Flying in on Day of Cruise

[navybankerteacher]

On 12/1/2022 at 10:17 PM, ldubs said:

 

Well, that is true.  No thing is impossible if the "thing" can be arbitrarily changed  to something that is possible.  Me, I would take the cruise I want and the same day flight that makes it possible. 

Is part of what makes it “…the cruise I want…” the thrill of perhaps missing it?   The more I want something, the more likely it is that I will plan things so as to not miss it because of a delayed flight.

[ldubs]

13 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Is part of what makes it “…the cruise I want…” the thrill of perhaps missing it?   The more I want something, the more likely it is that I will plan things so as to not miss it because of a delayed flight.

 

Come on now.   The cruise I want is typically itinerary and price.  For the OP, add available vacation days.    

 

   

 

[navybankerteacher]

5 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Come on now.   The cruise I want is typically itinerary and price.  For the OP, add available vacation days.    

 

   

 

And, along with ability to pay the fare is the availability of vacation days to enjoy the cruise.

[ldubs]

22 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

And, along with ability to pay the fare is the availability of vacation days to enjoy the cruise.

 

You seem kind of obsessed with this.  Thanks for the tips, but I've been enjoying cruises and travel in general for a very long time.  All within whatever budget or time constraints might apply.   

[nickysmom]

On 4/16/2022 at 10:42 AM, Nashto said:

My parents plan to fly into Boston for their cruise on the day of. They're plans lands at 1:30. They sail away is 5:30. Do you think I should encourage them to change their flight?

Absolutely!!  As a 30 year Operations Manager with a major airline, I can't beg you enough to

GO A DAY EARLY!!!   

 

 It's not just if weather in Boston is OK. Weather or a problem in another city can delay or cancel their flight.    ATC is stressed, aircraft and crew schedules complicated, relying on nationwide schedule connections.  Equipment malfunctions, passenger misbehavior delays, cancellations and  the complexity of normal operations can severely impact  the crowded system.  Go early, have a quiet dinner at the hotel.  Save yourself and those trying to help you the stress of missing our cruise..  

[njhorseman]

32 minutes ago, nickysmom said:

Absolutely!!  As a 30 year Operations Manager with a major airline, I can't beg you enough to

GO A DAY EARLY!!! 

Although you're certainly correct, you're responding to a question asked almost two years ago and I'm pretty sure the cruise in question was taken a long time ago.

[nickysmom]

1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

Although you're certainly correct, you're responding to a question asked almost two years ago and I'm pretty sure the cruise in question was taken a long time ago.

Didn't catch that....but still important--maybe it will be of service for some of our newbies--or those like me, who just review older ideas before a cruise.

[KBS1607]

On 6/27/2022 at 6:44 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Not sure of what your age status is in the span of ages, but, the more senior I have become, arriving 2-3 days early has been an improvement in my cruise experience.  I have time to relax and refresh myself after driving or flying or taking Amtrak.  I am better able to start my cruise in the frame of mind that I wish to have.  

 

Another advantage of this as early as practical arrival is to enjoy the amenities of the port city.  

I totally agree. We have ill family members so our Thanksgiving cruise even happening was up in the air. As a consequence of not booking our hotel until the last minute, we weren’t not able to plan meals and ended up at the very expensive, very crowded hotel buffet. 
 

An extra day would have been welcome. For international in the future I will plan on three days at least. 

[Hlitner]

Interesting points of view.  Those of us who have a lot of travel and cruise experience (in my case it is more than 50 years) always suggest that flying-in at least 1 day early (for domestic ports) and more than 1 day for foreign ports, is wise.  We would only consider gambling on a same day flight if we were comfortable with a Plan B, in how to catch-up with the trip.  For an embarkation in Copenhagen, where the ship is in nearby Arhus the following day, is a good example of where one might take a chance.  On a closed loop Caribbean cruise, we would not gamble.

 

While we understand the arguments for flying in the day of....those folks should consider "what if they are wrong" and miss their ship.  Can they catch up without spending a lot of extra money?  Is it even possible?  For those cruising without a valid Passport, it can be a problem.   Also be careful with trip insurance, because most policies have a clause requiring a flight be scheduled to arrive X number of hours before the scheduled embarkation.  So, if your policy requires a 6 hour window, and your is scheduled to get you to the port 5 hours before your cruise, you will collect zero insurance if you miss that cruise.

 

The other reason for arriving days early is for folks with checked luggage.  Luggage seldom gets lost, but more commonly misses a flight, or gets mis directed, and will usually catch-up the following day.  That is not good if you are already out to sea.

