After the bad weather this week, anyone adding an extra pre-cruise night

[jaw62901]

Hi,

 

After the two winter storms we got this week in Chicago, we are thinking about flying in two days early instead of one for our Jan 9th cruise out of Miami. Yes that is one extra night that we have to pay for at the hotel, but there would be no extra cost to switch our flights to one day early, plus we would be down there and not have to worry about snow.

 

Is anyone else thinking about doing this?

[Suni99]

Hi,

 

After the two winter storms we got this week in Chicago, we are thinking about flying in two days early instead of one for our Jan 9th cruise out of Miami. Yes that is one extra night that we have to pay for at the hotel, but there would be no extra cost to switch our flights to one day early, plus we would be down there and not have to worry about snow.

 

Is anyone else thinking about doing this?

 

I am we leave Jan 30th, into west palm beach, our cruise leaves feb 1st, but if we had the snow we are getting we would be scrwed.:rolleyes:

[A Sixth?]

Yup, we're flying in THREE days early for a Jewel January 9th sailing. But we booked that a long time ago.

 

Our closest shave was a few years ago flying Montreal to New Orleans for a the NCL Sun. We'd planned to have two full days to explore NO pre cruise but a snow storm hit and we ended up arriving the day of departure! :eek:

 

If you can, fly in early.

[DDMau]

We did it as a post cruise because our cruise ended in Miami.

Take the extra day rent a car head down to the Everglades and take the airboat ride. We also drove down to Key West for the day very nice trip.

 

 

 

Hi,

 

After the two winter storms we got this week in Chicago, we are thinking about flying in two days early instead of one for our Jan 9th cruise out of Miami. Yes that is one extra night that we have to pay for at the hotel, but there would be no extra cost to switch our flights to one day early, plus we would be down there and not have to worry about snow.

 

Is anyone else thinking about doing this?

[lilypi314]

we've considered it, but the cost of changing the flights (260 just in fees) plus the extra hotel night make it too costly for us. we do have a contingency plan, however. if a storm like this looks to be arriving, we'll be packing up a rental car on Wednesday afternoon, buying a lot of redbull, and driving from providence to florida. as awful as this would be, it would be a lot less painful than missing the boat!

 

Hi,

 

After the two winter storms we got this week in Chicago, we are thinking about flying in two days early instead of one for our Jan 9th cruise out of Miami. Yes that is one extra night that we have to pay for at the hotel, but there would be no extra cost to switch our flights to one day early, plus we would be down there and not have to worry about snow.

 

Is anyone else thinking about doing this?

[mpk218]

Always , every cruise... The air lines are just to unpredictable...Plus the precruise wind down doesn't hurt ;)

[familyof4cruising]

I always try to add a pre cruise day, but sometimes that doesn't even work. During the ice storm of 2007 , the airports were messed up for 2-3 days. That being President's week, you could not get a flight out until Tuesday( our flight was Thursday). So it is the luck of the draw. Having trip Insurance is key. President's week is always a nightmare every year.Having so much snow in NY so early already gives me anxiety for February.

[ecclectic-eccentric]

Yikes! Y'all are scaring me. I thought I was being really good by flying in the night before...

 

At least the flight I'm booked on is a non-stop, so if we can make it out of Pittsburgh, we don't have to worry about connections getting screwed up. There's just no way I can get another day off of work, so I'll just keep thinking happy thoughts!!

 

ee

[rstackjd]

We always fly out the day before the cruise if we're crusing during "snow season". Post cruise we've learned that we just want to get home and that any thing after the cruise will be a let down anyway, so we fly home the day we get back into port.

 

WOOO HOOO - February 6th Can't get here soon enough! 8 BELOW ZERO in SE Wisconsin today! (and about 20 below wind chill! brrrrrr:eek::eek:)

[Grandpaul]

We added a one day cruise to our existing 10 day cruise. The only difference with the previous posters is that it's a cruise out of New York. Still, being on a cruise ship is better than shoveling snow.

[lgfromdg]

jaw62901 - Hello neighbor; I'm from Downers Grove. I've been thinking about this a lot this weekend. I wonder how many cruisers missed their flights on Friday (almost 400 flights were cancelled in Chicago alone)and weren't able to sail this weekend. For our March cruise, we're flying in 1 day early and have already booked our air or I might consider coming in 2 days early. Last year, we flew to Mimai 1 day early and there was a big snowstorm that day. We were one of the last flights out of O'Hare; I don't know what we would have done otherwise.

