Flight into New Orleans

Due to my schedule I was only able to book a flight the day of the cruise. I will by flying from Kansas City to Houston then to New Orleans. My arrival time is listed at 1 pm with the cruise leaving at 4 and needing to check in 90 Minutes prior. I have carry on bags and no luggage to pick up. Is this doable?

Yes, provided you do not encounter any flight delays.

Doable but very tight.

I’d be extremely nervous about that.

the drive to the port is at least a 1/2 hour without traffic

I don’t mind flying into the port day of but even that is cutting it too close for me. I’d shoot for an earlier flight for sure. Especially if you’re flying during the winter or the severe weather season.

I would definitely reschedule. That is just way too close for comfort, especially with the layover. Just too many things could go wrong.

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I would definitely reschedule. That is just way too close for comfort, especially with the layover. Just too many things could go wrong.

 

 

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Agree.... One of my 1st cruises 20+ years ago.... we were delayed departing then we circled Miami airport for an hour due to storms. Landed at around 3pm and had to be on board by 4. We just made it and were literally the last passengers to board. I think they pulled the ramp away from ship once we boarded. It was so stressful!! Since then ...we always fly the day/evening before or worst case take a 6am flight which gets in at 9 or 9:30am.

I would not risk it even if I was flying nonstop. I know not everyone can fly in the day before, but you may want to look into earlier flights even if they cost a little more. I would do it just for the peace of mind.

I would only fly non stop on the day of the cruise and book the earliest one available. Rather be in the port city having breakfast killing time, then hoping I can make it to the port on time.

Just be sure you have your passport so that you can fly to the first port if you miss the ship. Though I’m almost inclined to say “when” you miss the ship. Best of luck! You are certainly going to need it.

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That would work as long as everything goes as it should. Do you have travel insurance? Maybe if I was retired I might try it. But I still work and getting time off for another vacation when I want to go and that I may or may not have enough vacation time to cover my pay for another week. No way would I risk giving up my vacation and losing money for my expenses also. We always travel at least the day before when flying. Our first cruise our plane was delayed 6 hours due to a mechanical problem. After 3 hours they finally put us on a different flight as we had purchased baseball tickets for that night . Then that flight was delayed. Our plane arrived at the start of the 9th inning so we missed the game. And to top it off they lost our luggage. We flew in on Friday. Our ship departed Sunday. Saturday evening we bought new clothes and neccesities as we still hadn't received our luggage. Our lost luggage was delivered at 2 am Sunday. So in time for our cruise but we wasted our time shopping. Next cruise we flew to Houston again. The belt that takes the luggage from plane and delivers to the luggage carousel broke. It took over an hour to fix. So delayed again. Lots of things can go wrong. How inconvienced and unhappy would you be if you didn't make it in time? Hope all goes well and that you have a wonderful cruise.

There are a lot of tough variables, especially since it's not a direct flight increasing the chance of delay. I'd also factor in which airline it is, though even that is a crapshoot.

My daughter and I flew into New Orleans last year while my husband and youngest drove due to a schedule glitch. Our arrival time was supposed to be like 11:30 and it did get delayed by 45 minutes. We also had no checked luggage and a ride waiting to pick us up. Honestly, we had no problems making the ship. There was essentially no line at that point, and we boarded shortly after 1:30, I think.

So, it is possible for you to get there in time, if all flights stay on time. It's definitely tight.

Despite the gospel proposed here on CC, the majority of cruisers successfully arrive at the port on the day of their cruise. We hear about the mishaps which get magnified out of proportion, almost like the scare tactics that the cruise lines use to go to their authorized shopping stores in port or only on their excursions.

The general guidance is to take the earliest non stop that morning from your home town to the cruise city airport. Use just a carry on, and one can usually get from the plane to the cruiseport in about an hour or less. The OP may be cutting it close with a 1PM arrival and 2:30 ship boarding .cutoff.

There have been many times that I've been waiting at either LGA or JFK on a Saturday or Sunday morning waiting to board my plane while cruisers who got delayed or missed their flight on Thursday or Friday were frantic trying to get a seat for the same cruise I was flying to that morning.

