Flying. Same Day. OMG... The HORROR!!!!!!!!

[cruzegurl104]

So many have said this, and I realize that there are (undoubtedly) risks involved. But, what are we to do? We just cannot go the day before.. Unless a miracle changes my sweet husbands shift at work, there's no way. I'm still sure that we will be fine, seeing as tho we have one of the earliest flights out of ATL, and normally the first flights are not usually delayed.

 

I have taken all of the valuable information to heart tho, :) and next time we may just get that hotel room ( if we can ):rolleyes:

 

Such is the life of a police officers wife, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!:)

 

So, may the stories (and advice) continue!!;)

[sandravb79]

I know everyone says fly in the day before, but I am starting to think is that really going to help you, flights are so full when things go wrong it is hard to find another flight.

 

Last summer we were flying to Laguardia to go on a cruise, 2 days before the cruise. Of course August Thunderstorms, for 3 days in a row Air Canada cancelled all flights. There is almost a flight an hour Toronto to NYC , but no flights were available for 2 days, after our flight was cancelled as so many people were trying to get out. People who booked day of cruise flights had great weather and flights were on time.

 

We always fly in a day early, but sometimes that is not even enough :)

Couple of years ago with the Iceland volcano? We were supposed to fly to Miami the day before our cruise. Of course all flights cancelled. TA did come up with a back up plan (high speed train to Paris, then night train to Barcelona, then flight or train to Madrid, then flight to Miami). Didn't go for that plan B since it was crazy-expensive.

In the end, we were on the first flight to the US from Brussels. cruise made, *sigh*

 

Two weeks later, have to fly back. at check-in, OMG! volcano is active again, all flights to Europe are being cancelled. Our flight was cancelled, flights from orlando to Frankfurt, Paris, ... all full. Check in agent advised us to NOT fly to JFK.

Instead she was able to get us back home over Miami and London. We were on the last flight to Europe from Miami, all other flights got cancelled.

 

It was close, but we made it :)

[misslyss1220]

I've always flown in a day early, but for our honeymoon in October, my fiance and I did not want to fly out the day after our wedding (which would have allowed us to stay the night before the cruise). So, our flight leaves Monday night (overnight from the US to Europe), and we have one layover, and then get into the port city Tuesday morning, and the cruise leaves Tuesday evening. That was the only way we could swing it. I'm nervous! But we used RCCL's air service which will get us where we need to be in the event of something stupid happening, which makes me feel a little better, I guess! :confused:

[MOSusan]

But we did fly from Milan to Barcelona on the day of the cruise. That was fine; our mistake was buying the RCI transfers (we were rookies). We waited a good two hours just to get on the bus, when a taxi would have gotten us there in 20-30 minutes for less money.

 

We had six in our travel group, flew in to FLL and Ship left from Miami. I priced the ship transfers and I was able to get a stretch limo for less than the six transfers would have cost. I kept it a secret from Mom, SIL and kids. Were they ever thrilled with our ride to the ship! :D

[cruzegurl104]

We always fly in a day early, but sometimes that is not even enough :)

Couple of years ago with the Iceland volcano? We were supposed to fly to Miami the day before our cruise. Of course all flights cancelled. TA did come up with a back up plan (high speed train to Paris, then night train to Barcelona, then flight or train to Madrid, then flight to Miami). Didn't go for that plan B since it was crazy-expensive.

In the end, we were on the first flight to the US from Brussels. cruise made, *sigh*

 

Two weeks later, have to fly back. at check-in, OMG! volcano is active again, all flights to Europe are being cancelled. Our flight was cancelled, flights from orlando to Frankfurt, Paris, ... all full. Check in agent advised us to NOT fly to JFK.

Instead she was able to get us back home over Miami and London. We were on the last flight to Europe from Miami, all other flights got cancelled.

 

It was close, but we made it :)

 

I remember that stupid volcano. My friends flight also got delayed and she was coming from Germany!

[cruzegurl104]

We had six in our travel group, flew in to FLL and Ship left from Miami. I priced the ship transfers and I was able to get a stretch limo for less than the six transfers would have cost. I kept it a secret from Mom, SIL and kids. Were they ever thrilled with our ride to the ship! :D

 

How fun! Any excuse to ride in a limo is what I say!

After I got married, my father paid for a limo to take new hubby and I to our hotel in ATL where we spent the night before flying out next day for our honeymoon cruise (same day yet again)

On the way to the hotel, we passed a church van loaded with teenage girls, and as we were driving past them, they were waving and pounding on their windows like they thought we may be someone famous. It was a hoot! :D

 

I just pretended that we were;)

[Cybil2175]

Oddly enough, I have flown in the day of my cruise several times with no issues other than my first cruise. It was out of San Juan, and on the same day as the Miss Puerto Rico contest being held near the port. Needless to say there was a lot of praying during our taxi ride due to the traffic and our driver's attempts to get through it, but we made it with time to spare. I will say that the times I arrived the day before, my cruise started a little more relaxed and not with an adult beverage!:D

[barbie5401]

As an X-Airline Employee, if ever push came to shove and you were holding a Spirit Airline Ticket and you had a problem - no other airline would take that ticket. We always fly on the big carriers when it is important we get somewhere, if we are just paying around ie. Disney we will fly Spirit and take a small bag on the plane - that fits under the seat with us.

