The perils of flying down the day of the cruise.

Maybe I missed it but were you trying to non rev? If so you are far more adventurous than I am! We fly confirmed ( at least a day early) to anything important such as a cruise and non rev home. Works well for us-except when our cruise ended in New Jersey just after hurricane Sandy hit. Of course nobody was flying anywhere that day, least of all us. Fortunately able to get on a flight the next morning. It wasn't to where we had originally intended but we eventually made it home.

You're right, we had thought there was a chance we could fly to Miami as a stand-by. In fact that was the LAST time we ever tried to do that for a cruise. The wife (hopefully) will retire in 2 years then we may consider that choice, as long as we can leave early enough to be there and don't HAVE to be back for her to return to a job. A time sensitive event like a cruise or important event and flying 'stand-by' do not mix. You are so right. :)

Mac

We have been delayed too often on trips to risk travelling to the port on the day of sailing, whether it be driving to Southampton, flying to Florida or.as we did once flying Florida to LA.

We have to get there anyhows, and find if you plan far enough ahead there are frequently great hotel deals to be had near the port.

Also, your flight may be on time, but you might not be able to get your luggage. We flew to FLL in September 2013. There was lightning off in the distance, so they could not unload the luggage for over two hours. If you're trying to get to a port and that happens, it might be a BIG problem, especially if you're going to Miami. Luckily, we flew in 2 days early to do some sightseeing, so it didn't affect our cruise.

Funny thing was, the storm/lightning was only at the end we came in on. I left to get the rental car while everyone else waited for the bags. It was sunny and clear skies when I got on the bus to the rental car spot!

But if you are flying in the spring or summer you are probably going to be ok.

Spoken by someone who never had a complete airport closure due to thunderstorms.

In fact, thunderstorms are even worse than snow on air operations. And more frequent. Whenever there is any reported lightning activity, all ramp activity will cease and personnel moved indoors. Flights don't move. For example, just in the past few days, MIA was closed due to storm activity and flights were diverted to Orlando. DFW is notorious for summer thunderstorms. Most airports can still operate in snow conditions, albeit with operational difficulties.

Spoken by someone who never had a complete airport closure due to thunderstorms.

 

In fact, thunderstorms are even worse than snow on air operations. And more frequent. Whenever there is any reported lightning activity, all ramp activity will cease and personnel moved indoors. Flights don't move. For example, just in the past few days, MIA was closed due to storm activity and flights were diverted to Orlando. DFW is notorious for summer thunderstorms. Most airports can still operate in snow conditions, albeit with operational difficulties.

I also thought this an odd comment, especially because poster gives their location as Richmond, VA. I have had flights delayed because of thunderstorms several times in the summer for departure from IAD.

I have flown in the day of both times for my cruises and have had zero problems. You just have to be smart about it. I always get the very first flight out to give us buffer time if we need it. Also, know the weather. If you are flying from the north in February it probably is a bad idea to fly day of. But if you are flying in the spring or summer you are probably going to be ok.

Unless a computer outage at a completely different airport grounds all of the flights.

I got into O'Hare last August expecting a 2 hour layover. I got concerned when my flight wasn't showing on any of the monitors. No alerts on my email, and the Web site was down. I found the airline service desk, and a line snaking through the entire terminal. Delta's computer system in Atlanta had gone down, grounding all of their jets and messing things up through the entire country. It took hours just to get to a person who could help me reroute. No way would have I made a cruise on time. I ended up getting to NYC a day late - and then had to wait an hour for my bag which was on the flight after mine.

A hotel room is around a hundred bucks. Seriously, it's worth paying that to make sure you don't miss the cruise you've paid $$$ for.

I have flown in the day of both times for my cruises and have had zero problems.

Do you mean you've only done two cruises? It's a pretty minuscule sample size from which to extrapolate any advice for others.

What I'd like to know are the actual facts. How often are domestic flights in the U.S cancelled outright or delayed significantly enough which would cause a missed cruise. Is it 10% of the time, 5%, or 1%? And are the stats any different for overseas flights, say from North America to Europe?

