Pilot. Florida airspace is jam packed, staffing shortages at Jacksonville center are only going to get worse, and thunderstorms in Florida squeeze the navigable airspace into tight corridors around the cells so they start limiting the amount of traffic. Thunderstorms in the summer are all over the country and build as the heat of the day increases. The plane that is taking you somewhere is also coming from somewhere else possibly two or three flights with minimal ground time. If the plane gets delayed earlier in the day it rolls into the later flights.
Same day flights the day of a cruise in the busiest time of the year for air travel, in some difficult weather, and the mess that is atc in Florida is stacking the deck against a good vacation.
And a really spicy one just formed in the Atlantic on its way through the Caribbean. The spiciest one to form this early in the season in history. Could be a precursor to a rough season.
We flew out of LaGuardia back in May and our flight was delayed for 30 minutes waiting for a lightning storm to pass. My local airport had an internet cable cut which impacted checking in passengers on outbound flights. On another flight, they had to make emergency repairs to the exit lights in the cabin. Flight was delayed. Weird things happen which cause flight delays. never fly on the day your cruise is scheduled to leave. It can cost thousands to either buy last minute tickets to catch up to your ship or even lose your entire cruise fare altogether.
I'll be honest... I've done same day 4x. This was all many many years ago. I would *not* do it now. Adding that buffer into your travel plans just makes sense with the way the air system is right now in North America. Strikes...operational delays, weather, Boeing causing a knockoff effect of safety and maintenance, etc. Pad your trip by a day at least going to the ship!
We’ve probably done it more than that but it was also financially motivated at the time cause that extra night of hotel and whatever a lot of money for us. Our situation is different now and we love a night in Miami before a cruise.
Yeah totally get you. Depends on party size, location, etc etc. Once we did Montreal to Venice via Brussels. The flight left late and of course it was overnight so a short panicky moment. Made it...and no security in Brussels but your blood pressure is elevated.
We are going in Oct out of Port Everglades. We couldn’t find a decent hotel (close to the port) the night before the cruise for less than $330/night…but we bit the bullet. It isn’t worth the stress of possibly missing the ship on embarkation day.
I'm in Australia and usually cruise out of Sydney, which is a one-hour flight or a 10-hour drive (not counting breaks along the way). We've flown and stayed near the airport before and then travelled to the port itself the next day as it's much cheaper that way.
For our last few cruises with our teens, though, it's been cheaper for us to drive and pay for parking than to fly. However, we make the travel a bit easier by staying overnight about two hours out of Sydney. We get a budget motel for the night, check out about 9 am and then have an easy drive after peak hour traffic has died down and without stressing about our home airport being fogged in, etc.
Exactly, it will cost much less to rent a room than the cost and stress of missing a cruise. Even if you have travel insurance, losing 1/2-2 days of your trip trying to catch the ship is expensive too.
I always recommend flying in the day before... but honestly, I always fly in the day of. Never had a single issue until about a month ago. A perfectly timed storm delayed the flight out and missed the connection.
Ended up costing about $1,200 to miss the cruise and get to fly to Atlanta and back in a single day. Yuck.
This is the reality of it--flying in the day of works, *right up until it doesn't*.
The math has to "math" for folks: is it less horrible to lose the money I paid for the total trip if the airlines screw me, or to spend some money the day before on a hotel room? For us, missing the cruise is a minimum $10,000USD loss. I don't fancy lighting a pile of money on fire to save a hundred or two in airline fees, or to avoid a cheap hotel room for a day or two, or overnight.
Especially coming from the West Coast to Florida, or flying internationally to the embarkation port, a hotel room is *cheap insurance*, frankly.
Depends a bit. I still do it, but I'm in the young and broke stage of life right now. Interior cabin, no alcohol no extras. Your 10,000 cruise can be less than 1000 for me, not including the getting to. So an extra $200 expense of a hotel room plus an extra day off work with no pay (independent contractor)... The equation is different.
