crazy? to arrive in Miami day of our cruise?

[Chigirlcruzin]

Another story. My friend and her sister were flying from O'hare to Munich to Barcelona for a 12 day Med cruise on Princess. In the middle of takeoff from ORD, the plane came to a complete halt. The taxied back to the gate, mechanics came, and 4 hours later, they were leaving ORD again. However, they would miss their connection to BCN, and the new flight from MUC to BCN got them in too late to make the ship. The 12 night cruise became an 11 night cruise as the met up with the ship at the first stop in Monte Carlo.

[bucket_O_beer4john]

I live just south of Jacksonville, and am cruising on the Fascination out of Jax in December. It is an easy 45 minute drive to the port, but I am actually thinking about getting a hotel closer. Weird, huh?

 

But, there are a couple reasons. First, I think it's always great to start my vacation early. A night in a hotel, eating at a nice restaraunt, not having to worry the morning of departure about packing or taking care of the dog...

 

Then, the night in the hotel gives me a chance to remember what I forgot to pack, and fix it if I need to. This time I'm traveling with my 19 year old son, and sometimes, well....he's a 19 year old. Enough said.

 

Third, I'm paranoid! I'm an engineer by profession, and I have to always think about the worst possible scenario, and I am a firm believer in Zeno's law.

 

Murphy's Law states that anything that can go wrong will, and at the worst possible moment.

 

Zeno's Law states that Murphy was an optimist.

[MrPete]

Looking at possibly taking a red eye Virgin America flight out Friday night from San Francisco to Miami. Our ship leaves at 4pm on Sarturday and our scheduled arrival would be 8:15am that day.

 

I'm really leery to do this but it is cheaper due to not needing hotels in SF or Miami prior to the cruise. Not sure it's worth the risk though.

 

How do you all feel about it? Do you ever fly in the day of (and would you from a long distance away)?

 

(I have to say that in all of our travels, we've never had a late departure/arrival/lost luggage etc. So I'm pretty confident it wouldn't be an issue based on that, but I do know it happens and would hate to miss the boat! :) )

 

Appreciate your thoughts either way. Thank you!

 

 

Ah the days when the fares included flights and those coming from the coast got a free overnight stay.

 

We booked with them, altered the flight, and took advantage of the overnight stay at the Omni, watching all the ships coming in the morning of our sailing.

 

 

We flew from the east coast to the west coast one cruise on the day of our sailing, taking full advantage of that long day.

 

I'm not so sure I would do it in reverse.

[iluvdoxies]

I live in Orlando I and I won't even

DRIVE to Miami the day of. :o

 

Wishing you luck - sure you will

be fine though.

 

we do too and always drive to MIA the day before--------------------

[PA Beachlovers]

When we booked our first cruise we never even gave a thought to what may happen if the flight was delayed until we started reading all the post here on cruise critic. By that time it was too late to change our plans, the plane flights were already booked. We couldn't relax until we touched down in Orlando. Our next cruise we are flying in a day early and the night before the flight we will be staying at an airport hotel so hopefully nothing can go wrong. We live in a rural area and the closest major airport is three hours away, not willing to risk not getting to the airport in time for the flight.

[tef43]

In Jacksonville, we are less than 30 minutes from Jaxport, so we drive to the port on the morning of.

 

Anywhere else, we would drive/fly in the day prior. Yes, even for something as close as Port Canaveral.

 

I've done the west->east redye numerous times for work, and the last couple of times have had no issues whatsoever. However, if it is not something that you do regularly, you could end up being a complete mess a couple hours after you arrive. I'm not certain that is the way that I would wish to spend embarkation day.

