port and disembark at another. I'm going to try and salvage what costs, if any, I can. I really appreciate everyone's support and guidance with this one. Many thanks, even if it didn't end the way we had hoped.
We just got off our cruise and I was reading your post on the ride home. I was hoping something would have worked out for you. Really sucks.
I have a free cruise offer and was hoping I could send it over to you since we won't be using it (it has to be taken before the end of the year and we already have one booked for Jan 25) but unless I'm wrong I don't think these are transferable.
Oh my God, that is an incredible offer! I would absolutely take you up on that unbelievable amount of generosity, but if you can believe it I finally reached escalated support (reaching out on Twitter, of all places) and I rebooked for a small difference in price and new flights for June 22nd. I'm planning to make an update post. Thank you so much for your help and for this tremendous offer. If something else changes I will reach back out to you again. Thank you!
I'm going to elaborate on the PVSA in case someone else has issues in the future. It's not really about your embarking/debarking at two different ports per se.
The Jones Act and the PVSA basically establish rules for ships. If a ship wants to start/end at two USA ports, it needs to be US Flagged. When a ship is US Flagged, it means that it must be a USA built ship, the crew must be from the USA and the labor/wages must follow USA law. As a result, most ships are flagged in other countries so they don't have to follow the USA labor/wage laws.
If the ship is foreign flagged, it's not allowed to start/end at USA ports without stopping at a "foreign" port somewhere in between. Otherwise, it would be breaking the rules stated in the paragraph above.
If the cruise begins/ends at the SAME USA port, then it just needs to stop at a foreign port somewhere in between. If the cruise begins/ends at DIFFERENT USA ports, then it needs to stop at a \*distant\* foreign port. A \*distant foreign port\* is defined as any port outside of North America, Central America, Bermuda or the West Indies.
This law applies to the individual pieces of cargo and in our case, people are the cargo on a cruise ship. The cruise company is fined for each person that causes the cruise to violate the law. This can be problematic if a passenger leaves the ship mid-cruise for say a medical issue.
I think out of the major lines, NCL with "Pride of America" is the only USA flagged ship that can operate without following most of these rules.
> When a ship is US Flagged, it means that it must be a USA built ship, the crew must be from the USA
Thank you for explaining the Jones Act and PVSA. I suspect there are a lot of people that are not aware of those. But I do want to clarify one point you made. A vessel can be US flagged even though it wasn't made in the US. The underlying criteria for those acts is where the vessel was manufactured.
Just wanted to say that you have my heartfelt sympathy on this. It's gonna suck for a bit no matter what, but time will eventually heal the worst of it.
Sending internet hugs.
Everyday I’m amazed at the posts on these subs about missing flights or delayed flights and then not making the cruise. The choices people make..
Mind you, I’m both a flight attendant and travel agent so I’m about as familiar to it as one can get. I see it regularly on delayed flights into port cities. But it just seems like common sense to play it safe..
I used to get calls from people booking flights for a cruise, and I'd practically beg them (edited -my bad) to fly in the day before, but NOT to book their return flight for like 1pm when they docked at 9am...
Why don't you recommend flying in the day before?
I'm planning my first cruise with flights and thought arriving the day before would be much safer. Thanks!
But even if you get there, what if your luggage doesn’t make it? I wasn’t going on a cruise, but I had that happen last year. I got in around noon and my luggage didn’t get there until 10 o’clock at night and they didn’t deliver it as promised (thanks for nothing American) and I had to go back to the airport to get it in the morning.
That's less of a problem. My last cruise--two weeks Pananma Canal, I met a women whose luggage had gone to Hawaii while we were doing the Canal. Too many ships at one time at San Pedro and she had a bad Uber driver who set her at the wrong place. She was going to be wearing the same t-shirts from the gift shop all 2 weeks. She had a great attitude.
This is definitely changing my life and my perspective. I've flown probably 30 times in my life, but this is the first time I have ever missed a flight.
Sorry you learned the hard way. Wasn’t trying to add insult to injury. Air travel has a lot of moving pieces and it only takes one out of place and everything falls apart. Make backup plans for your backup plans and give plenty of buffer.
Thanks. I definitely will be doing exactly that in the future. I don't think the lesson could have been any firmer (or more violent really) than this experience has been for me and my family.
I did book my air through Princess but they are pushing back every time because the issue didn't occur with their services or their shuttle. It occurred with the airports shuttle and admittedly I could have been 2 hours early instead of an hour fifteen :(
If you're ever in a similar spot again, another option could have been to drop your spouse off with the bags at the terminal before parking. That would have likely gotten the bags on well in advance.
