Flying out the day of CrUiSe...?!?

[got2shop]

Hi, I am looking to book my flight out the morning of my CrUiSe..Is this safe to do?!? Has anyone ever MiSSED their ship due to delayed flight?

[HawkIVette]

You can do it, but I would not advice it. Especially during the winter flying from northern states. Too much of a chance missing your whole vacation.

 

Now flying out the day of the end of the cruise, go for it.

I just got off the Miracle this morning. Walked off at 7:45 am and was at Sea-Tac Airport, at my gate by 8:45 for my 10:00 am flight back to Minneapolis

Edited June 18, 2014 by HawkIVette

[KenMo]

So I'm guessing you live in the Chicago area and you're leaving April 13th?

 

What's the weather like in Chicago that time of year? I know here in Missouri snow is not out of the question.

 

Is there a non-stop flight?

[sjcruiser]

It's better to fly in a day before. With airlines overbooking and possible weather or maintenance issues, I don't like to chance it on a normal day. To many thing out of your control can go wrong. As an example, on a recent trip to Florida on an afternoon/evening flight, the baggage conveyor belts had broken that morning, and there were people on my flight who had scheduled departures at 6:00am that morning. If you can, to have peace of mind without stressing over possible delays or cancellations, fly in the day before. Enjoy your cruise.

[cruizinisthebest]

People do it frequently. Yes you can miss your ship. There was a thread on here a couple of weeks ago about a couple who missed their cruise. I wouldn't advise it at all.

[got2shop]

Thank You all Veryyy Much!!!! Very Appreciated!!!!! :)

[buddylover]

I think choosing when to fly in for a cruise depends on the time of the year. But we are from the Chicago area too and would NEVER risk it in April to fly in the DAY OF a cruise. Think back 2 months....we were buried under many feet of snow, and it snowed daily. Too risky IMHO for April from Midwest!

Edited June 18, 2014 by buddylover

[ILCruzr]

Def day before.

[kona_wahine]

Of course, the major reason to fly in the day before is incase of flight delays. But, we fly from the west coast and it is nice to not be rushed in the morning and getting to the ship, checking in etc. I just enjoy the whole day. Can't imagine if I flew all night, got in at 6-7 am, then waited around to go. Sounds like a disaster in the making.

Edited June 18, 2014 by kona_wahine

[Lisichka]

On my very first cruise I flew from S.L.C. to L.A. on the day of my cruise (a 90 minute flight). My flight was booked for 7:00am MDT, with an expected arrival in L.A. at 7:30am PDT. Plenty of time, right? Waiting for my flight, a sign came up that my flight had been delayed. First for one hour, then 2, then 3 and then...canceled. This was in June, mind you, with weather not being the issue. Mechanical problems with the airplane made it such they canceled the flight. All other flights were fully booked, with the next available flight leaving the next morning. There were about 7 people on the flight who all were booked on the same cruise. In the end we were lucky to find a flight with a competing airline (for big $$) that got us to the cruise ship at 3:30pm. In the nick of time.

 

I will NEVER book a same-day flight again.

 

PS: Last April I flew from SLC to Baltimore when our plane caught on fire (fire started in the bathroom). We had to make an emergency landing in Chicago where all of us were put on different planes, some of us the next day. You just never know what can go wrong.

Edited June 18, 2014 by Lisichka

[092306]

We were scheduled to fly day before and there was a problem with that flight that resulted in us flying same day with connecting flights into Miami when our cruise was in Ft. Lauderdale. We made it on the ship by 3pm thankfully, but that was incredibly stressful. I can't imagine flying in day of on purpose. As others have said, anything can happen and does.

[ALWAYZCRUISEN]

Don't do it! I had a flight scheduled to get me to Miami 6 hours prior to my boarding time for the ship. I received a call at 10:30p the night before saying the flight was cancelled. After almost two hours of phone conversations with the airlines, I had to drive 4 hours away to catch a flight that would get my family to the port in time. We arrived at the airport with no time to spare.

 

One to two days prior!

[Barbee524]

I have done this in April from Chicago. I was a nervous wreck until our plane landed in Fort Lauderdale. This was the only time I have flown in the day of due to my nephews wedding the night before. I do not recommend it.

[YB Nrml]

Never, never, never fly in the day of your cruise. Our first cruise we did that, got up @ 2am to be @ the airport by 4am for a 6am flight. By the time we boarded the ship and got to our room we were exhausted. Way too stressful and not worth the possibility of missing your trip.

 

Now we live in Florida and just drive to the ports. One of the main reasons we moved here!:D

[JasonV1]

Chicago is borderline on this in my opinion. I'd do it if I could get the first direct flight available that day, but not otherwise. I live in NC and (usually) fly Delta so I can usually do this direct or with an ATL connection (I always fly down day of unless I plan to do pre-cruise vacationing). The downside: Showing up to the airport at 5AM-6AM for those early flights isn't for everyone.

 

If you are considering it use a site like this to see on time stats.

 

As to the odds of it being oversold, you are flying out of a pretty large airport so there should be plenty of flights. Generally speaking so long as you check in as early as possible (online the day before), and aren't late getting to the airport, in almost all cases you will be fine. In my experience, early AM flights are less likely to be oversold than the last flight of the day.

