Travel one day before or on the day cruise departs?

[moesmrs]

We are taking our 2nd river cruise, Amsterdam to Basel, next summer. We are spending days in Switzerland post cruise.

This cruise itinerary overnights the first night in Amsterdam (Monday for this particular itinerary). Most overseas flights leave Chicago in the evening and fly overnight. If we leave Sunday we will get to Amsterdam somewhere 8-11am Monday depending on the flight we choose. We plan/book our own airfare, we do not use the cruise line.

So finally. here is my question. Do we roll the dice and hope nothing happens ( this is O'Hare we're talking about here!) and get there the day of departure (we do have the safety net of being docked overnight in Amsterdam) or leave one day early and get a hotel?

 

When we did Prague to Budapest we did our extra days pre-cruise so it wasn't an issue.

 

Would like to know what others do. Thanks!

[gentlemancruiser]

We are taking our 2nd river cruise, Amsterdam to Basel, next summer. We are spending days in Switzerland post cruise.

This cruise itinerary overnights the first night in Amsterdam (Monday for this particular itinerary). Most overseas flights leave Chicago in the evening and fly overnight. If we leave Sunday we will get to Amsterdam somewhere 8-11am Monday depending on the flight we choose. We plan/book our own airfare, we do not use the cruise line.

So finally. here is my question. Do we roll the dice and hope nothing happens ( this is O'Hare we're talking about here!) and get there the day of departure (we do have the safety net of being docked overnight in Amsterdam) or leave one day early and get a hotel?

 

When we did Prague to Budapest we did our extra days pre-cruise so it wasn't an issue.

 

Would like to know what others do. Thanks!

 

Hopefully the summer weather won't be a problem. If I was going to travel in the winter time I would always leave a day early. I really depends upon your comfort level. Nothing worse then worrying about a trip before hand.

[Host Jazzbeau]

We usually fly in the day before, but since our Amsterdam-Basel river cruise started with an overnight in Amsterdam (same as yours) and since we could get a non-stop flight direct from NYC (as you can do from Chicago) we felt it was worth the risk. It worked out fine, but of course YMMV.

 

The answer also depends on how you feel about the city you're flying to. We had been to Amsterdam before, knew that the cruise was going to include sightseeing and a canal cruise, and figured that future cruises will probably leave from there -- so we didn't have a major need to see all the sights on this trip. Another cruise, which started from Istanbul, was different in all respects: had to change planes, had never been to Istanbul before and don't expect to return, had a long list of sights to see -- so we flew in two days early even with an overnight onboard the ship.

[Riversanddale]

Greetings and congratulations on a new trip. We know you'll be excited and have a great time.

 

We always go early (our 7th trip is your same trip but this fall). The reason we go early is that we are on the west coast and need time for jet lag as well as allowing for any glitches as you are well aware. To us this is insurance that we can board our boat and enjoy the entire trip rather than trying to play catch up with sleep and sightseeing. We have the added bonus of enjoying one more city if we are on time.

 

We would recommend a night or two or three in Amsterdam especially if you haven't been there before. We stay at Hotel Fita (3 times and next trip, too) where Roel and his family make us very welcome -- even from early morning flights. (see the reviews on Tripadvisor) It's an easy cab ride from the airport to hotel and from hotel to boat. The hotel is within easy walk to several major museums and transportation and has a grocery and restaurants nearby.

 

Enjoy your trip and all the fun planning and anticipation which make it special and your own.

[CaroleSS]

I would also suggest arriving a day early....and not because you are talking about O'Hare!

 

We planned a trip (independent) through Portugal. As it turned out, an Iceland volcano decided to erupt and interfered with ALL air travel. It didn't matter too much as we were not expected on a tour, but if we had (and had booked our air independent from the tour), we'd have had to find our own way to the tour.

 

Under MOST situations, you'd be fine.....guess it just depends on what kind of a 'gambler' you are!!

 

(YYMV :o)

[Hoyaheel]

We like to travel the day before if at all possible - more for jet lag than for travel disruptions, though both issues come into our calculations. (I can usually sleep on an overnight flight but my husband often cannot) Good luck!

Edited June 30, 2014 by Hoyaheel

[gregdude]

Go a day early, just to catch your breath before boarding. We are doing Basel to Amsterdam next May and going a day early. Tauck will pick us up at the airport, take us to the hotel, and then the following day take us to the boat. All of this even though we are booking the hotel in our own but are using the hotel that Tauck uses.

