Flying into HNL on Saturday??

[sprout76]

I really hate to do this since you obviously have to worry about missing the ship, lost luggage, bad weather (since we're flying in February), but how many of you out there have flown into HNL on Saturday for a same day departure on POA??

[vbmom87]

I really hate to do this since you obviously have to worry about missing the ship, lost luggage, bad weather (since we're flying in February), but how many of you out there have flown into HNL on Saturday for a same day departure on POA??

 

Make sure you purchase good travel insurance!!! ;) Don't just buy insurance and think it covers everything. Get educated on it. This is good site to start.

 

http://www.tripinsurancestore.com/

[sprout76]

We already have the travelguard insurance and I'm aware of what is covered...I'm just curious how many people have flown in on the day of departure.

[CruisingGoddess]

I really would advise against flying in the same day. Flights are often delayed by hours and even worse with such a long flight. (My flight to Barcelona for my Med cruise was delayed 7 hours!!) Unless you need to go to your son's wedding or something like that, I wouldn't do it and even then, I'd rather postpone the trip by a week so I could fly in the same day. WAY too risky IMO.

[Umbarger]

Being from Kansas myself, take it from me the flight over is a killer. You're going to be exhausted. Not to mention the time change. :eek:

[vbmom87]

OP already has travel insurance, so I think the trip is planned. OP is looking for some assurance that this can work. Of course it can work. Probably does most of the time for most people. Just a matter of do you want to be one of those who it might not work for. This past winter I recall reading of someone who did arrange to fly out the Thursday before the Saturday cruise and still didn't make it out because of those late winter storms they hit on the East Coast. I decided to fly out the Tuesday before and we are going in May. I don't take big risks in life, but others do and seem to weather the storms just fine. All a matter of how much risk one wants to take. I hope it works out for the OP. I hate to read those stories of distress when people can't make it to their vacations.

[6rugrats]

This is kind of a pointless question. It doesn't matter what happened to anyone else; that's no guarantee of future performance. Will you reassured because some faceless poster on a chat board tells you they were successful doing this?

 

Flying the day of is very risky. Of course it works for some people, but it doesn't work for others. Good luck.

[CruisingGoddess]

Here is an extreme cautionary tale on the Princess boards:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1187502

 

The poster had travel insurance and booked air through the cruise line and given a flight on the same day. The flight was delayed and they missed the ship. Insurance would not pay for them to meet the ship at the next port and they were unable to get a full refund on the cruise. Horrible!

 

It's really not worth it!!!

[cruzn single]

IMHO I would NEVER attempt to fly in the same day as a cruise departs. But, since it seems that you already have arrangements made, I would say that if you are doing this, probably Hawaii is the easiest place to be able to catch up with the cruise, should a delay occur. Whatever is your next port would be just a short inter-island flight away, but of course that would entail further flights, and probably at least a night in a hotel.

 

Wishing you "Happy ON-TIME" flights!

[sprout76]

Thank you all for your posts (even if you do consider it a pointless question)!

 

We haven't booked our flights yet and since my husband only has 10 days of PTO a year we're trying to maximize our time without making him lose all of his time off since it is so early in the year.

 

My question was just out of curiosity.

[kapoho2]

People fly in the same day for a cruise all the time....and make it without any problems. You should be just fine. And, I agree, catching up to the POA will not be a big deal if necessary. Friends of ours from Missoui flew in the same day to meet us when we all did the Pride of Aloha cruise. Jetlag is not that hard to combat....especially in Hawaii!!!

 

One idea that we used to do when we lived in Missouri, was to get a cheap room at the airport the night before the flight. Especially in the winter months.....a snowstorm could pop up and make the drive to the airport treacherous or even impossible. Getting a room (with the free parking for the week) was just a little peace of mind. Then all you had to worry about if a snowstorm did hit, was that the hotel shuttle could make it across the street...or whatever....to the airport.

 

Relax and enjoy!!

[GypRasc]

The truth is it's a crap shoot. If your vacation were at any other time of year than winter your chances would be much better. Although thunderstorms & other weather conditions do cause delays I think snow would have to be the most unreliable. And it doesn't necessarily need to be snowing in your part of the country for it to screw up the airline schedules. You definitely take more of a chance of delayed flights in the winter.

[Toto2Kansas]

We flew iin the same day as our Princess cruise last year, but it was last fall, so the threat of extreme winter weather had not arrived yet.

 

We also are flying into Honolulu from Kansas City next February for another Princess cruise. Although in February, I honestly wanted to leave at least two days early, all we could arrange with our air miles was the day before. And even flying in the day before has me a bit nervous, from this area at that time of year.

 

If you get lucky, all will be fine. But after looking at the winter we just had, I think luck will have to be part of the equation for this to work out for you. Good luck though!

[saffy22]

We are also flying in on day of departure. Christmas Day. As the airline we wanted to fly doesn't fly Christmas Eve. However we arrive at 6.45am so I guess we have some time spare in case of delays. Sometimes circumstance force "risky"decisions, we only have 10 days leave and need to make the most of it. Hope it all goes well.

Cheers, Saffy

[Love2CruiseMore]

Sprout76, Are you planning on spending 10 days in Hawaii? If so you might consider adding to the front end of your trip to ease your mind. When traveling in winter my family also spends the night before the flight at an airport hotel...most the time you get a better deal on parking and you don't have to worry about making breakfast in the morning if the hotel offers a "free" continental spread!:) Have fun planning your trip!

[CruisingGoddess]

Sprout76, Are you planning on spending 10 days in Hawaii? If so you might consider adding to the front end of your trip to ease your mind. When traveling in winter my family also spends the night before the flight at an airport hotel...most the time you get a better deal on parking and you don't have to worry about making breakfast in the morning if the hotel offers a "free" continental spread!:) Have fun planning your trip!

 

I agree with Love2CruiseMore! If you are spending anytime in Hawaii outside of the cruise, make it before the cruise so you'll get there early!