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

[MAZANDSTEVE]

If it wasnt for CC , I would not have thought about going a day earlier.

[MISSYLOU]

Our son and his wife who have been on at least 10 cruises decided on there last cruise they would fly in the day of. They had booked a non stop which somehow got changed and they had to change flights in anothercity. They had bought ships transfers from Celebrity. Long story short, when they arrived in Miami, a cruise line rep met them at the airport and put them on the last bus to FLL to the ship. They were the only passengers. They boarded quickly with about 30 minutes to spare but it was a nerve racking day.

 

Also, just because a person is flying a non stop from Phoenix to Miami (example), does not mean you will arrive at your destination on time. If there is weather any where in the US, it can affect the flight you are scheduled on. If the plane can't get to your departure terminal you just have to wait.

[jmf123]

Thanks for the reminder, Sue L. Weather and maintenance are two of the big ones. I have friends who booked their own air from San Diego for an Alaska cruise a few years ago, with a layover in beautiful San Francisco. (I used to live in the Bay Area, your daughter will love it!).

 

The layover turned out to be much longer than expected...actually a two day delay because of dense fog. They ended up getting a hotel and flying to meet the ship in Juneau. The flights alone cost $600 each and fortunately they had a Travel Guard policy to reimburse them for expenses.

[asil621]

Here is another way a flight can be delayed- My parents just came back from a cruise and their flight back home was delayed for hours because the crew needed to rest. Now, I don't work in the travel industry and don't know how it really works, but wouldn't the crew's rest time be scheduled around the flights? I guess there can be some other factors that we don't know about, but still. Don't get me wrong, I would still want a well rested pilot operating my plane!

[luckyprincess]

When I was married and took my first cruise, we let RCCL arrange our flights. :eek: From NJ to Miami is normally a 2 1/2 or 3 hour flight. They had us going day of and had a tight layover in South Carolina. We landed in SC with about 2 minutes to get on our next plane and no idea where to meet it. I was running like a maniac through the airport with my 6'2" lanky husband flailing along behind me:D When we found the gate I saw a man pulling the door closed and I started sprinting and yelling 'What about us? What about us?'. He looked at me, shook his head and said 'ma'am, we haven't begun boarding yet' and gestured to the rows and rows of people sitting watching me (and laughing) that I obviously missed due to my panic. I was soooo embarassed!:o Truley, though, they started boarding quickly after that and if we hadn't run it would have been very dicey.

Now when my bf and I cruise I tell him I had a very bad experience and we have to fly in a day early! For our upcoming cruise I wanted to fly in at 7am but we can't even get into the hotel til 3. He nixed the earliest flight and we settled on an 11:15am :D

[megr1125]

Here is another way a flight can be delayed- My parents just came back from a cruise and their flight back home was delayed for hours because the crew needed to rest. Now, I don't work in the travel industry and don't know how it really works, but wouldn't the crew's rest time be scheduled around the flights? I guess there can be some other factors that we don't know about, but still. Don't get me wrong, I would still want a well rested pilot operating my plane!

 

actually, delays such as weather, maintenance, etc will cause a crew to "work" longer, thus forcing the crew rest issue....

 

thus, everything snowballs,and we all come here to CC to commiserate!:D

 

i live 1 hour from cape liberty and i drive up 2 days early!

 

BTW due to all the wacky weather here last night, things STILL seem to be fouled up!:eek: there were bunches of people in the hotel this AM griping...

[Snowbuddy]

Ugh, this has me very nervous...we are flying from St Louis to San Juan on the day of departure (don't really have much choice due to DH's work) in October....and, DH did not want to get travel insurance...all I have to say is, if we get delayed & have to fly to meet the ship at another port, he is going to hear a whole heck of a lot of "I told you so's"!! :rolleyes:

[barbie5401]

For us insurance and going in a day before - go hand in hand. As I remember correctly from my days at an airline, rain, thunderstorms or as they say an act of G*D they are not responsible, they will just try and put you on the next available flight.

