Would you take this flight on embarkment day?

[phabric]

Alaska cruise August 2022.  Ship leaves on a Saturday at 4:30pm, have to be onboard by 3:30pm.

 

Flight is 4hr 44 minutes, non stop 

 

Toronto, Canada (YYZ) @ 7am to Vancouver, Canada (YVR) @ 8:44am

 

Would you take this flight on embarkment day?

[Zach1213]

If you're going to take a flight the day your ship leaves, this is probably about as safe as it gets, depending on the airline. If it's Westjet or Air Canada, I would feel fairly comfortable because they are reliable (for the most part) and have many flights on that route that you might be able to be accommodated on should something happen. I would avoid airlines like Flair and Sunwing. 

 

That being said, I still wouldn't fly out the day of departure. 

[Twickenham]

Nope.

 

I know it's domestic (so no immigration). I know it's a non-stop flight. And I know that Vancouver hotels are crazy expensive (I've been pricing them out myself for a possible trip around your dates).

 

It's still a big risk, even in normal times. Add to that covid-era issues, and that increases the possibility of delays even more. And then you have to think about your recovery options: if your cruise is round-trip Vancouver, you could theoretically fly to the first port of call and embark there, but if it's one-way to Seward, you couldn't due to the PVSA. And I haven't even touched on the time-zone change...

 

Take that flight... the day before.

[Twickenham]

6 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

If it's Westjet or Air Canada, I would feel fairly comfortable because they are reliable (for the most part)

 

It's Air Canada, on a 787 Dreamliner, which is the only good point about that option IMHO.

[1982CruzStart]

When i first started cruising many years ago i flew into the port the day of the cruise because of work commitments etc without any issues, thankfully. I haven't done that in the past few years as i have more flexibility and a bigger committment financially in my cruises.  If for whatever reason i couldn't fly in the day before i would be comfortable taking that flight on AC because they have multiple flights a day into YVR with many of them landing long before you need to be onboard.  

First choice would be fly in the day before but would do that flight if flying the day before was not a practical choice. 

[rkacruiser]

On 9/8/2021 at 11:52 AM, 1982CruzStart said:

If for whatever reason i couldn't fly in the day before i would be comfortable taking that flight on AC because they have multiple flights a day into YVR with many of them landing long before you need to be onboard.  

First choice would be fly in the day before but would do that flight if flying the day before was not a practical choice. 

 

I agree with this posters thinking.  

[pcur]

My TA told me decades ago if I wanted to fly in the day of a cruise, to make sure there were other flights available on my airline, or others, that leave later and still give me time to get to the dock.

 

Book the flight, make sure you can change with no fee, and keep an eye on the schedules and on-time stats.

[Hlitner]

We have our own basic rule about flying-in (anywhere) on the embarkation day of a cruise.  Do not do it unless you can easily catch-up to the ship the following day :).  The reality about airlines is that stuff happens, flights get cancelled, diverted, etc.  And we are not even talking about checked luggage being delayed.

 

Some would argue that it is an early flight with a huge margin for being late (not much margin if cancelled).  But for my money I would rather fly in a day earlier and avoid any anxiety about a same day flight.  Just my two cents (and we are talking US pennies).

 

Hank

[sverigecruiser]

On 9/8/2021 at 5:30 PM, phabric said:

Alaska cruise August 2022.  Ship leaves on a Saturday at 4:30pm, have to be onboard by 3:30pm.

 

Flight is 4hr 44 minutes, non stop 

 

Toronto, Canada (YYZ) @ 7am to Vancouver, Canada (YVR) @ 8:44am

 

Would you take this flight on embarkment day?

No

[nini]

No! Fly in a day early and enjoy Vancouver.

[Bostonson]

We have done it several times and have been lucky. i would not recomend doing it, embarkation day is stressful enough don't add to it. Fly in the day before.

[Fairgarth]

Nope.  Your faith in the airlines is touching and totally misplaced.  Nine times out of ten you will make it.  How will you feel on the tenth?

[Ashland]

Yes.....I would have no concerns. We fly non stop from LAX-YVR first arrival flight of cruise day.

Before my DH retired we also flew red-eye from LAX-FLL arriving around 6:00am cruise day.

Now that we have much more time we fly in 1 day to a week prior now depending on where we are and how much pre-cruise days we want.

[Zach1213]

6 hours ago, Ashland said:

 

Before my DH retired we also flew red-eye from LAX-FLL arriving around 6:00am cruise day.

Now that we have much more time we fly in 1 day to a week prior now depending on where we are and how much pre-cruise days we want.

 

Oh god, kill me now. As someone who begrudgingly does some domestic redeyes (and in First, and for work), even something like LAX-FLL sounds like an awful way to start a vacation. I understand the need sometimes, but man I do not envy that, knowing how absolutely awful I feel after "sleeping" on a domestic redeye. 

