Missed the Millennium today - Reminder to NEVER fly on the day of the cruise!

[TeaBag]

20 hours ago, tljordan444 said:

Just a follow up to my previous post about missing the June 5th cruise out of St Maarten. After many emails to my TA about the situation. Celebrity DID COME THROUGH with FCC and a refund on the Celebrity Air for the cruise.

I don't know for sure if it was my TA's persistence for the "We are behind you guarantee" but I'm glad to not be out all the money we had spent on this cruise. 

So we are looking forward to our next cruise with Celebrity and we will be going the day before just in case. lol

 

Thank you for getting back with the good results.  I hope you enjoy your upcoming cruise.

We always fly in ahead of the cruise.  Quite apart from knowing that you will definitely be on the cruise, there is a great feeling of anticipation as you enjoy the port city the night before.

[Midwestgal]

Especially when it starts out of the country. 
very sad for her

[luckyinpa]

im probably the only one in the world that has never flown to a cruise but this thread proves it's the right choice for me. 

[awinkl]

So far, I have never done this - ALWAYS just arrived on a flight -the day of Sailing - and straight from the airport to the ship - but may change my behavior in the future, whenever Cruising becomes possible again.. Currently, we here in OZ are prevented from leaving to anywhere - so will have to wait until these travel restrictions are lifted - maybe by mid 2022??

[Joebucks]

I would never consider flying in the day of a cruise. Let's be real, the chance of something happening to your flight is very low. However, the consequences are catastrophic. I could care less about any guarantees or travel insurance. I want my cruise.

 

We will always travel in the night before, sometimes more than 1 night. It is part of the vacation to explore at least 1 night in port, and enjoy the city! Waking up the next day, stress-free, relaxing by a pool or a beach, walking about the town is well worth it. Past everyone else's insurance and priority room access fees, you'll find me lying in the sun, going at my own pace, care-free on embarkation day. 

[Pickels]

We learned the hard way on one of our very early cruises, (2003 or 2004).  Flying out of New York at 7:00 a.m. to Ft. Lauderdale for a cruise that was to leave at 4:00 p.m.  Thought we had oodles of time to catch the ship.  Had a problem leaving New York because of equipment issue on the plane, very late taking off.  Then at Ft. Lauderdale, because we were so  late, no terminal was available for the plane, to allow us to get off.  More delays!  We finally got to the terminal a little pass 3:00, too close for a 4:00 cruise.  Never did that again; always leave the day before.  And also, on the back side, make reservations at a local hotel/resort for the day your ship docks then leave for home, the next day or two so, there's no rush to get off the ship. and worry about catching your flight!

[johare]

We always drive in the morning of a cruise and even that makes me nervous.

[Denny01]

On 6/22/2021 at 9:10 PM, luckyinpa said:

im probably the only one in the world that has never flown to a cruise but this thread proves it's the right choice for me. 

It’s a tough drive from PA to pretty much any port in Europe or Asia, and the drive to Seattle or Vancouver if you go to Alaska can take a bit more than leaving early in the morning, but good luck!

 

den

[glenc56]

Sounds like Celebrity stepped up with a great outcome to a bad situation.   

 

Enjoy your next cruise.  🚢🍹

[Mike981]

Over twenty years ago was the last time we flew out the same day.

 

It was winter in Minneapolis and they had to de-ice the plane two or three times. It caused major issues with leaving since other planes were stacking up. The only reason we make the ship was there were so many of us on that plane that were cruising on the same ship, they held it. We walked on and the gang plank came up right behind us. Not fun at all.

[Rob-Bob]

Most responding to this topic would not like to do what I did once:  NCL Epic leaving out of Barcelona.  Drove from Clev to Toronto, flew from Toronto to Rome, transferred planes and flew Rome to Barcelona to arrive 3 hours before ship left.  I told my wife I could not breath easy until my feet were on the deck of the ship.

 

This was the original schedule of travel and everything needed to go with out a hitch to make the cruise.  Good news is we made it and had a fabulous cruise.  Needed a 12:00 noon cocktail to calm down.

[kleibo]

I was flying out on a Saturday once for a Monday cruise and I almost missed it due to a blizzard in the northeast.  If flying in the dead of winter, a day early is the absolute minimum.

[Okraf]

I'd normally agree completely with flying the day before, but this year when flights are still so unpredictable and could be cancelled or rescheduled at short notice, ruining your plans, we've instead booked with P&O who charter their own flights, arriving on the day of. Chartered flights should be more reliable than scheduled and if they change P&O will have to sort them out.
 

[The Traveling Man]

We flew from Dallas to Barcelona for a cruise a couple of years ago, arriving a day or two early so we could recover from the jet lag and have a chance to see the city before boarding the cruise.  While waiting to check in at the cruise terminal, we chatted with others in line.  One was a woman who had just flown overnight from Toronto, arriving at the Barcelona airport less than an hour before the ship began boarding.  I was amazed that she made it in time and gobsmacked that anyone would even have considered such a close connection.

