Arriving at port day of cruise

[zoepipes]

We are traveling with friends who plan on flying into FLL, arriving at noon, the day of the cruise.  Is that something that is recommended?  We're extra cautious and will be coming in the day before.

[BND]

2 minutes ago, zoepipes said:

We are traveling with friends who plan on flying into FLL, arriving at noon, the day of the cruise.  Is that something that is recommended?  We're extra cautious and will be coming in the day before.

It's always risky to fly in day of.  All they'd need is a 2-3 hour delay and they'd miss the ship.  Recommendation is the day before.  The only time we go day of is when we go out of Baltimore because it's just over and hour drive and we have several routes we can use.  

Edited June 2, 2022 by BND

[doppelganger2621]

2 minutes ago, zoepipes said:

We are traveling with friends who plan on flying into FLL, arriving at noon, the day of the cruise.  Is that something that is recommended?  We're extra cautious and will be coming in the day before.

I doubt it's recommended, but I've also done it before for a cruise about 9 years ago and was fine.  However, with the pilot and FA shortage occuring now, you're cutting it close that if your flight gets cancelled or delayed, I wouldn't do it now, especially during hurricane season.

Edited June 2, 2022 by doppelganger2621

[zoepipes]

What's the last time for boarding on a 4:30 departure time?

 

[BND]

Just now, zoepipes said:

What's the last time for boarding on a 4:30 departure time?

 

Should be 3 pm (90 min before departure).

[doppelganger2621]

Just now, zoepipes said:

What's the last time for boarding on a 4:30 departure time?

 

90 minutes before departure (3 pm)

[dcgrumpy]

That doesn't give much wiggle room. Are you sailing out of Port Everglades or Miami?

[crewsweeper]

12 minutes ago, zoepipes said:

We are traveling with friends who plan on flying into FLL, arriving at noon, the day of the cruise.  Is that something that is recommended?  We're extra cautious and will be coming in the day before.

When is your cruise?  If over the summer,  you should know that there are always thunderstorms lurking about that cause delays, especially out of Atlanta.  and if your flight is originating somewhere else, you can be in for double delay.

[Jam0610]

I would never chance it. Any delay and they miss sailing. Even when we drive to Galveston it is always the day prior.

[zoepipes]

Port Everglades November 26.  Ever any issues getting Port parking?  The road trip is part of the adventure for my husband.  And !!

Edited June 2, 2022 by zoepipes

[Rogueperson]

This is Thanksgiving weekend, the most traveled weekend.  Plus, Airlines at this time are having a hell of a time keeping up with demand.  As someone else said, one little delay, and your friends could miss the ship.  Remember, arrival at noon, assumes you're at the gate at noon.  If you have NO check in luggage, you could make it to the door by 12:15pm and get a ride to the port.  Expect traffic into the port as Port Everglades is one of the most traveled cruise port in the world.  Your best case scenario, assuming you get a ride as soon as you leave the terminal is you arrive at the port at 12:30pm, the port is only about 10 minutes from FLL.  This is assuming no baggage.  If you have bags check.  Add 30 minutes to that easily.  So with bag check, you're looking at an arrival time of 1:00 with all aboard at 3:00...if nothing goes wrong.  Not much of a window for error and airlines have been getting more and more erratic lately.

Edited June 2, 2022 by Rogueperson

[orville99]

Would not recommend this at any time, but especially around Thanksgiving week. This is historically the busiest week of tourists coming to Florida all year. Having flown into the FLL airport enough times for business over the holidays to know that it could take them a half hour or more just to get their luggage, let alone try to orchestrate through the process to find you so you can pick them up.  

[cynt]

In this day and age I wouldn't do it. I would rather catch the last flight out the night before. 

 

Is there an earlier flight for them to catch? The earlier the better.

[neverbeenhere]

We've flown into LAX for San Pedro cruises many times on the morning of a cruise in the past. We've never missed a cruise, but we won't do it any more.  Flying has got too many issues and probably will never return to "the old normal".

[ldubs]

I've arrived same day in many ports.  However, arriving at noon seems kind of chancy.  I wouldn't do that.  If they can't come the day before, maybe get an earlier flight.   

[crewsweeper]

2 hours ago, zoepipes said:

Port Everglades November 26.  Ever any issues getting Port parking?  The road trip is part of the adventure for my husband.  And !!

