Flying in day of cruise

[Beeeeeford]

I know the rule of cruising is fly in the day before, which I have always done. However, for our cruise out of San Juan we are flying in the day of. The ship doesn't leave until 8:30pm and we don't want to spend the night in San Juan. I know there's a lot to see, but not this time. Our flight gets in at 1:30pm. I feel this is enough time to get in, cab it to the port and be on the ship in plenty of time. BTW this will be in September so hopefully no weather delays. Would love to hear you thoughts!

[SSPhone]

We are on the transatlantic in April and are flying in day of also. But we arrive at about 10 am. I felt since the ship doesnt leave until 8:30 we would/should be fine.

[Cruise Envy]

You should be fine. HOWEVER, I would take some extra steps:

 

1. Travel insurance!

2. Be meticulous about being on time for the check in for your flight. Less chance of being bumped if you are on time.

3. Check flight schedules. One of my rules is never fly the last flight of the day. If there is a later one, you have a fall back if you have issues.

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

[edjny]

I think it all comes down to 'How lucky do you feel?'...... There are so many things that can delay/cancel a flight. Be sure you get the travel insurance.

[PattyG12]

I think you'll be fine ... I'd make sure it's a direct flight. Layovers kill vacations!! We were on the adventure in November and we actually sailed late because people were still boarding during our muster ... these people had gotten their air through RCI.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

I know the rule of cruising is fly in the day before, which I have always done. However, for our cruise out of San Juan we are flying in the day of. The ship doesn't leave until 8:30pm and we don't want to spend the night in San Juan. I know there's a lot to see, but not this time. Our flight gets in at 1:30pm. I feel this is enough time to get in, cab it to the port and be on the ship in plenty of time. BTW this will be in September so hopefully no weather delays. Would love to hear you thoughts!

 

September your biggest enemy will be a hurricane. :eek:

You have a pretty good cushion of time, lots can happen to cause a delay or it can go like clock work and be right on time or even a bit early.

 

You mentioned you don't want to spend a pre night in SJ. If you feel more comfortable having a pre day flight, perhaps a pre night in Fort Lauderdale with a flight into SJ the day of the cruise? it's just a thought!

 

Hope it works out for you! ;)

 

***

[JMG]

You do not mention if this is a direct flight or where the flight originates. That said, we have been on lounges on deck by the pool and watched flights arrive in San Juan. Started around 1pm they come in one right after the other. Little by little the ship fills with people. Many people fly in the day of sailing and many of those people most likely made flight arrangments with the cruiseline.

Great advice to make sure that there is a later flight that you could hopefully get on in case of a problem.

[Cruisin MarcnFran]

We cruised on the Adventure 12/11, flying in the day of the sailing. We live in Orlando so it wasn't a long flight but I decided that we'd never do that again. While it worked fine, it was just too much and felt we lost that first day.

 

We're sailing on the Allure next month and we booked a room in Fort Lauderdale for the night before as well. But, we're old and this is what now works best for us.

 

Enjoy your vacation.

[kastke]

We flew in day of sailing last year to San Juan in February. Flight landed on time at 3:05; we were on ship and to our cabin before 4:15. While I was a bit nervous ahead of time because of winter weather possibilities, we were fine. This year, we're going 2 days early to spend more time in San Juan.

 

Our guidelines:

1. We fly out of Chicago O'Hare so lots of options for flights.

2. Always book a non-stop flight.

3. We always try to book the first non-stop flight of the day. Even in case of bad weather predictions, the first flight of the day usually gets out or has the shortest delays.

4. Travel insurance.

[NorbertsNiece]

Not sure if you are aware but all aboard is 530pm.

[Robinhill]

I know the rule of cruising is fly in the day before, which I have always done. However, for our cruise out of San Juan we are flying in the day of. The ship doesn't leave until 8:30pm and we don't want to spend the night in San Juan. I know there's a lot to see, but not this time. Our flight gets in at 1:30pm. I feel this is enough time to get in, cab it to the port and be on the ship in plenty of time. BTW this will be in September so hopefully no weather delays. Would love to hear you thoughts!

 

I always have flown in the day of the cruise- with the exception of a mediterranean cruise because we wanted to spend two full days in Barcelona prior to the cruise. I have never had a problem. You are correct the cruise leaves late from San Juan. The day of the cruise that I am taking from San Juan (April 24) I fly in from Baltimore and arrive 1:30. I have no worry at all that i will be able to do that. I have done it many times. Don't worry.

[ck53]

I am sure you will be fine but I would heed the travel insurance advice.

 

We flew into port only once on the day of the cruise and never again. All I did pre cruise was worry that something was going to go wrong, it wasn't worth saving the money. On the other hand, I never book a flight out of any port till at least noon, don't want to have to worry about not making that due to some customs problem, etc.