 

A couple of years before that, we flew Dallas to Rome almost a week early for a cruise, then spent time in Venice and Rome before boarding the ship.  Our overseas flight had a stopover in Chicago, where we encountered a six-hour delay, getting us to Rome in the early afternoon the next day instead of the scheduled 8:00 AM.  We had built in a time cushion for exactly that possibility, so our only problem was our train getting us to Venice after midnight.  One other passenger on our flight, though, had plans to board a Holland America ship that sailed the day of his arrival in Italy.  The man absolutely went ballistic at O'Hare during the delay.  Airport personnel finally called the police to calm the man down.  On arrival at Rome, he literally ran through the airport, pushing other people aside as he ran.  The last time we saw him, a Holland America representative was ushering him away.  I don't know if he made his ship or not, but the stress he encountered along the way is something I never want to put up with.  We ALWAYS fly in at least a day early.  Besides, you're going to spend time and money touring all the intermediate ports along your cruise, so why skip visiting the port city of embarkation?

[lhsail]

21 hours ago, Rob-Bob said:

Most responding to this topic would not like to do what I did once:  NCL Epic leaving out of Barcelona.  Drove from Clev to Toronto, flew from Toronto to Rome, transferred planes and flew Rome to Barcelona to arrive 3 hours before ship left.  I told my wife I could not breath easy until my feet were on the deck of the ship.

 

This was the original schedule of travel and everything needed to go with out a hitch to make the cruise.  Good news is we made it and had a fabulous cruise.  Needed a 12:00 noon cocktail to calm down.

No way. We’ve sailed on the Epic twice out of Barcelona, always two nights in Barcelona to get our feet back under us. BTW, never stepping foot on the Epic again. 

[bloomcruisers]

Back in the olden days (pre-internet), we always used our local AAA agency to book all of our trips. They always had us flying in same day as sailing. We never even thought twice about it. I guess we figured that they knew what they were doing. And we had limited vacation days when we were younger and didn't want to use extras for no reason  Luckily, we never had any problems.  Since then, as we research travel options ourselves, with the background of all the horror stories we read online, we always fly in 1 day early. Though we don't have to worry about limited vacation days anymore, I would say the security of the early arrival is a good reason for the extra day even if you are still rationing them.    

[abbydancer2003]

Our second ever cruise (which started us on regular cruising), was a Mexican Rivera from Los Angeles with a large group from our dance studio.  Our studio owner was making the travel arrangements, and he announced that he'd booked a 12:45 flight from San Jose, arriving in LA at 2pm for a 5 pm departure.  I immediately said that we'd probably go a day early to visit my aunt Susie.  (he thought I was faking that, but my aunt Susan did live down there and we would have visited her).  He also booked the group back at 9:00 am.

 

Fortunately for the other 47 people who would have possibly missed the ship, the TA he was using told him that those flights wouldn't work.  He didn't want to deal with it, so he put me in charged.  I changed the outbound to a 9am flight out of San Francisco (more flights in case of a problem) and an 11 am flight back.

[Rob-Bob]

3 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

We flew from Dallas to Barcelona for a cruise a couple of years ago, arriving a day or two early so we could recover from the jet lag and have a chance to see the city before boarding the cruise.  While waiting to check in at the cruise terminal, we chatted with others in line.  One was a woman who had just flown overnight from Toronto, arriving at the Barcelona airport less than an hour before the ship began boarding.  I was amazed that she made it in time and gobsmacked that anyone would even have considered such a close connection.

Maybe that was my wife.  While the EPIC did have some issues we loved our cruise.  I still get nervous replaying our travels to get to the ship.  That was a tad crazy.

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, Rob-Bob said:

Maybe that was my wife.  While the EPIC did have some issues we loved our cruise.  I still get nervous replaying our travels to get to the ship.  That was a tad crazy.

Similar story, but this was a woman traveling alone.  Although we have sailed on the Epic out of Barcelona on a couple of occasions , the cruise I was referencing was on the Norwegian Star in October of 2016.

[bEwAbG]

I always go a day or two early but I could see some pushing it with a same day arrival if there was an opportunity to join the ship at the next port should something go awry.  Especially for those European cruises where it's easy enough to do intercity travel once you get there or if it's an itinerary you've done a few times. Pandemic restrictions aside, of course.

[Denny01]

Unless someone has a very strong reason (can’t get time off/not enough vacation funds) to Not arrive the day before, why would you take the chance even when the ‘next port’ is easy to get to? Isn’t the point to join a cruise, get set and enjoy the experience? Isn’t the point to set things up with minimal stress getting to it and enjoying the time? Why cut it all so short when there are so many options to Not miss a departure?? 

 

I realize lots of the examples are Europe and so on, but I’ve done a ton of business travel and had more than my share of missed connections, late departures and arrivals, over bookings, and so on. It’s Not that uncommon. 

