When you have to fly in on the same day?

[Lady Arwen]

Lady Arwen, I think you should be OK in your situation. But would you be up for a drive if needed? Depending on if there were significant travel delays you knew about the night before, looks like you could rent a car and drive in if absolutely necessary and then take your flight back at the end of the cruise. Google shows 8 plus hours but I'd bet it would be around 10 with a stop at the border and breaks, etc. Not ideal but if it meant getting there, could be an option.

 

I say this because my ops manager on my team at work just said, why don't you fly into Orlando. They have flights leaving around 7, 8 ish all year. You could fly in Friday night, sleep, and then take a transfer service the 3 hours or so it takes to get to Miami in the morning. Brilliant if it works out.

 

I would consider this if no other options available. Problem is, flight issues usually don't present themselves until you're all checked in and waiting at the gate. In that case, all we can hope is that Westjet or Air Canada could put us on a later flight. The flight is just over an hour, so we have some time to play with if our 9:00 am flight is delayed or cancelled. Fingers crossed for everything to work out.

[Warm Breezes]

I'm always amazed at the people that act like it's impossible. Obviously there is an amount of risk that needs to be weighed, but the fact is that many (if not most) cruisers still fly in the same day. It's just a matter of how much risk the traveler is willing to accept.

 

No it is not impossible, but the risk is too high for many, including myself. I always make sure we have a minimum one day at port before sailing. We have been on 14 cruise and have flown from MI to FL for about half of them...all the day before or longer. On one flight in June we had a direct flight from DTW to MCO. We ended up making an emergency landing in TN for 4-5 hours as our plane was being repaired. On our last cruise in April we had a direct flight from DTW to FLL. We were supposed to be in FLL by 12 Noon. At 12 Noon we were still sitting in DTW waiting for our plane to show up. Those who were sailing that day were scrambling to get different flights. Many missed their ship. Luckily for us we had a built in day on both occasions and were able to make our cruises. We had friends flying direct from DTW to San Juan for a cruise. They got to DTW to find the pilots of their airline went on strike that morning. They scrambled all day to make other arrangements. They got to San Juan the next day right before their ship left. IMHO the risks are way to high. For my own peace of mind, I make sure we have an extra day. Impossible no. Extremely risky...yes.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Warm Breezes

[RJAYL]

If you're going to fly in the day of the cruise book the airfare through the cruise line and buy the trip insurance through the cruise line then you're protected !

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[backpack-NCT]

Protected from expense but not the crushing disappointment of missing the cruise.

[LakeWobegon]

I'm a teacher, and I'll bet I can guess... your wife REALLY doesn't want to get back late on Sunday and face the hordes Monday morning. Me too! Fingers crossed that Southwest comes up with something Friday night for you. We flew in on the day of one time, and almost didn't make the ship. Our luggage didn't make it and met us in Cozumel. For two days we wore shorts and a t-shirt provided by the cruise ship. Since then, I've tried many times to convince myself to try a same day, but never quite had the nerve.

 

Exactly. Ha. I shared this with her last night and she couldn't stop laughing. She wants us to fly in Friday without her and she'd fly very early Saturday. We all told her no way, would suck without her and if she misses the boat, the soonest she could get to port would be in St. Thomas three days in. No way would we take that chance.

[LakeWobegon]

Protected from expense but not the crushing disappointment of missing the cruise.

 

Exactly. I think we're going to do the Escape and try to find a way but if at some point it appears hopeless to get there the night before, cancel and hope we can book on Getaway or another cruise that leaves on Sunday. Thanks again for all the replies and insight.

Edited April 8, 2016 by LakeWobegon

[blackwing]

I agree with hoping you can get a late Friday night flight. Air travel is stressful enough without worrying about whether you're going to miss your cruise.

 

In the winter months, it doesn't matter if you live in an area with no snow or if there is no snow in your city that day. Planes come from all over the country and world and if there is snow anywhere along the way, it could spell delays. There's also the dreaded "mechanical problems" and the even more dreaded "the flight crew is over their hours" issues.

 

If you are going to fly the day of, pray to the airline gods and hope they are smiling on you.

[LakeWobegon]

Blackwing, I know there are some threads on this but how did you find the Getaway compared to the Escape generally. I am sure they are both great. But the Getaway is smaller, is it less spacious on the pool deck? Did you use the slides? How did you like them if so. My kid's favorite activity besides snorkeling in Tortola was the big blue slide on the Escape. Ha.

[blackwing]

Blackwing, I know there are some threads on this but how did you find the Getaway compared to the Escape generally. I am sure they are both great. But the Getaway is smaller, is it less spacious on the pool deck? Did you use the slides? How did you like them if so. My kid's favorite activity besides snorkeling in Tortola was the big blue slide on the Escape. Ha.

