Cutting it too close...

[ltsally]

I know some folks will fly in their day of departure (something my stress level just doesn't permit!), but I'm wondering...has anyone ever missed the start of their voyage because of air hassles and not arriving at the port in time:( ?

[Atomica]

Came frighteningly close to missing the Oosterdam in 2006 due to a cancelled flight. While I didn't actually miss the ship, I learned my lesson: always fly a day or two ahead!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Due to weather, we would never risk flying in on the same day.

 

I remember reading a couple of years ago about someone who missed the ship because their flight got in late and then it was their responsiblity to get to the next port.

[VTcruisenut]

We are from Vermont (we are scheduled to get 14 inches of snow between today and Wednesday night) This is our third cruise and we always fly down to FL the day before. That way if a flight is cancelled, we have until 5:00 on Sunday to get to the ship..............We have not had any flight problems traveling this way. Let's keep our fingers crossed for this year!

I don't care how much snow we get up to the 8th of March, but it better be nice that day because I am Carribean bound!!!!:p

[DAllenTCY]

Guests miss the start of the cruise almost every day of sailing. Although poor planning is a culprit, bad weather, equipment shortages, crew shortages, mechanical and air traffic control problems all contribute.

On Sunday, four guests missed a sailing due to a (noon arrival scheduled) flight from San Francisco to San Diego arriving at 4:05pm and yesterday a couple missed a sailing due to their first flight to Charlotte, NC being cancelled, and then their rescheduled flight from DFW being cancelled due to mechanical problems. They'll miss the first 3 days of their cruise, and join the ship in Puerto Vallarta.

David

[CowPrincess]

We always go a day in advance.

 

One of our tablemates on a cruise missed the departure, joined us for dinner the 3rd (??) night, then left the ship for a cruise tour. Neither she nor her travelling companion (who'd arrived in time for departure) was impressed.

[cccole]

When we flew to Ft. Lauderdale the day before our 2/16 cruise the flight was on time but the jetway was not working so instead of getting off the plane at 2:00 we deplaned at 3:00. If we had been on a cruise leaving that day we would not have made it to the port the now required hour and a half ahead of time. I saw a couple of cruise ship reps at baggage claim so maybe if you have arranged your travel through the ship they will make exceptions?

[SeaMatesNYC]

Have always flown day of. In winter from NYC to FLL via Tampa, was last boarding party (mechanical issues in Tampa). Missed muster but made the ship. That was an ordeal I intend to NEVER repeat, hence the preponderance of recent voyages from NYC. But with Noordam leaving, feel very sad...flying on day 1 to Venice in September (actually depart NYC on Day 0), but the vessel does not leave until the next afternoon (overnight onboard) so feel fine.

[gwilli]

Because we got bumped, we missed our boat in Rome. The airlines were no help at all. We called HAL's emergency number when it opened the next morning, and they found flights to get us to the ship missing only one port. We did get a few pennies from the airlines for our trouble - but not enough to cover the lost day on the ship.

 

This time we will go to Europe a day or two before so it doesn't hopefully won't happen again.

 

Happy sailing

[RuthC]

I can think of two regular posters to the board (one current, one hasn't posted in a long time) who missed sail-away.

The first flew in the day of sailing, and missed due to airline problems. The second was flying two days ahead :eek: (IIRC) and couldn't get going at all due to snowstorms.

I made it to my '03 Veendam cruise out of Tampa all right, possibly because I went a day early :) . There was a snowstorm coming up the east coast and many, many people missed that sailing and had to catch up with the ship.

[GatorV]

I live in St. Petersburg, Florida and so far have only cruised out of florida on about 15 cruises. I would never even drive to my port of departure the day of EXCEPT to Tampa...right next door!

 

Even motoring has its risks and a relaxing afternoon and evening in a hotel is a great stress reliever and safe guard to preventing a problem...My cruises start when i arrive at the destination and start to relax knowing i am safely there.:)

[ltsally]

Ah me! I'd figured it must happen...but what a nightmare for folks. We have always flown in a day early. And it's probably ultra-wary of me, but we've also booked our homebound travel for the day after scheduled port arrival.

