I almost missed my cruise!

[hurricane0226]

3 minutes ago, Butterbean1000 said:

We flew to Miami on the morning of our first cruise from Atlanta.  We really didn't know any better.  Our flight was around 9am.  The weather turned ugly.  There were tornado watches for most of the state.  Our plane was over 2 hours late leaving.  We made it in time, but we learned our lesson.   You just never know what could happen.  Thankfully the ride to the port was noneventful. We learned our lesson, we always leave a day or two early.

we live in north florida, and leave a day before our cruise out of port Canaveral or tampa, even though they are only 4 hour drives, never know about a flat tire or such

[natefish95]

3 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

DH and I booked flights to Rome 5 days before our cruise knowing flights can screw you over and bottom line we wanted to make our cruise. Fortunately all went well and we were able to travel around Italy ahead of our cruise. Now we are flying to Tokyo in July for a  CB land trip. So far, so good!👍😁

I loved reading your review from your European cruise and Italy adventure. It looked awesome! I'm toying with the idea of doing a live review of my upcoming cruise since it's such a unique itinerary and trip for most. 

[ninjacat123]

1 hour ago, natefish95 said:

I loved reading your review from your European cruise and Italy adventure. It looked awesome! I'm toying with the idea of doing a live review of my upcoming cruise since it's such a unique itinerary and trip for most. 

Do it!! I’m so excited about our upcoming Japan trip and your live review would help so much!! Yes, it’s all about me😁

[natefish95]

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

Do it!! I’m so excited about our upcoming Japan trip and your live review would help so much!! Yes, it’s all about me😁

What’s the best way to post? I’m using my phone now and am going to see if attaching a picture shows up normal or fugly. I want the picture to show up in text and not as an attachment. I swear I’m a tech savvy millennial!

 

[natefish95]

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

Do it!! I’m so excited about our upcoming Japan trip and your live review would help so much!! Yes, it’s all about me😁

Phew it worked! I guess I'll try a live review! Look for me on the NCL forum in early April. I'm spending a week traveling around Japan before the cruise (assuming there's no flight disruptions...)

[ninjacat123]

11 minutes ago, natefish95 said:

What’s the best way to post? I’m using my phone now and am going to see if attaching a picture shows up normal or fugly. I want the picture to show up in text and not as an attachment. I swear I’m a tech savvy millennial!

 

If your pic shows that it’s not right side up, delete it. Then go back to your camera roll, take a screenshot of said pic, edit it so your pic time, location doesn’t show and select it again for your post. It should show right side up. 

[ninjacat123]

13 minutes ago, natefish95 said:

Phew it worked! I guess I'll try a live review! Look for me on the NCL forum in early April. I'm spending a week traveling around Japan before the cruise (assuming there's no flight disruptions...)

Please post a link here so I can follow when you start your review. So excited for you!! 👍😁

[angelsfort]

We live in Orlando and my daughter and her friends booked a cruise out of Miami (about a 4 hour drive) - they left Orlando bright and early, thinking they'd have to sit around and wait at the terminal before being able to get in...  (good thing they did!)

 

they got a flat tire about an hour out from the terminal and didn't have a spare tire!  And being 3 hours from home, nobody around that could come and get them taken care of.  They tried calling around to see if anyone could get a tire to them - but everyone gave them a 3-4 hour window of when they could get out there.

they ended up calling an Uber (LOL to pick them up on the side of the interstate!!) and left the car on the interstate (one of the dads was gonna go later that day to retrieve the car, with a spare tire in hand).   They had less than an hour before final boarding but they were an hour out...  that Uber driver worked a miracle and managed to get them to the terminal literally as they were closing the doors.  (LOL she understood the assignment and put the pedal to the medal!  she also earned herself a hefty $100 CASH tip for her efforts)

I ended up driving down there to pick them back up again and get them home (since they no longer had their own transportation) - LOL was a nice long day of driving but way more exciting in the second half, once my kid and her friends were in the car with me.  Talking non-stop and messing around.  (until they fell asleep and silence took over the car)

[dallasdan]

On 2/26/2024 at 3:18 PM, kew1031 said:

we have a 4 hour drive to Galveston, and we go the day before. Traffic can be terrible and I am not willing to take that chance! 

My drive is a little over 5 hours and I drive the night before for the same reason, Houston traffic can be a nightmare.

[Ferry_Watcher]

As someone who checks in cruise passengers, we can usually tell the passengers who have traveled the day of the cruse.  These folks are often exhausted, a little grumpy, and usually short with their traveling companion.  All they want to do is get on the cruise ship.

 

These folks will let us know that they have been awake since 4 AM so they could catch their flight from the East Coast.  Or they will tell us about a cancelled flight, flights with last minute changes in departure time, or not uncommon, weather delays (usually thunderstorms).

