Flying in day of cruise ?

[loops]

We are looking at a flight that arrives in Orlando at 11:40, ship sails at 4:00 are we allowing ourselves enough time? We would be flying out of Newark, NJ in December.

[lvsatman]

How many different ways will people on this board come up with to say no? I put the over/under at 27.

Trying to fly in from the New York area the late morning of the cruise day is a really bad idea. You are going to be putting your entire vacation in the hands of the airlines getting you to Orlando in anything resembling on-time. Spend the $100 for a hotel, and come in the night before, this is stress you do not need when going on vacation. We are sailing from L.A. in August, and just to be safe, are driving in from Las Vegas the night before. This cruise costs way to much to miss the boat.

[JLC@SD]

We are looking at a flight that arrives in Orlando at 11:40, ship sails at 4:00 are we allowing ourselves enough time? We would be flying out of Newark, NJ in December.

 

........you land 4 hours before sailing and as the crow flies......you are 45 miles from the port.........your flight has to be on time........airlines are not doing that these days..........you have to collect your bags..........hope they all get there........and make the 45 mile trip with no traffic problems.

 

I wouldn't want to chance all that.........you are not allowing enough cushion..........I would not do it.....;)

[mom x4,grandma x4]

PLEASE dont do this!!

 

In December the chances of delays are high!!! even if you dont have bad weather at your airport the state where your plane is flying in from can have a delay and cause you to miss your cruise.

They will NOT hold the ship for you!!

 

I have read a few very sad reports where people have missed the ship due to plane delays at all times of the year. It is always best to arrive the day before and spend the night.

 

Our last cruise, they had the gangway pulled up and the party was going but we didnt pull out at 5, so i looked down at the terminal and a famly was running for the ship. they did load them at 5:05 through the crews door. If they had been even 5 minutes later they would of missed the ship.

we actually met these people later and their plane was delayed the night before and they sat all night in the airport, caught a last minute flight, paid a taxi to speed all the way to the port arrived at 4:50 and the terminal called the Captain to wait. How lucky was that??

 

she said NEVER again, they would always set their arrival time for no later than 3 pm the day before the cruise.

 

please dont take a chance of missing an awesome vacation by taking a later plane, plus you will LOOSE all that money.

 

mom x4,grandma x4

[outahere2]

Here is another NO vote. As others have said, flight delays probably happen more than on-time flights these days, especially coming from Newark. All it would take is bad weather in another city to completely mess up the airlines.

 

It is so much nicer to fly in the day before and relax at a hotel, then have a leisurely trip to the port the next morning. Just the peace of mind is worth the extra expense. Getting stressed out on the first day of a vacation is not the way to start.

[Lionesss]

As I write this it is snowing outside.

And just 40 miles northeast of us in Erie Pa. the snow plows were out last night.

So the moral of the story. . . why would you leave the day of your Cruise from an area that could have a good winter storm.

Why would you want to worry. . . when the cruise is something that you plan and look forward to for a long time.

We are traveling in August, and we are flying down the day before and will stay in Port Canavral.

Peace of mind.

[jhannah]

Absolutely no. Sure, it's possible you can make it just fine. But why risk it? Do fly the day before and spend the night at one of the nice hotels in Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach.

[OVRSTR]

Another "No" vote here. I'm on the January 19th sailing and my family is from Long Island. We're leaving the day before and staying in Disney for the night. My travel agent said I would be out of my mind if we flew in the day of the cruise in January. Just my .02 cents.

[95south]

You spent all that money for this great cruise, look forward to it for many months prior to the sailing, got all those new great cruise cloths but wait theres a 2hr delay in Newark because your plane has not yet arrived from Detroit because of a snow storm there, then 30 minute delayed gate arrival at Orlando because of all the airlines backed up, 45 minute wait for your bags, and when you get out of the airport theres that accident on the 528 that closes all east bound lanes so they can clear the wreck and get traffic flowing again after a 30 minute wait only to get to the cruise terminal to watch your ship sailing out of the channel heading for open waters without you on board.

 

Is this a far flung story with a low chance of actually happening or could this really happen? This is a totally realistic scenario for flying in December! The accident on 528 might be pushing it but it does happen.

 

Do your self a favor (like everyone else is saying) get a nice room the day before at Port Canaveral Raddison or Country Inn and Suites and enjoy your embarkation without worry and have a great start to a great vacation.

 

Just my 3 cents!

:D

[loops]

Thank you all for your advice.

 

I'm happy to see we booked an early afternoon flight the day before.

[MC-AZ-07]

How about a nonstop redeye from PHX, scheduled to arrive before 6am? Still too risky?

[Magic3forme]

My vote was no too.

 

Two years ago, our flight was totally cancelled. ( They didnt bother to tell us until we got to the airport.) there were 14 of us, and we ended up having to drive 2 hours to another airport. Talk about stress!!!!

