Flying in day of cruise

[papaflamingo]

Just to weigh in... I am a 27 year pilot for a major airlines. I would be happy to share the horror stories. However I would say that in Sep. from Baltimore there probably is little risk. It is summer storm season as well as hurricane season. If there is a hurricane it won't matter as there won't be any planes going in to SJU. If you change planes in.... say Atlanta or Miami, you run the risk of a storm delay. There is always a risk of mechanical. I fly 767 and we were going Atlanta to Miami on "cruise Sunday." We were due to land around noon. After takeoff the flaps failed to come up. After burning off a small amount of fuel we landed. The mechanics looked at it, no easy fix. Fortunately it was a major hub and they were able to bring another plane from the hanger. We landed in Miami at 4:00 pm. The ships all leave at 5:00.

Another time (ok I thought this was stupid) a couple were flying to Athens from Orlando, via JFK. The JFK-Athens flight lands early a.m. on cruise day. To save money they only gave themselves 45 minutes to change planes in JFK... well anyone who has flown to JFK knows that isn't "wise." As luck would have it we landed 5 minutes prior to the Athens departure. Needless to say they didn't make it.

Yes, the odds are truly on your side. If you can't go early no problem, should be fine. But definitely take out insurance. But I am with the "Dirty Harry" guy...."do ya fell lucky?"

[bigfig63]

It is not a rule, it is common sense.

 

 

- 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"

 

Not sure if they consider San Juan r/t a closed loop but if it is and air was not booked through RCI then you won't be able to board downline.

 

On upcoming Allure cruise I was short on vacation and wanted to board in St. Thomas USVI and finish the cruise to Lauderdale. Originally RCCI rep said no problem but the info gets forwarded to the emergency team and I received a email from them stating no open itineary's and not possible to board downline. Something to keep in mind.

[dwjoe]

Not sure if they consider San Juan r/t a closed loop but if it is and air was not booked through RCI then you won't be able to board downline.

 

On upcoming Allure cruise I was short on vacation and wanted to board in St. Thomas USVI and finish the cruise to Lauderdale. Originally RCCI rep said no problem but the info gets forwarded to the emergency team and I received a email from them stating no open itineary's and not possible to board downline. Something to keep in mind.

Thanks for the info. Wondering what their reason was for saying no open itineraries... did they tell you why exactly? Here's some possible reasons that come to mind:

 

1) They don't want pax to deliberately board the ship mid-cruise (in which case it might not apply to a guest who misses embarkation by accident)

 

2) They thought it was a violation of the PVSA act to have pax board in USVI and get off in FLL. I don't think it is, I believe USVI and PR are exempted from the PVSA restriction of travelling between two US ports.

 

3) They thought boarding in USVI made it a non closed loop cruise and the ID you had was only good for a closed loop cruise.

 

My guess is #1.

[jamesr3939]

My concern is what happens if your bags don't make it and you do? We have been on two cruises and people in the party didn't have their bags show up on the same flight with us. Luckly we went two days early and they made it to the hotel the next day. However, that would not be an option if you sailed day of.

 

There were people on the Alaska trip who flew in day of and didn't get their stuff until the 3rd day as we did first two days at sea.

[lonestarmikeb]

I can tell you we almost missed a cruise due to weather issues and the price of a hotel is worth the peace of mind, beside you get to start your vacation one day earlier.

[Beth C]

Last January after a cruise our flight home was delayed 4 hrs... The sheer look of panic on the dozens of people coming through the gate at FLL while we were waiting to get on that flight was terrible... You could just tell they were trying to make it to the ships on time... It was about 3pm... The plane just needed windshield repairs before they left... I hope they all made it to the ship!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bigfig63]

Thanks for the info. Wondering what their reason was for saying no open itineraries... did they tell you why exactly? Here's some possible reasons that come to mind:

 

1) They don't want pax to deliberately board the ship mid-cruise (in which case it might not apply to a guest who misses embarkation by accident)

 

2) They thought it was a violation of the PVSA act to have pax board in USVI and get off in FLL. I don't think it is, I believe USVI and PR are exempted from the PVSA restriction of travelling between two US ports.

 

3) They thought boarding in USVI made it a non closed loop cruise and the ID you had was only good for a closed loop cruise.

 

My guess is #1.

 

Here is a cut of the main part of the letter.

 

Unfortunately, your request cannot be authorized as it would violate our closed loop voyage status. In order to protect our closed loop voyage status and prevent all United States Citizens from having to undergo a full immigration check after the voyage ends, we cannot allow guests to preplan late embarkation at any US or foreign port and return to Fort Lauderdale.

