Preferred embarkation day

[Honolulu Blue]

This is a fairly simple question that was inspired by another post elsewhere - do you prefer weekend days or weekdays when embarking on your cruises? Thank you for your input.

[CDNPolar]

I personally don't have a preference.

 

There are probably flight schedule differences from your home city to the port city when flying weekday to weekend?

 

Never really considered this before, as we just sort of pick the cruise itinerary and the embarkation day is what it is.

 

I hope that folks explain why they choose one or the other to see if there are any reasons to reconsider our dates. 

[leaveitallbehind]

We have no preference and is almost always itinerary based - and basically only applies to 7-night cruises.  Longer itineraries typically either commence or end on a weekday, so weekend days may not apply.  

[K32682]

No preference. I suppose it could be argued that at some ports like Tampa a weekend departure might be preferred due to less traffic congestion in the immediate area but the day of the week we embark isn't a factor when booking a cruise. 

[lenquixote66]

We always preferred Sundays because many times we drove from Long Island ,NY to Baltimore and we did not want to deal with commercial traffic.

[ldubs]

I think vacation and holiday schedules might make weekends preferable to a lot of folks.   

 

Being retired, every day is the same as far as I'm concerned.  

[XBGuy]

I selected "No preference."

 

I am retired.  To me weekends and weekdays, pretty much, seem the same.  OK, there is more motorsports events on TV during the weekends.  So, that helps.

 

I can see where working people and people traveling with families having multiple schedules to manage might have a preference for weekends. but I have no data to support that assumption.

[Ferry_Watcher]

As someone who checks-in passengers, once a passenger arrives at the terminal, all days of the week are the same.  We still have ships cruising at capacity, and the tide of arriving passengers ebbs and flows.  With passengers arriving via Uber, taxi or dropped off by private car, it's a steady flow.  The biggest impact is when the airporter transfers in the motorcoaches arrive.  Unfortunately, the airporter buses arrive when they arrive, so you cannot time your arrival around the bus arrivals.

 

As for outside the gates of the terminal, Sundays (especially mornings/very early afternoon) are usually the easiest day, unless there is a professional sports game scheduled at one of the stadiums

Edited January 20 by Ferry_Watcher

[mjkacmom]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

We always preferred Sundays because many times we drove from Long Island ,NY to Baltimore and we did not want to deal with commercial traffic.

Same, we can get to the MCT in 25 minutes on a Sunday, and get home quickly.

[crystalspin]

Did not check anything. The only time this was a consideration was (as someone sail) the 7-day Alaska with two ships doing the same itinerary -- one with weekend start/stop and the other mid-week all summer long. It was suggested that mid-week would have fewer ships in all of the ports? Or something. I don't remember if it actually was a deciding factor or if I went with weekend for other conveniences.

 

We have teeshirts that proclaim: Every Day is Saturday!

[clo]

4 hours ago, ldubs said:

Being retired, every day is the same as far as I'm concerned.  

Ain't it wonderful to sometimes get confused about which day it actually is 🙂

[Hlitner]

I guess if you are taking shorter cruises out of Florida, the day makes a difference.  But for longer and more exotic cruises, we do not even consider the day of embarkation.  It is simply a matter of itinerary, price, and timing.  

 

Hank

[donaldsc]

I am retired.  Often I have to look at my phone to see what day of the week it is.  Now if the airfare was different on different days of the week it might matter.

 

DON

[MacMadame]

So far, all my cruises have embarked from the East Coast; for all but one, we lived on the West Coast. Because of time zone differences with a 5-hour flight, we have to either take a RedEye or fly in the day before.

 

There was a time when I would take a RedEye (and have), but these days I'd be too afraid of the flight being canceled at the last minute. So that means flying in the day before. 

 

 Since I'm still working, a Sunday embarkation usually means 1 fewer day off from work. But not always and the cruise leaves when the cruise leaves. 🤷‍♀️

[BklynBoy8]

When the terminal is located in an industrial area, Sunday can a quite day.

[George C]

Wife is still working so for a 7 day cruise we like Sunday , fly in a day early and then only 5 vacation days.

[TwinMamainMN]

As long as I get to cruise, I don’t care what day it is!