[travelling fools]

Definetly at least a day before.

It might cost you a night hotel but it saves you a lot of stress and heartache by missing or catching up with cruise if delays.Also rested and relaxed after long flights.

[seabreezer]

One night extra is probably enough if you have never been to Amsterdam. I've been several times and like the city less and less. It has become so touristy and crowded. There are some excellent museums and the Anne Frank Huis which should be on your to-do list and if your cruise starts with a city tour you'll have it covered. BTW, the train from the airport is very easy and fast and you can cab it to your hotel from the central train station.

[KikiKruiser]

We planned to arrive a day early for our river cruise but our outbound flight was cancelled (we had a connection planned in ORD) and were told it might be TWO days before we could get a flight all the way to Budapest. Luckily we got on the last 2 seats out the next day, and made it to the boat just a couple of hours before it sailed. We were sweating bullets for two days, and it wasn't worth the agony and pressure. Next time I may plan to arrive TWO days prior, just in case!!!

[whatnot]

We always go in at least a day early. It is better to be safe that sorry. About ten years ago we were going on a two week Perillo land tour of Italy. We were flying out of Raleigh/Durham NC to Kennedy and then on to Milan. There were thunderstorms in New York, so we were held on the ground at RDU. When we were cleared to fly we arrived at Kennedy too late to board the plane (the plane door had shut but they would not let us on), but our bags made the plane! We had to stay at some dumpy hotel near the airport and fly out the next night. We missed one night and one day of our tour in Milan. Luckily we did have travel insurance that covered the expense. It was also lucky that our bags were OK. They had been sitting in some corner of the airport for a whole day. Since then we fly in early and always pack a couple of complete changes of clothes in our carry on.

[Illyria]

So basically it sounds like the OP's cruise officially starts on Monday but it doesn't sail out of Amsterdam until Tuesday morning/afternoon? In this case you might not need to worry even if you just fly in on Monday, since your itinerary has this built-in "margin of error".

 

I definitely know what it's like to miss an international flight because of weather - had to camp out at JFK for 20+ hours a few years back when we missed our flight to Rome (because our connecting flight had to make an unscheduled landing due to bad weather - it spent so much fuel trying to fly around a major storm, it had to refuel in Rochester just to make it to New York). Thankfully, we had planned on 2 extra days in Rome, so we didn't miss our cruise, but we did miss out on all the sightseeing that we planned on doing in Rome. Not to mention being super stressed and frazzled by the time we got there! (the funniest part of that story is that coming back from Rome, we missed our connecting flight at JFK *again* and had to stay overnight *again* waiting for the next available flight! Yeah, that was a very weird vacation).

[CPT Trips]

I would also suggest arriving a day early....and not because you are talking about O'Hare!

 

We planned a trip (independent) through Portugal. As it turned out, an Iceland volcano decided to erupt and interfered with ALL air travel. It didn't matter too much as we were not expected on a tour, but if we had (and had booked our air independent from the tour), we'd have had to find our own way to the tour.

 

Under MOST situations, you'd be fine.....guess it just depends on what kind of a 'gambler' you are!!

 

(YYMV :o)

 

Heck, the Eyjafjallajökull eruption messed things up for a month. Can't recommend arriving that early.

[moesmrs]

Thank you all for your responses. I am still on the fence as to whether we will travel a day early or not. As someone pointed out, since the first day is a overnight in Amsterdam we have essentially a built in day for any snags.

I appreciate all the time you took to answer my question!

[markser]

Not only do you want to get to the ship on time. You want your luggage to as well.

 

We have been on numerous cruises and land tours where the people got to their destination on the scheduled day but their luggage didn't.

 

Granted you do have the day the ship is docked in Amsterdam, but once the ship departs, it will be difficult for lost luggage to catch up with you. It took five days for a group of people to get their luggage on a cruise out of Panama City.

[whatnot]

I would never go in the day of the cruise, even if you have an over night on the ship. If you are late, then you have lost money by not making the first night of your cruise, unless you bought insurance. You have missed the get to know everybody first evening and day of the cruise. And you will feel stressed out from all the hassles you have been through. Just go in early. It makes life simpler and better!