Flying in on the day of the cruise...Have I got a story for you

[Cousin Eddie]

Jennifer and I are sprinting (literally) up the jetway and through the terminal to the shuttles to baggage claim. She starts to lag and I'm yelling at her, "You gotta dig!! Go Go Go!!"

 

This made me drench my keyboard with with Sprite, I was laughing so hard!

 

Glad you made it!!

[birdie16]

We had a similar experience even though we DID plan our trip with an extra day in SJU before the cruise, we were bummed we missed our extra day in SJU but were very happy we didn't miss our cruise!

 

I agree with the others posting...I need a drink now that I can see you made it to you ship!

[Tiffany1203]

OP...that happened to my mom and her BFF...when they boarded the cruise ship they went on with the fruit as the main entry door for guests was already closed!

[skttnc]

OMG....great story! That is scarey! I'm so glad you made it!

[Maverick927]

Glad to hear you made it in time! We had a few hiccups when we flew down to Ft. Lauderdale a couple of years ago on our honeymoon. I think paying for a hotel the night before far outweighs the headaches that could happen flying the day you depart. We learned our lesson, too!

[poobears]

This was from last year. How far did you have to go to dig it up? LOL

[SoonerOne]

Nevertheless.....it is a great story with a good lesson to be learned, fly in a day early:)

[Upandadam]

Brings to mind our first close call.

 

We had booked 4 of our kids and us on a cruise out of Miami. We live in Portland.

 

Went to catch the red-eye out at midnight and discovered the plane was being held for mechanical reasons with the next flight out too late for us to make the ship. So, they were working on the plane, trying to get it in the air. We also had a connecting flight in Vegas. So time goes on and on and we realized we probably weren't going to make our connection. As we were at the gate trying to make arrangments to fly into the first port at San Juan, a mechanic came out of the gate and said, "Let's go!".

 

We all hurridly boarded the plane and crossed our fingers. A couple of hours later we were getting ready to land in vegas and the departure time for our next flight (out of a different gate) was in 10 minutes. Right as the plane is about to land, the pilot pulled up for some reason and circled the airport. He did this maneuver one more timme, finally landing on the third attempt.

 

We rolled into the gate and we all rushed off the plane as fast as we could and ran to the next gate for our connecting flight.

 

As we arrived at the gate they were just boarding the last person in line. turns out it boarded a bit late for some reason.

 

A bit too much stress for a relaxing vacation with the kids and $8,000 on the line.

 

Lesson learned.....

[clearwatergirl]

OMg, what a story. I read this with bated breath to see if you made it or not. Yikes, good for you. Much deserved cocktails that night. Lesson learned I guess.

 

I'm glad I live in Tampa. Love the Legend and will be sailing on her again this November. Friends of ours will be flying in the day before! :)

[cateyes2u]

Great story with a happy ending.

 

PJ

[KeywestK]

To the OP: I just stumbled across your original post. Wow! What an incredibly stressful way to start a cruise! I was hyperventilating just reading it all......so glad you two had a happy ending!

 

Karen

[johnjen]

Our luggage arrived to our cabin by 4:45 and we were off on a great cruise. Needless to say that evening included several cocktails and a vow to never, ever fly in on the day of the cruise.

 

You know, even if airfare showed a $600 difference, I'd still fly out the day before. Seen it too many times - pier runners hauling butt to make the ship (same day flyers no doubt). But your story is a lesson well learned and I hope everyone reading it takes it all in as food for thought!

[lillian marie]

I'm really glad that you made your cruise.

[tk22]

Wow - double Wow!!! I was also thinking amazing race material. I could just picture you two running through the airport...great job of writing. Hope your cruise was wonderful.:D

[MszKitty]

We have always flown in the day before, but because its only a 3.5 hr flight to Vancouver we were seriously considering flying in the day of our upcoming Pacific Coastal cruise If we take the first flight of the day, there shouldn't be an issue being there by noon.