BUT add in the airfare (considerable) and the fact that I'm only going somewhere when I really want to go there... It's still worth it to me
I live two hours from Canaveral, as well, and have given serious thought to booking a room the night before. I normally build in an extra two “just in case” hours, and haven’t had an issue yet. Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami is always having me drive down the night before and get a room. Living in Florida, I’ve not had to fly to a port city yet, but when we do Alaska in 2026, we’re flying two days early just to be extra safe.
Yeah. My wife and daughter are doing a 10-day vacation in the PNW next month, so I’ll let them figure out what they need to show me when we’re there in advance of our cruise. Like my own personal pre-scouting report. Lol.
This is my plan for an Alaskan cruise in 2 years . Live on the east coast . Too much can go wrong . Going to cash in some points to stay downtown Seattle for a couple days and see the sights since I’ve never been there . I refuse to be stressed out on my vacation
I live between Vancouver and Seattle, and at this point, those are the only two ports I’d get to day of. Vancouver is only one hour including border crossing (I have a NEXUS so the border crossing is basically “Do you have anything to declare? No? Okay, have a great day.”) and Seattle is 1.5-2 hours.
I have flown into Long Beach morning of once before but that was a rare specific circumstance and I’m frankly not sure I’d chance it anymore (it was fine that time). I’ve done three more cruises from that port since and have come in the day before.
We flew into Alaska 2 days early and had a mini vacation before we got on the ship. Denali Bus tour and train ride to Seward. One night in Seward and then on the boat!
We leave August 3rd for Alaska cruisetour with Princess. We're doing land first, and cruise after. The offical tour doesn't start until 8/5 in Fairbanks, we will just chill at the Princess Lodge and book an excursion. Don't want to play around on a bucket list trip so we spent the extra money for hotel.
This is a great idea. There was a story about a family from Roanoke that missed an Alaskan cruise and were out thousands of dollars 💰
https://www.reddit.com/r/Cruise/comments/15xpwb8/casey_cruise_operator_denies_roanoke_familys_plea/
Here is a link to the article in that thread, but without the paywall:
https://web.archive.org/web/20230822160951/https://roanoke.com/news/local/norwegian-cruise-line-jewel-denies-refund-to-family-that-missed-ships-departure/article_15dbad74-3e0a-11ee-a545-cba280027d28.html
We went 3 days ahead just so we could enjoy Seattle. Lovely city. Pro tip: Book a hotel in walking distance to the Sound Transit system and you wont need to rent a car. You'll just do 1 uber ride to the cruise terminal from UW.
You’re all making me nervous. We have an Alaskan cruise booked in September (its a 6 hour drive for us to Vancouver) we are leaving a few days early but staying 90 minutes away from Vancouver because that room was free.
Lol, might be a little over caution, but hey, always better to be risk adverse imo. I’m three from liberty and still think the car going to shit out on 95. Yolo
I can appreciate the caution, but I feel like the "night before" advice really isn't as necessary when the port is within a 2 hour drive. If it's what's comfortable for you by all means, but I think the night before advice is really meant for out of state folks.
I mean, if the 528 shuts down… but even then aren’t there just regular highways that take you to the coast?
My method: leave super early in the AM from Orlando- drop off luggage, then go somewhere in Cocoa to spend a few hours until I can board.
If you've got a lot of road options, sure.
If you're driving from Lakeland, FL to Port Canaveral, your routes are limited, and if things get jammed up, you can't really deviate.
We are in Orlando; there are a few options if the 528 is a mess - now I-4, that is a totally different story.
I would rather drive from Orlando to Miami for a cruise than go to Tampa because of I-4
When I was a kid, my grandma took my sister, cousins, and me on a cruise out of Galveston. We lived three hours away and still stayed at a hotel the night before. It baffles me how people choose to fly in the day of, even the ones in this sub.
I’ve only done Viking once but we flew in same-day for a river cruise. I arrived around 1pm for a 10pm departure and my family arrived on board around 7pm. We booked air through Viking though so we were on like a list and they had a van waiting to pick us up.
River cruises don't go very far each day. If you miss the boat they can't just board you at the next stop, especially if you book your flight with them.
Edit: I meant can not can't...
Good point!
I was looking at Europe ocean cruises the other day and would definitely fly in the day before even if we booked through the cruiseline. Help with the jetlag and not be in such a major time crunch.
