Will This Itinerary Work? Help please!

[amead]

Looking to sail on the Feb. 18 -> 26 Carnival Liberty.

 

Due to scheduling issues, I will be unable to leave the day before (my girlfriend is a teacher, can't take the day before off, and I live 5 hours away and have to drive to New York City to fly out...yeah, I know, it's crazy).

 

So basically, I'm looking for ways to get to Ft. Lauderdale from the NYC area the day of the cruise as cheaply as possible. We're young. Money is definately an object :)

 

So, here are my options.

 

For $433 I can get out at 7:10am and arrive in Ft. Lauderdale as 1:25pm with a 40 minute connection in St. Louis. Return is a comfortable (I think?) 2:07pm departure from FLL.

 

My other option is for $527 going non-stop arriving in Ft. Lauderdale @10:43am. Return flight seems ok as well leaving at 2:22pm.

 

So, basically it's an extra two hundred for the two of us to get the sweet non-stop on the morning of.

 

I know everyone is going to say to take the safe® way, but that extra 200 dollars could mean some really nice extras during the cruise for us.

 

In the vast experience of the expert cruisers out there, do you think that a 1:25pm arrival into FLL will be adequate to make the 4pm sailing?

 

I appreciate practical advice on what the latest flights you've taken into FLL, etc. Thank you very much in advance :)

 

-akm

[racephoto]

You're right, I think most people will tell you to take the nonstop. 40 minutes is NOT a lot of time for a connection. What's the on-time percentage for that 7:10 flight? Any sort of snow event is gonna put you right down the crapper.

 

Day-of-cruise + less-than-an-hour-connection + winter-weather-in-New-York = potential-for-disaster

 

Sorry, I know you don't want to hear that but it's true. Please get travel insurance no matter which flight you take.

 

If you actually got to FLL at 1:25 you'd probably make the cruise no problem. (It IS sailing from FLL right?) Hopefully your luggage would too.

 

Good luck.

[amead]

Thanks for the advice...

 

I'm not sure where I can get on-time performance of a specific flight....

 

Also, for travel insurance...what sort of insurance would one need that would cover you if you miss the cruise due to air delays? Excuse my cluelessness on this subject...never considered this before.

 

-akm

[CruisinMatt]

Have you called Carnival and asked how much they charge for airfare and book through them?? At least that way you won't have to worry if you miss flights, etc as you will most likely be flying with others that will be going on the same cruise.

 

My motto is - If you have to fly in the same day - book air with the cruiseline - otherwise don't.

[Globaliser]

In the vast experience of the expert cruisers out there, do you think that a 1:25pm arrival into FLL will be adequate to make the 4pm sailing?

 

I appreciate practical advice on what the latest flights you've taken into FLL, etc.

It's not just what time the flight arrives and whether you can make it to the ship. The bigger question is, what are the chances of you getting there on that flight?

 

It looks to me like the 40-minute connection at St Louis is the absolute minimum legal connection there. No airline will book you any shorter connection because the risks of misconnecting are too great. But even at 40 minutes, you still have significant risks of misconnecting. The slightest mishap (a minor 30-minute delay from New York to St Louis, for example), would mean you missed your onward flight from St Louis to Fort Lauderdale.

 

What happens if you miss that flight? You miss the ship - the next flight is too late. End of story; game over. I wouldn't want to risk that, in your shoes.

[racephoto]

Thanks for the advice...

 

I'm not sure where I can get on-time performance of a specific flight....

 

Also, for travel insurance...what sort of insurance would one need that would cover you if you miss the cruise due to air delays? Excuse my cluelessness on this subject...never considered this before.

 

-akm

 

No problem. Most people here seem to go through insuremytrip.com

I used ITravel for my last cruise as that's what is sold by the cruise travel agent I am in the process of becoming affiliated with.

 

I confess, I seem to remember the OTP being shown when you are looking at flights, but I don't see it now. You may have to call American and ask them.

