Flying to port the day of the cruise vs staying the night before?

[Snowball]

I've done both and its a lot more relaxing to arrive the day before. You get on the ship well rested and relaxed.

I agree. I've also done both, and would have to say that I enjoyed my first day of the cruise much more when I flew in the day before, because I was well rested and not stressed by dealing with the whole airport/luggage thing. Plus now you can get hotel rooms at most ports for really low prices through Priceline, so it doesn't even cost that much more to get in a day early.

[Sunshine101]

We like flying in the day before as well, but since you are getting in fairly early, you'll have no problems. The ship doesnt leave till 5pm, so dont worry! :)

[cruisinfamily]

We've done both as well. I'll tell ya, we live in California, and have had to take red-eye flights in order to board both in Miami, and in San Juan. Take that plus the time difference, and the first couple of days I'm exhausted (as are our kids!). We've never had trouble making it to the port on time or anything, but I didn't enjoy traveling like that. So, this last cruise on Voyager, we got there 2 days early. That made our vacation longer (which is never a bad thing!), and we got to relax a bit before the cruise. It was much nicer that way. This time around, we've made things even easier on ourselves, by cruising from the west coast where we live! I'm looking forward to driving ourselves to the port and not even having to deal with flights! :)

[allelect]

We sailed on the Navigator out of Miami this past March. The plane was on time, but RCI's transportation from the airport to the seaport left a lot to be desired. First, we couldn't find any RCI rep at the airport to direct us where to go. Then, we had about a 1 and 1/2 hour wait on the sidewalk waiting for a bus to go to the seaport. There were so many cruise lines with too few busses and too many passengers. So, if you're depending on RCI ground transportation, you might want to take that into account.

[mom2kazkids]

For our cruise in April 2005 we are not only looking at going the day before, but also looking at coming home the day after the cruise. It is amazing the price difference leaving on Monday over Sunday. Also we are traveling with two 4 year olds, so the idea of flying in the first day, getting on the Radiance the second day, sailing for 7 nights, getting off the ship on my son's 5th BD and coming home the next day really breaks things up for us.

 

Barb

[kyriecat]

Chelsea,

 

My husband and I took the San Juan cruise a couple of years ago and let RCI book our air travel. Because we were flying from Houston, I felt more comfortable letting RCI make the arrangements. I still haven't really decided if we made a mistake or not. We left Houston at 7 am, had a layover in Atlanta, another in Miami, and finally arrived in San Juan about 7:30 pm. By the time we got onboard, we were so exhausted, all we wanted to do was sleep. We LOVED the cruise and will do it again some day. Next time, there is no question that I will fly in the day before, but I don't know if I would book it through RCI again. I think the problem we ran into was RCI wanted to get as many passengers arriving at the same time as possible because the Miami flight was almost all RCI passengers. We stayed in San Juan for two nights after the cruise (loved that, too) and got a direct San Juan to Houston flight to return. If we had arrived the day before the flight, maybe RCI would have booked us a direct flight also.

[banderboo]

I have to say the day before. I hate the idea of being rushed or just plain worrying about anything when I start a vacation.

[safety300]

We have done both. Ou first cruise we flew in to Ft lauderdale the day we left no problems, out second on Navigator in Jan of 03 we also flew in same day, with air and transfers through RCI. We were also dissapointed with RCI at Miami airport, no one directing, stood outside in rain when director for 15 minutes watching other RCI guests leaving. Last FEb we crusied out of Port Canaveral and flew in the day before, it was great, we were to the ship when boarding started and in the pool by 2

[skigirl]

This is for Chelsea 17. Definitely go the day before and book your own air. You will have more flexibility and it gives you the chance to start your vacation one day earlier. We have never used RCCL air but as I understand it from these boards you will not necessarily get the quickest flight with the fewest connections. Yes, if there is a problem they MAY hold the ship or get you to the next port but think of all the stress and you''ve missed two days of vacation. Plus you can probably get a better deal on your own. We really love our day in San Juan precruise and would not give it up. On a cruise 2 years ago a flight down from Philly was cancelled and there were hundreds of folks who did not make either the AOS or the Destiny. It was a beautiful summer day so not a weather problem - point is you just never know.

