A question about flights

[QueenMab]

I'm planning to be on the Carnival Victory at the end of January (exact dates to be decided tomorrow!), and am figuring out flights. I already know I will need to book the return flight for the day after disembarking. I Also know it's recommended to arrive at your port a day prior to embarkation but I'm not as sure this is possible for us.

 

The flight I'm looking at instead has a layover/transfer in Charlotte, NC, then gets into San Juan at 2:30pm. The ship departs at 10pm. Is that cutting it too close? How likely is the plane to be delayed by a snow storm in NC? If necessary we could fly in a day early, I'd just rather have that extra $100-$200 for on the ship.

[Sonicked]

You are leaving a reasonable amount of time, however, I would still worry that it may not be enough. Problems do happen on occasion.

 

If you are confident that you'll be able to get to the port in time, and won't have any problems with delays, baggage, etc, I would say go for it. However, sometimes it is worth booking a day ahead, even if it is to a bit of an inconvenience: It would be a much bigger inconvenience if you missed your vacation due to a delayed flight.

[Keith1010]

I'm planning to be on the Carnival Victory at the end of January (exact dates to be decided tomorrow!), and am figuring out flights. I already know I will need to book the return flight for the day after disembarking. I Also know it's recommended to arrive at your port a day prior to embarkation but I'm not as sure this is possible for us.

 

The flight I'm looking at instead has a layover/transfer in Charlotte, NC, then gets into San Juan at 2:30pm. The ship departs at 10pm. Is that cutting it too close? How likely is the plane to be delayed by a snow storm in NC? If necessary we could fly in a day early, I'd just rather have that extra $100-$200 for on the ship.

 

If this was me I would reverse your approach.

 

I would fly in the day before the start of the cruise and return home the day I disembark.

 

The unknowns are always things like weather or other events that could cause significant delays or even flight cancellations. This can range from weather to security breaches at airports to aircraft mechanical issues to a variety of other items.

 

I highly recommend flying in a day before the cruise.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

I agree with Keith.

 

A fly in a day early -- snow storms in January can screw up everything.

 

At the end of the cruise -- if at all possible -- book a flight leaving in the afternoon.

[toberman]

How likely is the plane to be delayed by a snow storm in NC?

 

Not very likely.. but they do get ice storms. More important is.. how likely is it that your flight out of Canada will be delayed by a snow storm? You could miss your connection in CLT. Also, how likely is it that the plane you're leaving CLT on is delayed due to a storm at their last departure point? Highly unlikely there's a plane waiting for you in CLT to take you onward... they have to come from somewhere.

If everything goes right you'll have plenty of time to catch the ship in SJU, but if there's a glitch ??? For what you're paying for airfare and the cruise, 1 nights accomodation in SJU is peanuts - why take the chance.

[eh2zed]

Under normal circumstances you would have time. But I too would reverse my thinking. Fly in a day early to see San Juan and make the ship and fly home same day as disembarkation.

[QueenMab]

I'm not too worried about delays in Canada. Planning to drive/bus from Vancouver to Seattle and fly from there. Unfortunately the only flight back to Seattle the day of the cruises's return is at 9:45am, so it's impossible to reverse things and be sure we're getting on that flight home.

[beachlover98]

My advice would be to fly in a day early. There will always be people that will say they always fly in the day of embarkation and have never had a problem. I used to be able to say that, too, until about 6 years ago. My husband and I missed the ship leaving San Diego. We were already going to be leaving 4 kids at home for 11 nights so didn't want to add even another day. However, we had bad weather here in the midwest and bad weather in San Diego, too. We saw the ship at the dock as we were descending into San Diego but they wouldn't hold the ship for quite a few of us on that delayed flight.

 

It was a nightmare having to catch up with the ship 2 days later in Cabo San Lucas. Luckily we had booked our air through Celebrity and everything was covered. Even though we met the most fabulous people that we ended up travelling with over those couple days catching up with ship, I wouldn't want to repeat that experience. I would much prefer to get to the cruise port at least a day early and not stress about it. So many things can happen, it's just not worth it.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

There might be snow so plain for it .

[navybankerteacher]

A winter drive or bus trip from Vancouver to Seattle is probably going to be OK - but there could be delays-either weather or traffic related.

 

A winter flight from Seattle to anywhere could be delayed because of conditions at Seattle or at whatever airport the plane is leaving to get to Seattle to pick you up.