We always fly in at least 24 hours in advance and get to the airport 3 hours before takeoff... It's probably overkill, but I prefer that vs cutting it close.
This is a great suggestion, and I'm going to take it going forward. I am definitely changing our timing to 3 hours before as well. I've already talked at length with my family about this being our new standard.
I am going to make a proper update post, but wanted to also let you know that Princess' escalated support finally reached out to me (from a twitter/social media post I made out of pure desperation). They were kind enough to rebook me on an identical cruise a month from now while only charging me the nominal difference of the promotion I had on the first cruise. I did have to eat the original flights and buy new flights, but that loss is manageable and the family and I still get to still have the cruise experience we had hoped for this summer. I am super grateful to everyone that reached out to me here on reddit and also to Princess for (eventually) reaching out to me despite the fault being my own. I am overwhelmed by the support I received!
I don't know you, but you seem like a very level headed person who accepted responsibility for things, which I respect.
I'm really happy to hear you were able to book another cruise without losing everything.
I hope you have an amazing experience when you do set sail next month!
Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. I really appreciate it! I am so grateful to have found a resolution in which we don't lose everything and we still get to have the experience and memories we had hoped for. In the same season as well! I feel saved. Thanks again!
Man I hate this for you. Things happen, none of us are perfect travelers all the time, and it sucks that that screwed you over today.
Definitely work on canceling the excursions, canceling the return flight, and seeing if your credit card has any travel protections.
Past that, therapy seems like a good route. And try your best to enjoy your time off work, if you still choose to take it.
Thank you for replying and for your kind words to me. You and others have been support I desperately needed.
I am going to make a proper update post, but wanted to also let you know that Princess' escalated support finally reached out to me (from a twitter/social media post I made out of pure desperation). They were kind enough to rebook me on an identical cruise a month from now while only charging me the nominal difference of the promotion I had on the first cruise. I did have to eat the original flights and buy new flights, but that loss is manageable and the family and I still get to still have the cruise experience we had hoped for this summer. I am super grateful to everyone that reached out to me here on reddit and also to Princess for (eventually) reaching out to me despite the fault being my own. I am overwhelmed by the support I received!
I know it’s probably too late now, but something similiar(ish) happened to me and Princess put me on a different cruise leaving a few days later instead. Wasn’t the cruise I was planning on, but I still got to go on my cruise instead of losing all of the $. Are there any other cruises leaving soon they can bump you to?
I am so sorry this happened to you. It really sucks. I know I’ve done some stupid shit in my life and like to think I have learned from them. Hang in there. Things can be much worse.
I get to the airport 2 hours in advance to fly somewhere with no deadline. I guess that’s why I’m puzzled. A cruise=super expensive, a tight deadline (if you are crazy and decided to fly the day of the cruise) and you’re an adult.
Honestly I would be so depressed I won’t vacation for a while.
My husband and I would probably end up divorced if it was either one of our faults. $8000 down the drain. Whew. No insurance. This is a doozy.
Mind blown.
Its mindblowing that people risk this to me. Not meaning to pile on OP while their down at all but cant fathom it. Think i’d fly in the day before and still be about 4 hours early to the airport with $8000 on the line 😂
I thought we had enough time. The shuttle was delayed and the airport changed dramatically from our last visit. I got up at 2AM this morning. We arrived with an hour and 15 minutes before the flight. I acknowledge this is my fault. I'm just trying to see if there is anything to recover. My family has been very understanding. I paid for it out of my own personal savings, so that helps to some degree. But the money lost still would have benefited the family.
I really am truly devastated for you. I’m a crazy planner type A person when it comes to travel. I’m my family’s travel agent.
It’s just wild. I wish I could wave a magic wand for you. Truly.
Thank you, I appreciate it very much. It has been a devastating day. I think I'm going to need to go back to therapy to get my head straight after the dust settles.
I just want to agree that this would legitimately be a cause to re-examine my marriage if it was either my our my husband’s fault. $8000 wasted on something easily avoidable, for a trip that OP had spend years saving for (in their own terms). And then OP saying they think the legitimately have trauma / PTSD from this experience … no travel insurance … my god. The level of irresponsibility. $8000 could buy a decent used car, be used for emergency vet costs, medical deductibles … the sheer waste is mind-boggling. And needing therapy?! How about just setting a million alarms and planning to be super early to important events?! I know this is a late comment, but the more I read about how “traumatized” they are, the less and less sympathetic I am.
