Whats the latest you would fly in on day of embarkation

[Kathie44]

lamcom--that almost happened to DH and me on our first cruise, Jan. of '02. We were delayed in Dayton due to a broken cabin phone and were late to Charlotte. We were not able to board, but our luggage did! That connecting flight was delayed due to mechanical difficulties, but we didn't know that till we got to Miami, via Ft L. YIKES! Our luggage was still in the air from Char. We went to the ship and hoped for the best. Fortunately, we got the bags the next day in Nassau. Another couple got their bags two days before the end of the cruise. :EEK:

Took a chance on same-day arrival the next year without problems. In '04 we flew to San Juan a day early. In '05 we flew to Houston the same day our ship left Galveston, but it was a direct flight. After that we always arrived a day ahead. DH passed away in '08, but I'm still cruising and still coming in ahead of time. I am really paranoid about missing the ship. Living in OH with snow and ice--this year's been terrible--I wouldn't think of arriving the day of the cruise.

[dodger1964]

..

Most of our cruises have embarked from overseas locations. I think flying in the same day to an overseas location is very risky, perhaps not as risky flying within CONUS. Still, if the potential for bad weather or other flight cancellation exists, it is clearly more prudent to arrive the day before.

 

We have had no issues flying internationally same day as cruise. Actually there are very few cancelled flights to Europe from the US and since most of the flights arrive in Europe early in the morning there is some cushion built into the timing of the day.

 

I think almost every one of us on this message board would fly in early or stay late if that was an option. Go three days early just to make sure you get on ship. But the reality is for many of us we can't take off work extra days just to change the odds of making it to the ship on time from 99% to 100%.

[CoffeeHound]

if there had been an "it depends" option I would have taken it, instead I chose the day of and I have never missed the ship. It really depends because I wish I had the luxury of always flying in early, but my employer is not that happy to give me more than 5 days off in a row i.e. I have multiple weeks of vacation but need special approval to take more than 5 days at a time. I often struggle to get the bare minimum approved that I need for a cruise, and just have to do the best I can to minimize the risk if I can't get approval for the extra "cushion" days.

 

I guess I'm with the other poster who said "You roll the dice..."

 

Shannon

[Deltala]

I flew into FLL on Jan18. My flight was delayed taking off from my airport because a runway in FLL was out of service. Once we landed, we were delayed getting to the gate because the planes were stacking up. I understand FLL airport has major construction going on, and this scenario may be quite common.

[Lois R]

I live a 1 hour flight to Ft. Lauderdale...which would be a 5 hour drive.

I even fly down there the night before....Southwest has numerous

flights to and from....this time I have an evening flight......leaves here

at 6pm and gets into FLL at 7:00pm. Most times I go in the afternoon

but in this particular case? I am taking this flight:)...and I only have

3 more days till I leave too:D

[Cruise a holic]

Pehaps a better airport option would be miami. It is about another 25 minutes from the terminal, and transfers from the cruise line to port everglades (or taxis) are available. Sometimes airfare is also cheaper and more available.

[beltane]

On a cruise about 5 years ago, I was already in Florida staying with my retired parents. My husband was to fly in and meet us for a cruise. He booked a day-of flight that was to go from Toronto to Chicago to Tampa. He made the Toronto to Chicago leg fine, but when it came time to take off in Chicago, the plane fired up, and then shut down. Waited. Tried to fire it up and shut it down again. Pilot comes on the speaker system and says "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have good news and bad news... the bad news is this plane is not taking off for Tampa today. The good news is, and this is a miracle, we happen to have another plane sitting right here at the airport that we will be able to move over to and continue on our way." So they had to debark the plane, unload all the luggage and move everyone over to the new plane. Hubs took a moment to phone Carnival and let them know of his mixup and what flight he will be on and his ETA to Tampa Intl. They were great. He had to RUN! Landed at Tampa, had to go get his luggage, as he was running through to the taxis he saw the Carnival rep closing up shop. "Cutting it a little close, aren't you?" she laughed. She assured him she would call the ship. He hopped in a cab and said "Look, I don't want you to break any laws or get us killed, but there's an extra $10 if you can get me to the pier PRONTO!" The driver did a great job.