 

You should be fine, enjoy!

[Beeeeeford]

Not sure if you are aware but all aboard is 530pm.

 

Thanks for all your thoughts. We don't have travel insurance right now but it will definitely be a consideration.

 

Also, Royal Caribbean told us "all aboard" time was 7:00pm not 5:30pm. I had checked that out before making arrangements.

[Robinhill]

Thanks for all your thoughts. We don't have travel insurance right now but it will definitely be a consideration.

 

Also, Royal Caribbean told us "all aboard" time was 7:00pm not 5:30pm. I had checked that out before making arrangements.

 

You are correct- all aboard time is 7:00pm.

[Beeeeeford]

Thanks Robinhill!

[RoyalDiamond]

You are correct- all aboard time is 7:00pm.

We just sailed Adventure last week....all aboard was 5:30pm and muster was at 6pm. Although, we did not sail until 830pm. I believe there were some late arrivals, and they boarded after the muster, but not certain about that.

[yogimax]

I think it all comes down to 'How lucky do you feel?'...... There are so many things that can delay/cancel a flight. Be sure you get the travel insurance.

 

Probably not necessary!

 

Even if your flight is delayed by 4 hours, you will easily make it!

[SiBreeze]

I know the rule of cruising is fly in the day before, which I have always done. However, for our cruise out of San Juan we are flying in the day of. The ship doesn't leave until 8:30pm and we don't want to spend the night in San Juan. I know there's a lot to see, but not this time. Our flight gets in at 1:30pm. I feel this is enough time to get in, cab it to the port and be on the ship in plenty of time. BTW this will be in September so hopefully no weather delays. Would love to hear you thoughts!

 

 

In over 20 cruises we have always flown the day of embarcation and have never even had a close call. This includes flying to Alaska, PR, Europe, FLL, LAX, NY. We don't have the luxury of lots of vacation time and we require elder care, child care and pet sitting for 5 animals. Even 1 or 2 extra days can add up quickly. :(

[Beeeeeford]

We just sailed Adventure last week....all aboard was 5:30pm and muster was at 6pm. Although, we did not sail until 830pm. I believe there were some late arrivals, and they boarded after the muster, but not certain about that.

 

We will be on the Jewel, not Adventure. Just called Royal Caribbean again to be sure and the agent said last call was 7:00pm.

[Trainman-2]

I know the rule of cruising is fly in the day before, which I have always done. However, for our cruise out of San Juan we are flying in the day of. The ship doesn't leave until 8:30pm and we don't want to spend the night in San Juan. I know there's a lot to see, but not this time. Our flight gets in at 1:30pm. I feel this is enough time to get in, cab it to the port and be on the ship in plenty of time. BTW this will be in September so hopefully no weather delays. Would love to hear you thoughts!

 

It is not a rule, it is common sense.

 

Consider:

 

- Weather Delays

- Equipment Failures

- Air Crew Availability

 

If all goes well, you should be OK!

 

I suggest:

 

- Cruise Insurance

- Check into flights from San Juan to your first port of call, just in case you miss the ship, be forearmed with knowledge of your options.

 

And last of all, "Good Luck"

[raerom]

Thanks for all your thoughts. We don't have travel insurance right now but it will definitely be a consideration.

 

Also, Royal Caribbean told us "all aboard" time was 7:00pm not 5:30pm. I had checked that out before making arrangements.

 

Always purchase insurance. I know nobody likes to buy it...but sometimes the unexpected comes up. We couldn’t make our cruise a few years back and thankfully we had insurance that cover the cruise and our flights.

[ChicagoBound]

You may be okay, but you MAY not. Here's our story on flying in the day of the cruise to San Juan.

 

It was last February (2012). We weren't technically flying in the day of--well sort of. Our cruise left on a Saturday (8:30pm departure from San Juan, like yours). We flew out of Chicago, where we live, the night before, with a connection in Houston. The flight from Chicago was scheduled to leave at 7:30 pm on Friday night, getting into Houston around 10pm. The connection left Houston at midnight (redeye to San Juan), getting in around 6am. (Ugh, I know).

 

So we board the flight in Chicago. Everyone's on board and it's now 7:45pm. We haven't left the gate. They haven't closed the door. No pilot announcement, nothing. So our 2 hour connection time is rapidly shrinking. Finally we push back. We start taxiing for about 20 seconds, then we come to a stop. Ten more minutes of sitting still, a few dozen yards from the gate. No announcement. Nothing. Now it's 8:15. Our 2 hour layover is now 1:15. The pilot comes on and says there's a mechanical problem, and we'll be pulling back into the gate. We wait another 10 minutes before we're towed into the gate. Now it's about 8:30. Our connection time is now down to an hour.