[coka]

I tend to go two days prior in the winter season. Any other time I go 1 day prior. But I do not purchase the insurance...I figure the 2 day prior is sufficient (until I miss a ship some day)!

(Hey GrandPaul! Happy holidays to you and your bride. I hope you have a wonderful new year as I see you are cruising soon!)

coka

[IluvZ]

We always go in a day early but we learned a little tip trying to make it home from Florida last year. If a large storm is predicted to hit the day of your travel, often your airline will let you change your flights to another day for free. We were able to either go home one day early or two days later, at no cost. We left a day early (in hindsight we should have stayed two extra days!)

 

This year, we are taking the train so we gave ourselves three extra days.:D

[wisteria1019]

Jason,

We're on your cruise. We live in the mountains and have to travel over two passes to get to the airport in Denver. With that being said, we are driving down the mountain the evening before and flying out two days prior - nonstop from Denver. At this time of year, it can be very tricky and I DO NOT want to risk missing the chance to warm up in between blizzards. See you on the ship,

 

Dawn

[maggie0104]

Hi Jason, We are flying out of O'Hare on January 1st for the January 3rd cruise out of Miami. I think going out an extra day early is a good call, especially if the airlines won't charge you extra, and you can get a good deal on a hotel. I hate worrying about snow storms and flights, and no matter what, weather in Miami will be much nicer than at home.

[sodell]

Hi Jason,

 

Another Chicagoan here. We're flying out of MDW on a Sunday for a Monday cruise... Hmmm.maybe we should go out Saturday. Now you're making me think about this.

[Grandpaul]

I tend to go two days prior in the winter season. Any other time I go 1 day prior. But I do not purchase the insurance...I figure the 2 day prior is sufficient (until I miss a ship some day)!

(Hey GrandPaul! Happy holidays to you and your bride. I hope you have a wonderful new year as I see you are cruising soon!)

coka

Hi Coka. Same to you for the New Year. We are off to a great start as far as snow for skiing. Should be perfect for quite a while now. As long as I can keep up with my Grandson. We're also doing the Dawn 14 day reposition in Nov. Plus they ar eboth out of New York, my favorite port. Take care.

[jaw62901]

I'm still trying to talk my wife into doing this. To me it makes sense, but she doesn't want to spend the extra money on the extra night at the hotel.

[Gingee]

Funny that you guys mentioned this. Our cruise leaves in two weeks from today. We are coming in on a train the afternoon before. Our tentative plans are that if bad weather in Illinois is predicted (as it has been the last week or so), then we may see if we can at least get to the train station the night before. Maybe stay at a motel close to the train station. We are scheduled to take Amtrak bus from our town to Champaign, Illinois (1 1/2 hour normal drive). I am also thinking if we have to take the train out the night before (if we can get on it), that is a possibility.

 

I am so sick of this winter already. Just got off the phone with my sister-in-law in Florida and they are thinking of turning off the air conditioner. I would to turn off our outside air conditioner.

[klct39lg]

We usually drive to the ports, and we leave a day or two early -depending on the port. Last March 9th we got a winter snow storm the night before we were to leave early for New Orleans the next morning. Well, the night before, my oldest son ran a last minute errand to the grocery store about 6 minutes from our house. The snow had covered all of the bumper things in the parking lot, he hit one, badly bending the rim of the front right wheel. This was the vehicle we were to drive the next morning.... We had to wait until 9 the next morning to get the rim replaced, then leave, it was STILL snowing. We arrived at our hotel 7 hours later than planned. Sometimes even the best laid plans go awry.

[DaisyL]

We travel every year between NY and FL during snowstorm season for many years (sometimes twice a year), to visit family. And to be honest we have never had a canceled flight, although we have had a few that arrived late. So to all who are worried, know that the odds are on your side that you will arrive the same day as your flight.

 

Having said that, we will be cruising out of Miami in early March. Because I'm such a worrier we are flying down 5 days before the cruise and enjoying beautiful FL time before the cruise.

 

Also, the only times we really had problems with very delayed or canceled flights were NOT in the winter. They were canceled flights due to FOG in NYC. It doesn't take much for flights to be canceled out of NYC, but it didn't make National Headlines because it wasn't considered "newsworthy' like a snowstorm.

 

For peace of mind, if you can change your flight to a few days early, you should. Good luck to all.