I enjoyed both ships. I expected Escape to be significantly bigger, and I really didn't notice any noticeable differences in size. Escape must just have larger capacity because of additional decks of staterooms. The common areas seemed mostly about the same size, especially the 6-7-8 areas, with a few exceptions. No noticeable differences on the pool deck... both were always crowded, but we went on spring break both times.

 

As far as the slides... the drop slides are identical. The blue slide on Escape is great, we probably would have enjoyed a lot more if the lines hadn't been so long. It was frustrating standing in a line to get a tube and then standing at a line on the stairs. The yellow slide on Escape, I feel like it didn't have enough water, so it was very slow, and most adults would go at a turtle pace or stop altogether. This slide is comparable to the purple slide on Getaway which worked fine. On Getaway, they have these two red and orange slides side by side that are completely enclosed, and just spiral round and round. I have to admit I did not enjoy these. I got a bit claustrophobic, and the G force as you spin round and round and round was a bit too much for me. My son loved these though, he told me he liked them better than the blue slide on Escape.

 

The kids waterpark play area is much better on Escape than Getaway.

 

There are some noticeable small differences in layout. The biggest difference is that on Escape there is the District Beer House and Food Republic on one end of 8. There is no equivalent area on Getaway. There is no noodle bar on Escape. There are more shops on Escape, at the expense of the Sugarcane Mojito Bar. On Getaway it has its own space where one of the shops on Escape is and where the Wine bar is. Getaway also has an Ice Bar where the wine bar is. In place of 5 o Clock Somewhere, Getaway has the Grammy Experience and each sailing is supposed to have a Grammy award winning performer (although you might never have heard of them).

 

The gym layout was a lot better on Escape. Also, the kids club takes up the center areas of level 5, as opposed to being on two floors on 11 and 12.

 

As far as entertainment, I much preferred the shows on Getaway, when we saw Legally Blonde and Burn the Floor. I would still think that Million Dollar Quartet and Burn the Floor would be better than For the Record: The Brat Pack and After Midnight. As for dinner theatre, Getaway has the Illusionarium, which we didn't do but I wish we had, and Escape will now have either a hypnotist or a cabaret act. I'd say Getaway wins that one.

 

I don't think you can go wrong with either ship. Both are amazing.

[LakeWobegon]

THANKS! That's exactly what I was looking for. Mostly on the pool deck and slides. BTW, I think that's the best overall comparison of the two ships I've seen. You should repost that if anyone asks via a dedicated post on the differences.

[blackwing]

Forgot to mention the recreational activities. The highlight of Escape of course is the two story ropes course. It was so thrilling to get up to that upper level. Getaway's rope course is smaller and only has the one zipline near the beginning. However, the bigger Escape ropes course comes at a price. Getaway has a rock climbing wall right outside the arcade entrance and where on Escape there is seating for Margaritaville. Because of the placement of the zipline on Escape, I guess it would have been too close to a rock climbing wall. So that is gone.

 

Where you enter the ropes course on Escape, that's where Getaway has two additional features. One is a bungee trampoline for kids. The kid is strapped into a harness, there are two bungee cords on either side, and you bounce up and down on a large trampoline, do flips, etc. There is also what I call a Spider Climb for kids. Hard to describe if you're not familiar with it, but every bouncy house has one of these. A tall cylindrical structure, there's lots of criss crossing cloth straps to create a "web". Four of five levels like this, you pull yourself up and sit on these straps and get to the top, where there is a slide down.

 

Mini golf.... the one on Getaway is pirate themed and has some cool structures, like a pirate ship, skeletons, a treasure chest, cannons. On Escape it's very corrugated metal and utilitarian. The theming of the Getaway course is better and my kids liked those obstacles better.

 

Escape has the Waterfall Grotto in Spice H2O. I was disappointed by this, I thought they would be like hot tubs or at least a pool in the grotto, but there was like two inches of water and I didn't know the purpose was just to walk through and get splashed. I don't think Getaway has anything equivalent.

[bernerlover]

We try to fly in the day before, especially in the winter months. But we are sailing on the Escape in May on a Saturday, so no snow delays. Our biggest hurdle would be an accident on the parkway delaying us getting to the airport. We live in PA about 1 1/2 hrs from BWI Baltimore. We will drive to Baltimore on Friday night and stay at a hotel near the Airport. Will leave car at hotel and take their shuttle to airport saving $$ on parking at airport. We have first non stop flight out around 630a to Ft. Lauderdale on SWA. There are multiple flights that day so I think we are safe, but it is a slight risk-we bought trip insurance. We arrive around 9am, will take SAS shuttle to Port of Miami and be their by 10-1030am. Norwegian have actually changed our departing Port of Miami on Escape to 7pm.

[zqvol]

Exactly. Ha. I shared this with her last night and she couldn't stop laughing. She wants us to fly in Friday without her and she'd fly very early Saturday. We all told her no way, would suck without her and if she misses the boat, the soonest she could get to port would be in St. Thomas three days in. No way would we take that chance.

