should I fly in the day before?

[Pacruiser02]

We are going on our cruise in the middle of December, we are from Pa where the winters are usually harsh. I'm dibating on if we should fly into port canaveral the day before our ship leaves just in case our flight is delayed. I have this fear that if we fly into florida the same day the ship leaves, there is a huge chance of our flight being delayed due to weather and then we miss the cruise....am I being crazy?

 

Should I chance it and fly in the morning of our cruise? Or should I play it safe and fly in the day before? If we come the day before we are then adding an extra expense to our vacation, is it worth it? What does everyone else do? If it waasnt just before the holidays I probably wouldnt be so worried, but it just seems as if flights get delayed/canceled more in around the holidays.

[PoofyTheCat]

We are going on our cruise in the middle of December, we are from Pa where the winters are usually harsh. I'm dibating on if we should fly into port canaveral the day before our ship leaves just in case our flight is delayed. I have this fear that if we fly into florida the same day the ship leaves, there is a huge chance of our flight being delayed due to weather and then we miss the cruise....am I being crazy?

 

Should I chance it and fly in the morning of our cruise? Or should I play it safe and fly in the day before? If we come the day before we are then adding an extra expense to our vacation, is it worth it? What does everyone else do? If it waasnt just before the holidays I probably wouldnt be so worried, but it just seems as if flights get delayed/canceled more in around the holidays.

 

Definitely yes. You can get a hotel room on Priceline for 50 to 75 dollars for a 3 star. WELL worth the peace of mind. Plus you get a day in Florida vs a day in snowy PA in December which is worth hundreds to me.

[quickrate]

I wouldn't even consider flying in the day of a cruise. Too many things can go wrong. there have been many threads on here about people having delayed flights, missing connections, and some have missed the ship. Especially the port you are going out of as that is over 40 miles from the airport. Fly in the day before-you will start your cruise much more relaxed.

pat

[seashinesunshine]

I would definetly fly in the day before, even in the summer flights get delayed due to storms or other issues. Worth the peace of mind, PLUS you are not as stressed when you get on the ship.

(poofythecat~I love your cat!! Looks kind of like mine!)

[itsalljimmysfault]

Day before!! Better safe than sorry and it makes for a MUCH more relaxing start to your vacation!!

[Warm Breezes]

I agree...fly in the day before.

[PoofyTheCat]

(poofythecat~I love your cat!! Looks kind of like mine!)

 

I love your cat too! So adorable :)

[UpstateCruizer]

We fly in 2 days before each cruise~! We started doing it when we flew from NY to LA a couple years ago. We wanted to be rested and refreshed when we boarded the ship. We had such a great time so now we always travel 2 days early :) I'm not brave enough to travel in the winter months with snow and ice delays but there is absolutely no way I'd want to fly in the same day snow or not.

[hockeyluver]

Its unanimous !! fly in the day before definitely!!! besides you will "hopefully" get a good nights sleep so you wont be tired and cranky your first day on the ship :p I would never fly in the day of, even in the summer

[cruiser1961]

I agree with the other posters here. Fly in the day before and you can relax knowing that you are close to your port. It is well worth the additional cost - consider it insurance. If you miss your cruise, the cost to play "catch up" is likely to be much, much higher (in both $$ and stress levels :eek:) than the cost for one night in a hotel.

[Animal Rescue]

Without a doubt, fly in the day before. Not only is weather a factor, but there are many others such as maintenance malfunction, crew going over their alloted hours, luggage getting lost/flown to another city, overbooking, etc.

 

My husband used to fly quite often for his previous job. He could write a book on the perils of airline travel. We were on a flight once where it was deemed "overweight". After asking people to volunteer to exit the plane, they had no choice but to remove luggage when there were no takers. One piece of ours didn't arrive until the next day.

 

I would also advise to book morning flights even the day before. In case there's problems, then you have the rest of the day/evening to still get to your destination.

[thesawch]

It may be cheaper to fly in the day before.If your cruise leaves on the sunday it usually is cheaper to fly in on Saturday then a sunday.At least it is for me. We fly 2 dyas early as my flights are more exspensive on the weekends and we get our hotels off priceline and have a pre cruise mini holiday in Miami !!

[Willbcruisin]

Another vote for a day before!! December??? ALWAYS!!!

 

Even in April we are going 2 days pre-cruise. Less stress.

 

In December of 2005 we were flying out of Rhode Island to FLL one day ahead of cruise.........we were the last flight (early am) to take-off from the airport before they shut it down for 2 days!:eek: Would have been so upset if we missed that cruise.

