Flight Question

[regionboiler]

We are taking our first cruise (Inspiration 6/19) and I know the majority feel that it is best to arrive the day before, but I cannot convince my wife. We have a very busy weekend, with our youngest daughter's graduation open house on the 17th and then the cruise.

 

The earliest flight will arrive in Tampa at 12:15pm on the 19th. Is that cutting it too close? Assuming that the flight is on time!!!

[TrentS]

Flights are rarely on time under "normal" circumstances, but if there are weather problems, missed connections, mechanical problems, air traffic control delays, forget about making it to your ship on time! What if your luggage is delayed? Ask your wife how she would like to get on a ship with only her carry on! :eek: Not to mention the fact that you'll be exhausted when you do get onboard AND will have missed most of that first day that you have paid for!

 

I would NEVER take a cruise if I couldn't fly in at least one day before. It's simply not worth taking the chance!!! When you fly in early you can get onboard before noon, well rested, and ready to enjoy that first day onboard!

[suzeyQ]

As long as the flight is on time (or not delayed by too long) you should be fine. We flew to Miami 3 years ago on a flight arriving at 1:30 for a 5pm departure and we were terrified but it was fine. We arrived about an hour late but still had plenty of time. Assuming all goes well, you'll be fine but you never know what might happen.

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

I think that you are cutting it too close but here are some ideas. Look at flying into Orlando which has lots of service from everywhere and renting a car for a drive across Florida on Florida's excellent freeways. A one way rental in Florida is reasonable and you might be able to drop the car off at the Tampa Cruise Terminal. Or consider flying to Tampa from Orlando.

 

Not sure if any of this can work for you.

 

Fred

[TrentS]

Hello,

 

I think that you are cutting it too close but here are some ideas. Look at flying into Orlando which has lots of service from everywhere and renting a car for a drive across Florida on Florida's excellent freeways. A one way rental in Florida is reasonable and you might be able to drop the car off at the Tampa Cruise Terminal. Or consider flying to Tampa from Orlando.

 

Not sure if any of this can work for you.

 

Fred

I'm not understanding why you would have them fly to Orlando??? There are just as many flights to Tampa from everywhere. But have you actually DRIVEN from Orlando to Tampa? I-4 is NOT a pleasant experience! And flying from Orlando to Tampa would most likely be insanely expensive and far more trouble than it's worth if such a flight even exists.

[regionboiler]

A great big thanks for all of your suggestions.

 

In an attempt to conserve expenses, (with two daughters in college:eek: ) we are trying to minimize the airfare. Unless you live in Indiana, you probably wouldn't understand my login name, which means that I am from Northwest Indiana (near Chicago) and am a Purdue alum.

 

That being said, it is less expensive to fly out of Indianapolis (about a 2 hour drive) than from either of Chicago's airports!!. The problem is that nothing much gets into Tampa earlier than noon from any of the three airports. The one exception is a nonstop from O'Hare which arrives in Tampa at 10:15am. The only drawback is that the cost is DOUBLE of flying out of Indy and arriving 2 hours later.

 

I still feel that there is a good chance that I can convince her to leave the day before. After twenty-five years, (oh yea, this vacation is also to celebrate our 25th anniversary!!) we have become much better at compromise. Or at least she lets me think that we are;) .

 

Additionally, what would be the earliest that you would book a flight at the end of the cruise? 1pm?, 2pm?, 3pm? Thanks in advance.

 

My other dillema is how to persuade her to get wet with the Stingrays... but that's for another post!!

[Cotton]

You definitely need to do some more convincing. Flying in the day of the cruise - many horror stories about folks missing their cruise! I'd never consider it. Nobody can control the weather, and flight delays are very common.

 

Maybe y'all could even catch a red-eye flight the night before? Would be less expensive, and no hotel involved. When you get to FL, you'd probably have not more than a few hours before you could go to the port for check-in for the cruise.

 

About return flight - Carnival suggests no outbound flight before 1pm. Sometimes ships are delayed getting back to the homeport, or there could be custom delays, etc. Book a later flight, if you can. And......good luck.:)

[celbercrz333]

Since flights can be delayed due to weather (even in other parts of the country), I would think you'd want to be there a day ahead or on an earlier flight. I'm not sure when the last boarding on the ship is or the last transfer i from the Tampa airport to the cruise ship, but that is a major factor. We, on the other hand, flew from BWI to Miami to do a cruise and wound up having about 3 hours to waste in the airport. With such a busy hurricane season last year, you have to factor that in too. Good luck.

