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Fly in day of cruise?


BiXLL
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Jan. 17th we will be doing our second cruise. Last time we flew in a day early. This time in researching flights my best bet would be a flight that does not even land in FLL until 8:10 PM on the 16th.

 

There is a flight on the 17th that arrives at 10:10 am and I think that should allow plenty of time to get to the port in Miami. It would save me a little over $50.00 for the flight plus hotel fees.

 

I am a little worried about flying out of Pittsburgh in mid Jan., but really, how many flights are actually cancelled?

 

I guess I am looking for comments, does anybody fly in the day of their cruise, am I being stupid here?

Edited by BiXLL
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I always fly in the day of my cruise. My flight is direct in to Miami from St Louis and I arrive around 1000. To this point I've never had any issues. That is a risk I am willing to take and everyone individually needs to decide what their risk level is.

 

Many people do it. Many people think you are somewhat crazy to do that. Many would suggest insurance. :D

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We booked a red-eye flight to arrive the morning of the cruise. A week or two before the cruise the airline changed the flights around so we would arrive an hour away from the port around noon. Well, that was way too close for us. You never know when they are going to have an issue with a late flight. So since the airline made the change, we could change flights as long as they went to and from the same airports. We changed to a flight that arrived at 9:00 am. Even so, we were nervous the whole time about delays, and told ourselves we would never again fly the same day.

 

Since that time I have been on a few flights that have been cancelled or delayed. It seems it is happening more often.

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I wouldn't risk it, even in summer. You also need to consider the possibility of weather delays. I'd be so stressed with concern that something would go wrong and I'd miss the ship, that saving a bit of money isn't worth it to me.

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Jan. 17th we will be doing our second cruise. Last time we flew in a day early. This time in researching flights my best bet would be a flight that does not even land in FLL until 8:10 PM on the 16th.

 

There is a flight on the 17th that arrives at 10:10 am and I think that should allow plenty of time to get to the port in Miami. It would save me a little over $50.00 for the flight plus hotel fees.

 

I am a little worried about flying out of Pittsburgh in mid Jan., but really, how many flights are actually cancelled?

 

I guess I am looking for comments, does anybody fly in the day of their cruise, am I being stupid here?

 

You might be fine, but you are certainly taking a risk.

And as we know from experience, when weather affects one part of the country, it can affect flights in many other parts of the country.

 

I would recommend that you book the day early, and then relax and enjoy preparing for your cruise! ;)

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Jan. 17th we will be doing our second cruise. Last time we flew in a day early. This time in researching flights my best bet would be a flight that does not even land in FLL until 8:10 PM on the 16th.

 

There is a flight on the 17th that arrives at 10:10 am and I think that should allow plenty of time to get to the port in Miami. It would save me a little over $50.00 for the flight plus hotel fees.

 

I am a little worried about flying out of Pittsburgh in mid Jan., but really, how many flights are actually cancelled?

 

I guess I am looking for comments, does anybody fly in the day of their cruise, am I being stupid here?

 

I wouldn't do it, especially at that time of year. We have had delays too often, once on a direct flight from MI to FLL in June where we ended up having an emergency landing in TN due to mechanical failures. We were in TN 5-6 hours. It was a good thing we were flying in the day before.... Friends of ours were flying from MI to San Juan. They got the airport to find the pilots on their airlines went on strike that morning. The ended up getting flights the next morning on another airline and arriving in San Juan just in time for their cruise.

Edited by Warm Breezes
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but really, how many flights are actually cancelled?

 

Well...

 

There were 9,888 flights cancelled in the US in the last 30 days. 147,017 flights were delayed for the same period and location.

 

I imagine the numbers for January are much higher.

 

Too bad the site doesn't seem to have historical data beyond, but even looking at the last 30 days, look at where the map is all lit up...

 

http://www.flightstats.com/go/Media/stats.do?region=us&queryDate=last30Days

Edited by triptolemus
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Jan. 17th we will be doing our second cruise. Last time we flew in a day early. This time in researching flights my best bet would be a flight that does not even land in FLL until 8:10 PM on the 16th.

 

There is a flight on the 17th that arrives at 10:10 am and I think that should allow plenty of time to get to the port in Miami. It would save me a little over $50.00 for the flight plus hotel fees.

 

I am a little worried about flying out of Pittsburgh in mid Jan., but really, how many flights are actually cancelled?

 

I guess I am looking for comments, does anybody fly in the day of their cruise, am I being stupid here?

