Why leave home day(s) earlier than embarkation?

[Flatbush Flyer]

The pic below is why!

 

Normally, not only do we fly in to the embarkation port 2 or more days early, we also head to the airport a day early.

For us, staying in a hotel near SFO before a flight day is a pleasure since there are so many great restaurants in the little nearby town of Burlingame.

 

But, for our cruise out of Rio next week and our flight leaving tonight at 8 pm, we decided to have our regular driver pick us up after lunch for a leisurely drive to SFO that seldom exceeds 1 hr.

While waiting for him, we decided to turn on the TV only to see "breaking news: Bridge Closed Due To Falling Debris."

Oh-Oh 😳😳😳

 

Fast forward: Fortunately,  our driver was coming from a different direction (this time!) and  we could get to the airport with time to spare IF everyone else who was screwed by the bridge closure didn't decide to head the same way. And get there we did.

 

The point of my post: A time buffer for arrival at the embarkation port may not be enough. Had the bridge been on our route this trip, we might have had to miss our 8 pm flight. The good news: another first leg flight (to our connection in Panama City) after midnight has space and would allow the original connection. The bad news: $300/person + fare difference. 

 

Trip insurance? Of course. But, if the midnight flight turned out to be full, that would start the whole row of travel FUBARS: Next flight is tomorrow night, town car picking us up in Rio sitting there, possible hotel cancel as a "no show"......

 

Anyone on CC who suggests that not having flight, connection and days to embarkation time buffers is "no big deal" is CRAZY.

 

i need a Margarita.

Edited February 8, 2019 by Flatbush Flyer

[cb at sea]

Unless you are within an hour or two of the port, we always try to arrive the day prior.  I see little point to arriving earlier, unless you want to "sightsee" in the port town.

 

We head home on the 1st flight we can get....we see no sense in hanging about for the day!

[rkacruiser]

28 minutes ago, cb at sea said:

Unless you are within an hour or two of the port, we always try to arrive the day prior.  I see little point to arriving earlier, unless you want to "sightsee" in the port town.

 

We head home on the 1st flight we can get....we see no sense in hanging about for the day!

 

I prefer a bit more of a buffer when I am sailing.  I try to arrive 2 days before embarkation,  

 

Certainly agree that upon disembarkation, I am ready to start the trek home unless I do want some time to experience the port.

[Nebr.cruiser]

If you are from a smaller regional airport, like we are, it is almost impossible to fly in the day of the cruise, unless you are comfortable with arriving at the airport within an hour or so of the last time to embark--and often there are no flights that would get us there on time.

 

This is especially true if it is winter or especially if we have to fly through Chicago, or any other northern area.

 

We almost always fly in one day before, unless we have not been to the embarkation port/area before and want to do some touring--for instance, if cruising out of Venice, we would come in at least a couple of days early.

 

It is getting harder and harder to find a decent time to fly back home (using miles) too; most flights are either too early or really, really late.  

[ldubs]

Glad you made it.   I'm kind of surprised you would take the San Rafael bridge to get to SFO to begin with.   

[Flatbush Flyer]

5 hours ago, ldubs said:

Glad you made it.   I'm kind of surprised you would take the San Rafael bridge to get to SFO to begin with.   

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Actually, the problem was that our driver's home base is in San Rafael while we live in Point Richmond. My initial concern was that he might be one of the cars stuck on the bridge.

 

Fortunately, this time he was coming from OAK.

 

As for those times when we drive ourselves down to SFO or elsewhere on the Peninsula, we'd normally do 580E/80W/101S. The 2 bridge (R-SR and GGB) route (including 19th Avenue in SF) is Plan B if there's a Bay Bridge FUBAR.

 

At the moment, we're sitting in the Copa Airlines Club in Panama City with a long layover before continuing to Rio.

[sparks1093]

I think everyone agrees with the premise of getting there ahead of time but not too many have the luxury of having the extra time to do so. We're part of the fortunate group and get to the port city the day before, even if we are driving. Sometimes the unexpected does happen (we had a small ice storm hit Wednesday night at drive time and a normal one hour drive turned into a 6 hour white knuckle adventure for those caught in it). 

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

I think everyone agrees with the premise of getting there ahead of time but not too many have the luxury of having the extra time to do so. We're part of the fortunate group and get to the port city the day before, even if we are driving. Sometimes the unexpected does happen (we had a small ice storm hit Wednesday night at drive time and a normal one hour drive turned into a 6 hour white knuckle adventure for those caught in it). 

As a younger fellow, I lived in and around Truckee, CA for almost a decade of winters. Driving regularly to Sacramento (for a dose of reality), I developed a healthy respect for the Donner Party.