 

Our ship was to set sail at 4:00 p.m. and my husband, to my GREAT relief, walked in our cabin at 3:40 p.m.!!! :eek: Carnival was wonderful, because our paperwork was already done they mostly waved him through to get him on the ship.

[gfkcruiser]

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Edited February 9, 2014 by gfkcruiser

[gfkcruiser]

You are lucky he was allowed to board. A few years ago in December we flew in the same day Detroit to San Diego arriving on time but the pilot could not land after two attempts due to high winds. We were redirected to Los Angeles. I was in constant contact with RCCL after landing in LA. The bus from LAX got us and another couple to the ship but they would not let us board. Had to catch up in Los Cabos.

 

 

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[beltane]

YThe bus from LAX got us and another couple to the ship but they would not let us board. Had to catch up in Los Cabos.

 

Oh you must have been SO heartbroken!

[fleckle]

You are lucky he was allowed to board. A few years ago in December we flew in the same day Detroit to San Diego arriving on time but the pilot could not land after two attempts due to high winds. We were redirected to Los Angeles. I was in constant contact with RCCL after landing in LA. The bus from LAX got us and another couple to the ship but they would not let us board. Had to catch up in Los Cabos.

We had a similar incident where we could not fly into San Diego but went to LAX instead. However it was no sweat at all for us because we were a day early.

 

Another time, when cruising out of Vancouver we ended up needing to fly to SEA instead of YVR. But also a day early, so no problem.

[KKB]

We cannot board in Key West if we miss the ship in Fort Lauderdale. Not surprised.

 

So cannot change flight due to work; we have flown in day of embarkation twice before with no issue. Will be an optimist & hope we won't have any issues this time either.

 

That being said, insurance has been bought so we will get the cruise reimbursed if missed. 5 nights to see Fort Lauderdale, Miami and/or Key West doesn't sound like the worst alternative, although really looking forward to the cruise! Have cruised from FLL 6x; 4x came in just night before, once 2 nights before--were able to see Hard Rock HOllywood casino, really enjoyed that, but not time for much else.

[Gonzo70]

Read the insurance policy carefully to see what is covered. Most require a lengthy delay before providing coverage - missing what they consider too tight a connection is not covered (i.e. most require a delay of at least four to six hours, some longer). Also in the event of a covered missed connection, most policies do not reimburse the entire trip but may pay up to a fixed amount to cover expenses to join your trip in progress (i.e. pay up to $300 or so towards new flights and meals).

 

Hopefully you make the ship without problems, but please read your policy thoroughly so you can see what (if anything) is covered if you miss the ship and how aggressive you need to be in working to fly in the day before if a storm is forecasted for your travel day.

 

Good luck.

[KKB]

We fly 4-8x/yr & only once have missed a connection.

 

More worried about being delayed from Midway to FLL.

 

Again...keeping a close eye on the weather, considering other options.

[darbs7]

I think this time of year ends up being a crap shoot! So everyone booked today and tomorrow are cancelled and can't get out until the middle of next week.

 

I am booked Saturday morning…expecting light flurries…I hope I can get out. If not I will start driving south until I can get a flight to San Juan.

[Gonzo70]

We fly 4-8x/yr & only once have missed a connection.

 

More worried about being delayed from Midway to FLL.

 

 

The same rules apply for the MDW to FLL leg of your trip. If your flight into FLL is delayed 2 hours or what not - and this causes you to miss the ship - I do not know of any travel insurance policy that would allot any coverage for this. You would need the flight into FLL to be delayed several hours for travel insurance to provide some relief. And if the delay is long enough, the coverage is typically up to a certain dollar amount to cover expenses while catching your ship - it does not refund the cruise. Perhaps your travel insurance policy is different, but it is how all the policies I have ever looked at/purchased work. Travel insurance is a for profit business, so they do not cover events that incur a significant chance of arising - such as missing a cruise when scheduled to arrive within a couple of hours of all aboard time. It is a situation where you hope for the best (and usually it works out), have a back up plan, but are highly unlikely to receive any reimbursement if you miss the ship.