 

One final question, did you look at the cruiseline air? I was just looking at your cruise on orbitz.com and it looks like they are charging $379 for air out of EWR. That still might be a connection however, which still leaves the problem of weather delays and whatnot. You may also want to ask this question on the Carnival board, there you can get answers from folks who have used the cruiseline air program through Carnival and what airlines/flights/arrival times you might expect.

 

Good luck!

[wrp96]

40 minute connection in St. Louis in the middle of winter - Wouldn't do it. It seems to me that every time I fly through there I end up with gates as far apart as possible and there isn't any nice tram system or moving walkways (that I remember) to get you where you want to go. Add to that the possibilities of snow or even worse an ice storm in February. Add in the fact that you are only leaving 2 and 1/2 hours to land in FLL, get your bags, and get to the port at a very busy airport, no matter how close to the pier it is. I wouldn't do it, especially with that short of connection.

[wrp96]

You might try doing a search on an engine like Kayak.com. I just did a preliminary search and saw USAir has a $474pp fare out of Newark which gets you into FLL before noon with over an hour connection in Charlotte. Not as good a price as your St. Louis connection but better price than the non-stop. Continental has nonstops for $484 pp out of Newark which get you in before noon as well. There might be other options I'm missing as well.

[silentbob007]

As others have said, the more connections (especially in the winter), the riskier the odds get. Considering my last two flights have had a delay of at least 4 hours on one leg, I would try to cut down the X-factor as much as possible.

[Globaliser]

I'm not sure where I can get on-time performance of a specific flight....

The official on-time statistics for a US domestic flight are available in a searchable database at the website of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

 

If you decide that you really need those non-stop flights but the prices are too high, you may be able to reduce the price if you are suffiiciently creative and energetic in your search, to exploit some of the pricing idiosyncracies that sometimes exist internationally. For example, a pair of Continental flights that I've just priced for Newark-Fort Lauderdale-Newark for the days that you need comes to $616.90 if bought in the US, but the UK branch of Travelocity has access to inventory that produces (rather to my surprise) a price of £102.40 = $175.78. But you also need to have the technical ability to take advantage of such an opportunity, if you find one - for example, buying that ticket from Travelocity requires a paper ticket to be issued (at a £10 service fee) plus a UK postal address to send it to. So you'd almost certainly need specialist help if you were going to try anything like this.

[Headhoncho]

So, here are my options.

 

For $433 I can get out at 7:10am and arrive in Ft. Lauderdale as 1:25pm with a 40 minute connection in St. Louis. Return is a comfortable (I think?) 2:07pm departure from FLL.

 

My other option is for $527 going non-stop arriving in Ft. Lauderdale @10:43am. Return flight seems ok as well leaving at 2:22pm.

 

So, basically it's an extra two hundred for the two of us to get the sweet non-stop on the morning of.

 

I know everyone is going to say to take the safe® way, but that extra 200 dollars could mean some really nice extras during the cruise for us.

 

Let me preface my comments by saying that I know how important $200 is to a young couple. I was young once myself, many, many years ago.

 

You have about 3 months of anticipation before your cruise. Don't waste it by worrying whether you can make your connections. Spend the extra $200 for the non-stop flight. Think of it as buying "peace of mind" insurance.

 

Anticipation of the cruise, planning excursions, deciding what you're going to wear, reading about all the fun things to do on that paricular ship etc. can be almost as much fun as the actual cruise. Don't compromise it for $200 that you won't even miss one year from now.

[Cruiser_Guy]

Don't forget to search Southwest... they have plenty of non-stop flights leaving Long Island/Islip MacArthur airport going to Fort Lauderdale.

 

Also, search jetBlue (JFK, LGA, EWR), Song (JFK, LGA), and Spirit (LGA).

[Cruiser_Guy]

Scratch Southwest. I just checked and there are no seats at all.

[Headhoncho]

Scratch Southwest. I just checked and there are no seats at all.

 

I think amead will find that most flights are either sold out or priced substatially higher and going fast for those dates - peak season in Florida. Imo he should make a decision and book it asap.

[clivenruth]

Yes, book quickly and take the non stop! To much uncertainty with the other flights. We live in New York State and I would not take the chance in winter months.

 

Ruthie