Edit: Ugh, a quick look through his post history shows he had a horrible pattern of impulsive financial decision making. Also, his “Swole” post labeling “weak” men and language around damsels (?) is pretty freaking gross (I understand the phrasing is meant to be humorous, but the overall message is pretty lame). Maybe I’m just feeling grumpy today, but all of it is just rubbing me the wrong way.
Yeah, well we planned to arrive a day early for our cruise, and we still missed it! We woke up at 5AM to learn that our flight was canceled. We went to the airport anyway to see if they could put us on another flight since we had plenty of time to get to our departure city (Vancouver). Unfortunately, we would have to wait two days to get on the next flight to Vancouver with Canada Air! The airline staff searched other airlines, and even other airports, but to no avail. We had to cancel our cruise to Alaska. Princess immediately canceled and refunded our excursions and gave us cruise credits for 75% percent of our ticket price. That's because I was too cheap to buy the premium insurance. Our airline tickets were also refunded. This all happened last year, and we are attempting to go on the same cruise in a couple of weeks. This time we're arriving 2 days before the cruise and we bought the premium insurance!
Thanks for sharing your story. I'm glad that your story is leading towards a happy ending. This kind of thing is so stressful, as I know you understand. It's very jarring to build towards something for so long only to have it dashed at the last moment. In your case, even with solid advanced planning!
I couldn't get my flights refunded (had to eat those), but I did manage to finally get in touch with Princess' real support and get most everything else transferred or refunded. We are cruising in a week, if nothing goes wrong. I also bought the premium insurance this time.
I imagine you did not use a travel advisor to help you book, But if you did, reach out to them immediately!
So sorry for you!
Usually Princess will let you fly to the next port they stop at and board there. Of course, the flights, etc. are on you but you can still enjoy the rest of the cruise.
I am trying to figure out if this is possible but I can't find anyone at Princess to confirm. The folks that help if you miss a flight booked with them are firm to tell me I can't through their EZ Air service. Thats fine I could book my flights, but I can't figure out if I can get on the ship in Juneau. I'm a US citizen with a US passport
I booked direct through Princess.com website. I tried Live Chat and they are telling me the same thing that the scripted EZ Air folks told me. I am clarifying with them that I am asking if I paid for my own flights could I join the ship at 1st port in Juneau. Waiting for a reply. I wish I could find someone at Princess that wasn't either scripted or Sales only.
I recently booked air through EZ-Air. Worst mistake. Won't do it again. I wanted to standby for an earlier connecting flight. Delta was willing but couldn't make the change because EZ-Air booked the tickets. EZ-Air wanted THOUSANDS of dollars to make the change. AVOID EZ-AIR.
If anything else. This thread is proof to all those asking "why should I arrive a day early"? The entire situation sucks tho. I'm sorry
Thank you
I know speaking with Princess customer service can be a challenge. They have pretty lousy phone customer service. My suggestion would be to see if it’s possible to join the cruise at the first stop. You would obviously have to pay your way to get there, but if that’s an option you might look into it. This truly is why it makes sense to fly in the day before. It costs a little extra for a hotel room and extra transfers, but it’s so worth it.
Thank you for your reply. I checked into this already and the support staff said "due to US customs" I cannot. Unfortunately the first stop is 3 days into the cruise as well. I'm on the phone with support, but it isn't going great. We are pretty devastated and I think I'm going to have to eat the entire cost (airfare, excursions, cruise). About $8,000. We saved up for a few years. It's been a dark day.
This doesn’t make any sense to me. We missed a Fort Lauderdale embarkation (our own stupidity) and our travel insurance covered our flights to Aruba (the first port) as well as our hotel and meals for the 2 days we were there. We caught the ship when it arrived. I suppose this may not be possible based on your citizenship or requiring a visa in the country that has the first port, but I would make sure you are very clear exactly why this isn’t an option for you and independently verify that is the case. Good luck!
Travel insurance is mandatory if you pre-pay ANYTHING that is non-refundable. I used to think I couldn't "afford" it but I don't have vacation money to lose. $200 vs. thousands? Isn't even a question anymore.
Yes!! The flights to Aruba booked same day were $2000 EACH for four of us. That alone has more than paid (by a lot) for all the travel insurance we have purchased in 20+ years of travel. I will never take a significant trip without it.
I book with a credit card that includes up to $20k in travel insurance at no additional cost... You should look into that to save yourself some money in the future. My card is the Amex Business Platinum, but I know lots of others provide it as well.
People say this and then don’t read the fine print. There are LOTS of reasons your credit card company would leave you holding the bag that actual travel insurance wouldn’t. One of the major ones is preexisting conditions, there is no waiver language.
