Almost A Nightmare

[TMUSCRUISER]

I always fly into my cruise the day before today a few couples going with us wanted to save money and we flew in this morning there perfect weather but the captain came on and said they where calling maintenance my heart was in my throat luckily they fixed whatever the issue was but learned lesson it could have been much worse...

 

 

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[Keith1010]

I really think it is too risky to fly in the day of the cruise.

 

As you say it could have been far worse.

 

Glad it worked out for you.

 

Keith

Edited August 26, 2017 by Keith1010

[firemanbobswife]

I would be flying in the day before and they could meet me at the ship the next day. I don't let other people dictate my travel plans.

[TNcruising02]

I'm glad it worked out for you. I think those of us who have experienced flight delays and cancellations have learned the lesson not to fly in the day of the cruise. I think that is the best advice I have ever received regarding taking a cruise.

[gwsster]

Airlines now are known for overbooking, bumping, changing aircraft, maintenance issues not to mention weather delays. For me, I think it is easiest and less stressful to fly in the day before. Starting the cruise vacation a day ahead is more restful and allows decompression from the packing and traveling to the ship. Somethings cost, somethings pay.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Yep, we only flew in the day of the cruise once and that was our first cruise. It was too stressful since we were so worried whether we'd make it on time or not and was a pretty exhausting day. We don't do that anymore, glad you made it!

[Micahs Grandad]

I would be flying in the day before and they could meet me at the ship the next day. I don't let other people dictate my travel plans.

 

Years ago we would fly in same day of the cruise. These days why trust an airline? Way to risky.

[Shaded Lady]

Our first cruise we flew from Toronto to Orlando.... with a stop in the middle somewhere (I don't recall where). In order to get there in time we had to be up at 2 AM, drive to the airport, fly on 2 planes, land in Orlando, rent a car, drive to Pt Canaveral and we just made it by 2:30. We were too new to feel any pressure about the risk of missing the ship, but man were we beat! Once we got to our rooms, we did muster then passed out, missed dinner, missed everything that first day.

 

In hindsight I am terrified about all the things that could have gone wrong! Thanks to Cruise Critic, never again!

[cherburt]

We will be flying from Minneapolis to Fort Launderdale in Jan for a Sunday departure. Flights were cheaper on Friday then Saturday and I had enough points for 2 nights hotel. Im exciting to go 2 days ahead of time in case of a snow storm. Only our 3rd cruise so no expert here. I tend to to be a worry wort so this should help in that area.

This will be our first b2b and will be my first ever 3 week vacation.

 

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[garycarla]

And of course, lots of folks actually go to FTL for vacation even without a cruise!

[lilant]

I would be flying in the day before and they could meet me at the ship the next day. I don't let other people dictate my travel plans.

 

 

 

Sooooo true, OR as the "senior" cruise person I would have dictated the flight day due to "experience".

 

 

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[Jamman54]

Back in the "old" days in the 80's when we first started cruising we always used to fly in the day of the cruise. That's because we used to let Carnival book the flights, so if there was a delay, the Captain would wait before sailing. Once we smartened up and realized that we could save a lot of money by booking the flights ourselves, we will always fly in several days ahead of time, especially during the winter months. :cool:

[cruizergal70]

For FL, NY, or SC departures, I always fly in the morning of the cruise with arrival no later than 10 am. West coast departures, I fly in the day before. I don't stress either way.

[Silent Penguin]

[quote=TMUSCRUISER;53896146... we flew in this morning there perfect weather but the captain came on and said they where calling maintenance my heart was in my throat luckily they fixed whatever the issue was but learned lesson it could have been much worse...

 

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Well! I'm glad to hear you didn't have to learn your lesson the hard way. Since we drive to Florida, and a maintenance-related delay is always possible, we always leave a day early. I'll admit, If we were flying, we would be tempted to book the first AM flight on cruise day if it was really cheap and dh wouldn't have to lose a day of work by doing so.

[riclop]

I always fly into my cruise the day before today a few couples going with us wanted to save money and we flew in this morning there perfect weather but the captain came on and said they where calling maintenance my heart was in my throat luckily they fixed whatever the issue was but learned lesson it could have been much worse...