So far this thread to all anecdotal.:(

Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Part of the DoT.

More data than you can shake a stick at. Online for your reading pleasure.

Then again, as Dirty Harry said "So you gotta ask yourself. Do I feel lucky?"

Hubby travels 200 days a year so he's experienced many weather and mechanical delays out of Chicago. Since we always cruise the Sat or Sun after Thanksgiving, we fly out the day before. This year, we're flying out on Friday for an Allure Sunday sailing. The airfare was way less to fly on Friday than Saturday even though we're paying an extra night for a hotel. You just never know the weather in Chicago. Seems like SW will ground a plane for rain or wind and not just snow. It gets very frustrating to deal with the airlines so I would never fly in the day of a cruise.

What I'd like to know are the actual facts. How often are domestic flights in the U.S cancelled outright or delayed significantly enough which would cause a missed cruise. Is it 10% of the time, 5%, or 1%? And are the stats any different for overseas flights, say from North America to Europe?

As always, the bottom line is this: No form of travel is guaranteed to get you there in time for whatever you were travelling for. Things may go wrong. So accept that there is a risk, do what you can in advance to minimise it, do what you can to try to fix the problem if it starts going wrong, and remember that one day it will simply go so wrong that you will have to give up. Life is too short to start stressing about things you cannot change; you'll just make yourself sick.

Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Part of the DoT.

 

More data than you can shake a stick at. Online for your reading pleasure.

 

Then again, as Dirty Harry said "So you gotta ask yourself. Do I feel lucky?"

I'm always lucky, Harry. :)

It took about ten minutes but I found them. According to the BTS over the last decade approximately 20% of flights are delayed more the 15 minutes, 13% of flights are delayed 60-89 minutes and about 10% of U.S. flights are delayed for more than 2 hours.A it looks like about 2% - 4% of flights are cancelled outright. I couldn't see annual numbers on cancelations so I just randomly checked monthly data over the period. These numbers have been pretty constant over the past decade.

So if we assume that a two hour flight delay will cause a missed cruise it looks like if you fly in the sameday of your cruise you, on average, should miss your embarkation one in ten times.

The problem with broad averagesis that if you are not as lucky as DirtyDawg your experience might be 3 times out of ten and mine might be .3 times out of ten, or you might get your one missed embarkation the first time you cruise, not the tenth. Or your missed embarkation might be on a very expensive or meaningful cruise like your honeymoon, or 50th wedding anniversary and mine might be on a cheapo long weekend getaway cruise.

So circling back to FlyerTalker's Dirty Harry quote; I know what you're thinking. "Did he fly in ten times on the same day, or only nine?" Well to tell you the truth in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But this being a $10,000 30th anniversary cruise for Mrs. Dawg and she’s the powerful little lady in the world and would rip your head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?

:)

You just never know the weather in Chicago. Seems like SW will ground a plane for rain or wind and not just snow.

Again, even if the weather IS fine in Chicago, if your aircraft or crew are coming from somewhere else that has bad weather your flight can still be affected. And it's not always the airline's decision to halt operations. When an airport ramp closes for lightning for example, that decision isn't made by any particular airline. That's an airport and/or FAA decision. FAA also controls the flow of flights in and out and can issue a ground stop.

So circling back to FlyerTalker's Dirty Harry quote; I know what you're thinking. "Did he fly in ten times on the same day, or only nine?" Well to tell you the truth in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But this being a $10,000 30th anniversary cruise for Mrs. Dawg and she’s the powerful little lady in the world and would rip your head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?

:)

LIKE!

Erika

So circling back to FlyerTalker's Dirty Harry quote; I know what you're thinking. "Did he fly in ten times on the same day, or only nine?" Well to tell you the truth in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But this being a $10,000 30th anniversary cruise for Mrs. Dawg and she’s the powerful little lady in the world and would rip your head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?