 

We now try to go at least one (prefer two) days ahead and also try to stay one day post.

 

Good Luck and enjoy your cruise:)

[bdancer21]

YES, fly the day before. On one of our cruises, the airline NEVER SENT OUR LUGGAGE! We spent the next 9 days with the clothes on our back and lots of shoes (we did receive the shoe bag). Airlines don't forward luggage to the Carribbean islands they don't service, so play it safe and go the day before to be sure you have clothes! The airline didn't give us enough money to buy clothes from the ship's gift shop AND you can't find much more than T-shirts in the ports!!!!

[Shelbyjane56]

We always fly in 2-3days before our cruise, makes it really relaxing and with hubby being all over the world with his Job he can really use the relaxing plus when you fly in atleast the day before you will be relaxed and ready for all the fun of a cruise!!

[98Charlie]

 

Need I say more?:eek:

 

Charlie

[ferretface]

Flew in the day of our 1st cruise and will NEVER do so again! Admittedly I stress out easily. So that can make a difference. Had no problem making it to the ship but i'll never chance it again!

[Starfire_rules]

Another vote for day before. Here in Iowa, we get ice and snow all winter long. We cruise in the middle of winter to get away for a little while and thaw.

Also, on my first cruise we flew in the day before and I was so exhausted I couldn't muster the energy to watch the sail away. So now I ALWAYS fly in the day before. Also helps with the climate shock.

[TheFlyingPreacher]

Yep, fly in the day before, at least. My wife and I have usually had good luck with flights but you never know what can happen.

 

On our last cruise, we had to fly through Atlanta and a surprise storm system decided to sweep in. Our plane landed in Huntsville, AL where we had to refuel and wait out the storm. Once we had the all clear, we took a bumpy ride weaving through storm clouds and landed in Atlanta. Our connection flight had already left so we had no choice but to spend the night at gate C36. We made it to FLL the next morning (first class because of the inconvenience) and were on our ship by noon... but that is the latest we'd want to be on the ship in the future.

[sjcruiser]

For a cruise leaving on a Saturday, We usually take one of the last flights out on Friday due to work schedules. This time around (January), we cruise out on a Sunday, so we're taking the first flight out Saturday morning. We looked at flying out on Friday night, but we are usually stressed out with trying to get off work early, and making the flight.

[nybumpkin]

We had delayed/canceled flights for two of our cruises. One was a February cruise, one was a July cruise. If we had tried to fly the day of the cruise, we would have been trying to catch up with the ship at the first port. We have friends that had that happen this past winter - although since Carnival arranged their flights, Carnival was responsible for getting them to the first port. After our (and our friends') experiences, we wouldn't even think about flying in same day.

[wimsiecruise]

My TA originally said I would be flying on the red-eye leaving Vancouver around 11:00p.m. and arriving MIA around 5:00a.m. on the sail date ! I thought that was crazy ! Later it was decided that due to weather conditions in Toronto (a likely Air Canada stop-over), to change that to the day before. We could be looking at delays due to a blizzard or heavy ice and snow conditions in Toronto. I've booked my flight through Carnival, leaving the day before, and hope they use American Airlines to Dallas / Fort Worth rather than Air Canada, via Toronto. If you live on the West Coast, in a Northern climate, it's a no-brainer to travel the day before ! I wish I had booked 2 days before as this year is going to be a La Niña Winter ! God only knows what the weather is going to do to our flights ! :eek:

[lillian marie]

I would fly in the day before, we always do, it's worth the extra cost for the security of knowing we won't miss our cruise because of flight delays.

[giannasage]

We are from PA cruising in Febuary. We are comming in 2 days prior. There are many good hotel rates. For peace of mind I vote at least one day early. Have a great cruise.

[Drew's Wife]

We live in Florida and always drive to the port of embarkation the day before and spend the night in a hotel. Three years ago we were driving over to Pt. Canaveral for a Valentine cruise.

 

I turned around in the car to get a map, as we had missed our turn off and had driven about sixty miles North of our turnoff. In trying to get the maps from the back seat, I accidently broke two ribs!

 

Thankfully we were in touch with Carnival the whole time, and they assured us they would wait till we could reach the ship. We boarded at 3:30 pm...we were very lucky as I know most of the time there is a cut off time to boarding the ship. Since then, we always drive over the day before just in case there are traffic jams, road closures, etc. We even plan to stay the night before our next cruise in Tampa, and that is only an hour drive for us.

 

I think you would be most wise to fly in the day before, as you never know about the weather...and even if there is not bad weather in your area, there might be in another, which could still impact your flight.