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The perils of flying down the day of the cruise.


one9marine
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Why would you change your future approach if you were to miss a cruise? You've been happily bearing the risk of missing the cruise every time you've done this because it's been worth it to you to bear that risk. So why wouldn't you carry on bearing that risk in the future just because there was one time when the risk went bad? Surely it will be just as worth it in the future as it has been in the past?

 

Or....just maybe the poster has figured out that, long past behavior aside, my assumptions about risk, exposure and risk tolerance have just been wrong all along and we're now recognizing it.

 

Lots say "there's no problem" and then when a problem arises and they survive by the skin of their teeth they say "never again". Because the risk/return equation has been disrupted.

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Or....just maybe the poster has figured out that, long past behavior aside, my assumptions about risk, exposure and risk tolerance have just been wrong all along and we're now recognizing it.

 

Lots say "there's no problem" and then when a problem arises and they survive by the skin of their teeth they say "never again". Because the risk/return equation has been disrupted.

In some cases, it'll be because they think that they're different and the bad thing will never actually happen to them because the same risk rules don't apply to them. And when the bad thing happens, they have to face up to the fact that they really are no different from everyone else, and that the bad thing can happen to them and really might happen again - so for future trips they really have to do the same risk evaluation exercise as other people do.
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In some cases, it'll be because they think that they're different and the bad thing will never actually happen to them because the same risk rules don't apply to them.

 

Exactly. How often do we see a post along the lines of, "Well we've booked/flown this way over 15 times and never had a problem?" all as "proof" that since nothing has gone wrong, nothing ever will go wrong.

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Exactly! This dead horse has been beaten to mince meat. Some have zero interest in avoiding the risks. For Some people the ship IS the destination and arriving early just puts them in a place they have no desire to be, nor do they want the associated costs thereof.

 

The horse is dead. Beating it more will never convince those that choose not to be convinced.

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I think that the perils are fairly obvious. Your flight could be delayed, cancelled, re-routed for whatever reason and you could miss your cruise departure.. Then you have to catch it up. What else is there to say? Luggage is another story and can easily be lost no matter how early you fly in. It is why we go with carry on only.

 

The amount of risk probably depends on the length of your flight, the weather, time of year, and frequency of flights to your destination. The balance is up to you, your tolerance for risk, and perhaps the distance to the next stop on the cruise.

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  • 3 weeks later...

For myself, the air travel is the most stressful part of the vacation and often I will travel at least 2 days before the flight, especially at Christmas. Being in Canada, Christmas travel is almost guaranteed to be impacted by weather.

 

Also, I need about 24 hours to acclimatize and re-hydrate my body so I don't accidentally do a "face plant".

 

So our planning cycle involves finding the cruise first, the hotel second and then booking the air travel third.

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We're booked on the Carnival Dream in April and flying in three days before the cruise when we were booked on the breeze we used Carnivals fly program to FLL and used the transfer service and had no issues

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

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  • 4 weeks later...

Have a cruise booked for April 2018 ex Port Canaveral but will be flying in to Fort Lauderdale 4 days previously. I considered driving from Fort Lauderdale on the morning of the cruise but given the reports of traffic in Florida am glad I decided to drive up to Canaveral the day before the cruise!

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  • 1 month later...

I am a day before flyer too. After our mistake on our first cruise with my Father I trusted him to book us. Problem is he booked him and I on the red eye via MIA to San Juan and me out of BCN the same early morning as our arrival no time for breakfast while he spent a night in BCN before flying on to another country

We made the ship but that was the last time he plans our cruise.

 

For instance this April 2018 I booked us at The Westin Harbour Island for $167 on Hotwire and got upgraded to their new Executive Floor opening by December 2017. It includes a free shuttle to the port evening Hors D Ourves and Breakfast in the lounge plus a guaranteed 10:40 AM .5 mile shuttle ride to the pier. I love being so close to the pier.

 

ln Amsterdam we have 4 nights before going to Iceland for 4 nights. Do you know how good it feels to be able to pick a late departure off the ship? And an early arrival on the first day?

 

We used Delta milles and the $167 was the best rate as other rooms were going for $300. The best $167 you could spend for 2 with food at the hotel .

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On one of our earlier cruises we had a departure out of San Juan. Being relative rookies we booked a flight through the cruise line, and found ourselves on a noon flight out of JFK. THAT got me thinking, (I was a commuter pilot at the time, and had "some" smarts...) and a few phone calls (no internet in those days) showed us that the flight originated in LAX, went to Denver, then Chicago, on to JFK and finally San Juan. Nope... NOPE.... NOPE. (Flight was in February by the way) We bailed, and booked ourselves onto a flight the day before.

 

Sure enough, the ship sat in San Juan past the 5 pm departure... to 7 .... to 10... when a bus full of passengers from that same flight came screeching up, unloaded, and off we went. All happy right? Nope. The ship did NOT wait for luggage, which for the most part caught up to us two days later at our first port...

 

BTW, the issue was NOT at JFK, but Denver, which had gotten slammed by a blizzard.

 

Never again. Now 1 (Or two days early if I can arrange)

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