Same Day Fly in

[ldubs]

I agree that going a day ahead is safest. We have yet to do that in the past 9 years (except we have to leave the day before when taking a red-eye to a European port). Book non-stops whenever possible (yes I know it is not always possible). I would take the flight you describe without a second thought. The bottom line is how to you feel about it. If it causes worry, then don't do it.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We always fly in that day

[Cuizer2]

We always fly in that day

 

Which day is that day?

[bigboofer]

I learned a lot on my first cruise on a HAL ship out of Ft. Lauderdale in 2000 going through the canal.

 

My first mistake was booking my air with the cruise line. I received a connecting flight going IAD-ATL-FLL over spring break weekend. The incoming plane was delayed in ATL by fog so we where going to miss our connection. Calling the HAL help line was worthless since they didn't open until 10AM eastern so we where on our own. LUCKILY (it was all luck) I found a gate agent that found seats on a direct flight to FLL leaving in 10 minutes and got us on it as the door was closed. Our luggage was the last two bags loaded on the ship (as we watched) so Murphy lost round one because of a wonderful Delta gate agent saved our trip.

 

Our return flight from Acapulco had a medical emergency and diverted to Mexico City. Our ground delay added about two hours to our trip but was able to make a connection to get home.

 

Lessons learned was never book cruise air if it can be helped. They are not getting you the best flights but what makes them the most profit. Also by the time you get your documents the seats left on the plane aren't the best but whats left.

 

Never ever arrive the day of the cruise if you can help it. Why risk an expensive trip to save the cost of a hotel room and the tension of missing the ship or traveling with clothes that you are wearing. Siting in the dining room in a ship t-shirt just doesn't work.

 

To comment to the OP, six hours may sound like a lot but will pass in a couple of minutes when things go wrong. Your planes leaves on time but is diverted because of medical, equipment, or security which puts you on the ground with no options. What are you going to do if the crew times out and the plane is stuck at the airport, weather comes in and you are stuck until it clears, etc etc?

 

Yes, lots can go right, and you never have a problem or Murphy can win and you loose big.

 

I enjoy my travels because I remove as much risk of problems as possible by controlling of much of my trip as I can. I know Murphy is waiting for me but I going to make him work for it.

[tgptmp]

Because of the above---I would NEVER EVER fly in the day of my cruise.

[Cuizer2]

... or traveling with clothes that you are wearing.

 

Okay, now this is an interesting statement. If you are not traveling with the clothes you are wearing, what are you traveling with?

 

Or, are you just not wearing any clothing at all?

[mary_228]

With the exception of two cruises, we have always flown in on the day of departure and have had no problems, usually with much less leeway than the OP. We may not have taken as many cruises as others here, and our flights are generally non-stops, but I have never felt nervous about missing our sailing. We travel with our children and do not want them to miss school so we can arrive a day early.

 

That said, I am arriving day of departure in SEA six hours ahead of sailing time with only two later flights to fall back on. I always buy travel insurance, but need to know (so I can start worrying now) about PVSA. Our sailing is SEA rt, with Victoria as the final port. Therefore, if we miss the sailing, our first opportunity to rejoin the ship is Ketchikan, two days later. Am I correct in my understanding that we would never be able to rejoin the ship, and might as well head home and file our trip insurance claim?

[Duke's Mom]

We flew in the day of the cruise and everything was fine but I am not sure the anxiety I experienced prior to arriving there was worth it. Vancouver looked to be a wonderful city and if I had it to do over again I might fly in 2 days early and have time to see the sights!!

[landoleggs]

Even if you have travel insurance, it's out of your pocket until you get back home and file a claim! I've invested way too much to risk missing the ship. I'll get there the day before! There are no guarantees that seats are available on any flights except the one you are booked on.

[mary_228]

Our sailing is SEA rt, with Victoria as the final port. Therefore, if we miss the sailing, our first opportunity to rejoin the ship is Ketchikan, two days later. Am I correct in my understanding that we would never be able to rejoin the ship, and might as well head home and file our trip insurance claim?

I just confirmed with HAL that this is indeed the case. :eek: Well, we could wait around Seattle and rejoin in Victoria on day 13!