[Merion_Mom]

We're on the Jewel out of Ft. Lauderdale for the New Year's cruise. Unfortunately, we have no choice: we HAVE TO fly in the morning of December 26, the date of departure, because my kids have to spend Christmas Day with their father. Aside from Valium, does anyone have any advice on how I can NOT be totally stressed flying in the day of the cruise in late December, notorious for bad weather on the east coast?

 

Carol

[Majesty Fan]

We will always fly or drive in the day before. Flying can be stressfull in itself. You never know what my go wrong. back in 99 flying in the day before for a Sunday cruise. Our flight from Hotlanta to Miami was 4 hours delayed due to a mechanical error. We were to land in Miami at 2pm we did not not even start boarding until 6pm. Then RCI did not have a bus to take us to the hotel! If you ever watch Airline on Mondays on A&E you will several time that cruisers have missed flights gettign into FLL because of over booking. This year we are doing a 6 night land vacation in Miami and the Keys prior to our cruise on the Navigator. I also book our own flights, hotels, rental cars myself.

Lexi

[njreindeer]

Thanks so much everyone for letting us know where you stand. It looks like the day before (or earlier) is the way to go for seasoned cruisers!

 

DH and I just read all of your posts and we decided that we're going to check on changing our flight. You're all so right, much less stress coming in a day early.

 

Thanks for all of your input! :) I just want us to be on that ship!

[jezzdogg]

We try to fly the day before, what with the stress of last minute packing, getting up early and to the airport, flying, etc......by the time you get to the ship, it has already been a long day. We were fly on an early flight from Newark to Orlando, the same day as the cruise, on SOS from Port Canveral. Plane was late coming in from Orlando, hence we left late, half way down-thunderstroms closed the Orlando airport-so we circle forever. In a panic I called RCCL, even though we did not purchase our air from the, we had purchased our transfers, yes they knew about the delays--everything would be ok. We were the last people on the ship, when we boarded they announced that the "........." had arrived so we could now sail--could not believe they held the ship the extra 1/2 hour, but it taught us to always fly the day before. This occurred in July, so anything can happen at anytime.

For the cruiser who asked about San Juan, we find we can always find better rates with the airlines that what the cruiseships offer. IsleVerde is not to far from the airport and has some nice hotels for all price ranges there. Love the Adventure of the Seas and her itiernary is great;

[alex_drew]

njreindeer, We live in Virginia, a couple of miles from DC and always go at least one day ahead if flying to Florida. I have really bad travel karma and the worst was my 50th birthday, going out of Fort Lauderdale on Saturday...flying on Thursday to make sure we were there and had time to explore Fort Lauderdale. Wednesday night (Valentine's day night) the phone rings...flight has been cancelled due to weather. What weather? It was February and I'd been worried about snow, but the last few days had been gorgeous, and I'd been so happy... FOG! No planes in or out that day, and, unfortunately, due to the Daytona 500 in Florida, no flights were available ON ANY AIRLINE until Sunday. How about out of NY? Anywhere? No, all flights from anywhere on the East coast were booked until Sunday. Our cruise was leaving on Saturday. I won't bore you with the details, but after calling all over, we ended up on the train for 24 hours, getting in Friday night...in time for our cruise on Saturday. I had a great 50th birthday. I spent it on the beach in Cozumel and there was a terrible snow/ice storm here at home that day...I cut out the pictures of the storm from the newspaper and put them in my cruise album next to the pictures of us on the beach that day.

[glrounds]

Last October flew a Delta redeye to Orlando from LAX. Left here at 10:35pm arrived at Orlando 6:07 am....slept like a baby on the 5 1/2 hour flight. Hit the Starbucks at the Orlando airport, read the newspaper, and caught the Carnival bus to the GLORY at Port Canaveral. Everything worked fine. Got to the Cape about 10:30, waited in line maybe 45 minutes and boarded the ship. :)

Slick ! !

[just4kixx]

OT to mom2kazkids: DH & I will be joining you on the Radiance 4/10/05! So glad to find fellow passengers this early on! There was a (very small) thread started on the M&M board. Stop by and introduce yourself :D

 

A