Does this make sense?

[Ziggys]

Hi

We booked through a travel agent for cruise (Navigator, Jan 20th) and flight. The flight she booked for us on was landing at 2h55pm in MIA and cruise departure is at 5h00pm at Port of Miami. Is that a reasonable delay between landing and boarding the ship? I thought we we're cutting it a little short on time. So I had her change it. We are arriving the night before.

Just wondering for next time!!!!

Thanks for all the help.

Ziggy

[Sunrunner3]

I think you made a good choice changing your flights, we always arrive a day early that way if the flights happen to be delayed then your not rushing to the pier or missing the ship! Plus your travelling in January and depending on where you are travelling from there could be snow delays!

[Alexis]

Hi

We booked through a travel agent for cruise (Navigator, Jan 20th) and flight. The flight she booked for us on was landing at 2h55pm in MIA and cruise departure is at 5h00pm at Port of Miami. Is that a reasonable delay between landing and boarding the ship? I thought we we're cutting it a little short on time. So I had her change it. We are arriving the night before.

Just wondering for next time!!!!

Thanks for all the help.

Ziggy

 

No, it does not make sense. Unless they can give you a good excuse on why they had you booked that way, I would change travel agents.

The only excuse to me would be if it was the only flight there from where you live.

[lmmn]

Hi

We booked through a travel agent for cruise (Navigator, Jan 20th) and flight. The flight she booked for us on was landing at 2h55pm in MIA and cruise departure is at 5h00pm at Port of Miami. Is that a reasonable delay between landing and boarding the ship? I thought we we're cutting it a little short on time. So I had her change it. We are arriving the night before.

Just wondering for next time!!!!

Thanks for all the help.

Ziggy

 

Good choice...your travel agent should know better.

[SLH]

Hi

We booked through a travel agent for cruise (Navigator, Jan 20th) and flight. The flight she booked for us on was landing at 2h55pm in MIA and cruise departure is at 5h00pm at Port of Miami. Is that a reasonable delay between landing and boarding the ship? I thought we we're cutting it a little short on time. So I had her change it. We are arriving the night before.

Just wondering for next time!!!!

Thanks for all the help.

Ziggy

I can't believe you TA would have you arrive only 2 hours before the ship leaves! Get rid of this TA they obviously have not heard of plane delays or cancellations. Especially in the winter getting in the night before is the smartest thing to do. Takes all the stress out. Enjoy!

[BobBeaSea]

You made a good decision to change your flight. Your TA must not be very familiar with booking cruises. I have flown into Miami many times and I can tell you there are times it will take up to an hour before you get your luggage. I believe for security reasons all passengers are required onboard an hour before scheduled departure time. Assuming everything had gone on schedule you may have just made it although I doubt it....get a new TA :)

[vmom]

Yes, That is way too close! The ship leaves at 5:00 but all passengers are to be on an hour before, which would be 4:00. That would have basically left you an hour to get off the plane, get your luggage, get a cab and hope there is no traffic, and get to the ship. Any number of things could have caused a delay including traffic in Miami, bad weather, etc.

 

You made the right decision to go in the night before. I'd get another travel agent who knows more about cruising.

[Bell Ringer]

I will never forget the anxiety that our family had on our last Majesty cruise. We had left Richmond at 8:30 am, and were to arrive in MIA at 1:12pm. (plenty of time, or so we thought) Delays, delays etc and we were still in the air at 3:30! Since we had arranged all this with RCL, they did have a bus waiting for us. About 30% of our plane was in the same status, so the bus was overpacked. We got to the ship and they wouldn't let us even go to our cabins as the Lifeboat drill was being held as we arrived. PANIC! I will never agree to cutting it that close again!

You made the best decision to change flights, especially in Jan.! Have a fantastic trip and you will also be rested when you get to the ship.

[Aunu]

Hi

We booked through a travel agent for cruise (Navigator, Jan 20th) and flight. The flight she booked for us on was landing at 2h55pm in MIA and cruise departure is at 5h00pm at Port of Miami. Is that a reasonable delay between landing and boarding the ship? I thought we we're cutting it a little short on time. So I had her change it. We are arriving the night before.