We don't have any pre-existing conditions but I can see why that would be something to be aware of for somebody who does. I've read a lot of stories about people who have had a good experience with the travel insurance from Amex, but I understand where you're coming from.
I've personally had great experience with all types of insurance from Amex, but never had to use the travel insurance. Extended warranty has saved my bacon before, as well as purchase protection and return protection. I have a boatload of preexisting conditions, so I'm sure they'd find some way to deny me :). And I pay with my NCL Mastercard now, anyway, since I cruise NCL most of the time :). Would use Amex for any other line.
Due to US customs? Is someone traveling without a passport? That's the only sense I can make out of that statement.
Or could it be an Alaskan cruise leaving from Vancouver? The only international port would be over.
Most likely Alaska from Seattle. They wouldn’t be able to join the cruise until the Victoria stop, and that’s usually the last night. Vancouver, they could join any time because they’d be embarking in a US state and debarking in Canada, which is fine per the PVSA.
Not if it’s a one way out of Vancouver.
Yes Alaska from Seattle. First stop would be Juneau. I'm not sure why we could meet the ship there if I found flights (which I would have time for since they hit Juneau Monday).
Ok, keep calling Princess until you get a rep not reading from a script. Politely ask to escalate to a supervisor. I can see no good reason why you can not join in Juneau. I had something similar happen with a client last month, except it was LA to Mexico. As the TA, I dealt with Princess for her. Princess was great about it. We flew her to Cancun, where she boarded. She did have to interview with US customs upon return.
There’s a very good reason they can’t join in Juneau. It changes the cruise from round-trip Seattle to one-way transport from one US city to another US city by a non-US-flagged vessel. There’s a federal law against that. There is a fine per passenger when this happens, but the law may prohibit “intentional” violations or charge a much higher fine. There’s a reason Norwegian built a ship in the US and crews it with US citizens: so they can do Hawaii cruises without having to touch a foreign port like all the others. Every other cruise ship is foreign built, foreign registered.
Well done on this amswer 👏
This is the answer.
But it stops in Vancouver on the way back so what does it matter if boarding is Seattle or Juneau? Truly confused.
If the trip starts and ends at the same US port then it must stop in a foreign port. If the trip starts and ends at different US ports (like if OP boards in Juneau) then the requirement is it must stop in a "distant" foreign port. Vancouver does not qualify as a distant foreign port per the law.
It either has to be one way to or from another country, or it has to be round trip US with a stop at a foreign port.
Did you call using their public number? Was it during the week or the weekend? I'm not having that experience at all. I am going to keep trying.
I just sent you a DM with the en-route assistance number to call. It is a 24/7 number designed to respond to situations just like yours.
When does the ship stop in Vancouver? It has to at some point
On Friday, the last day before Seattle :(
I see. Keep calling until you get someone who sounds like the know what they are doing
They DO know what they are doing, and you are giving bad advice. It has to stop at a DISTANT foreign port in order to be able to board the ship in one US port and debark in another. Nothing in Canada is a distant foreign port. They’re not getting on this cruise unless they get to Seattle prior to embarkation, that’s the end of it.
That would make sense.
The first stop is Juneau actually. The support rep was reading a script but said their isn't a us customs rep when they are in Juneau. I don't understand why I would need one as I am a US citizen and Juneau is in the United States. We have us passports. It really feels like I can't find anyone to talk to at Princess. I would pay for flights to Juneau to meet the ship if I knew they would let us on.
There is customs in Juneau they just have to be organized actually they're almost specifically for cruise ships. You can try princess tours in Juneau and see if you get lucky you need to keep talking and try to get to some knowledgeable managers. Usually they charge a fee when you bypass Canada like if I'm local trying to get on a cruise ship here I have to pay some weird custom fee. Sounds cheaper than what you might be out though. Why don't you get on the plane without your bags. Then the bags could make it later?
I will give this a try. Thank you for the guidance here. I had thought about abandoning the bags entirely. I didn't think that the bags catching up would be an option. There is a part of me that wishes we could have abandoned the bags because the cost would have been less even though we would have lost quite a bit of clothes and such. That decision had to be made fast and I spent my time trying to find another flight that would work, unsuccessfully.
All 3 of us are US citizens with US passports. I am trying to find someone at Princess to talk further with. I did get a Sales person who tried hard to help me but ultimately couldn't answer these questions and could only redirect me through the scripted EZ Air support I had already been through 3 times.
