An argument for not flying in the day of the cruise

So when I was younger and could get 6am flights at a local regional airport down to Ft. Lauderdale (getting in around 9 a.m.) I rolled the dice and flew in the day of the cruise to save money and time. I also never got insurance as our health insurance worked out of the country .Never had a problem. So.....I was sitting at LGA thinking about all the money I "wasted" on the past couple of cruises flying in the day before for a hotel and also insurance (our health insurance does not work out of the country at this time) when along comes a very unhappy looking family.

Turns out they had booked a "day of" flight out of LGA to Miami that was supposed to leave very early. LGA has probably 10 or 11 non-stop flights to Miami. Anyway, something happened to their flight and they had to be wait listed on the next flight. This was the only flight that would get them there in time. They didn't make the flight. The Mom was so upset because they hadn't bought insurance plus couldn't afford to fly on their own dime to the first port of call. They left and were extremely disappointed. I felt really sorry for them because obviously they lost the cost of the cruise (maybe they could get a flight credit). I also made a mental note to be grateful I can now afford the hotel and insurance. I know there are numerous threads on this topic but to me this is an example of what can happen.

The worst way to start a cruise is to stress about whether or not you will make it on time. I know some people always say it is impossible to fly in the day before ("I'm a teacher and can't take Friday off", etc.) but I agree that whenever possible, fly in the day before. The peace of mind is well worth the cost IMO.

In today's age, flights get delayed or cancelled all the time (weather, mechanical issues, "late arriving aircraft", the dreaded "flight crew has exceeded their maximum hours and we can't find another one"). Just not worth the stress to try and save the cost of one night's hotel and meals.

Always fly day before.

No exceptions.

We have to travel from New Zealand to the Northern Hemisphere for most of our cruises and would NEVER consider arriving at the departure port on departure day; we always make sure we are there two days before. Just in case!!

If we go uk to Europe were happy to fly same day if we take the cruise line flights but there so much more expensive so we try to go the night before even if we arrive at 1am. But international its always the day before, we can't take the risk or stress

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We always add in one day (or at least two if we are flying across the country with a connecting stop or international). Last year on our Panama Canal cruise we had to fly from Seattle to Miami with a layover in Los Angeles. No problems from Seattle to LA. Our flight from LA to Miami was ultimately cancelled due to mechanical issues and we did not fly out until the next day. And that was after 3 hours of sitting on the plane at the gate while they tried unsuccessfully to fix the unspecified issue.

We were so happy and relieved that we had built in that extra time. And we ended up only being able to stay in Miami one night before the cruise instead of two, but that's a much better alternative than missing the ship! We don't want to have to start our vacation with so much stress of wondering will we make the ship on time and we would never consider flying in on cruise departure date. If we can afford thousands of dollars for the cruise we can spend a little more for a hotel room and to have the peace of mind.

So you want to bet against the odds:

ODDS:

Weather:

Weather at your departure airport - weather at the destination airport (and connection airport)

A lesser event - roads are a mess accidents the usual fine mayhem

More winter related than summer -BUT- tell that to the hurricanes and tornados

Airlines:

There is always the potential of a mechanical delay leading to a cancellation

End of the month airline crew time gets critical

Previous day the crew was out late and played too hard - crew rest delay

Beginning of the month airlines shuffling equipment around on new schedule -

WHOOPS - the biggie airplane you had reservations on is now a smaller one and oversold

Other:

You are playing the Cruise Game and lose a turn - left docs or Passport ID at home

The FEDUP delivery folks can't positively get your stuff to you in time

Your luggage gets waylaid and sent to Tipperary or was it Timbuktu - you are doing this

cruise on the cheap so what are you going to do about clothes

You want more excuses - isn't this enough !

I like the statement from a movie "Stupid is what stupid does"

All the best plans defeated by timing out !

So you want to bet against the odds:

 

ODDS:

 

Weather:

Weather at your departure airport - weather at the destination airport (and connection airport)

A lesser event - roads are a mess accidents the usual fine mayhem

More winter related than summer -BUT- tell that to the hurricanes and tornados

 

Airlines:

There is always the potential of a mechanical delay leading to a cancellation

End of the month airline crew time gets critical

Previous day the crew was out late and played too hard - crew rest delay

Beginning of the month airlines shuffling equipment around on new schedule -

WHOOPS - the biggie airplane you had reservations on is now a smaller one and oversold

 

Other:

You are playing the Cruise Game and lose a turn - left docs or Passport ID at home

The FEDUP delivery folks can't positively get your stuff to you in time

Your luggage gets waylaid and sent to Tipperary or was it Timbuktu - you are doing this

cruise on the cheap so what are you going to do about clothes

 

You want more excuses - isn't this enough !