[regionboiler]

Thanks for everyone's input. You are definitely preaching to the choir!!

 

I am going to put my foot down (LOL!!) and demand that we take the 3:30pm flight the day before. If I do that, what is the possibility of getting switched to a wheelchair accessible room?:D Since I figure by then I will just be released from the hospital!!!

[cherylandtk]

Boiler-Suggest this compromise to your wife: you will take care of all the lists and all the packing for the cruise and get that done before your daughter's graduation takes over your time/house/thoughts. In return she agrees to leave on that 3-ish NS flight out of IND on Sunday the 18th. You arrange for somebody (friend, daughter, service) to clean up the house after the party.

 

That way, she can focus on the graduation on the 17th, you have the 18th to travel, and you both start your cruise relaxed. In the long run, I predict your wife will appreciate the "lack of packing and the somebody else to clean" as the best part of her 25th celebration. Cruise notwithstanding ;)

[regionboiler]

Cheryl, that suggestion will work with only two exceptions:

1. My wife hardly lets me dress myself, let alone pack for a vacation (although my assistance will be greatly appreciated)

2. My daughter would be very upset if we asked her to stay home and clean up after her open house since all four of us are going on the cruise!!! (I know that I can get some sisters-in-law to help with that activity.)

 

Honestly, if we can get the packing done by Wednesday (except for the carry-ons) stress levels should be at a minimum.

[TrentS]

Thanks for everyone's input. You are definitely preaching to the choir!!

 

I am going to put my foot down (LOL!!) and demand that we take the 3:30pm flight the day before. If I do that, what is the possibility of getting switched to a wheelchair accessible room?:D Since I figure by then I will just be released from the hospital!!!

With all due respect to your wife she just doesn't get it. Tell her the chances are just too great of missing the ship if you fly in on the day of the cruise... Either fly the day before or no cruise! She may be a li'l upset with you, but she'll get over it! And I guarantee she would be far more upset if you arrived at the dock to see where your ship WAS.

 

As for the return flight, safest is anytime after 1pm.

[Cotton]

Boiler - I LOVE your attitude!:D If everybody had such a great sense of humor, wouldn't life be grand?

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

I made my suggestions (fly to Orlando, rent a car) toward helping our friendly Boilermaker from Purdue. Please remember that my purpose in responding to these boards is to present some ideas to those who ask for help. Sometimes my suggestions will be of help, other times not so.

 

Hope that you all have great cruises in the near future.

 

Fred

[barbeehd]

We just came back off the Inspiration yesterday. We took the redeye flight out of Phoenix/Newark NJ and got into the airport at 9:30 am. We sat around there until 11:30 AM because we were told we could not get on ship until 1:30 pm. Found some women who told us we could go early. At 11:45 we hopped into a taxi (the fare is $20) no meter running. Got to the ship at 12:15. NO PROBLEM ! Hundreds of porters to take your luggage inside. You never see it again until it gets to your stateroom. Embarkation is a no brainer. Very fast. Into the room, nothing to do, no luggage yet. At 3:30 they call you for the lifeboat drill and while you are in the drill, the boat starts to move away. The whole process is very very easy.

[Cotton]

......Into the room, nothing to do, no luggage yet. At 3:30 they call you for the lifeboat drill.......quote]

 

I'm curious.:) Did you just sit in your cabin until muster drill? Didn't you go explore the ship and have lunch on Lido Deck?

[TrentS]

......Into the room, nothing to do, no luggage yet. At 3:30 they call you for the lifeboat drill.......quote]

 

I'm curious.:) Did you just sit in your cabin until muster drill? Didn't you go explore the ship and have lunch on Lido Deck?

Yeah, I'd like to know the answer to that one too. There's a LOT to do IMO... We always drop our carry-ons in the cabin, then go up to the buffet for lunch, explore the ship and so on.

[Happy ks]

Cheryl, that suggestion will work with only two exceptions:

1. My wife hardly lets me dress myself, let alone pack for a vacation (although my assistance will be greatly appreciated)

2. My daughter would be very upset if we asked her to stay home and clean up after her open house since all four of us are going on the cruise!!! (I know that I can get some sisters-in-law to help with that activity.)

 

Honestly, if we can get the packing done by Wednesday (except for the carry-ons) stress levels should be at a minimum.

