Opinions on flying in day of cruise...

[Bob++]

I don't think that there are any direct flights from LHR to Guernsey. Ironically, your best route might be to take a car to SOU and catch an afternoon flight from there.

[LHT28]

I don't think that there are any direct flights from LHR to Guernsey. Ironically, your best route might be to take a car to SOU and catch an afternoon flight from there.

Provided the ship makes port there as Guernsey is often missed

[LHT28]

Alright you guys are freaking me out :) I not only have to consider my trip, but my parents are going too, so need to figure them out as well. Hmm... guess I have to make the battle with hubby some more to convince him to go in a day early.

Maybe ask your parents how they would feel flying in the morning of with jetlag etc..

May give you a better chance with DH if all of you agree to go in the day before & relax

 

just a thought ;)

 

Option 2

 

you & parents fly in a day early & let him arrive the morning of the cruise

[potchak]

you & parents fly in a day early & let him arrive the morning of the cruise

 

So tempting, but it is our 20th wedding anniversary trip. Would really put a damper on it if he missed it!

[kctwinmommy]

My reason for flying in the day before is purely to do with jetlag. I really need that first day in Europe after a TA flight to be a pretty nothing day, no stress, no important decisions or places to go.

 

I agree! We did stay awake most of the day after we landed, lots of walking, but we crashed for a short afternoon nap and then after dinner I think we were asleep by like 7-8 p.m. and slept for like 12-13 hours. It was rough! I wouldn't want to be on a cruise feeling that way.

[LHT28]

So tempting, but it is our 20th wedding anniversary trip. Would really put a damper on it if he missed it!

a bigger damper if you all missed the cruise :evilsmile:

[potchak]

For those that mentioned the UK bank holiday, would Stonehenge be busy that Friday? DH really wants to visit Stonehenge on the way to the ship. Basically if we came in the day before, would we be able to do the Stonehenge airport pickup.

[GrJ Berkshire]

Come in the day before, and transfer from LHR to a hotel in the Salisbury region. Then you can do Stonehenge prior to your transfer to Southampton and the ship. That's the only way to do it.

[LHT28]

If you fly in the day before you could stay in Southampton

 

you can do one of the transfers that include a stop at Stonehenge

 

check the londontoolkit site

 

Trying to do the tour on embarkation day is just too much

IMO

[potchak]

If you fly in the day before you could stay in Southampton

 

you can do one of the transfers that include a stop at Stonehenge

 

check the londontoolkit site

 

Trying to do the tour on embarkation day is just too much

IMO

I was just wondering if we do it the day before are we going to hit major crowds due to the Bank holiday weekend?

[kctwinmommy]

I was just wondering if we do it the day before are we going to hit major crowds due to the Bank holiday weekend?

 

I can tell you we came back to London on Sunday afternoon, after spending the night on the west coast. We stopped at Stonehenge and planned on visiting it. I know it's not necessarily the same as a Bank holiday, but it was the weekend. It was really busy at the visitor center when we were there, I'd say around 3ish on the Sunday afternoon. For us though, the price of admission was way more than we wanted to spend. My husband and I had both seen it almost 30 years ago, and it hasn't changed! LOL!

 

 

We just got back in the car and did the drive by. Traffic was so slow going by, I could snap a few pictures. Somehow, I managed to get one with no people in it! LOL! For me, personally, I don't know if I would do an entire trip just to see it, but I understand many do. ;)

 

 

[gnome12]

We just had a story on the local news about a couple due to fly from Toronto non-stop to Miami for a cruise for their 40th anniversary. The flight was delayed, and then delayed again and they missed the cruise. It took them 3 days and a lot of hassle to catch up to the ship. Go in a day early.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[cangelmd]

Check threads on this topic, including threads on Cruise Air board.

Almost 20 years ago, we did a Med cruise and got bumped off our flight to Barcelona that was supposed to give us enough time to do sightseeing before departure. In those days we called the travel agent and the cruise air (which was through the cruiseline, via the travel agency) and got to board the ship after many adventures. Today even having cruise air just means that they are obligated to get you there at some point, which might be only 2 days of cruise left.