Just wondering for next time!!!!

Thanks for all the help.

Ziggy

 

Hi Ziggy~ Im on this same cruise, theres a small group of us over on the roll call, please come and join us!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=373987

[cb at sea]

Always remember that boarding day is your 1st day of the cruise!!! (Day of departure can't really be counted, as they hustle you off as fast as they can!) So it's best to arrive early and start taking advantage of the ship's amenities that you've paid dearly for!

[kingsgirl]

Hi

We booked through a travel agent for cruise (Navigator, Jan 20th) and flight. The flight she booked for us on was landing at 2h55pm in MIA and cruise departure is at 5h00pm at Port of Miami. Is that a reasonable delay between landing and boarding the ship? I thought we we're cutting it a little short on time. So I had her change it. We are arriving the night before.

Just wondering for next time!!!!

Thanks for all the help.

Ziggy

 

If you want to be sure you're a-okay with getting to the ship on time, buying flights through RCI is a good way. It can be a little more $ but you know you can go the day your cruise leaves and come home the day you come back and saves you the extra money for hotels before and after. Just another option to add if you were still looking for any. Good thing for staying on top of your travel agent!

[mikeblum]

this is the exact reason why you do a pre-nite...especially to avoid weather or other travel issue's...traveling the day of embarkation leaves the door open for aggrevation...it's easy for me to make this statement..."don't be cheap and spend the money for the hotel room"...you'll board the ship a lot more relaxed and in comfort...end of discussion...we done it on 12 of our last 13 cruises...the only one we didn't was the first one...we ddin't know any better...

[pmshirl]

If you want to be sure you're a-okay with getting to the ship on time, buying flights through RCI is a good way. It can be a little more $ but you know you can go the day your cruise leaves and come home the day you come back and saves you the extra money for hotels before and after. Just another option to add if you were still looking for any. Good thing for staying on top of your travel agent!

 

Hmmm! Just finished a Cruise in Oct. 2006 was to arrive in LA to embark the Radiance to Hawaii. Everything was booked threw a TA and air was through RC also. Flight arrived in LA at 1:15pm. The problem was Rc buses to transport the PAX to the Port. The Rep from Rc stated only 10 people were allowed at a time on the bus, (now this was a big chartered bus) when we inquired as to why, since there were at least 75 PAX waiting for a bus transfer, we were told, it was a law in CAL. from the RC rep. I never heard of such a LAW. To the point, we got the next bus which arrive 2 hrs after the 1st bus, now there are still 50 PAX after us to wait for a BUS, when we arrived at Port the Muster Drill was in progress and we were told to go to our cabin (skip the muster drill) and the cabin steward would inform us where our Muster Stations would be, if needed for an emergency! I really didnt mind missing the Muster Drill, since I have Cruised 20+ times, but I was concerned for the other Pax who may have been still waiting for a BUS. There is no guarentee if you book through Rc, with the insurance you can get a free ride to the next port if you miss the ship, but if your 1st port is 4 days later, you still miss outon part of your Cruise! I have been in other situations (delays of the plane) and just made port by the skin of my teeth. Best to go the day before than to be Sorry.

[ciderapple]

You have so done the right thing by changing to flying in the night before.

 

How can a travel agent be so dippy??!! :mad:

[Pumbaamd]

If you are staying the night before in Miami, check out the Holiday Inn across the street from "Bayside". Not a fancy hotel, but very convenient. Bayside has restaurants and shopping and entertainment. The morning of, you are less than a 10 minute ride to the ship. And, the Holiday Inn has breakfast. Check it out.

[Sheffie]

Hi, Ziggy!!!!!!

 

I am so glad you changed your flights! I cannot believe your TA did that to you. She needs to come and read these boards to learn things!

[Dockman123]

If you are staying the night before in Miami, check out the Holiday Inn across the street from "Bayside". Not a fancy hotel, but very convenient. Bayside has restaurants and shopping and entertainment. The morning of, you are less than a 10 minute ride to the ship. And, the Holiday Inn has breakfast. Check it out.