[saltcay]

I always try to book my flights at least a day or two before AND after the cruise. I don't want to fly to the departure port only to have to get to the ship and leave on the cruise. I want to have the time to visit the departure port first. Same thing with the end port. If you have the vacation time, schedule the extra time, you never know when something will go wrong and you will be happy for the extra day. If everything goes as planned, you simply have the extra time to sightsee.

 

SS. Emerald Seas, 1976

SS Oceanic, 1990

Rhapsody of the Seas, 2001

Norwegian Star, 2002

Queen Elizabeth 2, 2003

Majesty of the Seas, 2007

Queen Elizabeth 2, 2008 (Final Transatlantic Crossing)

Queen Mary 2, 2010

 

Booked on:

Celebrity Solstice, Nov 2011 (Mediterranean and Transatlantic) (yes, I have a couple days booked in Barcelona before boarding the ship)

[history316]

Been cruising since 1978. NEVER flew in before the day of the cruise. A few worries? Yes. Ever missed the ship? No!! Just be careful about whether or not you actually want to SEE the place your depart from...for example, Azamara changed their itinerary at the last minute on our Singapore-Hong Kong cruise and Singapore was no more than a "bus station" for us. That was sad. I know others have horror stories and we'll be told "you have been luckY' but never a problem for us to fly in on the same day. The worst thing we have ever missed is the buffet lunch.

[samspade]

Go same day if it's better for you -- but only if you are carrying on your luggage. If you change flights and/or airlines it's a better possibility that you'll get there but your luggage won't.

 

My husband and I went on a three-week HAL cruise with only two small roll-aboards, his cloth garment bag that had tux and sport coat and my tote handbag. Believe me it's doable.

[Nanan1205]

I am a real worrywort, so I perfer to fly in a day early and stay a day after returning from a cruise. So far, we have never had a problem. Truth be known, I really perfer to find a port that we can drive to!:rolleyes:

[Wylie Coyote]

Well, there was much discussion about joining the cruise at the first port-of-call and how it violates the law. On my particular cruise, it is a r/t from Seattle to Alaska. The first port is Ketchikan, Alaska, USA. That is where I would join the cruise.....In the USA - State of Alaska. The cruise stops in Canada on the last night prior to returning to Seattle to satisfy the Law requirements. So, I believe that is why I can join the cruise in Ketchikan.

 

The Choice Air package clearly states a condition where if I miss the departure through no fault of my own, they will make arrangements to join the cruise at the first port at no additional cost to me. Maybe I am missing something, but that is what I read in the documentation.

[wrp96]

Well, there was much discussion about joining the cruise at the first port-of-call and how it violates the law. On my particular cruise, it is a r/t from Seattle to Alaska. The first port is Ketchikan, Alaska, USA. That is where I would join the cruise.....In the USA - State of Alaska. The cruise stops in Canada on the last night prior to returning to Seattle to satisfy the Law requirements. So, I believe that is why I can join the cruise in Ketchikan.

 

Actually if you are on a roundtrip from Seattle and you join the ship in Ketchikan you will absolutely be violating the PVSA. If you are allowed to board at all, you will incur a $300 per person fine. Your stop in Canada doesn't qualify as a distant foreign port, which is what is needed for your now one-way cruise between two different US ports.

[mary_228]

Actually if you are on a roundtrip from Seattle and you join the ship in Ketchikan you will absolutely be violating the PVSA. If you are allowed to board at all, you will incur a $300 per person fine. Your stop in Canada doesn't qualify as a distant foreign port, which is what is needed for your now one-way cruise between two different US ports.

Based on discussions on this forum, I posted a question on the Alaska forum as to how often this has affected people. Here is an interesting response that perhaps you can interpret for me in light of your comment above:

 

We had a very similar situation last summer. We were scheduled to sail on the HAL 14 night Alaska cruise, but we were unable to arrive the day before because my daughter was in Costa Rica. We had to fly from the east coast on the day of embarkation.

Here's what I did. I put in a written request to HAL to DISEMBARK in Victoria. That way, if we missed embarkation we planned to fly to Ketchikan to embark there and disembark in Victoria. From Victoria we planned to take the Victoria Clipper to Seattle. This entire plan was approved by HAL in writing (well, e-mail).

