Yes or No Flying in on the day of Departure

Living in FL we drive to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami the day before and enjoy a nice evening out. When we cruise from Port Canaveral or Tampa we drive there the day of.

 

Have read stories on CC of Florida residents getting caught in construction or tied up by traffic accidents and missing their cruises from South Florida.

 

PC or Tampa we know multiple alternate routes so not a big problem.

 

Stressful enough snaking thru the lines to board, without traffic hassles.

 

Not in my wildest dreams would I fly from snow country in the winter the day of. That is asking for trouble.

 

I live 50 miles south of San Francisco and you can be damn sure I would book a hotel or stay at my Brother's place in the city the night before as The Embarcadero can get crowded due to events and rush hour traffic.

 

Since you already paid for the first day of the cruise I would much rather be one of the first people onboard. I don't care how close or far I am from the pier I would arrive one day before albeit even if its 10 PM and I arrive in San Francisco via Caltrain it sure beats arriving at 10 AM.

I flew in the day of for my last cruise and hated it. I didn't have any trouble with the flight but it left so early in the morning that by the time I got to the ship I was exhausted. I did the muster drill and had dinner then went to bed. I missed all of the entertainment that day. This time I am flying in the day before so that I can enjoy the first day of my cruise.

With over forty years of extensive cruising experience we have adopted the following personal policy. For domestic cruises (out of USA or Canada) we will always fly-in at least 1 day early. We always monitor the weather forecasts (especially in the winter) and we see a major storm in the forecast we will try to change our flights to an earlier day (if it helps with the weather). The airlines will often cooperate with the change..if you explain the situation. We have sometimes (not often) gambled on a same day flight...but this is only if we can easily catch-up to the ship the following day at the next port.

 

For European or Asian departures we try to be in-country several days in advance. This gives us time to recover from jet lag, enjoy the local/regional area...and not have any concern about being at our port on time. If we happen to already be in Europe (we are often doing our own lengthy driving trips) we might chance a same day arrival at the port....but only if we can easily catch the ship the following day.

 

Hank

Even with beautiful weather, stuff happens - look at the BA IT meltdown today. I feel so sorry for those caught up in the chaos, it's going to take BA days to get all their planes and flight crew deployed correctly.

 

 

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Even with beautiful weather, stuff happens - look at the BA IT meltdown today. I feel so sorry for those caught up in the chaos, it's going to take BA days to get all their planes and flight crew deployed correctly.

 

 

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That is everyones worst fears and answers exactly the question asked and if it is possible 1 or 2 days before cruise would be best advice.

We have about two hour drive, still rather drive the day before and stay the night.

If you use the cruise line air its less of a risk. (But probably more expensive )

 

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If you use the cruise line air its less of a risk. (But probably more expensive )

 

How you book (i.e. with the airline or via cruise air) has nothing to do with whether or not there's a weather delay or an airline mechanical problem or whatever. So in that sense the risk is the same. Lots of people feel safer booking cruise air because of the "guarantee" to get you to the ship and feel there's less risk that way. On the flip side, there are plenty of stories of pax who actually got no help at all from the cruise air folks when a problem occurred. Also, some of the tickets they sell are consolidator-type tickets. Those will have lower priority for getting rebooked when things go wrong, and might come with restrictions that may rebooking more difficult.

That is everyones worst fears and answers exactly the question asked and if it is possible 1 or 2 days before cruise would be best advice.

And the best advice always concludes with a caveat that it is always possible that you will be so unlucky and things will go so wrong on the day of your travel that your trip simply cannot be saved. That's life; that's the reality of travel. For those who are simply going on a cruise for a holiday, it really doesn't matter that much even if nothing of the trip can be saved.

 

For those who think that one or two days is necessarily enough to avoid the risk, this episode demonstrates something else. Those who were scheduled to fly long-haul yesterday may well have had no flight and no alternative possible routings yesterday. They may now not get an alternative routing for a day or two. In contrast, those who were scheduled to fly long-haul today have probably got away OK. So choosing two days in advance rather than one day in advance doesn't eliminate the risk. Nothing will ever do that, because you never know quite how the dice will fall.