I like the statement from a movie "Stupid is what stupid does"

 

All the best plans defeated by timing out !

But what are the odds of missing the ship? 95%, 90% 10%, 5%?

Big difference between a 90% chance of missing the ship and a 10% chance.

Which is it ?

I will add my own recent horror story. We were to sail on the Jade out of Hamburg on July 16 so I booked flights for July 14. We were to spend the 15th in a Hamburg hotel. We had a 3 hour layover in AtL so was just a little worried but knew there were lots of flights out of ATL to Europe. Well our flight was 3 hours late leaving, but our aircraft was still at the gate in ATL but they wouldn't let us board....said gate was closed....code for we gave your business class seats away because the flight was oversold! The rest of the trip was a nightmare. We finally arrived in Hamburg about 2:00pm on the 16th. The ship was to sail at 5:00 but all aboard time was 3:00 pm!

Now I'm fighting with the insurance company who sold me trip delay insurance!

But what are the odds of missing the ship? 95%, 90% 10%, 5%?

Big difference between a 90% chance of missing the ship and a 10% chance.

 

Which is it ?

Whatever you want the odds to be !

I much rather play a certain game of throwing darts blindfolded at a revolving dart board knowing that

the percentages are definitely not in my favor.

You take your chances and if you miscalculate - reset the clock and see if it makes a difference in

your getting to the ship on time.

All the posts so far have been in favor of the day early option - yours is leaning which way ?

Of course you may achieve a 100% but then there will come that day when - well lets not go there at this time.

There is an awkward degree of stress just thinking about it.

We have only cruised four times. The first time, we didn't know any better, and we flew in the day of the cruise, no problem.

For our second cruise, we were cruising out of Houston, but arranged to meet some people we had met on our first cruise for dinner the evening before, so we flew in the day before. On that flight, the airline somehow lost my luggage, and it didn't appear until late that evening. If we had flown in the day of the cruise and that had happened, I would have been cruising with the clothes on my back....not a good look!=:o

For our third cruise, we were cruising out of New York. We had an early morning flight the day before the cruise, but there was bad weather in Dallas that must have affected our incoming flights, and our flight was significantly delayed. Our flight that was supposed to land in New York at 10:00 a.m. got in at approximately 4:00 p.m. If that was the day of the cruise, we would have missed the ship!

Our fourth cruise and flight went off without a hitch - yes, we flew in the day before!

This is why we always fly in the day before. :ship:

We don't have to fly. We live 2 hours away from NYC but because we booked our last 3 cruises in the winter we always go a day ahead. Traffic to the port in the winter can be a nightmare. There was 3 ft of snow on the ground on one of our cruises and snow accumulating on the ship. We were glad we got there a day ahead...no telling, with closed roads, accidents etc if a delay due to all that would cause us to miss the ship. Better safe than sorry.

Whatever you want the odds to be !

 

I much rather play a certain game of throwing darts blindfolded at a revolving dart board knowing that

the percentages are definitely not in my favor.

 

You take your chances and if you miscalculate - reset the clock and see if it makes a difference in

your getting to the ship on time.

 

All the posts so far have been in favor of the day early option - yours is leaning which way ?

Of course you may achieve a 100% but then there will come that day when - well lets not go there at this time.

There is an awkward degree of stress just thinking about it.

I would like to know what are the odds of you missing the ship if you fly in the day of?

You made it sound like 100%.

Do you know what it actually is?

We're in the D.C. area and always fly in the day before. Preferably an early morning flight to leave a little cushion for flight delays etc. Our second time on the BA, we decide to hop on a 6am Amtrak to NYC. Although we arrived before 10am, I'll NEVER do that again. I was a nervous wreck [emoji15]

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Simple stuff.

We go day before. We get to enjoy the cruise city. If special, we go a few days before. About the dumbest thing I see people do is fly to Barcelona or Rome and go straight to the ship. Why?

That hotel is cheap.

By the way, insurance is WORTHLESS in my mind if you miss the ship. The ship still sails no matter what kind of insurance you have. You will NEVER get that day(s) back. Never.

I always come a couple of days before to make it a mini vacation. It once took me 3 days to get to sanDiego from Boston.Luckily it was a noncruise vacation. The first day was cancelled due to weather. The second day they were oversold due to the school vacation and made it out the 3rd day. we were put in first class one way as a gate agent took pity on us

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I would like to know what are the odds of you missing the ship if you fly in the day of?