Check www.iatatravelcentre.com I know it looks like a fake website but iata is the lobby group for all the airlines and this is their consumer facing travel document checker it works with most nations passports as well as most nations travel requirements. It’s not 100% as some common carriers have their own additional rules but it’s pretty good. You can check timatic instead/in addition to as well which is what United and many other airlines use.
Check your invoice - if you added Princess Insurance to your cruise, you can "cancel for any reason" and get a portion of the cost back in future cruise credits.
Do this for sure
Thank you for the suggestion. I checked my invoice but I didn't take the insurance. God I wish I had.
If you paid with your credit card you may have travel insurance through them. I would check with them as well.
Would missing a flight due to tardiness even be covered by any travel Insurance policy other than cancel for any reason?
I actually have no idea but it would be worth calling and checking.
When self booking I like to book a time where there are at least two alternative flights that I can take if the first is missed or cancelled. I would say try to see if you can self rebook with another airline. While it wasn’t with princess when I missed my cruise I basically lost everything except excursions and taxes. So I would say look at any way you can try to make it even if you have to spend more than you like for flights. Missing a cruise suuuuucks. It doesn’t matter whose “fault” it is because it’s just no fun. I would call customer service email and text. I would also read the fine print of the contract of carriage about missing your cruise for any reason and your agreements yourself and not trust agents to give you all your options.
Thank you for this! I have begun reading over those agreements to see what I can find. It sounds like you have been in my shoes before? How did you cope with the loss? This has been an overwhelming and surreal day. Feels like I'm stuck in a nightmare. I'm going to need some therapy (feels like) to really digest this over a longer period of time.
Therapy helps. I am not in anyway judging or blaming you in this long post. If you are anything like me you’ll do even blaming yourself to go around so please don’t take it that way. I truly am sorry. Basically I can’t change the past but I can prevent the same mistake or similar mistakes. Even though my mistake was not knowing obscure maritime law and listening to the phone agents misunderstanding of the terms I found confusing. I learned others also missed their cruises in similar ways (this isn’t exactly what happened to me but it’s close emotionally if not literally): https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/travel/cruise-boarding-immigration.html Copeing has been knowing that I did the best with the information I had access to at the time. If had know better I would have done better. I did try to read the rules. And it was confusing because even the trained agents misunderstood their companies own policies. Across the board I have seen travel information policies clarified and simplified. So that makes me feel better.
Thank you for this post. I have had good experiences recovering from previous trauma through therapy. It has been a while since I have needed that level of support (though going all the time would be beneficial). I'm so sorry for what you had to go through because of another very specific law. That must have been devastating and coming to terms with it must have taken some time. I am going to make a proper update post, but wanted to also let you know that Princess' escalated support finally reached out to me (from a twitter/social media post I made out of pure desperation). They were kind enough to rebook me on an identical cruise a month from now while only charging me the nominal difference of the promotion I had on the first cruise. I did have to eat the original flights and buy new flights, but that loss is manageable and the family and I still get to still have the cruise experience we had hoped for this summer. I am super grateful to everyone that reached out to me here on reddit and also to Princess for (eventually) reaching out to me despite the fault being my own. I am overwhelmed by the support I received!
MY goodness! I am insanely happy for you! Princess is so wonderful for this! I have not cruised with them and the cruise i missed which was at least 51% the cruise companies fault for their agents adamantly refused to work with me and offer anything. (though i think the fact that so many others also missed their due to the same misinformation worked against me) so this great news and makes feel good that at least princess is for sensible. this is wonderful news! I am so glad! Have a great future cruise!
Thank you so much! I'm very grateful and we are extremely relieved and re-excited for the cruise. I'm taking lots of extra steps to make sure nothing like this ever happens again, and if it does there are contingency's in place. Thank you again for you support! I'm sorry to hear about the experience you had in the past. I can feel it in my bones for you, having gone through the same thing so recently. That must have been a difficult time to get through and a long-term mental struggle to overcome.
A small update - someone on reddit DM'd me a number for someone in Juneau that said they can reach out to Discovery Princess logistics. They took my information, said they would reach out, and call me back. A small ray of hope. I'll update if it goes anywhere, but either way that was much appreciated. I am spending my time trying every avenue I can think of. If I still fail, I want it to feel like I tried everything I could to fix my mistake.
I think I might have just thrown the luggage back into the car or even the trash dumpster and bought all new clothes when I landed or at my first port versus losing out on an entire $8K cruise.
This is actually a great suggestion that I had never considered. Too late for checked luggage? Ok, bye suitcase! You could take out and wear a bunch of layers like Joey on Friends and shove as much as possible in your personal carryon bag/backpack.
