Should I be Afraid?

[bethany24]

EmmasNana: I wouldn't be so concerned about missing your connection but have you thought about your luggage? Not to give you more to worry about: In December DH flew on Delta for a meeting in Baltimore, MD. He BEGGED his supervisor to let him book Southwest but they are not a preferred airline. As it turned out, his flight out of NO was late, he made his connection in ATL with only minutes to spare. When he arrived in Baltimore (at 02:30 pm), no luggage. The agent said it would be on the next flight which would arrive in 2 hours. He thought if the next flight arrives at 04:30 or so he'd have his luggage by 06:00 - 06:30 at the latest. He didn't want to wait at the airport so he opted to have Delta arrange for delivery of his luggage to his hotel. His luggage didn't arrive until 01:00AM!!

[TrinaLC]

Since you are a through passenger on Delta, they will look to rebook you if your miss your connection - in fact, you might find it has already been done for you before you land.

 

But in any event be very proactive.

 

Print out and have with you at the airport a list of Delta flights out of Atlanta and into Miami that afternoon. If your DFW flight isn't leaving on time, start talking to the gate attendant about rebooking you on one of these later flights.

 

Also, have Delta's customer line input into your cellphone address book. If you do miss the connection (check the monitors as soon as you land), call the customer line while walking towards the gate where the next Delta/Miami flight is scheduled to leave from. Again, they may have already rebooked you, but that way you can get the information quickly. [Another option is Delta has a lot of free standing kiosk areas for rebooking missed flights in the airport. Look for those. You can be on the cellphone to Delta while your spouse can see if the Kiosk works better.]

 

I would also carry a list of non-Delta connections from Atlanta to MIA, and maybe also Delta connections to FLL - that is only about a half hour drive and if you had to route into FLL you could take a taxi and make the ship.

 

You'll probably be fine, but these are precautions I would take.

[fin]

Lots of good responses here. I will say that one of the things you have going FOR you is your very early departure. The earlier the flight, the less chance it is delayed on the way TO DFW. It is also a bit early in the day for full blown thunderstorms to have developed, which shuts DFW down tight due to concerns of the refuelers.

 

If both flights are on the same airline, it should be doable. I would be more concerned with my baggage than myself making the flight. As has been mentioned, 40 minutes is a legal connection, and the busiest airport in the whole world IS well laid out and deals with tens of thousands of transfers constantly.

 

Again, the fact that your flight is SO early gives you more to choose from if you happen to miss yours. If the delay is their fault, they will seat you with priority on a following flight. It is a stressful part of cruising on a budget.

[NKG6002]

'Didn't you have the gate number when you arrived? '

 

 

Yes I did ! It was after the walking and the train and the escolator and more walking to the gate that I found the sign that I had to go all the way back from where I started !!!

[NKG6002]

If you have insurance for the cruise you need to check if it is for medical emergencies only that would cause you to miss the ship. Some policies cover for any reason, I think.

[floridacruiser63]

In the future I will always fly in a day in advance. I booked all this before reading all the wonderful information on this board. Plane tickets are non refundable so I guess I will just need to hope for the best.

 

There should be plenty of flights from Atlanta into Miami at any given time, so in the unlikely event that you should miss your connecting flight, you could probably hop on to the next flight to Miami. You should arrive in Miami with plenty of time to get to the Port. Good Luck and do not worry too much!

[EmmasNana]

Thank you everyone for all your responses. In all my future cruises I WILL always stay at least one night in port in advance. I am going to do all these wonderful suggestions that some of you have given me. The one with the spouse checking out kiosk...never going to happen...sometimes I think I am hauling "Rainman" around with me. I really believe it will work out. It's crazy because we are staying a couple days post cruise...should have been precruise. I am learning more everyday about what to do concerning this fabulous life of cruising thanks to all of you on cruise critic. I really do appreciate you all. I think I will be cruising for a long time! I just love it!!:):):)

[fin]

Glad you are keeping a good attitude. In addition I would suggest that you cram as much as you possibly can get away with into "carryon" luggage in case your hold baggage goes delinquent.