:)

Pretty much sums up the whole personal risk tolerance question and how to approach it.

On behalf of Albert Popwell, thank you! Well done.

Of course flying in the daybefore your cruise will reduce the chances of missing embarkation but the realquestion is how much will it reduce your chances vs. how much does this'insurance' cost you.

Readingabout people missing their cruise and saying it proves that you should alwaysfly in the day before is like reading about someone won the lottery andconcluding that you should always buy lottery tickets because it happened tothem therefore it must happen to you. It ignores the cost of each and it ignores the oddsof the event occurring.

Agreed! I like your analogy.

Why not fly in two/three/four days before your cruise to be even more certain you won't miss it? ;p

If you have the time and the resources to fly/drive in early, do it. You reduce the risk of missing your cruise due to unforeseen travel delays.

If flying in early gives you peace of mind, and you have the time and resources, do it to reduce your anxiety.

I would love to always fly in early, but work/home/life schedules often don't allow it. I know and accept the risks. But I would never book a flight that arrived within 4-5 hours of ship departure, that's just cutting it too close in my opinion as minor delays are not unusual.

Choose the earliest flight of the day, try to always fly non-stop, etc. Nothing is 100% guaranteed. But to each their own.

Happy cruising to all.

Maybe I missed it but were you trying to non rev? If so you are far more adventurous than I am! We fly confirmed ( at least a day early) to anything important such as a cruise and non rev home. Works well for us-except when our cruise ended in New Jersey just after hurricane Sandy hit. Of course nobody was flying anywhere that day, least of all us. Fortunately able to get on a flight the next morning. It wasn't to where we had originally intended but we eventually made it home.

I fly non rev all the time, and with flying in early, has worked well for me. 6 cruises this year, with a Maui week in February.

Yep- I did miss a cruise in March- I was on the plane, sitting in business class so not a problem with being non rev.

I know the risks, I had a time crunch. My benefit was I managed to make my arrangements, and didn't fall apart or need any hand holding, to join the ship, which was not simple. there were 17 total people on the flight who missed the cruise. When, I joined it 2 days later with another person (nonrev) who followed me, we were the only 2 who made that cruise. Some of those who missed it, I'll speculate were on b2b for 17 days, so don't know, who may have been able to board for the next cruise.

It's not a perfect world. and it's clear, being naive with the thinking "it hasn't happened to me" means squat. You're fooling yourself. Plenty of people make cruises traveling the same day, roll the dice however, if it works out.

Spoken by someone who never had a complete airport closure due to thunderstorms.

 

In fact, thunderstorms are even worse than snow on air operations. And more frequent. Whenever there is any reported lightning activity, all ramp activity will cease and personnel moved indoors. Flights don't move. For example, just in the past few days, MIA was closed due to storm activity and flights were diverted to Orlando. DFW is notorious for summer thunderstorms. Most airports can still operate in snow conditions, albeit with operational difficulties.

First hand experience with this, in March. Sat almost 2 hours on the runway, with the Miami airport closed. Then upon supposing to land at EZE, a half hour prior that airport closed. Then a diverted flight and timing issues and a big house of card collapsing. :) Sure rained, then poured for me that trip. :)

Generally I try to arrive the day before a cruise departure. But since I usually use miles to travel, and since it was tough finding seats all the way from my home airport to Santiago, Chile arriving a day early using miles, I tried to mitigate the risk. Two days before the cruise departed I flew to Miami. Spent the night. Enjoyed the next day in Miami area. Had an evening non-stop flight from MIA to SCL, arriving early the next morning (6-7am). If that flight was delayed or canceled, I knew I had 2 other non-stop flight options later that evening. I also could have picked up the cruise 2 days later in another port. Fortunately all worked out just fine.

