Air Travel? Day early or same day

[PopeyeDaSailor]

I'm taking a cruise out of Miami next May.  I'm flying out of the Philadelphia area to either Fort Lauderdale or Miami (which ever is cheaper). 

 

Do people fly in a day early and stay local the night before or do they risk it and fly early morning of the cruise?

 

I'm just trying to gauge what others have done, I'm leaning towards a hotel room near the port.

[Sitzmark]

I'd always arrive a day early if flying.  I've had airplanes break down on me more than once and arrived at my destination up to a day late because of it.  

[John&LaLa]

Go early. Ship happens

[dcgrumpy]

Always a day before. 

[dwayneb236]

Would love to go early for the peace of mind. But can't, so we just book the first flight out day of and go with the flow. And buy good insurance. 

[Dajbman22]

I am a proponent of flying the day before. It really gives you a buffer, as air travel can be affected by all kinds of events every month of the year. 

[MNfamilycruiser]

A day early - it is just too stressful to be rushing and worried about making it to the ship.  Also you have more choice in flight times, which can save money.

 

[Tin can]

We are UK based and our last cruise on Oasis it was cheaper for us to fly into Chicago than direct to Orlando so we did this the day before.

 

We risked flying from Chicago to Orlando on the morning of the cruise as we were on the earliest flight out and there were three flights after us that would have got us on the ship, we took the risk.

[HBE4]

43 minutes ago, PopeyeDaSailor said:

I'm taking a cruise out of Miami next May.  I'm flying out of the Philadelphia area to either Fort Lauderdale or Miami (which ever is cheaper). 

 

Do people fly in a day early and stay local the night before or do they risk it and fly early morning of the cruise?

 

I'm just trying to gauge what others have done, I'm leaning towards a hotel room near the port.

 go early. A couple days earlier, if you can swing it. Do a little pre Cruise vacation in Florida

[Wine-O]

Fly in a day earlier.  Always remember Murphy's Law, besides, you can shop for your wine for the cruise.

[JohninDC]

After too many delayed or cancelled flights, I would never risk flying in the day of our cruise.

[powelweb]

My in-laws were flying in a day early on 11/16 for our 11/17 Anthem cruise and there was a mechanical issue with their first leg of their flights that caused them to miss their 2nd leg from Denver to NJ. Given winter storm Avery, they couldn't get rebooked on ANYTHING to the Northern east coast until Sunday, 11/18 so they sadly missed the ship and the 1st port in Port Canaveral on 11/20 due to PVSA, and had to fly to Nassau on Wednesday, 11/21 to board.

So the warning is to plan for a day early, but if bad weather is expected and you are able to move up your departure, you may want to consider doing so. They sure wish they do in this case.

 

[PopeyeDaSailor]

Thanks all.  That's pretty much a quorum. 

[njkruzer]

Fly in the day before.  Saying that I have one child who insists they'll be fine flying nonstop from Nashville to Tampa the day of our December cruise.  Nothing I say will change her mind.  

[ONECRUISER]

Always day early, when cruising in Winter I do 2 days early. In 80-90's was hard get time off work so would fly in day of Cruise. In Feb 2002 was taking a 10nite on Granduer, my first longer Cruise. Was a last minute purchase as Travel/Cruises were still cheap post 9/11 & Anthrax scare. Thought hey lets fly in day early and relax before cruise. Well 30 miles to airport took hours on Highway while in 4Wheel Drive going 20mph. 3am and Plows hadn't been out. We made it with 30min to spare, didnt have assigned seats and they gave us First Class seats, Kool! While taxi to Runway we slid off and got stuck. Our 6am Flight didn't finally leave until 2pm leading to a connection in Atlanta that we missed finally getting into MIA at 8:30pm minus with a Bag of clothes. It showed up in am in time for our Cruise. Since then I also always split up clothes so some of everything is in each bag...

Edited November 29, 2018 by ONECRUISER

[BillOh]

54 minutes ago, Dajbman22 said:

I am a proponent of flying the day before. It really gives you a buffer, as air travel can be affected by all kinds of events every month of the year. 

 

 

I will just add that even if everything goes ok, flying in the day of the cruise is a lot more stressful. I know everyone can't, but after my first day before flight, that is the only way to go. (for me) 

[squadron]

1 hour ago, MNfamilycruiser said:

A day early - it is just too stressful to be rushing and worried about making it to the ship.  Also you have more choice in flight times, which can save money.