 

Guests wanting to preplan embarkation at a later port can do so however all of the following Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD conditions must be met:

-All passengers must disembark prior to the ships return to Fort Lauderdale.

-All passengers must have a valid passport.

-All passengers, upon embarking must provide the ship with proof of arrangements (hotel, travel) from the port from which they will elect to depart.

At no time may guests who have preplanned late embarkation return to Fort Lauderdale.

[papaflamingo]

Here is a cut of the main part of the letter.

 

Unfortunately, your request cannot be authorized as it would violate our closed loop voyage status. In order to protect our closed loop voyage status and prevent all United States Citizens from having to undergo a full immigration check after the voyage ends, we cannot allow guests to preplan late embarkation at any US or foreign port and return to Fort Lauderdale.

 

Guests wanting to preplan embarkation at a later port can do so however all of the following Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD conditions must be met:

-All passengers must disembark prior to the ships return to Fort Lauderdale.

-All passengers must have a valid passport.

-All passengers, upon embarking must provide the ship with proof of arrangements (hotel, travel) from the port from which they will elect to depart.

At no time may guests who have preplanned late embarkation return to Fort Lauderdale.

 

Interesting. I did not know this. But does this also apply to someone who misses the cruise due to a delayed flight? Sort of sounds like that is an exception.

[NorbertsNiece]

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.

 

Depends on the ship as to when All Aboard is.

Can only speak of experience on Adventure when All Aboard was 530pm, muster 545pm. I believe Brilliance has a much later All Aboard. You need to check your itinerary.

[dwjoe]

Here is a cut of the main part of the letter.

 

Unfortunately, your request cannot be authorized as it would violate our closed loop voyage status. In order to protect our closed loop voyage status and prevent all United States Citizens from having to undergo a full immigration check after the voyage ends, we cannot allow guests to preplan late embarkation at any US or foreign port and return to Fort Lauderdale.

 

Guests wanting to preplan embarkation at a later port can do so however all of the following Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD conditions must be met:

-All passengers must disembark prior to the ships return to Fort Lauderdale.

-All passengers must have a valid passport.

-All passengers, upon embarking must provide the ship with proof of arrangements (hotel, travel) from the port from which they will elect to depart.

At no time may guests who have preplanned late embarkation return to Fort Lauderdale.

Thanks for the details, very interesting.

 

They say no to pre planned late embarkation and return to FLL, but I'm guessing this would not apply to someone who missed the ship by accident.

 

Also interesting to know is that closed loop sailings (or at least this one) qualify for expedited immigration screening and someone who deliberately boards midcruise and returns to the US breaks it.

[mtu_huskies]

We have always flown in the day before, but for a few reasons we have to fly in the day of for our upcoming AOS cruise.

 

Dinner on day 1 for AOS is pushed back 30 mins to accommodate the muster drill.

 

RCI has also told us we have to be on the ship by 7pm. I'm assuming to meet the 90 min requirement. Not sure what happens to people that board after the muster drill.

 

Also, we're direct from Minneapolis, when booking our flight in red letters they warned to make sure there is 3 hours between landing and all aboard time if you are going on a cruise. Sounds like they want people to be extra cautious to allow time to get to the ship. Obviously it won't take 3 hours to gather bags and get a taxi.

[ryansmom]

Dinner on day 1 for AOS is pushed back 30 mins to accommodate the muster drill.

 

RCI has also told us we have to be on the ship by 7pm. I'm assuming to meet the 90 min requirement. Not sure what happens to people that board after the muster drill.

 

 

Thanks! This is us...depart SJ 8:30pm. I don't know that I'm willing to wait THAT late to eat... I think something earlier is in line for us that night. :rolleyes: We mostly take the late dining as to not have to rush back from whatever we're doing that day in port to get ready for the early dinner.

[3dog]

Also, we're direct from Minneapolis, when booking our flight in red letters they warned to make sure there is 3 hours between landing and all aboard time if you are going on a cruise. Sounds like they want people to be extra cautious to allow time to get to the ship. Obviously it won't take 3 hours to gather bags and get a taxi.

 

Flight delays of an hour or even two are common (I got dinged for a two hour delay specifically because flights were being throttled in a particular flight path to my destination airport - fortunately, I wasn't constrained by something at a destination like boarding a cruise). So planning for at least an hour delay is a must. Add to that the amount of time it does take to get bags, get to the port, through checkin, and on the ship doesn't leave much padding. And should your bags not arrive, there is extra time at the airport trying to find them and put forth the planning of getting them to you (they can't just drive them to your hotel when they actually do arrive). My suggestion for day-of-embarkation travel is to have the planned landing at least 5 hours before all aboard. This should be enough to absorb random delays and not overly add to the stress of making a cruise.