 

I would risk it going to Miami, Ft Lauderdale or a west coast port if I lived on the west coast - no way I would risk this with my parents in tow on my 20th wedding anniversary - I will be shot for that remark, because the cruise I was referring to above was our 20th anniversary trip, we just didnt' have any parents with us, ;),

[potchak]

Check threads on this topic, including threads on Cruise Air board.

Almost 20 years ago, we did a Med cruise and got bumped off our flight to Barcelona that was supposed to give us enough time to do sightseeing before departure. In those days we called the travel agent and the cruise air (which was through the cruiseline, via the travel agency) and got to board the ship after many adventures. Today even having cruise air just means that they are obligated to get you there at some point, which might be only 2 days of cruise left.

 

I would risk it going to Miami, Ft Lauderdale or a west coast port if I lived on the west coast - no way I would risk this with my parents in tow on my 20th wedding anniversary - I will be shot for that remark, because the cruise I was referring to above was our 20th anniversary trip, we just didnt' have any parents with us, ;),

My parents are celebrating their 50th also to give you any idea. Their anniversary is May 17, ours May 29. I will push my hubby again. Mom is on a cruise this week and I think wants to wait on booking her flights. But I want them all booked on the same reservation so we are all sitting together. Will have to see how the cruise went when she gets back. My dad is unfortunately getting worse (mobility significantly decreasing) so she is afraid to book anything that cannot be fixed later. And to get our mileage back would be $150 fee if she were to cancel.

[saltshell]

I am flying from London to Amsterdam eta 11:00 am. My cruise leaves at 5:00 pm. My roll call members voice concern. Should I be worried?

[LHT28]

I am flying from London to Amsterdam eta 11:00 am. My cruise leaves at 5:00 pm. My roll call members voice concern. Should I be worried?

as long as your flight is ontime you should be OK

any blip in the schedule could be a problem

it is less than 30 mins to the port so as long as you are there by 3:30-4pm (depending on the cruise line) you should be OK

 

Good luck

[cangelmd]

My parents are celebrating their 50th also to give you any idea. Their anniversary is May 17, ours May 29. I will push my hubby again. Mom is on a cruise this week and I think wants to wait on booking her flights. But I want them all booked on the same reservation so we are all sitting together. Will have to see how the cruise went when she gets back. My dad is unfortunately getting worse (mobility significantly decreasing) so she is afraid to book anything that cannot be fixed later. And to get our mileage back would be $150 fee if she were to cancel.

 

Not sure if this will help or not, but DH and I often book flights on different reservations because we have separate SkyMiles accounts. If you book them at the same time, you can sit together. You just begin the bookings at the same time on separate computers, and select your seats at the same time.

 

Also on a big international coach flight, you can likely book at different times and still sit together if you sit in the middle seats further back in the plane, just keep track of which seats you choose.

 

That brings up another point, I think most of the responses are concerned with what will happen if your flight is delayed out of the US, but another point is getting off the plane, getting baggage and through immigration and customs. If you go business class or econ comfort, you should get expedited tickets through some of the security/immigration steps - business class definitely expedited the entire way, the premium economy type tickets it may matter what airline for if you get priority boarding and priority immigration line.

On a trip to France last year, we had Premium Econ tickets with Air France and got TSA precheck AND a special immigration and customs line in Paris, which cut down our time in Charles de Gaulle at least by half.

[HawaiiUK]

Hi,

I met a couple at the airport who had flown in that morning to LHR for their cruise departure that afternoon from Southampton. Their cruise departure had already been delayed an hour (which proved to be a good thing). They arrived at 7.10am ... and got through to me at 10.10am!! We visited Stonehenge as requested, although I felt I had to rush them around. We also visited a small village, but I had to cancel the lunch booked for them, as well as the rest of the tour, and we got to their ship at 2.45pm. It's an 'all's well ends well' kind of story, but it did just reinforce my decision to arrive at my own cruise embarkation port a couple of days before the sail date 'just in case'.

Edited June 20, 2018 by HawaiiUK
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[potchak]

Not sure if this will help or not, but DH and I often book flights on different reservations because we have separate SkyMiles accounts. If you book them at the same time, you can sit together. You just begin the bookings at the same time on separate computers, and select your seats at the same time.

 

Also on a big international coach flight, you can likely book at different times and still sit together if you sit in the middle seats further back in the plane, just keep track of which seats you choose.

