Anyone else stuck with late arrival for embarkation?

Due to booking cruise at last minute we had problems getting flights. Live in CT but stuck flying out of Newark so our pre-and post cruise stays are at EWR instead of in San Juan:(. We used Choice Air and they assured me that 4:00 pm arrival at SJU is no problem & they have people booked on flights arriving even later because you have until 7:00 pm to be on board. By the time we get luggage & get the Celebrity shuttle for our pier transfer it's doubtful we'll get to pier before 5:30 & probably be at least 6:00 by the time we get on the ship. I know it's guaranteed with Choice Air but I'm still stressed out as well as bummed out by this. Just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat - no pun intended!

Due to booking cruise at last minute we had problems getting flights. Live in CT but stuck flying out of Newark so our pre-and post cruise stays are at EWR instead of in San Juan:(. We used Choice Air and they assured me that 4:00 pm arrival at SJU is no problem & they have people booked on flights arriving even later because you have until 7:00 pm to be on board. By the time we get luggage & get the Celebrity shuttle for our pier transfer it's doubtful we'll get to pier before 5:30 & probably be at least 6:00 by the time we get on the ship. I know it's guaranteed with Choice Air but I'm still stressed out as well as bummed out by this. Just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat - no pun intended!

On our 2010 Summit cruise out of SJ friends were coming in on a late flight. It didn't arrive until almost 7 pm due to delays, and they and a few other people on that flight were the last ones on board. They did not book the air through Celebrity, but at the suggestion of the Celebrity booking rep did book the Celebrity transfers, and they had no problem getting on board.

Just don't count on the "guarantee" that you think you have with Choice Air. Go to the Cruise Air board under Cruise Discussion Topics for the full story. Time-wise if everything works as planned you will have no trouble.

We arrived in SJ at 5:45 on Saturday night 3/10 by the time we got to the ship it was 7:30, we had no problem checking in.

Have a great time,

J.

No one can guarantee arrivals anymore. Just yesterday on the news there were delays because someone had 'fireworks' in their backpack.

There are delays all the time now. We used to always fly in the day before a cruise if we had to fly cross country. Now, we always go a day before no matter where we fly.

My daughter rented a film from netfix for us to watch yesterday. It was a light comedy.

At the end of the wedding scene, a lady kept laughing...her brother was the groom. Someone asked her why she was laughing. She said because she had slipped a gun in her brothers carryon & won't he be surprised at the airport ! Supposedly a joke since he was on his way to his honeymoon.

I cringed when I saw that scene thinking someone else might find that cute & actually do it. The end result would be poor schmucks like us missing our flights.

There probably will not be a problem & you will get to your cruise on time but I am too old & my nerves to shot to do that anymore.

No one can guarantee arrivals anymore. Just yesterday on the news there were delays because someone had 'fireworks' in their backpack.

There are delays all the time now. We used to always fly in the day before a cruise if we had to fly cross country. Now, we always go a day before no matter where we fly.

 

My daughter rented a film from netfix for us to watch yesterday. It was a light comedy.

At the end of the wedding scene, a lady kept laughing...her brother was the groom. Someone asked her why she was laughing. She said because she had slipped a gun in her brothers carryon & won't he be surprised at the airport ! Supposedly a joke since he was on his way to his honeymoon.

I cringed when I saw that scene thinking someone else might find that cute & actually do it. The end result would be poor schmucks like us missing our flights.

 

There probably will not be a problem & you will get to your cruise on time but I am too old & my nerves to shot to do that anymore.

First - On our honeymoon (1985) we were flying home from Barbados. My husband was already through security and watching the video screen to see how my stuff looked going through xray. He almost ran off with out me. Security had snuck a gun in my bag to see if the person at the xray machine would find it. Hubby was thinking I was getting set up. Not a way to end the honeymoon, but we laughed and a good story.

I'm sure you'll get to the ship with time to spare. I would tell you not to worry, but you will. I'd do the same thing. In fact I am because I'm letting the cruise line book our flights to Singapore. I'm enjoying the fact that the airfares are $500 more pp than what I paid when I booked the cruise.

Deep breath. Good luck. And enjoy the cruise!

Nothing is guaranteed with Choice Air. Arriving that close to all aboard time is risky no matter who you booked your flight with. I personally would not cut it so close, but many do and most of the time it works out. You probably have two hours of wiggle room, but if your flight is more than two hours delayed (not common, but it happens) you likely will not arrive in time to the pier to board. Hopefully if this occurred Choice Air would (at their expense) put you on a flight to "catch" the ship (you would need to have a passport), but the way they have things worded seems more like marketing than a guarantee to me. Most travel insurances would not provide relief since there was insufficient wiggle room allotted. In all likelihood your plane will not be two or more hours late, so hopefully everything works out but in the future I would strongly advise you to not cut it so close.