[Annieeee]

Ugh, this has me very nervous...we are flying from St Louis to San Juan on the day of departure (don't really have much choice due to DH's work) in October....and, DH did not want to get travel insurance...all I have to say is, if we get delayed & have to fly to meet the ship at another port, he is going to hear a whole heck of a lot of "I told you so's"!! :rolleyes:

 

 

Take the earliest flight possible! That way you will have some leeway if you hit a time crunch. Be sure and let your husband know that if you have to downline that it will be at your expense, not the cruiselines.

 

Ohh another club to belong too, (Fly In Day Before Cruise Club). 98% of the time I fly in the day before and often fly in two days before the cruise. The few times I have gone in the day of is because of work or because my cabinmate could not leave the day before. However, I think from now on I will leave the day before, if my roomie or my hubby can not leave the day before then they will just have to meet me on the ship.

 

Another consideration is the possibility of forgetting your passport or Birth certificate, or parental permission or guardianship papers. If you fly in or drive in the day before you sail and then suddenly realize that you forgot your documentation, you can hopefully have it air expressed to you and have it in time for embarkation. If you realize it on the day of, well everyone will be waving bye bye to you.

 

One of my biggest fears is taking the wrong passport with me, meaning grabbing my husband's instead of mine. I check and recheck it at least 20 times. As if the the name or picture would magically change, but I cehck and doube check. lol lol But I know of a few that it has actually happened to.

 

Annieeee

[alphakitty]

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

 

Great advice Sue! Thanks for the reminder. We are flying in 2 days early for our January cruise on Oasis. I don't want to take any chances on that one! :D

 

Re: the cruise insurance.....make sure it covers you for short flight delays (that may still make you miss the cruise!). Many policies do not.

 

Also, off topic but anyway........with the H1N1 flu, be careful that insurance covers pandemics (as this flu is now qualified as). Many insurances do not cover pandemics. :eek:

[Jes0814]

Some friends of ours also had a nerve-racking experience. They were flying from D.C. to Miami the day before and the airplane windshield cracked while they were in the air. They had to make an emergency landing. Thankfully they left a day earlier and were able to hop on another flight..but they got to the hotel after midnight...so they would have missed their cruise if they flew in the day of.

[Lynnees]

When I was married and took my first cruise, we let RCCL arrange our flights. :eek: From NJ to Miami is normally a 2 1/2 or 3 hour flight. They had us going day of and had a tight layover in South Carolina. We landed in SC with about 2 minutes to get on our next plane and no idea where to meet it. I was running like a maniac through the airport with my 6'2" lanky husband flailing along behind me:D When we found the gate I saw a man pulling the door closed and I started sprinting and yelling 'What about us? What about us?'. He looked at me, shook his head and said 'ma'am, we haven't begun boarding yet' and gestured to the rows and rows of people sitting watching me (and laughing) that I obviously missed due to my panic. I was soooo embarassed!:o Truley, though, they started boarding quickly after that and if we hadn't run it would have been very dicey.

Now when my bf and I cruise I tell him I had a very bad experience and we have to fly in a day early! For our upcoming cruise I wanted to fly in at 7am but we can't even get into the hotel til 3. He nixed the earliest flight and we settled on an 11:15am :D

 

I have to tell you, when I read this I had to laugh. I just got a visual of the whole scenerio.

 

We always go in the day before, well, sometimes when taking a short cruise we will fly in the morning of but I hate that.

 

Last year with a group I was taking, my nephew and his girlfriend had major weather problems caused by fog at the end of August. They barely made it - they were running onto the ship during muster. (Long story which I won't bore you with here.)

[luckyprincess]

I have to tell you, when I read this I had to laugh. I just got a visual of the whole scenerio.

 

We always go in the day before, well, sometimes when taking a short cruise we will fly in the morning of but I hate that.

 

Last year with a group I was taking, my nephew and his girlfriend had major weather problems caused by fog at the end of August. They barely made it - they were running onto the ship during muster. (Long story which I won't bore you with here.)

Lol - believe me the reality of it was more painful than funny! Now my ex-hubby and I laugh about it all the time! It's one of our favorite memories of an otherwise mismatched marriage! :p:D Any time I'm scheduled to fly I get a text from the ex that says 'what about us??'! lol:D

[aurelius180]

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!!!

 

 

On our last cruise we flew in a day early to extend the 4-night cruise and will never not fly in the day before. Nothing happened but 1. it's fun because it's an extra day on vacation and 2. less worries which makes for a more enjoyable time.

