Yes or No Flying in on the day of Departure

[FLACRUISER99]

My opinion is the risk of missing your increases flying in on the same day.

[MATHA531]

What is it they say, things happen. It's not just flying. Last year, I decided to take a cruise out of Barcelona and to be frank about it, I hate Barcelona and feel uncomfortable. But on previous cruises, I had flown into Europe somewhere other than Barcelona, taken an economy flight to Barcelona the day before and stayed by the airport and took a cab to the port. Fine. Worked well.

 

Then last year I decided I wanted to take a couple of days in Paris and originally was going to do the same thing. But then I saw blurbs about the wonderful train from Paris to Barcelona and relying on the fact that the trains were almost always on time itw ould work on a 7 AM train arriving in Barcelona around 1 PM, plenty of time to cab to the port. Foolproof. Right? Well little did I know watching CNN the night before in my hotel room that there workers on the French National Railroad were calling a strike for the next day and spent the next couple of hours (thank goodness for wifi and smartphones) discovering my train in the morning had been cancelled, finding a relatively affordable flight to Barcelona in the mid morning (thank goodness there were seats) booking it and hoping the RER depite the strike would get me to CDG. Bottom line it worked but it was a big big hassle.

 

Now this year, I'm cruising out of Southampton but still not going down there the day before but rather staying in a hotel in London and taking National Express to morning of the cruise. My rationale is what could go wrong? If there's a problem with National Express, there's always the train, right?

[DirtyDawg]

We do BOTH!!

 

We once flew across the country from Toronto to Vancouver the same day. It could not be done differently because a work commitment. If we had missed the cruise we had a Plan B. We have flown from Toronto to Miami the same day for a cruise for the same reason. Again we had a Plan B.

 

We have also flown in the day before cruises. The extra cost of doing this reduces the chances of missing a cruise but it is only worth it if it is a valuable cruise, or the odds of missing the cruise is high. I might spend an extra $200 (one night hotel and exrta food costs) to protect a $4,000 cruise in the summer but I'm not going to spend the extra $200 to protect a $1,000 cruise in the summer. The odds of missing each cruise are the same but the cost to 'insure' the $1,000 cruise is too high. But I might be willing to spend the $200 to protect a $1,000 cruise in the dead of winter when the weather affects my flights more.

Edited May 7, 2017 by DirtyDawg

[Sunshine-lady]

We are sailing the day after Thanksgiving this year. On all our past cruises, we have always flown in the day before our cruise. We want to be with family on Thanksgiving. Both our father's are getting up in age, and we want to spend Thanksgiving with them. So, we have no choice as to fly in the day of our cruise. Our first leg of our flight is the first flight out in the morning. So, hopefully, no issues. Then our second flight is out of Atlanta (Uh Oh). But, it too is early, so hopefully no issues there too. We are supposed to land in Miami at 10:00 a.m. So, if there are any issues, hopefully, they can be resolved quick.

[happymanitee]

Even when we drive, I like to drive down the day before. I live near Dallas, so it is a 5 hour drive to Galveston. But, I have had it take almost 7 hours due to traffic. Plus, if there is a major accident, it could take even longer. I don't want to be stressed and worried about the clock on my way down there. It is much nicer drive down the day before, get a good night's sleep and wake up rested and ready to cruise!

[north29]

Always done it, never had a problem.

 

It is not if but when it will happen.

 

We always arrive at the embarkation port a day or two or three early depending on if we have been to that city/port before. We live in central Florida, and even with a cruise from FLL or MIA, we go a day early. Yes, we are originally from there so we know some great little mom and pop hotels at reasonable prices. As one ages, stress relief is always a good thing.

[cb at sea]

You are right..not everyone CAN take an extra day...or wants to! We prefer arrive the day prior if flying...but in reality, many folks arrive the day of....it's what makes YOU comfortable!

[Strophic]

We plan to arrive on the day of the cruise, but will will have driven both times...I don't know if I'd be as comfortable doing it if I were flying, but I'm also not an experienced flyer. I guess you should go with your gut—if you've had success in the past and you feel like the issues that caused you problems before are no longer a factor, then you should give it a try.

[sellwingri]

We always fly in the day before. However, on our upcoming cruise out of Baltimore, we're flying in the morning of. The cruise leaves on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and had we booked a flight on Friday, it would have cost $200 more.

