to stay or not to stay is my question

This is a question for the more experienced cruiser. We are going on a cruise in October. My husband wants to just to fly down early that day but I am not sure. Our last two cruises were in the winter so we did fly down before hand because of worry of a snow storm and delays. October we are not going to have to worry about that. The snow anyways. Does anyone else fly down to Florida the morning of their cruise? There are plenty of flights that leave at 6 or 7 am to choose from. Would like to save the extra cost and hassle of staying in a hotel for one night.

Personally, I couldn't take the stress of flying in the same day. But, I know a lot of people do. That being said, I would save up the money for a hotel night. You can usually get a decent hotel for $100 or less.

Unless I lived in easy driving to the port I would always recommend flying down a day before. Weather aside there are too many other factors that could delay a flight and the stress for me just would not be worth it.

If you do decide to fly down on the day please take out insurance in case you don't make it for some reason.

I and most others prefer getting in the day before.

Personally, I couldn't take the stress of flying in the same day. But, I know a lot of people do. That being said, I would save up the money for a hotel night. You can usually get a decent hotel for $100 or less.

I agree and while snow might not be a problem in October, tropical storms can cause flight delays and cancellations. Even flying down a day early doesn't guarantee a problem-free trip, but having bit of extra time to deal with any situations that might arise would help avoid stress. We have had excellent experiences getting a hotel in Florida for $60 a night or less through Priceline. Several offered a complimentary breakfast and inexpensive shuttle service to the pier.

I've flown in the day of only once and I will never do it again. It was so stressful.

I was thinking it's a direct flight from NH to FL, 6:30 AM, no worries of snow because it was the end of April.

We arrived at the airport early, plane was there, pilot and crew were there, so I was thinking I was all set.

It's time to board but they are not boarding us??? They announce that their is something wrong with the plane (a big leak of fluid under the plane) and it would be sometime before the union workers could come and look at it, YIKES!

There were no other direct flights to FL, no flights to MIA from MHT. We were better off waiting it out.

The flight was 3 hours late, we made it in time but I was sick all day from the stress.

I would only fly the day of it I booked direct with the cruise line.

I would also vote to fly in the day ahead of the cruise. Our last cruise Panama Canal, 25th wedding anniversary was this past October. Fortunately we had planned to fly in a day early. My MIL was driving us to the airport and we had a flat tire. No problem, plenty of time. We get tire changed. Drive less than a mile and another flat tire. Car has to be towed and we miss our flight. So not just weather may cause an unexpected delay! The best laid plans of mice and men can and do go wrong.

Go the day before. Although snow may not be a problem, as others mentioned you can have delays due to the aircraft breaking down, crew being late, weather (thunderstorms and/or tropical weather). Just because the weather is good at your home airport doesn't mean it is good along the flight route or your arrival airport. So if you have the choice of going a day before do so...

As long as you get the 1st flight out in the morning, you should be ok....it's not always possible to add an extra day to your vacation. Lots of folks DO fly in the day of. Sure, it's better to be in the port city that morning, and you should have insurance, just in case...but an early flight should be doable.

I've read too many sad stories about families missing there departure due to weather, mechanical issues, missing crew members, etc. It's so much more relaxing to fly down the day before the cruise leaves. You spend the night in a hotel close to the port. You get up relaxed and refreshed and ready for your cruise vacation to begin. When I was younger I flew down the day of and never had a problem. Now, I would never consider flying down the day of. Don't need the added stress of possibly missing the ships departure. If I can't fit the extra day into my schedule I just won't go.

I am too uncomfortable with the possibility that things could go wrong to fly down the day of the cruise. I always fly down the day before and enjoy a leisurely stress-free morning.

We have flown in many timesfrom NY to Florida on day of departure due to time constraints.

When we decided to sail the So Caribbean the first time, we again flew from NY to San Juan the same day and I vowed never to repeat. The second cruise to the SO. Caribbean, I booked airfare for one day prior for myself, husband and 2 sons. A few months before sailing, my sons announced that they were going to a concert and changed their flights to the morning of departure. I was so annoyed! I fly down with my husband as originally scheduled, arrive in San Juan and then couldn't sleep worrying that their 6am flight would depart on time. Luckily it did, but what should have been a nice relaxing night for me was so stressful. I had a migraine due to lack of sleep as I stepped on the ship.

I vote with the others to fly down early.

we flew down the same day for our cruise out of Miami in October. We even flew into Ft Lauderdale and had to get down to Miami. But we had plenty of time!

A couple of years ago I booked the first flight out of NYC for our Liberty cruise. The flight got delayed once, then twice and finally a third time. The first delay didn't scare us but by the time we got to the third delay we became very nervous. Once we got our luggage in Miami we grabbed a cab and the driver absolutely floored it to the pier. Thank god there wasn't any traffic in Miami that day.

We barely made the ship in time however since then I will never fly in the day of again. I don't ever want that feeling again. Flying in the day before gives you a much more relaxed feeling especially if your flight gets delayed. That relaxed feeling really makes it feel like your vacation has already begun!