I would def have travel insurance that way if anything goes wrong you can get refunded for your missed cruise.

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I wouldnt try it. Too many variables like others have said. If your plane needs to deice once onboard that adds 30 - 45 minutes. I have only flown in day of once and I had first direct flight of the day. I know I would be devistated if I missed the ship...

No way. My blood pressure cannot handle that schedule. An hour delay on either leg and you are in serious jeopardy of missing your cruise.

Due to my schedule I was only able to book a flight the day of the cruise. I will by flying from Kansas City to Houston then to New Orleans. My arrival time is listed at 1 pm with the cruise leaving at 4 and needing to check in 90 Minutes prior. I have carry on bags and no luggage to pick up. Is this doable?

You already know this is a bad idea.

If you're a valued worker/student/whatever, you can get that "schedule" accommodated so that you can fly in at least a day earlier.

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Due to my schedule I was only able to book a flight the day of the cruise. I will by flying from Kansas City to Houston then to New Orleans. My arrival time is listed at 1 pm with the cruise leaving at 4 and needing to check in 90 Minutes prior. I have carry on bags and no luggage to pick up. Is this doable?

Not sure if this is relevant to your situation, but some people don't know that Southwest Airlines fares do not show in external booking engines. You have to go to southwest dot com to see their fares. Southwest does direct flights from Kansas City to NOLA (MCI to MSY) and they might be able to get you into NOLA earlier. Just a thought.

Be aware it is about a 20-30 minute ride from MSY to the cruise port depending on traffic.

I'll never forget this sight on my first cruise. Two minutes before departure two ladies come running up the gangway all hot and sweaty and out of breath. They both had their suitcases with them, and one of them came open. Panties and bras were flying out of it and landing on the gangway. The lady who they belonged to was oblivious to what was happening.

I hope that's not you.

Roz

FYI.... I did a dummy booking on SW for a Sun-Sun. leaving KC in April. There is a Non-stop leaving at 9:35 and arriving at 11:35 (and it happened to be the cheapest of all flights out of KC for that day) ....You will probably find this flight will be cheap as many SW passengers connect in hubs such as Houston or Midway for other airports not served directly. Non-stop arriving at 11:35 eliminates the potential connection delays and gives you plenty of breathing room to get to the Port

Every segment of your flight compounds the risk of a flight delay.

Just today, I was on a flight that had a 2 hour maintenance delay. Weather delays are even more common. NOLA won't have any snow/ice but may have thunderstorms.

Your most likely delay would occur at Houston, if the plane which you need to fly on to MSY is delayed coming in... could be perfect weather in Houston and NOLA, but bad weather somewhere else, and you're affected.

The cruise line needs to finalize the manifest for Homeland Security before the ship leaves. Not sure the exact cutoff, but it is somewhere between 90 and 60 minutes. Add the drive from the airport to the port and you have at most one hour of wiggle room. If your flight is delayed by more than that, you will need to buy another plane ticket one way to the next port of call. If that's OK, and you are willing to risk it, go for it!

Add another one for it being too close for comfort for me. There are probably people who fly in the day of for every cruise, but that's too much stress to add to the beginning of a vacation for me, especially with a 2:30p all aboard time.

A red eye that lands in the very early morning is the only way I'd plan to fly in the day of a cruise. And we've only done that once.

We ALWAYS fly in the day before our cruise to not start our experience stressfully. Even when we flew to London, we flew the day before the day before our cruise. [emoji6]

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We like to come in the day before the cruise, but have flow in same day with no issues.

• In San Juan, ships leave at 10 PM providing another 6 hours of cushion from the normal 4 pm departure.
  
• Departing from south Florida it's fine to fly in the morning. CLT and MIA are both "hubs" for American, so any mechanical delay would have plenty of time to find a new flight (and the airline is responsible for getting you there if the delay is their fault). CLT is far enough south that winter weather delays are rare, and you usually have a day or two advance notice to adapt if you need to.
  

However, it's always best to arrive the day before, and get a hotel near the port. It allows you to relax and de-stress. You also have plenty of time to pick up things like soda that you did not want to bring from home on the plane.

Anyone flying same day and making a connection should have some good travel insurance!