 

We also hear from our PNW neighbors who decided to drive up from Portland OR, leaving their house at 11 AM for a 4 PM sail-a-way, and realizing the typical 3 hour drive from Portland to Seattle takes a lot longer because of summer road construction and traffic in general. Or the folks who live east of out mountains (Eastern WA or Idaho) who decide to drive over the mountain passes, and can hit heavy rain, or even some snow at the summit.

 

You just never know when you will hit traffic.  Last Fall we were sailing out of Pier 91 (where I work) and we were being driven down (via back roads due to where we live).  It was a Sunday, and we expected an easy drive in.  There is a very large and busy intersection and we became aware that traffic was really slowing down and it was very congested.  As we got closer to the intersection (15th & Market for any one who lives in Seattle), we realized that the all the traffic lights were out.  Because this intersection is so big with multiple turn lanes and bus lanes, plus pedestrians trying to cross, everyone was trying to figure out whose turn it was to go thru, and in what order.  It probably took us a good 30 minutes to clear the intersection from when we got close enough to figure out what the problem/delay was.  So our normal 45 minute drive took about 75+ minutes.

 

You just never know what you will run into on your way to your cruise, but giving yourself lots of time does help.  

[kew1031]

4 hours ago, dallasdan said:

My drive is a little over 5 hours and I drive the night before for the same reason, Houston traffic can be a nightmare.

You must be just north of us. We live on the north side of Ellis County. 4 hour drive is being optimistic, but it's easier than leaving from, say. Plano!

[abby1257]

Same thing happened to us....we were supposed to land in Miami  at 11:30.....flight delayed, delayed, delayed, arrived in Miami at 2:15.  had to get luggage and grab a cab, literally the LAST ONES on the ship, they closed the doors behind us.  Lesson learned, go the day before., mind you, I actually didn't expect anything different from Air Canada, they actually won first place for the airline being late the most.  Congrats Air Canada, you lost another client.  I'd rather hop skip and jump the day before my cruise, than rely on Air Canada with a direct flight.  They are the WORST AIRLINE

[jsglow]

3 minutes ago, abby1257 said:

Same thing happened to us....we were supposed to land in Miami  at 11:30.....flight delayed, delayed, delayed, arrived in Miami at 2:15.  had to get luggage and grab a cab, literally the LAST ONES on the ship, they closed the doors behind us.  Lesson learned, go the day before., mind you, I actually didn't expect anything different from Air Canada, they actually won first place for the airline being late the most.  Congrats Air Canada, you lost another client.  I'd rather hop skip and jump the day before my cruise, than rely on Air Canada with a direct flight.  They are the WORST AIRLINE

You mentioned that you learned your lesson. Having a flight scheduled to land at MIA at 11:30a is asking for trouble with a capital T. I'd put the odds of missing the cruise at more than 10% the moment that flight was booked.

[abby1257]

2 minutes ago, jsglow said:

You mentioned that you learned your lesson. Having a flight scheduled to land at MIA at 11:30a is asking for trouble with a capital T. I'd put the odds of missing the cruise at more than 10% the moment that flight was booked.

Actually I just looked back, it was 9:30....I have probably flown into Miami the day of my cruise at least 10 times and NEVER missed the ship, had lots of time but this last time....nope ....to close for me...always the day before now

[jsglow]

11 minutes ago, abby1257 said:

Actually I just looked back, it was 9:30....I have probably flown into Miami the day of my cruise at least 10 times and NEVER missed the ship, had lots of time but this last time....nope ....to close for me...always the day before now

9:30 is a different animal for sure.

[ontheweb]

44 minutes ago, abby1257 said:

Same thing happened to us....we were supposed to land in Miami  at 11:30.....flight delayed, delayed, delayed, arrived in Miami at 2:15.  had to get luggage and grab a cab, literally the LAST ONES on the ship, they closed the doors behind us.  Lesson learned, go the day before., mind you, I actually didn't expect anything different from Air Canada, they actually won first place for the airline being late the most.  Congrats Air Canada, you lost another client.  I'd rather hop skip and jump the day before my cruise, than rely on Air Canada with a direct flight.  They are the WORST AIRLINE

Air Canada!

 

NCL put us on Air Canada this summer Newark to Montreal and then Montreal to Heathrow. The first flight kept getting delayed. i kept asking if it would be a problem catching our second flight and was told no. We finally got off the ground. I spoke with the lady sharing our row of 3 who was Canadian and said Air Canada was always delayed. We had flown with them once before going home for a cruise and they were delayed. We landed and then waited and waited for a place for the airplane to park. We literally ran to our new gate where they were already boarding our second flight. And it was the only Air Canada flight we have ever been on that was not delayed. 🤦‍♂️