 

I've done both - try to get a direct flight early in the morning.  Sometimes the price of a hotel makes the decision for me. Once at destination  I never feel like exploring so I feel that it is a wasted day - other do sight see.  It depends on your feelings about it.

[MNfamilycruiser]

15 minutes ago, squadron said:

I've done both - try to get a direct flight early in the morning.  Sometimes the price of a hotel makes the decision for me. Once at destination  I never feel like exploring so I feel that it is a wasted day - other do sight see.  It depends on your feelings about it.

Yes, also less risk flying in May (as OP stated) than in winter.  It also depends on how far away your direct flight is coming from and how many other flights are available that day that could get you there in time if something goes wrong.  I recently looked at flights from Minneapolis to Miami and was surprised at how few options I had compared to flying into Orlando,

[PopeyeDaSailor]

6 minutes ago, MNfamilycruiser said:

Yes, also less risk flying in May (as OP stated) than in winter.  It also depends on how far away your direct flight is coming from and how many other flights are available that day that could get you there in time if something goes wrong.  I recently looked at flights from Minneapolis to Miami and was surprised at how few options I had compared to flying into Orlando,

 

Yeah this is what I'm thinking.  I will be using America miles and flying first class so changing tickets won't cost anything plus there are lots of flights from Philly to either Fort Lauderdale or Miami that day.  So if I book the early flight and hit issues being first class I will have a leg up on any later flights.  But the problem there is bags could/will get lost if something happens.

 

My wife wants to drive (two kids 12 & 6) but to me that eats up valuable days.

Edited November 29, 2018 by PopeyeDaSailor

[steveru621]

We have always flown in at least one day early.  Depending on prices and weekend days sometimes 2-3 days early.

 

Flying in a day early by no means guarantees you'll get there on time if there are delays.  Flights are so full these days, seats the next day may all be taken or the rescheduled flight lands after the ship leaves.

 

Keep an eye on the weather.  Some airlines will let you rebook early if they are anticipating delays due to weather.

[SRF]

26 minutes ago, PopeyeDaSailor said:

 

Yeah this is what I'm thinking.  I will be using America miles and flying first class so changing tickets won't cost anything plus there are lots of flights from Philly to either Fort Lauderdale or Miami that day.  So if I book the early flight and hit issues being first class I will have a leg up on any later flights.  But the problem there is bags could/will get lost if something happens.

 

My wife wants to drive (two kids 12 & 6) but to me that eats up valuable days.

 

Are you sure it will not cost anything?  Even mileage tickets can have change fees.  Or the new booking requires more miles.

 

Also, if you have a ticket on miles, you are a non-rev passenger and one of the first to be bumped, and the last to get a new flight booked in case of trouble.  If you are an elite level FF, that will help though.

[PopeyeDaSailor]

I think I'm going to pull the kids out of school for two extra days and flight down to Orlando two days ahead of time and stay at Disney for two nights then drive from Orlando to Miami one way (rental car) on the day of the cruise.  Extra surprise for the kids.

Edited November 29, 2018 by PopeyeDaSailor

[2tall]

We learned our lesson on our first cruise years ago.  We were scheduled to fly out on Saturday, the same day as embarkation.  There was an ice storm the Thursday before and the airports were closed all day Friday and Friday night.  Luckily, they had opened back up for Saturday BUT there was a line of about 1000 people when we got to the airport.  Even though we were two hours early, we wouldn't have made it through the line in time.  We were lucky enough to grab a sky cap.  At the gate, though, we were told our flight was delayed since the plane coming in was flying in from an area north of us that was still feeling the effects of the storm.  We made it but with only about an hour to spare.  Now, we fly in several days in advance.  I look it as an opportunity to spent time in the port city and get a head start on our vacation.

Edited November 29, 2018 by 2tall

[asalligo]

The only people who ever say they fly same day have not done it many times. I would say one out of every six times I fly, I am delayed in some fashion. I am flying a day early for my cruise in January and still stressed. I calculate how long I can wait for a delayed plane before driving south. 

Edited November 29, 2018 by asalligo

[cruiselvr04]

Twice in 35 cruises we have flown in the same day.  First time we just didn’t know.....the second was because the DH was hospitalized until the day before.. I was able to change our flights to day of and we made it but soooo stressful.  ( He was ok by the way and cleared by the MD to go.)

 

Too many things can happen.  If I did try it, it would only be nonstop and a very early flight like 6 a.m.  But why?  We leave tomorrow on Serenade and are sitting in our hotel suite RELAXING already.  Great way to start a vacation! Worth an extra $150 or more to start off the right way.