Perfect example ...always fly in early no matter the time of year!

[Sue L]

My daughter is currently on a flight from San Francisco, they were diverted to Allentown and are finally back in the air 5+ hours late, because of bad thunderstorms in the JFK area.

 

If she had been going on a cruise and flying day of, there is a good chance she most likely would have missed the ship.

 

Many on here stress going in a day early in the winter but just wanted to point out major delays can and do happen in the summer months too!!!

[cruisenfever]

My daughter is currently on a flight from San Francisco, they were diverted to Allentown and are finally back in the air 5+ hours late, because of bad thunderstorms in the JFK area.

 

If she had been going on a cruise and flying day of, there is a good chance she most likely would have missed the ship.

 

Many on here stress going in a day early in the winter but just wanted to point out major delays can and do happen in the summer months too!!!

Thanks for pointing this out Sue. Sometimes folks think that snow is the only thing that can delay flights. These storms that we have been having can be just as bad.......if not worse.

 

Sure hope she makes it home safely.

[Sue L]

Thanks for pointing this out Sue. Sometimes folks think that snow is the only thing that can delay flights. These storms that we have been having can be just as bad.......if not worse.

 

Sure hope she makes it home safely.

 

Hey Patti,

 

 

Been talking to her the whole day, wi-fi on board is very handy!! She should be landing any minute. She has been on that plane for 11 hours, ugh!!!:eek:

[grneyes]

We always fly the day before our cruise.

We relax see some sights and then get up early have breakfast then go to the ship.

[2skikids]

Had one experience where there was "mechanical" troubles and made us delayed on a beautiful August day. Made the ship with 1/2 hr to spare. Will NEVER fly the day of a cruise again. Just to much stress and too many variables to delay, change or cancel the flight.

Kathy

[megr1125]

i am sitting at a hotel near EWR airport...it has been pouring, thunder, lightning for over 2 hours now....EWR was having over 2 hour departure delays, at least 1 hour on arrivals and JFK was worse......

 

The lightning strikes have been VERY cool though...cloud to cloud, clour to ground....almost as good as fireworks.................

[unklez]

I'm in the "Always fly the day before" club...

[Sue L]

Just heard from her, she is on the ground, yippeee!!!

 

 

yes, no matter how old they get, mom's still worry!!!:D

[OHCruisinDad]

After running up the gangplank and right into muster drill on the Explorer a few years ago due to winter weather delays, I swore we would always go a day or two early and we have and it has been worth it.

 

And now we are forced to fly in the morning of our cruise coming up on the 8th. We can't leave on Friday due to DS's summer internship program which has its graduation on the Friday afternoon and evening before our cruise on Saturday. At least we are on a non-stop flight and there is another 30 minutes later to FLL which will work as a backup if needed (and if there is any room!).

 

I enjoy being relaxed and not having to get up at 4 or 5 AM to catch a flight the morning of the cruise departure. It's nice to have a leisurly morning and head to the pier around 10:30 or so for early boarding.

 

Sue L, you are so right about weather any time of year. I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed for our upcoming flight to Miami.

[Sue L]

After running up the gangplank and right into muster drill on the Explorer a few years ago due to winter weather delays, I swore we would always go a day or two early and we have and it has been worth it.

 

And now we are forced to fly in the morning of our cruise coming up on the 8th. We can't leave on Friday due to DS's summer internship program which has its graduation on the Friday afternoon and evening before our cruise on Saturday. At least we are on a non-stop flight and there is another 30 minutes later to FLL which will work as a backup if needed (and if there is any room!).

 

I enjoy being relaxed and not having to get up at 4 or 5 AM to catch a flight the morning of the cruise departure. It's nice to have a leisurly morning and head to the pier around 10:30 or so for early boarding.

 

Sue L, you are so right about weather any time of year. I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed for our upcoming flight to Miami.

 

Well, hopefully you will have clear skies.

 

I am flying on Wednesday this week and they are predicting t-storms, all week so keeping they fingers crossed too!

[cruisecrazymama]

Sue, I'm glad to hear your daughter has safely landed. You are so right. They are never to old that we stop worrying about them. Thanks for reminding us that delays happen year round, and not just in the winter months.

 

I'm in the club as well. My friend and I are actually flying to FLL this coming Thanksgiving to make our pre-inaugural on Oasis. Shoot, my family all know I cruise over Thanksgiving so they don't even exoect me to be home anymore.:rolleyes:

 

 

[Alexis]

Just heard from her, she is on the ground, yippeee!!!

 

 

yes, no matter how old they get, mom's still worry!!!:D

 

 

I am glad to hear your daughter is safe and sound. ;)

We have actually been going 2 days in advance the past couple of years. I realize many people can't do that, but those of us that can, feel a lot more comfortable doing that.