 

Hank

[Waltershipman]

15 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Interesting points of view.  Those of us who have a lot of travel and cruise experience (in my case it is more than 50 years) always suggest that flying-in at least 1 day early (for domestic ports) and more than 1 day for foreign ports, is wise.  We would only consider gambling on a same day flight if we were comfortable with a Plan B, in how to catch-up with the trip.  For an embarkation in Copenhagen, where the ship is in nearby Arhus the following day, is a good example of where one might take a chance.  On a closed loop Caribbean cruise, we would not gamble.

 

While we understand the arguments for flying in the day of....those folks should consider "what if they are wrong" and miss their ship.  Can they catch up without spending a lot of extra money?  Is it even possible?  For those cruising without a valid Passport, it can be a problem.   Also be careful with trip insurance, because most policies have a clause requiring a flight be scheduled to arrive X number of hours before the scheduled embarkation.  So, if your policy requires a 6 hour window, and your is scheduled to get you to the port 5 hours before your cruise, you will collect zero insurance if you miss that cruise.

 

The other reason for arriving days early is for folks with checked luggage.  Luggage seldom gets lost, but more commonly misses a flight, or gets mis directed, and will usually catch-up the following day.  That is not good if you are already out to sea.

 

Hank

On a 14 night SB cruise some years ago we flew from PDX to Alaska on the earliest flight of the day of departure of our 14 night cruise. My luggage however did not make the flight. With some stress and strain and fantastic customer as well.as good luck  service my luggage made the next flight in time for departure and was delivered to the ship some almost 2 hours from the airport. I did book the earliest flight knowing there was a flight soon to follow in case of a problem

 

I have not made that mistake again

 

All the best

[MacMadame]

Too many flights get canceled or delayed last minute these days for me to be willing to fly in the day of. I did it for all my other cruises but that was 45-25 years ago. If I lived near the port, I would drive in the day of though.

[ldubs]

On 6/28/2024 at 3:29 PM, Hlitner said:

Interesting points of view.  Those of us who have a lot of travel and cruise experience (in my case it is more than 50 years) always suggest that flying-in at least 1 day early (for domestic ports) and more than 1 day for foreign ports, is wise.  We would only consider gambling on a same day flight if we were comfortable with a Plan B, in how to catch-up with the trip.  For an embarkation in Copenhagen, where the ship is in nearby Arhus the following day, is a good example of where one might take a chance.  On a closed loop Caribbean cruise, we would not gamble.

 

While we understand the arguments for flying in the day of....those folks should consider "what if they are wrong" and miss their ship.  Can they catch up without spending a lot of extra money?  Is it even possible?  For those cruising without a valid Passport, it can be a problem.   Also be careful with trip insurance, because most policies have a clause requiring a flight be scheduled to arrive X number of hours before the scheduled embarkation.  So, if your policy requires a 6 hour window, and your is scheduled to get you to the port 5 hours before your cruise, you will collect zero insurance if you miss that cruise.

 

The other reason for arriving days early is for folks with checked luggage.  Luggage seldom gets lost, but more commonly misses a flight, or gets mis directed, and will usually catch-up the following day.  That is not good if you are already out to sea.

 

Hank

 

You provide the absolute "best practice" advice for sure.   We have done it both ways many times but still feel leaving at least a day early is the better option.   We will still stray from that on occasion.  For some reason (I'm not even sure why) we are doing a red-eye arriving LHR morning of the cruise later this year.  If things go south, we will deal with it and, with some unhappiness,  life will go on.    

[Greg8371]

Yes, I’d recommend encouraging them to change their flight. Arriving just four hours before departure leaves very little room for unexpected delays, and it’s always better to have a more relaxed buffer to ensure they make it to the cruise on time.

[donaldsc]

15 hours ago, Greg8371 said:

Yes, I’d recommend encouraging them to change their flight. Arriving just four hours before departure leaves very little room for unexpected delays, and it’s always better to have a more relaxed buffer to ensure they make it to the cruise on time.

 

The original post was 2022.  The issue has been settled by now.

 

DON

[d9704011]

37 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

The original post was 2022.  The issue has been settled by now.

 

DON

Well sure, the specific issue is long over but the macro issue of flying in day of or early still needs some more chewing over.  Sort of like whether a cruiser ought to tip on a particular cruise and tipping in general.  Always new and interesting viewpoints.

 

Me, I'd like to revisit the whole removal,of barrel chairs thing.

