Flurry of questions

[Monarda55]

I apologize if this is an idiotic question, but I’m a cautious sort and like to make sure I’m not overlooking anything obvious. My sister and I are thinking of taking two HAL cruises in February, both sailing from Ft. Lauderdale. The second cruise leaves the same day that the first one returns, but it’s on a different ship. So essentially we’d be leaving one ship, and rolling our luggage along to another ship. Right?  Are there any potential complications I might be missing?

 

How far apart are the piers, i.e. would we need to take a taxi from one ship to the other?

 

Do *both* passengers in a stateroom have to sign up for internet? One of us needs internet to keep up with matters at home, but the other neither needs nor wants it.

 

Last question, is a HAL airport transfer possible for a flight that arrives 3.5 hours before the posted sail time? We can take an earlier flight, but it’s considerably more expensive. 

 

Thank you in advance for your collective wisdom.  🙂

[oakridger]

Sounds exciting!  It's referred to as a "Side by Side" cruise where you go from one ship to another the same day.  Totally doable!  Depending on your mobility and which piers the ships are docked, a taxi may be needed, especially with luggage. Your call.

 

No, both passengers do not have to purchase internet.

 

Me?  I would take a taxi or Uber/Lyft to the port, but I doubt a HAL transfer is even available that near to sail away. Don't know for sure.

 

You will hear from me and many others that arriving the day of, so close to sail away is a HUGE risk. Are you willing to miss the cruise?  Have trip insurance. Really, please come into town the day before!  

 

~Nancy

Edited December 10, 2023 by oakridger

[Monarda55]

Thank you so much for your reply. I’m glad to know what it’s called; I’ve never heard the term side-by-side cruise before!

 

We can’t arrive the day before, but we’ll definitely buy the platinum trip insurance and will probably take an earlier flight. 
 

And that’s good news about the internet, thank you!

[oakridger]

Earlier flight will help.  Glad to hear you will have insurance.  Good luck!

 

Have a great trip!

[The-Inside-Cabin]

3 hours ago, Monarda55 said:

I apologize if this is an idiotic question, but I’m a cautious sort and like to make sure I’m not overlooking anything obvious. My sister and I are thinking of taking two HAL cruises in February, both sailing from Ft. Lauderdale. The second cruise leaves the same day that the first one returns, but it’s on a different ship. So essentially we’d be leaving one ship, and rolling our luggage along to another ship. Right?  Are there any potential complications I might be missing?

 

How far apart are the piers, i.e. would we need to take a taxi from one ship to the other?

 

Do *both* passengers in a stateroom have to sign up for internet? One of us needs internet to keep up with matters at home, but the other neither needs nor wants it.

 

Last question, is a HAL airport transfer possible for a flight that arrives 3.5 hours before the posted sail time? We can take an earlier flight, but it’s considerably more expensive. 

 

Thank you in advance for your collective wisdom.  🙂

FYI - According to the HAL cruise contract (iv)

 

2. GUEST’S OBLIGATIONS.

"Arrive at least two hours before the scheduled or amended sailing time and have with You all required documentation. Attach a completed Carrier luggage tag to each piece of baggage."

 

Your boarding pass will say you must be on board at least 1 hour prior.  So if  you land on time - it will take you at least 20 minutes to get your luggage - 10 minutes to catch a taxi - 15 minutes (assuming no traffic) to get to Port Everglades.   This gives you a 45-minute buffer before you are "LATE"   I don't think they would deny boarding if you showed up 30 minutes prior to sailing - but they would be operating within the contract you agreed to if they did deny boarding.  There is a Homeland Security requirement that the ship has to submit the final passenger manifest one hour prior to sailing  - More HERE

 

"The DHS requires cruise lines to provide a final passenger manifest at least an hour before departure. The deadline is one reason why cruise lines have encouraged passengers to provide their personal information well in advance of sailing via online check-in."

 

I wouldn't risk it - unless you have already figured out how to fly to the next port - And if you don't have a passport since this is a round trip where you could use a Birth Certificate - you will be out of luck if you miss because you will need a passport to fly out of the USA.

 

It's possible - but very risky - Especially in February when bad weather and airline delays are not uncommon.

 

Edited December 10, 2023 by The-Inside-Cabin

[doone]

Very risky flying the same day as sailing.  However, if you need to do that, I would book my air through Holland America, that way they are responsible for getting you to the pier and the cruise line knows where you are.  IF you are late and they sail without you, the cruise line will get you to the next stop.  BUT I would never fly in the same day as sailing without booking air through Holland America.

