Is this too risky?

[mytwokidsmom]

does anyone have any thoughts on this...

 

we have a flight from boston to jacksonville, in february, it should land at 10am. would it be too risky to try to make it to port canaveral the same day to catch the dream?

 

had planned for a cruise the next day out of tampa, after visiting relatives.

we are rethinking that idea.

 

thanks!

__________________

[Name Of The Game]

A snow storm could delay your flight. Sounds too risky to me.

[kingoftheicedragons]

I personally would not fly the same day as the cruise, especially flying from a northern area during February.

 

If you know for sure that there will not be any snow storms in Boston, in any connection city, or in any city that has the potential to disrupt air travel on the eastern half of the country, you should be okay to fly the day of. If there is any chance of a snow storm in February, then I'd say don't do it.

[KirkNC]

We never fly in the same day as the cruise.

[Hodag1]

Sounds way to risky for me! I-95 south can be a bear! If its during race weeks in February, you are likely to get into some serious Traffic in the Daytona area.

[JohninDC]

The drive from Jax to PC should take about 2.5 hours. ;)

 

For a cruise out of PC, if your flight arrives at 10:00, by the time you get out fo the airport with bags and into a rental car you will likely be on the road about 11:00, putting you in PC by about 1:30 at the earliest -- usually you need to be checking in 90 minutes prior to sailing which usually translates to a deadline of about 3:00 or so. That gives you only about 90 minutes of flex in your schedule to cover rental car turn in, stops for gas/food, and any sort of unexpected delay (flat tire, traffic, delayed flight) would push you past the deadline = missed cruise. :eek:

 

The smart cruiser ALWAYS arrives in town at least one day early so that no transportation delays cause you to miss your flight. Good luck! :)

[mytwokidsmom]

I figured it was too risky. We never fly in day of cruise either. The Dream OV had a decent price.

[mikel24m]

Some smart cruisers cannot get that extra day off work to fly in the day before

 

 

This smart cruiser always(except once) has flown in the day of and have never had an issue

[morganboys]

i would say way too risky. have driven from daytona to pc and it is a good hour with no traffic so the 2.5 hour cooment above is pretty acurate. with having to check in a rental car and they hop a rental car shuttle that you may have to wait for could push you very close. & that is if you have no flight issues, delays getting your luggage or delays getting your rental car.

[Eng23]

Sounds way to risky for me! I-95 south can be a bear! If its during race weeks in February, you are likely to get into some serious Traffic in the Daytona area.

I agree. Especially if you have to go through there on a Daytona race weekend. As you also posed this question on the Florida Departures board I at least understand your question better here. Would flying into Orlando not be an option? The Orlando airport is at least only 1 hour from Port Canaveral.

[Talex831]

Just getting around Jacksonville takes time.

 

We will not fly in the day of our cruise, even if it means taking a late flight the night before (when we get out of school/work). It is just not something I ever want to risk.

[goodml]

We try to fly in the day before but have, on several occasions, gambled on same day flights. Our flight out of Detroit two weeks ago was a real reminder of why day before was a really smart choice this time. We had a group of 18 sailing on Valor on 12/30 and 7 of us all going out on an 8:30 am flight on the 29th.

 

We live about 45 mins from the airport. My inlaws started out at 5 am on the 20 min drive to our house to meet up for the drive to the airport. Road conditions were poor that morning with falling snow and black ice and they ended up going into a ditch off the highway. My husband and son took off in our Wrangler to get them and all their luggage out of the car and into the Jeep. They were wet to the knees from being down in the ditch helping grandpa out. Now it's 6:15, roads are bad and we're still trying to make those flights. There's also an international border crossing to be managed in there on the way:D.

 

Flights were all overbooked that day and we were looking at 7 of us missing the flight. We got to the airport at 7:45 and unloaded everything and my husband and son took the cars to the parking garage. We made the choice to try to get 5 of us on and then hope for the best for the other 2 since we knew we had a full day to get them there. The line for security was incredible but what saved us was my father-inlaw is in a wheelchair and the assistant got our whole party to the gate 10 mins before departure time. Had no clue at this point where the boys were. We boarded and just got situated in our seats when they announced that we'd have to deplane because the flight was being delayed for two hours due to air traffic in Fort Lauderdale. Guaranteed we were the only ones that were absolutely thrilled about the delay because it allowed the other two to make the plane. We ended up finally landing in FLL at around 3:45. There were at least 4 different groups on the plane that were very upset because they were cruising that day. One couple that was on our plane also had their kids flying on Spirit and their plane was delayed even longer. They said the only way those kids would make the ship was if the ship was somehow delayed. No idea if they made it or not.