[scottw3]

Just an update for anyone interested...

No flight delays. No luggage problems. No problems boarding. No heart attack.

 

I likely won't do it again, but luckily it worked out well this time.

 

(Sitting in Bistro on Five as I type)

 

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[Br00klyn102]

I flew from LAX to Barcelona on embarkation day. Arrived at 11am, and made the ship. Booked air thru Choice Air, and transfers through Celebrity. There were quite a few people on the plane doing the same thing. I was pretty nervous prior, but day of was fine.

 

Our next cruise in May we're flying to Amsterdam a couple days prior. I think if you can swing it I would always prefer to leave earlier, especially with the crazy weather.

[4cats4me]

Just an update for anyone interested...

No flight delays. No luggage problems. No problems boarding. No heart attack.

 

I likely won't do it again, but luckily it worked out well this time.

 

(Sitting in Bistro on Five as I type)

 

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Thanks for the update. Glad everything worked out : )

 

 

 

 

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[dodger1964]

Just an update for anyone interested...

No flight delays. No luggage problems. No problems boarding. No heart attack.

 

I likely won't do it again, but luckily it worked out well this time.

 

(Sitting in Bistro on Five as I type)

 

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Please see post #16:D

[Cruise a holic]

Just an update for anyone interested...

No flight delays. No luggage problems. No problems boarding. No heart attack.

 

I likely won't do it again, but luckily it worked out well this time.

 

(Sitting in Bistro on Five as I type)

 

Sent from my HTCONE using Forums mobile app

So glad you made it.

 

Enjoy your cruise

[bahi]

We should be on our last sea day for the Century but missed the ship last Saturday. Flight out of Pit 6:30 AM connecting in Atl ,Fll 11:00Am. 1:30 late out of Pit due to mechanical and long deicing. Missed connection next flight delayed due to busy air. No help from airlines. Pulled in port as ship was sailing. No insurance. Have done it 3 previous cruises no problem but our luck ran out. Expensive, depressing (booked in July) so still sort of in shock. Lesson learned.

[dodger1964]

We should be on our last sea day for the Century but missed the ship last Saturday. Flight out of Pit 6:30 AM connecting in Atl ,Fll 11:00Am. 1:30 late out of Pit due to mechanical and long deicing. Missed connection next flight delayed due to busy air. No help from airlines. Pulled in port as ship was sailing. No insurance. Have done it 3 previous cruises no problem but our luck ran out. Expensive, depressing (booked in July) so still sort of in shock. Lesson learned.

 

Did u book with choice air?

 

What did u do after missing ship? Did you just stay local? Was catching ship at next stop an option?

[Hlitner]

I will use the First Lady's own language and say that anyone who flies in the day of a cruise is a knucklehead. Since December 1 of this year the US airlines have cancelled over 78,000 flights! And 10s of thousands of other flights were many hours late. The spring and summer are usually not quite that bad, but thunderstorms and other severe weather cause numerous delays and cancelations.

 

So why would anyone gamble their cruise vacation on a same day flight? Yes, we know there are always those with excuses (I had to work, I had to walk the dog, etc) but they are excuses! If you have to work, then think about an evening flight (the day before) or even changing your cruise dates so you have that extra day to get to the port. And if you can work it out to get near or to a port several days early this is even a better option.

 

Hank

Edited February 22, 2014 by Hlitner

[bahi]

Booked our own air thought we would be fine. Obviously not the case this time. We had the cab take us back to the airport talked with the guy at the RCCl kiosk. Called

celebrity which we had done earlier on hold for an hour tried to get on another ship did not work out couldn't or wouldn't change us to a 5 night leaving on Monday. Our first port would have been on Tuesday St Barth which would have been to costly to get to.