If you use the cruise line air its less of a risk. (But probably more expensive )

 

Can you please explain. And do not use the "the cruiseline will get me there" mantra, as that is NOT what the actual terms and conditions of cruiseline air provide. No marketing words, just the actual "fine print" please.

Per Princess Cruise Air

Late Arrival Protection – Ensures you'll get to your cruise if flights are delayed or cancelled, and we’ll get you home if for any reason the cruise or Princess transfer cause you to miss your return flight.

 

That is what they say -- one can always have unusual circumstances but I think in general it seems to work.

Per Princess Cruise Air

Late Arrival Protection – Ensures you'll get to your cruise if flights are delayed or cancelled, and we’ll get you home if for any reason the cruise or Princess transfer cause you to miss your return flight.

 

That is what they say -- one can always have unusual circumstances but I think in general it seems to work.

 

Let's bore down a little deeper. From the Princess website (and this isn't even the fine print in the Contract of Carriage and Terms and Conditions):

 

 

Air Transportation: Late Arrival Protection

Passengers who book air travel through Princess Cruises will be automatically enrolled in the Princess late arrival protection program. If guests miss or will miss their original port of embarkation due to airline delay or an airline service disruption, such as flight cancelation or flight re-routes, Princess will work with the airlines to find a reasonable alternative to provide flights to the next appropriate* port at no additional air cost to the guest.

Factors taken into account in determining the appropriateness of a port of call include, but are not limited to:

 

• visas and other legal documentation that may be required
  
• application of the Passenger Services Act to the new itinerary
  
• airport/port infrastructure
  
• comparability of cost, flight connections, and travel time required (note, any refund due on the unused air ticket must be used to offset the cost of the new air ticket)
  
• where in the original itinerary this port is located
  

1) Will work. Not will provide, but just a statement that they will "work with" the airlines.

2) Reasonable alternative. Not a guarantee, but reasonable. Guess who's that reasonable to...and it isn't you!

3) Next appropriate. Not next. The next one that the cruiseline thinks is appropriate. And it gets better.

4) Comparability of cost, flight connections and travel time. Which means that if it costs a bunch more to get you somewhere, or will require connects or significant travel time, the cruiseline can just say that it's not "appropriate". And since that determination is up to them, too bad.

5) Not limited to. Which means they can come up with any other reason they want to deny you a new flight.

 

Still so sure about the "protection"??

Per Princess Cruise Air

Late Arrival Protection – Ensures you'll get to your cruise if flights are delayed or cancelled, and we’ll get you home if for any reason the cruise or Princess transfer cause you to miss your return flight.

 

That is what they say -- one can always have unusual circumstances but I think in general it seems to work.

 

There are some cruises where, if you miss embarkation, you aren't going on your cruise. A one way trip from Vancouver to Seward or Whittier comes to mind. All of the subsequent ports on those itineraries are US ports, so you can't just catch the ship in, say, Juneau and go on to Seward because it would be a PVSA violation. I doubt that the cruiseline would be willing to let you violate PVSA and just pay the fine.

 

When flying to a cruise (any port except LA or San Diego), we prefer to arrive at least the night before, sooner if we're going overseas. It gives us a chance to see the embarkation city instead of just going straight to the pier. Plus we can pick up liquid toiletries that we don't want to have to bring from home - we try to travel with carry on luggage only and can't take the larger containers with us.

 

We disembarked a Princess cruise last summer and arrived at SFO on a Friday morning only to find out that our flight was delayed from a noon departure to 2:00. The delay rolled on (and we couldn't clear the standby list) until 6:00. I would bet a small sum that there were people going on the cruise we disembarked who missed their cruise - the only non-US port on that itinerary was Victoria, the last port of the trip.

 

So if there's a plane involved, we go in at least a day early.

Ever since we began cruising even when I worked we always flew in one or more days before the cruise.

 

I have seen too many things go wrong and know too many people who have missed their cruises.

 

I would never fly in the day of a cruise.

 

I don't like stress.

 

Keith