Should you still arrive a day or two early?

[Cruise a holic]

We will fly in a day before if we can cruise in January from Ft. Lauderdale.  However, we will fly first class, take a private car to the hotel and to the ship.  

 

Hopefully we will sail and it will be relatively safe.

[jagoffee]

On 7/16/2020 at 12:38 PM, kwokpot said:

Seems like it's more of an American thing though. European cruisers thought it was odd even if they were coming to Florida for a cruise. It seems for them they always fly in the same day as embarkation. 

My experience is not scientific, but I have never talked to a European who thought it was odd to fly to Florida one day early for a cruise.  I do not recall ever talking to one that did not fly in at least one day early.

Obviously flights within European would be different.  
Personally I agree with you as I also arrive (at least to the departure country) one or more day(s) early.  Part of the experience for us.

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, jagoffee said:

My experience is not scientific, but I have never talked to a European who thought it was odd to fly to Florida one day early for a cruise.  I do not recall ever talking to one that did not fly in at least one day early.

Obviously flights within European would be different.  
Personally I agree with you as I also arrive (at least to the departure country) one or more day(s) early.  Part of the experience for us.

Too many issues flying in day of cruise even if arriving from Europe. Mechanical failures someone sick on flight lost luggage to name a few.  Anyone I have met from Europe on a cruise has always flown in a day or two early. 

[davekathy]

If cruising starts back up we will arrive the day prior to our  sail date like we always have. 

[2chiefs]

On 7/16/2020 at 1:24 PM, m8zenblue said:

Just to throw my two cents in, no matter if we cruise again or not, at some point we will.

It's always, always, ALWAYS, a good habit to arrive at port at least a day prior.

You never know what could happen if you arrive the day of.

A few years back we were driving down to Port Canaveral for an RCI cruise. We left a day early and had reservations for a local hotel. As we were driving down I95 we got gridlocked. The state patrol had shut down the interstate in both directions as they were chasing down a murder fugitive. That delayed us 4 hours. After resuming and getting closer to our exit at Port Canaveral, we were once again gridlocked. Turned out a semi-truck was too high for an overpass and got stuck thus blocking the I95 southbound lanes. After about an hour, we reached an exit for a detour which took us around the accident. Another hour lost.

 

Just an actual example of why you should leave a day early. Had we left on the day of the cruise, we would have missed the sail away. I also agree with going two days early for an international departure.

T

[helby]

2 hours ago, jagoffee said:

 

Obviously flights within European would be different.  
 

Delays can happen even on shorter flights.  Four years ago our two hour  flight from Vancouver to LAX was delayed because of runway problems at LAX, arriving at 3:45 pm instead of 10:00am. This was a day ahead of the cruise and had it been cruise day we would have missed the ship.

As others have said, unexpected things can happen by air or road so arriving at least a day ahead seems the best way to go.

[Travelexpert35]

We always tend to book at least 2 nts prior to our cruise to deal with any weather issues. We just sailed on the Edge on Feb 9th and was scheduled to fly down on Feb 7 to FLL. There was a weather alert of freezing rain so we went to the airport and rebooked for Feb 6th. Thanks goodness we did..no flights were operating on Feb 7 or 8th. Everything was backed up along the east coast. We actually saw some passengers arrive in San Juan so they probably missed their flights.

[hcat]

Flexibilty is the key..even if it costs more!

One year...we had booked  for 2 days ahead on Ft Lauderdale Beach..

An ice storm was expected  at home for our pre cruise week, We decided to get out of town even earlier  & visited with rels for a few days ahead,  We beat the storm and got to enjoy our hotel stay.

 

Another time, also due to snow....we  had to cancel our 2 day pre cruise hotel and  take a chance flying in the day of our Royal C cruise.  Worked out great...Royal C gave us transp to the ship with priority luggage deliv..stressed out but it worked!

 

Main take away is the need to be flexible...plus we try not to  fly from the north for winter time cruises anymore!  Too much stress!

Edited July 19, 2020 by hcat

[DENIE]

When getting our feet wet with cruising, we once flew from Phoenix, AZ to San Diego, CA on the morning of our embarkation day (took one of the earliest flights).  It all worked out fine, but I do know from experience that San Diego can get fogged in, so we won't do that again.