You never know what can go wrong.

[shelby_36]

We always fly in the day before (except once when RCCL made the arrangements) But one night we were to fly in by 5pm the night before and the pilot never showed up for work!!!!! They had to search for another pilot. We ended up getting delayed about an hour or two and then we missed our gate time at the next airport and waitied longer. We got in about 4 hours late. It would have been really dicey if it had been day of.

[Sue L]

I am glad to hear your daughter is safe and sound. ;)

We have actually been going 2 days in advance the past couple of years. I realize many people can't do that, but those of us that can, feel a lot more comfortable doing that.

You never know what can go wrong.

 

 

Well next one is 3 days early as hubby has never been to Barcelona, great excuse to start vacation early!

[Sue L]

Sue, I'm glad to hear your daughter has safely landed. You are so right. They are never to old that we stop worrying about them. Thanks for reminding us that delays happen year round, and not just in the winter months.

 

I'm in the club as well. My friend and I are actually flying to FLL this coming Thanksgiving to make our pre-inaugural on Oasis. Shoot, my family all know I cruise over Thanksgiving so they don't even exoect me to be home anymore.:rolleyes:

 

 

 

Yeah, and she is moving to San Francisco permanently in two weeks, sniff, sniff.

[TRadle]

Sometimes we do and sometimes we don't. However, we always have insurance!:)

[Alexis]

Well next one is 3 days early as hubby has never been to Barcelona, great excuse to start vacation early!

 

Now that's nice. ;) I am sure you will both enjoy that.

We also like the idea of spending a couple days sightseeing before the cruises we take. It gives us time to unwind from travel and packing. :D

 

Sue L:

Yeah, and she is moving to San Francisco permanently in two weeks, sniff, sniff.

 

I know how you feel. We left all our family in NY when we moved to Nevada.

So you have to plan on: Lot's of reasons to come West and see this part of the country and cruise from this coast with her. I am sure you will think of other things to bring you this way. :) :D :D

[mation101]

My worst catching ship nightmare happened in 1987 when I was 20.

 

We were on the Royal Princess out of Kyoto Japan. My parents flew in a week before the cruise to spend time with Dads clients. Bro 21 & I had to stay behind for finals.

 

We were supposed to fly into Tokyo be met by a Princess rep and put on the bullet train to Kyoto to meet the ship that sails at 11pm.

 

We get to Tokyo and there is no rep anywhere. We freak a little and find a visitor center (basically the only sign in english). Tell the guy we need to take the bullet to Kyoto and need to be there by 11pm. He opens two or three schedule books, and after a few minutes says not possible. At which time I think Im going to puke. Bro tells him we have to be in Kyoto before 11 how do we do it. Finally after several phone calls he says we can make a flight that leaves in 20 min, so we start running OJ style to the gate, Bro gives them his Credit card, they say its no good, so he gives them another, (remeber he is a 21 yr old student w/no credit) somehow they accepted that card and we got on the plane.

 

It was very small and full of businessmen and women. No Americans to be seen.

 

After about an 40 min flight we land in Kyoto the whole time not knowing if we are even going to the right place. The plane lets us off in a field and we have to take a shuttle to the terminal, once at the baggage claim I go through double doors, and there is the Princess rep. After practically molesting the poor guy ( I am 6ft he was about 5ft) he puts us on a bus that is like 10th in line of several empty buses, we are the only two on this bus, its like 10pm and we are just sitting there. Again I feel like I am going to puke. Finally we pull away just us two and the driver.

 

We get to the ship and as we are getting off the bus a Princess employee comes running up to us asking if we were who we are, and said in a relieved tone Thank goodness we have been waiting for you.

 

We get on board and find Mom & Dad still in the dinning room not even worried about where we were and having no idea the ordeal we had been through.

 

Now when we have to fly from Ca to Fl we take the redeye two days before and enjoy the stress free day before boarding, it cost a little more for the hotel but my sanity is priceless.

[lahoban]

Yeah, and she is moving to San Francisco permanently in two weeks, sniff, sniff.

 

I know it's sad but she will love San Francisco! There's so much to see and do and you will have a great place to visit.

[CVU]

Vancouver had a huge thunder, lightening and rain storm last evening! Flights delayed here too!:eek:

 

We always go 2 nights ahead now.

[Mark_K]

Thanks for pointing this out Sue. Sometimes folks think that snow is the only thing that can delay flights. These storms that we have been having can be just as bad.......if not worse.

 

Sure hope she makes it home safely.

Thunderstorms delay far more flights than snowstorms. It's just that it's unusual for a thunderstorm to completely shut down an airport for day(s) at a time, so they don't get the publicity.