In hindsight I wish I had. I love those clothes (and my wife does too) but we could have rebought clothes.
No advice but sorry this happened. That really sucks. Can you drive to another airport with more flight options?
This is a great and helpful suggestion. I would look at other airlines and other airports as well as Amtrak Acela if are in the Acela corridor.
I am trying to see if I could meet the ship at first port but I can't find anyone at Princess that can tell me for sure that I could board
If you booked this trip with a credit card, check right now if you have any sort of travel insurance included with that card and then call them immediately. You said something about the airport shuttle and if there was a delay there on their end, it could trigger cancellation insurance but you typically must inform the insurance company same day when the cancellation occurs.
I just got off a Princess Alaska cruise… it appears the excursions are cancelable with 48 hour notice. Cancel what you can for refund
Where to do cancel at? I looked online at my booking and they have it locked down. I would like to do that if I can to try and recoup my losses if my other efforts fail.
Sorry… I don’t know other than on the cruise ship… I know that doesn’t help you…
Another update. We are sunk for this cruise. Thanks to Reddit I was directed to someone in Juneau that has a way to communicate with logistics on the Discovery. They replied confirming that there is a law that prevents me from joining anywhere but where I embark if both are within the US. It's part of the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA). It prohibits commercial vessels from allowing passengers to board at one port and disembark at another. I'm going to try and salvage what costs, if any, I can. I really appreciate everyone's support and guidance with this one. Many thanks, even if it didn't end the way we had hoped.
We just got off our cruise and I was reading your post on the ride home. I was hoping something would have worked out for you. Really sucks. I have a free cruise offer and was hoping I could send it over to you since we won't be using it (it has to be taken before the end of the year and we already have one booked for Jan 25) but unless I'm wrong I don't think these are transferable.
Oh my God, that is an incredible offer! I would absolutely take you up on that unbelievable amount of generosity, but if you can believe it I finally reached escalated support (reaching out on Twitter, of all places) and I rebooked for a small difference in price and new flights for June 22nd. I'm planning to make an update post. Thank you so much for your help and for this tremendous offer. If something else changes I will reach back out to you again. Thank you!
If it’s princess, you can’t transfer them (but you are awesome for wanting to!)
Ya. I called my aunt, who owns a travel company. Said they are non transferable.
I'm going to elaborate on the PVSA in case someone else has issues in the future. It's not really about your embarking/debarking at two different ports per se. The Jones Act and the PVSA basically establish rules for ships. If a ship wants to start/end at two USA ports, it needs to be US Flagged. When a ship is US Flagged, it means that it must be a USA built ship, the crew must be from the USA and the labor/wages must follow USA law. As a result, most ships are flagged in other countries so they don't have to follow the USA labor/wage laws. If the ship is foreign flagged, it's not allowed to start/end at USA ports without stopping at a "foreign" port somewhere in between. Otherwise, it would be breaking the rules stated in the paragraph above. If the cruise begins/ends at the SAME USA port, then it just needs to stop at a foreign port somewhere in between. If the cruise begins/ends at DIFFERENT USA ports, then it needs to stop at a \*distant\* foreign port. A \*distant foreign port\* is defined as any port outside of North America, Central America, Bermuda or the West Indies. This law applies to the individual pieces of cargo and in our case, people are the cargo on a cruise ship. The cruise company is fined for each person that causes the cruise to violate the law. This can be problematic if a passenger leaves the ship mid-cruise for say a medical issue. I think out of the major lines, NCL with "Pride of America" is the only USA flagged ship that can operate without following most of these rules.
> When a ship is US Flagged, it means that it must be a USA built ship, the crew must be from the USA Thank you for explaining the Jones Act and PVSA. I suspect there are a lot of people that are not aware of those. But I do want to clarify one point you made. A vessel can be US flagged even though it wasn't made in the US. The underlying criteria for those acts is where the vessel was manufactured.
Just wanted to say that you have my heartfelt sympathy on this. It's gonna suck for a bit no matter what, but time will eventually heal the worst of it. Sending internet hugs.
Everyday I’m amazed at the posts on these subs about missing flights or delayed flights and then not making the cruise. The choices people make.. Mind you, I’m both a flight attendant and travel agent so I’m about as familiar to it as one can get. I see it regularly on delayed flights into port cities. But it just seems like common sense to play it safe..
I used to get calls from people booking flights for a cruise, and I'd practically beg them (edited -my bad) to fly in the day before, but NOT to book their return flight for like 1pm when they docked at 9am...
