Fly into Miama day of cruise or day before

[sandc4e]

We always fly in the day before, that way we can begin our vacation early, enjoy a nice dinner and get to the ship early to relax by the pools and have a nice lunch.

 

Lends to a much more relaxing embarkation day for us.

 

S

[fla gang]

Fly in the night before and enjoy some excellent latin food!

[Djsmrs]

15 hours ago, gdwest said:

We have up to this point always flown into the departing city the day before the cruise.  We will be flying from Nashville

to Miami and am curious if flying the morning of would be advisable (or not).  Our flight arrives at 10:55 a.m. with Southwest.

Southwest seems to be (my experience) good at arriving on time...any advise or thoughts??

 

Thanks!

All you need is one little nut to come loose, a red light to go on in the cockpit and delay your flight by a couple of hours and you could miss departure.   In the words of the great Clint Eastwood "do ya feel lucky punk?   Well do ya?"   lol    

 

You're probably fine  in all honesty... but that little what-if still exists.   

[Fairgarth]

7 hours ago, loman said:

I always take a direct flight from Toronto the day of the cruise .

 

Your faith in the airlines is touching and totally misplaced.  Nine times out of ten you will make it.  What will you be thinking on the tenth?  What if you make it and your baggage doesn't?

[Empehi]

Something to think about when considering winter flights from the North to Florida.

 

Those that think flying in the day before may have a false sense of security.

 

1. Sometimes the storms can be massive and completely disrupt the the plane flow for a number of days.

 

2. If you think that if your flight gets cancelled you will be able to grab a different one with an extra day to book a flight think again .... with flights massively full odds are not good you could get on a later or following day flight. Example ... your flight cancelled with 140 passengers ... next flight has two open seats and you are a family of four .... then what? And so on .....

3. Whether you fly a day early or on the day ..... you must constantly monitor the flights ... especially where you plane is coming from.

[snichols23]

You could be the first runner of the cruise

[lenquixote66]

17 hours ago, gdwest said:

We have up to this point always flown into the departing city the day before the cruise.  We will be flying from Nashville

to Miami and am curious if flying the morning of would be advisable (or not).  Our flight arrives at 10:55 a.m. with Southwest.

Southwest seems to be (my experience) good at arriving on time...any advise or thoughts??

 

Thanks!

In 2010 we cruised from Fla and since we were never there before we decided to book an 8 AM flight the day before giving us time to do some site seeing.However,due to horrific weather conditions our flight left 12 hours late.

My suggestion is to leave as early as possible.

[snichols23]

I never fly the day of embarkation or disembarkation. I consider 2 nights hotel and a couple of meals as another form of travel insurance 

Edited June 9, 2021 by snichols23

[davekathy]

Always the day before the cruise. Personal preference. 

[snichols23]

Last TA we had really rough seas. Pool was drained because water was sloshing out. Capt opted to disembark in Port Canaveral rather than Tampa. RCL bussed passengers to Tampa or other local airports. We already had a hotel for that night in Tampa with flights the next day. We had a relaxing trip to Tampa knowing that was our only glitch. Life was good. 
 

Not so for other passengers who were freaking out trying to change “day of” flights, etc. Computer access was difficult. Many were in panic mode. You need to look at travel plans pre/post cruise. This is living proof of post cruise issues.

[zekekelso]

You’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

 

In cruise critic world, flying in say of cruise is a no-no. In the real world, lots of people do it. And it almost always works out. Almost. 

[njkruzer]

I remember a trip to San Juan.   Flying the day before so no issue for us but watched the anxious passengers who were cruising that day when our flight out EWR was delayed 4-5 hours.  Our plane had a mechanical problem.   They had to bring a plane from JFK.  Needed a crew for that short flight and flight plan, etc.  Not a quick 1, 2, 3 to get another plan.  With the time zone difference we were about 5 hrs late.  Not a problem for us and I think everyone sailing that day made their cruise, but I not sure they appreciated the anxiety.   Only do it when you have no choice. 

[loman]

1 hour ago, Fairgarth said:

 

Your faith in the airlines is touching and totally misplaced.  Nine times out of ten you will make it.  What will you be thinking on the tenth?  What if you make it and your baggage doesn't?

ill pull out my credit card and buy some stuff , not a very big deal .  

I do whats good for me which isn`t necessarily good for you. 

