Winter cruise: How early to fly down?

[Kayaktom]

We always go in the day ahead. We simply consider it part of the cruise and it takes the stress off. And isn't that why we go?!

[dodger1964]

We fly in the day of departure 90%of the time. Have never had any problems. That is flying from Midwest USA to San Juan, Miami, London and harwich, all in shoulder or winter season.

 

If u r retired you probably have much more flexibility. Many people on cc are big advocates of flying in early (and some way early!!), and that is fine, but some don't or can't be gone that long and flying in day of departure is the risk we take.

 

If there is a major storm coming most airlines will let u change tickets to work around the storm..if flexible you (or someone else if u have already decided) could change and leave a day or two earlier to beat the storm.

 

If I was retired I would go to Florida 4 or 5 days early, rent car and explore. Depending on what u like to do, there is a wide array of options, beach, nasa, amusement parks, swamp tours, Florida keys, etc.

 

Have a great cruise.

[cazzi]

Any day in Miami in December is better than up north in December anytime

 

Just sayin

[Justmekaren918]

I would start out as early as you can in the am a day before your cruise at least. If not 2 days. I dont know if things are work flexible do the day before but if things are really looking bad coming up to the time change or see if you can fly standby even earlier.

[SPacificbound]

I would like advise from anyone who has flown to meet a winter cruise. I will be flying from Montreal to take a cruise departing Miami on February 1. Winter storms are frequent and can close airports. I will take a non-stop flight to help avoid delays. How many days ahead of time would be safe to fly to Miami?

 

I have not already flown for a winter cruise, but I can tell you what I have done for a February 2015 cruise out of Buenos Airies.

 

We fly out of Houston, and every winter, and especially this past winter, thousands and thousands of flights are cancelled because they can't get here from wherever they are coming from. This is the case for both Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth.

 

(First I will admit I am a bit OCD.) :o

 

We are flying to Miami a week early, I already have the flight and I rented a condo for the week. That way we have 7 days to be able to get to Miami from Houston for our flight to Buenos Aires.

 

There were so many people with cancelled flights that had to wait several days for a rescheduled flight because it was just the domino effect.

(I was going to say snowballed) :)

 

the condo in Miami is reasonable and we can take some day trips to other areas we have not seen.

Edited July 11, 2014 by SPacificbound

[Oville]

If you have the time (& it sounds as though you do) I'd fly in 4 days early, rent a car & do the 4 hour drive to Key West to the south or 2-1/2 hours west to Sanibel Island, stay there 3 days, drive back. & spend 1 night in a Miami hotel, have a leisurely breakfast & board your cruise already relaxed & slightly tanned. This is what we're thinking about doing this year as we have to come in from Colorado. Melody

 

 

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Your post made me chuckle. As the crow flies we live about 20/25 miles south of Sanibel. In February I doubt we could get there in 2 hours and then add on the 2+ hours we are from Miami.

 

As close as we live to both the Port of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, we always go one day before our cruises. It makes for a much more relaxing embarkment day.

[Hapytocruise]

Flying out of either Toronto or Buffalo - We always arrive pre cruise at least 1 day early no matter what time of year. Start your holiday early and enjoy knowing you have time to spare no matter what the weather.

 

 

 

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[AnJ]

Forget bad weather delays, I was scheduled to cruise from Alaska this past spring, We boarded the plane, first thing on a beautiful clear morning from JFK. After all passengers were seated they announced they were having some minor engine problems which they were going to fix while we sat at the gate aboard the plane....... Well, three hours later we finally began to taxi!!! Had I not planned on flying down a day early, I would have missed the cruise...

[phoenix_dream]

Definitely at least two days. If you can afford the time and money, I also recommend staying awhile in southern Florida. There is a lot to do and it makes for a very nice start to a vacation. I personally vastly prefer staying in Fort Lauderdale - you can always drive down to Miami the day of the cruise, or stay in Miami one night before. Miami has a lot to do and is great for the younger crowd with South Beach and the bar scene and all that. But Lauderdale is much easier to negotiate, is much safer than certain areas of Miami (certainly not all!), and for those of us in the retiree age is just much less stressful to find our way around. If you go to the ports of call boards you can find a lot of information about hotels and things to do. We love to stay at the Doubletree Galleria I think it is called in FLL as it has a stop on the water taxi, and is right across the street of a nice shopping mall. It is walkable to the beach (albeit not right next door). But there are many other nice places as well.,

[monicajay]

Thanks for the advice. I think we will go down a minimum of 2 days prior. We are retired, so I think we might do 3 or 4 days ahead. There must be something to do in Miami for a couple of days.

 

Retired? Why not go a week before and get away from Montreal's brutal winters? Often cheaper to rent an apartment or condo for a week than 3 or 4 nights in a decent hotel.

 

On another note, for those that aren't retired, Montreal knows how to deal with snow ;). Often when flights are cancelled it is because the planes are coming from somewhere else and can't arrive or need to connect somewhere else that is shut down. Rare the airport is closed completely. An AC non-stop to MIA is a pretty good bet.

 

You will find plenty to do in Miami (or as others have suggested Ft Lauderdale) for your pre-cruise time.

[bbeltmom]

We drive (90 minutes) to Detroit airport 2 days before we fly and take the earliest non-stop to Florida the day before. This gives us all more than 24 hours for the airline to get us there if our flight is cancelled.

 

Thankfully, we have only experienced a delay once and that was coming home. An extra night in FLL after the cruise was not a big hardship.

 

There have been times that the cruise lines have delayed departures due to severe weather conditions that caused major flight delays in the eastern US.

