Poll: Fly in a day before or same day as ship departs?

[cruise fairy]

Another vote for flying at least a day early. We just get our hotel, see the sites of our departure city, have a nice meal and relax. No worries about late arrival times, if lost luggage, most likely will make it to you by the time you cruise, no stress!

[WeCruiseForFun]

Our first cruise was was a gift from one of the companies who employs my DH. We all arrived in New York for the awards ceremony and were scheduled to fly out the next day to Barcelona to board the Grandeur of the Seas for a western Mediterranean cruise. Our group spent 14 hours at the airport before our flight was eventually cancelled.:eek: Thirty of us ended up missing the boat in Barcelona and had to fly in to Nice the next day. On the bright side, we missed the life boat drill! :p Now, we always arrive at least a day early.

[cruisetmc]

We prefer to fly in the day before. That way you are rested from the flights and you can enjoy yourself on embarkation day. No worries about missed flights. Two years ago because of vacation timing we flew in the day of departure-just got lucky it was December no missed flights everything on time.

[FLACRUISER99]

Voted before but just booked Alaska 6/18 trip. Arrive at Airport just after midnight and sail at 9:30 PM. Taking a risk but 17 or 18 Hrs sounds safe to me.
:rolleyes:

[abbydancer2003]

On our first (my only) cruise, we took the red-eye from LAX to Mexico City the night before. We had a connecting flight to Acapulco at 9:30 am. It was fine, because we had a long layover (about 4.5 hours) and there were lots of flights to Acapulco. The ship (Dawn Princess) didn't leave until 11pm, so we had about 12 hours.

For our cruise this October, we're going with a group and are leaving the same day. I have no control over this, but I'm trying to convince the leader to take a mid morning flight, rather than an early afternoon flight. If he insists on early afternoon, I'm seriously thinking about going early and standing by (Or possibly booking my own flight - I can wait at LAX and if they're late, we'll get ourselves to the pier). We're leaving from San Jose to LA for a 5:00pm (I think) sailing of the Sapphire - it's an hour flight and there are rarely weather problems.

Not my first choice, but it's not up to me.

abby

[atlcple2]

We have always flown in the morning of the cruise and arrive by around 10am. We are going on the CP on 9/3 and are flying in on 9/3 arriving at 11:20. We like getting there, taking a cab and arriving just in time to get on the ship. We always have our immigration stuff already filled out online and have never had to wait more than 15 minutes to get aboard. We have never had any problems flying in the same day, but we live in Atlanta so it isn't like we have to change flights or anything. Now, if we were flying to go on the Tihitian Princess, we would most likely fly in several days before and enjoy the trip a couple of days longer.

[hawgwildterry]

Living on the west coast if we are sailing out of the east coast we will fly in at least one day early. Anything on the west coast we will fly in on the same day of embarkation.

[legalslave]

Always fly in the day before. This next cruise will be my 5th time to cruise out of FLL and even flying in the day before, I have yet to see the local sights. This time we will fly in 2 days prior so we can spend a complete day touring.

Diane

[suntan]

I arrive at the port city two days before the cruise. First,to do a bit of pre-cruise shopping just in case I have forgotten to pack something. Second, I do not want to miss the ship (like a woman did this past February).

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Chicago - O Hare Airport? Need I say more - always a day early - last year we barely made our flight out of Chicago due to the snowiest day of the winter (JAN. 22).

Loved it when the sun came out about an hour into the flight and everyone on the plane was cheering - then we heard the Chicago airports were both closed - felt bad for those that may have missed their cruises.

May your next cruise be your best yet!
Kaye

[D4]

We fly in 2 days early and stay a day later.

Going that early gives us lots of time to deal with any flight problems, plus relax and see the sights of the port town.

Staying a day later makes the debarkation day pleasant.

[jpancake]

I'd have a heart attack if I had to fly in on the day of embarkation. I don't need that kind of stress. My vacation starts the day before the cruise. I want to be relaxed long before I ever get to the port.

[abbydancer2003]

Well, as I thought, our group leader (who is a bit too optimistic in my opinion) booked a flight that arrived at 2pm for a 5pm sailing. I told him I thought it wasn't a great idea. His response was "it's a lot of work to book tickets for 50 people - do you want to move them all?". I said that I would. He said not to worry.

Apparently, the travel agent agreed with me, since he emailed that the times were marginal. So, I got put in charge of the air tickets. 1 hour on the web, and 1/2 hour on the phone with the airline and we are now leaving from SFO (not San Jose - way more options from San Francisco) at 8:50 am, arriving in LAX at 10:15.