 

Anyway, long story short, this family of sometime gamblers will likely never gamble again.:D

[mytwokidsmom]

My husband booked our flights to Jacksonville a few months ago. He finally found a good price, which is difficult during President's week. We booked the Legend out of Tampa, since we wanted to go somewhere

different.

Anyway, my husband of 21 yrs died on November 27, his funeral was on the day of final payment. Since we had booked 2 rooms for the 4 of us, I had to cancel.

So now, since we have the flight, we are going to book a cruise, maybe the Legend, but I just want something inexpensive, since I have been stay at home mom, working per diem as a nurse.

I see that the prices are slowly rising, as it gets closer to the date of sailing, especially for the Legend.

Sorry to carry on...We have always been so smart about flying in the day before the cruise. I just have mixed feelings about taking the cruise that my husband should have been on.

[goodml]

Oh my goodness, I'm so very sorry for your loss. Whatever you decide and wherever you travel I hope it helps your family in the healing process.

[jlk806]

Why would you fly into Jacksonville instead of Orlando?

[Talex831]

I guess I would just say that if you decide to do it, be sure you have really good trip insurance. It is not impossible, just risky.

 

Are there any cruises out of Jacksonville? Any that leave Canaveral or even Fort Lauderdale the next day you would be interested in? Any chance you could change the flight to the night before?

 

Best wishes whatever you decide to do!

[rockyman935]

My husband booked our flights to Jacksonville a few months ago. He finally found a good price, which is difficult during President's week. We booked the Legend out of Tampa, since we wanted to go somewhere

different.

Anyway, my husband of 21 yrs died on November 27, his funeral was on the day of final payment. Since we had booked 2 rooms for the 4 of us, I had to cancel.

So now, since we have the flight, we are going to book a cruise, maybe the Legend, but I just want something inexpensive, since I have been stay at home mom, working per diem as a nurse.

I see that the prices are slowly rising, as it gets closer to the date of sailing, especially for the Legend.

Sorry to carry on...We have always been so smart about flying in the day before the cruise. I just have mixed feelings about taking the cruise that my husband should have been on.

Maam I am so sry to hear of your loss. Please understand just my thought If I had a cruise booked and I was to have something to happen to me . I would want my wife to go in my honor . But please dont take me wrong just what I would want and really hope I did not offend you in anyway!

[SMSACE6]

I would never fly in the day of the cruise from anywhere!, but from anywhere up north, and yes to me (in Canada) that includes Boston, there is no way, I would take that chance. Noreasters, are hateful!

 

Do yourselves a favor, and fly in the day before. Go to a nice hotel, relax, have dinner out, and you just wont have to worry about this. It will cost you a night in a hotel and dinner, but you will be doing yourself a favor.

 

Whatever you do, have a great cruise.:)

 

Oh I should learn my lesson and read all posts before posting. Im so sorry for your loss! and considering this other information, then I would consider paying change fees to the airline to fly in the day before, if possible.

[mytwokidsmom]

Maam I am so sry to hear of your loss. Please understand just my thought If I had a cruise booked and I was to have something to happen to me . I would want my wife to go in my honor . But please dont take me wrong just what I would want and really hope I did not offend you in anyway!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. The kids and I probably should go on the original cruise we had planned.

[Talex831]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. The kids and I probably should go on the original cruise we had planned.

 

It may actually be a good step in the bereavement process. You can talk about the things that dad would have done or said about things on the ship. It may be emotional, but it may also be very cathartic.

[Turtles06]

I am very, very sorry for your loss.

[Jettalinc]

We learned our lesson last february, flying to san diego from edmonton, alberta, with a 1 and a half hour layover in vancouver. Needless to say a delay of 2 hours in edmonton made us miss our connecting flight in vancouver and we were forced to fly to LA and take a taxi from LAX to the san diego pier in order to catch our cruise set to sail at 4.

Thank goodness we had an awesome taxi driver that managed to get us to the ship 5 minutes before it was set to sail (and might I add $400 later, which air canada reimbursed us for later).

I would definitely NOT recommend flying in the day of. give yourself at least a day before...:)