Same-day flight.....?

Considering doing the Conquest from FLL June 12.

Have always flown in day before & wondered about doing it same day next time...

I can get a (Air Canada) flight from my home city to Toronto (yes I'm in Canada,eh) then connect to a A/C non-stop to FLL, that's scheduled to arrive FLL 11:40am. Boat leaves at 4pm.

I know MOST will prob. say "Don't do it!", But would like to hear from some who HAVE done the same-day flights.

If ship sails at 4pm, what's the very latest you can actually board? And, if I do run into delays is there any point in contacting Carnival?

Have you checked into having Carnival book your flight? They are more likely to wait a (reasonable) amount of time for delayed guests. Of course if your luggage doesn't take the same trip as you, you may be wearing the same thing all cruise!:eek:

Considering doing the Conquest from FLL June 12.

Have always flown in day before & wondered about doing it same day next time...

I can get a (Air Canada) flight from my home city to Toronto (yes I'm in Canada,eh) then connect to a A/C non-stop to FLL, that's scheduled to arrive FLL 11:40am. Boat leaves at 4pm.

I know MOST will prob. say "Don't do it!", But would like to hear from some who HAVE done the same-day flights.

If ship sails at 4pm, what's the very latest you can actually board? And, if I do run into delays is there any point in contacting Carnival?

I've done Toronto to FLL, Miami, and Orlando the same day for cruises. Not 100% sure but I think 2:30 pm would be the latest for check-in. It can't hurt to contact Carnival if you run late but it probably won't help either.

If you are doing this have a plan B just in case your flights are late. Are there other flights you could catch to Toronto? To FLL from Toronto? If you miss boarding in FLL, can you board at the next port? If so what would be the cost vs. blowing off the cruise entirely and spending the week somewhere in Florida?

If the plan B's are not appealing to you or to your pocketbook, can you rebook your flights the day before?

Check the on time performance for your specific flight and then decide if you want to take the risk.

http://www.flightstats.com/company/monthly-performance-reports/airlines/

The question top ask is "Why fly in same day?"

If it's just because I want to, or to see if it can be done, don't bother. Fly in the day before. See when you arrive and satisfy your curiosity that way.

If it's because of work our family obligations that is a different story. In which case you need to have a good Plan B or C, especially when travelling with connecting flights with an international leg. Too many things can go wrong to justify doing it same day just because. Hotel rooms are cheap insurance for airline issues.

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Yikes. This would make me very nervous.

I booked a HAL cruise from FLL - in June 2002 about three days before sailing because the fare was so rediculously low - and also booked a 11:00 AM flight from New York - again because of great deal. I probably got out of the airport at about 2:00 and got to the cruise terminal about 2:30 - the crowds were gone , I pretty much walked straight on board.

Thinking about it later i realized how lucky (and foolish) I had been. Yes, I made it with no sweat or waiting around - but never considered trying that sort of stupid stunt again.

Consider carry-on luggage only. The 20 to 30 minutes you save could make a difference if your flight is delayed.

It's a short taxi ride from the airport to the port. Should work almost all the time

Not everyone can fly in "day prior"...and yet, 99.9% make the ship. You will have plenty of time, as long as there are no flight delays. As you know, stuff CAN happen, but an early flight in June should be ok.

The vast majority of the time you will be fine with this schedule. BUT....if anything goes wrong, you might miss your cruise. It's the chance of missing the cruise, not the chances of making it that is important. Bad weather, equipment malfunctions, crew availability, computer system crashes, evacuation of airport, airline employee strike, and even a flat tire on the way to the airport can cost you a lot of money if you miss the cruise.

Not everyone can fly in "day prior"...and yet, 99.9% make the ship. You will have plenty of time, as long as there are no flight delays. As you know, stuff CAN happen, but an early flight in June should be ok.

These days if you miss your flight, or it gets cancelled for some reason, there are often no seats available for hours because the planes almost always fly full during the late morning and early afternoon. It is usually possible to get seats on an evening flight, but that will be much too late for the ship.

Personally, I am not much of a gambler when hundreds or thousands of dollars are at stake. I always fly in at least one day early.

One thing that people from the northern part of the country overlook is the number of flights that are canceled/delayed in the Southeast due to summer lightening and thunderstorms. It's a big problem for flights going in and out of Atlanta.

Roz

Back a few decades ago we never considered going a day early.

With the flight delays, cancelled flights, overbooking and other current conditions I wouldn't consider it unless I was willing to risk not making the cruise or until first port of call.

We always do same day flights if we can reach the first port of call easily in case our flight is delayed and we cannot reach the port by the time it sails.

Had a same day flight just last March out of EWR to FLL. A week before, heavy rains were the forecast till flight day. We made it but were stressed the whole week.

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Due to work obligations until this year we always flew in morning of cruise. We traveled with carry on only, first flight of the morning and had transport to the ship scoped out. Always made it though it was on occasion nerve wracking.

Considering doing the Conquest from FLL June 12.

Have always flown in day before & wondered about doing it same day next time...