 

I'm already nervous. I've checked to see how long it would take to drive and looked into alternative forms of transportation. Hopefully everything will go as planned. It I'll be nervous until we walk on the ship. I'll never do this again, even if it does cost more.

[NolaFireLI]

Cruising on Harmony in 2 short weeks and this time we are flying in the day before and I have to say - My stress level is completely different this cruise compared to past Oasis/Allure cruises where we DID fly in the day of the cruise... WAY too stressful to fly in DAY OF!!! I don't think I will ever fly in the day of the cruise again!!

 

.....and while, yes, it is an added expense to fly in the day before - it also does start your vacation earlier!! :D

[SheehanDJ]

20 years ago we would always fly in the day of the cruise. If there was a problem with the plane there was another one leaving in an hour so no big deal, we also only cruised in the summer so we could ship the kids off to the grandparents.

 

Now we always try to fly in at least the day before if not a couple of days. Now there is usually only one option to get down to FL in the morning, miss it and the next flight isn't until late in the afternoon. All that being said, we leave next Monday for a Carnival cruise and are flying in the day of. If we miss the cruise we will just stay in a resort for a week.

[Homosassa]

When possible, we have always flown in the day before the cruise.

 

Now that we live in Florida, we will drive to the port the day before the cruise. Because we live an hour north of Tampa, Tampa is the only port we drive to the day of the cruise.

 

However, last night as we watched the local news, a report of the road closures due to the numerous brush fires in the state were being given. Included was the Sun Coast Parkway and IS- 75 to the south of us (both were to remain close all night and might reopen sometime today) and it crossed my mind that I was glad we were not trying to get to Tampa port today as both those roads are a fast drive routes to port.

 

By the way, IS-95, other section of IS-75, and the Turnpike from IS-75 over to the east coast also have road closures due to the numerous brush fires. I hope everyone allowed extra time if driving to Florida ports today.

[Hobiecat01]

We have always flown in a day before due to weather, flight issues, flat tire on the way to the airport, and a myriad of other "oops" that can delay when a delay is not acceptable. We also enjoy the decompression of a nice evening before we board.

 

 

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[Green Recruit]

I think it all depends upon where you live, where you need to go and the time of year. While we were on the west coast, it was a same day flight up to Vancouver, all others were a day before at least. Now that we are here on the east coast it will depend upon the time of year but more than likely the day before especially in winter. If spring or fall and the flight is under 3 hours it will be a same day trip.

 

Whatever your comfort level (and financial situation) dictates, go for it!

 

Teri

[Desert Cruizers]

We live on the West Coast and although a 2.5 hour drive to San Diego/San Pedro, we will go down the day before to relax. The possibility of traffic accidents or other delays isn't worth it. Now going out of FL and being a 6 hour flight and connections, there is no way we would come in the day of a cruise. If and I say if we needed to come in the day of a cruise from FL etc, then we would need to take a red eye flight.

[Pratique]

My wife and I used to live in Florida and we are in agreement that we never want to live there again even though flying in for a cruise is a hassle that wastes the better part of two days.

 

After we got off of Allure last weekend my wife told me she would make an exception if we could live in one of those condos overlooking the channel into Port Everglades. I love it when she talks dirty.

[BecciBoo]

Even when we drive, I like to drive down the day before. I live near Dallas, so it is a 5 hour drive to Galveston. But, I have had it take almost 7 hours due to traffic. Plus, if there is a major accident, it could take even longer. I don't want to be stressed and worried about the clock on my way down there. It is much nicer drive down the day before, get a good night's sleep and wake up rested and ready to cruise!

 

Same here (san antonio area)...used to drive down day of but the older I get the more OCD I become...too old for such stress!! Anything could happen, a wreck would be awful! A breakdown very feasable, it happened last year to my DD, they arrived in time, but their Denali had to stay in Houston to be fixed and fortunately her nLaws picked it up and had it at port for her return, but that was extremely stressful to all of us(17 person family reunion cruise). We can afford a night at Holiday Inn Express...so leisurely to arrive early at port and no stress!

