Fly same day as cruise or day before?

[isujim]

I had forgotten all about that thread..........it was a classic:)

[packercruising]

Thanks....The day before sounds like what we should do. I am NOT a last minute/hurry around person and I would be a nervous wreck until we got on the ship (not to mention...cranky). Just was looking for opinions on what other people think...thanks again.......

 

Without having read all of the other posts, even if everything goes right and there are no problems flying in the day of a cruise that leaves that early will be very tiring and who wants to start their vacation tired?:confused:

[Cam6959]

packercruising just wanted to say congratulations and enjoy your retirement! Oh yeah and your cruise!:D

[Hail Skins!]

for a cross country flight like that I would go the day before... we did the day before when we went out of Miami and didn't really think we needed to so I think we will fly same day this time around -- but its only a 3 hour flight. Cross country anything can happen

[temple1]

(Completely off topic and I apologize - if you can't stand off topic comments - please skip or let me know I'm completely out of line and I will remove but it is KILLING ME not to comment 1 year later)

 

I really really hate reading old topics like the pullin a Jamie - (no, I enjoyed the topic - even knowing I could jump ahead and learn the outcome I read through about 7 pages of it).

 

What I hate is reading something and not being able to comment!!! ;)

 

To the person so bent out of shape about the comment about airlines cancelling flights to consolidate - It was very suspicious of US Air several years ago when I would frequently fly from home to Huntsville - it was not unusual for one of the earlier turn around flights to be cancelled. Then when you'd board the later flight it would still be less than full. :confused: But of course they would never consolidate a flight. :rolleyes:

[realtreebar]

Fly The Same Day!!! If At All Possible So As To Make Sure You Come Back And Complain About How The Ship Should Give You Some Kind Of Credit. For Missing The Ship Because Of Bad Weather,plane Trouble,and Over Booked That Is All I Have To Say About That (lol)

[BIGScott]

I am also from CT and for my first cruise - the mariner for Xmas 2005- we flew the morning of - 6am flight arriving in Orlando at 1030. We got held up in CT at the airport (DUH Christmas weekend EVERYONE is travelling) and we barely made the flight - as my Mother got on they shut the doors and pushed back - we were lucky they held the plane. By the time we got to Orlando I was in a foul mood from rushing through the airport and arguing with security people (My ex-wife was sure I was going to get arrested!!)

 

Long story short - when we leave this december for our Christmas cruise we are flying down the MORNING before! We have an entire day to relax and get to the ship whenver we want to!

 

Never forget in CT, although we have had some mild winters lately - it DOES snow!

[packercruising]

packercruising just wanted to say congratulations and enjoy your retirement! Oh yeah and your cruise!:D

 

Thanks! Now you have to come on our cruise so I can buy you a drink.

oops, I hope nobody on the 3-2 AOS reads this. Everyone will print this out and use it for a free drink card.:eek:

 

The cruise part I know about because it is categorically impossible to not enjoy a cruise. Staying with the thread, we are going down 2 days ahead so we can have twice as much fun before getting on the ship!

[Cam6959]

Thanks! Now you have to come on our cruise so I can buy you a drink. oops, I hope nobody on the 3-2 AOS reads this. Everyone will print this out and use it for a free drink card.:eek:

 

The cruise part I know about because it is categorically impossible to not enjoy a cruise. Staying with the thread, we are going down 2 days ahead so we can have twice as much fun before getting on the ship!

 

I will keep this as an IOU for the first cruise I can find you on! :) Enjoy!

[cravingacruz!!]

I ALWAYS fly in the day before- or sometimes TWO if its cheaper:D ! especially if you have relatives that live around the area of the port- free hotel and transportation ( most of the time;) ) If you fly in the day before- you can sight see and relax! Enjoy your cruise!

[sagiv666]

Sailing out of either Seattle or Van Couver. The ship is due to sail at 4:00 p.m. We will be flying in from Connecticut and are not sure if we should fly the same day or fly the day before. Travel agent said people do both....We will purchase the air thru the cruise line and not sure how all this works (this is our first cruise). We're thinking just to be sure we would fly the day before but don't want to spend the money if we don't have to (we'd rather spend the money on the excursions)! What happens if the airfare is booked thru the cruise line and due to the airline delays you get to the dock after the sail time? Comments and/or experiences are greatly appreciated...thank you.

 

In September, my wife and I cruised to Alaska aboard the Radiance. We first took a land tour, ending in Anchorage. We spent some days there on our own, and we wanted to do the same in Vancouver. However, even if we had no interest in Vancouver other than boarding the Radiance, we would have still arrived one day before. This is always our policy when the cruise leaves a port not where we live (Vancouver, Fort Lauderdale, etc.) -- we live in New York City.:)

One month later, we took a cruise to Canada and New England. This time we embarked and disembarked at New York, and we left for the ship from our home the morning of our embarkation.

