Flying the day of

[Shari25]

Departing Chicago at 6 am, arriving in Ft.Lau airport at 11:00 am, (Change over in Atlanta.) Plenty of time......right? Starting to worry, first cruise.

Thanks:)

[Square]

I think you should be fine. My last cruise we booked the flight through Carnival and it left Omaha at 6:20am. Just make sure you either have a transfer or find a taxi when you get out of the airport. It will take some time and patience to get on board your ship (but when is getting 3 thousand people in one place easy). Maybe some more experienced cruisers will come along and say more, but I don't think you have anything to really worry about.

[BMW325]

I'm flying down the day of also, however ours is a direct flight. I would have a bit more concern with a lay-over as there is one more chance for a delay, but you should be fine. As the other poster said, make sure you have your ground transportation lined up in advance.

I have the first flight out of Pittsburgh in the morning 7:30AM and arrive in Lauderdale at 9:56 so I think we have plenty of time.

[LonW]

Departing Chicago at 6 am, arriving in Ft.Lau airport at 11:00 am, (Change over in Atlanta.) Plenty of time......right? Starting to worry, first cruise.

Thanks:)

 

Atlanta is where you might get messed up. I don't like flying through Atlanta because of delays.

[Shari25]

Thanks everyone! In case of delays....when should we worry? What is the last possible time you can board the ship. We do have transfers all lined up.

[gg3]

Departing Chicago at 6 am, arriving in Ft.Lau airport at 11:00 am, (Change over in Atlanta.) Plenty of time......right? Starting to worry, first cruise.

Thanks:)

 

I would never fly the day of a cruise because there are soooo many variables that can take place. If you go back through some of the past posts you will read horror stories of people who did not make their cruise sailing time due to flight problems. You could encounter mechanical problems, weather problems and once in flight a passenger could become ill and the plane would be forced to land at nearest airport (this happened to us in Seattle). It is just too important an event to leave to chance. Probably - all would go ok. But, IF it does not, your trip could be ruined, or at the very least you could miss the first part of your cruise. We always fly in the day before, enjoy the day in the port city, go on Priceline and get you a hotel with a great rate, or ask for suggestions from these sites, and enjoy a relaxing pre cruise day and a wonderful cruise day.

[jonikal]

As a general rule I would never fly on the same day as the ship sails. Too many imponderables - weather delays, luggage lost, etc etc. Who wants to be a stressed out wreck for the start of what should be a wonderful experience? It's worth spending a couple of hundred dollars for a decent hotel and for a dignified, relaxed embarkation. IMHO.

[doone]

What time of the year are you sailing? This past March, I was very glad we flew a day ahead as the day of the sailing, we had one heck of a snow storm here in New England and Logan Airport was closed. We certainly would have missed our ship if we didn't fly a day ahead. I would highly recommend, if possible, to fly a day ahead, you just never know.

[Hootsie]

We fly in the day before. No worries that way. DH travels a lot for his job and I can't even begin to count the number of times he's been stuck at an airport (all carriers).

[hajekfam]

Departing Chicago at 6 am, arriving in Ft.Lau airport at 11:00 am, (Change over in Atlanta.) Plenty of time......right? Starting to worry, first cruise.

Thanks:)

 

When are you cruising? If it's winter, I would be a little concerned about Chicago. I'd also be a little concerned about Florida during hurricane season. What time are you sailing?

Do you book your own air or go through the cruiseline?

We flew in on the day of departure for our first couple of cruises - also from Chicago and booked through the cruiseline. On our third cruise, the cruiseline flew us in a day early because departure was 11am. We realized how great that was - getting in a day early and boarding the ship rested and already in vacation mode and not frazzled from travelling. And we also realized how fickle December weather could be as we were the last plane to arrive in NYC due to a blizzard and we had a 6 am flight from Chicago.

So now we arrive at least a day early. You don't need a fancy hotel (unless you are planning on staying a few days pre cruise and you want one), just somewhere nice that you can get a good nights sleep.

[smudge's mom]

If you have not already made your reservations, I wouldn't try same day flying. Even barring any problems, you will arrive dirty and tired and that's no way to start your first cruise day. It's much more fun to arrive on the ship whenever you wish to go - fresh and rested.

There are plenty of moderate priced motels in Ft. Lauderdale. Consider the day before another PORT to explore.

 

The luggage situation bothers me more than missing the ship. That's another reason I would not fly the same day. However, we did take two cruises from San Juan - flying from the Midwest - and we had no problems. However, I wouldn't do that ever again. It's just too nerve wracking.

[TrentS]

Do yourself a HUGE favor, change your flights to AT LEAST the day before - Too many things can go wrong!

 

Flying in early gives you a buffer against delayed/cancelled flights, missed connections, gives delayed baggage time to catch up, and lets you get onboard before noon, well rested, and be ready to fully enjoy that first day onboard that you have paid for.

[jerseygirl3]

My son flies out of O'Hare all the time, and 9 out of 10 times, there are flight delays. Add that to the fact that you have a layover in Atlanta, and you're taking chances. I'd go in the day before.

[TrentS]

My son flies out of O'Hare all the time, and 9 out of 10 times, there are flight delays. Add that to the fact that you have a layover in Atlanta, and you're taking chances. I'd go in the day before.

