Always a Day Early. Always!

[Krazy Kruizers]

How sad for them! But, yes. A real lesson.

 

Our flight is now set to depart over 5 hours late. So grateful I am not sweating it out.

 

 

Hope you have arrived safely at your embarkation port and did get some rest at the hotel.

[mauimacho]

The decompression of the extra day is worth the cost of a night or two in a hotel.

 

This past winter was a prime example of the need to make allowances for storms. When we flew to Australia for a cruise, options for changing to the long-haul flight were San Francisco and Chicago. No offense to Chicago, it's a great city. But no way am I connecting through Chicago in February. Getting out of Newark in February was risky enough.

I love Chicago also and agree 100%. I never change planes in Chicago.

[Taters]

Our next cruise departs Baltimore in January. Needless to say, we're flying in 4 days early.

[Happily@Sea]

We've never arrived in FLL or MIA on time on Amtrak. Even if it is on time, you can't get from the train to the port in time for departure.

 

 

Nope, Amtrak is scheduled to arrive after 5 pm - when on time - You've already missed the boat. :(

 

I'm from FL and take Amtrak - you must come the day before.

[airlink diva]

Always leave at least one day early,even when driving!

Never forget some coworkers leaving that morning of the cruise. Direct flight,plane was there from overnight. However flying as non revs. Had some people miss the direct to Fort Lauderdale and placed on Miami flight. Three got bumped off while four didn't. Hard pill to swollow but we warned them leave early

[Javaholic]

[

Never forget some coworkers leaving that morning of the cruise. Direct flight,plane was there from overnight. However flying as non revs. Had some people miss the direct to Fort Lauderdale and placed on Miami flight. Three got bumped off while four didn't. Hard pill to swollow but we warned them leave early

 

I fly non-rev a lot. UNLESS it's for a cruise. We bought air for our cruise in Sept. Watching the flight, so far it is wide open (even in 1st class). But I am not willing to take that chance, even starting 3-4 days early. Not worth the stress. (although I will be sad in coach, if 1st has open seats :))

[Floating_view]

I’ve done it both ways, San Diego, Vancouver and Fort Lauderdale. Always a direct flight(red eye) or a long layover in a city not known for bad weather.

I like being able to grab a taxi or Uber and go straight to the port.

 

 

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[igraf]

A nice hotel plus meals for two will easily be $300 per night. For us working people the pre-stay would also require daily vacation pay for two per night, which costs even more. At some point one is spending more as a preventative than a shorter cruise is worth, certainly a lot more if one does an actual risk calculation of worth.

 

A much more cost effective alternative is to book the flights through HAL and to use common sense like not using flight connections in cities affected by winter weather. One night in a hotel with flights booked through FlightEase will suffice for most of us.

 

igraf

 

 

 

Three to five days early. A few nights in a hotel is cheap insurance.

[jabrown40]

I’m never flying the same day again for a different reason - fatigue! We had to get up at 4:30 in the morning for a 7:30 flight out of Chicago to Puerto Rico . Then, by the time we got on the shuttle with Viking to the pier and on board, it was close to 4:00 pm their time. Didn’t get our luggage til 8. I had made dinner reservations that we missed, but didn’t even care because we were tired from getting up early and traveling. It was just a miserable way to start our cruise, so fortunately I’m always able to add that extra vacation day, and stay overnight the night before. We chose to save money by not deviating from the included airfare, free shuttle, etc. I won’t do it again.

 

 

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[Arzeena]

A real-time illustration of why we always fly to the embarkation port a day early: our 1:30 flight has gone through departure changes to 4:00, 4:30, 5:00, and 5:30. Local time right now is 4:25. It's a maintenance issue. Apparently a passenger seat isn't working properly. Even small things can delay a flight.

 

Agree 100%.

Hoping all be well and you make it in time.

[scamper]

Another good reason to fly a day or two early...

 

Baggage delays. Having worked in what amounts to the complaint department at a major airline, I have heard it all--and boy, could I tell you some stories. Nevertheless, while most airlines have less than five cases in a thousand when it comes to baggage issues, s**t does happen. If you live in a city that requires you to make a connection to your destination, changing planes at a hub increases the likelihood that your bags could be delayed or misrouted. Airlines are obligated to get your checked bags to your final airline destination, that's it. When I worked for US Airways, we would often send them to your ship's first port of call, assuming they were located in time to do so. Everything was handled on a case by case basis but more often than not, you had to go to the airport at your first port to retrieve your bags, especially if they were sent on another airline. I always advise people to take a couple of changes of clothing in a 21" roll aboard, along with ALL medications and any items of value. I was constantly amazed at some of the stuff people would put in their checked baggage. I remember a guy whose bags were delayed coming home from a trip. He had packed his car/house keys in his checked luggage. His baggage was delayed and he was pretty much screwed. Bottom line, don't pack anything in your checked luggage that can't be replaced at Target or WalMart. My bags have been delayed a couple of times prior to cruises, although they were always recovered and sent to my hotel same day. I was lucky; many people are not.

[igraf]

I have an extra key hidden on my car. It has saved me more than once from inconvenience.

 

Even the specter of late luggage has to be countered with the cost of staying in a port hotel (plus vacation pay) for several days. We always print a page detailing our itinerary and contact information, which is then placed prominently inside any checked bag. This is no time to be paranoid about privacy. Finally, we pack our carry on luggage so that we can still enjoy the cruise (with perhaps a few extra purchases) if our checked luggage doesn't make it to the ship.

 

If one stays at a nice hotel for three nights instead of one for 10 cruises, the extra costs will amount to several thousands of dollars for a retired couple, and over ten thousand dollars for a working couple. That money buys a lot of new clothes, even another cruise.

 

igraf

 

 

 

Another good reason to fly a day or two early...

 

Baggage delays. Having worked in what amounts to the complaint department at a major airline, I have heard it all--and boy, could I tell you some stories. Nevertheless, while most airlines have less than five cases in a thousand when it comes to baggage issues, s**t does happen. If you live in a city that requires you to make a connection to your destination, changing planes at a hub increases the likelihood that your bags could be delayed or misrouted. Airlines are obligated to get your checked bags to your final airline destination, that's it. When I worked for US Airways, we would often send them to your ship's first port of call, assuming they were located in time to do so. Everything was handled on a case by case basis but more often than not, you had to go to the airport at your first port to retrieve your bags, especially if they were sent on another airline. I always advise people to take a couple of changes of clothing in a 21" roll aboard, along with ALL medications and any items of value. I was constantly amazed at some of the stuff people would put in their checked baggage. I remember a guy whose bags were delayed coming home from a trip. He had packed his car/house keys in his checked luggage. His baggage was delayed and he was pretty much screwed. Bottom line, don't pack anything in your checked luggage that can't be replaced at Target or WalMart. My bags have been delayed a couple of times prior to cruises, although they were always recovered and sent to my hotel same day. I was lucky; many people are not.