 

We're scheduled to fly out of ORD the day before our Cortez cruise in late March, but with the winter we've been having in the Midwest (and so many other places, as well!), I'm even nervous about that.

[jhannah]

The only time we've flown the day of embarkation was when we lived in Las Vegas and were boarding in San Diego. Flights operate every hour (or less) so I felt comfortable. But even then, we have stayed overnight in San Diego and LA just to have a greater comfort level.

 

Once when sailing the Zuiderdam from FLL, our first stop was Nassau. When we arrived, there was a family with their luggage waiting on the quay. That was enough of a wake-up call for me to fly in at least a day ahead ... more if going to Europe.

[kryos]

I know some folks will fly in their day of departure (something my stress level just doesn't permit!), but I'm wondering...has anyone ever missed the start of their voyage because of air hassles and not arriving at the port in time:( ?

On my very first cruise, I missed embarkation in Fort Lauderdale due to an airline mechanical failure ... we lost an engine in flight. Six of us on the US Air flight missed it.

 

The airline was aware that there were six of us on the plane headed to Port Everglades to catch a Holland America cruise. The airline was in touch with HAL's people and when we were finally back in the air (we diverted to Baltimore to get the plane fixed), the pilot made an announcement that HAL was aware of our problem. Of course, being aware of it and doing anything about it were two different things. We all still missed the boat.

 

HAL had someone waiting for us at the airport and that person made sure we got in touch with our travel agents. My agent was a gem. He made all the arrangements for lodging for the night (I had to fly back to Atlanta because there were no hotel rooms available in the Fort Lauderdale area), spend the night in a hotel, and then fly to San Jose, Costa Rica the next morning. I spent two days vacationing in Costa Rica before boarding the Rotterdam there.

 

This was the only time I ever had a problem flying out the morning of a cruise. I never even came close to missing the boat any other time. I only wish it were possible to always fly in the day before, but unfortunately ... for some of us with limited vacation time, heavy job responsibilities, that's not always possible. So, we have to expect that there could occasionally be problems and deal with them when they happen.

 

I consider that flight problem an abnormality, and not something I will have to expect each and every time I fly to the pier on the day of embarkation. So, for Florida departures ... or anywhere on the east coast ... I still travel the morning of the cruise, though I try to get the earliest flight out that I possibly can. In the case of west coast departures, I do my best to head out a day before the cruise, though even in this case, if I could get a very early direct flight, I would still try flying out the morning of the cruise. True, it is not the ideal way to do things, but sometimes we just have to make do with what we have.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Tricia724]

A woman I know well was thrilled when her two daughters and son-in-law announced they were taking her on a cruise to celebrate her 50th birthday. It was a 7-day Carnival cruise sailing out of Miami last March, and they were scheduled to fly in the morning of the cruise.

 

Due to fog, flight delays, and some unbelievable treatment by the airline, they couldn't get to Miami in time to catch the ship. So......they had to fly to the first port, San Juan, and wait two days until the ship came in. They also didn't have any type of insurance to cover the travel delay, so all of the additional expenses for airfare, hotel rooms, food, and taxis were on their own. Of course, they got a free ticket from the original airline, but it hardly made up for the unexpected expenses they incurred.

 

In the end, they got basically three days of cruising. They are laughing about it now, but they aren't booking any more cruises.

[CPeters40]

When we flew to Ft. Lauderdale the day before our 2/16 cruise the flight was on time but the jetway was not working so instead of getting off the plane at 2:00 we deplaned at 3:00. If we had been on a cruise leaving that day we would not have made it to the port the now required hour and a half ahead of time. I saw a couple of cruise ship reps at baggage claim so maybe if you have arranged your travel through the ship they will make exceptions?

 

Our recent Zuiderdam cruise on Jan 12, had 1 plane change, and us landing in Fort Lauderdale at 2:51 p.m. for the 5:00 ship departure time.

This flight was through made through HAL, so they knew we were coming, and there were representatives right there to check off our names.

Our flight was slightly late, and didn't arrive until 3:10 p.m., and we had a really long wait for the ship's bus transfer, and didn't make it on the ship until close to 4:00 p.m. After reading all the stories on this board, I am thinking it would just be much better to arrive the day before, and not press my fortunate luck of not missing the ship. I just have to say that it is sad to me, that the airlines are just so unpredictable now. We've done 6 cruises with airlines involved, and have not had any problems, but now that I'm "older", I'm thinking that it would just be much less stress to arrive the day before as so many of you have pointed out.

