yes actually, i WOULD like some cheese with my whine

[maggs_the]

Bahamas Blackbeard's trip June 13-19, 2009

severe weather in Memphis on Friday nite prevented Delta's plane from coming in, so our 6am flight out was cancelled. Delta's only offered alternative would put us in Freeport SUNDAY instead of Saturday, thereby missing the boarding of the boat.

the weather knocked out power, telephone lines and cell towers. satellite and cable were only intermittant so communicating with the airlines was frustrating as after about 3 minutes, the phone would cut out and you cannot make adjustments online.

we could not get thru to anyone at Blackbeard's but had a quick moment Saturday morning to send an e-mail explaining the lack of phones and the intermittant internet services. we did not hear anything until late Saturday evening.

Delta told us we could get refunded on our airfare IF we cancelled the alternative flight by 5pm, so since we had not heard from Blackbeard's (we were hoping for an e-mail response, but i guess the office is closed on weekends), we did just that. THEN we got the phone call finally from Blackbeard's dock that they were looking for us. we explained to the guy at the dock what happened and said we didnt want a refund, but a rain check. he said that would have to go thru the office.

we talked with the office monday and they told us the "poor captain waited in Freeport until Sunday" for us....?? i'm not sure why when we talked with the guy from the dock.. but anyway.. ??

and Blackbeard's policy is no refund or raincheck which is why they urge people to buy trip insurance. they will let us do a stand-by where we call them 2 weeks before a weekend trip and see if they have any open beds. if they do, we can then be put on the list and book our flights. but with Wayne's work schedule on the rig, we went thru the schedule and the first possible available time is the weekend of Oct 3. they have four beds available for that trip, but they will not put us in until Sept 25. if we call on Sept 25 and there is still room, we can have it.

i thought Dive Assure covered the trip protection but it only covers for trips cancelled due to medical situations or "named" weather storms.

i'm not real pleased but what can i say? we thought we were covered. shame on us. i understand it was not Blackbeard's fault and they made their no-refund policy clear up front, but i don't understand why they wouldnt be willing to put us down as "confirmed" instead of making us do stand-by.

so where's my cheese?? no cheddar please. i prefer provolone or swiss or something...

[Diver Kat]

Wow, that sucks! Sorry to hear your trip fell through. I can kind of understand where Blackbeard is coming from .... they'll only put you in if they can't sell the space, since it was too late for them to fill your space when you didn't show up. But then again, giving you such a short window seems to make it almost impossible to work out the travel. Sounds like a total catch-22 .... hope you get lucky, and it works out!

[JCAT]

I'm sorry, no cheese because I don't consider your post a whine. More like stating the facts, but it does bring up some talking points that should be discussed for everyone's knowledge.

I thought that it was some kind of airline law that if they canceled a flight, they had to find the next one regardless of the airline. I've actually seen my wife use this before.

Dive Assure only kicks in with named storms?

again, hope you get to take your trip.

cheers

[chilly willy]

Originally Posted by JCAT

I'm sorry, no cheese because I don't consider your post a whine. More like stating the facts, but it does bring up some talking points that should be discussed for everyone's knowledge.

I thought that it was some kind of airline law that if they canceled a flight, they had to find the next one regardless of the airline. I've actually seen my wife use this before.

Dive Assure only kicks in with named storms?

again, hope you get to take your trip.

cheers

I've had Delta re-book me on another airline, (Alaska), after they cancelled my flight due to mechanical issues, and it was only a couple hours later than original plans. I'm pretty sure it works the same way for weather related problems, but I could be wrong.

[maggs_the]

My mom still had power and intially had internet, so we knew at 7pm Friday nite that something was wrong when I went to check-in online for our flight. Her phones were out and cell phones were not holding more than a few minutes.

I talked with Delta and Orbitz and both were very appreciative of the need to be in Freeport by no later than 2pm so we don't miss the boat. Given the massive number of flights cancelled and delayed due to the severe weather, I would actually EXPECT curt service but both were very sympathetic and in between being cut off as the phones came in and out, by 11pm Friday night, there were no alternatives on flights from Memphis, Little Rock (a three hour drive) or Nashville (a 3 hour drive). There were no flights that would get us to Atlanta or Charlotte in time to get on a plane and land in Freeport in time to catch the boat. But despite my expectations, both Delta and Orbitz were incredibly sympathetic and kind in trying to work something out. There were just too many tornados in everyone's way.

We hope we are lucky enough to have this work out too. It does leave a bitter taste tho knowing that it wasnt that we just sat back and didnt even TRY... we were blocked at every step of the way in trying to resolve a solution or even communicate the problem.