So, we're still coming in day of, but from the Bay Area to LA a morning flight should be OK.

abby

[GramaFran]

I also live in SF and have taken the morning flight to LA before a cruise.
But..... yesterday with the little rain/fog we had, a lot of flights were canceled or delayed. So I think your extra time is very smart.
One time returning from a cruise in LA - we were at LAX for over 6hrs trying to get home. Cancelled flights and then lots of passengers on standby as the airlines could not accomodate everyone. I finally got a flight due my Mom's age and being in wheelchair, the wait was doing her no good, so I pleaded my case and got seats.
Note: I was an airline employee at the time flying on a real purchased tickets, so I was upset at being put on standby of a full fare ticket.
Now that I am retired, I fly at least 1 day before and 1 day after as the flights are easier to get on going standby.

[Hemi001]

The day before to avoid any possible problems with flight cancellations, missing connections etc and to have a look around before getting on board.

[sunprincess]

Most cruises I fly in the same day.

[LunchCompanion]

It would depend on where I was flying. I have always flown in the same day going from New Jersey to Florida for a cruise. But I am thinking of going on an Australia to United States cruise in 2007 and will probably fly in a week early.

15 Princess Cruises
Cunard Sagafjord 1994
Carnival Ecstacy December, 2003
Carnival Paradise b/b March, 2004
Carnival Victory July 2, 2004
Cunard QM2 March 25, 2005

Celebrity Constellation 9/22/2005
Crown Princess ?/?/2006
Trans Pacific ? 2007

[JulieU89]

in January when 6 of us (and 20+ leaving on the early flight out of DTW) missed the Grandeur of the Seas leaving out of New Orleans.

Seems we gambled and came up with the worst snowstorm of the year.

Stuck 5 hours on the tarmack de-icing frozen brakes. A chemical spill in the tower halted all flights and once we returned to the gate we found that our flight was cancelled.

That was the 9:30 Am flight, the noon flight took off...we watched them go...

So now, we'll be flying in the night before, no matter how late we have to fly, just to make the dang boat.

Oh, and Royal Caribbean? Yeah, they couldn't even tell us where the Grandeur was docked in Cozumel...thanks for nothin'!

Things I learned that trip:
1. Fly early
2. Buy trip insurance and claim your days at sea and port charges $$$
3. Cry while asking a NWA employee, "what should I do? I just don't know what to do" who will take pity on you and 5 friends and switch your tickets all the way to Cozumel without any additional cost (most of the others on our plane weren't that lucky)
4. New Orleans ROCKS! Must 'plan' another trip there.
5. Fly early (I cannot emphasize that enough!)

[cruzzers]

We truly believe in Murphy's Law so we always go a day ahead and rest, relax, buy our carry on wine, and get excited about the days ahead. We like to stay close to Airport/seaport so that it is less hassel to get around and we spend less time in the cab or shuttle.

[scamper]

I used to work in the customer relations department (complaint department) of a major US airline. Trust me, if you ever miss part or all of a cruise as a result of a flight irregularity, you're likely NEVER to fly down same day again. Plus, no airline can guarantee its schedules, and puts that fact in writing. Forget about any reimbursement if you're not insured. The price of the hotel and hassles is worth it in the end.

[eagletwo]

[font=Times New Roman]New to Cruise Critic. Our family of 8 will be on the Diamond July 23 to Alaska. We will go out from SC a day early. The cost of one extra night of a hotel and meals for my family will run about $450. Cheap insurance. I am not a TA but work in the private air charter world. Our company operates 8 passenger executive jets. This time of year I get at least one phone call each week from people who have missed their airline flight due to a cancellation (Thunderstorms in Florida). The call usually comes around 2:00 pm from folks in Charlotte, NC (major US Air hub) trying to get to Miami for a 5:00 pm ship departure. Even if we had the pilots and aircraft standing by ready for departure, by the time we boarded you and your family on our jet, taxied for 15 minutes (if we are lucky), fly 1.6 hours to Miami, you would more than likely still miss the ship and you would end up paying my company over $6000 to drop you off. Also, if the airlines will not fly you because of bad weather, my company would not fly you nor would any good charter operator. Please, save a little extra money for the hotel and meals and go a day early. Sorry to be so long winded. :) [/font]

[LARGIN]

[font=Comic Sans MS][color=black]Unless you live within a few hours driving distance from the port, one day early is always best for peace of mind[/color][/font]

[mii]

[b]If I am flying out of FLL or anywhere back east I will go a day earlier but if I leave anywhere on the west coast I would probably fly the same day and then pray alot that nothing happens.:D [/b]

[b]Marilyn [/b]

[LARGIN]

[font=Comic Sans MS][color=black]Us too mii on cruises from LA, Seattle, Vancouver, etc... I figure we can leave early enough that if something happens there are numerous other flights we can transfer to.[/color][/font]

[mii]

[quote name='LARGIN'][font=Comic Sans MS][color=black]Us too mii on cruises from LA, Seattle, Vancouver, etc... I figure we can leave early enough that if something happens there are numerous other flights we can transfer to.[/color][/font][/QUOTE]

But still pray alot Larry.:D Heck sometimes I am a worry-wort. At least that is what my DH says.

Marilyn