I read that the majority of cruisers fly in the day of the cruise. So, you would be in a lot of company. I agree that it is taking a risk. You have to decide if it is worth it to you. [cost of a hotel, ability to add the day to the vacation, etc] No one can decide for you--but, you must live with the decision.

Two weeks ago we were flying home from Austin, TX. [not cruise related] As we sat at the gate waiting to board. We heard a siren and then they announced the airport had declared an emergency and we had to clear the terminal. EVERYONE had to leave. Shopkeepers, restaurant workers, the TSA, etc. We were not outside too long. [a few pax told us that someone pulled a fire alarm]

The issue was that EVERONE had to go back through security again. You know what the lines are like when the process is spaced out. Imagine if everyone in the terminal had to line up to go again.:eek::eek: All of the flights were delayed.

We had a big layover in Dallas [which I had been bummed about earlier in the day]. It was the ony thing that saved us.

The airlines are so undependable. Do fly in the day before. :)

I always fly down the day of. It's not really feasible in my schedule to do anything else.

Went on my first cruise this past August. Scheduled my flight for early morning the day of departure. Never even considered going a day early. Started reading the threads about NEVER flying in the day the cruise leaves. I drove myself nuts for several months before leaving. Couldn't change flights; I would have had to start over and didn't want to spend all that money. So.....all was well and everything went as scheduled. But let me tell you, the stress wasn't worth it :eek:

This is not even a question in my mind....DAY BEFORE! On our 1st cruise (which was arranged by a travel agent since we had no idea what we were doing), we got hung up in Atlanta due to a mechanical problem. We got to Ft Lauderdale late; was rushed to the ship and embarked during the Muster Drill! Well, you can imagine, having never cruised before, arriving in the middle of the chaos of 3000 people running around in orange life preservers and staff yelling at us to "go to your muster station!!" We had NO idea what a "mustard" station was!! VERY chaotic beginning of a cruise...we didn't relax and figure out the cruising culture for about 2 days...ALL which could have been prevented by flying down the day before and having a relaxing beginning.

Now...we fly in the day before, relax around the pool of our hotel, have a nice dinner, nice breakfast in the morn and arrive to the port at 11:30am. We have lunch on board and when our cabin is ready, drop off our bags and tour the ship before all of the "fly-in-same-day" people arrive...then head for the pool! It is like having an extra "day at sea". And don't forget, you are paying for that first day as well, so you might as well enjoy it.

Another time I was flying to FL, our flight of 250 people was cancelled due to mechanical problems. We were all in line to re-book...it was a mess! People going on cruises were hysterical because it was left up to US to get ourselves re-booked. Some people with cell phones called reservations...they refused to talk to us because there were so many people needing to re-book. Finally they bussed some of us to an airport an hour away where more flights were available. I arrived 4 hours late...and was VERY thankful I was not going on a cruise!

Have I convinced your husband to fly down the day before?:D

Of all the posts only 2 said they would fly day of cruise.I couldn't handle the stress,use priceline, relax and enjoy.We live in Florida and still go the day before,anything can happen on I-75 and they shut it down frequently.

Unless I lived within logical driving distance I would go minimally the day before... Anything can happen as others have said. My last flight in FLL was delayed over 24 hours due to plane problems... A direct charter flight so there weren't any options to get other flights short of driving to MCO and hoping for the best or paying the $$$$$ same day prices for other carriers. Luckily this was POST cruise... If we had flown down same day pre cruise we may have been able to catch up with Oasis in Jamaica... 1/2 way through the week :(

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It's possible; I did it for my first two cruises and will be doing it for my April cruise. Our flight is scheduled to get in at 9:15am.

Yes, anything can happen, but if you can't afford the extra day, get the earliest flight possible the morning of.

Day before. Even without snow, there's a lot that can go wrong, and I just don't want to start vacation stressing about being on time for boarding.

I like to think of it as starting our vacation a day or two early. If we sail on Sunday, fly out Sat or even Friday. Book a nice dinner reservation or explore the local area, whatever floats your boat. Then on Sunday, after a relaxing evening and some sleeping in, we can wander over to the pier to board.

Nice thing about this kind of plan, is that if there is an airline delay of some sort (weather, mechanical, strike etc) the worst you lose is your dinner reservation. Most hotels cancel before 6pm day of arrival, so you still have the day of sailing to get down there. but if all goes well, you have had an extra day of vacation.

bobj

Another vote for flying in the day before.

We are in "snow country" however we have been delayed by tropical storms, thunder and general heavy rain, mechanical problems, crew problems, etc.

Although we have been extremely fortunate, another thing to consider is lost or delayed luggage - it also gives the airlines a little wiggle room to get your bags to you.

We enjoy a leisurely dinner the night before to begin our cruise - have often met cruise critic friends - and then early to the boat, board, and lunch on board.

Much less stressful!