 

However, after reading your story, we are definitely sticking to our normal routine and flying in the day before. Cuz, ya just never know!

 

Thanks for making up my mind for me. Definately flying in the day before.

[NewfieGirl79]

What a great story; so glad it ended well :) I never wold have known to fly in the day before without this site. We're now flying in on a Thursday for a 4pm Saturday departure!! We have 9hrs traveling time on 2 planes, so I'm not taking any chances!:cool:

[halos]

Phew! that post was stressful to read. So glad ya'll made it!

 

I feel the same!!

[Tallytammy's Mom]

That is the reason we are driving from Florida to New Orleans and spending 2 days there,,,just to make sure we make the ship. ;)

[rsprake]

That is an epic story and awesome that Carnival was so helpful at the pier.

[cerebus76]

I'd love to read the OP's post, but I get a malware warning from Chrome whenever I try to click on the first page.

 

"Warning: Visiting this site may harm your computer!

 

The website boards.cruisecritic.com contains elements from the site http://www.kidneyfun.net , which appears to host malware-"

 

It's only on the first page though, no other pages of the thread.

[Dave0311]

What an awful experience! I can relate as our flight the day of our cruise this past August was delayed due to storms in Philly. We also made the ship with minutes to spare. We were the second-to-last plane to take off before the 2+ hour delays, so we got our share of luck too. On our plane were several other families heading to the cruise.

 

Incidentally, our cruise was on the Legend out of Tampa too. I can attest that the Tampa port staff were awesome!

[iamsteph]

Fortunately, first ones off the plane and now it starts to look like an episode of the "Amazing Race".

 

Jennifer and I are sprinting (literally) up the jetway and through the terminal to the shuttles to baggage claim. She starts to lag and I'm yelling at her, "You gotta dig!! Go Go Go!!"

 

it really was like a scene from the amazing race :)

[evandbob]

Excellent writing, glad you made your cruise. However, I will continue to fly in the morning of my cruise's departure. I go non stop from NY to MIA and haven't had a problem doing this 15 times. Using carry on luggage helps, no waiting at a carousel. In wintertime I'll use Carnival's transportation to the pier, and sometimes I'll get trip insurance, but unless I have a specific reason to be in MIA, there's absolutely no reason for me to spend extra for a hotel or additional cab/transportation. I'm usually up on the Lido deck having my lunch by 12:30 or 1PM the latest.

[pepsicruiser]

Well I'd say the odds are against you at this point. Living in NY too, most planes start elsewhere and when you depend on a plane coming from the midwest anytime of the year you are at the mercy of the weather god lol. It just takes one time to miss a cruise do to bad weather that could change your mind. If getting a room in a nice hotel for $100 and a free shuttle (most times out of Miami/Ft Lauderdale hotels) can keep you from enjoying an easy get up and go to ship then that's too bad. I'd rather wake up on my time in a hotel and have a leisurely breakfast and grab a free shuttle to port and be on ship by noon than get up at 6am to get to airport on day of cruise and rush around thru security and hope no problems arise to get me on my vacation. JMPOV

[basill1970f]

We fly out on Monday for Ft Lauderdale enroute to Miami for the Destiny sailing the same day.

 

Your story was awesome and what a happy ending. We have flown in from Michigan the day of in the winter, that one I probably wont do again. Luckily we had no problem, I couldnt pass up the $9 spirit airfare for the $400 plus airfare with it being superbowl wkd.. stupid me to book a cruise then.. anyhooo

 

You just refreshed my antsyness(sp) of the day of flying. Cross your fingers for me please, because I cannot run like they do on the amazing race ;).

 

We fly out at 6am out of detroit to tampa same plane and then to ft lauderdale arrival at 958. We do have 4 flights that fly after ours that we can push to if something horrible did happen.

 

Happy Sailing to Everyone.

 

Its the OP's story that make cruising so exciting !!!!!!!!!!!