 

Fortunately, we did not need to put this plan into action because we easily made embarkation in Seattle. Once on board the Amsterdam, we just let the purser's desk know that we didn't need to disembark in Victoria.

[Cuizer2]

Well, there was much discussion about joining the cruise at the first port-of-call and how it violates the law. On my particular cruise, it is a r/t from Seattle to Alaska. The first port is Ketchikan, Alaska, USA. That is where I would join the cruise.....In the USA - State of Alaska. The cruise stops in Canada on the last night prior to returning to Seattle to satisfy the Law requirements. So, I believe that is why I can join the cruise in Ketchikan.

 

The Choice Air package clearly states a condition where if I miss the departure through no fault of my own, they will make arrangements to join the cruise at the first port at no additional cost to me. Maybe I am missing something, but that is what I read in the documentation.

 

Based on discussions on this forum, I posted a question on the Alaska forum as to how often this has affected people. Here is an interesting response that perhaps you can interpret for me in light of your comment above:

 

We had a very similar situation last summer. We were scheduled to sail on the HAL 14 night Alaska cruise, but we were unable to arrive the day before because my daughter was in Costa Rica. We had to fly from the east coast on the day of embarkation.

Here's what I did. I put in a written request to HAL to DISEMBARK in Victoria. That way, if we missed embarkation we planned to fly to Ketchikan to embark there and disembark in Victoria. From Victoria we planned to take the Victoria Clipper to Seattle. This entire plan was approved by HAL in writing (well, e-mail).

 

Fortunately, we did not need to put this plan into action because we easily made embarkation in Seattle. Once on board the Amsterdam, we just let the purser's desk know that we didn't need to disembark in Victoria.

 

If you board the ship in Ketchikan, you will have to disembark in Canada or you will be in violation of the PVSA. That is the the person on the HAL cruise did. They boarded the ship in a US port and disembarked in a Canadian port.

 

What you cannot do is board the ship in one US port and disembark in a different US port unless the ship stops in a distant foreign port. There are no distant foreign ports in North or Central America.

[rcg50]

It can be upsetting to have delays for any reason. My daughter and I used to fly in on the same day, but it only took one time of massive rescheduling by the airlines to make us reconsider this strategy. Having our vacation begin with her in tears simply wasn't worth any advantage we may have gained by flying in on the same day as the cruise. I agree that you develop a vacation mindset by arriving a day early. We also board early and feel refreshed and ready to enjoy the cruise. I love arriving a day early!

[Wylie Coyote]

This will be the first cruise where I have arrived the same day as the sailing. I did have a comfort feeling knowing at the very least that I could join the cruise at the first port if I missed the ship. The law is clear, and I am wondering how Choice Air can clearly state in the documentation how they would make arrangements for me to join the cruise at the first port if I missed the boat due to flight delays.

 

The only thing I can say, the flight tickets are bought and I will make sure I am on time no matter what.... plane delays, different plane...airport issues, different airport...I will be there for boarding!

 

There, I feel better already. :)

[wrp96]

This will be the first cruise where I have arrived the same day as the sailing. I did have a comfort feeling knowing at the very least that I could join the cruise at the first port if I missed the ship. The law is clear, and I am wondering how Choice Air can clearly state in the documentation how they would make arrangements for me to join the cruise at the first port if I missed the boat due to flight delays.

 

 

If you read what it says it says it will help you make arrangements if possible. There are lots of wiggle words in there and no guarantees. It doesn't even say that it will be at no cost to you.

[KatWag]

Best of luck. I've rolled the dice myself on this one once or twice when we had no alternative due to work schedules.

 

I'd make sure you have good trip insurance just in case. (Maybe that is what you mean by "choice air"? Not sure if that is your trip insurance carrier or if that is you buying your airfare through the cruise line since I always make my own air arrangements).

 

One thing I would never consider is flying in same day AND electing not to have trip insurance.

[Sherrie74]

I have been bumped twice in past years but they were not cruise related. Due to that ..... will fly in day before just to be safe.

[Sherrie74]

I have been bumped twice in past years but they were not cruise related. Due to that ..... will fly in day before just to be safe.

[mary_228]

I have received the information that the fine is not levied if the reason you have missed the sailing is due to factors beyond your control and can document that. Even if you are forced to pay for some reason you will be given information of where to send your documents to dispute the fine.