You made it sound like 100%.

Do you know what it actually is?

I would imagine there's not a consistent percentage, it's probably about the same odds as your flight getting cancelled. That said, I think a small chance is even too much. It's more about peace of mind than playing the odds.

One of the major difference today, unlike 10 or 20 years ago, there are fewer airlines flying non-stops on wide body jets, you are likely booked on a 1 stop connection on a narrow tin can, like a B737-800 or A320, if you are LUCKY enough - and, not strapped into a CRJ commuter series (on a code-share partner) with 2-2 seating but virtually no overhead bin space for anything bigger than a small duffle bag.

Regardless of reasons for flight cancellations, guess how many standby seats are available to rebook a family of 4, behind those business flyers in J or F.

Landing "on-time" as defined by the FAA & airlines and collecting your luggage is just 3/4 of the challenge, follow the signage to ground transportation ahead ... LGA is a prime example of the changes ahead after decades of neglect, but it can be just about any major US airports, with a few exceptions.

I would imagine there's not a consistent percentage, it's probably about the same odds as your flight getting cancelled. That said, I think a small chance is even too much. It's more about peace of mind than playing the odds.

I think for most people you are right, it's about peace of mind. But for others it isn't. We are not all cut from the same cloth, as they say.

I will give you an example. We once flew from Toronto to Vancouver the morning of a cruise, because Mrs Dawg had a work commitment. The cruise was a 4 day Ccoastal down to L.A. and it was part of a longer Coastal Driving trip finishing up in San Francisco. It was arranged last minute and the cruise was, in total, $800. If we had missed the cruise it was no big deal, we would have just gone down to Seattle and rented a one way car rental and did the coast from there. That part was already planed and costed out as it was the original plan until the cruise came up. My point is not every cruise is a $2K or $5K or $10K loss if you miss it and not every cruise is so important that everyone is going to be so stressed about missing it.

I will say that if you do fly in the day of, know the odds, and accept them. i.e. a 10% chance of missing the cruise does not mean on the tenth trip you will miss the boat. It could be on # 1 and 2 and # 3 and then not 'till # 30. Also, have a Plan B, i.e. insurance, an alternate vacation spot, or a plan to catch up to the ship.

While I prefer to go a day ahead of time most of the doom and gloom scenarios that are painted in this thread are laughable. You guys clearly know something that the business world hasn't figured out yet, because thousands of business people fly to meetings on the day of the meeting, and they do it every day. The vast majority of flights arrive within 30 minutes of their scheduled arrival time. Flying in the day before can be just as risky as flying in the day of, because there are not a lot of empty seats and if a flight gets canceled it might take you three or four days to get to your destination. If your flight is simply delayed, then going the day before can be a cruise saver, but it is not likely to help with a canceled flight.

While I prefer to go a day ahead of time most of the doom and gloom scenarios that are painted in this thread are laughable. You guys clearly know something that the business world hasn't figured out yet, because thousands of business people fly to meetings on the day of the meeting, and they do it every day. The vast majority of flights arrive within 30 minutes of their scheduled arrival time. Flying in the day before can be just as risky as flying in the day of, because there are not a lot of empty seats and if a flight gets canceled it might take you three or four days to get to your destination. If your flight is simply delayed, then going the day before can be a cruise saver, but it is not likely to help with a canceled flight.

Car crashes and house fires are statistically pretty rare, too, but most people recognize the benefit of seat belts and smoke detectors.

Yes! Flights are more full than ever and all the reasons stated so far are so important. 12 years ago we were taking a cruise from Port Canaveral on a Saturday and booked flights for Thursday afternoon. Delta. Thunderstorms in Atlanta backed up all the flights that day. Our 5pm flight was estimate to go at 9pm. Maybe. We sat. And it was canceled. We waited our turn to talk to them. Cheerfully, she said "We can get you there Tuesday!" huh? This was 12 ago, mind you! We said, can you please get our luggage released? We have enough time to drive from Rochester NY to Florida if we get going now.

She asked us to sit for a few more minutes. Then waved us back up. She traded boarding passes for us and told us to board the flight that was now boarding (from 3 hours earlier.) She had bumped 3 people for us because we were so polite about the situation. What a break.

So when I was younger and could get 6am flights at a local regional airport down to Ft. Lauderdale (getting in around 9 a.m.) I rolled the dice and flew in the day of the cruise to save money and time. I also never got insurance as our health insurance worked out of the country .Never had a problem. So.....I was sitting at LGA thinking about all the money I "wasted" on the past couple of cruises flying in the day before for a hotel and also insurance (our health insurance does not work out of the country at this time) when along comes a very unhappy looking family.