 

Here in the US, we typically fly in one day ahead for the reasons all have pointed out on this thread.  Or, if departing from LA/Long Beach, we like to drive and stay on the Queen Mary Hotel the night before to get in the proper mood.  It's a full day of flying to get to the Florida ports from Arizona, so we are content to stay at a nice hotel near the port and enjoy a relaxing evening and some adult beverages! 🙂

 

For our recent Italy/Dalmatian Coast cruise (Venice-Rome), we decided to make sure we were in Italy 2 days ahead.  Day 1 was spent flying from Phoenix-London-Rome, then stayed at the airport Hilton in walking distance.  We then flew Rome-Venice at 8:00 a.m. the next morning after a restful sleep.  We were checked into our lovely hotel by about 10:30 a.m., and enjoyed the full rest of the day walking Venice.  That also gave us a chance to start catching up with all of the time zone changes (about 8 hours difference for us in Arizona)

 

We will employ the same strategy for our August 2021 Baltic cruise on the Reflection (round trip from Amsterdam).  There is too much to see there to not spend at least a day, especially when we have never been there. 

 

Count me among the "go at least a day early".  Oh....we are NOT retired, so vacation time does play into this equation.  If retired, would probably do more time either before or after the cruise.

 

Stay safe everyone!  And I cannot wait until we are able to safely go back to cruising.

Edited July 19, 2020 by DENIE
Added to content

[2chiefs]

13 hours ago, hcat said:

Flexibilty is the key..even if it costs more!

One year...we had booked  for 2 days ahead on Ft Lauderdale Beach..

An ice storm was expected  at home for our pre cruise week, We decided to get out of town even earlier  & visited with rels for a few days ahead,  We beat the storm and got to enjoy our hotel stay.

 

Another time, also due to snow....we  had to cancel our 2 day pre cruise hotel and  take a chance flying in the day of our Royal C cruise.  Worked out great...Royal C gave us transp to the ship with priority luggage deliv..stressed out but it worked!

 

Main take away is the need to be flexible...plus we try not to  fly from the north for winter time cruises anymore!  Too much stress!

Yes, flexibility is key. Another story: We were flying out of Houston to PR for a cruise in December. A rare ice storm was predicted for the night before our flight. We lived only an hour from the airport but decided to drive to the airport a day early and stay at the hotel at the airport. Sure enough, the freeways were iced up the day of our departure and you can imagine the gridlock from Houston drivers that have never experienced ice. No flights were delayed so it was uneventful for us to hop on the tram from the hotel to the terminal.

T

[K.T.B.]

Another possible reason to arrive early, what if it's your first time visiting that particular city?

 

For me and my wife, when we first sailed out of Seattle, we arrive 3 days before the cruise to explore the city.  The next time we did an Alaskan cruise, even though it was out of Vancouver, we visited Seattle for 5 days before taking the train up (a day early).  If not for that first time in Seattle, we may not have done the 5 days.  It turns out we really love Seattle and it's a probably a place we end up at once I retire.

 

Now for our cruise next year, we sail out of San Diego.  Neither of us have been there before, so we're already planning on arriving at least 3 days prior to the cruise.  Both of us want to go the zoo and the USS Midway Museum.

 

So arriving early just to prevent potential issues isn't the only reason, you might discover a city you love.

[phoenix_dream]

My very first cruise was on my honeymoon, with one stop on the way.  We were sailing that day.  There was a bad ice storm at our one stop city, and our original flight was cancelled.  Considering this was over 30 years ago when airlines actually cared about their customers, they felt sorry for us and moved us to a direct flight and we ended up catching that cruise.  60 cruises later (and 55 on Celebrity🙂), we would never consider flying in the day of.  Lesson learned.  Also had an instance a number of years later where my son and his family were flying in the day of, their flight was delayed, and they got into Puerto Rico at eleven o'clock at night.  Luckily for them, many people had still not arrived so the ship delayed the sailing (it was supposed to leave around 8:00pm). They were among the last to board - very tired and very stressed.

Edited July 20, 2020 by phoenix_dream

[George C]

On 7/19/2020 at 7:16 AM, Cruise a holic said:

We will fly in a day before if we can cruise in January from Ft. Lauderdale.  However, we will fly first class, take a private car to the hotel and to the ship.  

 

Hopefully we will sail and it will be relatively safe.