[teajak]

I'm such a worrier :rolleyes: :p

 

My next cruise is the first one ever that I will be able to drive to, and I'm still debating whether or not to drive down the day before and get a hotel, or just leave my house at oh-dark-thirty to drive there the day of. I live a little over three hours away (w no traffic) but...

 

what if I get a flat tire :eek:

 

what if there's a major accident that closes the freeway :eek:

 

what if my alarm clock doesn't go off and I oversleep :eek:

 

what if I hit a deer :eek:

We live 250 miles from Fort Lauderdale and have the same thoughts.Add to that the fact that the police shut down 1-75 frequently for accidents and it is only Alligator Alley in the south or come way back up and across.Way too much stress,we go the day before.As far as flying in the day of the cruise,no way,not the way airlines are now.

[2tall]

On our first cruise together (Radiance), we had plans to fly out the day of the cruise--a Saturday--from Reagan National in DC to Fort Lauderdale. There was a terrible ice storm here that Thursday night and all flights out of DC were cancelled for Friday. My husband and I were congratulating ourselves on being "smart enough" to fly out the day of the cruise rather than the day before...because our flight would have been cancelled had that been the case.

 

Our smugness continued all the say to the airport on Saturday morning...where we were greeted with about 2000 people in line waiting to have their flights rescheduled. We were gobsmacked. I've never seen so many people in an airport...and I've been snowed in at one! It was two hours before our flight...and the line had to be HOURS long. And that was just to check in. The folks around us, though, were great and suggested that we grab and tip a porter to take our luggage and check us in because most everybody else in line had to work on rescheduling rather than check in issues. That's what we did...and we sped through the process, through security and to the gate.

 

Where we sat.

 

The ice storm that had crippled the DC area on Thursday night had crippled Pittsburgh on Friday and they were still trying to get the Pittsburgh flights moving. Unfortunately for us, our plane to FLL originated in Pittsburgh and, even though they finally got a plane, they had problems finding the crew for it...since they were iced in throughout PA. We were lucky, though...and left about 3 hours late but in plenty of time to make the cruise.

 

A lot of people didn't. The ship was met in San Juan by a cheering crowd...those folks who, unlike us, didn't make it to FLL in time to board but had flown on to SJU to catch the ship there.

 

Now, we always fly in at least one day before. I can't imagine how much alcohol I would have to consume to quell my anxiety should we have to fly in the same day again!

[MommaBear55]

Next week will be our first time flying in the day of the cruise. Of course now I am thinking "What about my luggage????" having had my luggage lost on several occasions. (But far less than 5% of the time that I travel). Well, it may just give me another funny travel story. We are taking an early flight out of BWI to SJU, having to fly north to connect through JFK. Luckily it is a very early am flight with multiple other opportunities if there are problems and the ship does not depart until 8:30 pm. Will be back to share stories if we have issues.

 

The other wild and crazy first for this trip is our first inside cabin. We will see how that goes! Have the night light and the electric candles packed...

[cruzegurl104]

Next week will be our first time flying in the day of the cruise. Of course now I am thinking "What about my luggage????" having had my luggage lost on several occasions. (But far less than 5% of the time that I travel). Well, it may just give me another funny travel story. We are taking an early flight out of BWI to SJU, having to fly north to connect through JFK. Luckily it is a very early am flight with multiple other opportunities if there are problems and the ship does not depart until 8:30 pm. Will be back to share stories if we have issues.

 

The other wild and crazy first for this trip is our first inside cabin. We will see how that goes! Have the night light and the electric candles packed...

 

Good luck! I'm also debating whether to take two carry on bags or just check a larger bag and mix-n-match our clothes.

Decisions Decisions :cool:

 

Have a great trip!

[tlatrice]

This is a great thread! I have no stories as I've only been on one cruise and will be driving to my next on as well (thank God for the Glaveston cruise port). However, I would like to cruise on the Allure in 2015 will need to fly there. Looks like I will be using Choice Air just to be safe.

[cruzegurl104]

We almost did choice air, never done it. I've heard good and bad.

[dcdiva]

First, I must confess that I am one of those overplanners. So when I did finally have to fly in on the same as we sailed, I was pretty paranoid about all the things that could go wrong. I booked a direct flight, the first of the day. I figured if it was cancelled, there were at least 3 others that could have gotten me in before we sailed. But it was a holiday weekend, so the flights later in the day were all booked pretty solid. It gave me some flexibility, but still no guarantee. Then, I was really worried because hardly any seats were actually sold on my 6am flight. What if they cancelled it for lack of interest? I know that doesn't happen often, but I am pretty famous for my bad airport karma. I also didn't check any luggage. Granted it was only a 3-day cruise, but even if it was longer, I wasn't gonna lose valuable time waiting for luggage. And if I ran into trouble or got bumped or something, it would be a whole lot easier to have my own bag.