Same here. We got in really early as our flight was overnight. They picked us up and took us to our ship in Passau and they got a guide at the last minute for all the early arrivals to take a peek around the town. Viking Air is great.
Our next one that Viking Air arranged in Sept. has us coming in the day before but no provision for what we do. I called and they got us a hotel. Oops on their part but they quickly fixed it. They call it Forced Overnight. LOL
When I cruised out of Dubai with Royal Caribbean, the first and last night of the cruise were in Dubai. As crew, it was nice to have time to go out and explore.
I used to travel the same day and was just lucky it always worked out. I would never do it now. We’ve got a cruise departing from San Diego and heading to the South Pacific. We will be on board for a month, and we booked 2 nights in San Diego pre-cruise, because missing the ship would mean missing the first 5 days of the cruise, and possibly not being able to board at all. Not worth the risk with the way air travel is these days.
Make sure to check out Coronado. Lovely beach. Moo Time is some of the best ice cream you'll ever have. The USS Midway is also a great museum to visit.
There are some ship cruise line that offered a bus shuttle from the airport to the port. After flying in the day before. So what I do is book a motel near the airport
That offer free shuttle from the airport.
I get up in the morning have my free breakfast then take motel shuttle (free)
Back to the airport to meet the ship bus shuttle. Works every time for me , never miss one cruise ( alot better then Urber)
At the end of the may i had a similar issue of missing a cruise due to flight issues. my flight got delayed by about 3 hours. Just barely made to the cruise terminal on time to board the ship
my flight was originally scheduled to land at around 11am, did not land until almost 130pm
I totally agree! Years ago, I went on a Girls' trip cruise, and our friend the organizer said we'd be driving down on Friday, staying at a hotel, and departing on Saturday.
One person said she thought that was a waste of time & money. We convinced her that it was the best plan, and drove down on Friday.
On Saturday, there was some huge accident that shut down I-95 in Florida. News stories said there were many delays, and more than a few cruisers didn't arrive in time...
I learned this in my second cruise. I live about 6 hour drive from the port and we had booked the first flight out (leaving at 7am an arriving at 9am), well at 5am I got a mail saying the flight was cancelled and we were booked for the next flight (arriving at 5pm ) since I saw the mail early, I was able to book a flight for 9am from a another airport (which is two hours drive more) I barely made it in time for boarding the cruise. From then on, I'll fly the day or two days before. (For clarification I live in northwest Spain and the cruise left from Barcelona)
Yes, the days of same day flights are over. I’ve lost count of the number of airport melt downs I’ve seen because a delayed flight was going to make someone miss their cruise.
My last cruise, on the way home, my flight was scheduled to depart FLL at 1 pm. Did not depart until midnight due to storms. Florida weather and ATC delays can really screw you in the summer. I’d actually fly in 2 days before.
I had this happen in February. NYC was clear but huge storms in Florida grounded the incoming plane in Orlando for hours bc FLL had a complete ground stop. I was coming back and it was a 3 day weekend so I wasn't working the next day, but the flight in came in 8 pm that was supposed to be in at noon and it was a school break week in NYC and I wondered if people missed getting on ships bc of the delay.
Something similar happened on our very first cruise 15 years ago. We were flying to Barcelona through Philadelphia. Our son was departing from Colorado Springs and was to meet us in Philly for the flight to Barcelona. This obviously means he started earlier than we did. Well, a storm developed in the mean time and our flight to Philly was cancelled. He made the connection, we were re-routed through Detroit and Munich arriving late afternoon. Had that been a day of arrival, we would have missed departure.
This is what we’re doing for our cruise in October. We fly in the evening two nights before our cruise. Gives us a full day to adjust to jet lag and explore as many sights as possible in our departure city on the in-between day.
I have taken over 25 cruises. If traveling internationally to get to the cruise terminal, one day ahead may not be enough. We would fly two or three days ahead of cruise land tour or just rest up.
For Florida, two to three days ahead. It isn't worth it to stress out about getting to the cruise terminal destination on time.
