flying in the day of the cruise-

[Nashna]

Our last day of the cruise flight was a 6:00 am non-stop to San Juan.  I had a work-related must-attend event the day before and thought I had no choice.  The flight took off on time, but the ice sensor wasn't working, so we turned around and flew back to Dulles.  We were told it could be a serious delay.  We deplaned, and folks went running to try to make other arrangements.  I knew our original flight was the only way to get to San Juan on time to catch the ship.  So we stayed in the boarding area hoping for the best.  After a harrowing 30 minutes, we got the go-ahead to reboard.  The flight arrived about an hour late in San Juan.  About a third of the passengers had chosen to take other flights.   Never again would I subject myself to that anxiety.     

[Tapi]

As a general rule of thumb, flying in on the same day of the cruise is not a good idea..

 

With that said, if you live in a major city (ATL, DFW, ORD, JFK) etc where the airline you’re taking has a hub (maintenance base, crew base, etc), it may be less risky to catch a flight the same day. If an issue arises that requires maintenance, switching planes or getting a new crew, the airline has resources to get you going.
 

If you’re flying from a smaller non-hub city that happens to operate the one flight to your destination with limited resources, you may be out of luck if one thing goes wrong. A crew member gets sick, a lengthy maintenance issue is discovered during preflight checks, etc is all it takes for your vacation to go down the drain. I wouldn’t chance it if resources are limited. 

[mandyleighflies]

On 3/14/2023 at 11:42 AM, kingston13 said:

For cost purposes I always stay at a hotel that is considered an "Airport Hotel". In Miami I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, MIA.  They also offered a shuttle to the port for about $10

 

Is this the HGI MIA West? We are staying there this weekend prior to our cruise on Saturday and I was about to reserve an Uber XL for 5 of us. 

[kingston13]

Yes it was - 

[BoozinCroozin]

There are a lot of risks for flying in the Day Of. People are not acknowledging the fact that you are a solo traveler and things you need to think about. I would go down my list of things below to determine how to manage this

 

1. Cost to fly into MIA, FLL, or PBI. If the price difference is large enough, choose the one that is cheapest. Understand that there may be additional costs for Uber, TriRail, etc. 
2. The luxury of the hotel is completely up to you. But for 1 night, you really want safe, some type of entertainment, and able to relax. There are so many places and many can be had for about $100. It will really depend on which airport you fly into. Anything near MIA you will not want to walk anywhere. I would just enjoy the hotel bar/restaurant, have food delivered, or Uber to a place. Just west in Doral it is a lot nicer and tons of places with restaurants right by the hotels. Easy, safe walk. 
3. If flying into PBI (last choice, but with the an extremely good price I would do it), you want to be down between Fort Lauderdale and Miami that night. The time you land would also be a factor. If landing at night, something convenient to whichever airport is best. If arriving earlier in the day, take a pick. One great place if flying into FLL is the Aventura area. Usually great deals on hotels, shopping and dining all right there. 

 

I just recommend figuring out what works for you. Join your cruise FB group and meet others. There may be others staying at a hotel you are considering and get to meet up before the cruise. 

[Elaine5715]

I fly into Fort Lauderdale, overnight there and Uber to Port of Miami.  For my Feb cruise, I had planned to fly down on Thursday from, Michigan for a Saturday cruise.  One leg of my Thursday flight was cancelled due to expected weather that didn't happened.  I was rescheduled on Friday flights that should have put me into Fort Lauderdale at 1 pm.  Due to a series of completely avoidable errors by the airline, we finally made it at 9 pm.