Really hope we can get served drinks in first , some airlines have stopped serving, a friend that flew a couple of days ago said they just gave him a bottle of water

[bEwAbG]

9 minutes ago, George C said:

Really hope we can get served drinks in first , some airlines have stopped serving, a friend that flew a couple of days ago said they just gave him a bottle of water

 

As usual, it is the jerks pushing boundaries that are ruining it for the rest of us.  The latest thing is to pretend you're eating and drinking for practically the whole flight so you don't have to wear the mask for long.  Disney also just announced a change today to close the same type of loophole that some were exploiting in the theme parks: people were carrying food & drinks so they could walk around without their masks on, so now Disney clarified that you have to remain stationary when you're eating/drinking.  Two more examples of why the U.S. is still in the first wave of the pandemic.

[K.T.B.]

51 minutes ago, George C said:

Really hope we can get served drinks in first , some airlines have stopped serving, a friend that flew a couple of days ago said they just gave him a bottle of water

 

They should just tell people to bring their own bottle of water on board from now on.  And masks can only be removed to actually drink the water.

 

35 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

 

As usual, it is the jerks pushing boundaries that are ruining it for the rest of us.  The latest thing is to pretend you're eating and drinking for practically the whole flight so you don't have to wear the mask for long.  Disney also just announced a change today to close the same type of loophole that some were exploiting in the theme parks: people were carrying food & drinks so they could walk around without their masks on, so now Disney clarified that you have to remain stationary when you're eating/drinking.  Two more examples of why the U.S. is still in the first wave of the pandemic.

 

Yep.  Give people an inch, they'll take a mile.  

[TeeRick]

On 7/16/2020 at 9:39 AM, ipeeinthepool said:

When cruising resumes do you think it is still wise to arrive a day or two early or does that just increase your risk of contracting Covid in many of the departure cities?  Many of the departure cities have a large number of Covid cases.  Perhaps it's better just to go directly to the ship where the cruise lines will have procedures and policies to protect the passengers.

What if you have to arrive 10-14 days early and self-quarantine?

[ipeeinthepool]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

What if you have to arrive 10-14 days early and self-quarantine?

 

If you are Covid-free at home and self-quarantine in your departure city, then you wouldn't need to wait 10- 14 days.   Could be a plan.

[Covepointcruiser]

Don’t believe we can trust any of the U.S., me first, folks to self quarantine themselves.

Cruise Lines need To follow Emirates airline and require the passengers to arrive 4 hours before and be given a COVID test and health screening prior to boarding.   It’s obvious there is a quick test that can be given.   They also allow no hand baggage in the cabin and disinfect all of the luggage before it is boarded.   Believe masks are also required when not eating  or drinking.   Some countries are also testing you on arrival, then after 72 hours and finally at one week to ensure you are virus free.

[sanger727]

20 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

If you are Covid-free at home and self-quarantine in your departure city, then you wouldn't need to wait 10- 14 days.   Could be a plan.

the quarantine pre-trip would only be an issue if the destination city required it. I doubt they will take you at your word that you self quarantined for 14 days. Plus that doesn’t help if you flew in, plenty of places you could have been exposed on the airport or on the plane.

[ipeeinthepool]

15 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

the quarantine pre-trip would only be an issue if the destination city required it. I doubt they will take you at your word that you self quarantined for 14 days. Plus that doesn’t help if you flew in, plenty of places you could have been exposed on the airport or on the plane.

 

The issue isn't if the destination city required a self-quarantine, the issue is how can I best protect myself from being exposed to Covid in the destination city.

[sanger727]

3 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

The issue isn't if the destination city required a self-quarantine, the issue is how can I best protect myself from being exposed to Covid in the destination city.

how does self quarantine for 14 days at home protect you from being exposed to COVID in the destination city?

[TeeRick]

22 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

The issue isn't if the destination city required a self-quarantine, the issue is how can I best protect myself from being exposed to Covid in the destination city.

Yes exactly- so I personally would not travel to a destination city that did not have the virus under strict control.  Nor would I board a cruise ship or stay in a hotel in that city.  We are all different.  That's just me.

[ipeeinthepool]

20 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

how does self quarantine for 14 days at home protect you from being exposed to COVID in the destination city?

 

It doesn't.  It does show that you are likely Covid free before you left.  The issue is: What is the risk in the destination city and how can you protect yourself in the destination city?

[bEwAbG]

This is a circular question that has already been answered.  What do you want the answer to be since you won't believe what everyone has already said?

[PhoenixCruiser]

Hopefully this will be a non issue and that there is a safe and reliable vaccine.

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