[Katie52]

In May 2018, my DH, our DGS aged 12, and I were leaving Southampton (England) on P&O Azura bound.  We live about 250 miles from the port and, much to my amazement, DH decided that he would drive there on the day!!  We left the house around 7am, which should have got us there between 2pm and 3pm.  

 

We we were just leaving the motorway about two thirds of the way there, around 12:30, when we found that there was smoke coming from one of the front brakes. We had had this once before on the other side of the car so we knew the cause. We pulled over and called the AA.  After about an hour a breakdown truck arrived and took us and the car to a nearby service area, whilst we waited for a man from the AA to arrive to assess matters.  That took another hour plus.  The only telephone number we had for P&O must have been the office because, despite having three cell phones ringing it, there was no reply. We checked with our travel insurance company that we were covered for a taxi to the port. Fortunately there was a taxi nearby waiting for a job.  And we made it to the ship with just fifteen minutes to spare!  5pm sailing). We were the next to last passengers to arrive. And whisked on to the ship in triple quick time, with staff checking our passports as we ran along.

 

It it was a horrible experience which took both me and my DH a couple of days to get over.  

 

We will not do that ever again.

Edited February 8, 2019 by Katie52

[pacruise804]

I agree with having a buffer, and if we fly we will drive the extra distance to a major airport (PHI or BWI) rather than risk issues with a connection from Harrisburg or Avoca plus arrive the day before.  If we are driving to the port (around 3 hours for NY or Baltimore) we still might stay the night before, but are comfortable allowing 6 hours to get to the port (for early arrival, so essentially allowing around 9 hours).

 

I do wonder sometimes how early people leave once they are in the departure city though.  Can't there be a bridge closure or car trouble 10-30 minutes from the port as easily as issues getting to the airport the day or 2 before?

 

If we had to allow an extra 2-3 days before the cruise, plus buffer 1-2 days after the cruise (we've been on ships with late returns), pretty quickly we could only take a 5 day or less cruise - which many say aren't worth taking.

 

We shouldn't be reckless, but at the same time you can't eliminate all risk.

[sparks1093]

6 minutes ago, pacruise804 said:

I agree with having a buffer, and if we fly we will drive the extra distance to a major airport (PHI or BWI) rather than risk issues with a connection from Harrisburg or Avoca plus arrive the day before.  If we are driving to the port (around 3 hours for NY or Baltimore) we still might stay the night before, but are comfortable allowing 6 hours to get to the port (for early arrival, so essentially allowing around 9 hours).

 

I do wonder sometimes how early people leave once they are in the departure city though.  Can't there be a bridge closure or car trouble 10-30 minutes from the port as easily as issues getting to the airport the day or 2 before?

 

If we had to allow an extra 2-3 days before the cruise, plus buffer 1-2 days after the cruise (we've been on ships with late returns), pretty quickly we could only take a 5 day or less cruise - which many say aren't worth taking.

 

We shouldn't be reckless, but at the same time you can't eliminate all risk.

Your last line exactly, Mr. Murphy will often rear his head no matter how much contingency planning you do.

[navybankerteacher]

Aside from allowing for travel delays which might cause you to miss the ship - which are rare, unless you allow just an hour or so leeway (in which case you probably deserve a comeuppance before you breed);  there is the fact that a long drive, or hours flying - particularly when connecting flights are involved- is draining:  it is far more enjoyable to start your cruise, well rested, after a few minute ride from a comfortable hotel/motel than after many hours of hard travel.

 

Then, there are many embarkation ports which are themselves worth a day or so to visit: Boston, New York, Seattle, San Diego, and most in Europe - to name just a few - which only a non-thinker would neglect to experience.

 

Sure- going early requires expenditure of vacation time and money —— but so does the cruise itself.  If you are going to spend both, why not do it wisely?

[pacruise804]

1 hour ago, navybankerteacher said:

Aside from allowing for travel delays which might cause you to miss the ship - which are rare, unless you allow just an hour or so leeway (in which case you probably deserve a comeuppance before you breed);  there is the fact that a long drive, or hours flying - particularly when connecting flights are involved- is draining:  it is far more enjoyable to start your cruise, well rested, after a few minute ride from a comfortable hotel/motel than after many hours of hard travel.

 

Then, there are many embarkation ports which are themselves worth a day or so to visit: Boston, New York, Seattle, San Diego, and most in Europe - to name just a few - which only a non-thinker would neglect to experience.

 

Sure- going early requires expenditure of vacation time and money —— but so does the cruise itself.  If you are going to spend both, why not do it wisely?