I can get a (Air Canada) flight from my home city to Toronto (yes I'm in Canada,eh) then connect to a A/C non-stop to FLL, that's scheduled to arrive FLL 11:40am. Boat leaves at 4pm.

The thing you also have to make sure is that you have plenty of time when connecting in YYZ as you have to clear US immigration

The mornings the lines can be long

Take carry on if you can otherwise I think you need to pick up bags & drop them for the connecting flight

Thanks for replies. Yes, the "stress" factor might tip the scales!!! :)

I'd like to hear from anyone who actually DID "miss the boat"! Most comments say you did make it OK .....

:)

I'd like to hear from anyone who actually DID "miss the boat"!...

What is your itinerary? If, for instance, the first port of call is a cruise line's private island where you tender, you'd be hard-pressed to join the ship there. You'd have to go to the next port of call which could actually be days away.

Please reconsider this and don't fly same day. We missed check-in for a flight in Toronto once by 5 minutes. Thankfully it was several days before and we were re-scheduled for later that day, but had it been same day, we would have missed the ship.

.

All of our cruises we have flown in the day of. I am planning to fly in the day of. Just take the earliest flight out. The worst than can happen is if there is a hurricane but you will know well in advance. I always do carry on for my luggage. I believe if you can leave early enough you should be fine.

....... The worst than can happen is if there is a hurricane but you will know well in advance. I always do carry on for my luggage. I believe if you can leave early enough you should be fine.

" The worst than can happen is if there is a hurricane"????? Seriously? Tell that to the thousands of passengers in London who suffered when ALL British Air flights were cancelled yesterday due to a global computer failure. Even today many flights were cancelled, going into the second day. No hurricane in sight, and no warning in advance. I would bet that those people would challenge your assertion that a hurricane is the worst that can happen.

There are many, many "worst that can happen" besides a hurricane. Take you chances, and you just may have to deal with the unfortunate results if one of the many "worst that can happen" situations occurs to you.

We have friends (who might see this post) who recently cruised on HAL out of Ft Lauderdale. They decided to try a same day Air Canada flight since the spring weather is normally OK....and they could have always caught their ship the following day (it went to Port Canaveral). So, their Air Canada flight was delayed about 3 hours...because the crew got in late the night before....and had to comply with rest requirements. They got to Ft Lauderdale in plenty of time...because their cruise ship was delayed over 6 hours by a mechanical problem. In their case, it all worked out.

So my message to the OP is simple. If there is a delay or cancellation of your flight....are you OK catching up the following day (possibly at your own expense?), And if you need to check some luggage, are you OK if your luggage gets delayed (or lost) and you have to rush onto your cruise without your checked luggage?

Hank

We were flying to FLL through Toronto once when boarding was delayed because a defective aircraft had to be replaced. It took close to two hours before the replacement plane was ready for boarding.

On another flight we went out over the Gulf of Mexico and flew around for awhile waiting for thunderstorms over south Florida to subside.

Last year we arrived in San Diego at noon. Our missing bag arrived at 5:30 the next day. Luckily we had flown in three days early for our cruise, which is what we always do.

We fly out of a small airport and if the flight is cancelled due to weather it is difficult to just hop on the next flight as the small planes are usually full. Allowing wiggle room is an absolute must.

Flying in the same day would be too stressful to contemplate.

Deciding to fly in same day cannot be determined by how many people have made it. It had to be determined by what well happen if your flight is cancelled.

Everything can go right. Leave on time with a perfectly good airplane but somewhere over the Middle of Nowhere another passenger has a medical emergency forcing the plane to divert.

The fact you have a cruise to be on that day won't get the plane in the air if the crew times out while the plane is prepped for take off.

That's not even considering weather, connections, labor disputes, etc.

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" The worst than can happen is if there is a hurricane"????? Seriously? Tell that to the thousands of passengers in London who suffered when ALL British Air flights were cancelled yesterday due to a global computer failure. Even today many flights were cancelled, going into the second day. No hurricane in sight, and no warning in advance. I would bet that those people would challenge your assertion that a hurricane is the worst that can happen.

 

There are many, many "worst that can happen" besides a hurricane. Take you chances, and you just may have to deal with the unfortunate results if one of the many "worst that can happen" situations occurs to you.

I don't live in fear and what is the chances of that happening during the time of his cruise in the US is slim to none. Technology issues is uncontrollable and that can happen the day before he plans to fly in for his cruise it could happen the day of. I have successfully flew in the day of to cruises in Miami and San Juan. No problems. So don't instill your fear onto others. Since your speaking of those chances. There is always a chance yours hip could have mechanical failure but I see you still get on the ship.

Thanks for replies. Yes, the "stress" factor might tip the scales!!! :)

I'd like to hear from anyone who actually DID "miss the boat"! Most comments say you did make it OK .....

:)

Flying the night before also reduces the chances for a luggage mishap.

I didn't miss the boat, but on my last cruise we met a family whose luggage didn't make a connecting flight. The luggage got to town later that day but too late to make the ship. The luggage caught up to the ship a few days later. But it would have been much nicer for them to have it delivered to their hotel the night before the cruise, or early the next day.