 

If you are really concerned, you can book through Choice Air that provides some additional insurance to get you to the ship. I've done this for my Dec cruise with my DD who cannot leave BC until 630 pm the night before we sail due to her exam schedule. She is supposed to arrive in MIA at 7:00 am the day we sail.

[Algebralovr]

We fly out as early as we can get a non-stop the day before, but I start looking closely at the forecast a few days before. If they are predicting bad weather, they will often allow us to fly out early. We also have the ability to drive or amtrak to 3 or 4 other airports in order to get to Miami. If worst comes to worst, I'll drive.

[Tommy3putts]

Regardless of the season, I try to plan arriving at least one full day prior to the cruise especially where flight connections are concerned. Weather is only one factor, flight delays and mechanical issues can also occur regardless of the time of year. Given the amount of money spent for cruises I'd hate to miss a second of it.

[iancal]

We live in Calgary. We always go down a few days early. More often than not about 4 or 5 days early to enjoy the sun.

 

Plus, we try to avoid changing planes in Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake, etc. because of the chance of a weather problem. Last year we came back direct on WestJet. Our preference is usually Houston or DFW. There can be issues with these two cities as well but still not as risky as some other transfer points.

Edited July 11, 2014 by iancal

[lovemylab]

I usually fly down 2-3 days early. I love having a few days to relax before boarding the cruise. I like the suggestion of renting a car as there are lots of daytrip options that can be done.

[budisal]

I booked our flight out of Toronto last year for the morning of our cruise. Almost caused myself an ulcer with the worry of missing the cruise in case of flight delays in February. As it worked out, if we had tried to fly out the day before the cruise, we would have been snowed in. However, lesson learned. All that stress is not worth it. Fly out the day before (at least). That way, if there's a problem, you've got that extra day to make other arrangements.

 

 

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[Gran2five]

We are flying to Miami two days before our cruise in January. This past winter was no fun and we hope that we don't have a repeat of really bad weather. If all fails, we do have the time to drive to MIA but depending on where the storm is coming from that might not be an option.

 

We'll be on top of the weather reports and if need be, we could possibly (for a price!) change our flights to a day or two earlier. We are retired and our DH has two weeks vacation so it is doable.

 

It is beautiful weather right now but just thinking about it makes me worried.!

[gold1953]

We had an early Feb. cruise booked a year ago and booked our flights 1 day ahead. So the saga...

We would not have gotten out of Halifax the day of the cruise as a storm hit that morning.. so all is good..NO

We flew into Toronto the day before and the blizzard hit there!!! Most flights in and out cancelled but ours landed . The only flights leaving were going south and they actually rearranged passengers to get the cruisers out... perfect.. what a nightmare..

get on the plane

Get off the plane

get on quick!!!

slip and slide on the runway and 3 hours later we take off.. VERY SCAREY in a blizzard. We arrived in Miami in time to go to bed!!

 

Booked in Jan. 2015 and will spend a few days getting warm before the cruise

[Algebralovr]

 

We'll be on top of the weather reports and if need be, we could possibly (for a price!) change our flights to a day or two earlier. We are retired and our DH has two weeks vacation so it is doable.

 

It is beautiful weather right now but just thinking about it makes me worried.!

 

In many cases, the airlines will permit rescheduling of flights at no costs when the weather is predicted to close the airport during the time your flight is supposed to leave. You have to watch the weather forecast, watch the airline website, and be proactive in calling. They would rather put you on a flight out before the mess (if seats are available) than make you fly standby after the mess when they are trying to get planes and passengers where they need to be. If you are supposed to fly Saturday morning and the storm is predicted to hit overnight and dump 12 inches of snow, and you call on Thursday night or Friday morning while looking at their website showing lots of availability, be nice to the agent and ask for them to assist you in arriving on time for your annual vacation, and you can drop everything and fly when the agent can get you on the plane, you stand a good chance. The customer service agents would rather deal with a pleasant, proactive person than an angry, frustrated, sleep-deprived, stressed person.

[artmc]

I'm also from Winnipeg, Canada. Flights from here to Florida are rarely, if ever, non-stop. Depending on the airline, we usually switch planes in Toronto, Chicago or Minneapolis. The more flights you take, the greater the chances of a snafu, which is why we leave at least two days before the ship departure date. There's more than enough to do in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area. We take the risk in leaving, flying out the day the cruise ends. Of course you run the same chances as when you're going to Florida, but better to be stranded in Florida after a cruise, then at home wondering if you're going to go on it in the first place.

[Gran2five]

In many cases, the airlines will permit rescheduling of flights at no costs when the weather is predicted to close the airport during the time your flight is supposed to leave. You have to watch the weather forecast, watch the airline website, and be proactive in calling. They would rather put you on a flight out before the mess (if seats are available) than make you fly standby after the mess when they are trying to get planes and passengers where they need to be. If you are supposed to fly Saturday morning and the storm is predicted to hit overnight and dump 12 inches of snow, and you call on Thursday night or Friday morning while looking at their website showing lots of availability, be nice to the agent and ask for them to assist you in arriving on time for your annual vacation, and you can drop everything and fly when the agent can get you on the plane, you stand a good chance. The customer service agents would rather deal with a pleasant, proactive person than an angry, frustrated, sleep-deprived, stressed person.

 

Agree with you and we will do that. As you say a pleasant voice gets you a lot more than frustration. We did just that when back in 2002 our TA with Celebrity had arranged for us to leave in mid November the morning of the cruise, change planes in Cincinnati and then to San Diego. Where we then needed to catch the Celebrity transfer to Ensenada for a 8 p.m. departure to Hawaii. The day before I saw bad weather heading our way and my husband who is has such a kind voice persuaded the airline to let us travel to Cincinnati on Saturday. The storm did hit overnight and there were people who missed the cruise.