 

What is a long drive?  Long to one person can be reasonable to another.  Our daughter is planning to go to a college that is about a 9 hour trip from home - a 3 hour drive to a port in mostly light to moderate traffic isn't that big of a deal to us, especially if we break up the trip with a nice breakfast partway.  Which is more draining - traveling in heavier traffic to leave in the evening plus deal with night driving to stay in a hotel where you won't sleep well anyway so you are still only semi-rested, or leave your own home fully rested in your own bed and driving all daylight with less traffic?

 

I guess I'm a non-thinker because we neglected to experience New York the two times we sailed from there in favor of being able to cruise at all (and won't explore it again this June when we sail from Bayonne).  Sometimes peoples schedules and/or finances don't permit the extra time in the port cities.  We have done other land trips to Baltimore since it is closer, but really have no desire to deal with the crowds in NYC.  Sometimes you can do too much on a trip and it all becomes a blur, so were the extra days really worth it vs. a separate trip when you can really focus on the city?

 

Yes, we spend time and money when cruising.  We don't have an unlimited amount of either though.  Maybe we should wait until the children are grown, we are retired, and we have a more significant travel budget (and hope to do a lot more traveling then).  Maybe life will happen though that we cannot travel later in life.  My parents always thought they would travel when my sister and I were grown, then my Mom was diagnosed with MS - by age 40 she was confined to a wheelchair and dead by 55. 

 

I will risk being a little more tired when boarding or missing extra time in a city over risking never traveling because we can't add the suggested extra time.  It may mean shorter trips and fewer itineraries because of the home port, but it still gives us the memories.

[Hlitner]

We are what some would call pretty adventurous independent travelers and very cognizant that many things in both travel and life have some risk.  Our norm is to "reasonably" work on reducing risk and also have a Plan B in case something goes wrong.   We have met cruisers that are so risk adverse they will not ever leave a ship (in port) unless they are on a cruise line excursion.  One could certainly make a case for arriving at a port several days early, especially in the winter.  And one could also make a case for not flying home for at least a week after a cruise (you never know if your ship will lose all its power and sit out at sea for an extra week).  

 

For us, the key word is reasonable.  On most domestic cruises we are OK with arriving the day before embarkation.  In foreign lands it will depend on the itinerary.  Last year we did a last minute cruise from Copenhagen to NYC and the first port was Aarhus which is a city very close to Copenhagen.  Since we have had our fill of Copenhagen (on many other visits) we decided to fly-in the day of the cruise (our ship did not depart until 11pm) knowing that it would be easy to catch-up at the next port (or even the following port).  On the other hand, if we are taking a TA cruise out of Ft Lauderdale we will often arrange to be in Florida a few days early (we love spending some time in Key West)...because if you miss that embarkation you might not be able to catch-up to the ship for at least a week :(.

 

Hank

[hallux]

6 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

What is a long drive?  Long to one person can be reasonable to another

 

I'm inclined to agree with this.  I love driving on road trips, so the 3-3.5 hour trip from home to the port when we cruised out of Bayonne was no problem for me, and I was hardly tired from it as the person you quoted thought people might be.

 

My next cruise departs from a port on the other side of the country so I'll be flying in the day before.

[pris993]

I agree 100%.  Two day in advance is a minimum amount I plan for flights to a port, especially if going international.   If you have a problem you have time to work it out.  Flights are full these days, not easy to make last minute changes.  We often stay at airport hotels when returning home from international trips, it makes getting to our flight easy and stress free.  

[GUT2407]

On 2/8/2019 at 11:27 AM, cb at sea said:

Unless you are within an hour or two of the port, we always try to arrive the day prior.  I see little point to arriving earlier, unless you want to "sightsee" in the port town.

 

We head home on the 1st flight we can get....we see no sense in hanging about for the day!

We are within about two hours of our Port, still much prefer to go the day prior.

[CPT Trips]

We were cruising with a number of relatives. Most elected to leave late afternoon Friday (day early). We went early am Saturday from same airport on same airline. 

Ice and snow eventually cancelled their flight after they got to airport. Their rescheduled flight for the next day was a connection leaving even earlier than our nonstop and arriving about two hours after us. They had two trips to the airport and a bill for an unused hotel. 

Sometimes the best laid plans . . .

[Mike981]

Flying out of Minneapolis and being a bit of worrier, I feel so much better when we fly a day early. And it's nice to get an extra day of much warmer weather vs Minne-snow-ta's.