 

I checked Holiday this morning and there is no availability on the 19th of Jan.

[wrp96]

How can a travel agent be so dippy??!! :mad:

 

It's not just travel agents. I saw a post today where RCCL cruise air has booked somebody on a flight arriving at 2:30 for a 5pm departure on the Navigator. Since RCCL doesn't even follow their own policy that flights shouldn't arrive any later than 2pm, why should an inexperienced TA know any differently.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

WOW, that is close.....too close for comfort!

You'll be glad that you are now going the day prior, you'll be all rested and relaxed ready to go in the morning!! Going the day prior is the ONLY way to start your cruise!! :D

 

pmshirl....I never heard of that either!! I doubt if it is really a CA law??!!??:eek: But who knows could be........I would of taken a cab or shuttle instead of waiting, that was cutting it too close!

 

 

***

[greencruiser1]

Oh, you will be so happy you changed that -- if anything for the peace of mind. We booked on the Navigator for the 9-16-06 cruise and purchased cruise/air/insurance thru RCI. Our flight was to arrive in Miami before noon so didn't think we'd have a problem.....this was our 1st cruise, btw -- and due to weather delays (fog of all things), we didn't arrive until 4:45 pm and ultimately missed her. It was a very stressful day between dealing with the airline and RCI in arranging our lodging, travel arrangements to the next port -- 3 days later!! Never again will we cruise/fly the same day.

[phantom728]

If you are staying the night before in Miami, check out the Holiday Inn across the street from "Bayside". Not a fancy hotel, but very convenient. Bayside has restaurants and shopping and entertainment. The morning of, you are less than a 10 minute ride to the ship. And, the Holiday Inn has breakfast. Check it out.

 

Agree on this hotel. We stayed there in Jan 05 and it was great. We spent the day at Bayside, then got up early the next day and was on the ship by 11:30 am:D .

 

Also agree you made the right decision on the flight. We decided on the day before departure and glad we did. We ended up with snow arriving that day and were the only flight out that day and the next till the afternoon, so we would have missed the ship if we had gone that morning.

 

Enjoy and have a fantastic time!

[maurick]

In Bayonne long term parking for passengers. We will not be sailing out of this port until you or whoever is in charge of this area..takes care of this problem.

[maurick]

So sorry ..my post is in wrong area. Any way to get rid of it.

[Bruin Steve]

First, to pmshirl, I'm a California Lawyer and I have never heard of such a law...A lot of folks like to BS people on all sorts of issues with "It would be against the law to..."...When someone starts with that, they are usually BSing you...

 

As to when to fly in for a cruise, my STANDARD RULE is:

When flying to a cruise in North America, fly in at least ONE DAY EARLY...

When flying to a cruise in Europe, fly in at least TWO DAYS EARLY...

 

Jet lag, time changes, flight delays, missed connections ...and simple miscalculations of time...

 

My very first cruise, we had a redeye arriving the morning of the cruise...and we were so worn out that we had the worst night that first night of the cruise...

 

My parents did a Baltic cruise a couple of years ago...and, luckily, we booked them for two nights pre-cruise in London...They were to fly to London, changing planes in Chicago...Their flight was delayed out of LAX and they missed the connection in Chicago...and the next available flight was THE NEXT DAY...They had to scramble for a hotel in Chicago for that night and had to cancel some plans in London...Not very pleasant at all--but think how unpleasant it would have been had they planned it to fly in THE DAY OF THE CRUISE!!!

 

I don't like the anxiety of dealing with airlines and airports...nowadays, there always seem to be problems and delays...

 

That said, for my June/July two cruises and Disney trip, we're flying on a red eye, arriving the day of the cruise...Couldn't help it...my wife HAS TO work the day before...At least our flight arrives at 7 am and the ship doesn't sail until 5 pm...

[TahoeBob]

Two years ago on our cruise on the Vision We had the choice of flying from Reno or Sacramento to LA, we took Sacramento the day before. On our cruise I met some people who left from Reno the same day. It is only a 1 hour 20 minute flight. There flight should have left Reno 9:00 A.M. After hours of fog delays they finally got the ship 20 minutes before it left.