Last winter due to bad weather conditions our friends flight toSJU was about 5 hours late. Since X new alot of pax were on that plane they held the ship until it arrived.

Food for thought. Our daughter was flying from Indianapolis to Albuquerque this past Sunday at 7:55 PM. Plane overbooked. Next plane out at 9:30 mechanical problems. Overnight in Indy flew out next morning.

Good fortune $500 voucher, Dinner and breakfast and night at a hotel.

Not so good if you have to make a ship.

Food for thought. Our daughter was flying from Indianapolis to Albuquerque this past Sunday at 7:55 PM. Plane overbooked. Next plane out at 9:30 mechanical problems. Overnight in Indy flew out next morning.

 

Good fortune $500 voucher, Dinner and breakfast and night at a hotel.

 

Not so good if you have to make a ship.

That is sooooo true. Just don't trust the flights anymore, on being on time.

Laura

Thank you to those of you who offered me reassurance. To the others, believe me it's not flights I wanted but it was the only way to take the cruise. And we couldn't come to San Juan a day early because we have to do Newark the day prior in order to make the flight. It's not something I could put off because my husband wanted to go now as he found out he has to go back on chemo the end of next month. Anyway, I would never have picked those flights without Choice Air. In the very unlikely event that our plane was late enough to miss the ship, Choice guarantees to get you to the next port of call & pay necessary expenses. Since the first day is at sea our worse case scenario would be to be flown to Barbados & overnight in a hotel there to meet the ship. As much as I like Barbados I'd be upset at this because I'd rather have the extra time on the cruise as would my husband. Once again, I appreciate the comments from those who've experienced late arrivals with no problems getting onboard.:)

On one of our Celebrity cruises out of San Juan we were the last ones to get on the ship, at about 9:45 pm for a 11:00 pm sailing. Of course our air was booked with Celebrity -- I would not have tried anything so crazy, and in all fairness we should have gotten in around 7:00 pm but our connection in Miami was delayed for several hours.

Thank you to those of you who offered me reassurance. To the others, believe me it's not flights I wanted but it was the only way to take the cruise. And we couldn't come to San Juan a day early because we have to do Newark the day prior in order to make the flight. It's not something I could put off because my husband wanted to go now as he found out he has to go back on chemo the end of next month. Anyway, I would never have picked those flights without Choice Air. In the very unlikely event that our plane was late enough to miss the ship, Choice guarantees to get you to the next port of call & pay necessary expenses. Since the first day is at sea our worse case scenario would be to be flown to Barbados & overnight in a hotel there to meet the ship. As much as I like Barbados I'd be upset at this because I'd rather have the extra time on the cruise as would my husband. Once again, I appreciate the comments from those who've experienced late arrivals with no problems getting onboard.:)

Don't know if this helps or hurts...in Feb. quite a few passengers met up with the ship in Barbados, weather delays I'm guessing. Didn't get to chat with them, but they were tanned and looked rested, so it didn't seem a total disaster!

My husbands "pre chemo" desire was a cruise too, and our only option at the time was Carnival! Well, it was the first and last Carnival cruise but we had a lot of laughs, and 14 years later both the cancer and Carnival are in the past! Good luck to you in all your journeys.

All the more reason to NEVER fly in day of Cruise. You are arriving late on what counts as your first day on board- kind of a waste to me.

Only time we sailed out of SJ, in 98 we also went day of sail ( never again)but were due in early afternoon. Flight was four hours late.

Not worth the Stress now when you should be looking forward to your Cruise, and the worry that first day too.

Don't know if this helps or hurts...in Feb. quite a few passengers met up with the ship in Barbados, weather delays I'm guessing. Didn't get to chat with them, but they were tanned and looked rested, so it didn't seem a total disaster!

 

My husbands "pre chemo" desire was a cruise too, and our only option at the time was Carnival! Well, it was the first and last Carnival cruise but we had a lot of laughs, and 14 years later both the cancer and Carnival are in the past! Good luck to you in all your journeys.

Glad to hear of your husband's recovery. My husband has had 9 rounds of chemo since 2004, unfortunately his bladder cancer had spread to his lymph nodes & keeps coming back. We always try to make the best of things and I appreciate your words of encouragement.:)

All the more reason to NEVER fly in day of Cruise. You are arriving late on what counts as your first day on board- kind of a waste to me.

 

Only time we sailed out of SJ, in 98 we also went day of sail ( never again)but were due in early afternoon. Flight was four hours late.

 

Not worth the Stress now when you should be looking forward to your Cruise, and the worry that first day too.

