Same day flight to HNL

I just found out that due to work I'll have to fly in the day of embarkation in Hawaii. I hate doing that, but it looks like I won't have much choice. Flying out of San Diego, there is a 9:45 AM flight that arrives at 12:45. The ship leaves at 8 PM, is this cutting it too close? We could travel to LAX if we really had to for an earlier flight...Any input is appreciated! FYIW, its on the Jewel in October.

While not ideal, it is a non stop flight and even if it is running late you will likely be fine. The good thing is that since the cruise never leaves the US you can always catch up the next day. Inter-island flights are plentiful.

I just found out that due to work I'll have to fly in the day of embarkation in Hawaii. I hate doing that, but it looks like I won't have much choice. Flying out of San Diego, there is a 9:45 AM flight that arrives at 12:45. The ship leaves at 8 PM, is this cutting it too close? We could travel to LAX if we really had to for an earlier flight...Any input is appreciated! FYIW, its on the Jewel in October.

Check the on-time record for that flight to see how reliable it is.

Having a travel insurance helps just in case.

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Thanks for the replies. The ship is scheduled to leave at 8 PM, and you are supposed to be onboard 2 hours before it sails, day of embarkation, from what I read. Is the check in staff there until 6 PM then?

As it is an Internal not an International flight and you are carrying US passports you should be through Customs and Immigration (if you have to go to either) well before 2pm. It is only a half hour ride to the pier so you have plenty of leeway. If it is a direct flight you really only have to worry if either airport is closed or the flight badly delayed at San Diego.

We are on that cruise and looking forward to all the new ports to Sydney.

Just be careful that the plane you're flying on isn't coming on an inbound flight from the East coast. If that flight is delayed yours will be too. There is no red-eye you can take the night before?

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There is one at 6.20am flying United via LAX that gets into HNL at 10.34am if you want an extra couple of hours. It has only 31 minutes in LAX.

Does the airline flown endorse tickets on other legacy carriers in case the 9:45 departure is MX (mechanical cancelled) or otherwise unable to take off & reach HNL ? Keep in mind that it often takes the airline - pilot, ground crew & maintenance 1 to 2 hours, if not more, to throw their towels in with a "minor" issue & cancelled the delayed departure - and, start booking pax on other/later flights.

In this case - can you fly with just carry-on / pack light as you do NOT want to have, say, AA rebook & reroute you on DL with confirmed seats but unable to retrieve your luggage ? LCC & airlines like JetBlue do NOT endorse their tickets for pax to fly on United, you can only fly on another "B6" flight to your destination.

Look at all flight options after 10 or 11 AM out of San Diego vs. LAX, odds are that there are more flights between LAX and HNL - although, last time I checked - even the big 3 have reduced their schedules and with high load factors, their capacities to "absorb" easily & quickly a planeload's worth of "stranded" or distressed pax from a cancelled flight are often limited ... or, they would need to roll a backup aircraft with a fresh team of pilot, first officer & FA's to fly across the "pond" as it's a 6 hour run - the original crew might be at risk of going over their duty limits for flying time vs. mandatory rest period in-between.

Here's how it might play out - flight booked, checked in & push back from the gate for on-time departure, while on taxiway and being #3 for wheels up, warning lights come on ... out of the loop for ground maintenance check, parts retrieved & replaced, attempted to reset & unable to get safety sign-off 90 minutes later. Flight cancelled & towed back to gate @ 11:30 (or, this could just be weather or fog/smog related or ATC "ground stop" issued at the airport) - pax deplaned & lined up to see gate agents to rebook, wait for luggage - run for the gate at the "other" terminal (now boarding ... final call) for 2 PM departure.

Thankfully, a strong tailwind, wheels down & at HNL gate @ 4:45 PM local time - run for taxi with carry-on luggage, 30 minutes to the pier @ 5:45 PM ... 15 minutes to spare for checking in & going thru security before boarding POA. (No CBP or passport checks, just approved government ID needed)

Whew ! (Please re-check cutoff time for boarding, it might be 1 hour before 8 PM sailing - when we sailed a few years ago, we sat & waited at the downtown HNL pier until 10:30 PM b/c those booked by NCL Air were delayed inbound from LAX, so the ship, crew & pax all enjoyed a fine evening & dinner at the pier, and we're on deck 13 watching them coming in, very late. But, NCLA's decision was to sit and wait ... not true if you are booking your own flight arrangement - have trip insurance, it is a must. Next morning, we still arrived at our first port early/on-time ... those jetlagged already gone to bed when we sailed from the pier under beautiful moonlight as the Waikiki faded away.