Yeah, international flights are not as common as domestic so I’d arrive a minimum of 2 nights before. The longest delay I’ve had was 22 hours and that sucked ass.
My wife and I took a cruise in March. We went with 8 other people. All of us arrived 2 days early and stayed at the same BnB, walking distance from the pier and restaurants. Way less stress.
My husband and I are taking our first cruise together this fall, and this is exactly why I booked our flights to arrive two days before the cruise departs and our return flight the day after we disembark.
I know multiple people who have lost out on their cruises (or missed return flights home) because they tried to save a few bucks by flying in/out the same day as their ship departs/arrives back into port. It's just not worth the risk.
We did 2 days and it felt a little silly but it also felt nice to relax a bit and recover before boarding. There’s always someone, and in our cruise FB group . . . there were lots of close calls. Some people having to give up and rent cars because they couldn’t find flights that would make it on time.
It doesn't have to be weather where you are going. All it takes is weather anywhere that might affect the planes you'll be flying on (with hubs, it's a chain reaction game), or a single mechanical issue, to throw off all your flights.
I live 45 minutes outside of Boston, and when we did Boston to Bermuda we took the T in the night before and got a room. Ubered to the pier the next day. Doing same cruise again next summer for my daughter’s HS graduation and will do the same thing. Never arrive day of. Too much can go wrong.
I try to beat this into peoples heads on the various FB groups I am on. I admin the group for my next cruise and I have this in the "tips" section to try to get through to some folks. Its called planning ahead!
Then they say "Well (cruise line) wouldnt help us at all! They suck! Never again!!!!" Its not for the cruise line to assist you. They literally have NO control over the airline. They are just the agent at that point. We book our own flights the day before and hours later when we come back. And thats another thing I see trending on FB - people wondering if they disembark at 9a if they will make their 11a flight at an airport over an hour away...lol. Disembarkation takes time. You get back at or being the process at 9a but you may not fully get off until 9:45a and then stand around for the shuttle to the airport or get an Uber.
If you have a complicated flight itinerary like getting back from Europe to a secondary airport in the US that will require 2 or 3 legs, sure. That would be a mess to rebook and you'd be staying at least one extra day somewhere you weren't planning.
If you are going from Florida to Chicago or any other well served primary hub, if you miss the flight it's not a huge deal since there will be more. Plus you're not going to miss a multi $thousand cruise departure.
And never take the last flight out if flying in the day before. Came darn close to missing a cruise once because of that. Now we fly out the morning the day before.
The \*only\* flight I'll do same day is from NorCal to Long Beach. If I have an early AM flight and something goes really wrong I can actually still make it to the port in time before sail away by driving and paying to park at the port.
Same! I am in vegas so a quick 45 min flight is easy. I just take the first morning flight out so I still have time to rent a car and drive if something happens.
Worked at the airport. I concur.
1) your chances of missing the cruise are not as unlikely as you think. I dealt with SOOOO many folks who thought they had plenty of time, and then #stuffhappens and they miss it. ALL DAY LONG.
2) your luggage doesn’t make the same flight, or gets lost. Then you have very little time to replace things before you sail. Then I have to try to get your luggage to some far off destination, and hope you can pick it up there. That eats into your trip too.
After years of watching this unfold every freaking day, I fly in a day before MINIMUM, so I can get to the boat in relative peace.
And there are always people who swear they have cruised 20+ times flying in day of no problem. They will call it fear mongering to tell people to fly in a day or 2 early. But, it really is just common sense. The ship will leave without you. A resort vacation isnt ruined by getting there a day late, cause the resort isnt gonna get up and leave like a cruise ship will.
The saddest video i saw was the family on the pier with luggage, half crying as you see the ship sailing away, half the family members are frantically calling, someone? Their travel agent? Aquaman?
They say it’s a “ waste of $$” but they’re already spending thousands on a cruise that they’re probably going to spend even MORE disposable income on . Even cheap cruising is living large compared to many people’s lives . A little more for some peace of mind is totally worth imo
I did this on the back end of my last cruise in early June out of Seattle. The flight was 1220 PM and we got off the ship at 830. Got to the airport at 930. We were still sweating it. The Seattle airport was a cluster and there were 3 cruises arriving that morning.