The funniest part of the story was that in the seat directly in front of me on the airplane was another passenger who was on the same cruise. He was taking the cruise ship's transfer. I was doing it independently. He paid about $90 for his transfer. I took a public bus from the airport to another bus that got me to Valparaiso. I walked around Valparaiso briefly and also did a small amount of shopping, then took a taxi to the cruise pier. My total cost was under $20 to get from the SCL airport to the cruise terminal. When I got to the check in line for the cruise, this passenger was only about 30 people ahead of me. :D. I am sure it was a lot of the typical cruise ship "hurry up and wait" instances.

Not really heartbreaking, they have no one to blame but themselves. Hopefully they've learned a valuable lesson about planning.

My exact same feelings. Going out two days in advance to Barcelona in June for the upcoming cruise. I never understood the thought of "let's fly down the same day the ship leaves" especially in Summer months since the FAA won't allow flights out due to the every day thunderstorms. You can have a storm in NYC and it effects flights everywhere it seems.

 

The funniest part of the story was that in the seat directly in front of me on the airplane was another passenger who was on the same cruise. He was taking the cruise ship's transfer. I was doing it independently. He paid about $90 for his transfer. I took a public bus from the airport to another bus that got me to Valparaiso. I walked around Valparaiso briefly and also did a small amount of shopping, then took a taxi to the cruise pier. My total cost was under $20 to get from the SCL airport to the cruise terminal. When I got to the check in line for the cruise, this passenger was only about 30 people ahead of me. :D. I am sure it was a lot of the typical cruise ship "hurry up and wait" instances.

I pretty much stay a night in Valparaiso since I really like it there, but have also just walked to the port gate from the bus station. Takes 10 minutes, and is well traveled. I use the Metro when I stay at the Ibis, which has a big grocery store next door. Using the Metro- Barone back to the port gate.

There is a new port building now so, at the port gate they shuttle you. Very cheap and simple . Not sure what you did, but easy to also just take the public buses in some Chili ports and bypass the cruise tours for a few dollars (Chilean pesos)

It is all about choice. If it is good for you who am I to comment. Not my concern. We fly in early because we are typically doing pre cruise land trips. Others don't. We really don't care one way or the other what some one else does or believes.

Until we finally miss a cruise for flying in the day of, my DH will continue to fly in the day of unless there is something we want to see in the embarkation port. However, from our experience a few years ago flying to Copenhagen from Florida, I think there is a lot to be said for considering at least a day early flight in the summer. We got there in time but it was close. Flying from Florida, we were routed to Chicago for our international flight with a 4 hour layover the DH was upset about. We left FL on time but were routed to STL because Chicago shut down due to thunderstorms. Our longish layover evaporated on a runway at STL (they did not let us off the plane saying they had to be ready just in case which finally happened). We had to run for the plane in Chicago. It was over half boarded when we got there. THEN we sat at the gate for another hour or so because another thunder storm came through! We lost our visit time in Copenhagen but did not have to wait for our cabin on the ship. Until several on our first flight told us, we would not have known that Chicago has a lot of shutdowns in the summer when there are storms. It probably is worth checking out the airports used in the summer.

Until we finally miss a cruise for flying in the day of ...

Until several on our first flight told us, we would not have known that Chicago has a lot of shutdowns in the summer when there are storms. It probably is worth checking out the airports used in the summer.

The "airports used in the summer" don't vary much from the "airports used in the winter." ;)

Sure, there are some seasonal routes that airlines fly only in summer (or in winter to ski destinations, for ex.) but most airports operate year round, and airline hubs don't change seasonally, so you're as likely to connect in a particular hub (Chicago, in this case) in the summer as you are any other time.

Furthermore, don't make the mistake of thinking you only need to be concerned with the weather at the actual airports you will fly from, through and to. The weather could be beautiful in Chicago, but your aircraft and crew will be arriving there from somewhere else that might have horrible weather. Even though it's bright and sunny where you are, you can still have a weather delay. And you can be affected by weather the day before as well; I've had morning flights delayed because the crew came in the night before later than expected due to weather and the morning flight had to wait until the late arriving crew met their mandatory rest requirement. Bottom line: Weather anywhere can affect flights anywhere else.