Arrive day early?

[CatNJ]

What do you all do? Do you arrive early and book a hotel? Can you shuttle to the airport, hotels, and port? My cruise in August leaves out of Miami, but flights seem to be better in Ft. Lauderdale. I would appreciate suggestions and your own experiences. Thanks!

[cb at sea]

Most will recommend arriving the day before--especially if you are booking your own flight. Should something go wrong or delay your flight--YOU will be responsible for making it to the ship, even if it's en route to the 1st port.

Plus, arriving early means you'll have plenty of time to relax, make sure your luggage made it to the right place! and just generally get a good start on your cruise! And, the added bonus is that you can head to the ship early--after all, boarding day counts as the first day you've paid for--you may as well use that ship!

[lady_cruiser]

Go on-line and see what Ft Lauderdale has to offer. Find a good restaurant, park, botanical garden,zoo, etc.

[Sue L]

Fly into Fort Lauderdale, there is a no reservations needed shuttle right outside of the luggage claim. For 18$ pp it will take you right to your hotel, which I recommend Holiday Inn Port of Miami, which is a 10$ cab ride the next morning and it directly across the street from Bayside Marketplace that has a bunch of restaurants and shops. It is a clean and nice hotel, not fancy with a good buffet breakfast in the am. You need to make reservations asap as they fill up fast.

[luvbrady]

We always fly into Ft. Lauderdale. Pricing is usually better, and by the time you navigate downtown Miami traffic, the trip is not much longer.

 

1st cruise we came down a day or two before and stayed with cousins in Delray Beach. They were kind enough to drop us at the terminal (after a nice lunch at Bayside!). Otherwise we flew in day of. This year, with the kids, we are flying into FLL and staying in FLL overnight. Have a noon checkout. By the time we're all out and the shuttle picks us up (Going through Royal Limo I think is the name- it was $210.00 for 17 of us round trip last year!) we should be getting to the Port around 1:30. Just perfect..... Let's hope!

[deanva]

DS and I are flying into San Juan a day earlier than the cruise. Except for Expedia, can't find any sites that will book flights from 12/7 - 12/14 but only a hotel night for the evening of 12/6. Anyone having this problem?

[BigDaddyCVO]

I have reservations for a pre-cruise stay at the Holiday Inn Port-of-Miami for a November Freedom sailing. You can't beat the location's convenience and the price is right. Airfare was cheaper and more suitable (schedule wise) into MIA, but I did look at FLL as an option.

[Gonzo70]

I always fly in at least a day early, and often two days early. A lot of the cruise ports are in fun cities (and/or warm cities) so it is a nice way to extend the vacation while insuring one does not miss the ship due to a delayed or canceled flight.

 

As for taking the shuttle, I think it is generally cheaper and easier to arrange one's own transportation than using the cruise line's transfers (of course there are some situations that would be exceptions). Often I will simply use the city's public transportation system to get to my hotel (many cities have busses or trains that take you from the airport to downtown for a $1 to $3).

[cruiseguy1016]

We fly in a day early also. And, like you, it's usually cheaper for us to fly into FLL. I like to rent a car to get from FLL to Miami. It gives me the freedom to go where and when I want to. We can go sight-seeing, shopping or to dinner and not have to worry about getting a cab. We rent from Hertz, we found them to be the best deal. They have a drop off point that is 5 minutes from the pier and they shuttle you there for free.

[hazeleyez3]

Definately fly in a day early. Just like others said, this allows you more time in case the flight gets cancelled, you can relax in the morning, it will be less frustrating getting to the port, and you may be able to embark early.

 

An example (for us) to fly in a day early:

 

Our cruise in March left on a Saturday. We chose to fly to LA on Friday night after work. Well, our connecting flight was in GA, and it was the night of the tornado. We missed our first flight out of GA because they were late getting out of Baltimore, and had to make some calls to get us on the later flight to LAX. We didn't land until 1am (which was 4am our time). Had this happened the morning of the cruise we wouldn't have been able to catch up with the boat until the 3rd day in Acapulco (after we spent more money on a flight there).

[ladylikes2cruise]

day or two early and at least a day or more after cruise (we don't ever want to feel rush getting to the cruise, definately not getting off -after all that kicking and crying post cruise I need a day to recover:p )

[cruisnpat]

We always drive in a day early and get a hotel to rest up before the cruise.

[lablvr2]

We fly in a day ahead to FLL or Miami just to make sure we get there on time. Most cruises have been done in the winter and upstate NY can be tricky to deal with as far as flying out on time. I also like the easing into the vacation mode - adjusting from polar fleece into shorts and swimming! Always had good luck with the hotels in FLL, Miami and San Juan. This past cruise we decided to add another night in FLL after the cruise. We actually got to see the Jewel head back out to sea from our table at the 17th St Fisheries. Talk about bittersweet.