( I kept trying to convince everyone to go the night before, but they said too much trouble with all the luggage.). On the flight my bil looked at me and said dont even say it. We all know you were right! We made it on time ( we actually got a direct flight rather than transferring planes). If we were not able to make that morning flight in another city, we would have missed the cruise !!!

 

We went the night before this year too. It was so relaxing on Sat morning to only have to drive to the port from Orlando.

[outahere2]

How about a nonstop redeye from PHX, scheduled to arrive before 6am? Still too risky?

 

Probably not as risky as flying in close to noon, but I would still recommend flying in the day/evening before. You never know what can happen to delay or cancel a flight. If you schedule a flight for the day before, and something happens to your flight, you have quite a bit more time to overcome the problem. On our last two DCL cruises we flew in the evening before and stayed at the Hyatt in the airport. It is so much more relaxing than flying in the day you embark. Plus..... if you fly on a redeye, you are going to be pretty beat by dinner time. For some reason, flying west to east causes more serious jetlag than going east to west.

[earl_m]

in my 12 cruises I have arrive 1 day early and made the cruise.

the one time I came in on the same day as cruising i miss the cruise. there was a major storm in the north east. I learnt my lesson. Always come in 1 or 2 days early.

[chasetf]

I wouldn't go for it either..... To much risk and to great a chance

----> your airplane will not make it to NJ :(

----> you could get delayed in NJ :(

----> traffic ties you up in Orlando :(

[cruiserbryce]

we always get flights in the day before when we travel to cruises...its not so much that if you have a flight that gets in at 7am you could miss the ship...but what if...

 

you miss a connection

flight is cancelled/significantly delayed

 

There are too many variable for me to be comfortable flying out the day of the cruise...thats just my opinion though

[OceanLiner]

There is no way that I would want to begin a cruise be worring that I will make the ship on a same day flight, and your scheduled flight is really very high risk in regards to the timing.

 

I would fly down early the day before t he cruise, stay at the airport Hyatt (great pool), get up late the next day and go meet your ship.

 

PS For what it't worth, I would also ship out my luggage to the Hyatt about a week before I would arrive at the Hotel. Luggage would then be one thing less to worry about.

[95south]

Even if you fly from a warm location such as Sky Harbor Airport in AZ you have to remember that your flight to Orlando could actually originate in a place like Chicago where the weather could be bad and your flight will still be delayed because the equipment has not arrived. Again, just get there the day before to avoid all this.

[MC-AZ-07]

Thanks, everyone. I'll remove that redeye from my temptation list. :)

[Vitamin_Sea]

i agree with the others..way to close to miss the ship!:eek:

[Vitamin_Sea]

i agree with the others..way to close to miss the ship!:eek:

[viciouslysh]

Absolutely no. Sure, it's possible you can make it just fine. But why risk it? Do fly the day before and spend the night at one of the nice hotels in Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach.

 

I too was thinking about flying in the same morning. But now I have a flight from Dallas to Orlando the night before. Can anyone tell me the best way to get to a hotel close to the terminal from Orlando. Is it pretty easy to get a cab. Then another cab from the hotel to the ship? I am so worried about this now. So would it be a good idea to stay at Port Canaveral. Thanks.

[Vitamin_Sea]

Well...theres a Hyatt at the orlando airport. Im sure theres others near by. Theres a radison at the port carnavel thats a good option. You can also just rent a car one way to the cruise ship, then back again. cheaper to

[outahere2]

I too was thinking about flying in the same morning. But now I have a flight from Dallas to Orlando the night before. Can anyone tell me the best way to get to a hotel close to the terminal from Orlando. Is it pretty easy to get a cab. Then another cab from the hotel to the ship? I am so worried about this now. So would it be a good idea to stay at Port Canaveral. Thanks.

 

If you don't want to stay at the airport Hyatt, there are quite a few hotels just north of the airport (Marriott, Sheraton, Holiday Inn, etc.), most with free shuttle service to and from the terminal. If you're arriving late evening or at night, I would recommend staying near the airport. We usually stay at the Hyatt and either take the DCL bus or rent a car, one-way to the port. With the price of the DCL bus being $69 per person (roundtrip), it's cheaper to rent a car, but the bus is convenient and hassle-free.

 

You don't want to take a cab from the Orlando airport to the port - it's a good 45 miles and a cab would be extremely expensive. If you don't want to take the DCL bus to the port, you could hire a towncar service or rent a car at the airport and drop it off near the port. I think Budget and Avis have a free shuttle, to the port, from their offices near the port. I know National car rental does not have a shuttle and getting a cab is difficult.

[rrfsteve]

Just an FYI...

 

DCL flies their crew in the day before as they dont trust same day flights for them! I would only attempt a same-day flight if you are using Disney Air as they will get you on the ship (it might be at the first port tho!)