 

As we wait at the gate, I call RCCL since we had travel insurance and ask what our options are. They said that they could fly us to the first stop, which I believe was Grenada, but we'd miss two of the seven days of the cruise. I asked if there's any way they could get us on a flight to San Juan for the next day (including flying through Boston on Jet Blue, through Charlotte on USAirways, etc.), and they said every single seat to San Juan from the mainland US was booked. No dice. Now I'm starting to freak out. Another half hour of waiting and we finally leave the gate, hopefully bound for Houston. The whole way to Houston, I'm hoping against hope that they hold the connection for us. I talk to the flight attendant and ask if they can radio ahead to hold the connection. They tell me that they'll try to. By the time we got airborne, our connection time was essentially zero--maybe 10 minutes tops. So I figure that even if we make our connection, our bags won't. We'll have no change of clothes till our bags meet us two days later in Grenada. (Ugh, again).

 

We arrive in Houston, and the flight attendants ask those on the plane who don't have tight connections to stay in their seats to let those who do have tight connections get off first. By and large, people complied. We raced off the plane and ran toward the connecting gate. At this point, we had about 5 minutes. If we missed our flight, we'd be spending the first two days of our vacation in Houston. (Ugh, yet again). We ran as quickly as we could (and the gates were not close). About ten other people were in the same boat and were running too. We made it to our connecting gate in about 4 minutes, only to see...

 

That our connecting flight was delayed by about an hour. Whew. The flight left an hour late, which at this point was no big deal at all. Of course, given that we would be arriving early in the morning in San Juan, what's the difference between arriving at 6:30 am and 7:30 am. So we boarded the plane an hour later. Just when we thought everything was fine...

 

It was!! We left, flew to San Juan, and got in around 7:30 am. We took a taxi to Old San Juan. We left our bags with the bell desk at a wonderful hotel, got breakfast there, and spent five or six hours exploring Old San Juan. We retrieved our bags and headed to the ship. And we had a great cruise. And when I was laying on one of the heated tile recliners in the thermal spa, I breathed a sigh of relief that we didn't miss the ship.

 

So all of this is prelude to a simple question regarding your decision to fly in the day of the cruise. In the words of Dirty Harry, "Do you feel lucky?"

[3dog]

In over 20 cruises we have always flown the day of embarcation and have never even had a close call. This includes flying to Alaska, PR, Europe, FLL, LAX, NY. We don't have the luxury of lots of vacation time and we require elder care, child care and pet sitting for 5 animals. Even 1 or 2 extra days can add up quickly. :(

 

I do find this interesting. I am not intending any judgements, but flying from San Francisco, it is nearly impossible to arrive in Europe on the day of departure, even to Harwich (the closest port to LHR where I can get a non-stop from SFO). Certainly one could fly to an east coast city where the overnight departure arrives early in the morning (and there is, hopefully, time to shuttle to a ship). But one little glitch, and then it is trying to chase down a ship (not to mention, for me this is a more expensive option). And both of the last two Med cruises we have been on, we have met several people who arrived just fine, but their luggage didn't (one couple - fortunately for them, they were newlyweds - still didn't have their luggage as we were returning to BCN).

 

One of the prime reasons I suggest a extra day if changing planes; especially if traveling internationally: it gives more time for everything to arrive (another: you've spent a fair amount of money to get to these ports, at least find some time to enjoy the port city - though I do understand the "care" problem).

 

I have always flown on embarkation day to L.A. (with literally hundreds of flight options, plus push-come-to-shove, it is only a 6 hour drive) and even arrived in FLL on embarkation on my last cruise (red-eye for an early morning arrival, and as the last flight nearly caused heartache as we were delayed by mechanical problems). But part of the cruise experience is the embarkation and debarkation ports, surely the cost of getting to Europe suggests trying to find more time to experience it (and hopefully with less stress).

[ryansmom]

We just sailed Adventure last week....all aboard was 5:30pm and muster was at 6pm. Although, we did not sail until 830pm. I believe there were some late arrivals, and they boarded after the muster, but not certain about that.

 

This is our first cruise out of San Juan and you all got me thinking....

 

Do they still have the first dinner seating at the regular time (whatever time that is?) and the second at 8:30? Just occured to me about the muster at 'dinner' time.

[Familygoboston]

We've done it for years, not having the vacation days to expend on pre nights many times (leaving young children doesn't leave you with any "weekends" 4-5 days is 4-5 days for weary grandparents!)

We never had trouble- there is always a chance something could go wrong, and it's enjoyable to start your vacation stress free, but loads of people fly in the same day for cruises, and very few ever encounter a problem. I'd say on every cruise I've done (with 3-6 k people) there is always 2-10 who you hear " missed it" and have to catch up, low odds indeed, you have a better chance of catching Noro!:p