Flying in day of cruise

I booked our cruise long before I knew that my daughter would still be dating her boyfriend (very new relationship when I booked) and I booked for June 1st out of NYC. We found out he graduates May 31st at 8pm. We are going with other families so no way to change our dates. Our plan is to take the earliest nonstop flight out of Austin on June 1st. Delta currently has a 6:30am flight to Newark and if JetBlue continues their current trend they will have a 5:30am to JFK which will be our first choice. (Their summer schedule opens next weekend).

I'm slightly stressing about flying in day of. Are there a lot of positive stories out there of folks flying in same day??

We do have trip insurance thru travel guard.

Also want to mention we will have NCL pick us up at the airport and transfer us to the ship.

Also DD BF will be joining us on this cruise and will be leaving for Navy boot camp in July

When one decides to fly-in the day of the cruise they are usually cognizant of the risks. When such a person posts here on CC they are obviously very aware of the risk and just looking for some moral support. There is little we can do to change the obvious risks. We agree with the OP's attempt to get a very early flight because there is a very high probability they will depart on time. Since your arrival time would be at least 6 hours before the scheduled ship departure time you would be eligible for coverage from most trip insurance plans (you must carefully check the provisions of each policy).

Hank

I'm slightly stressing about flying in day of. Are there a lot of positive stories out there of folks flying in same day??

 

We do have trip insurance thru travel guard.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who fly in the day of embarkation and make the ship. Unfortunately their success doesn't determine who, in the future, will also succeed.

We flew in day of embarkation once. Just once. I'll never do it again. We, too, had the first flight of the day out of BWI to FLL. We were supposed to depart at 6:05am. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the jetway and we didn't board until after 7am. We landed in FLL and got to the terminal just as boarding began...certainly later than the 8:30am I expected to be landing in FLL. But we made it.

I've seen others struggle when their early-morning flight on Southwest got cancelled - and no space on subsequent flights to FLL until mid-afternoon, far too late to get to the port on time. Those folks scrambled to other airlines to try and buy same-day-walk-up tickets (read: very expensive) to make their ship.

It's great that you have travel insurance. Check your policy, though, to see exactly how long the delay must be in order to have a valid claim. Some policies require that you arrive 6-8 hours after your scheduled arrival before benefits will pay. If, say, your original flight is scheduled to land at 10am and you don't land until 2pm, missing the cutoff for boarding, you may not be able to collect because your delay would only be four hours.

The one thing you have going for you is the time of year. Not a lot of snow and ice in June that can wreak havoc on airline travel.

 

I'm slightly stressing about flying in day of. Are there a lot of positive stories out there of folks flying in same day??

You obviously know the risks involved, or you wouldn't be stressed. And obviously there are plenty of people who successfully board their ships after flying in the same day. However that doesn't negate the fact that you can never predict when a flight might be delayed or cancelled due to weather, or maintenance or crew issues.

All you can do is try to mitigate the risks, which you seem to have done with the earliest flights of the day, and ship transfers. You might consider getting your flights thru the cruise line's flight program - they may be able to get you to your first POC if you miss the ship.

I don't like flying in the day of the cruise but obviously you have no choice.

I would do either one of the flights you mentioned.

My concern with JetBlue would be what happens if they cancel the flight and while that could happen with Delta but somehow I feel they might have more backup planes such as from DFW.

The reality is that many people do not miss the cruise but it does happen on occasion. I am on a cruise right now (three back to backs) and on the last cruise someone missed the ship. It happens and the only time it is an issue if it happens to you.

Keith

 

My concern with JetBlue would be what happens if they cancel the flight and while that could happen with Delta but somehow I feel they might have more backup planes such as from DFW.

Delta isn't just going to commandeer a plane sitting at DFW and fly it to Austin to replace a plane there that's gone mechanical. If a plane is sitting at DFW it's because it is scheduled to fly a flight out of DFW and they can't just leave those passengers stranded; airlines don't just keep extra planes sitting around idle "just in case."

That said, Delta does have the advantage of being able to fly you to any number of hub cities and on to JFK or LGA from there if something happens. You would likely have a lot of re-route options through ATL, DTW or even MSP. They also likely have nonstops into JFK or LGA a few hours later that could still get you to the ship on time.

Delta isn't just going to commandeer a plane sitting at DFW and fly it to Austin to replace a plane there that's gone mechanical. If a plane is sitting at DFW it's because it is scheduled to fly a flight out of DFW and they can't just leave those passengers stranded; airlines don't just keep extra planes sitting around idle "just in case."

 

That said, Delta does have the advantage of being able to fly you to any number of hub cities and on to JFK or LGA from there if something happens. You would likely have a lot of re-route options through ATL, DTW or even MSP. They also likely have nonstops into JFK or LGA a few hours later that could still get you to the ship on time.

I hear you but as someone who is very familiar with Austin and DFW I would go with Delta over JetBlue if flying in the day of the cruise and that includes reasons you mentioned plus what I said.

Keith

Delta vs. JetBlue. You might have more options with Delta but it will still be difficult to get on other flights. As another poster said, DFW has nothing to do with flights out of Austin. Though with Delta if something did go wrong for the early morning flight there is a good chance you would know the night or early early morning before and try to get on say a AUS-DTW/MSP/ATL-JFK/LGA/EWR routing. Delta for sure will have more options if it something with a specific plane.

There are tons of people who fly in the day of a cruise. I did it once, I was a kid and had no say. From Miami to London! Crazy to think about it now. My two most recent cruises were both from Europe and both times we flew in 24-30 hours before the cruise left.

The vast majority of people make it on the day they leave. MIA and FLL are full of buses picking up people on Saturdays and Sundays going on cruises that day. You are aware of the risk, and picking the early morning flights help lower the risk.

Make sure you purchase some type of trip insurance that would cover you if you did miss the cruise due to the flight delay.

I fly Austin regularly and yes have been on flights on American Airlines and Delta that had issue and they were able to move aircraft around and although our flights were delayed planes did come from DFW.

I would still go with Delta as they do have great options (not lots but greater) than JetBlue even if that means getting on some other flight that goes to places like Atlanta.

All of this is not ideal but the original poster has limited options.

Original Poster I offer another option which is the one I would go with. Look at Southwest Airlines. They should have three flights to JFK that will be options for you and a couple of other options to Newark, New Jersey. And yes they have lots of aircraft at Dallas Love Field so they can probably substitute aircraft better than Delta or JetBlue. And yes I have been on flights out of Austin using Southwest when aircraft were brought in from Dallas Love Field.

If it was me I would go with Southwest given your situation.

Keith

Or, send the boyfriend to adulthood a bit earlier than boot camp and have him fly out alone or with your daughter. At least you cut your risk on part of your group.