[HappyValley3]

Flew the same day twice. The first time my husband and 3 grand kids ages 4-8 stayed the night before near the airport. Up at 3 am for a 6 am flight. At the first stop in Philadelphia, all flights into Orlando were cancelled due to a tropical storm. We waited at the airport for 4 hours before we got another flight into West Palm Beach to meet the ship (it had relocated to there). The ship delayed their sailing time due to so many stranded passengers. My 4 year old got car sick on the ride from airport to ship and threw up all over her clothes while in line to check in. She never had been car sick before....just sick from stress and nerves....she is a worry wart like her Gram. lol

 

Second time stayed at near the airport in Baltimore for a flight the next day. This time I had my mother with me (in a wheel chair) and couldn't sleep a wink that night due to worrying something would go wrong. It didn't, but I was a nervous wreck until we reached the ship in Miami.

 

NEVER AGAIN! Way too much stress to save some money.

 

Good luck with your decision.

[HappyValley3]

When we booked our first cruise we never even gave a thought to what may happen if the flight was delayed until we started reading all the post here on cruise critic. By that time it was too late to change our plans, the plane flights were already booked. We couldn't relax until we touched down in Orlando. Our next cruise we are flying in a day early and the night before the flight we will be staying at an airport hotel so hopefully nothing can go wrong. We live in a rural area and the closest major airport is three hours away, not willing to risk not getting to the airport in time for the flight.

 

 

Hey PA Beachlovers ~ Saw you were from Montoursville. We live in Lock Haven and feel your pain. It's tough to travel when you live in the middle of nowhere isn't it!

 

Happy Cruising!

[UATLB]

15 out of my 18 cruises i have flown in the day before never had a problem. but traveling that long deff get some sleep on the plane

[jsfromsc]

I don't trust the airlines. I'm not sure what we'll do about our European cruise next summer. At least those trans-Atlantic flights usually arrive very early in the morning. But we have been thwarted by airlines for every trip over the past couple of years. Delta canceled our flight at 10pm the night before we were to fly to Ft. Lauderdale for our Southern Caribbean cruise in 2010. We planned to fly the day before the cruise and we're in SC so we were able to drive that whole day to Ft. Lauderdale. Had we been flying on the day of the cruise we'd have had to drive all night and I doubt if either of us could have stayed awake to do it.

 

This could work out just fine for you, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[Ehpride]

The problem for me, if I could even get direct flights to Florida, is that I would be nervous until I got on the ship. Plus, I really enjoy having a day or two pre-cruise to explore, relax and just enjoy myself. Luckily, I'm really good at finding reasonably priced hotel rooms.

[Georgie562]

I will be flying red eye in December for my cruise. This is my first time flying to a port. Flight is scheduled to arrive 6:50 AM.

The only reason why im flying in the same day is because I couldn't get anymore approved time off from work. Otherwise I would of flown the day before.

[spunkyhungry]

We've always flown in the day of the cruise and have never had any problems.

[LOVECRUISING100%]

Good Luck .. I've thought about doing the same thing in the past but I'm to much of a worry wart so i always go a day ahead ...

[Igerster]

My first cruise I flew into Miami the day of. We got onboard at 305 for 400 departure. I was a bit nervous. I arrive a day early now.

[Kangapong]

I live in Orlando I and I won't even

DRIVE to Miami the day of. :o

 

Wishing you luck - sure you will

be fine though.

 

Same here. Personally it's not worth the risk as anything can happen so were arrive a day before the ship sails. The price of a hotel room is small compared to the amount of stress relief it provides.

[bplazo]

We have done it before but it made me uncomfortable and I always prefer to fly the day before because it also gives you one more day of vacation.

[Yvonne]

There is no way I would be comfortable flying in the day of a cruise.

 

On one of our Carnival cruises I thought about doing their air and when I talked to a representative she said we had to fly in the day of the cruise. I said no thanks and booked our own.

 

We generally fly down AT LEAST 2 days prior, sometimes more and do some sightseeing.

 

Our last cruise we were delayed coming HOME by 2 days because of a major snowstorm in Detroit. That was okay, we didn't mind spending an extra couple of days in the warm Florida sunshine. :) But! Had that happened going TO Florida we would have "missed the boat!"