[KatieCharlotte]

If you're taking a direct flight early in the morning from a major city in April, the odds are very very low that you will miss your cruise. However, after being forced to fly in the morning of one time, I would not do it again just because it made me too nervous to enjoy the excitement leading up to the cruise. It also depends on the cost of the cruise that you'd risk losing -- I'd be more likely to fly in the morning of if it's a short, cheap cruise for one or two people, especially if means you can save money. But I'd never risk it for a long, expensive cruise.

[elliair]

We have flown in the same day a couple of times but only if we're flying to LA or Seattle as there are several flights leaving. Friends are flying the red eye from California to Ft. Lauderdale in October for a Panama Canal cruise. They change planes in Atlanta. I wouldn't do it, but they have trip insurance and not much to lose as they see it. If you're a risk taker why not?

[bar1068]

We would never in a million gazillion years travel the same day as our cruise..well...that is unless we're sailing out of Baltimore...then we'd drive..only 40 minutes.....lots of ways to get there!!

 

But as you may be seeing OP, assuming you read all these replies, which I've no doubt you are, " one size doest not fit all", you have to make the decision that fits you, what are YOU comfortable doing? AS you see, folks are posting as expected, stories of having issues flying day of cruise, some post stories of no issues, obviously no guarantees either way. Better "odds" in some travel situations, but thats about the best you can figure on. We live near Baltimore, only a 2 hour flight to cruise ports in Fla...still we'd rather fly the day before, if for no other reason than to make the day we sail more relaxed, with little travel worries...just seems so much more relaxed to just hop in a cab or shuttle morning of the cruise, head over to the port and jump aboard. Getting up at o'dark thirty to make a flight to better the odds of getting in on sail day..then doing the "flying thing" ...then getting to the port...no thanks, too much stress. Travel insurance may get you travel $$$'s back, but is that really what you'd wanna risk? Do all that planning and anticipation...all those single digit dances, but then not cruise cause your plane was late?

 

Something that "cinched" this for me..cause we've toyed with the idea of flying same day to save a fews bucks, was a co-worker flying from West Virginia to Ft. Lauderdale, same day for a cruise on the RCI Oasis. Mechanical issues with planes forced flights to be re-routed to FLL, and of course delayed their arrival to the FLL cruise port. They managed to arrive at the port, they thought still in time as the ship was STILL in port....BUT...they were denied boarding because they were inside the 90 minute window, or whatever it was, that the cruise manifest had to be submitted to the TSA or whoever it is prior to departure. I'd a turned into a raving lunatic....someone telling me nope, can't board...so sorry....shoulda got here sooner....no thank you.

[cruizinisthebest]

We have flown in the same day a couple of times but only if we're flying to LA or Seattle as there are several flights leaving. Friends are flying the red eye from California to Ft. Lauderdale in October for a Panama Canal cruise. They change planes in Atlanta. I wouldn't do it, but they have trip insurance and not much to lose as they see it. If you're a risk taker why not?

 

Why would you need to take a risk with a trip that you already planned and paid for? Go gamble if you're a risk taker. Sure there's trip insurance but people also put money into vacations otherwise. Plus all the prep with taking time off, etc. I mean if you're going to do it let it be because there's no other option. Not just for the thrill of taking a risk. Scrambling to catch a cruise is not fun or the way I would choose to start off my vacation. Avoid as much drama as you can ahead of time.

[dwaterhouse]

We would love to fly in a day prior to the cruise, but due to schedules we can't....we have flown in the day of the cruise every time (10x). And knock on wood... No problems ... We always try to take the 1st flight out as well as non-stop... But we have done flights with connections... Yes it can be stressful....

[skrufy]

If you must fly the day of your cruise, book as early a flight as you can get, and make it non stop. Eliminate all potential areas where. you can get delayed.

[martinm]

I will never travel the day of again.

We let Disney handle our travel plans for our first cruise. I'm really glad we did because weather delayed us so much we would have missed the boat.

 

I now travel a day or two in advance. I do not want to be in the I missed my cruise club.

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

Always day before and earliest flight possible. I would rather have a long travel day on the day before than a headache the day of. For my Breeze cruise we have a 5:50am flight the day before.

[Rogueperson]

For the most part, I've always flown in day of and have never missed my ship.

 

BUT, after the last time (where nothing happened), I will never do it again. There is just no point in getting that stressed out. It was a December cruise and I was flying from Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale. I kept my eye on the weather and if there was an impending storm that was ANYWHERE close by, I was hopping in my car and driving down to Florida from Baltimore.

 

I've flown this route many times and not just for cruises, and i've never been delayed to the point of hours, but past performance is not indicative of future performance.

 

You're on vacation. Vacation from stress is a big deal. If you're wound tight all the way up to the point you land in Florida or wherever you're cruising from, you're going to need time to decompress from that. Not a good start to your vacation in my opinion. Go in the day before, relax and get up in the morning and make your way to the port.

[FirstAlto]

When we first started cruising, and didn't know any better, we would fly the day of the cruise. We always flew out early - which was nice, but by the time we got on the cruise ship I would be ready for bed because we had to get up SO early to get to the airport :eek::eek:

Now flying in a day early, we enjoy a nice dinner and relaxed evening, and arrive at the ship ready to go !!:D:D

MUCH better !!

Unfortunately, for various reasons, many people don't have the luxury of flying in early - but if possible in your case - DO IT !!!

Jane