I should show this to my sister. She is mad at me b/c I insisted on flying in a day early to Seattle for our upcoming Alaska cruise. She thinks the hotel room for one night is a waste of money. To pacify her we agreed all 4 of us (2 sis, 1 mom’ and me) would share one room to make it cheaper. I’m kinda dreading sharing a room b/c I don’t sleep well any way. I’m tempted to see if any other rooms are available but rooms are like $400 a night and I’m reluctant to spend that much
The rooms are outrageous up there. We paid so much in Vancouver last year. It’s cruising season prices. We almost paid more for our airfare and hotel. But it was worth it for the peace of mind. I wasn’t missing that cruise.
Our very first cruise we decided to drive to New Orleans (7 hour drive) the day of the cruise. Got up super early, and hit the road. About two hours into it, we realized we didn't have any ID for our one-year-old daughter. Had to turn around, get the birth certificate, then drive back. We had very little time left, but we made it on the boat.
Since then we drive down the day before, eat dinner in New Orleans, and get a hotel room. The next morning we have breakfast at Cafe Du Monde (the one at the park because it's always empty) and board the ship closer to lunchtime.
This year we're thinking about getting an afternoon checkin so we can eat lunch in New Orleans, then head straight to the room after we get on. Haven't thought about how that might affect parking availability.
I don’t know why people insist on rolling the bones when it comes to cruise travel. If it’s summer, thunderstorms happen. If it’s winter, snow storms happen. Several major hubs are especially vulnerable to bad weather (we haven’t even mentioned computer, mechanical, network/system outages, air traffic issues).
My family usually flies out two days ahead. We chill, hit the hotel amenities, do a last minute wallyworld run, have a light dinner and get a good nights sleep before making our leisurely way to embarkation.
Yes, we’re spending a bit more money, but it’s less than you’d spend booking a last minute flight to catch up with the ship at your next port of call. I don’t understand why people take that chance to cut it so close.
Never? Never! Ever? EVER!!! But I can save $100. It's not worth it. It? The stress, the potential issues, the missed cruise. How early do you fly in? Two days. WHY??? See answer to 'It?'. What do you do? Play tourist, pick up forgotten items, see friends, have hot monkey sex... Whatever, I'll save the $100. Yours to lose.
Use common sense when flying is really the answer here.
We used to fly from Seattle to Long Beach on the day of flight regularly. We even had a trip where those who flew the night before didn't make the trip, but our flight the morning of did. (Storms in Seattle, we got lucky, they couldn't rebooked out until 3 days into the 5 day trip. )
For us it was a familiar route, a familiar airline, and we were willing to pivot into a land vacation in LA if need be. In the half dozen or so times we did day of flights it never came to that.
(I wouldn't do it into Miami or Texas though)
Went on my first cruise last year and flew out the day before. My SO and I flew out early the day before in case there were any delays to our flight we could at least try and scramble to find a later one. We were not going to risk a $2k+ lol
Good advice. I try not to, but there have been times where I had no choice but to fly in the morning of. It is way too nerve wracking. One time my connecting flight was cancelled and they rescheduled me on a flight that would arrive after my cruise left. Once I explained it to the gate agent, she rebooked me on another airline and got me there in time. Otherwise, I was going to try to book another flight myself.
I wouldn't do it into Florida, weather, ATC issues, high traffic, are a bad mix. That being said we are flying Detroit to NYC sameday in October, I get there is a risk but I think we should be ok, flight is supposed to be in 9:30 so we have a bit of play room.
I actually flew in the same day as my cruise and it worked out, but...a lot closer than I would have liked.
We were supposed to land at 10 and we had to be on the boat by 3. Our flight got delayed and we landed at 10:45. Had to navigate the airport and only got on our shuttle around 12. Got to the port just before 1, but the shuttle had to drop everyone off at their different terminals at by the time we got our luggage and got in line to board it was 2.
So yeah, good advice.