 

Even if weather is perfect, there are too many other things that can go wrong and you'd miss the ship. I would not do it.

[cruise_girl2002]

I usually fly in the day before just for the piece of mind. you can find hotels pretty cheap. I have airfare for the valor flying out dec.1 and the ship leaves dec.2, however, its now looking like our schedules i wont be able to get off dec.1-dec 9 :mad::( may have to change the flight to a LATE LATE flight dec.1 or even fly out dec.2, dont want to call in sick...ERRRR this new union we have REALLY screwed me!!!

[summersigh]

Looking at possibly taking a red eye Virgin America flight out Friday night from San Francisco to Miami. Our ship leaves at 4pm on Sarturday and our scheduled arrival would be 8:15am that day.

 

How do you all feel about it? Do you ever fly in the day of (and would you from a long distance away)?

Thank you!

 

Depends on the time of year - we took a Christmas cruise out of Ft Lauderdale one year - 400 people MISSED the sailing. (We arrived the afternoon before the sailing) The day before sailing there was a massive snow storm that shut down all the northeastern airports. It also affected other airports because planes that were supposed to take off there were delayed/canceled and never arrived. It was too late to jump in the car and hussle down south to the port.:(

[youwash]

Would NEVER fly in the day of the cruise.

When we were new to cruising (our second cruise) we were flying and sailing on a Sat. and on Wed saw a huge snowstorm coming to Chicago -our connection city. Tried to change flights but airline would not change untill there was actually a problem. So our party of 8 booked all new flights to get there Fri. As we were leaving our hotel in Miami for the ship, I checked messages and the airlines had cancelled our origional flights at 5 that morning.

 

(after some phone calls first airline did give us credit vouchers for the unused flight and used them the next year for the next cruise)

[KETARITA]

Nope don't recommend it. Not worth the risk.

 

I live in the state next to FL (GA) and I STILL don't fly out the same day. Too many things can go wrong, and even the slightest thing can screw you up.

 

One time, I left the day of (I was driving) and had directions that I printed out (this is before I had GPS). The directions were fine, but the hiccup occurred when there was construction going on and they had a TON of detours. Well...I didn't print directions for detours. We missed the ship trying to get to the port. Ever since then I NEVER leave the day of.

 

Oh, and that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was I didn't have travel insurance.

[jiggs]

sorry if I missed it, but what time of year are you flying? the on-time record for this flight pair for direct flights is pretty solid. I understand that history doesn't influence your story, but I think this board can be a bit misleading leaning on the number of people that arrive early for their cruise.

 

I don't know the numbers, but many people fly the same day and are successful without sweating it. I've done both. If I had a red-eye, I would be pretty confident. Virgin needs that plane there to take people somewhere else. Its not like you're showing up at 2:00...you're going to get there so early, you have a few hour buffer if anything were to happen.

 

I know I'm in the minority saying same-day flights could work...I also don't by trip insurance so I have 2 strikes against me.

[mnablondie]

We always fly in the day of the cruise, and haven't had a problem yet (sometimes direct, sometimes with layovers). I consider travel insurance the price for peace of mind.

[Chrisdemo]

sorry if I missed it, but what time of year are you flying? the on-time record for this flight pair for direct flights is pretty solid. I understand that history doesn't influence your story, but I think this board can be a bit misleading leaning on the number of people that arrive early for their cruise.

 

I don't know the numbers, but many people fly the same day and are successful without sweating it. I've done both. If I had a red-eye, I would be pretty confident. Virgin needs that plane there to take people somewhere else. Its not like you're showing up at 2:00...you're going to get there so early, you have a few hour buffer if anything were to happen.

 

I know I'm in the minority saying same-day flights could work...I also don't by trip insurance so I have 2 strikes against me.

 

I agree.... I leave for my cruise on Saturday morning (12am) land in FLL at 8:15am. I'm leaving from LAX to FLL non stop.. Should be perfect weather in LA