Flying on departure day...should I be worried?

[Ms belp]

We are going to have our "storm spotter" training this weekend in Garland, TX. It trains you how to... well, spot storms,:p which is really important down here, especially in the upcoming season.

[fridaythe13th]

I know this is off topic, but can someone tell me what the symbols in the second column on the main thread page represent. I need Message Boards for Dummies...sorry ...but thanks for the answer

 

Whoever started the thread can choose an icon to put by it. If it's a question some people put the ?. If it's something negative they put the "thumbs down" icon. I think that's what you're referring to.

[msg12188]

We're sailing on March 20th from Miami. I booked our flight for 6am that day from dc. I was pretty sure at the time that I would be safe from weather delays and with my b/f freaking out about $$$, I chose to trade a night in a hotel for another shore excursion. In a perfect world, we should arrive in Miami by 9, wait around for luggage, have some coffee, make some calls, grab a cab and wait patiently. Well, after reading some posts recently about arriving a day early....I'm getting nervous. I should be okay....right????:confused:

 

 

 

Flying in the same day proves to be quite exhausting & basically the first day is lost because you seem so tired from either the early rise or stress of travel. I prefer the hotel overnight prior. We always stay in a hotel that offers free shuttle to the port.

[FLbeachbaby]

One problem that has come up for us a few time recently is airlines will change your flight/connection/time if they drop a route or change the schedule. If you are going in on the same day and they move you it could be difficult. This happened last year going to Vancouver for an Alaska trip and already our summer Hawaii itinerary has changed 3 times. Luckily we go a day early and I never stress about the changes.

[Dukegirl5577]

Unless DC has a major snowstorm, you should be fine. There are many, many direct flights from DC to Miami evey day (including several options you can take that will still get you there with time to spare) that you could get onto if your flight is canceled.

 

I usually fly in the day of, simply because I can't take the extra time off from work.

[deepnite10]

So, are you a weather freak too, deepnite? My co-workers come to me to ask...what's the weather gonna be this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow?:D I personally love noaa.gov. I can check out the weather specifically by zip code or city with my past cruise friends.

 

i check everyday if i expect rain..i need the information so i can decide

wheather it s the dog park..a leashed walk around the block in slickers..

 

our upcoming Alaskan cruise in may..i ll be flying in a day early just so

we can sleep in the next day..since it s in may i don t think there ll be

much concern about the weather when flying out..

 

but, i will be more concerned with the weather in the ports of call so i

can bring along the appropriate clothing..

[Pickels]

Hi, here's my .02

This year will be the first year that we leave the day before; we've always left on the same day. Usually, NY to Miami or NY to PR. We would book a flight leaving very early in the morning and felt we would have plenty of time to catch the ship. One year we had an 8 am flight out of JFK to catch a 4 pm ship departure out of Miami; plenty of time, we thought. We got delayed out of JFK and then the plane couldn't get a terminal assigned to let the passagers off in Miami. Well, long story short, we got to the dock a little after 3 pm. Too close to missing the ship. So, this year, (and future years) we will leave at least one day ahead of time. This I highly recommend. Have a great cruise.

[danfiveoh]

My suggestion is that you book your ground transportation thru NCL. That way they have your name and flight info. They will wait a reasonable amount of time for you if your flight is late. We hdd an NCL ship out of Miami delayed about an hour once because of a delayed flight with passengers on it. Another time, I inquired why our bus was sitting at the airport so long, and was told that there was a delayed flight that they were wiating for.

It will cost you a bit more than super shuttle but gives you at least a little piece of mind for minor delays.

[michigan tim]

Of course the odds are that you'll be fine, however, I've encountered two scenerios that caused last minute delays/cancellations. The first was flying into FLL; they were having heavy rain in FLL and thus they delayed leaving MI until the weather moved out, we were not departing until the next day, but there was a family on the plane that was departing that day and they were frantic. The other was a flight to NYC last June; this was the only time we left the day of the cruise. There were major thunderstorms in NYC the night prior and thus the planes did not fly out. There was no equipment in Detroit. It is just lucky I checked my flight late the night prior as it was cancelled around 11 p.m. I was scrambling until 3:00 a.m. to pin down a flight...Had to leave at 5:00 for the airport and after arriving at the airport it was still iffy and we had to dash between terminals and ended up with another carrier.