Enjoy your back to back cruises....sounds exciting.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

1 hour ago, doone said:

Very risky flying the same day as sailing.  However, if you need to do that, I would book my air through Holland America, that way they are responsible for getting you to the pier and the cruise line knows where you are.  IF you are late and they sail without you, the cruise line will get you to the next stop.  BUT I would never fly in the same day as sailing without booking air through Holland America.

Enjoy your back to back cruises....sounds exciting.

I wonder if HAL would even book a flight that close - I have never used their service.  But that is a good idea if  you have to arrive last minute

Edited December 10, 2023 by The-Inside-Cabin

[Mosaic]

Try to fly down previous day, period.

 

The HAL terminals are NOT necessarily next to each other.  They can be far apart and not walkable.  Also, the terminal that they are assigned can change...just keep that in mind. It is a BIG port.

Best wishes and you will have a great time!

[doone]

4 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

I wonder if HAL would even book a flight that close - I have never used their service.  But that is a good idea if  you have to arrive last minute

Not sure they would either, but I think they would have a better chance of getting to the ship if they need to fly same day as sailing by booking air with HAL.......I just wouldn't fly in same day as sailing, too much can go wrong, especially now a days with how the airlines are...............hopefully HAL Air Dept. can help them.

Edited December 10, 2023 by doone

[Toofarfromthesea]

12 hours ago, Monarda55 said:

Thank you so much for your reply. I’m glad to know what it’s called; I’ve never heard the term side-by-side cruise before!

 

We can’t arrive the day before, but we’ll definitely buy the platinum trip insurance and will probably take an earlier flight. 
 

And that’s good news about the internet, thank you!

 

I live near Phoenix and I have a 1/2024 cruise out of San Diego.  It's about an hour long flight and I'm going from one warm weather site that never gets snow to another warm weather site that never gets snow.  I briefly considered flying in to San Diego on the morning of embarcation but in the end I booked my flight for the day before and booked a hotel for one night.

 

For me, this is one of those "it's never a problem until it is a problem, and then it's a very big problem" situations.  I'm not going to tell you what to do, but were it me I'd do whatever it takes to fly in a day early.

[OlsSalt]

Should be an easy 2.5 hour direct flight between Santa Barbara and Seattle - two fair-weather destinations, but one flight offered has only 49 minute layover at SFO between the two connecting flights and plane change.  Not taking that chance for a 53 day cruise, if the luggage or even us can't make that short of a connection.

 

 Others flights actually go through Los Angeles, Denver or Phoenix with longer connections turning them into 7 hour flights. Or they arrive late at night, into the next day.  At least our luggage would keep up with us with those long layover choices. 

 

So our own choice for our 2.5 hour direct flight between our two points, is to come in the day before because that became the only way to get the direct flight choice from our  little home airport - Alaska Airlines - only works with a Seattle overnight.

 

With this myriad of choices we had, we too agree - chose the one that gets you in a day before.  And the more direct, the better.

 

One flight between Santa Barbara and FLL landed in Denver in the middle of a freak snowstorm that day - runways and planes had to be de-iced. Connections needed to be made on ground in the snow, when I was dressed for landing in Florida. Total chaos and changed boarding gates, yet I finally came into FLL only an hour late. 

 

Boston, there was another massive, freak rainstorm that even prevented transit from the airport to the cruise terminal so many same day arrival passengers missed even being able to board the ship. We had slipped in just an hour before it started raining ourselves, having stayed in an airport hotel.  So even though we came in a day before, the transit to the ship from the airport area was weather-compromised.

[albingirl]

I am one of those remarkable people who have actually missed a cruise because of flights.  The flight was in April, who'd figure there would be problems.  The flight was delayed due to ice on the wings, delayed further in Atlanta due to fog, delayed further due to the drink cart not being delivered to the aircraft, and when we finally got to Miami, they couldn't open the plane door.  Well, this was a Celebrity cruise, way back in time, but we didn't get there in time.  Missed it by minutes, but the manifest is the manifest, and that was that.  It was very sad.  Do not let this happen to you.

[Sir PMP]

14 hours ago, Monarda55 said:

I apologize if this is an idiotic question, but I’m a cautious sort and like to make sure I’m not overlooking anything obvious. My sister and I are thinking of taking two HAL cruises in February, both sailing from Ft. Lauderdale. The second cruise leaves the same day that the first one returns, but it’s on a different ship. So essentially we’d be leaving one ship, and rolling our luggage along to another ship. Right?  Are there any potential complications I might be missing?

 

How far apart are the piers, i.e. would we need to take a taxi from one ship to the other?

 

Do *both* passengers in a stateroom have to sign up for internet? One of us needs internet to keep up with matters at home, but the other neither needs nor wants it.

 

Last question, is a HAL airport transfer possible for a flight that arrives 3.5 hours before the posted sail time? We can take an earlier flight, but it’s considerably more expensive. 

