Suddenly traveling solo
Question: I know this is very last-minute, but any assistance you can give would be of great help. My mother is booked on a cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) aboard the Pride of Hawaii. She’s scheduled to fly from Philadelphia to Honolulu with her sister and niece tomorrow.
Today we found out that her sister and niece will be flying on an entirely different airline. My mother is on United Airlines and her sister and caretaker are on Delta Air Lines.
My mother is 74 years old and has glaucoma and other medical problems that require her to travel with someone. Although she has a separate room from her sister, the reservations were made together so they could travel together.
My mother is extremely upset. She’s in tears and literally has gotten sick over this news. I have tried to talk with NCL, but their agent referred me to my travel agency. When I called my agency, they told me there is nothing they can do to help. Is there anything you can do?
– Lawrence Dean Parrish, Sewell, N.J.
Answer: If your travel agent booked your cruise and air travel together, then your mother, aunt and cousin should have been on the same flight.
When your agent made the reservation, a “travel with” flag should have been raised in the reservations system, notifying the airline that the three women were traveling together. That doesn’t necessarily guarantee they’d be offered the same itinerary when a flight changes, but it’s the only way to let the airline and cruise line know that the reservations are linked. Without the flag, the entire itinerary can come unraveled if the flight schedule changes.
I checked with NCL, and it appears the flag wasn’t on your reservation. The cruise line turned you over to your travel agent, whose responsibility it was to make the notation. But your agent appears to have been either unwilling or unable to help fix your mother’s flights.
Hiring a travel agent for this cruise was a great idea. You shouldn’t book such an important vacation by yourself. I just finished mediating a heartbreaking case for someone who self-booked a complex itinerary and was left stranded at the airport after one of his flights arrived late. A competent agent wouldn’t have let that happen.
There are a lot of terrific travel agents, but none of them is perfect. When mistakes are made, you should expect the agent, who took a sizeable commission from this cruise booking, to step up and do whatever it takes to make things right. Otherwise, why bother hiring a professional?
I’m a little puzzled by your mother’s choice of vacation. If she has serious health problems, why would she want to fly nearly 5,000 miles and then get on a cruise ship? She might have been just as happy — and perhaps happier — to take a cruise from Philadelphia. NCL offers one to Bermuda that might have been perfect.
I would consider having a little chat with your travel agent. What happened here might have been an honest misunderstanding, or you might be working with the wrong agent. I think it’s important to figure that out before buying your next cruise.
After I contacted NCL, it did its best to change your mother’s flight. It managed to fix her return trip, but unfortunately, she still had to fly to Hawaii on her own.
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