As I said in my other posts it's not something I've done before & would ever do again. We had to take 2 extra days to do pre- & post-cruise nights at EWR when we would obviously have done them in San Juan & couldn't take more than these 10 days total from work. My husband really wanted to do this and trust things to work out. My post was looking for moral support from others who had to go through this or knew of people who had no problems, not to be reminded of the stress I was already feeling over it. Besides it's not a "waste" of the "whole" vacation to miss the first few hours on board as long as we make the ship & still have the full week. It's good that the first day is at sea so we can rest & recuperate from the prior day's travel.

I think you'll be okay. Another option (which we have done) is to see what earlier flights they have and check in to be on stand-by. Have a great cruise!!

I think you'll be okay. Another option (which we have done) is to see what earlier flights they have and check in to be on stand-by. Have a great cruise!!

Thanks Friday, BTW your name is the day I start my trip, taking train to Newark on Fri the 13th. When Choice Air was giving me options, the earlier flight was an additional $800 pp! They talked me into the flight I'm taking by telling me they had booked others arriving even later than me. I didn't even think they did standby anymore in these days of heightened security. At least a Celebrity rep is supposed to meet our flight which makes me feel more secure about getting to & on the ship. Thanks for the words of support:)

Thanks Friday, BTW your name is the day I start my trip, taking train to Newark on Fri the 13th. When Choice Air was giving me options, the earlier flight was an additional $800 pp! They talked me into the flight I'm taking by telling me they had booked others arriving even later than me. I didn't even think they did standby anymore in these days of heightened security. At least a Celebrity rep is supposed to meet our flight which makes me feel more secure about getting to & on the ship. Thanks for the words of support:)

Flying standby is not an issue in terms of security. However most airlines now charge for this. Some charge a set fee, and others make you pay the difference between the fare and the current rate of the flight you want to switch to.

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We have learned that booking same day flights even thru the cruise line is a very stressful and tiring experience. For peace of mind and a more relaxful cruise we now go in the day before and also book a flight the day after because disembarkation time is not always guaranteed either. There have been too many times that we arrived back into port late and were very fortunate that we had a flight booked for the next day.

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Glad to hear of your husband's recovery. My husband has had 9 rounds of chemo since 2004, unfortunately his bladder cancer had spread to his lymph nodes & keeps coming back. We always try to make the best of things and I appreciate your words of encouragement.:)

My prayers to you and your husband as you go through this health challenge and flights. I hope that you have an easy flight and transfer to the ship. Enjoy your travels.

My prayers to you and your husband as you go through this health challenge and flights. I hope that you have an easy flight and transfer to the ship. Enjoy your travels.

Thank you Divas. I appreciate your good wishes. I think I'd better stop reading this thread & getting stressed by certain comments from some of the other posters who keep preaching that I should have booked air pre-and post-cruise which I have done every single other time I've cruised but wasn't able to this time & my husband wanted to do this so I went with it. Believe me I wouldn't go through this extra worry again but when you have to squeeze things in at the last minute you hope for the best. Thanks again for the well wishes:)

Thank you Divas. I appreciate your good wishes. I think I'd better stop reading this thread & getting stressed by certain comments from some of the other posters who keep preaching that I should have booked air pre-and post-cruise which I have done every single other time I've cruised but wasn't able to this time & my husband wanted to do this so I went with it. Believe me I wouldn't go through this extra worry again but when you have to squeeze things in at the last minute you hope for the best. Thanks again for the well wishes:)

If you booked thru X chances are that there are others also on that flight that are also cruising. There have been times that the cruise ship delayed sailing waiting for those passengers. The captain made an announcement stating that. I guess he wanted the other passengers to know why it was delayed and it is also good PR to take their flights. This is something the the cruise line does have control of. If there are passengers that booked on their own they lucked out by being on those flights.

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Thank you Divas. I appreciate your good wishes. I think I'd better stop reading this thread & getting stressed by certain comments from some of the other posters who keep preaching that I should have booked air pre-and post-cruise which I have done every single other time I've cruised but wasn't able to this time & my husband wanted to do this so I went with it. Believe me I wouldn't go through this extra worry again but when you have to squeeze things in at the last minute you hope for the best. Thanks again for the well wishes:)

Don't even worry about it any longer, or those negative comments. Put your focus on preparing to have a great trip! You've done your best. Now rest.

Don't even worry about it any longer, or those negative comments. Put your focus on preparing to have a great trip! You've done your best. Now rest.

Thanks again Divas. Excellent advice. I won't be back to visit this thread so if anyone else sees this & wants to comment I won't see it. Thanks to everyone for your input & wish me luck that my flight is on time.:)