 

You are like my husband is some ways. He knows his job is to carry the bags I pack for him and I! However, it's me who wants to travel early, when we went to Alaska in 2004, I actually flew up with the kids 2 days ahead of him!

 

Go a day early, she will not regret it, at all. The stress from travelling the day of a cruise is horrible. The thought of missing the entire cruise would drive me bonkers.

 

My recommendation would be, if she is preparing food for the party, is to give that up and have it catered. It doesn't have to be expensive, a local restaurant or deli would be fine. Give away all the leftovers, use paper plates, sweep the floor, get rid of the big hunks and worry about the rest of it when you return.

 

We did just this a couple of years ago, we had a dinner party and left the next morning for the cruise. It was so wonderful, I doubt I'll cook for my own parties ever again.

 

I keep our carry on packed all the time, even when we don't have a trip planned. This bag takes the longest of any. I just have a duplicate of everything we use at home in there. I just throw in the last minute stuff, such as my makeup bag, right before leaving.

 

I personally think she is crazy to give more importance to a little party than a weeks cruise. You can tell her I said so.

[barbeehd]

You people. What I meant was, yes we had lunch and yes we explored the ship somewhat, getting lost a zillion times, and yes I like to UNPACK my stuff in the room so I know I have everything. It was our FIRST cruise, so we didn't quite know what we should be doing. I knew the life jackets were in the cabin, and I didn't see anyone exploring the ship wearing an orange colored ugly thing around their neck. So, we sort stayed around the cabin, until called, to go to the drill. So, what's the big deal anyway??

[regionboiler]

Happy, Thanks for the advice but, with all due respect, I enjoy living too much to tell her that she's crazy!!

 

We are having the event catered, which I am taking care of (thank you very much) along with the live band (which is one of two reasons we cannot have the open house on the previous weekend).

 

I think that my trump card in getting to leave the day before will be my sister-in-law's expreience on their cruise which leaves this coming weekend. They are leaving the morning of, and she is already a nervous wreck (which isn't her style).

[cruisin newbie]

Unless you are used to big city driving, I would not recommend driving from Orlando to Tampa. There is no way I would ever want to attempt that! Besides that, I cannot tell you anything that these people haven't yet. I know I would be a nervous wreck the whole way to the airport until I got off that plane and had my luggage in my hands. It's just not worth the stress!

[Cotton]

You people. What I meant was, yes we had lunch and yes we explored the ship somewhat, getting lost a zillion times.......... So, what's the big deal anyway??

 

:D You just took our replies the wrong way. What you said was:

"Embarkation is a no brainer. Very fast. Into the room, nothing to do, no luggage yet. At 3:30 they call you for the lifeboat drill and ....."

 

It sounded as if you embarked, went to your cabin, and stayed there. But - had you mentioned that you went for lunch and exploration, we would have understood. Don't take things in the wrong way; no harm meant. We were just curious, no biggie, ok?:)

[regionboiler]

Unless you are used to big city driving, I would not recommend driving from Orlando to Tampa. There is no way I would ever want to attempt that! Besides that, I cannot tell you anything that these people haven't yet. I know I would be a nervous wreck the whole way to the airport until I got off that plane and had my luggage in my hands. It's just not worth the stress!

 

Big city driving:rolleyes: , I think that I can handle that. I drive in Chicago:eek: routinely, which I feel is the definition of big city driving.

 

No offense, but to me driving in FLA is similar to a Sunday drive in the country.

[TrentS]

Big city driving:rolleyes: , I think that I can handle that. I drive in Chicago:eek: routinely, which I feel is the definition of big city driving.

 

No offense, but to me driving in FLA is similar to a Sunday drive in the country.

I spent a year in Chicago... Driving from Oak Brook to the Loop and back during rush hour every day... I-4 from Orlando to Tampa is WORSE! ;)

[christinasreadytocruise]

you all are scaring me!! i have a cruise booked on may 13th out of port canaveral. my hubby and i are flying into orlando, and are scheduled to arrive at 9:10 in the am and our ship departs @ 4. We are flying from new jersey and unfortunately we have a connecting flight in N carolina. So that makes it even more risky. uuuuuggg now im worried. do you think ill have enough time? i mean in my defense logically speaking to be "scheduled" to arrive at 9:10 for a 4:00 departure seems like plenty of time. and really what are the odds of some catastrophe happening that holds us up for 7 hours? someone comfort me please and tell me i didnt make a big mistake. lol everything is already booke dnad bought so wish us luck i guess.