flight and cruise

I am flying out of Florida on the 18th of Dec and my cruise leaves 19th on dec and i think it said we need to be on board by 5 pm as they leave at 7

My flight arrives early in the morning so we should be ok right?

It would help if we knew where you were flying from???

Actually, we know where they are coming from (Florida). We don't know where to.

And no, you will NOT necessarily be OK, especially if you are flying to Asia (as you lose a day to the date line, plus thousands of miles of flight time).

GIGO

If you are going to Europe, which is my guess if you are leaving on one date and arriving the next in the morning (also possible to be South America and Africa, but I'm guessing not), it really depends on (a) where you are going to, (b) where you are connecting through, © are you on one ticket or multiple tickets, (d) how long are your connections. Please provide full flight info and we can advise better.

I am flying from MCO to Barcelona

I don't have exact details yet as I need my agent to finish booking them but I believe the time showing says I will be there 9:35 am

I am flying from MCO to Barcelona

I don't have exact details yet as I need my agent to finish booking them but I believe the time showing says I will be there 9:35 am

It sounds like you're probably flying on American Airlines, MCO-Miami-Barcelona. I would make sure you have at least a few hours in Miami, rather than the 1h10m connection that is often offered on that route from what I see. The more time you have in Miami, the more pillow time you have in case your MCO-MIA flight is delayed (rather than missing the 1x daily MIA-BCN flight).

IF it's all on time, 9:35am is plenty of time. However, flying the day of is always iffy, especially in the case where there are few alternatives should you miss that flight. If you miss MIA-BCN for any reason, it starts becoming risky because you will have to re-route through another city, adding another connection and a later arrival time.

If you are dead set on arriving the day of the cruise, this flight is probably a good one to choose. But, once again, do make sure you have a few hours in Miami just in case.

Adding to Zach's comments, you're traveling the Friday before Christmas...the beginning of a very busy travel period but still a "shoulder" day. Seat availability on alternate flights may be scare or zero, and there are not many other flights that will get you to BCN on time. The more time cushion you provide the more options you will have.

One favorable thing is MIA weather should be better than EWR, YYZ, or other connecting cities. That said, the aircraft from MCO and MIA have to come from somewhere, so flying is always more iffy and subject to delay in the winter. (Once, my MIA-LAX flight was cancelled...beautiful weather in both cities but a huge blizzard at DFW caused an inevitable ripple effect).

Have you considered driving to MIA and flying from there instead of MCO? That takes out the risk of a problem with the MCO-MIA flight....at the expense of the inconvenience of driving down to MIA.

I am flying out of Florida on the 18th of Dec and my cruise leaves 19th on dec and i think it said we need to be on board by 5 pm as they leave at 7

 

My flight arrives early in the morning so we should be ok right?

I have landed into BCN at this time of day (9:30am) morning of cruise and we were onboard approx 11:30am....Take a taxi...easy and quick.

I am flying from MCO to Barcelona

I don't have exact details yet as I need my agent to finish booking them but I believe the time showing says I will be there 9:35 am

Sounds like a plan to me....

You are taking a TATL flight which arrives the day your cruise actually leaves? Just to verify this as most of the eastbound flights from the US to Europe leave during the evening and land in the morning the following day...

If it was a domestic flight, it would be ok as there are many options to get around. But a TATL...

Yes, you will probably make the ship, don't get me wrong, but don't you think this is pushing it quite a bit? Not I want to give you any bad feelings, but when traveling you always have to account for possible disruptions in your travel plans. There's so many things that can go wrong, specially during winter time, even when weather's all nice on both destinations. Imagine all these things: Weather conditions, technical issues, missed connections, lost bags,...

If even a small mishap occurs, do you really want yourself to arrive all stressed out to begin your cruise?

Not to be snarky or rude, but just out of curiosity: Why would anyone book such a risky thing instead of flying in at least a day before, specially on a TATL routing.

Whether you flight is solely in the USA or to another country outside the USA I would not plan to arrive the day of your cruise. There is just too much risk that if something goes wrong you will miss the ship. On top of this it will be a long flight and there is jet lag and always the chance of luggage not making it too so these are additional reasons to fly in early.

If you don't get stressed than that is a different story but if it was me then I would never take a flight that would get you in the day of the cruise. Consider flying in a day or two earlier and enjoying Barcelona.

Keith

Vueling has inexpensive flights from Barcelona to Tangier, in case you miss embarkation. I believe there's also a ferry, but that will certainly take more time.

We have decided to fly in a day early to avoid any problems

We have decided to fly in a day early to avoid any problems

Great! That will give you the opportunity to adjust to the time and get a good nights sleep, which to me is critical. Once I get a good nights sleep on my first night, I am completely adjusted to the time. Then, you can start your cruise rested and adjusted and enjoy the first night.

Thanks for all the tips hubby said he felt better going a day early ....

That is a wise decision by your hubby. In the end, chances are rather slim something will go wrong, but you don't want to stress all out if you have the chance to avoid it, right?

Hopefully, you'll have a wonderful time here in Europe.

Barcelona is a wonderful city and I do hope you get to see it.

Get your airline reservation number and monitor your flights for changes. Changes do happen you know. You don't have to check it daily. Every couple of weeks will do especially if you are not a member of the frequent flyer program or have signed up for alerts.

Thanks for all the tips hubby said he felt better going a day early ....

Barcelona is loaded with activities, and especially if you haven't been there before, or am an infrequent visitor, I would suggest going for as long as possible. Last several years, I've been spending a week there prior to cruises, just way better. :)

Easy to also take the cheap buses, with longer stays.