Years ago we were flying out the day of the cruise. We were fortunate they held the ship for us because there were so many people effected by the bad winter weather in the U.S. We got stuck on the tarmac at MSP because the snow was slowing everything down. They de-iced the plane three times or more, if memory serves. I was a nervous wreck.

 

We live an hour away from the airport and go to a hotel the night before. We do the 'stay and park' package and just leave our vehicle at the hotel and use their shuttle both ways. It's a bit more than a 'park and fly' type of place, but not by that much. Again, it's a comfort thing. In the winter they sometimes shut down the highways when the weather gets bad, so you have no choice but to stay home and try to come up with plan B.

One other thing to add and just my feeling, if I was flying a smaller/inexpensive airline, there is no way I would fly the day of. Your ability to find a second flight is much harder because of the limited number of flights per day.

[bonsai3s]

Flatbush Flyer...we agree (as always with a lot of your advice).

 

We had a flight out of SFO to London Heathrow.  We were coming from the Central Valley...hot but a beautiful day.

We get to SFO and all flights were delayed..........because of.......FOG!

 

We should know better...summer is the coldest time in San Francisco.

Fortunately for us, we gave ourselves plenty of time to get to Heathrow and eventually to Southampton for our cruise.

We used to take chances (because of limited vacation time)...but we learned from you and other members of Cruise Critic.  Thank you and Happy Sailing!

[montekat]

This brings back memories of Feb., 2010.  We were flying to San Diego from Baltimore for an 8 night cruise to the Mexican Riviera.  Since we had lived in San Diego when my husband was in the Navy, we decided to go a couple of days early to sightsee. What a good decision that was!  The day we flew out a blizzard was heading in from the west.  The airport was shut down 2 hrs. after our flight and was closed for some time after.  If we hadn't made that flight, we would have totally missed the cruise.  We didn't get much sightseeing in San Diego as it rained, but we were just grateful to be there.  We usually only fly in a day early but we always get the travel insurance just in case.

 

And, when we got home, there was over 2 feet of snow on the ground.  This is rare for our area but we were so happy when we arrived late at night and found that a very kind neighbor had plowed our driveway.  There are good people in this world!

[jlp20]

All it  takes is a bogus warning light in that airplane to miss a flight. Not to mention missing a ride, weather or document mixups.

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

Flatbush Flyer...we agree (as always with a lot of your advice).

 

We had a flight out of SFO to London Heathrow.  We were coming from the Central Valley...hot but a beautiful day.

We get to SFO and all flights were delayed..........because of.......FOG!

 

We should know better...summer is the coldest time in San Francisco.

Fortunately for us, we gave ourselves plenty of time to get to Heathrow and eventually to Southampton for our cruise.

We used to take chances (because of limited vacation time)...but we learned from you and other members of Cruise Critic.  Thank you and Happy Sailing!

For future reference: At SFO, particularly during foggy summer weather, it is a good idea to fly in the early AM, since your plane will probably have been sitting there overnight rather than facing landing delays associated with the fog.

That said, why do we love our fog?

 

Edited February 10, 2019 by Flatbush Flyer

[evandbob]

If it makes you feel better, by all means get to the port area days in advance so you won't miss the ship.  If you have connecting flights, or a long car drive, by all means go to the port a day or two early.  If you have anxiety or excess worry, please arrive at least 36 or 48 hrs ahead of embarkation.

 

However, when I lived in NY, I flew non stop down to MIA or FLL the early morning of over 35, maybe 40 cruises, mostly with 1 piece of carry on luggage with no problems whatsoever.  I have seen cruisers at my departing airport (LGA or JFK) whose flight got cancelled on Friday trying to get a seat on my confirmed flight Saturday morning and weren't able to.........don't know if they ever made it to their ship, but I did!

 

I totally resent the OP's comment that anyone who does this is CRAZY!

Edited February 10, 2019 by evandbob

[hancock]

We recently sailed on the Anthem from Cape Liberty.  Drove to the port on the morning of sailing from L.I.  We left home at 8:30.  Listening to the radio we found out there was a major backup on the LIE in Queens from a tractor trailer accident.  Had already held up traffic for 4 hours.  If we had been caught in that traffic, we would have missed the cruise.  Diverted to the Southern Pky and Belt Pky to Staten Island.  Found out the Bayonne Bridge was closed.  What were we to do?  Luckily, we were aware we could get on the NJ Tpke north to pick up road to Port Liberty.  There weren't any signs northbound indicating the exit for PL.  We were able to figure it out without getting lost.  Anyone not familiar with the area would have been lost(without Waze).  We made it but we could have missed the sailing if we had gotten caught in issues that day.

 

Living not far from the port can also have issues.