[zekekelso]

15 hours ago, shofer said:

On the flight down, DH & I realized that we had forgotten our passports.

I thought you were going to say you realized you forgot Kevin. 

[zekekelso]

7 hours ago, jean87510 said:

Husband makes the flights unfortunately 

I bet my wife feels that way sometimes 🙂

[Diver2014]

15 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

How about a red-eye? I have no interest in spending more money and time in Florida.

What?  You don't like Florida?  I wish thousands of snow birds felt the same way as you.

[shofer]

3 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

We are from CA. and I consider myself regular.  Actually from way Southern CA, and we always fly in the day of sailing to FL.

I can understand this considering your perchance for decent weather.  If you lived in the Midwest or Northeast, you would have a different outlook.

[shofer]

2 hours ago, snichols23 said:

I never fly the day of embarkation or disembarkation. I consider 2 nights hotel and a couple of meals as another form of travel insurance 

Never worry about getting home since we have retired!

[snichols23]

3 hours ago, njkruzer said:

I remember a trip to San Juan.   Flying the day before so no issue for us but watched the anxious passengers who were cruising that day when our flight out EWR was delayed 4-5 hours.  Our plane had a mechanical problem.   They had to bring a plane from JFK.  Needed a crew for that short flight and flight plan, etc.  Not a quick 1, 2, 3 to get another plan.  With the time zone difference we were about 5 hrs late.  Not a problem for us and I think everyone sailing that day made their cruise, but I not sure they appreciated the anxiety.   Only do it when you have no choice. 

There are upsides to everything. We were flying to San Juan the day before a cruise. Everyone waiting to board the plane were getting on a ship that day. Plane was overbooked. Gate agent came to us and explained that they were overbooked by one seat. She knew we weren’t cruising until the next day. She said she wasn’t messing around. We walked of with food vouchers and first class seats on a flight departing one hour later. The greatest thing was $2000 in flight vouchers! 

[Jingerwoppy]

Several years ago we we had a cruise scheduled out of Galveston in late December. I told our group that we really needed to go down the day before (we were living in Austin). They finally relented and we arrange to stay with my wife's aunt in Houston. At about a week before the cruise, the weather was looking like ice and sleet were going to interfere with our plans but we went down midday the day before the cruise and didn't have any issues. When we got up Sunday morning, it was starting to sleet so we ate quickly and drove the rest of the way to Galveston with the sleet worsening. In the end, we boarded the ship but something like 25% to 30% of the passengers didn't make it. Flights were not allowed into Houston and the shuttles were running way behind. We enjoyed the cruise because there was never a crowd anywhere. 

 

So now when I bring up arriving at the departure port at least a day in advance, my wife doesn't argue with me. 

[deliver42]

I would never take a chance on cruie day. There could be a problem with the plane, thus a delay of who knows how many hours, or a weather problem. You really take a  chance doing that.

[Ashland]

4 hours ago, loman said:

ill pull out my credit card and buy some stuff , not a very big deal .  

I do whats good for me which isn`t necessarily good for you. 

Some people just don't realize options are sometimes limited...and yes..agree..we do what will work the best for us too for each particular situation.

 

When we've flown into FLL day of cruise..several of the people on our flight were doing the same thing...so a bit more popular than some think on these boards.

[Eddie Wilson]

One other option if sailing from Miami and flying in the morning of the cruise, is to look into flying into FLL.

 

If a flight lands in FLL an hour or so earlier than Miami, you may reach the docks sooner.

 

Eddie

[cruiserking]

When you've already spent a few thousand dollars for a beautiful cruise vacation what's the point of stressing yourself out hoping that your same day flight arrives with time to spare? 

 

It's worth spending a few hundred more for a hotel room in Miami, unwind, relax, have a nice dinner then get up early the next day and arrive at the Port of Miami in style instead of in a heap of frayed nerves. 

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Jonathan

[baldilocks]

After two close calls, we always fly in the day before the cruise. From experience:  Our flight to Baltimore was cancelled due FAA computer glitch. The second flight was cancelled. We got a third flight and arrive at the ship 45 minutes before sailing. The next instance was a flight to LA. The airline changed the flight departure time to 11/2 hours earlier than originally published (we had our boarding passes with the original departure time on them). We were travelling in our car and did not get the very late announcement from Delta. We got to the airport and the sky cap said we had to hurry. We got to the gate as they were about ready to close the door. No more same day travel after that!!!!