I'm nervous that I'll miss the boat!

[Hlitner]

The OP is obviously worried or they would not have even raised the issue. Hopefully all will be fine. But, some of the other posters are right in that most experienced cruisers have learned that its best to fly-in a day early (we usually fly-in even earlier for Europe or Asian cruises). Coming in the day of a cruise just creates worry and also increases the odds that you will not have your luggage. Flying in early often gives lost luggage a chance to catch-up. As to travel insurance, some of the policies have "fine print" language which deny coverage if your flight is scheduled to arrive less then a certain number of hours before your cruise (it varies by policy). As to cruises being held if the cruise line handled your air, this is sometimes true and sometimes not true.

 

Hank

[LarryL]

We're flying from RI to Fort lauderdale the day of our cruise (only flight we could get on presidents Day weekend). our plan should arrive at 11:00 AM.

 

So I'm worried about snow delays, etc...

 

Am I right to worry?

 

With the preference to fly in a day early not an option for you; if the flight leaves and arrives on time, you should really be fine. The Princess terminal in FLL is minutes away by taxi and the other side for the other cruise lines is a little further, although I have never cruised from those ports. I can tell you that we cruised out of Galveston, one time, and we had a little over an hour shuttle ride to the port from Houston with a flight arrival of around 10:30 AM. Yes, I was very nervous but we made the journey with plenty of time to spare.

 

I was going to suggest trying to get an early flight out of Logan but was very surprised to see there weren't any options there either. I am all about contingency planning but it doesn't sound like you have many options. Good luck and I hope you have a wonderful cruise.;)

 

Larry

[rnforcollegefees]

I guess I should read my insurance policy, but y'all know so much and your answers are much easier to read! If you miss the boat, what do most travel insurance policies pay for? To catch up to the ship or just a refund of your trip?

[Hlitner]

I guess I should read my insurance policy, but y'all know so much and your answers are much easier to read! If you miss the boat, what do most travel insurance policies pay for? To catch up to the ship or just a refund of your trip?

 

There is no easy substitute for simply reading the policy and not skipping the fine print. There are many types of insurance policies and most have differences (some subtle and some not so subtle). Insurance companies (and their underwriters) are very smart folks and are not in business to pay claims.

 

Hank

[paul929207]

I agree with Hank. Every insurance company writes their own policies. It doesn't matter if 99.99% of the policies cover something if yours is the one that doesn't.

[hancock]

Sometimes even flying in the day before isn't enough. My kids were booked on a cruise March 17th. I had them booked to fly out the morning of the 16th. An ice storm hit as they were driving to the airport. They spent 4 hours on the plane before the flight was canceled. The next morning they spent 4 more hours sitting on different planes trying to get to Tampa. By the time a plane would have gotten them there, the ship would have been sailing out of the harbor. Flying to the first port wasn't an option because the odds of being able to tender out to the ship in Grand Cayman weren't good. They weren't experienced travelers. They shed a few tears on missing the cruise. Luckily, I made sure they had insurance so they weren't out any money.

[Val23G]

Let's see, i've been on 8 cruises. flew in on the day of the cruise leaving for each one and had no issues. am doing the same for a march 3rd cruise coming up...won't arrive in FLL til 12:17 the day of the ship leaving. coming from ohio. so ya sure i'm a lil nervous being that it is still winter then. but, i'm not stressing over it. most of the time you'll be fine. of course there's always a chance that something could happen causing a delay. So there are definitely grounds to be nervous.

[Marie51]

If you cannot go a day ahead then let's hope the trip goes smoothly for you.

To hire a private driver or limo will not do any good if your flight is delayed or cancelled. The driver cannot get you to the ship if the plane doesn't land in the first place.

 

As far as travel insurance, it would be a misconception to think everything will be ok if you have purchased insurance. Again, if you flight doesn't make it there may be some compensation from the insurance but no amount of insurance can get you on the ship if your flight doesn't arrive.

[Hlitner]

Let's see, i've been on 8 cruises. flew in on the day of the cruise leaving for each one and had no issues. am doing the same for a march 3rd cruise coming up...won't arrive in FLL til 12:17 the day of the ship leaving. coming from ohio. so ya sure i'm a lil nervous being that it is still winter then. but, i'm not stressing over it. most of the time you'll be fine. of course there's always a chance that something could happen causing a delay. So there are definitely grounds to be nervous.

 

You have been very fortunate, and we have also had a lot of luck with flights. But we have also been on many flights within the USA that were more then 4 hours late (some were 1 or 2 days late due to snow or ice). Flying in the day of a cruise is like rolling the dice...and we hate craps.

 

Hank

[Cruisin' Chick]

I would be very concerned, especially with the weather conditions lately.

 

Last month, I sailed on the Golden Princess out of the Port of LA. For us, it's an hour's drive, but we always aim to get there as soon as possible. The week prior and day of the cruise, we had near record rainfall. At the same time, Heathrow airport in the UK was snowed in by record snow. Many passengers booked on our cruise were supposed to leave a day or two from that airport. Unfortunately for them, all flights were cancelled. From what we heard, 200 passengers (almost a tenth of the capacity) didn't get onboard. Supposedly, they were on their way, when the captain had to make the decision to leave some four and a half hours late.

 

The Brits we met during the cruise had made some other arrangements (such as leaving more than a few days before the cruise).