First vacation since COVID19

[Donald]

Wife & I left Fri afternoon out of BWI going to Athens to board a Mediterranean Cruise Athens to Barcelona. We had negative covid19 test proof and got to the airport early. Our first flight into JFK was delayed twice and had to wait at JFK for open gate. I assume all 200 passengers missed their connections. The line at JFK for customer service to rebook was an hour or two long. Obviously we missed our connection. We got booked on another carrier for a latter flight into Heathrow. With a very tight connection to Athens. The flight to Heathrow had to wait for a gate and we missed our connection to Athens. Any latter flights to Athens would arrive after the ship left. The first two ports of call do not allow new passengers to board. So next port was halfway through the cruise. And in all these missed connections our luggage is who knows where. No one knows.

Flight from Heathrow back to BWI tomorrow.

Maybe next time.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

Sorry to hear your trip went astray. So far, we have done Ok with our travel. Went to San Juan on a Caribbean cruise in Feb, and a river cruise on the Seine and Rhone rivers in Aug 2021. Both trips went without a hitch.

 

[AZjeff]

That's terrible. Any idea of the cause of the delays?

Any chance of refunds?

 

[samven]

I hope you had Trip Insurance. I have put all my plans on hold until things get back to normal. I went so far as to sell my RV this past summer because of all the uncertainty and confusing rules everytime you cross a state line.

 

[CKN]

I hope you had Trip Insurance. I have put all my plans on hold until things get back to normal. I went so far as to sell my RV this past summer because of all the uncertainty and confusing rules everytime you cross a state line.

You don't need a VAC card to cross state lines. It seems to me that was one of the excuses for selling your RV and there were probably other reasons. Your number one reason was probably (being an RVer myself) is that it takes alot of work to vie for the RV spots out there because everybody and their brother has an RV. Too many RV's not enough camping spots.

 

[AZjeff]

Too many RV's not enough camping spots.

We're lucky in the west to be able to boondock/dry camp if we want, can't do that in the east. The days of probably finding a campsite in a campground at the end of the day are over until something changes. At least RVing you're in control of most of your variables. A big trip like Donald described is still rolling the dice at every connection along the way and it's all out of your control.

 

[CKN]

We're lucky in the west to be able to boondock/dry camp if we want, can't do that in the east. The days of probably finding a campsite in a campground at the end of the day are over until something changes. At least RVing you're in control of most of your variables. A big trip like Donald described is still rolling the dice at every connection along the way and it's all out of your control.

Agree. We have two-14 day trailer trips planned this summer. We leave for the first one in a couple of weeks. Another in July. All reservations/deposits are made-you can't "wing it" anymore. The biggest benefits to me are we able to take our dogs. And in my trailer I'm sleeping in my own germs/dirt! LOL!

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

You missed out on the best times during the pandemic for vacation. Low prices, direct flights, no delays. It’s a mess now and expensive.

 

[CKN]

You missed out on the best times during the pandemic for vacation. Low prices, direct flights, no delays. It’s a mess now and expensive.

If you traveled abroad-it was a mess....during the pandemic. If you went on a cruise ship when they started sailing at partial capacity-it was a mess. I welcome things opening back up-you will be fine if you can plan ahead.

 

[Kuato]

Sucks. Avoiding New York airports when you need to be somewhere on time is never a bad idea. Sorry you had such a bad experience. You may want to try going through Atlanta, Miami, or Chicago next time.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

If you traveled abroad-it was a mess....during the pandemic. If you went on a cruise ship when they started sailing at partial capacity-it was a mess. I welcome things opening back up-you will be fine if you can plan ahead.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Oh yeah, forgot about cruises. I don’t do those. We traveled to Mexico and it was no trouble. Europe was a bit crazy for a while.

 

[Lubener]

Doesn't sound like a vacation to me. I will stick to staycations.

 

[Donald]

This was a cruise leaving from Greece. So travel overseas involved.

 

[Donald]

I hope you had Trip Insurance. I have put all my plans on hold until things get back to normal. I went so far as to sell my RV this past summer because of all the uncertainty and confusing rules everytime you cross a state line.

Actually we bought the flights and cruise though cruise company. So it's all on them. We were at airport on time for initial flight. None of this our fault.

 

[IveBeenRued]

Actually we bought the flights and cruise though cruise company. So it's all on them. We were at airport on time for initial flight. None of this our fault.

How many hours of lead time did they originally give you?

Any time we have a hard deadline for something, we book 24-48 hours of lead time. The $100-150 for a hotel room is worth it to not stress.

 

[SevenBizzos]

We've flown four times in the last 13 months and air travel is crazy. So many people and so little patience. Your experience sounds like heck to me. What a mess.

 

[Zee09]

That really sucks.
What a waste of time and money.
Wow....crazy.
My sympathies!

 

[dbias]

My son took a little trip to Florida for two weeks. Three hours early at airport and barely made the flight. Spent two weeks in FL and got Covid19, he is vaccinated and boosted, just the feelings of a head cold. Trip back TSA was so slow he missed flight back and was again there three hours early. I'm just staying home this year and put the trip money into the house.

 

[Donald]

It's almost mandatory to have a charged cell phone and charging cord for anything to do with overseas airport travel. From scheduling a covid test, receiving the results, filling in a US gov covid attestation. Talking (or on hold for hours) with airline or cruise customer service. Without a charging cord I would have blown through a fully charged cell battery while on hold.

Getting a covid19 test at the airport (one is required to return to the US) is a two hour ordeal after scheduling the covid19 test.

Security very slow at Heathrow airport. And annoying. Terminal 5 is so big you need to take a tram from terminal to actual gate area. Add another 15 minutes.

Leisure relaxing vacation?