Again, we understand not bumping off someone, but if there are known empty bunks for Oct 3, why cant we be written in? The boat we were supposed to be on was only taking 15 (out of a possible 24).

I 100% agree with no refund. I just dont fully agree with 2-weeks notice for standby indefinately.

But it is what it is and we'll try what we can.

[maggs_the]

Originally Posted by JCAT

I'm sorry, no cheese because I don't consider your post a whine. More like stating the facts, but it does bring up some talking points that should be discussed for everyone's knowledge.

I thought that it was some kind of airline law that if they canceled a flight, they had to find the next one regardless of the airline. I've actually seen my wife use this before.

Dive Assure only kicks in with named storms?

again, hope you get to take your trip.

cheers

Dive Assure has multi levels of coverage, but even the Diamond level only covers weather if it is a named storm.

They are primarily covering dive related medical issues and loss of property and repatriotation of remains (heaven forbid).

Just a lot of little nuances that "now we know" ...

For any live aboard, not just DAN and not just Dive Assure and not just American Express Travel Delay.... get specific Trip Insurance that covers for any reason.

I think I need to stop thinking about this. I'm starting to make myself ill

[chinacat46]

Originally Posted by maggs_the

Dive Assure has multi levels of coverage, but even the Diamond level only covers weather if it is a named storm.

They are primarily covering dive related medical issues and loss of property and repatriotation of remains (heaven forbid).

Just a lot of little nuances that "now we know" ...

For any live aboard, not just DAN and not just Dive Assure and not just American Express Travel Delay.... get specific Trip Insurance that covers for any reason.

I think I need to stop thinking about this. I'm starting to make myself ill

I guess that means Dive Assure doesn't cover blizzards then. So if a blizzard were to come in and close down the Denver airport for a couple of days(rare but it has happened) they wouldn't cover it?

[maggs_the]

Originally Posted by chinacat46

I guess that means Dive Assure doesn't cover blizzards then. So if a blizzard were to come in and close down the Denver airport for a couple of days(rare but it has happened) they wouldn't cover it?

that is correct based on what Dive Assure told me yesterday when I called to ask if I had to wait for the stand-by possibility or if we could claim the botched trip.. I have the next step down from Diamond and she stopped me before I could get thru my story and said, "let me stop you there.. even the Diamond plan only covers trip insurance for weather if it is from a 'named' storm"

one of my friends today said, "i hear they DID name it... Hurricane Elvis"

i know the mayor of Shelby County is gathering data to present to the state hoping they will declare the county a disaster area in need of aid.

(AAHH!! why do i keep coming to check this and torturing myself?!?)

[maggs_the]

Blackbeard's told me they spent my $1800 on last week's trip.

I told them I was already aware the boat would go out with or without us because it was only half full when we got our reservations.

Blackbeard's told me they would have taken $1000 less in provisions had they known we were not coming.

I told them "$1000?? really?"

Blackbeard's told me it wouldnt cost them anything if there is an empty space to allow us to go on a future trip.

I said, "not even $1000 for provisions?"

Blackbeard's says they are better than their competition because their competition has cancelled trips 4 weeks in a row for no reason and not refunded money.

I said, "your competition made a quick buck but with business practices like that, they will not be in business much longer and may be in court or jail"

Blackbeard's says they understand we claim a severe storm with multiple tornados came thru and tore down power lines, phone lines and created havoc with cell phones, but they insist there had to be at least ONE WORKING PHONE in Memphis that we could have used.

I said, "that is incredibly insulting since you have no idea how hard we tried to communicate and how late we were up trying to find a solution.. how DARE you.. and are you saying if we HAD been able to call Saturday morning that you would be more willing to allow us to rebook??"

Blackbeard's said, "no. i'm just saying there had to be a phone working somewhere."

???????????????

I am not easily riled. I am the consumate Libra.. balance and scales.. I may not like an answer, but I can at least reason.

Blackbeard's could not give me any reasonable explanation why they would not work with us in any way and why they insisted on hurling insult after insinuation after insult.

BUYER BEWARE that DAN and Dive Assure trip protection does not necessarily cover trips cancelled due to bad weather. It is much more specific than that so check your coverage (the writing, not the phone call). You will need Trip Insurance that covers scenerios like this because this is a liveaboard that cost $899 per person, but these are the same people who run the Aquacat and Cat Palau which are much more expensive but follow the same rules.

It may take us 10 years, but we have a written agreement with Blackbeard's that they will allow us to call 7 days prior to a trip and if there is empty space available, they will let us go.

and yes. i talked with the owner and was stunned that his version of "customer service" was the same as the first employee that we were floored by.