Flying out of ATL. the 14th to board the SKY.

[dolphfan]

Kind of worried that we should have flown in on the 13th. Do most people fly in the night before? 

[smwg]

It's best to fly out early, just in case there are flight delays or cancellations.

[Wishing on a star]

Yes.   I would say so.

Especially with all of the flight changes and delays and chaos lately.

Keep rechecking your flights!

 

Yours is a very short flight.  And you will hopefully be fine!

The first flights of the day are less likely to be delayed by the prior flights.

 

We always do, because we do have Group A boarding,  and like to board as early as possible.  Especially if we want to book the Sanctuary.

I like to start my cruise, getting settled in, enjoying and relaxing right away!

But, I actually know that there are people drive a full 12-15 hour drive, even  starting overnight, to get there that day.  Talk about pushing it!!!

 

Anyhow, if you were interested,  I don't know if there would be any way that you could try to get set up to fly 'standby' on any earlier flight?   I don't know much about that.  Something you could think about.  And, I don't know if change fees might be an issue if you tried to reschedule right now?

[llarsen]

We always fly in the day before. Our friends almost missed our cruise one time because they did not... and their connecting flight was delayed. 

 

But I imagine you have a non stop flight from Atlanta? If so, you are in better shape, you just need to 

hope your flight doesn't get cancelled due to shortage of pilot, weather etc. And usually, if you have an early flight, there is another later flight they could put you on if something goes wrong with the first one. BUT...the ship leaves at 3:30pm and all passengers must be on board by at least 2:30pm so that doesn't give you much wiggle room.

 

We are flying into Ft Lauderdale next month for the Sky and were tempted to arrive at 9:30am the same day of cruise. But with so many flight cancelations with all airlines since Covid, we decided just to fly in the night before and get a cheap hotel. ($177 wasn't that cheap, but compared to others it was the least amount)

 

Most airlines have No Change Fees for changing flights. If you are going to be stressing the whole time, maybe see if changing your flight to the day before is possible, if you are worried about it.

 

Happy Sailing!

[pathi]

For me it's all about relieving stress. Flying in the day before helps a lot.

[MrCruzeaddict]

2 minutes ago, pathi said:

For me it's all about relieving stress. Flying in the day before helps a lot.

Yes!  Remember.... You are on vacation. No need for that kind of stress. Living in Michigan, sailing in the winter, we always go in a day early.

 

jd

[PacnGoNow]

15 hours ago, dolphfan said:

Kind of worried that we should have flown in on the 13th. Do most people fly in the night before? 

Would never rely on same day flight.  So many things can go wrong with flights, weather etc.

If you are able to change your flight, I would.  

ATL is due to get rain during that period, but those aircrafts could be coming from snowy areas and be delayed or cancelled.

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

Flying in day of cruise *used* to be our normal MO.  That is until March 2022 when we were flying through ATL to FLL for a transatlantic on the Sky Princess!  Due to the crazy weather in the southeast that day (snow/ice) we were delayed getting to ATL and subsequently missed our connecting flight to FLL.  There were no other flights available that would get us to the ship on time.  So...we totally missed that TA cruise!  I *used* to pride myself on booking my own flights with minimal (but workable) connection times...now we have just made it our normal practice of going in at least 1 day early.

[nini]

We always arrive at least one day ahead. The only exception is we board in Seattle which is a 2.5 hour drive for us.

[Mike07]

21 hours ago, llarsen said:

But I imagine you have a non stop flight from Atlanta? If so, you are in better shape, you just need to 

hope your flight doesn't get cancelled due to shortage of pilot, weather etc

 

 

You can get to heaven or hell on Delta from Atlanta. Yes, it would be non-stop.

 

 

[franktown]

Always!!

[paradiselivin1]

We can drive to FLL in about 3 1/2 hours and used to arrive on the day of the cruise. I decided to go a day in advance years ago and take our time arriving more relaxed. It also gives me time to pick up last minute things in the shopping center a mile from the ship with a Total Wine and Publix. Happy travels!

[Wishing on a star]

We use Valutrips to book a discounted hotel with shuttle, there at the center that I think you are talking about.   So easy to pick up anything you might want pre-cruise.

 

Happy New Year 2023, everyone!!!!

 

[Tak8]

I try to fly in the day ahead of time. Never know what might happen and it's more relaxing 

 

[voljeep]

2 hours ago, paradiselivin1 said:

We can drive to FLL in about 3 1/2 hours and used to arrive on the day of the cruise. I decided to go a day in advance years ago and take our time arriving more relaxed. It also gives me time to pick up last minute things in the shopping center a mile from the ship with a Total Wine and Publix. Happy travels!

#UsToo - after the first time going the day before, now it's 'are we spending one night or two'?

[Buckeye10640]

On 12/30/2022 at 8:01 PM, dolphfan said:

Kind of worried that we should have flown in on the 13th. Do most people fly in the night before? 

Yes. Or preferably 2 days before given how the airlines have been, particularly in  the winter.