 

Our flight home was actually canceled on that cruise in June due to thundershowers in the Northeast (our home). :eek:

[seeship]

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

Me too! Our friends waited to drive in the next day (4 hr drive). BUT. . . a tanker with hazardous materials overturned on the highway. The highway was shut down both directions for over 3 hours. They made the ship with 10 minutes to spare.

 

They said next time we will listen to you.

[linkerbink]

You can be delayed for the strangest of reasons. When my sister and I were on our way back to Pennsylvania from our last cruise we were on a layover in Atlanta and nearly had our flight cancelled because the flight attendant didn't show up. Fortunately, at the last minute they found an attendant who lived there in Atlanta who agreed to take the assignment (she was telling us about this during the flight) so the flight was able to take off. It worked out OK, plus we were on our way back from, not going to, the cruise.

[SamFritz]

On our first cruise we let Royal make the flight arrangements. We arrived at the ship AFTER the muster drill! :eek: Ever since then we fly down the day before. The whole vacation is much more relaxed, especially the embarkation day.

[Gonzo70]

You can be delayed for the strangest of reasons.

 

That is true! I used to date/live with a pilot. She let me use her BMW when she was away on trip in exchange for taking care of the gas, oil changes and car washes. She would then drive my cra**y car to the airport and leave it there for the duration of her trip (often 3-5 nights). She usually kept her pilot license in the glove compartment of the car. One time I forgot to leave her my car keys and took off for work in her beamer. She did not realize I had forgotten to leave her the car keys until it was too late for me to get them to her in time for her to make it to the airport before her flight. As a result she wound up having to take public transportation to the airport and arrived there without her license - leading to a significant delay in terms of her obtaining the necessary clearance to report to duty. Hopefully I didn't cause anybody to be late to a cruise! :eek:

[cruisefeen2304]

how bout this one.. our arrangements are through the church who made it through a well known commerical TA our flight is departing on August 16th at 1pm and Landing in San Juan at 5Pm! That makes no sense cause it leaves no room for any delay what so ever!

[aurelius180]

On our first cruise we let Royal make the flight arrangements. We arrived at the ship AFTER the muster drill! :eek: Ever since then we fly down the day before. The whole vacation is much more relaxed, especially the embarkation day.

 

Plus you're on early and can enjoy the ship for almost a full day! :D

[stones902]

I would add.....

 

We frequently sail out of San Juan. We always come in at least a couple of days early (nice way to extend your vacation). The last time, one of our two suitcases did not arrive on our flight. Fortunately, it did arrive the next day but if we had been leaving at 10 PM that evening I would not have received my luggage nor been able to get to a store to purchase some replacement clothes.

 

We always come in early.

[Gonzo70]

how bout this one.. our arrangements are through the church who made it through a well known commerical TA our flight is departing on August 16th at 1pm and Landing in San Juan at 5Pm! That makes no sense cause it leaves no room for any delay what so ever!

 

Wow. Isn't the departure time 8:30pm for that? That would mean you are required to be on board by 7:00pm or they will deny you boarding (6:30pm if you do not do online check in prior to the cruise). That is extremely risky. :eek:

 

I wonder if the person who did the planning (as well as the TA that was involved) did not understand what time people are required to be on board. Hopefull there are not any delays.

[dixieva]

We even go the night before if we're driving to a port. You just never know what might happen while driving. Plus we're well rested and ready for a full day of fun on the ship on embarkation day.

[amybear912]

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!).

 

.

 

Keeping my fingers crossed for you...

 

Last summer, my mom, sis, DH, and I were all flying to FLL for Enchantment... Mom and sis flight was non-stop, scheduled to leave 30 minutes before DH and I (our's had a connection in Atlanta, different airlines)...

 

They were due to land around 3:30pm... we weren't due to land until around 7:30pm...

 

Their flight was delayed... nothing was landing in FLL due to storms...

 

Our flight left on time, landed on time...

 

Mom and sis didn't arrive until midnight...

 

Luckily, this was the day before our cruise was scheduled to leave...

 

It was amazing to all of us what a difference those 30 minutes in departure made....

[truffles2]

We always go early now....ever since we missed the Serenade inaugural transatlantic --due to a thunderstorm in August.