[Ashland]

6 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

 

Oh god, kill me now. As someone who begrudgingly does some domestic redeyes (and in First, and for work), even something like LAX-FLL sounds like an awful way to start a vacation. I understand the need sometimes, but man I do not envy that, knowing how absolutely awful I feel after "sleeping" on a domestic redeye. 

Sometimes one needs to go out of their comfort zone. Luckily on those red-eyes we were in first class and our itinerary gave us a sea day before our first port. Make lemonade out of lemons...life's too short not enjoy when we can. 

[Zach1213]

7 hours ago, Ashland said:

Sometimes one needs to go out of their comfort zone. Luckily on those red-eyes we were in first class and our itinerary gave us a sea day before our first port. Make lemonade out of lemons...life's too short not enjoy when we can. 

 

Hey, I get ya...my life is lived outside of the comfort zone and I relish it. Fast cars, fast planes, visits to sketchy dangerous countries...I live it all. But starting my vacation with a domestic redeye is too far for me 🙂

[Ashland]

3 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

 

Hey, I get ya...my life is lived outside of the comfort zone and I relish it. Fast cars, fast planes, visits to sketchy dangerous countries...I live it all. But starting my vacation with a domestic redeye is too far for me 🙂

When it used to come to doing what might be necessary to cruise....I used to take the chance.

I don't have to anymore. But would never tell anyone not to it's up to them and will always offer that it can be done if that's the choice they find themselves having to make. First arrival flight of the day...you won't be the only one on that plane going on a cruise.

[JudithLynne]

We do on occasion go nonstop for a west coast cruise, we live in Oregon.  However when we do that we book our flights, transfers, and insurance through the cruiseline. We have never had a problem.

[RGEDad]

On our recent September Seattle Alaska cruise we were having lunch on embarkation day and started talking to the people at the next table. They had just flown in from Florida that morning on a 6 AM departure flight. They were totally exhausted and said they would never, ever, do that again (Both from sleep issues, and stress issues). 

We always go the day early, the cost of the hotel for a couple of hundred dollars is well compensated for by stress reduction. YMMV.

We have a European start cruise now booked (Amsterdam) - figuring out now how early to get there - much easier decision as we will be exploring the embarkation city/area for at least several days prior - just how many days is...in negotiation...awaiting the decision by the familial executive finance/budget committee - she will let me know.

[Keith1010]

Do not fly the day of the cruise.

 

It is way too risky.

 

Stay over and fly in at least a day before.

 

Keith

[Ashland]

On 10/13/2021 at 6:53 AM, RGEDad said:

On our recent September Seattle Alaska cruise we were having lunch on embarkation day and started talking to the people at the next table. They had just flown in from Florida that morning on a 6 AM departure flight. They were totally exhausted and said they would never, ever, do that again (Both from sleep issues, and stress issues). 

We always go the day early, the cost of the hotel for a couple of hundred dollars is well compensated for by stress reduction. YMMV.

We have a European start cruise now booked (Amsterdam) - figuring out now how early to get there - much easier decision as we will be exploring the embarkation city/area for at least several days prior - just how many days is...in negotiation...awaiting the decision by the familial executive finance/budget committee - she will let me know.

We're also booked out of Amsterdam for the July 2022 Arctic Circle and have already booked our flights giving us 4 pre-cruise days....Very excited for this itinerary and Amsterdam.

[phabric]

On 9/8/2021 at 11:30 AM, phabric said:

Alaska cruise August 2022.  Ship leaves on a Saturday at 4:30pm, have to be onboard by 3:30pm.

 

Flight is 4hr 44 minutes, non stop 

 

Toronto, Canada (YYZ) @ 7am to Vancouver, Canada (YVR) @ 8:44am

 

Would you take this flight on embarkment day?

I have book EzAir for the day before the cruise.

Thanks for all your information. 

[brian1]

We must hold the record for a "risky"flight.Princess air organised LHR-Hong Kong-Auckland landing ON TIME 6hrs before sailaway.27 hr journey but a calculated risk because the next port was only 150 miles along the coast.

[zdcatc12]

7 hours ago, brian1 said:

We must hold the record for a "risky"flight.Princess air organised LHR-Hong Kong-Auckland landing ON TIME 6hrs before sailaway.27 hr journey but a calculated risk because the next port was only 150 miles along the coast.

I haven't used it yet, but don't YOU and not Princess decide on your flights with EZ Air?

[brian1]

19 minutes ago, zdcatc12 said:

I haven't used it yet, but don't YOU and not Princess decide on your flights with EZ Air?

Probably, but this was back in 2013.I was a cruising greenhorn then.We've done a few long haul cruises since and definately wouldn't do that again.Always stay at least 1 day in departure port now.If I remember rightly there was not a lot of flight combos available.