[MrsPete]

My daughter is currently on a flight from San Francisco, they were diverted to Allentown and are finally back in the air 5+ hours late, because of bad thunderstorms in the JFK area.

 

If she had been going on a cruise and flying day of, there is a good chance she most likely would have missed the ship.

 

Many on here stress going in a day early in the winter but just wanted to point out major delays can and do happen in the summer months too!!!

I agree entirely, but I'll take it a step farther: This advice isn't limited to people who fly to their port city. It's also good advice for those of us who are close enough to drive!

 

I'm a good 8-9 hour drive from my favorite port, and we always come in a day early. We did this rather by accident on our very first cruise, and around Jacksonville we were stopped on the interstate by a HUGE traffic jam -- the biggest I've ever seen. We literally sat there on the interstate for hours; people were out of their cars, walking around, talking to one another. We in the middle of the situation couldn't see the beginning or the end of the traffic.

 

When we finally were able to move, it was slow because of the backed up traffic. As we moved on through, we saw evidence that a tractor trailer truck had flipped and burned on the interstate. It was a horrible accident.

 

Anyway, the whole time we were sitting there waiting, we were saying things like, "Aren't you glad we aren't in a hurry today?" "The only place we have to be today is our hotel." and "If we were boarding today, we'd certainly miss the boat."

 

Since that time, we've always come in a day early. Our personal rule of thumb is that we want to stay within an hour's drive of the port. That allows us to sleep a little late, get a good breakfast, and still be among the first to board.

[jst4fun715]

Just last month before our cruise to Alaska, we had plans to fly out Thursday evening so we would have all day Friday to visit a friend in Vancouver. The flight from Chicago to Dayton was delayed. By the time it got to Dayton and we got to Chicago, we had missed our connection to Vancouver. They did put us up for the night and had an 8:00 a.m. flight out. We got on that flight, taxied out and the pilot said there was a light on that shouldn't be! Sooo, we went back to the terminal and luckily instead of having to rebook, there was actually another plane. We all boarded that one only to hear an announcement that someone had left something "very important" on the other plane! So they let that person off, evidently they couldn't find whatever it was they had lost so they decided not to go on to Vancouver. Well, in these days, they couldn't leave that persons luggage on the plane so we had to wait while they opened up the plane to retrieve their luggage. We ended up landing in Vancouver about 2:00 p.m.!:eek: At least we got to have dinner with our friend but I will always fly in at least one day early!

[sjb317]

This is why we will never, ever fly in on the day of a cruise:

Two weeks before our scheduled, non-stop flight to Boston for our cruise, I received an email from our airline informing us our flight had been changed to a short lay-over in Detroit with our arrival time in Boston the same. The day of departure, weather is beautiful here and in Boston, no problems getting to the airport, security is a breeze, everything is wonderful. Plane is at the gate. 5 minutes after sitting down, announcement is made that due to mechanical problems, we will have a "short" delay. 30 minutes later, still delayed. I ask agent at gate if there is something else we can do as we have a flight and cruise to catch. She tells me I should have booked a non-stop flight! I nicely explain to her that I did but. . .20 minutes later we are on another flight to Detroit . We land at the exact time our next flight is supposed to be taking off. As we are in the back of the plane, it takes a few minutes to get off. Of course, the gate for our next flight is in another part of the airport, we must walk a good distance. I am running, in flip flops, as I am going to do everything a can to get there. Husband refuses to run. As we approach the gate, I hear our names being called. I start yelling (picture crazy lady in flip flops and sun hat!) at husband to hurry. Agent at gate says to me "Where have you been? Get moving as they are closing the door!" Now I am running down the gate, (husband has caught up and moving quickly too). Door closes right after him. Flight attendant tells us to quickly find a seat. There is one seat in the back of the plane but I can't see anyothers. I burst into tears, a very nice gentlman tells me I can have his seat which is next to another empty seat (Do you think he was afraid to sit next to the crazy lady?). As we sit down, plane is moving. Husband (ever the optimist) says, "We will never see our luggage again." We land in Boston, guess whose luggage is first on the carousel? We proceed to have a wonderful cruise!!

 

So, moral of this long story is for peace of mind and lower blood pressure, it is worth the price of a hotel to fly in the day before!:)

Sherri

[BecciBoo]

So right Sue...wonder if any of your clients didn't listen and lived to regret it?;)

It's even worse if you try to use points to fly. We always go early. Can't imagine the angst of worrying about making the cruise or the situation mation101 had!:eek::eek::eek:

 

Our close call came last September trying to get out of Texas with Ike on the coast...had to leave 2 days early and it was really nerve wracking!!