 

In spite of all my planning, my flight arrived with no problems, right on time. And since the flight wasn't even close to sold out, I got a free upgrade to first class! I booked a shuttle in advance and it was waiting for me when my flight arrived. The only small delay was that the shuttle took forever running about the airport to pick up other cruise passengers. But given that it wasn't even 9am, they knew they had plenty of time to get the port. In the end, I felt kind of silly for all my panic. I was at the port at least an hour before even started boarding! :)

[KBRADFORD79]

A few years ago, we planned to fly the day of the cruise but our Miami flight was delayed...we panicked and was able to fly into Ft Lauderdale instead but still had a good hour drive to the Miami port WITHOUT our luggage. Our luggage met us at our first port three days later. :( It was a disaster. I had to wear Royal Caribbeans Bingo shirt for three days and miss the first formal/captains ball. Now we fly out a day or two before so we can relax and make the best of our vacation cruise. :)

[sleepybert]

I have flown in same day without any issues, but it's less stressful to fly in the day before - although I do understand how scheduling sometimes doesn't work out that way.

 

A couple of years ago my son and I were going on Adventure out of San Juan. Got up early the day before, snow storm, missed the turn off to the air port, got stuck in the snow trying to turn around on the road about 5 am. Lucky for me a prison guard on his way to work came along and helped me out. Made it to the airport in time to get through security (little airport so they open when they want not on any particular schedule - which is good because they usually only open 15-20 minutes before the flight).

 

Flight was supposed to leave at 6:05, engines froozen, we sat on the flight longer than the flight is supposed to be, ended up taking off about 7:30 after they got a local mechanic to come out with an engine warmer (broken) back to shop to fix it, then came back. This of course bumped our connections in Detroit and Atlanta. If it were the same day we probably would have missed it just because we were coming from so far away.

 

In the end it was all good and great father-son time.

[jenson47]

We always drive to port as we live in FL. However, if i had to fly in and could not the day before, I think I would take the first night flight out that I could or a really early am morning flight, like 1:00am. This would allow some extra time if something happened. Then i would just stay at the airport or make my way towards port if i arrived really early.

[cruzegurl104]

We always drive to port as we live in FL. However, if i had to fly in and could not the day before, I think I would take the first night flight out that I could or a really early am morning flight, like 1:00am. This would allow some extra time if something happened. Then i would just stay at the airport or make my way towards port if i arrived really early.

 

Talk about being exhausted!!! I definitely would have to get a hotel if I came in at 1 AM,,, I've slept in an airport before and it's miserable-

[Sandy Sails]

My first cruise (Alaska) was from my hometown - yay, no flying. Only time I flew same-day was on a cruise leaving from L.A. - very easy flight from SEA to LA.

 

The problem with booking flights using points or miles is that you cannot get direct flights, ever. So we always have to fly in the day before if we're going far (which we normally do). Have you seen the USA map where Seattle is diagonally all the way across from Florida, lol? That's a looooong flight with usually a looooong layover somewhere.

 

I really hate flying...;). No really...seriously.

[zekekelso]

I had to wear Royal Caribbeans Bingo shirt for three days and miss the first formal/captains ball.

 

Would have been fun to go to in your Bingo shirt with a great story to tell.

[cruzegurl104]

My first cruise (Alaska) was from my hometown - yay, no flying. Only time I flew same-day was on a cruise leaving from L.A. - very easy flight from SEA to LA.

 

The problem with booking flights using points or miles is that you cannot get direct flights, ever. So we always have to fly in the day before if we're going far (which we normally do). Have you seen the USA map where Seattle is diagonally all the way across from Florida, lol? That's a looooong flight with usually a looooong layover somewhere.

 

I really hate flying...;). No really...seriously.

 

I'm with you. I hate it too.. No, maybe detest is a better word. I always seem to pick up a cold. :(

[Sandy Sails]

I'm with you. I hate it too.. No, maybe detest is a better word. I always seem to pick up a cold. :(

 

Yeah, my last FOUR cruises I ended up with a cold - I'm sure from the flight! Flying has become so uncomfortable in the last few years. I'm done...well...maybe.

[cruzegurl104]

Yeah, my last FOUR cruises I ended up with a cold - I'm sure from the flight! Flying has become so uncomfortable in the last few years. I'm done...well...maybe.

 

Exactly. If we didn't have to, we wouldn't. The body scanners did it for me. I'm hoping ATL will get rid of them soon.

[Sandy Sails]

Thank goodness for the body scanners! With two metal knees, I set off the security alarms. If not for the 5 seconds of anonymous nudity in the body scanners (lol), I'd be phsycially assaulted by some woman in a uniform wearing rubber gloves (Orlando didn't have the body scanner once...oh the horrors).

 

However, I'd much prefer no body scanners and no physical assaults. The wanding from the uniformed woman was just fine.