My flight arrives the same day my cruise leaves

We have done this as well. We have flown from SFO, LAX, and SMF, on various airlines, on "red-eye" flights to FLL. No problems.

 

Agree that your only problem will be killing time at the airport...I wouldn't waste money on a hotel...you'll be too excited and too wired to even take a nap.

You know this person so well that you know how (s)he'll react after a long flight at night?

Take your time getting out of the plane, walk slowly to baggage claim, then have breakfast and enjoy a few cups of coffee.

Getting to the cruiseport is very easy and cheap. Take a taxi (even cheaper if you happen to find another couple to share it with you.), they are lined up just outside the baggage claim area. The ride will only be about 10-15 minutes and cost between $15-$20. (If you look out of one of the airport windows, you can actually see the ships.) Happy Sailing. :)

We have done this as well. We have flown from SFO, LAX, and SMF, on various airlines, on "red-eye" flights to FLL. No problems.

 

Agree that your only problem will be killing time at the airport...I wouldn't waste money on a hotel...you'll be too excited and too wired to even take a nap.

 

Take your time getting out of the plane, walk slowly to baggage claim, then have breakfast and enjoy a few cups of coffee.

 

Getting to the cruiseport is very easy and cheap. Take a taxi (even cheaper if you happen to find another couple to share it with you.), they are lined up just outside the baggage claim area. The ride will only be about 10-15 minutes and cost between $15-$20. (If you look out of one of the airport windows, you can actually see the ships.) Happy Sailing. :)

Remember - OP is talking about arriving at 5:00 AM - just how slowly do you think someone can walk. Sure - it's POSSIBLE to fritter away 6 hours between

deplaning and getting to the port - but getting to the port perhaps an hour or so later, after some six hours sleeping at a motel, means feeling ready to enjoy the first day of the cruise rather than dragging around.

Another thing to consider IF money is an issue, we once flew in red eye from LAX to FLL. Rented a car at the airport. We went for breakfast, then parked in the shade in a parking lot and napped for about 2 hours. Then took the car back to the airport and took a taxi to the port. A car will run you about $30. Not very comfortable but at least you can rest for a bit.

I have flown in red eye several times but never without a hotel or at least a car.

I am going on my very first cruise. The ship leaves at 4 pm on 4/26 out of FLL. My Jetblue flight leaves on 4/25 at 9:30 pm out of LAS and arrives in FLL at 5 AM on 4/26. I've flown them before and had no issues. Do you think this was a good flight to pick?

Not leaving at least a one day buffer (requiring a hotel stay overnight) is "penny wise and pound foolish" for all of the obvious reasons.

There is no way we would want to start a cruise dead tired. Neither of us can sleep on a plane.

We always fly in 2 or 3 days early. That way we get to rest up and be fresh for the cruise.

We're also planning a redeye--NJ to Barcelona. We land 9:50 am, so I figure it's good timing to go straight to the dock, board, check out the boat, and then collapse into a heap as soon as the room is available! At first we were going to fly in the day before, but it's a 2-week cruise, and I didnt want to spend any more vacation time and figured we'll be seeing enough on the cruise. Also, if we did go the day before I would feel like we would 'have" to see Barcelona, but by going to the boat, we could sleep off that entire first day/night from 1 or 2:00 on if we want to. Newark (NJ) airport is notorious for delays--I think they're voted worst in the nation--but even if they're, say, 5 hours late, we'd still be fine. It's also a direct flight. I wouldn't risk it if it wasn't. I was once delayed a couple of hours, missed my connecting flight, and had to wait 5 hours at the layover airport for the next flight--missed the entire day in Turks and Caicos (resort, not cruise). However, we did book Royal Carribean's Air2Sea, which supposedly includes a guarantee. Not sure whether that means they hold the boat or they'll fly you to the next port for free, but it gives some reassurance.

I can't believe you are even willing to risk flying in just hours before you ship sails! Anything going wrong and your cruise is toast, right???

PS that Guarantee is pretty worthless. Did you buy Travel Insurance? Maybe that will at least make you whole..

I am going on my very first cruise. The ship leaves at 4 pm on 4/26 out of FLL. My Jetblue flight leaves on 4/25 at 9:30 pm out of LAS and arrives in FLL at 5 AM on 4/26. I've flown them before and had no issues. Do you think this was a good flight to pick?

Of course not. Weather, mechanical, or air traffic control issues are not rare occurrences. That you're even asking the question suggests that you already know you're leaving no room for error.

Something going wrong is a rare occasion until it happens to you right? I still contend the odds of that are extremely low. In 2001, I went on an Alaskan cruise with my dad and grandparents. We had stored luggage at the airport he night before. The next morning upon our arrival, we were informed that the luggage pickup place where we stored some pieces wasn't open until about when our flight left. We had to go through some hoops to get it. Afterwards, I tripped the alarm while going through inspection, and proceeded to do so at the next 2 stops due to steel tipped boots (yes, I'm an idiot...). This caused us to arrive at our gates at each stop just in the nick of time. We arrived at the ship a few hours before boarding time. Oh, this flight was from Atlanta to Vancouver, with stops in Cincinnati and Seattle. We left the morning of the cruise. Not for the faint of heart.

I would never do a flight arriving same day with any stops or layovers. The OP is taking a direct flight from Las Vegas, not anywhere in the snowy Northeast. I've done it and I would do it again. She will be fine. Not everyone has the luxury to take a day or more off before the cruise.

