Another Reason to Fly in A Day Early

[wrp96]

Bad weather doesn't just happen in winter or in the North.

 

I flew home (or tried to) from San Juan on Sunday. Our flight to Dallas was overbooked so I volunteered and came on a later flight knowing that I would spend the night in Dallas and come home on Monday.

 

When we got to Dallas it was a mess. There had been flooding rains all day, the airport was actually shut down for several hours. My original flight to Little Rock was delayed by over 4 hours (including over an hour sitting on the tarmac). Those flights that weren't delayed, were cancelled out right. Most of the flights (even on the big jets) were on weight restrictions so they were pulling people off of flights to accommodate putting extra fuel on the planes in case they needed to go to alternate airports.

 

As I stood in line waiting to get my hotel voucher, I heard one agent telling somebody "Don't worry, we're on the phone with your cruise ship." Considering it was 5:30pm, she had definitely missed her cruise, no matter where it sailed out of. Definitely points out to me, why we have started flying in a day early, if at all possible.

[DonnaC1]

OK, now I'm getting worried...I've been reading all the posts about getting in to departure port a day early, but it wasn't really feasible to book that for our upcoming cruise. We are leaving here at 7:20 am, will be in Miami around 10:30 am, and thought we had plenty of time to get to the ship. We all work the day before and there were no flights leaving late enough the night before the cruise so we couldn't choose that option. I'm now getting myself worried that if anything goes wrong, we could miss our cruise. It's a shorter flight, and it's direct (no connections) so I'm hoping we'll be fine.

 

Donna

[bluefintuna]

DonnaC1: it is perfectly normal to worry about your flight when flying the day of your cruise. Been there, done that. Just pray all goes well and one plus for you it is an early direct flight. Try not to "what if" yourself and once you are on the ship a deep sigh of relief and happy cruising!

[wrp96]

As I said at the end, come in a day early if at all possible. It just isn't always possible. I had to fly in day of for a cruise at the end of February. You've done the best that you can, which is an early morning flight with no connections. Don't worry and have a great cruise.

[mared1]

OK, now I'm getting worried...I've been reading all the posts about getting in to departure port a day early, but it wasn't really feasible to book that for our upcoming cruise. We are leaving here at 7:20 am, will be in Miami around 10:30 am, and thought we had plenty of time to get to the ship. We all work the day before and there were no flights leaving late enough the night before the cruise so we couldn't choose that option. I'm now getting myself worried that if anything goes wrong, we could miss our cruise. It's a shorter flight, and it's direct (no connections) so I'm hoping we'll be fine.

 

Donna

 

Donna, from what you said about your flight - being shorter and direct, it really shouldn't be a problem. But you never know...if you do miss the sailing, you can fly to the first port and catch the ship. Be sure to have travel insurance that covers the cruise and flight! Also take phone numbers for the cruise line so if you miss it you can call them. I don't know about other lines but Carnival has a number to call if you have delays with your flights.

[FlorenceItaly]

We flew in a day early to FLL for our December cruise and it is a good thing we did because our luggage did not follow. By the time it showed up that evening, the ship would have been long gone had we flown in the day of.

I cruised last month and flew in the day of(never again) and packed a carry on suitcase "just in case". Everything went fine, and the carry on was a pain to lug around. No more flying in the day of for me.

 

Marie

[mek]

So right about flying in the day before. Even if you have to work, I would find some way to get the latest flight out the day before, even if the flight gets in after midnight. I would rather know I'm there, with my bags than to sweat it out the day of the cruise. I have done it on occasion, but only with a very, very early non-stop flight. I wouldn't risk connections. And in the winter, I never risk weather conditions that might shut down the airport. If you have no options but to fly the day of the cruise - always buy insurance to cover circumstances out of your control.

[jla418]

Everyone always worries about the winter weather, but Spring has it's share of severe weather and the Summer Thunderstorms can be a big problem especially if you are flying to South Florida! I work for an airline and have personally seen the distress delays, cancellations, flight diversions, and mis-directed baggage causes cruise passengers when they are flying in the day of the departure. There is so much that can go wrong so I simply will not fly in the day of sailing. I always go the day before. If you absolutely cannot go the day before make sure you either book thru the cruise line, or purchase insurance.

[wrp96]

My preacher's wife was telling me this evening about her boss's travels to his cruise last Thursday. He was flying day of cruise, along with 14 other family members from here in Arkansas via DFW to Orlando. When they got to Dallas, they found out that their flight from DFW to Orlando had been cancelled - several months ago - and the airline did not have another flight to Orlando that day. Her boss frantically searched for another way to get to the cruise and ended up having to pay over $1,000 per person to get to Orlando. Plus when they got there, their pre-paid transportation was no longer waiting since they arrived several hours after they were originally supposed to. They had to pay $200 for taxis to race them to Port Canaveral and arrived just as they were shutting the doors. But luckily they did make the cruise - after spending $15,000 extra to get there.

[nparmelee]

Wrp96, did they have separate tickets for each leg or something?? That makes no sense, when they checked in the ticket agent would have seen the issue with the second leg. Did these people not check their flights at all???? This isn't a warning about flying in a day early, but about checking your flights often. I've never had a flight be cancelled and nothing done by the airline, they usually rebook you.

[wrp96]

Wrp96, did they have separate tickets for each leg or something?? That makes no sense, when they checked in the ticket agent would have seen the issue with the second leg. Did these people not check their flights at all???? This isn't a warning about flying in a day early, but about checking your flights often. I've never had a flight be cancelled and nothing done by the airline, they usually rebook you.

 

I think they may have driven down to Dallas to catch their flights. And I think they may have been flying on a low cost carrier or something like that.

[cruisintwinsmom]

Wrp96, did they have separate tickets for each leg or something?? That makes no sense, when they checked in the ticket agent would have seen the issue with the second leg. Did these people not check their flights at all???? This isn't a warning about flying in a day early, but about checking your flights often. I've never had a flight be cancelled and nothing done by the airline, they usually rebook you.

 

Even if the airline dropped the ball and didn't notify them of the cancellation, isn't it the responsibility of the passanger to check the flight 48 hours before departure to confirm that all is in order?

[BlueHerons]

OK, now I'm getting worried...I've been reading all the posts about getting in to departure port a day early, but it wasn't really feasible to book that for our upcoming cruise. We are leaving here at 7:20 am, will be in Miami around 10:30 am, and thought we had plenty of time to get to the ship. We all work the day before and there were no flights leaving late enough the night before the cruise so we couldn't choose that option. I'm now getting myself worried that if anything goes wrong, we could miss our cruise. It's a shorter flight, and it's direct (no connections) so I'm hoping we'll be fine.

 

Donna

 

Donna, I'm not trying to worry you more but if the flight is direct, that doesn't mean it isn't a non stop flight.

 

I fly direct from Reagan National (DCA) to BOS all the time but the flight stops at LaGuardia.

 

Non-stop means the plane does not stop. A direct flight means it is the same flight from A-C but it stops at B.

[DonnaC1]

Donna, I'm not trying to worry you more but if the flight is direct, that doesn't mean it isn't a non stop flight.

 

I fly direct from Reagan National (DCA) to BOS all the time but the flight stops at LaGuardia.

 

Non-stop means the plane does not stop. A direct flight means it is the same flight from A-C but it stops at B.

 

Oops...actually, I just used the wrong terminology....it's a direct flight as well as "non-stop".

 

Donna