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Air Travel? Day early or same day

PopeyeDaSailor
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dwayneb236

dwayneb236

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Posted

The answer to why is obvious. Not everyone has the luxury of taking an extra day off. I am envious of those that can but at this time it's not us. Good for all those who get to do this. Some of us are lucky to get to cruise at all. Try not to make us feel like idiots because we fly in same day, We know it's a risk and we just have to take it. 

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steveru621

steveru621

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Posted
4 minutes ago, dwayneb236 said:

The answer to why is obvious. Not everyone has the luxury of taking an extra day off. I am envious of those that can but at this time it's not us. Good for all those who get to do this. Some of us are lucky to get to cruise at all. Try not to make us feel like idiots because we fly in same day, We know it's a risk and we just have to take it. 

 

WOW

 

The original poster asked for advice.

 

I don't recall anyone calling another poster an idiot.

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dcgrumpy

dcgrumpy

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11 minutes ago, dwayneb236 said:

The answer to why is obvious. Not everyone has the luxury of taking an extra day off. I am envious of those that can but at this time it's not us. Good for all those who get to do this. Some of us are lucky to get to cruise at all. Try not to make us feel like idiots because we fly in same day, We know it's a risk and we just have to take it. 

That's why I prefer cruises that leave on Sunday. 

 

 

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kag19

kag19

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We have been flying in the day of on our last couple cruises just because of the fact that my parents are watching the kids.  When we do this we always buy the airfare and transfer through the cruise line so if there is an issue it is on them to get us to our destination.  It is more stressful because of the what ifs but we also want to make sure we aren't taking advantage of my parents time as well.  So far no issues...  I probably just jinxed it... :)

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dwayneb236

dwayneb236

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28 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

 

WOW

 

The original poster asked for advice.

 

I don't recall anyone calling another poster an idiot.

Never said anyone called anyone an idiot. But I can pick up the subtle hints. Even in the written word. Anyway. Not going to get into it. Just my impression. Have a fantastic day. 

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Ewing

Ewing

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Most of my cruises are fortunately out of Sydney, and I'm lucky enough to live about 3km (2 miles) from the cruise terminal so this isn't usually a problem for me.

 

But when I do need to fly to meet a cruise I always go the day before. Sure travel insurance can pick up the costs if you miss the cruise, but you've still missed the cruise...

 

Even just this past week there have been two days in Sydney with horrible weather and many flight cancellations. Ovation apparently delayed departure as there were too many people that hadn't made the ship yet. I do realise that not everyone can do that due to work or other commitments but if you are able to - why start your holiday with unnecessary stress by flying on the same day?

 

I actually fly a lot (up to 150 flights a year) for work and personal reasons and flying somewhere the night before I need to be in a place has saved me grief more times than I can count. Last August I was in the USA for work and then a friend's wedding in Los Angeles. Hurricane Harvey happened and at the last minute I decided to fly to LAX a day earlier than originally planned. My original flight ended up being cancelled and if I didn't change my plans I would have been stranded in Texas and missed the wedding (and my flight home to Sydney afterwards).

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Ewing

Ewing

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1 minute ago, dwayneb236 said:

Hey, There are worse places to be stranded Ewing.. hehe..

 

That is true. I love my visits to Texas! (and when flying into Dallas the flight attendants go nuts when they see my last name 🤣)

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clean1owner

clean1owner

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6 hours 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.

 

 

Ever since arriving at the pier literally 10 minutes before embarkation, because of an airline issue,  I now ALWAYS arrive at least one day prior to departure. 

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Zach1213

Zach1213

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5 hours ago, dwayneb236 said:

The answer to why is obvious. Not everyone has the luxury of taking an extra day off. I am envious of those that can but at this time it's not us. Good for all those who get to do this. Some of us are lucky to get to cruise at all. Try not to make us feel like idiots because we fly in same day, We know it's a risk and we just have to take it. 

 

In my case, if I cannot fly down a day before due to schedule, that's not the vacation for me...those dates then automatically don't work. If I cannot fly down a day before due to price, I cannot afford that particular vacation and need to find a different one. That's how my brain works.

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ldubs

ldubs

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Miami -- I would not worry about arriving the morning of.  But,  we would leave the previous day from the west coast on a red eye and likely arrive about the same time an early morning flight out of Philly was taking off.   

 

We do same day arrivals a lot.  Most are long haul nonstops.   I know they are not popular here.  I would not really try to convince someone they should do what we do.    

 

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dwayneb236

dwayneb236

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1 hour ago, Zach1213 said:

 

In my case, if I cannot fly down a day before due to schedule, that's not the vacation for me...those dates then automatically don't work. If I cannot fly down a day before due to price, I cannot afford that particular vacation and need to find a different one. That's how my brain works.

Not a price issue but a work issue. What works for you is cool and what works for us is cool too. Affects no one but us.

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mseiferman

mseiferman

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7 hours 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.

My last 2 cruises (one was last week for Thanksgiving) were both out of Miami.  Both trips I flew American (using miles or through Amex travel) out of PHL the 6:00 AM ish flight day of cruise.  I know that there are at least  2 to 3 flights after mine in case something goes wrong and I always get trip insurance.  I have been cruising Thanksgiving or Christmas for over 20 years this way.  I always check on the weather a week before just in case any changes need to be made in my flights.  

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Hoopster95

Hoopster95

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Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, ldubs said:

Miami -- I would not worry about arriving the morning of.  But,  we would leave the previous day from the west coast on a red eye and likely arrive about the same time an early morning flight out of Philly was taking off.   

 

 

3 hours ago, mseiferman said:

Both trips I flew American (using miles or through Amex travel) out of PHL the 6:00 AM ish flight day of cruise.  I know that there are at least  2 to 3 flights after mine in case something goes wrong and I always get trip insurance.  I have been cruising Thanksgiving or Christmas for over 20 years this way.  

 

No one woke up Sat Jan 7, 2017 expecting to die in that shooting at FLL airport that morning, let alone miss a flight into/out of FLL as everything was shut down. I watched ships leaving out of the channel at 10:30pm as they waited as long as possible for late comers. My understanding is that all the ships, including Allure, sailed away several hundreds less than what they were supposed to. IIRC those hundreds had to catch up with the ship a couple of days later in St Marten.

 

I was lucky... I was flying there the day before to get on Harmony Sun, Jan 8. and was able to re-route by purchasing two of the last 4 tickets left on an American flight that was going to Miami airport. Harmony left late on the Sunday as well as many people missed the ship anyways.... the airports, both MIA and FLL, were in chaos from the day before, and likely any flight at all flying in/out was at full capacity already. A few cruisers who had flights cancelled the day before couldn't even make it to their cruise on Sunday.

 

No one could have possibly expected this. If I had told this story a month before, everyone on CC would be posting "that's cray and unrealistic", "it'll never happen","what are the chances?"... including me!

Edited by Hoopster95
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skidawg79

skidawg79

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 Let me tell you a story about flying out of Philly to Ft Lauderdale last year.  

My one friend who was flying from philly to Fort Lauderdale the day BEFORE  A cruise  almost ended up missing the cruise.  There were major thunderstorms that night and the next morning that canceled a ton of lights. She ended up taking a midnight flight to Charlotte, as that was literally the only  flight that she can get on in a short window between thunderstorms to get out of Philadelphia. The reason........, everything got booked up the next morning because of the cancellations. She ended up landing in Fort Lauderdale from Charlotte around noon and  Made it.   As it turned out  flights out of Philadelphia we’re also canceled the next morning, so if she decided to fly out the day of, she never would have made the cruise.     Always give yourself extra time if you can.

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