Fly into Athens same day of embarkation?

[brunello22]

I am looking to possibly fly into Athens on embarkation day September 10, arriving at 1:00 pm. Azamara Quest leaves Pireas at 6:00 pm, and I know I should be checked-in 1-1/2 to 2 hours prior to the ship's departure. Given there are no delays in my arrival, and getting through baggage claim, etc., does this allow enough time to get from the airport to the port? It is my understanding that there is an approximate 30 minute drive to the port. What is the cost of a taxi/shuttle from the airport to the port?

 

However, delays are unforeseen, and I should probably not chance it, by planning to arrive the day prior (answering my own question here!). :) Just wanted to get your thoughts from those who have done this previously.

 

Thanks!

[MarleneAm]

I flew into Athens on the day of embarkation for a Windstar cruise in 2008. The cruise line was making both my air and transfer arrangements. My direct flight got in early in the morning around 10am and I was immediately picked up by the waiting taxi and driven to the port. As I remember it took about 30 minutes. It was so early that I had to wait for some hours in the cruise terminal to even start boarding. The ship left around 4pm. This worked out well for me. Your arrangments sound like too tight a connection for me and make it much more possible you will miss the ship.If you are willing to take the chance that you will miss the ship and will have to pay to fly to meet the ship at your next port, then it's up to you to take this chance and weigh it against the costs, hotel, food,time off, etc of getting to Athens the day before.

[brunello22]

I flew into Athens on the day of embarkation for a Windstar cruise in 2008. The cruise line was making both my air and transfer arrangements. My direct flight got in early in the morning around 10am and I was immediately picked up by the waiting taxi and driven to the port. As I remember it took about 30 minutes. It was so early that I had to wait for some hours in the cruise terminal to even start boarding. The ship left around 4pm. This worked out well for me. Your arrangments sound like too tight a connection for me and make it much more possible you will miss the ship.If you are willing to take the chance that you will miss the ship and will have to pay to fly to meet the ship at your next port, then it's up to you to take this chance and weigh it against the costs, hotel, food,time off, etc of getting to Athens the day before.

 

Thank you MarleneAm, my thoughts exactly! Funny, when folks ask the same question on the Florida Departures board, I always advise them to arrive one day prior to their cruise. I should take my own advice! :)

 

Like I said, anything can happen with travel delays, and it would be unfortunate to have to incur the expenses to meet the ship in another port.

[cruisemom42]

It sounds like you've already talked yourself out of it, but I would also advise against it.

 

Even if you have a direct flight, unforeseen events can occur that would at worst cause you to miss the ship or at the least stress you out. For example, one time I had to fly into Rome on the day of embarkation. Although we had a direct flight, there was a mechanical issue causing us all to deplane and await a new aircraft. This cut down my "window of safety" considerably and -- although we made the ship -- I did not have a very restful flight over.

 

Several more reasons to fly in ahead of time:

 

1) Gives you a bit of a chance to adjust to the change in time zones.

2) Gives any lost luggage a chance to find you before your cruise.

3) Athens is a wonderful city and it's well worth spending some time to see it.

[brunello22]

It sounds like you've already talked yourself out of it, but I would also advise against it.

 

Even if you have a direct flight, unforeseen events can occur that would at worst cause you to miss the ship or at the least stress you out. For example, one time I had to fly into Rome on the day of embarkation. Although we had a direct flight, there was a mechanical issue causing us all to deplane and await a new aircraft. This cut down my "window of safety" considerably and -- although we made the ship -- I did not have a very restful flight over.

 

Several more reasons to fly in ahead of time:

 

1) Gives you a bit of a chance to adjust to the change in time zones.

2) Gives any lost luggage a chance to find you before your cruise.

3) Athens is a wonderful city and it's well worth spending some time to see it.

 

Thanks cruisemom42 - appreciate your input! Yes, I believe I talked myself into flying in 1 or even 2 days early. We will be on the French Riviera for 10 days prior to the cruise (land vacation), so I am looking at options connecting into Athens via Nice or Milan.

[CruiserBruce]

You might want to read this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1398770

 

And, if you have any doubt, I think it would be crazy to fly that far, and arrive on sailaway date.

[brunello22]

You might want to read this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1398770

 

And, if you have any doubt, I think it would be crazy to fly that far, and arrive on sailaway date.

 

Thanks CruiserBruce! We will certainly be arriving at least a day or two early!

[financialgrl]

Here's my story just last year on our way to board a cruise in Barcelona. Was to take a 7 hr flight to London, spend the night in an AP hotel, get up the next morning and board a 2 hour hop over to Barcelona.

 

Iceland volcano was around - daily talk, will we fly or not? By the time we hit London, they were flying. Then British Airways (BA)went on strike, courts ruled it illegal strike, they were forced back to work and then appealed and they won the appeal - all this in a little over 24 hours. Now all BA folks are diverted to Iberia A/L, which now requires a stop in Madrid for a plane change on way to Barcelona. On the tarmac, next in line for takeoff at Heathrow to fly to Madrid, they close down the AP for 1.5 hours. Just close it down, and tell us it has nothing to do with the volcano, and not to worry they will fly out that day. At least I'd planned a few days precruise in Barcelona.

 

Arrive late in Madrid but even though we are pretty late, they hold the plane because almost all our plane were BA folks waiting to board the plane over to Barcelona. We land in Barcelona at 5pm instead of 11am as originally planned. Luggage arrives late but hey we made it but with LOTS of workarounds.

 

Others faced an air traffic controller strike in France that forced planes into Heathrow and other APs around (perhaps thats why we sat on tarmac 1.5 hours?) Problems happening the day we were to board had many sweating making the ship on time. Had our first port been Rome the next day, which is usually out on 12 hour tours, we'd have all been hurting due to exhaustion from all the workarounds. Luckily it was the much calmer, serene Monte Carlo, where it's easy to get off ship and go wandering.

[Hlitner]

Our thoughts are you should fly-in at least one day early. If your flight arrives on time you would have no problem getting to the port in time for your cruise. But you are gambling an awful lot on the airlines...and this is not a good thing to do these days. Most of the time we have flown to Europe (non stop) our flights have been on time. But we have had other situation with major delays due to mechanical issues, weather, etc. In fact, even if you were to buy trip insurance you will generally find that they have small-print language that requires you fly-in X number of hours before your cruise (it can often be 6 hours or more) in order to be covered. The only way we would chance it would be if it was easy to catch-up to the ship the following day.

 

Hank

[RVRoadie]

If you are letting the cruise company book your air, then it is their problem to get you on the ship. If not, we always go in a day or two early. This additional cost should be taken into account when comparing cruise-air prices to doing it yourself.

[6rugrats]

If you are letting the cruise company book your air, then it is their problem to get you on the ship.

 

This is not usually true; read the fine print in your air contract.

[cberge]

Thanks cruisemom42 - appreciate your input! Yes, I believe I talked myself into flying in 1 or even 2 days early. We will be on the French Riviera for 10 days prior to the cruise (land vacation), so I am looking at options connecting into Athens via Nice or Milan.

I did not see anyone pick up on this..if you are flying from the FR you should be able to arr Athens same day of cruise with no problem...up to you if go in one day early.

[Keith1010]

I did not see anyone pick up on this..if you are flying from the FR you should be able to arr Athens same day of cruise with no problem...up to you if go in one day early.

 

I still would not take the risk.

 

Flights (not only your flight) can be cancelled on the day of the cruise and you can easily find yourself with no options to get to the port of call. Remember, flight cancellations can be caused by many other issues that have nothing to do with the aircraft.

 

Keith

[Anapli]

September is "dangerous" month due to strikes Greece