Flights coming and going. NEED HELP!

[singjenn]

I am curious to know about flight times for the SAME DAY your ship leaves.

 

What is the earliest we should book for a flight home if our ship pulls in at 8?

 

I know absolutly nothing about flying. I ahven't flown since Sept 11th and I know some things hanve changed.

I posted a similar question like this on a roll call board fro my ship, but didn't get the help i was looking for. Thanks everyone!

 

Happy crusing!

[cruisinjerseygirl]

We always try to get to the airport in the city of the port no later than 12pm. We try to get there even earlier if possible because you are allowed to board the ship earlier for one and for two we also like to leave room for flight delays. Our last cruise our flight was supposed to go into Port Canaveral at 12:30pm...Carnival booked the flight for us...it was delayed because it was overbooked and they had to work some things out and we didn't get into FLA until 3pm and had to rush to the port. So for one I will never book my air with Carnival again because it was a mess and for two I make sure that we get into the airport by noon the latest so that we can get to the port by 1:30 and board easily. Our first cruise we left here around 5am and were in FLA by 9:30 we got to the port around 10:30 and were on the ship by noon.

[jimbug]

What ship and what port are you sailing out of? I ask because it makes a huge difference--some ports and airports are really close together, and others are quite a ways apart.

 

A general rule of thumb is not to book your flight home before noon. Anything after noon is usually okay. However, if you are sailing out of Galveston or Port Canaveral, I'd go for after 2:00 pm, becuase the airports in Houston and Orlando are much farther away.

[sixgun8]

I think you are more concerned with the departing trip.

 

Figure the airlines want you there at the terminal no later than 1 hour before your flight with a recommended 2 hours. So you just have to figure travel time from Port to airport and I figure double that because of extra traffic. I figure we wont even hit the ground running until 9AM from the ship.

 

We booked a 4 PM flight on the same day. Figure that is plenty of time to get to the airport calmly and then freak out about where we put our tickets and such.

[chitown cruisers]

We booked a 4 PM flight on the same day. Figure that is plenty of time to get to the airport calmly and then freak out about where we put our tickets and such.

As an extra note to this.......when you have a later flight.......

 

WARNING......when you are sitting at an airport restaurant like Applebee's.............YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THE MEAL!!:eek:

 

When you get the bill, you will be shocked that it's only 1/6th of another cruise. This increases PCD (post cruise depression)......resulting in the need to book another. And the only fix for PCD is booking another.......and it's only a fix.....not a cure.........

 

but then again....who would want the cure?:eek:

[singjenn]

What ship and what port are you sailing out of? I ask because it makes a huge difference--some ports and airports are really close together, and others are quite a ways apart.

 

A general rule of thumb is not to book your flight home before noon. Anything after noon is usually okay. However, if you are sailing out of Galveston or Port Canaveral, I'd go for after 2:00 pm, becuase the airports in Houston and Orlando are much farther away.

 

 

We will be on the Liberty Feb 10-16. It leaves our of Ft Lauderdale.

Thanks for your reply! (And everyone else too)

[wrp96]

Flying in same day, try for a flight landing no later than noon, but the earlier the arrival the better. Also, if the choice is between a nonstop or a flight with a stop, take the nonstop.

 

Going home, noon or later. There will be 6 ships in port at Port Everglades that day so FLL will be busy.

[Europebound]

I think somewhere in the main Carnival web site, there is a link to "Frequently asked questions" and somewhere in amongst those questions is another link to the answer to your question. It will give you the recommended times that Carnival says you should not plan flying into a port later than on embarkation days, and times to not fly out sooner than when disembarking the ship. There are different times for various ports.

 

I'm sorry that I don't remember exactly where this is in the Carnival site; I stumbled on it recently and discovered that my next flight after a cruise is only 5 minutes off from Carnival's recommendation. Whew!

 

Hope this helps.

[singjenn]

I think somewhere in the main Carnival web site, there is a link to "Frequently asked questions" and somewhere in amongst those questions is another link to the answer to your question. It will give you the recommended times that Carnival says you should not plan flying into a port later than on embarkation days, and times to not fly out sooner than when disembarking the ship. There are different times for various ports.

 

I'm sorry that I don't remember exactly where this is in the Carnival site; I stumbled on it recently and discovered that my next flight after a cruise is only 5 minutes off from Carnival's recommendation. Whew!

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Thankyou so much!! I found the FA and they answered my questions. Have you or anyone you know flown on SKYBUS before? They have OUT OF THIS WORLD prices, but becasue they are so new, it scares me....

[jimbug]

I haven't flown Skybus yet (I'm not fortunate enough to live in a city they fly to), but from what I have heard they are pretty good.

 

The only thing you have to watch out for (and this is the same for other "independent" airlines, such as JetBlue, Southwest, etc.) is that in the case of a cancellation or mechanical failure, they do not have partnerships with other airlines, so they cannot (and will not) book you on another airline in order to get you to your destination on time. To me, paying the low price is worth the risk, as long as you have travel insurance.

[delta cruiser]

You may wan't to think twice before booking on skybus. I have spoken to many people who have flown skybus and I keep hearing the same thing "we will never fly that airline again". For one they have no customer service, if a flight cancels they make you rebook yourself on one of their kiosks and they WILL NOT book you on another airline. Their so called customer service agents are very rude and no help at all. Do yourself a favor and book with a major airline it's worth the extra little bit.