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

[scopewest]

I just want to throw in a couple comments. On one cruise (pre-9/11) we actually had the gall to think we could make it from Phoenix to San Juan the same day...and we did! I shudder now to think if there had been one glitch along the way... We got to our cabin 15 minutes after our dinner seating had started and ran down to get to dinner, congratulating ourselves on making the ship. I would NEVER do this again!! Our last cruise (December 2004) we flew into Ft. Lauderdale a couple days early (to visit family) and on the shuttle ride to our hotel was a very unhappy couple from Canada who arrived too late and missed their Princess sailing time. They didn't think about snow delaying their flight in December and neither did their TA. They were told they could fly to the next port and catch the ship but I think they decided to turn around and go home. If I lived within driving distance, I'd show up the same day. Otherwise we show up as early as we can!