Check ontime and what is your backup plan? (even if 1 hour late on a regular basis, it is still fine). You have lots of leeway on time. You only concern is VERY late flights or cancels - if they exist.

Customs? Immigration? There is none that someone posted.

Insurance? Not going to help you one single bit to get to the ship on time. Not one bit. If the ship leaves, all the insurance in the world will not fix it. Yea, it will help with expenses, but not getting there on time.

I would not normally do even a short connection if possible. The ONLY reason to go through LAX is that there are multiple flight options - I assume.

As to a NCL flight being late and they waited. Chances are, there are other NCL folks on YOUR flight too.

Thank you, everyone who posted. It's an Alaska Air flight, and San Diego is a small hub of theirs, so if there are issues, there is a chance they'll have another plane available, but it has to be certified to do the flight to Hawaii, and most aren't. The other option after that is a Hawaii air flight that leaves later.

The latest flight is 7:30 PM on the day before out of LAX, other flights that leave later do an overnight connection and basically back to a flight that leaves day of departure. That means leaving around 3-4 and dealing with traffic and possible missing the flight. I've literally sat in traffic for 1 hour just a mile outside of LAX parking terminal and nearly missed flights because of it.

LAX is a better option in case theres an issue, but getting there is not a fun experience. Back up plan would be to miss ship due to late flight, overnight in HNL and take inter-island to next port of call. Certainly not ideal, but much better than a Transatlantic cruise with 7 sea days to start out or another with a couple of sea days before the next port.

I just found out that due to work I'll have to fly in the day of embarkation in Hawaii. I hate doing that, but it looks like I won't have much choice. Flying out of San Diego, there is a 9:45 AM flight that arrives at 12:45. The ship leaves at 8 PM, is this cutting it too close? We could travel to LAX if we really had to for an earlier flight...Any input is appreciated! FYIW, its on the Jewel in October.

I would go with the original plan where the fewest possible calamities could occur !

Research shows your flight to be Hawaiian 15 - departing 10:15am arriving 1:30pm

That flight originates * at San Diego (SAN) with Airbus A330 equipment a very reliable airplane

* HA flight 16 the previous day (night) 10:45pm arrival makes up HA 15 the next day

On arrival at HNL claim your luggage and a take 20 minute shuttle or taxi ride to the port.

Everything clicking OK you should be having a sail-a-way drink on deck shortly after 3pm 5 hours

before sailing and 3 hours before check-in and muster drill requirements.

Note on arrival at Honolulu there are no security border or customs activities and on leaving the only

government intervention other than the TSA is the Hawaiian Agriculture Inspection * Leave the Hawaiian

flora and fauna; green and black sand; coral; volcanic ash (red hot or dormant) least you upset Madam Pele

and bring a host of bad luck on the return home ! Maybe LOL and then maybe not LOL !

Avoid LAX (Los Angeles) unless your connection is an hour and a half (1.30) or more which threatens your timely Honolulu arrival.

There are no Red Eye trips west bound to Hawaii unless on a foreign airline - the red-eyes are all timed going

east bound to the Mainland.

Check out the possibility of getting a very late flight the night before (7-9pm) but more in likely it will be out of

LAX and sold out delayed or fraught with escalating delays accumulated from the days activities.

That SAN departure is the best offered with the least amount of stress !

Another thing to keep in mind is you don't want to miss the made tor

Keep in mind you don't want to miss the mandatory muster drill which is around ~4:45 pm local on embarkation day or you need to make it up during the day later in the week - I think it is on Tuesday - which could impact your schedule.

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As it is an Internal not an International flight and you are carrying US passports you should be through Customs and Immigration (if you have to go to either) well before 2pm. It is only a half hour ride to the pier so you have plenty of leeway. If it is a direct flight you really only have to worry if either airport is closed or the flight badly delayed at San Diego.

We are on that cruise and looking forward to all the new ports to Sydney.

For US citizens from OP's location, it is a domestic flight and they never see customs. In fact for anyone on a flight from OP's location it is considered domestic and customs and immigration are not involved.