Chris

Zuiderdam Jan 12, 2008

[Susie51]

I usually arrive in the port city 1 -3 days early. Twice I booked a group package deal which included air arriving the same day. There were no problems. Once I booked a flight 1 1/2 hour flight from Sac to LAX. It was the first flight of the day and we spent 5 hours "hanging out" in LA before boarding the ship and then 3 1/2 hours on the ship until it sailed. I was a little nervous about that because of all of the "what ifs" that I couldn't stop thinking about.

 

If at all possible, for ease of mind I like fly in before the day of departure.

[ltsally]

In terms of vacations, missing cruise days, and incurring extra expense is right up there in the 5* "angst" column, I'd say. Sorry to hear that it's happened to some of you.

 

Thing is...it seems like, more and more often these days, if you are flying out of the east coast or midwest (or your plane is coming from either region), there just seems to be sooo much that can go wrong, regardless of the season, from snowstorms in winter to fog and/or horrific storms spring through fall. And backup at just one hub plays havoc with flights that may be no where near. Here's wishing safe, happy - and timely - travels to all of us!

[arzz]

If you missed this on the board last summer -- our experience flying in August from O'Hare to Newark 27 hours before our scheduled cruise departure -- we learned a lesson

 

If you are interested, check it out

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=607620

[JimVrhovac]

We have never been late when we fly because:

 

1. We try not to fly...

 

2. When we are forced to fly we go the day before....

 

3. When you deal with the government (TSA) you have to remember that stupidity rules the day....

 

Ruth & Jim

[anchorage1977]

Our family missed a 7-Day Holiday sailing in the Caribbean about 10 years ago and I've never forgiven America West/worst for the mess. We were scheduled to arrive 36 hours prior to embark, but half-way through our routing (SEA-LAS-FLL) we had a mechanical. Rather than cancel and rebook us on other flights, they delayed the flight about 6 hours, only then to realize that the crew was out of duty time. After 8 hours in LAS, they finally cancelled the flight and being the week of Christmas couldn't find us a single seat to any south Florida gateway on their airline, or any other line. It was a mess and a half.

 

We were given a night in the hotel in Vegas, returned to Seattle, refunded our air tickets and JACK*% for the lost cruise. The money of the cruise was nothing compared to the disappointment of missing out on a family holiday together.

 

I know it was just dumb luck, and it could have happened on any domestic airline, but I've got too much pride to give them a second chance. I have never flown their crappy airline again and it gives me enormously warm feelings to share this story with as many people as I can for the past 10 years... not that I'm bitter :)

[PennyAgain]

I missed a Holland America ship's sailing out of Tampa due to weather delays for flying. However, my husband who came in to Tampa from another direction made the ship.

 

He was told I would be boarded or he would have gotten off the ship.

 

I was held in a van by Holland America employees as the ship sailed away.

 

Never again will either of us fly in 'day of'.

[Candy]

We are from Vermont (we are scheduled to get 14 inches of snow between today and Wednesday night) This is our third cruise and we always fly down to FL the day before. That way if a flight is cancelled, we have until 5:00 on Sunday to get to the ship..............We have not had any flight problems traveling this way. Let's keep our fingers crossed for this year!

I don't care how much snow we get up to the 8th of March, but it better be nice that day because I am Carribean bound!!!!:p

Vermonttraveler... join our Roll Call at:

 

Zuiderdam 3/8/08 CruiseCritic Roll Call

 

We only have 3 couples so far, and could use the company!

 

 

[docksider21]

Hi

 

New Custom and Border Regs require the ship to transmit a finalized

list of cleared and boarded pax to US Customs not less than 60 minutes

prior to departure.

 

That means no stepping across the threshold just as the gangplank is

pulled away, because if they let you aboard, it will delay sailaway time

by an hour.

 

So, even if you come in the day before, be sure to be at the pier in time

to check in and be physically ON BOARD not less than one hour before

scheduled departure time.

 

Happy Sails to You!