Turns out they had booked a "day of" flight out of LGA to Miami that was supposed to leave very early. LGA has probably 10 or 11 non-stop flights to Miami. Anyway, something happened to their flight and they had to be wait listed on the next flight. This was the only flight that would get them there in time. They didn't make the flight. The Mom was so upset because they hadn't bought insurance plus couldn't afford to fly on their own dime to the first port of call. They left and were extremely disappointed. I felt really sorry for them because obviously they lost the cost of the cruise (maybe they could get a flight credit). I also made a mental note to be grateful I can now afford the hotel and insurance. I know there are numerous threads on this topic but to me this is an example of what can happen.

to each his own, but not flying in a day early, unless you have a direct flight, no weather concerns and time to waste, it is just plaint stupid not to fly in a day ahead of time, plus it is so relaxing to get in the day before, enjoy the area and get to the ship early

I work in the airline industry. I'm a pilot. I can tell you thousands upon thousands of horror stories related to this...several I have experienced personally.

I can remember flying in the day before a cruise back in 2010. My wife was on a ticket in the back and I was hitching a ride in the observer's seat in the cockpit. An hour out of Ft. Lauderdale, we get put into a holding pattern out over the Gulf. The Expect Further Clearance Time (the time we're supposed to be cleared out of the hold) was over an hour from the time we got the clearance. Needless to say, no one plans to have THAT much fuel on board. Next thing I know, we're headed to Tampa. Turns out line after line of thunderstorms were crossing Florida from west to east. We were on the ground for 3 hours in Tampa. Over a dozen people missed their cruises. 6 people onboard that plane got to watch the Carnival Miracle sail as we taxied in.

A few years ago, I was working a trip. We were headed from Charlotte down to Ft. Lauderdale. We were supposed to depart around 11:30ish. The airplane that was supposed to make up our flight had a mechanical delay was going to be well 2-3 hours late. Dispatch was working on finding us a new airplane. They found one, but it was going to be almost 1pm before we were going to be able to (airplane was on it's way in, but had to be deplaned, cleaned, catered and reboarded) depart. As luck would have it, that airplane also had a maintenance issue that was written up on the way in and had to be cleared I had at least 10-15 people come up to me in the gate saying they were catching a cruise ship and that we had to go. Nothing I can do, except sympathize. I believe they made it, since we were in Ft. Lauderdale around 2ish, but I sure wouldn't want the stress they endured. Not a way to start a vacation.

Bottom line, there are so many factors in the airline industry that people rarely think about. The weather at your departure city, connection and destination could be great. However, there could be a giant thunderstorm over Virginia (if you're flying down the east coast). Guess what? Air Traffic Control in Washington is going to be severely restricting airplanes through that area, as it is some of the most congested airspace in the country. Or again, weather is great on your route, however, the plane is coming in from someplace else with crummy weather and is delayed. Or the crew is delayed from the night before. There are so many moving parts around the airline, it's not worth the risk.

Bottom line: fly down the day before, enjoy a nice relaxing dinner and start your vacation stress-free. Airlines will stress you out...GUARANTEED.

While I prefer to go a day ahead of time most of the doom and gloom scenarios that are painted in this thread are laughable. You guys clearly know something that the business world hasn't figured out yet, because thousands of business people fly to meetings on the day of the meeting, and they do it every day. The vast majority of flights arrive within 30 minutes of their scheduled arrival time. Flying in the day before can be just as risky as flying in the day of, because there are not a lot of empty seats and if a flight gets canceled it might take you three or four days to get to your destination. If your flight is simply delayed, then going the day before can be a cruise saver, but it is not likely to help with a canceled flight.

You're comparing apples and oranges. When I travel for business, I'm travelling alone. If I miss the meeting, it gets rescheduled or happens with me attending by phone. My travel arrangements are changed quickly because I'm alone. I usually have a carry on and a purse.

If I'm travelling with my family of 4, things are significantly more expensive and challenging to organize. Air travel isn't the luxury it used to be, flights are overbooked and delayed on a fairly regular basis. We have multiple checked bags and carry ons for each person. We almost always have to transfer, which adds another potential delay. We live in Canada and travel in the winter, so weather delays have happened to us too.

Leaving a day early to increase the chance of an enjoyable vacation is an easy choice. As a previous poster mentioned, we too drive to NYC a day early even though we are a 7 hour drive. We have encountered horrible snow storms that have turned this into a 13+ hour trip, and were grateful to get to the ship on time!

For us, the risks of travelling the day of a cruise are simply too high.

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