 

Yes - You are being stupid here.

 

You spent all the money for the cruise and you now knowingly risk getting on the ship in time to save a few bucks. Those few bucks are a small investment toward your cruise. Fly out the day before.

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Last time we flew down for a cruise there were 8 people who missed their Carnival cruise. We were going in the day before. We had three weather related itinerary changes and arrived 6 hours after our planned arrival. Date? January 5th.

 

If you are planning going the day of, have good insurance, a credit card with a large limit and passports for everyone in your party.

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Maybe you should go to Vegas instead of a cruise ! If you're willing to save $50 and take a chance to fly out of Pittsburgh, in the Winter, not getting delayed, not getting off the ground due to Mechanical Difficulties, or your flight getting Delayed flying into Pittsburgh that will make you miss your cruise that you spent $$$$'s on, then go ahead.

Then again, nothing at all will happen and you'll have a wonderful time on your Cruise. Not worth it, odds are not with you on this one. Spend the $50, and have peace of mind that you'll have a great time Cruising..... that's money well spent anywhere, anytime.

Either way, have a wonderful cruise and enjoy yourselves.

 

cheers...the Ump...:D

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Jan. 17th we will be doing our second cruise. Last time we flew in a day early. This time in researching flights my best bet would be a flight that does not even land in FLL until 8:10 PM on the 16th.

 

There is a flight on the 17th that arrives at 10:10 am and I think that should allow plenty of time to get to the port in Miami. It would save me a little over $50.00 for the flight plus hotel fees.

 

I am a little worried about flying out of Pittsburgh in mid Jan., but really, how many flights are actually cancelled?

 

I guess I am looking for comments, does anybody fly in the day of their cruise, am I being stupid here?

 

Let me ask you this. If your Mother wanted to fly to Miami from Pittsburg in January the same day or her cruise or the day before, what would you advise her to do?

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We've done it -- but from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale, in March! On our first cruise. Never done it again... :)

 

My sister did it, too, on her first (and only) cruise -- flying from Hartford to Seattle :eek: -- many delays, and the only reason she made it to the ship was because the ship was delayed leaving port because one of the azipods had been damaged by an iceberg on the way back from Alaska, and repairs were necessary!

 

This kind of stress is not what you want at the start of your cruise!

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Our next cruise will begin with a flight from Oakland to Los Angeles. You really couldn't ask for an easier flight. I could drive that in about 6 hours, maybe less. With that, we are STILL flying in the day before. The flight takes place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so problems could arise. If one does, I have time to go get a car and drive it.

 

None of that matters though. I will always fly in the day before. Enjoying a bit of the port city before cruising is part of the experience.

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There is more to consider than weather. In 2001 on our first Alaska cruise, we flew in the same day. We live in Portland, Oregon and just had to make the short flight to Vancouver, British Columbia. We were on the first flight out in the morning and it was scheduled to arrive in Vancouver at about 9 a.m. Well, numerous mechanical delays took place and we arrived less than an hour before the ship was leaving port at 5:00 p.m.. We had a wild cab ride from the airport to the pier and they basically rolled up the gangway behind us. The ship was moving within minutes of our boarding. This was in June, so weather wasn't an issue at all. It was an incredibly stressful way to start a cruise!

 

For me, it's just not a risk I want to take. If you choose to, be sure you have good insurance!

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Was at portland maine at 6 am flight to jfk that did not take off til 4pm due to high winds there in june.......could have driven it faster but it was the day before so our cushion saved us....lots of people do it same day but we will never be one of them...

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You want to know how paranoid I am about getting to the ship on time? I live on Long Island and we are sailing out of New York City on a Sunday. We are spending the night in Manhattan on Saturday. With no traffic on a Sunday it would normally be a 45-50 ride to the port from my house.

 

I was only kidding about the paranoid part. I got the Queen tickets to Jersey Boys on Saturday and it makes no sense to drive in for the show, home to sleep and then back to the port in the morning. What makes it even better was getting the hotel for the night in Times Square, using points off of our hotel card and it being Broadway Week, got tickets for half price, 2nd row mezzanine.

 

Nice way to start the vacation.

 

:D

 

wasiii

 

PS just a thought. The only way I would even consider flying in the same day was if I got my air through the cruise line. It's not foolproof but if your flight was late, there would probably be other cruisers on it too, they would wait for you. Not guaranteed at all though.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

Edited by wasiii
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