[firemox]

You guys are scaring me with your delay stories...

 

Here is my situation. My gf and I both need to work the day before the cruise. So we booked a flight the night before the cruise, at 9pm. This flight will arrive the port city 5am the day of the cruise. The cruise sails at 4pm. This is also a direct flight.

 

Is this arrangements good enough? :(

[petesweet]

You guys are scaring me with your delay stories...

 

Here is my situation. My gf and I both need to work the day before the cruise. So we booked a flight the night before the cruise, at 9pm. This flight will arrive the port city 5am the day of the cruise. The cruise sails at 4pm. This is also a direct flight.

 

Is this arrangements good enough? :(

 

Sounds good; yet there is no guarantee ever. Don't stress out.

[beachfanatic]

I will never fly the same day again...we just missed our cruise out of PR due to mechanical failure and an unplanned 6 hour detour to Bermuda...

lesson learned...always fly 1 or 2 days before or buy insurance....get a cheap hotel from priceline...not worth missing a cruise...

[TPKeller]

You guys are scaring me with your delay stories...

 

Here is my situation. My gf and I both need to work the day before the cruise. So we booked a flight the night before the cruise, at 9pm. This flight will arrive the port city 5am the day of the cruise. The cruise sails at 4pm. This is also a direct flight.

 

Is this arrangements good enough? :(

The best you can do is the best you can do... That's why many folks and myself included, always try to say things like "never willingly fly in the same day, etc, etc..." There will always be circumstances beyond the control of some passengers which prevent them from flying in early. And of course every cruise does have many people who do actually fly in same-day.

 

The point of these kinds of threads is to educate the unknowing (which we all were at one point) of just how stressful and sometimes risky the same day flights can be, and perhaps to point out that the few extra dollars spent on the one hotel night are often well worth the reduction in stress and pre-cruise mind preparation. :)

 

If the choice comes down to staying at home, or flying in same day, well, there would be some who choose home, but I think most would indeed, fly same day.

 

Theron

[Glama]

I agree, if there is ANY way that you could get in the day before, do it. We've even taken flights that have gotten us in around 2am on embarkation day.

 

Our first cruise was on Enchantment, we flew in day of. We were supposed to arrive in FLL around 11:30am. Lo and behold, huge snowstorm TWO days before in Philly, where we connected. They were still clearing the runways, flights were grounded, delayed, people bumped left and right. By some miracle, we made it to the port around 4pm, but we were stressed and panicked the entire time. Lesson learned, and we've never flown in day of again (especially from the NE in the winter!!).

[My2Kitties]

We must be very lucky because 4 out of 4 cruises with air were same day and one was in the middle of the winter...we do ask for the earliest flights possible and usually leave for the airport in the middle of the night...we don't stress it, we book the air with our cruise and take insurance...we love Cape Liberty so we don't have to fly...

I know this may not be the cheapest way to go but we like to get the whole thing out of the way when we book...Alaska was the most stressful of all but we made it...most times we are limited in days we can take...all I can say is so far so good! I think the percentage of those travelling same day and missing the ship is very low...

[toonjie]

You guys are scaring me with your delay stories...

 

Here is my situation. My gf and I both need to work the day before the cruise. So we booked a flight the night before the cruise, at 9pm. This flight will arrive the port city 5am the day of the cruise. The cruise sails at 4pm. This is also a direct flight.

 

Is this arrangements good enough? :(

 

That should be fine! It is the day before technically, you're on the redeye. Make sure your luggage has multiple nametags on them and that the checkin person gives you tags with the right airport code and then just relax!

[sagiv666]

You guys are scaring me with your delay stories...

 

Here is my situation. My gf and I both need to work the day before the cruise. So we booked a flight the night before the cruise, at 9pm. This flight will arrive the port city 5am the day of the cruise. The cruise sails at 4pm. This is also a direct flight.

 

Is this arrangements good enough? :(

 

I'm sorry if you are feeling uneasy, but delays do happen. If you have to work the day before and want to avoid leaving late at night, purchase your plane reservations through the cruise line and be sure they agree they are liable for any delays which cause you to miss your cruise.:eek:

[temple1]

On our first cruise we drove down from SC to Port Canaveral. We left the afternoon before the cruise - but I didn't double check the mileage - we stopped for the evening much toooooooo far north in Florida - I thought we were never going to get there. Although we arrived in plenty of time - I felt extremely stressed.

[flpab]

I work at an airport and have seen so many people miss connecting flights to Europe because they book their flights to close, you should always have two hours on an important flight. 30 min is the legal connection time but that is not enough time if you have to change terminals or for your luggage to make the next flight.

 

Flying in the day before is the best choice. DELAYS due to weather and late crews and waiting for parts on a mechanical can be a nightmare.

 

Much less stress, never book the last flight out if you can help it.