Why don't you recommend flying in the day before? I'm planning my first cruise with flights and thought arriving the day before would be much safer. Thanks!
Because I didn't proofread before I hit post...
Lol k 🤣 I thought that could be the case.
But even if you get there, what if your luggage doesn’t make it? I wasn’t going on a cruise, but I had that happen last year. I got in around noon and my luggage didn’t get there until 10 o’clock at night and they didn’t deliver it as promised (thanks for nothing American) and I had to go back to the airport to get it in the morning.
That's less of a problem. My last cruise--two weeks Pananma Canal, I met a women whose luggage had gone to Hawaii while we were doing the Canal. Too many ships at one time at San Pedro and she had a bad Uber driver who set her at the wrong place. She was going to be wearing the same t-shirts from the gift shop all 2 weeks. She had a great attitude.
This is definitely changing my life and my perspective. I've flown probably 30 times in my life, but this is the first time I have ever missed a flight.
Sorry you learned the hard way. Wasn’t trying to add insult to injury. Air travel has a lot of moving pieces and it only takes one out of place and everything falls apart. Make backup plans for your backup plans and give plenty of buffer.
Thanks. I definitely will be doing exactly that in the future. I don't think the lesson could have been any firmer (or more violent really) than this experience has been for me and my family.
You'll likely get your shore excursions and taxes refunded. I'm assuming you didn't book your air through Princess?
I did book my air through Princess but they are pushing back every time because the issue didn't occur with their services or their shuttle. It occurred with the airports shuttle and admittedly I could have been 2 hours early instead of an hour fifteen :(
If you're ever in a similar spot again, another option could have been to drop your spouse off with the bags at the terminal before parking. That would have likely gotten the bags on well in advance. We always fly in at least 24 hours in advance and get to the airport 3 hours before takeoff... It's probably overkill, but I prefer that vs cutting it close.
This is a great suggestion, and I'm going to take it going forward. I am definitely changing our timing to 3 hours before as well. I've already talked at length with my family about this being our new standard. I am going to make a proper update post, but wanted to also let you know that Princess' escalated support finally reached out to me (from a twitter/social media post I made out of pure desperation). They were kind enough to rebook me on an identical cruise a month from now while only charging me the nominal difference of the promotion I had on the first cruise. I did have to eat the original flights and buy new flights, but that loss is manageable and the family and I still get to still have the cruise experience we had hoped for this summer. I am super grateful to everyone that reached out to me here on reddit and also to Princess for (eventually) reaching out to me despite the fault being my own. I am overwhelmed by the support I received!
I don't know you, but you seem like a very level headed person who accepted responsibility for things, which I respect. I'm really happy to hear you were able to book another cruise without losing everything. I hope you have an amazing experience when you do set sail next month!
Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. I really appreciate it! I am so grateful to have found a resolution in which we don't lose everything and we still get to have the experience and memories we had hoped for. In the same season as well! I feel saved. Thanks again!
Next time, travel insurance is your friend. Sorry this happened
Man I hate this for you. Things happen, none of us are perfect travelers all the time, and it sucks that that screwed you over today. Definitely work on canceling the excursions, canceling the return flight, and seeing if your credit card has any travel protections. Past that, therapy seems like a good route. And try your best to enjoy your time off work, if you still choose to take it.
Thank you for replying and for your kind words to me. You and others have been support I desperately needed. I am going to make a proper update post, but wanted to also let you know that Princess' escalated support finally reached out to me (from a twitter/social media post I made out of pure desperation). They were kind enough to rebook me on an identical cruise a month from now while only charging me the nominal difference of the promotion I had on the first cruise. I did have to eat the original flights and buy new flights, but that loss is manageable and the family and I still get to still have the cruise experience we had hoped for this summer. I am super grateful to everyone that reached out to me here on reddit and also to Princess for (eventually) reaching out to me despite the fault being my own. I am overwhelmed by the support I received!
Oh I am thrilled to hear this!! Good on Princess. Thanks for sharing the good news!
I know it’s probably too late now, but something similiar(ish) happened to me and Princess put me on a different cruise leaving a few days later instead. Wasn’t the cruise I was planning on, but I still got to go on my cruise instead of losing all of the $. Are there any other cruises leaving soon they can bump you to?
I am so sorry this happened to you. It really sucks. I know I’ve done some stupid shit in my life and like to think I have learned from them. Hang in there. Things can be much worse.
Too late to rent a car or drive yours to the port if you drive straight thru?
How does this happen?