 

A connection at Charlotte could be disrupted by conditions at Charlotte or by conditions at whatever airport the plane is leaving to get to Charlotte to pick you up.

 

Any one flight can be delayed by mechanical conditiuons regardless of weather conditions: you are talking about two such flghts.

 

You will probably make it OK --- but, because you asked, you should really think about whether you want to expose yourself to any, or all,of the above risks.

 

Fly in the day before.

[Keith1010]

I'm not too worried about delays in Canada. Planning to drive/bus from Vancouver to Seattle and fly from there. Unfortunately the only flight back to Seattle the day of the cruises's return is at 9:45am, so it's impossible to reverse things and be sure we're getting on that flight home.

 

There are so many other things that can delay your flight that have nothing to do with where you fly from. I would still fly in the day or night before. If you can't then it's just a risk.

 

Keith

[bbwex]

Probably much more likely is an ice storm in North Carolina than a snow storm, but ice can be harder to clear. Listen to those that suggest the day early. Winter is unpredictable.

[terracool]

Get there the day before and relax. It doesn't matter whether it's the drive to Seattle, the timeliness of the flight leaving Seattle, the timeliness of whatever flight going into NC that is using the plane you'll be on - I don't think it's possible to say "no worries" about any of them. Even though there is no APPARENT reason that they would be late, the fact of flying is that there are many reasons they COULD be late. Weather is only one reason - and maybe a minor one at that. All it takes is one thing to go wrong - one teeny thing - to goof up the whole fragile tower you'd be building to get across country the same day you leave. And yes, others do it successfully. But that doesn't mean that you will not have problems.

 

I'm with toberman. Connecting through NC gives you even less room for error than usual. If you don't make your flight for any reason (either because you don't make it or because the plane doesn't make it), you will probably be waiting a long long time for another flight to become available to make the trip. And even then, unless you are high-level award flier with that airline, you might not even be allowed onto the next available flight.

 

Why risk it? Go a day early. If you get there on time, you'll have a day to relax. If you run into travel difficulties, you will be thanking yourself a million times over that you aren't biting your nails watching the boarding-time cutoff approach while you are immersed in airport drama.

 

.

[tak81288]

I'm not too worried about delays in Canada. Planning to drive/bus from Vancouver to Seattle and fly from there. Unfortunately the only flight back to Seattle the day of the cruises's return is at 9:45am, so it's impossible to reverse things and be sure we're getting on that flight home.

 

Spending an $100-200 extra is worth it (to me) to fly in a day early and have a peace of mind that I will make the ship.

 

Also the drive from Canada/Seattle SHOULD be okay. However if you have done that drive before in the winter, then you are probably aware that snow/ice is a possiblity during that time of year. Plus since Seattle isn't use to that type of weather, whenever they get it (even if it's just a few flurries), traffic, flights, roads...etc..are always 100x's worst than it has to be. (I'm from the area so have first hand experience).

 

Since it is so unpredictable, I would rather error on leaving a day early and budget extra for the expense.

[cb at sea]

I would never book a flight home on the next day....you can get home on the same day....no extra hotel expense, no waiting to do your laundry...much easier to just go home after the cruise! Just follow the guidelines on booking your return flight...usually after noon is the preferred time, especially in SJ!

 

However, flying TO the port the day prior IS a good idea....just in case your luggage goes amiss, or a flight is delayed, gives you a cushion to have things corrected!

[wrp96]

With that long of a trip, you absolutely need to come in a day early.

 

Seattle is actually more likely to have problems than Charlotte, but as someone mentioned above Charlotte does get ice storms. Taking this past winter as an example, there were multiple times where for days in a row friends in Seattle were unable to leave their homes due to winter weather, same thing with friends in Charlotte.

 

Looking at the schedules for US Airways, if you miss your connection in Charlotte, there is only one other flight that will get you into SJU in time to make your cruise, and that is tight (and assuming it has seats available).

 

Also, looking at the US Airways flight schedules, to make the 2:30 arrival into SJU from CLT, you would have to make two connections between Seattle and SJU (the only non-stop between SEA and CLT arrives in the afternoon, all other flights between SEA and CLT require connections between the two cities). Adding an extra connection to the mix, just makes it more likely that something would go wrong.

[toberman]

the only flight back to Seattle the day of the cruises's return is at 9:45am, so it's impossible to reverse things and be sure we're getting on that flight home.

