If you can't fly in the day before...........

My son is joining us on a cruise which leaves at 5 pm Sunday. He absolutely cannot come in the day before. Would it be safe, do you all think, to book a flight (direct nonstop) from Nashville to Fort Lauderdale that leaves at 9 am and arrives at 12:25pm? That gives him a window of about 4 hours. Thanks for your opinions!

All aboard is 90 minutes prior to sailing, so there isn't a 4+ hour window.

Any chance of a late night flight?

There does not seem to be a lot of late flights between Nashville and FLL past around 5 or 6 pm.

A few questions.

Is the airline you are choosing,,,, is that their ONLY flight of the day to FLL?

What about a late night flight the night prior?

99% of the time, what your propsing will work OK, but "what if?"

A slight mechanical delay, a delay in his departing flight arrive from it's previous destination, the flight crew being overworked and hitting their limit, etc.

"What if" scenerio doesn't matter if going to Disney or Vegas. The hotel room will be there whenever you finally arrive. Not so on a cruise ship.

There does not seem to be a lot of late flights between Nashville and FLL past around 5 or 6 pm.

Not knowing your dates, I can only tell you that there are options to leave late and get there the night before. Delta operates via ATL, leaving BNA around 6:30pm and getting in around midnight. US Airways has a similar schedule via CLT.

Don't discount flights to MIA or PBI when looking for non-stop/late night flights. For instance, looking at April 13 (I'm assuming it's for this cruise?), there's a non-stop BNA-MIA on AA that arrives at 9:20 am. I would be a lot more comfortable with that flight, despite the need to transfer from MIA to Port Everglades.

If there is no way to fly in the night before he needs to take the first non stop flight out. At least before 8am. :)

Have him take the 5:30 am DL flight connecting through ATL arriving at 10:43 am. And buy travel insurance.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!

I would not like to cut it that close...we often are delayed going to FLL due to wind & rain, with the occasional tornado.

Have him take the 5:30 am DL flight connecting through ATL arriving at 10:43 am. And buy travel insurance.

I second that. Even though it involves a connection, there will be multiple flights from BNA to ATL, and multiple flights from ATL to FLL, so if something happens, he'll have options for a later flight. I'm guessing the nonstop BNA-FLL that the OP mentioned was on Southwest? If so, and something happens to that flight, I don't see any other Southwest flights leaving later, even with a connection, that will get him to FLL in time.

Using the date on your Sail Away Calendar (April 13th) I took a quick peek and saw a direct flight on American departing Nashville at 6:05 AM arriving in Miami at 9:20 AM that day.

OP- A cruise out of FLL implies the next port could be outside the US (Bahamas for example). In that case a full passport is required to board a "catch up" flight. Be sure your son and his travel party have full passports (and not a passport card). Of course if the first port is US such as San Juan or the USVI then it's not an issue.

Flying the night prior may save airfare since demand for those flights is lower.

Using the date on your Sail Away Calendar (April 13th) I took a quick peek and saw a direct flight on American departing Nashville at 6:05 AM arriving in Miami at 9:20 AM that day.

Great suggestion - thanks! I guess he can catch a cab for the 30 minute drive to FLL.

OP- A cruise out of FLL implies the next port could be outside the US (Bahamas for example). In that case a full passport is required to board a "catch up" flight. Be sure your son and his travel party have full passports (and not a passport card). Of course if the first port is US such as San Juan or the USVI then it's not an issue.

Actually, if the first port is the USVI or Key West, it IS an issue because the PVSA comes into play. I think San Juan is excempt (?) so that would be ok.