 

 

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Lesson learned, right???

[cruizergal70]

Lesson learned, right???

I can't believe so many people are afraid to fly in the morning of the cruise. I guess it depends on distance and flight duration.

[Mrs.Gosse]

I'm so glad it worked out for you! I would have been worried sick as well! I am an over stressor! I always fly in the day before cruise but I have been tempted to try to fly the day of. For our next vacation we have already had two of our four flights be changed by over two hours each! Both of them causing us to miss connections. That was enough to make me know I could never risk it. Luckily they were on the way back and the first one we decided to cancel, get our money back and rent a car. The second one unfortunately causes us a huge inconvenience as it is our final leg of our trip and we are supposed to be celebrating our daughter's birthday that day. Both of them were on Delta! I am suspicious of Delta now. When I booked these flights very early in advance there were a ton of options. It would appear to me that they give you all these options just to snare you into using Delta and then they cancel multiple flight and combine them. It may sound crazy but I'm taking two other airlines this trip and neither one of them have had any changes. Suspicious

 

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[Mrs.Gosse]

I can't believe so many people are afraid to fly in the morning of the cruise. I guess it depends on distance and flight duration.

I would be less nervous if I was giving myself a lot of time in advance, know there are multiple flights each day to that location or maybe it could technically be driving distance by the time you're notified of the cancellation. Because honestly most changes and cancellation are well in advance or at least a few hours.

 

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[cruizergal70]

To me, it appears like cruisers in general are over stressors or just plain jittery. Good thing I'm pretty chill.

[firemanbobswife]

I can't believe so many people are afraid to fly in the morning of the cruise. I guess it depends on distance and flight duration.

 

Yeah definitely is the case for me. Only 1 nonstop flight to FL from here and if I had to make a connection the day of, it would be questionable if I would make it. And that's if there were any seats open. If I lived in ATL or CLT then it would be a different story.

 

I don't stress if I'm going to a resort or to visit family because they will still be there in a day or two. The ship won't and I'm not trying to lose days on the ship or have to rearrange flights to catch up to it. It's not being "jittery". It's called being smart.

[HerbertandB]

Back in the "old" days in the 80's when we first started cruising we always used to fly in the day of the cruise. That's because we used to let Carnival book the flights, so if there was a delay, the Captain would wait before sailing. Once we smartened up and realized that we could save a lot of money by booking the flights ourselves, we will always fly in several days ahead of time, especially during the winter months. :cool:

 

 

This was me too back in the late 90's. We always flew in to MIA or FLL the day of our cruise - in the winter - from Iowa:eek: Thinking about trying that now gives me anxiety.

[lbkladybug]

I just booked the new Horizon for July and it was $1,800 pp! Granted it's a brand new ship but I still thought that was steep!

 

 

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[DirtyDawg]

I can't believe so many people are afraid to fly in the morning of the cruise. I guess it depends on distance and flight duration.

 

This comes up all the time on CC and overwhelming opinion is to fly in the day before at least. It seams to be all about reducing stress. Posters don't know what at odds are that their flight will be late, they don't know what their loss will be if they miss the ship, therefore they don't know what their expected loss is for each and every cruise they take, and they don't know what they are paying for their 'insurance' i.e. the extra costs they incur, to reduce their expected loss. That's OK if stress reduction is the main reason they fly in the day before. What ticks me off are those cruisers who assume everyone has the stress level they have or are as risk averse they are, and lash out at posters who are don't do the same as they do.

[bafinegan]

We are flying out of Atlanta fro Fort Lauderdale for our Glory cruise on Jan 6, 2018. Not high flight volume and arriving at FLL before 10. Have booked a car to meet us at airport and whisk us to the cruise port. Just hubs and us- thinking we will be fine :)

 

Baf

[Micahs Grandad]

I can't believe so many people are afraid to fly in the morning of the cruise. I guess it depends on distance and flight duration.

 

Live in a small town with small airport with limited flights.

 

Our flight gets cancelled and airlines will not bump others to get us on next flight. Have had too many delays in past 5 years to take a chance of missing the ship.