At Gateway Express Travel, we always advise cruise clients to get to the port city one day prior to sailing. Last week, a client embarking on an Athens departure declined our suggestion... after all, their KLM flight was arriving at 10:00 AM and the ship wasn't sailing until 6:00. What could go wrong, eh? Well, their 3:00 PM Delta flight to Amsterdam was two hours late departing Minneapolis meaning that they would miss their KLM connection.
Two of our agents worked well past our 5 o'clock closing time trying to get them to the ship in time. The best option, given the new arrival time in Amsterdam had them arriving Athens at 3:30 PM. The problem was that the cruise port is 2 hours from the airport - and there was the matter of waiting for luggage upon deplaning.
Without a Travel Agent, you're on your own!
Here is what we did for these poor souls:
- Protected them on a new flight to Athens.
- Notified the cruise line of the problem.
- Rearranged the transfer with the transportation company.
- Begged the cruise line to hold the ship (good luck).
- In the event that they would not make it, we booked an Athens hotel and booked flights to the next port.
Even though they made it, it probably took 3 days to relax and enjoy their cruise. Don't let this happen to you!!!!
Cheers,
Dick
Note #1: Even without the flight problem, having a day in Europe to rest away the jet lag is the way to go. Board your cruise ship refreshed!
Note #2: This is the second such horror story in two weeks. A nearly identical problem occurred with Alaska-bound cruise clients.