 

That brings up another point, I think most of the responses are concerned with what will happen if your flight is delayed out of the US, but another point is getting off the plane, getting baggage and through immigration and customs. If you go business class or econ comfort, you should get expedited tickets through some of the security/immigration steps - business class definitely expedited the entire way, the premium economy type tickets it may matter what airline for if you get priority boarding and priority immigration line.

On a trip to France last year, we had Premium Econ tickets with Air France and got TSA precheck AND a special immigration and customs line in Paris, which cut down our time in Charles de Gaulle at least by half.

 

 

Thank you! I knew that we could book at different times, with different account numbers, but with my dad being handicapped it is imperative that we all sit together so I can help. DH has enough in his bank to cover 4 of us 1 way, and I have enough for 2 of us on the way back. Mom and Dad will be flying home the day before us more than likely as we plan on staying two nights on the way back.

[potchak]

Hi,

I met a couple at the airport who had flown in that morning to LHR for their cruise departure that afternoon from Southampton. Their cruise departure had already been delayed an hour (which proved to be a good thing). They arrived at 7.10am ... and got through to me at 10.10am!! We visited Stonehenge as requested, although I felt I had to rush them around. We also visited a small village, but I had to cancel the lunch booked for them, as well as the rest of the tour, and we got to their ship at 2.45pm. It's an 'all's well ends well' kind of story, but it did just reinforce my decision to arrive at my own cruise embarkation port a couple of days before the sail date 'just in case'.

 

Oh my that does sound awful! DH is out of town til late tomorrow night and my brother is visiting til Saturday. So I will not be able to talk to him til the weekend. But you can bet your patooty I am going to be pushing for the day before. That way we can get Stonehenge in on the way in without being rushed. I did find a Holiday Inn within .75 miles to the princess terminal, so that would work out well since DH's points are all there too from his traveling.

 

I doubt we will get any kind of special handling on the customs side unless hubby is able to get Gold status on AA before then. (another reason for us all to be booked on the same reservation). We do have TSA precheck and plan on getting global entry for next year, but I think that only helps for getting back into the US.

 

Appreciate all the help everyone!

[cangelmd]

Thank you! I knew that we could book at different times, with different account numbers, but with my dad being handicapped it is imperative that we all sit together so I can help. DH has enough in his bank to cover 4 of us 1 way, and I have enough for 2 of us on the way back. Mom and Dad will be flying home the day before us more than likely as we plan on staying two nights on the way back.

 

Perhaps someone can chime in who is familiar with Heathrow, but sounds like your father could get wheelchair assistance, and that would get all of you into a special line in the US I know...because its usually the TSA Precheck line. ;)

[karinad]

Thank you for making me think about even flying in the day before and reminding me how jet lag feels! I just booked yesterday for Sept 17th British Islands and have to decide what we want to do so I could book airfare. A couple yrs ago we flew into Dublin 3 days before our cruise and we did a tour to Malahide Castle the same day of arrival. I got so tired that I could've laid on the castle floor and slept! That first morning in Dublin, I slept until 1pm and even had a hard time getting up!

 

Since this cruise is so port intensive and there isn't a sea day until the 7th day, I think we'll fly in 2 nights ahead and try to plan to do Windsor and maybe, Stonehenge before the cruise. Suggestions are welcome!

[LHT28]

I find flying overseas the 1st day is a washout

 

we usually check our bags at the hotel go for a walk about the area then once we can get our room have a nap for a couple of hours

 

get up by 6pm go out for dinner & try to stay up until 9-10pm

 

then get up the next morning at the normal time

 

Coming home for me is worse it can take me 2-3 days to recover

JME

[lanceholt]

Arriving the day of an overseas cruise is just gambling and if your husband wants to do that with this great trip, well..... We flew in once the day of and would not do it again. We were fortunate, flying in Business so expedited and then had NCL transfer to Southampton. Five cruises later and we always fly in day before. We live on the east coast and fly in day of cruise to east coast ports long as it is not dead of winter, fly in day before to the west coast.

[rocklinmom]

As tempting as it is, even with a direct flight, I can't imagine flying in the day of the cruise overseas. There are just too many possible issues i.e. delays, weather, medical emergencies, mechanical problems, etc. Not to mention the lines at customs, which can either be quick or take hours. A vacation should start great, not stressed out.