I fly in and out of FLL a lot, and it's not much different here... When you add in ATL it's even worse! :(

[montekat]

3 weeks ago my friend and her husband were to fly out of Baltimore for a 5 night cruise. They had stayed over night in Baltimore in order to be at the airport early (we live 2 hours from Baltimore) plus they had free parking at the hotel with a shuttle to the airport. They were on Delta and had to sit on the plane for 2 hrs. plus another 3 hrs. in the airport, but never left the ground because of "mechanical problems". They were frantic. They contacted their TA and the airline, but the only other flight they were offered was arriving in Florida at 7:00 pm, 2 hours after the ship had sailed.

 

They had the option of catching up with the cruise later, however the first port was Key West, so due to the Jones Act, they couldn't do it. By the time they would have gotten on at the following port, the cruise would have been halfway over. So, they drove home, very disappointed. Now, they have to wait a year for the husband to get vacation time again. Thank goodness they at least had insurance.

 

Next time, they will fly in a day early!

[DonLou]

The odds are you will be okay. But as for me, doing such an itinerary is too much for my ticker. You have to realize that missing a ship is not like missing an airplane. You miss an airplane, you'll just take the next one. Miss a ship and you're talking about major chaos (how and whether to try to catch up, etc). I say throw that monkey away and get in a day early.

[jjdmom8]

We will be flying in from ATL on the day of our cruise. Mainly due to work schedules, and also we are leaving kids with Grandparents and dont want to push our luck! LOL. Our Flight is due to arrive in MIA just after 10am, so I hope we can handle anything that pops up and still make the ship..After all, we will have 5 days to relax !!

[Shari25]

Thanks everyone, we leave this Monday, and on limited funds, so we cant change the flight. I was assured by Carnaval that we would be ok when we booked the cruise. Now you all have me truly scared.

[mrsfuzzmo]

We ALWAYS fly in a day before. On our Honeymoon 4 years ago, we had flights schedule (tightly ~ through the cruise line)....a full day before the cruise....and we still missed the ship! On our first flight, we were delayed ~ In July mind you ~ due to fog. Therefore we missed our connecting flight, got diverted to another state and arrived at our departure port about 6 hours after the sailing time. Luckily, as soon as we landed at our first airport, we called the cruiseline and let them know that we were going to be late. Our boat sailed at 6 am (we were to stay onboard the night before sailing) so we were able to be shuttled out to the boat by early evening of the first day. Now, mind you, this was Windjammer and they have more flexibility due to the size of the boats and itineraries, so that wouldn't have happened if it were a regular cruise. Point being, even in mid-summer you can have weather delays, and all the other problems that above posters have mentioned. DEFINITELY fly down the day prior to sailing! You will also be so much more relaxed and not exhausted by your first dinner aboard!

[Jocia]

Thanks everyone, we leave this Monday, and on limited funds, so we cant change the flight. I was assured by Carnaval that we would be ok when we booked the cruise. Now you all have me truly scared.

Shari, you'll know two things for your next cruise. 1.) Always, always, ALWAYS check out the CC boards and 2.) Never, EVER fly in the day of your cruise. The day before is much easier, even if you're flying after work. The price of a hotel stay the night before is not alot to pay compared to having to fly to the next port or missing the cruise entirely.

 

Dana

[Shari25]

BTW our ship leaves at 4pm. This is our first cruise and we are in our early 20's, so not alot of extra money to get an extra hotel and change flights. This is our first vacation together. I'm worried now.

[SJS]

I've taken 8 cruises and always fly the day of the cruise and NEVER had a problem. You will be fine!

[hajekfam]

Shari - you should be fine leaving from Chicago in summer. Like I said we did it for our first couple of cruises. There are plenty of flights from Chicago so even if there would be a short delay, you should have no problem making your sailing time.

However, if you do enjoy cruising and become a "cruise-aholic", keep in mind that flying in a day early and staying at a motel/hotel within your budget (a lot of them have free shuttle buses from the airport to motel and motel to pier) is definitely worth the peace of mind.

If cruise air is cheaper than doing your own, you can just book your air with them to come in a day early. You do not have to book your hotel through them. We found that the cruiseline booked hotel prices are double what we can find them for.

[doone]

Shari you should be fine then flying in the summer. If you were ever to cruise in the winter, please take the advice of everyone here on the boards and fly a day ahead. I am so glad we did this past March as we had a big snow storm in New England and shut down Logan airport. If we hadn't flown the day before, we would have missed our cruise.

 

Have a wonderful time.

[smudge's mom]

I'm not sure why you asked the question if there was no possibility of your changing your plans. I feel bad now. It's not very nice that we've all scared the heck out of you - ruining the anticipation of your first cruise.

 

BTW - my day of cruises - flying to San Juan from the snow belt - were in mid-January. How's that for taking a risk? We have been lucky - never any major problems in 10 cruises.

 

Now that there isn't any way of changing your plans, I would just forget it.

 

But - I would pack a couple of carry-ons with enough clothes for three days for each of you. That would solve any luggage delay problems. The ships have laundry service if it came to that.