Airflight same day as cruise departure?

[goingtosnorkel]

Due to situations we can not change -- we have to fly out on the same day as our cruise departure. Airlines depart at 6:00 AM and with one stop --we arrive at 11:40. We would still have until 4:00 for ship departure.

Has anyone done this before? Our travel agent is not recommending we do this ( ideally, we would fly to the port area the evening before) But this is not possible for us. We are very uncomfortable and apprehensive about delays. OH -the time of year is May 2010.

[grneyedgirl]

Due to situations we can not change -- we have to fly out on the same day as our cruise departure. Airlines depart at 6:00 AM and with one stop --we arrive at 11:40. We would still have until 4:00 for ship departure.

Has anyone done this before? Our travel agent is not recommending we do this ( ideally, we would fly to the port area the evening before) But this is not possible for us. We are very uncomfortable and apprehensive about delays. OH -the time of year is May 2010.

 

What port are you sailing from? What ship will you be on?

[CRD1110]

We leave in a week and we are going to LA and our flight arrives at 9am and we deport at 5pm. We left ourselves plenty of time but I think you'll be fine.

[Boo's Mom]

Due to situations we can not change -- we have to fly out on the same day as our cruise departure. Airlines depart at 6:00 AM and with one stop --we arrive at 11:40. We would still have until 4:00 for ship departure.

Has anyone done this before? Our travel agent is not recommending we do this ( ideally, we would fly to the port area the evening before) But this is not possible for us. We are very uncomfortable and apprehensive about delays. OH -the time of year is May 2010.

 

Ditto.

Will need to know where you are flying in to, and which cruise pier/town.

[JLC@SD]

What port are you sailing from? What ship will you be on?

 

per:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=23757597&highlight=#post23757597

 

OP will be on Carnival Legend.

[goingtosnorkel]

Tampa port - Carnival Legend ship

[goingtosnorkel]

Leaving Tampa port - going on Carnival Legend ship.

[paul929207]

You will find few people on these boards who will recommend flying in the day of the cruise. In your case, you have 4 hours and 20 minutes from the scheduled arrival to the schedule sailing. People do this all the time, BUT you are running the risk that there will be delays or cancelations and you will not be on board when the ship sail. This will put you in catch up mode. You will be trying to get a flight from Tampa to the first port. Do you have travel insurance? Does it cover flight problems? If not it will get expensive quickly. Do you have passports? If not, you will not be able to fly out of the US and will probably just have to pay the cost of changing your return flights and go home without setting foot on the ship.

[PattyG12]

Just remember that you must be on board 90 minutes prior to sailing. Homeland Security rules, not the cruise line. Personally, I wouldn't do it but I believe it can be done.

[traveller99]

Personally, no - I will never Fly & Sail on the same day, again. Since you apparently have no choice, just go for it and enjoy your trip.

[silentbob007]

You will probably be fine. You might not be. Since other options are not feasible, there's not much more to say. I've done day-of flights before and, while I haven't missed the ship, my luggage did the last time I tried it, which meant 3 days living out of my carry-on.

 

My advice ... make sure that, if you are checking bags, you have necessities in a carry-on just in case. Also, I always put the number of the airline carrier in my phone so that I can call the instant I know there's a problem and talk about re-routing.

[ajenali]

I am having to fly out the same day also, so I have purchased air through RCCL. Surely they will put me on the earliest flight possible right? No need to worry about the cruise line putting me on a late flight?

[paul929207]

I am having to fly out the same day also, so I have purchased air through RCCL. Surely they will put me on the earliest flight possible right? No need to worry about the cruise line putting me on a late flight?

With cruise air the only sure thing is that you will be on the cheapest flight.

[AmoMondo]

I try to avoid flying out the same day if I can. Where i have it has always worked but on one occasion I would have missed the cruise had I not been on the cruise line arranged flight. Our flight was over 3 hours late and because they had transfers arranged and knew they had about 40 of us on that flight, they held up the ship's departure. I'd barely taken one step on the ship and they were pulling up the anchor.

 

Since you have no choice, there is nothing that you can do other than pray for no hold ups. Don't know whether going with carry on luggage is an option? if it i, i recommend doing that to save time and reduce the risk of it going astray.

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

[Gonzo70]

I am having to fly out the same day also, so I have purchased air through RCCL. Surely they will put me on the earliest flight possible right? No need to worry about the cruise line putting me on a late flight?

 

No, the cruise line only books air as a "conveinience" and does not necessarily book you on the earliest flight. It is almost always cheaper to book the flights yourself.

 

To the OP: You have about 90 minutes of wiggle room for delays. If you arrive more than 90 minutes late, you probably would not arrive at the cruise terminal in time (you would need to arrive by about 2:00pm at the cruise terminal for a 4:00pm departure). Most of the time flights are not over 90 minutes late, so you probably will get there in time, but there definitely is some risk. More risk than I personally would take. If at all possible, try to arrange things so you can fly in the night before, or try to book a non-stop flight the morning of that is scheduled to arrive earlier (to give you a little more wiggle room). Otherwise, just keep your fingers crossed.