 

Thank you in advance for your collective wisdom.  🙂

Two things: you leave a day early and spend the night in a hotel, and the terminals are usually 26 and 18, which means you just need to cross the street, there is also a shuttle that goes around the terminals.

[ExArkie]

14 hours ago, Monarda55 said:

I apologize if this is an idiotic question, but I’m a cautious sort and like to make sure I’m not overlooking anything obvious. My sister and I are thinking of taking two HAL cruises in February, both sailing from Ft. Lauderdale. The second cruise leaves the same day that the first one returns, but it’s on a different ship. So essentially we’d be leaving one ship, and rolling our luggage along to another ship. Right?  Are there any potential complications I might be missing?

 

How far apart are the piers, i.e. would we need to take a taxi from one ship to the other?

 

Do *both* passengers in a stateroom have to sign up for internet? One of us needs internet to keep up with matters at home, but the other neither needs nor wants it.

 

Last question, is a HAL airport transfer possible for a flight that arrives 3.5 hours before the posted sail time? We can take an earlier flight, but it’s considerably more expensive. 

 

Thank you in advance for your collective wisdom.  🙂

The port Web site can give you information about the terminal locations. https://www.porteverglades.net/cruise/terminals/
 

If you’re lucky, the ships will be close together. They may be quite some distance apart, though. See the photo on the page I linked to

[sambamama]

You are also forgetting that now many airlines fly the plane in from a previous flight. What if that plane does not come? What if your flight crew worked a previous flight and times out? I ALWAYS fly a day early, and usually in the morning and many times two. It just isn't worth it. The money you save isn't worth it. When you miss your cruise, you will be regretting ignoring this advice. One cruise my friend and I flew in 2 nights early. We were the last flight out of our airport. All the rest of the flights along the East Coast the next day never made it for the cruise. Another cruise I took out of San  Diego. There was a big problem in TX. They held the sailing for 4 hours for 200 passengers. Most did not have their luggage and we sailed to Hawaii. 

[Monarda55]

Just wanted to say Thank You to everyone who took the time to respond to my questions. It seems like excellent advice, and we’ll try to figure out a way to fly down a day early. I’m not a particularly experienced traveler, and have been pretty lucky with flights so far, so it’s given me a false sense of confidence. The stories of delayed flights and missed cruises were eye-opening to say the least. 
 

This board is such a great resource, thank you!

[doone]

6 hours ago, Monarda55 said:

Just wanted to say Thank You to everyone who took the time to respond to my questions. It seems like excellent advice, and we’ll try to figure out a way to fly down a day early. I’m not a particularly experienced traveler, and have been pretty lucky with flights so far, so it’s given me a false sense of confidence. The stories of delayed flights and missed cruises were eye-opening to say the least. 
 

This board is such a great resource, thank you!

Please let us know what you decide and how you enjoyed your cruise.....

[pmjnh]

@Monarda55  We did a side by side cruise earlier this year. Both ships HAL ..there were 24 people on the ship who did the same. They assigned us last group off the ship , we collected our luggage like all other passengers in the departure hall.  and actually provided a bus for us to the next pier. It was the shortest bus ride I have ever experienced! They considered us "in transit" and were checked in swiftly and bypassed all waiting in the hall for embarkation. It was a remarkably thorough process.  Enjoy!

Edited December 11, 2023 by pmjnh

[OlsSalt]

We did a side by side once and we could have just tossed our things off the aft deck of the old Rotterdam to the waiting Maasdam  right behind us in port since we were that close.  But we had to start all over, when we transferred to the Maasdam.

 

Porters did wheel our luggage down to the new embarkation point, and they tried to put us at the head the line. This led to well-deserved boos from the waiting passengers already gathered.  Which  sent us to the back of the line, as it should have.

 

No special perks for doing a side by side obviously, on that cruise. Except getting to extend our days at sea  for another couple of weeks. Reward enough. 

[skrufy]

Just a couple of suggestions. Flying the same day. Catch the earliest flight and a non stop if possible. Leaving early and arriving early leaves you a small buffer in case there’s any flight delays. Just curios, where are you located?

[Haljo1935]

On 12/9/2023 at 11:16 PM, Monarda55 said:

Thank you so much for your reply. I’m glad to know what it’s called; I’ve never heard the term side-by-side cruise before!

 

We can’t arrive the day before, but we’ll definitely buy the platinum trip insurance and will probably take an earlier flight. 
 

And that’s good news about the internet, thank you!

You can share internet if the person buying the package doesn't mind the other person using their log in. If the 2nd person doesn't need it at all, no sharing required. 

Excursion dept can tell you the latest flight arrival time for which they'll allow you to use their shuttle. The port is very close to the airport so Uber and Taxi are viable options.