 

Even during a cruise I take a look at what could occur if I was late back to the ship. On a South American cruise, we stopped in an Argentinian port prior to going to the Falklands. I was going to take a taxi to a very famous paleontology museum which was an 1 or so away. But then realized it was out in the middle of the Argentinian desert with minimal options, if I had issues getting back in time, there are no, again No flights from Argentina to the Falklands. They Aren’t On Speaking Terms!  

 

In truth, most everyone on this thread don’t arrive the day of the cruise, but for those that think that is a good idea for whatever reason, think though all of this. Be the hero of the family/group/couple and plan ahead. 

 

Den  

 

 

[bEwAbG]

11 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

Unless someone has a very strong reason (can’t get time off/not enough vacation funds) to Not arrive the day before, why would you take the chance even when the ‘next port’ is easy to get to? Isn’t the point to join a cruise, get set and enjoy the experience? Isn’t the point to set things up with minimal stress getting to it and enjoying the time? Why cut it all so short when there are so many options to Not miss a departure?? 

 

One example I saw on here was a several thousand dollar difference in airfare for business class by taking one particular flight versus the others that would get them there earlier.  I believe it was a red-eye that arrived very early in the morning. 

 

Another was an add on to a longer vacation in which the person also had something else that wouldn't let him leave any earlier, so the question was "do I take this flight and potentially miss the ship for one day or do I just not go on the cruise?"  In general, the answer should always be "go early" but there are some circumstances where it could make more sense to take a chance.

Edited June 25, 2021 by bEwAbG

[Denny01]

4 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

 

One example I saw on here was a several thousand dollar difference in airfare for business class by taking one particular flight versus the others that would get them there earlier.  I believe it was a red-eye that arrived very early in the morning. 

 

Another was an add on to a longer vacation in which the person also had something else that wouldn't let him leave any earlier, so the question was "do I take this flight and potentially miss the ship for one day or do I just not go on the cruise?"  In general, the answer should always be "go early" but there are some circumstances where it could make more sense to take a chance.

Yup, not judging anyone’s reasoning. Not in their situation, whatever it is, including ‘I just Hate to sit around some hotel!’. 

 

One person was stating their location had backup flights that got them down to FLL or MIA. Got it. But in reality, most later flights get in sooooo close to departure times that it’d be all luck lined up to make it. But we each see our own options. Fortunately for me, I can now afford the cost and time of a night, or even longer!, stays at departure ports. And even make it part of the cruise! 

 

We all talk about how nice it is to visit so many ports or call, and can always go back to them for longer stays…..and we just don’t do it, we are off on another itinerary. So that is part of what we are doing is taking advantage of going early or staying later.  Heck, flying to Europe is such a pain, the cost and time, so we add more and more to it. B2B’s (East and West Med!, or one of those and a TA!!), more days in ports prior or after. As I mentioned, we stayed a week in Amsterdam and just scratched the surface; after a river cruise, trained to Munich and spent a week there. Spent a week in Cornwall prior to a TA and so on.

 

And so many Lines allow you to fly to or out of another airport than the ports of the cruise, if they service them, you then have lots of options, and usually at a minimal additional cost. So think about that option. We flew to Florence and spent days there, trained to Roma and caught our cruise, all using Celebrity Air…..well, not the train!!

 

den

[ReneeFLL]

 

On 6/20/2021 at 9:48 AM, graphicguy said:

I defer to him, as he's the pilot.  But, you see patterns over time when you fly a lot.  Any time you see mechanics head to the plane while you're in the waiting area, plan on a delay.  If you don't see crew headed onto the plane at least 15-20 minutes before departure, plan on a delay.  The first flight of the day usually means the plane had landed the day before without a hiccup.  Something might happen, but it stands to reason if the plane landed the day before without an issue and has just sat at the gate overnight, then it will probably be fine the next a.m.

 

If there were mechanical problems the last flight of the previous day, the airlines will ordinarily replace the plane for flights the next day, at least that's been my experience.

 

Then, there are the obvious ones.  Weather is pretty easy to tell if there's a delay.  That said, I have flown in some pretty dicey lightning, snow, rain storms in the past.  I've been through my fair share of violent air pockets.

 

I don't know if AA policies are different than Delta's.  I haven't flown AA in quite some time.

 

Yes, for the most part they are the same when it comes to mechanical issues.

 

Edited June 26, 2021 by ReneeFLL

[ReneeFLL]

 

On 6/22/2021 at 2:44 PM, pumpkin 11 said:

Immigration wait was about an hour. If you have a close connecting flight... might have some issues. I'd allow at least two hours. Many people missed.

 

The reason people missed was a lot of air traffic around St. Martin so we didn't take off on time.

 

On 6/22/2021 at 2:49 PM, FlyerTalker said:

 

Two solutions:  Global Entry or Mobile Passport.

Global Entry or Mobile Passport won’t help if the flights aren’t taking off on time.