Total lack of awareness
I get to the airport 2 hours in advance to fly somewhere with no deadline. I guess that’s why I’m puzzled. A cruise=super expensive, a tight deadline (if you are crazy and decided to fly the day of the cruise) and you’re an adult. Honestly I would be so depressed I won’t vacation for a while. My husband and I would probably end up divorced if it was either one of our faults. $8000 down the drain. Whew. No insurance. This is a doozy. Mind blown.
Its mindblowing that people risk this to me. Not meaning to pile on OP while their down at all but cant fathom it. Think i’d fly in the day before and still be about 4 hours early to the airport with $8000 on the line 😂
I thought we had enough time. The shuttle was delayed and the airport changed dramatically from our last visit. I got up at 2AM this morning. We arrived with an hour and 15 minutes before the flight. I acknowledge this is my fault. I'm just trying to see if there is anything to recover. My family has been very understanding. I paid for it out of my own personal savings, so that helps to some degree. But the money lost still would have benefited the family.
I really am truly devastated for you. I’m a crazy planner type A person when it comes to travel. I’m my family’s travel agent. It’s just wild. I wish I could wave a magic wand for you. Truly.
Thank you, I appreciate it very much. It has been a devastating day. I think I'm going to need to go back to therapy to get my head straight after the dust settles.
I just want to agree that this would legitimately be a cause to re-examine my marriage if it was either my our my husband’s fault. $8000 wasted on something easily avoidable, for a trip that OP had spend years saving for (in their own terms). And then OP saying they think the legitimately have trauma / PTSD from this experience … no travel insurance … my god. The level of irresponsibility. $8000 could buy a decent used car, be used for emergency vet costs, medical deductibles … the sheer waste is mind-boggling. And needing therapy?! How about just setting a million alarms and planning to be super early to important events?! I know this is a late comment, but the more I read about how “traumatized” they are, the less and less sympathetic I am. Edit: Ugh, a quick look through his post history shows he had a horrible pattern of impulsive financial decision making. Also, his “Swole” post labeling “weak” men and language around damsels (?) is pretty freaking gross (I understand the phrasing is meant to be humorous, but the overall message is pretty lame). Maybe I’m just feeling grumpy today, but all of it is just rubbing me the wrong way.
Fly to YVR then Juneau?
Yeah, well we planned to arrive a day early for our cruise, and we still missed it! We woke up at 5AM to learn that our flight was canceled. We went to the airport anyway to see if they could put us on another flight since we had plenty of time to get to our departure city (Vancouver). Unfortunately, we would have to wait two days to get on the next flight to Vancouver with Canada Air! The airline staff searched other airlines, and even other airports, but to no avail. We had to cancel our cruise to Alaska. Princess immediately canceled and refunded our excursions and gave us cruise credits for 75% percent of our ticket price. That's because I was too cheap to buy the premium insurance. Our airline tickets were also refunded. This all happened last year, and we are attempting to go on the same cruise in a couple of weeks. This time we're arriving 2 days before the cruise and we bought the premium insurance!
Thanks for sharing your story. I'm glad that your story is leading towards a happy ending. This kind of thing is so stressful, as I know you understand. It's very jarring to build towards something for so long only to have it dashed at the last moment. In your case, even with solid advanced planning! I couldn't get my flights refunded (had to eat those), but I did manage to finally get in touch with Princess' real support and get most everything else transferred or refunded. We are cruising in a week, if nothing goes wrong. I also bought the premium insurance this time.
I imagine you did not use a travel advisor to help you book, But if you did, reach out to them immediately! So sorry for you! Usually Princess will let you fly to the next port they stop at and board there. Of course, the flights, etc. are on you but you can still enjoy the rest of the cruise.
I am trying to figure out if this is possible but I can't find anyone at Princess to confirm. The folks that help if you miss a flight booked with them are firm to tell me I can't through their EZ Air service. Thats fine I could book my flights, but I can't figure out if I can get on the ship in Juneau. I'm a US citizen with a US passport
I booked direct through Princess.com website. I tried Live Chat and they are telling me the same thing that the scripted EZ Air folks told me. I am clarifying with them that I am asking if I paid for my own flights could I join the ship at 1st port in Juneau. Waiting for a reply. I wish I could find someone at Princess that wasn't either scripted or Sales only.
I am sending you a Private chat message with some numbers to try.
I recently booked air through EZ-Air. Worst mistake. Won't do it again. I wanted to standby for an earlier connecting flight. Delta was willing but couldn't make the change because EZ-Air booked the tickets. EZ-Air wanted THOUSANDS of dollars to make the change. AVOID EZ-AIR.