 

Don't know where you got that info... I'm finding several flights leaving from 11am, noon, 1:40pm and on and on. I'm assuming since you say a connection in CLT you're looking at US Airways. They have a 1:40 flight SJU-CLT-SEA. And you don't have to use the same airline both ways. Delta has several flights with changes in ATL or JFK. Just saying - you have options.

[travlnblueberries]

The one and only time we ever had a flight the same day we were sailing, don't you know they had problems WITH A BRAND NEW PLANE. We never fly and sail the same day, but because of DH schedule at work, we had no choice. And we sat in that plane for hours!!! We got on the ship and I swear we were sailing before we got our both feet on that ship...we were THAT close.

[Cruisingirl2012]

Speaking from personal experience, we will never fly the day of the cruise as I never want to go through missing the ship again... If at all possible fly in the day prior to your cruise date.

[tulsacubfan]

I agree with the others saying you should fly in the day before, as it gives you another 24 hours for any issues. However, a friend was going to Hawaii for the NCL cruise....were going in a day early....flight a day early was cancelled and they ended up taking the flight they would have on the day of the cruise....

[QueenMab]

Don't know where you got that info... I'm finding several flights leaving from 11am, noon, 1:40pm and on and on. I'm assuming since you say a connection in CLT you're looking at US Airways. They have a 1:40 flight SJU-CLT-SEA. And you don't have to use the same airline both ways. Delta has several flights with changes in ATL or JFK. Just saying - you have options.

 

I'm using travelocity/expedia/etc to compare. Haven't seen any of the 11 or 12pm flights, but anything after that would just mean a night spent in Seattle rather than San Juan, as they arrive around midnight. :(

[wrp96]

I'm using travelocity/expedia/etc to compare. Haven't seen any of the 11 or 12pm flights, but anything after that would just mean a night spent in Seattle rather than San Juan, as they arrive around midnight. :(

 

Try using Kayak.com

 

Delta has a flight that leaves SJU at 12:55pm, connecting through ATL that arrives in SEA at 8:28pm and one that arrives at 8:53pm. American has a flight that leaves SJU at 11:50am connecting through JFK that arrives in SEA at 7:25pm. American also has a flight that leaves SJU at 11:40am connecting through DFW that arrives in SEA at 6:20pm. All of these flights would be reasonable times to make after a cruise.

[Mama24]

The one and only time we ever had a flight the same day we were sailing, don't you know they had problems WITH A BRAND NEW PLANE. We never fly and sail the same day, but because of DH schedule at work, we had no choice. And we sat in that plane for hours!!! We got on the ship and I swear we were sailing before we got our both feet on that ship...we were THAT close.

 

Same here. We flew into SanJuan the day of embarkation and it was a horrible rush to get to the ship. As luck would have it, the wheelchair accessible taxi that Princess arranged for us never showed up. It did eventually work out okay, but I was nearly in tears. NOT a good way to start a cruise to celebrate our 20th anniversary.

[beachchick]

With that long of a trip, you absolutely need to come in a day early.

 

Seattle is actually more likely to have problems than Charlotte, but as someone mentioned above Charlotte does get ice storms. Taking this past winter as an example, there were multiple times where for days in a row friends in Seattle were unable to leave their homes due to winter weather, same thing with friends in Charlotte.

 

Looking at the schedules for US Airways, if you miss your connection in Charlotte, there is only one other flight that will get you into SJU in time to make your cruise, and that is tight (and assuming it has seats available).

 

Also, looking at the US Airways flight schedules, to make the 2:30 arrival into SJU from CLT, you would have to make two connections between Seattle and SJU (the only non-stop between SEA and CLT arrives in the afternoon, all other flights between SEA and CLT require connections between the two cities). Adding an extra connection to the mix, just makes it more likely that something would go wrong.

 

Exactly. I was just thinking about Dec '08 - Jan '09. Our daughter had her baby nearly a month early and I wasn't allowed to fly up with my hubby. (That was due to post-surgical timing we had planned around our daughter's due date--silly us for sure to forget that babies come when they're ready and not necessarily the date we tell them they should be born.):p The plan was for him to stay 10 to 12 days. I actually saw him again 5 weeks later (early January) when he was finally able to come home because of the worst winter weather Seattle had experienced in 50 years.

 

beachchick

[sjcruiser]

Fly in the day before to avoid the stress of missing the ship if possible. As mentioned, you can explore San Juan beofre the ship departs. The old San Juan, and Fort areas are very walkable for exploring.