 

An important tidbit regarding travel insurance: Most (if not all) standard travel insurance policies require that there be a delay of at least four (and many policies even longer of a delay) before they will pay for any expenses incurred. So if a plane arriving two or three hours late causes one to miss the ship, it is very doubtful travel insurance would provide any relief. They only help you out if you planned for significant wiggle room, yet still missed the ship because of a lengthy delay.

[cb at sea]

Assuming everything goes according to plan, you'll be fine. I don't think the airport is far from port!

[floatn]

I've done both many times, but never will again after a similar itinerary to Miami in December had an emergency medical landing and a delay of 3 1/2 hours cutting it so close that we nearly missed the ship. Our luggage never caught up with us the entire week and it was a miserable trip. Our expected arrival in Miami was 11:30 but we didn't get in til nearly 3 PM and left our luggage at the airport just so we could get on the ship. As luck would have it (or not), my carry on was gate checked as well when overhead bins were full and I didn't even have that for the week long cruise. So, second worst case scenario is that you make it but your luggage doesn't and if you have a well packed carry on, you'll survive a few days. Of course, your worst case is that you miss the ship entirely. Good luck!

[Abear2]

I did it once and I was a nervous wreck. I would never do it again ! I have been on too many delayed fights before, so I am too scared to miss the boat ! :o

[chasetf]

Due to situations we can not change -- we have to fly out on the same day as our cruise departure. Airlines depart at 6:00 AM and with one stop --we arrive at 11:40. We would still have until 4:00 for ship departure.

Has anyone done this before? Our travel agent is not recommending we do this ( ideally, we would fly to the port area the evening before) But this is not possible for us. We are very uncomfortable and apprehensive about delays. OH -the time of year is May 2010.

Good luck. We avoid it also.

 

One experience we had was flying from the west coast to Ft Lauderdale thru Chicago. We were late getting into Chicago, but did make the connection. When we got to Ft Lauderdale we found out only one of our four bags made the connection (the bag with our shoes / mask / snorkels)

 

Fortunately we arrived a day early, so we were able to return to the airport in the morning to pick up our missing bags before heading to the ship (I was not willing to depend on the airline to deliver them).

 

While picking up our bags, a young women was in line with me. She had just arrived from Boston and her bags had not made it. She was standing there holding a formal dress trying to explain her ship (which was our ship)was sailing at four after being told her bag would be there the next morning. :eek:

 

Our first port of call was three days after sailing. :(

[donaldsc]

Since you have said that you can not change your plans, why are you even bothering to ask our opinion, especially as you know what all of us will say.

 

Just make sure that you have insurance.

 

DON

[Adri204]

Since you have said that you can not change your plans, why are you even bothering to ask our opinion, especially as you know what all of us will say.

 

Just make sure that you have insurance.

 

DON

 

 

What if they just wanted to get our opionions and tips and thaughts? Thats what this board is about.

 

I wish the OP good luck and hope they make thier ship,

 

Adri :)

[GlendaleCruiser]

I've done it several times, but usually with a good knowledge of the ports and airports. LAX--easy. I take an early flight and there are flights every hour from Phoenix to LAX. So, I've never had a real problem.

 

I have flown to Houston non-stop and cruise bus to Galveston. Had plenty of time then, too.

 

However, I don't know the Tampa airport or how much time you will need.

 

Everyone is right about cruiseair, though. They will put you on the cheapest fare--not the earliest for you and not the best for you necessarily.

[cruiselover57]

Due to situations we can not change -- we have to fly out on the same day as our cruise departure. Airlines depart at 6:00 AM and with one stop --we arrive at 11:40. We would still have until 4:00 for ship departure.

Has anyone done this before? Our travel agent is not recommending we do this ( ideally, we would fly to the port area the evening before) But this is not possible for us. We are very uncomfortable and apprehensive about delays. OH -the time of year is May 2010.

 

You should be fine as a few other posters have mentioned. I've never cruised from Tampa but for the past several years now, we tend NOT to fly in on the day of cruise departure - way too risky; so many unforeseen airline delays, etc. The only time we have done this was if we were flying from LAX to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale on a red-eye where the flight gets you in around 5:30 a.m. and then you have 5 hours to wait in the airport until a rep shows up! Cruise lines also recommend that when you disemark, and you've done your own air that flights be scheduled after 12:00 p.m. Sometimes 2:00 p.m. is playing it a lot safer.

[bamelin]

I'm flying in the same day of my cruise too.

 

Our flight leaves Toronto at 8:40 and arrives in Newark at 10:04. Port is Cape Liberty.

 

Ship sails at 5:00. Plenty of time I think ... we've given ourselves about a 4 - 5 hour window of space to cover delays ... Still you never know. I wish I had booked a flight the night before.

[SconiAtSea]

For karma's sake I wish you the best of luck. I too, first time cruiser, hope not to "live and learn" on my early May cruise.

 

Arrive Ft. Lauderdale @11:40 and ship departure is 5:00PM...by my calculations & given what has been said here re:90 minutes to homeland security, that leaves my wife and I with just under 4 hours of wiggle room.