[Beeeeeford]

We have allotted 5.5 hours time between landing and all aboard. I have also used flight tracker and the flight has only been late one day in the last 30 days and it was only 15 minutes late. Actually, most days it arrived early. There is always that chance of my flight being "the one" with problems, but by flying in day of embarkation, we save one vacation day from work and hotel fees. I'm not worried. Our flight is not direct, but we have a 2.5 hour layover which is more than enough time to get our luggage to the next flight. If not, then you will see me on the cruise wearing the same clothes every day with a smile on my face and drink in my hand.

[Ocean Boy]

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.

 

The sign at the gangway says 5:30 because they want people who leave the ship to go into San Juan to be back in time for muster. However, they will continue to let arrivals check-in and board until 7 PM which is the legal deadline.

[Ocean Boy]

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.

 

Dinner on Adventure is pushed back about a half hour for early and late seating the first night to accommodate the muster drill.

[deltahog]

My concern is what happens if your bags don't make it and you do? We have been on two cruises and people in the party didn't have their bags show up on the same flight with us. Luckly we went two days early and they made it to the hotel the next day. However, that would not be an option if you sailed day of.

 

There were people on the Alaska trip who flew in day of and didn't get their stuff until the 3rd day as we did first two days at sea.

 

Well, I once flew to Europe and they lost my bag completely. Never found. Cut me a check. Ending up buying clothes in Germany to wear for the week. Lost or delayed bags are a risk no matter what happens after you land (cruise or no cruise).

[3dog]

Lost or delayed bags are a risk no matter what happens after you land (cruise or no cruise).

 

Tis very true. Delayed or lost luggage will cost extra time at the destination airport; time that may make it tight in boarding a ship if traveling on embarkation day. And hence the reason for bringing it up. If lost, other than the time, nothing is going to change. If delayed, it is more likely to arrive to the pax if that person is near the airport when the lost baggage arrives.

[deltahog]

Tis very true. Delayed or lost luggage will cost extra time at the destination airport; time that may make it tight in boarding a ship if traveling on embarkation day. And hence the reason for bringing it up. If lost, other than the time, nothing is going to change. If delayed, it is more likely to arrive to the pax if that person is near the airport when the lost baggage arrives.

 

Good point, the retrieval on delayed baggage is easier if you are still in the area, rather than having sailed off on a ship somewhere.

[nelblu]

We're on the Aos this Sunday. It will be our 14th February cruise and we always fly the same day--The only time that we had a problem was a cruise out of San Juan about 6 years ago. We changed our flight to the day prior as a huge storm was coming that Sunday. Because it was a last minute flight out of JFK, and beggars can't be choosy, we arrived quite late in San Juan. The airport was basically closed when we arrived, and slept on a cold floor at one of American Airline gates. American was nice enough to give us blankets, water and snacks. I wonder if we would receive the same niceties with all of ther financial troubles. We also, get trip insurance thru RCL as you never know.

[DMickey28]

We flew in the day of last March and doing again in April. We take a nonstop out of Boston, landing at 9:30am with plenty of time for delays etc. We usually stay on the back end but in April we are flying out just shy of 12noon this time.

[sr4mjc]

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?"

 

This sounds like what happened to us on a flight to London. We ended up having to get another plane and we were going to miss our connection in ATL, the last flight out to London that night. When we were in the air, the flight attendants told us that the London flight had been delayed and there was a lot of cheering. We got to the gate for London and it was delayed for the next 3 hours. We didn't really care when we arrived in London, just wanted to get on that plane. However, when we tried to board, we found out that we had been moved to the next day's flight. Although they never told us. They did allow us to board after being surprised we were at the gate (where else would we be?) And our bags had already been pulled. We lost our seats together. And our luggage took another day to catch up.

 

This was Delta and we were given $200 each vouchers for our inconvenience. We are using it to fly to Vancouver. And now I'm worried about my 1 hour and 2 minute layover in Minneapolis. :( We are of course flying the day before the cruise.

[audome78]

Well, I once flew to Europe and they lost my bag completely. Never found. Cut me a check. Ending up buying clothes in Germany to wear for the week. Lost or delayed bags are a risk no matter what happens after you land (cruise or no cruise).

 

There are only 2 types of luggage: Carry on and lost :D