I would never do a flight arriving same day with any stops or layovers. The OP is taking a direct flight from Las Vegas, not anywhere in the snowy Northeast. I've done it and I would do it again. She will be fine. Not everyone has the luxury to take a day or more off before the cruise.

The flight is not a "direct" flight in the sense that it most likely came from someplace else and did not sit overnight or otherwise long enough to have a complete inspection or not be affected by issues elsewhere.

Great weather in Las Vegas or the OP's final destination means nothing if the weather, mechanics or air traffic control at the flight origin airport has problems.

Ask anyone who flies regularly for work. Problems from a distance happen all the time.

I would never do a flight arriving same day with any stops or layovers. The OP is taking a direct flight from Las Vegas, not anywhere in the snowy Northeast. I've done it and I would do it again. She will be fine. Not everyone has the luxury to take a day or more off before the cruise.

You can't know that she'll be fine. She may be fine. She probably will be fine. But flight delays that have nothing to do with weather happen all the time. :(

I would arrive the day before.

 

Why start a cruise out of sorts and you just never know the implications should your flight be cancelled.

 

Things happen.

 

Keith

I agree.

My second cruise was out of Miami. When the tickets arrived at my workplace from our TA, I got on the phone to my bf as I was opening the package. I was reading off the flight info and we realized we were given a red eye flight into Miami, arriving early the morning of a cruise with a day room for us until it was time to catch the shuttle to the port. We had been under the impression we would have a hotel room for the night before. I immediately called the TA and raised h--- about that. Our flight was changed for a 8-ish pm arrival.

The morning of the cruise, we were about to go have breakfast in our hotel after a nice sleep and coming out of the elevator on our floor was a group of people looking blurry-eyed. Yep, they took a red-eye flight and were about to go to their "day room." I can't see starting a cruise this way at all.

Wouldn't it be much better to get to your embarkation city the day before? You can relax, have a nice dinner to start your vacation, get a good night's sleep. Then when you board your ship, you have the energy to check out the ship, have a nice lunch, go to the mandatory muster drill without worrying about falling asleep (I don't think anyone would appreciate it if you do as you won't know what to do if there is an emergency on board), and then be ready to party at the sailaway.

As another poster on here mentioned, some people can't take more than the amount of time allotted for their cruise. Got to do what you got to do. 2 hours of sleep on a cruise is like 6 in reality!

This really has nothing to do with sleep. It's about the real possibility of missing the ship because not enough room for travel issues. A cancelled flight or delayed flight can doom your trip before to even leave home.

This really has nothing to do with sleep. It's about the real possibility of missing the ship because not enough room for travel issues. A cancelled flight or delayed flight can doom your trip before to even leave home.

I agree! Many people have no problem staying up all night (I did that all the time in college!) and the adrenaline keeps them going. I wouldn't do what OP is planning because it's just too risky, IMO. I've had a bigger cushion (see post #6) and almost missed the ship, and my flight was MUCH shorter than the OP's. I usually add on at the beginning of my cruise to spend a little time in the port city and make sure I don't miss my sailing! I can't imagine spending that much money on a vacation and then putting it all at risk...but, others have higher risk thresholds than I. :o

Don't forget the possibility of oversold flights. Most airlines are into passenger load optimization and involuntary bumping is on the increase.

Living in Los Angeles we booked our first cruise back in 1987 from San Juan to Acapulco (on Sitmar). Originally we booked an American Airlines connection in Dallas. We were bumped twice by AA in Dallas and instead of arriving into San Juan around Noon, we actually landed at about 10:30 pm.

Fortunately the sailing time was 1:00am so we barely made it but that was enough to convince us to book into our departure port at least a day ahead.

For those of us who don't have the luxury of taking off additional time, it'll have to come from somewhere. By forgoing some sleep, I at least allow myself the chance to get there. In my case, there's nothing more I can do than that.

This really has nothing to do with sleep. It's about the real possibility of missing the ship because not enough room for travel issues. A cancelled flight or delayed flight can doom your trip before to even leave home.

Well cross your fingers and pray the weather and airline god's are with you! Having a back up plan and Travel Insurance (with the right terms & inclusions) may also help...

Thankfully, I live in Atlanta, within a reasonable driving distance of at least 5 ports, but that is also a risk. Haven't missed one or had any close calls yet! Let's hope it keeps up! :D

As another poster on here mentioned, some people can't take more than the amount of time allotted for their cruise. Got to do what you got to do. 2 hours of sleep on a cruise is like 6 in reality!

I've had that problem in that I had limited days off when I worked at some companies. Those times I would not book such a tight vacation as a cruise without that buffer. My vacation days were much more precious and missing a ship would mess up my vacation. It's different if you are cutting off the beginning of a land trip (as long as your hotel stay is refundable). One time we actually booked a three-day cruise because my hubby couldn't be away from work for too long that particular year. But at least we were within driving distance of our embarkation port so we wouldn't have missed our cruise at all.

But other then that time, we always plan to get to our embarkation city a day early if leaving from a port other than LA. And often my hubby will take off a day before that to run errands and finish packing.

We are going out of Baltimore rather than Bayonne. Although only a few hour's drive away, we will get the Baltimore the day before and stay at a hotel. Although so close, i don't want to run into any delays due to road accidents, weather etc.

If you can, you may wish to change you flights to avoid any issues.

Enjoy your cruise!

Also, staying at a nice hotel in the Inner Harbor so we will see the aquarium , orher sights and then a nice restaurant. No rush to port as it is a 8 minute Uber ride away (our son will take our car, he lives nearby in Rockville)