 

 

If you go the day before then she can just take a small carry on and avoid the hassle of luggage. If for some reason she doesn't make the cruise you can all stay in FL and do a land based vacation.

[LakeWobegon]

March flights are just starting to open up. Or at least the first few weeks. Delta now has a 7:40 pm Friday night flight out to Fort Lauderdale that gets there just after midnight. That would be the way go. I'd bet they are adding them because its spring break time in March. Duh. lol.

 

On another note, I just got back from NY tonight on a Sun Country flight. Was half the price of Delta flights for work. Anyway, unfortunately, a young woman behind me had some sort of episode and the flight crew called for a doctor or nurse (was one thank God) on board to help. I thought for awhile they were going to put us down in the nearest city but I think it had turned out to be Mpls so we continued on. Paramedics walked her off the plane when we got there. But my point is, there's another unexpected variable that could really change things quickly.

[elruth]

March flights are just starting to open up. Or at least the first few weeks. Delta now has a 7:40 pm Friday night flight out to Fort Lauderdale that gets there just after midnight. That would be the way go. I'd bet they are adding them because its spring break time in March. Duh. lol.

 

On another note, I just got back from NY tonight on a Sun Country flight. Was half the price of Delta flights for work. Anyway, unfortunately, a young woman behind me had some sort of episode and the flight crew called for a doctor or nurse (was one thank God) on board to help. I thought for awhile they were going to put us down in the nearest city but I think it had turned out to be Mpls so we continued on. Paramedics walked her off the plane when we got there. But my point is, there's another unexpected variable that could really change things quickly.

 

What is Mpls?

[mking8288]

Mpls as in MSP airport code, short for Minneapolis–Saint Paul as OP is from Minnesota.

[scrappinannie]

It's not my first choice but sometimes you don't have the option or the luxury of flying in a day or 2 before. We flew from Detroit to Miami on April 9-the same day our cruise left. Hubby worked till 8 on Friday night (unable to take the day off or get off any earlier) and we have young kids in which a late travel night would just make for a miserable morning the next day so we took an 8am flight out of Detroit the day of. It was perfect. Arrived in Miami just before 11, got an Uber from the airport and were arriving at POM around noon, which is the embarkation time I chose. We only waited 10 minutes or so before our boarding group was called and were on the ship by 12:30 or so.

 

I originally would have preferred coming in the day/night before, but I suppose if weather isn't a concern (like winter can be coming from the North) and you can get an early flight, it could work. And it worked out fine for us...this time.:p Would I do it again? Maybe. Would I prefer to fly in the day before? Probably.

[zqvol]

. . . Air travel is stressful enough without worrying about whether you're going to miss your cruise.

 

. . .

 

 

Why do people seem to think this. We fly quiet often and never find it stressful. It simply is what it is. These day over 85% of all flights arrive within 15 minutes of their scheduled time. Too often people worry about nothing.

[LrgPizza]

Why do people seem to think this. We fly quiet often and never find it stressful. It simply is what it is. These day over 85% of all flights arrive within 15 minutes of their scheduled time. Too often people worry about nothing.

 

I was thinking the same thing.

[LakeWobegon]

Its all a matter of risk. I don't want to risk that 15% chance a vacation I've looked forward to all year doesn't occur. One delay in Mpls or Minneapolis :) and you're flying to St. Thomas on Day 4 with half your cruise over before it started. If I get that Friday night flight and for some reason they cancelled it months before, and 90 days plus out, I'd strongly consider rebooking on whatever Sunday cruises I could find.

 

I fly a lot for work and I know that the majority of time ,things go OK, but I also have been delayed or canceled too many times to count (mainly out of LGA or ORD), so much so that I consider it a blessing if my flight home is on time.

[Warm Breezes]

Why do people seem to think this. We fly quiet often and never find it stressful. It simply is what it is. These day over 85% of all flights arrive within 15 minutes of their scheduled time. Too often people worry about nothing.

 

We must be cursed then because our own personal average of getting to an airport at the scheduled time is about 70% and none of those were weather delays. That is why we don't take the chance of flying in the same day. We watched many people panicking in Detroit last April when we flew to FLL because our flight was supposed to be in FLL at 12 Noon. Our plane didn't even show up in Detroit until 1:00 PM. We were one of the lucky ones....our cruise was leaving the next day.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Warm Breezes

[bre]

So we just returned from a cruise earlier this month. We flew in the day before. And I am so glad we did. There was a 5 hour delay, because of heavy rain storms in Florida. We were stuck in Houston at the airport, along with several other people who were to port out that day. They were frantically on the phone with the cruise ships, trying to let them know their situation. They were beyond irritated with the airline attendants. And it was super sad, as we were flying into the airport around 7 pm that night, to see all the cruise ships, just pulling out of port. Not sure if theirs waited for them or not. Lesson learned... I would never fly in the day of.