[pappagene]

For my April cruise we are flying out of DFW on the same day as the ship sails. My flight leaves at 5:45 AM, BUT I have to change planes in Atlanta and there is only about 40 minutes between arrive and depart in Atlanta. We are supposed to arrive in Miami at 11:30. Has anyone done this?

 

I have flown through ATL many time with a tight turnaround before & never had a problem. Just know the layout of the airport, find out what gate your next flight is at, Hopefully it will be in the same concourse. Sometimes if you inform the flight attendant of your schedule, they will let you off before the others have a chance to clog the isle. At the very least, they will keep you informed of the status of your next flight.

 

Yes, ATL is big but it is not hard to navigate. IMHO, it is probably one of the better airports to get around.

 

mucho information here

 

http://www.atlanta-airport.com/

 

Gene

[flashdog_1]

For instance, if you are on the same air carrier from DFW to ATl and then ATL to MIA there should be no problem (Delta, for instance is all on B except for international). Airtrain has theirs, AA has theirs etc. If you are changing airlines in ATL look at the boards when you disembark to see if there's been a gate change. Good luck.

[Mooder]

Lots of talk about the risk of the connection but what about having enough time when you land in Miami? When does the cruise leave? I'd be more nervous about that because I worry about how much time I need to collect the luggage (unless you are able to do with just carry-ons), find transportation, etc. Just be sure you have as many details in advance as possible (what transport you are taking, bus, cab, shuttle, etc., the address to give the cab driver, etc.) so you are not scurrying around when you get there.

 

I'm a worry-er but I also think these things usually work out so don't make yourself sick. Sounds like you have a good attitude. Good luck and enjoy!

[BIG_Steve]

Get all the phone numbers, print out airport maps, print out every detail of every flight possible that day. History shows that things never go wrong when you are 100% prepared. I guess that's "s'yhpruM" law. :D

[EmmasNana]

I think we will be ok. I am going to have a checked bag but will also get as much as I can in carry on's so if we do not get the checked bag we can deal with it(note to self...remember to have enough underwear for DH in carry on).I will worry about getting the bag back later.

I do plan on taking a taxi from the airport to the pier so that isn't an issue and the ship sails at 5:00 so we need to be on it by 3:00. If we need to wait for a bag at the airport we can do that for a while. The whole air trip is through Delta so if that helps, well that is a plus.

This cruise is just a short 3 night one so we really don't need that much stuff and I have enough OBC for all the drinks we would want even if we don't get...uh...our checked bag.

 

Mostly I'm trying to get a good idea of what the ALT airport looks like and getting from gate to gate. My BIL used to work for Delta and was working out of Atlanta for a short time so maybe I will check with him.

 

Thanks all!

[Quincella]

I live in Atlanta and fly quite a bit, so the airport here is almost my second home! 40 minutes should be enough, even if you're leaving out of another concourse, assuming you arrive on time.

 

On the other hand, let's just say you miss your connection. The good news is that you're leaving early enough in the day that your odds of getting on another flight to Miami and making it there in plenty of time are very good. There are about a million flights a day between Atlanta and Miami.

 

I wouldn't sweat it if I were you.

[Ask4Jay]

Here is a video of a Chinese woman after she missed her flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco:

[wingsmhf]

we connected out of atlanta twice now (for cruises) and both times individuals

in our group missed the san juan connection because their flights were delayed.

i believe delta charges $50 to change flights. i would definitely do that....and allow at least 90 minutes (minimum) as a cushion.

 

 

good luck...whatever you decide to do.

marcia

[Pickels]

This year will be the first year that we leave the day before; we've always left on the same day. Usually, NY to Miami or NY to PR. We would book a flight leaving very early in the morning and felt we would have plenty of time to catch the ship. One year we had an 8 am flight out of JFK to catch a 4 pm ship departure out of Miami; plenty of time, we thought. We got delayed out of JFK and then the plane couldn't get a terminal assigned to let the passagers off in Miami. Well, long story short, we got to the dock a little after 3 pm. Too close to missing the ship. So, this year, (and future years) we will leave at least one day ahead of time. This I highly recommend. Have a great cruise.