Very early, early  morning start to even make Buccees by noon.  And you're still 3 hours away. Long drive from Hotlanta.  

[BND]

7 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

Very early, early  morning start to even make Buccees by noon.  And you're still 3 hours away. Long drive from Hotlanta.  

OP is arriving the day before.  It's their friends who are arriving day of.

[Mr. Green]

I wouldn't chance trying to do a same day arrival on departure day. Already the US Airlines are showing they can't keep up. Just look at the flights that were cancelled over Memorial Day weekend. I think this will be a hint of things to come this summer.

[The Scurvy Pirate]

This topic now has me paranoid.  In the past, I have flown in "day of" without ever thinking about it.  Now, I am checking the flight status of similar flights each day to see if they are on time, etc.  My initial flight is 99% on time getting to ATL at 6:30a.m.  The flight to MIA is about 90% on time, getting to MIA at 9:00 a.m.  (not so much worried about this arrival time as you can't board until 11:00 or so).  Although I hadn't planned it initially, now I am looking and if my initial flight into ATL is late, there are still two other morning flights from ATL to MIA that could get me there before 1:00 p.m.  So, hopefully that will be an unneeded back-up plan.  🤞

[DCPIV]

I'm going to pile on and also say it's a bad idea.  Yes, it -can- work, but they're asking an awful lot of a very busy weekend.  A number of potential problems have been mentioned.  Another one is that whatever their ride from the airport is could be stuck (getting in or out) for quite some time.  

 

If they were getting in at 9 AM or something like that, I might not be so concerned.  A noon arrival is cutting it rather close.  It's not a matter of seeing whether flights will be delayed, lines will be long, or the airports are a total mess.  You know all that will be the case at that time.

 

I've never been in the position of watching a ship sail away without me, but I hear it's not as much fun as it sounds.  If I ever were in that position, I feel that I would've been happy to spend the money on a hotel room.

[doppelganger2621]

8 minutes ago, The Scurvy Pirate said:

This topic now has me paranoid.  In the past, I have flown in "day of" without ever thinking about it.  Now, I am checking the flight status of similar flights each day to see if they are on time, etc.  My initial flight is 99% on time getting to ATL at 6:30a.m.  The flight to MIA is about 90% on time, getting to MIA at 9:00 a.m.  (not so much worried about this arrival time as you can't board until 11:00 or so).  Although I hadn't planned it initially, now I am looking and if my initial flight into ATL is late, there are still two other morning flights from ATL to MIA that could get me there before 1:00 p.m.  So, hopefully that will be an unneeded back-up plan.  🤞

All it takes is for me to remember the times I’ve been subjected to a flight delay. Thankfully it’s been sparse in my lifetime, but there have been four specific occasions in the last 10-15 years where I’ve had a flight delay of more than three hours 

[MuyBueno]

We flew into FLL for a cruise in late April and experienced a 7 hour delay. We were scheduled to arrive at 6:40 pm and finally arrived at 1:50 am. Due to airline schedules we had to fly in at a least 1 day early. But even when we depart from West Coast ports, we always arrive a day early. We’ve learned that the unexpected can derail your timeline. Everyone has their own risk tolerance.

[GCS2000]

We have a cruise in Sept to Alaska.  Leaves out of Seward.  We are arriving in Anchorage the day before and have a train from there to Seward at 6:45am arrives at 11.  I realize this may be a "gamble" but I think its far less of a gamble than flying in as others have said.  I am not that worried about making it in time.  Theoretically if I want to I could just rent car and drive there in about 2 hours as well.

[rudeney]

There's no way I'd plan to fly in the day of the cruise.  Heck, I'm nervous about our next cruise in October where we fly Southwest from Nashville to Boston the day before.  We don't get in until 8:45pm and it's the last flight of the day.  If something goes wrong, we do have a few options the next day, but it would be tight as none get in before noon. 

[zoepipes]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

Would not recommend this at any time, but especially around Thanksgiving week. This is historically the busiest week of tourists coming to Florida all year. Having flown into the FLL airport enough times for business over the holidays to know that it could take them a half hour or more just to get their luggage, let alone try to orchestrate through the process to find you so you can pick them up.  

This girl plans on being on the ship as soon as she can.  I let them know that they'll need a taxi, shuttle or Uber/Lyft.