[njdealguy]

Hi, 

Contemplating a Disney cruise leaving Ft Lauderdale in November departing at the usual 4PM or so time and due to a religious holiday the day before (Diwali) we dont want to leave our home or travel on that day itself.   We're from NYC so would fly from JFK/LGA, think would be a bad idea to take one of the 6am nonstop flights scheduled to reach before 9? 

 

I figure even with delays/cancellations there's plenty of flights to both FLL or Miami (we have plenty of reward points with multiple airlines all of which give full refund to cancel) to then hop on a taxi/uber?

Edited August 9 by njdealguy

[donaldsc]

3 hours ago, njdealguy said:

Hi, 

Contemplating a Disney cruise leaving Ft Lauderdale in November departing at the usual 4PM or so time and due to a religious holiday the day before (Diwali) we dont want to leave our home or travel on that day itself.   We're from NYC so would fly from JFK/LGA, think would be a bad idea to take one of the 6am nonstop flights scheduled to reach before 9? 

 

I figure even with delays/cancellations there's plenty of flights to both FLL or Miami (we have plenty of reward points with multiple airlines all of which give full refund to cancel) to then hop on a taxi/uber? 

Remember what happened a week or so when the internet essentially went down.  How many flights were cancelled.  Stuff happens.  Maybe not too often but stuff happens.

 

DON

Edited August 9 by donaldsc

[john watson]

3 hours ago, donaldsc said:

Remember what happened a week or so when the internet essentially went down.  How many flights were cancelled.  Stuff happens.  Maybe not too often but stuff happens.

 

DON

 

My attitude is fly in the day before embarkation.  Book the nearest hotel to the quayside, ideally within walking distance.

 

Regards John

[njdealguy]

9 hours ago, donaldsc said:

Remember what happened a week or so when the internet essentially went down.  How many flights were cancelled.  Stuff happens.  Maybe not too often but stuff happens.

 

DON

Thanks DON & John!  Unfortunately we just cant travel on prior day due to the religious holiday for us (would've been great theres super cheap late evening flights available that day on Jetblue to FLL).

 

I'm looking into insurance policies from insuremytrip that can cover such a scenario of delayed flight causing missed cruise through trip interruption, I see terms like this on some policies but with the fine print not sure if this situation is covered based on wording of "complete cessation" (Does it mean cessation of our booked flight delayed by 6 hours or all of the airline's operations for other flights also stopped for 6 hours!)

 

(f) Strike that causes complete cessation of services for at least six (6) consecutive hours of the Common Carrier on which You or Your Traveling Companion are scheduled to travel preventing You or Your Traveling Companion from reaching Your destination; 

(g) Inclement Weather that causes complete cessation of services for at least six (6) consecutive hours of the Common Carrier on which You or Your Traveling Companion are scheduled to travel preventing You or Your Traveling Companion from reaching Your destination; 

(h) mechanical breakdown of the Common Carrier on which You or Your Traveling Companion are scheduled to travel that causes a cancellation or delay of Your or Your Traveling Companion’s flight for at least six (6) consecutive hours preventing You or Your Traveling Companion from reaching Your destination; 

[Host Kat]

9 hours ago, njdealguy said:

... I'm looking into insurance policies from insuremytrip that can cover such a scenario of delayed flight causing missed cruise through trip interruption, I see terms like this on some policies but with the fine print not sure if this situation is covered based on wording of "complete cessation" (Does it mean cessation of our booked flight delayed by 6 hours or all of the airline's operations for other flights also stopped for 6 hours!)...

 

Hello @njdealguy

 

To be on topic, I suggest you post your insurance inquiry on this summer's sub forum Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com Summer 2024. Steve will probably be able to help you or direct you to where you can find the information you seek. Or you can research our Cruise/Travel Insurance forum to see what your fellow Cruise Critic members have to say about your insurance situation.

 

Hope this will be helpful!

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat

 

[auntmeg]

21 hours ago, njdealguy said:

Hi, 

Contemplating a Disney cruise leaving Ft Lauderdale in November departing at the usual 4PM or so time and due to a religious holiday the day before (Diwali) we dont want to leave our home or travel on that day itself.   We're from NYC so would fly from JFK/LGA, think would be a bad idea to take one of the 6am nonstop flights scheduled to reach before 9? 

 

I figure even with delays/cancellations there's plenty of flights to both FLL or Miami (we have plenty of reward points with multiple airlines all of which give full refund to cancel) to then hop on a taxi/uber?

In this case, I would fly in two days before embarkation day.