 

Flying...no way Jose' Day before cruise only....during hurricane Ike, we had to move our flights to 2 days before because they were threatening to close down our airport, we had to drive over to the airport to get them changed. Too funny though because the San Antonio Airport DID close and they never even got a drop of rain or wind from Ike. But it did hit Galveston, tons of cars were flooded when people had to drive home from their cruise, what a mess! We were lucky we booked Freedom that time.

[davekathy]

We always fly in at least the day before the cruise no matter the embarkation port.

[xcell]

Safe vs sorry

 

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[taxgal]

We always try to fly in the day before--even if we have to leave the night before, after work and get in really late. Just want to be in the departure city as early as possible, so we don't stress out about missing the ship. We've had too many occasions where flights are delayed/cancelled due to weather, mail, missing flight personal.

[forevercamiamom]

Guess we are gamblers. Always flew day of sailing. This September we are driving to Port Everglades. Which is a 18.5 hour drive for us! It's making me nuts to figure out what day to leave for a sailing in Sunday

 

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[sloanesq]

RCL's Choice Air has no problem booking people on same day flights. Make of that what you will.

[Desinico]

Definitely a day or two early. My upcoming cruise flight has gotten changed a month after booking it. The change had us into Orlando after 3 pm, instead of 10 am. Luckily we're flying in 2 days before otherwise I would have been really upset. I'm praying no more surprise emails 🤞🏽

 

 

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[serpsy]

We live in UK and always go the day before, (except for once, see below!), even if we drive down to Southampton. We just see it as an extension to our holiday.

On our first cruise not from Southampton, our TA advised us to book with cruise line in case anything goes, then they will be responsible. We took a direct flight from Manchester to Rome on the morning of the cruise and arrived in plenty of time. Unfortunately, I could not say the same about our luggage. We had no clothes at all, but the ones we were wearing. RCCL were great in chasing the luggage, giving us underwear, a free dinner suit for me and a choice of cocktail dress for DW to chose from lost and found, (how you lose one I do not know), and free daily washing vouchers. We laughed about it, got funny stares when we dined very casually each night but it could have ruined our cruise. We finally got our cases on day 8 of a 12 night cruise, having had the cases follow us around, and of course on seas days there is no chance. If we travel the day before ant least you have a chance of your luggage coming out on the next flight the following day, (we found out ours were never loaded and were stuck in Manchester).

As for driving down, you only need a bad accident and the motorway network grinds to a halt for a long time. On our last cruise, returning from our cruise, the A34 south bound, (main rout down to Southampton), had a serious accident and was closed for a very long time. I thought about anyone travelling down to catch the next cruise, as there was no way they would get there in time.

Personally. I go on holiday/vacation to relax, not get stressed before I get there. Going a day early just takes away all that worry.

[grapau27]

We live in UK and always go the day before, (except for once, see below!), even if we drive down to Southampton. We just see it as an extension to our holiday.

On our first cruise not from Southampton, our TA advised us to book with cruise line in case anything goes, then they will be responsible. We took a direct flight from Manchester to Rome on the morning of the cruise and arrived in plenty of time. Unfortunately, I could not say the same about our luggage. We had no clothes at all, but the ones we were wearing. RCCL were great in chasing the luggage, giving us underwear, a free dinner suit for me and a choice of cocktail dress for DW to chose from lost and found, (how you lose one I do not know), and free daily washing vouchers. We laughed about it, got funny stares when we dined very casually each night but it could have ruined our cruise. We finally got our cases on day 8 of a 12 night cruise, having had the cases follow us around, and of course on seas days there is no chance. If we travel the day before ant least you have a chance of your luggage coming out on the next flight the following day, (we found out ours were never loaded and were stuck in Manchester).

As for driving down, you only need a bad accident and the motorway network grinds to a halt for a long time. On our last cruise, returning from our cruise, the A34 south bound, (main rout down to Southampton), had a serious accident and was closed for a very long time. I thought about anyone travelling down to catch the next cruise, as there was no way they would get there in time.

Personally. I go on holiday/vacation to relax, not get stressed before I get there. Going a day early just takes away all that worry.

Lots of relevant points.

If we are sailing out of Southampton we fly the day before from Newcastle and stay in a premier inn and walk around Southampton in the morning and get a taxi about mid day to the ship.

We sail out of Barcelona a lot and normally get an early morning flight on the day.

For US we fly day before or 2-3 days before and have a few nights in Orlando.