[CedarburgCruiser]

What do you all do? Do you arrive early and book a hotel? Can you shuttle to the airport, hotels, and port? My cruise in August leaves out of Miami, but flights seem to be better in Ft. Lauderdale. I would appreciate suggestions and your own experiences. Thanks!

 

The best hotel to stay at is the Holiday Inn on Biscanne Blvd. There is a shopping mall will resturants across the street and you are 5 minutes from the cruise port.

 

Right outside Baggage claim at Ft Lad airport there is a ride share person. You can get a private sedan for about $60.

 

Let me know if you have any further questions.

[sandytoes03]

We get there a day early, go get dinner, go to the hotel, and wait for the cruise. That's all we do--unless we arrive two days early, then we will sight-see.

[tuliplvr]

Definately go a day early. Last week we flew in a day early before my cruise.. well, American lost my luggage.. It was a disaster. Luckily my bag got found the next day and made it to the ship on time. I would have been in BIG TROUBLE if i flew down the same day.

[pmfan]

I always arrive a day early, get a good nights sleep, board ship early and begin my vacation.

[cot427]

Wow, it looks like my group and I are the only risk takers. Every cruise except for last year, we flew in the day of the cruise and never had a problem, which means we were lucky. Last year, we flew in to FLL on Saturday for our Sunday Freedom cruise. We had 2 rooms, 6 people each, not that bad, but the area was horrible. Nothing there. No beach near, no foods, etc. Then, Sunday morning our transport driver called and said he had to pick up people from the freedom, and said it was delayed, so instead of picking us up at 10:30, he was there at 11:45. So we waited, and had to be out of our room at 11:00, so it seemed like time went forever.

 

This year, we looked for a nonstop flight, and we got a USair flight, arriving in FLL at 10:30 and then we drive to Miami for Liberty. Our group hated staying over a night last year, so we are taking a risk, like I did 5 years in a row.

 

It's really personal preference and if you feel secure and safe flying in that day or a day early.

[Tex_Jen]

Ever since my first cruise when I made the newbie mistake of flying in same day, I have flown in at least one day early. Thank goodness I did that for my second cruise as there was a storm and flights were grounded all over the Florida area. Had the storm occurred on sail day, I would have missed the ship.

 

Jen

[CatNJ]

Thanks for all your responses, and for the hotel suggestions. :D I appreciate your efforts.

[p2lockhart]

If I don't arrive a day or two early, I procrastinate and end up packing until 2 or 3 am the morning I have to drive 4 hours to the port for embarkation, so I arrive tired and exhausted. After having both car trouble and bad weather and stressing over arriving on time several cruises ago, I decided to adopt the attitude that the embarkation port was my first port of call and to arrive early, relaxed, enjoy a day or two and arrange a precruise roll call party to meet the other early arrivals. I leave Friday for my April 13th cruise. Gotta start packing. :D

[romnan]

I have to agree with everyone We always come in at the very least one day before. Good excuse to explore the port City. My wife and I have the advantage of living in Tampa so we can drive rather than fly in;)

[alwalaska]

Most will recommend arriving the day before--especially if you are booking your own flight. Should something go wrong or delay your flight--YOU will be responsible for making it to the ship, even if it's en route to the 1st port.

Plus, arriving early means you'll have plenty of time to relax, make sure your luggage made it to the right place! and just generally get a good start on your cruise! And, the added bonus is that you can head to the ship early--after all, boarding day counts as the first day you've paid for--you may as well use that ship!

 

Although you can't pick your times unless you pay extra when the cruise line is booking them, I still say a day early. I have read many horror stories of people missing the cruise and not getting help from RCCL except for a "we're sorry, we can't control the airlines".

 

We have cruised 3 times and have never flown in the day of. Like you said, I like getting to the port early and relaxing while others are rushing to get on the ship.

[Denise5374]

Cot-

 

What hotel did you stay at in FLL? We are going downa day early in August and are flying into FLL. It sounds like you had a bad hotel experience.

 

TIA-

Denise

[JordanFam]

We fly in a day early also. And, like you, it's usually cheaper for us to fly into FLL. I like to rent a car to get from FLL to Miami. It gives me the freedom to go where and when I want to. We can go sight-seeing, shopping or to dinner and not have to worry about getting a cab. We rent from Hertz, we found them to be the best deal. They have a drop off point that is 5 minutes from the pier and they shuttle you there for free.

Our group of 4 adults and 2 kids will be flying into FLL 2 days early for our cruise in November and we are going to rent a mini van. Do you happen to know if there are other car rental places right near the pier, or just Hertz? Also, what do you do after you disembark to return to FLL...rent another car for that day?

 

Thanks!