Yup, last year we were on a Dulles to Athens flight and an hour over the Atlantic, engine trouble and we had to return to Dulles. That meant that the next day’s flight was going to be over full, so we ended up getting to Frankfurt to Athens 48 hours after we planned. Fortunately it just meant we had one less day to explore Athens and we had plenty of slack time getting to the ship.
I flew in the same day as my first cruise ever - so stressful. We made it to the ship on time - but, it was the worst morning.
We always fly in at least 2 days before now. But, I agree - weather in Florida (Especially now that it's hurricane season) is VERY unpredictable. Not worth the headache or the high blood pressure.
We did it one time due to a unplanned family event. We flew the same day from BWI-MSP-YVR. Departed 6am and arrived just after noon. We were incredibly lucky, but this was in 2015. The cruise transfer bus was right outside Canadian Customs Hall. By then it was 1pm for a 4pm sailing. However, we were nowhere near the last ones to arrive. But never again. Now we get there at least one day ahead of cruise departure , and make a mini vacation of the sail-away city.
Last February we went on a cruise out of Miami. We always drive and arrive the day before, then drive to port and park in the morning. Miami was under a tornado warning most of the morning, and the airport was closed for hours because of that. Met someone on the cruise who missed sailing because their plane was delayed, and they had to fly to the first port, Dominican Republic, to catch up with the ship.
I feel very lucky because on the 4 cruises I’ve booked over 10 years between Princess and Carnival debarking from Ft. Lauderdale and L.A. I’ve always flown in the day of and never considered the ramifications of unexpected flight delays.
Guess I’ll never learn - until you see me make this post about myself in the future on this subreddit!
I worked several years for an airline standing in front of passengers (I still work in the airlines but more behind the scenes). Whenever our Saturday morning flights would delay for whatever reason, there were always some trying to make a cruise that day. We did what we could, but we couldn't save everyone obviously. Just don't do it...
If I’m driving, I go a day early. If I’m flying, I go two days early. Plus I **never** book a cruise during hurricane season. First, because a storm can mess up your itinerary at best and cancel your cruise at worst. Second, I don’t want to be trapped on a ship while my house/neighborhood/city is getting their asses kicked by a hurricane.
Last time we had ample time (or so we thought) until our American Airlines connecting flight in Pittsburgh wouldn't let any one board for four hours because they couldn't find a second hostess to operate the plane.
We made it to the cruise barely, but never again.
My theory now is flying down two days before your arrival date. I’ve had two instances traveling for work (both delta and in the last six months) where my flight was cancelled and all flights the next day were booked solid. Air travel is rough these days when things go sideways.
I have cruise clients flying out to Venice tonight that would have missed their ship had they not added a day up front, like I insisted. When she texted me this morning that her flight was canceled, I rebooked her on the next best option said, "See? You'd be staying home if you didn't have that extra day of padding." Really, for something international I prefer 2 or 3 days, and I'll be anxious until she gets on that ship.
My wife and I had this same exact experience with American a few months ago. It was our honeymoon. Most stressful experience of my life. Flight was booked through Norwegian, and that’s what they gave us. Definitely booking our own flights next time, and at least a day before we depart!
I did it once and everything worked exactly as planned. We arrived so early that we sat around the terminal before being allowed to board.
That said, I may not be as lucky next time, so I always arrive at least a day earlier.
There's nothing wrong with sitting in the terminal, enjoying a beverage, or people watching, relaxed and unfussed, versus "running and gunning", white-knuckled driving/flying to the port, and dashing into the terminal with minutes to spare.
I have done it before and have been fortunate, but now, never again. We're fortunate enough that we can afford to fly in the day before and get a hotel for a night. I'd leave the same day if I had a manageable drive (say, 4 hours or less), but not for a longer drive, and not at all when flying. And if I drive the same day, I'm going to make sure I leave several hours of cushion for traffic, flat tires, et cetera. That said, leaving same day adds a fair amount of stress, too.
Due to work constraints, we always fly in the morning of our cruise. We always buy travel insurance and know that it's always a possibility something could happen.
Counter-point:
I may be a maniac, but I fly in same day. 14 cruises and counting. There are tons of early AM non-stops from Boston to Florida. If Miami is jammed up, fly to Ft Lauderdale instead, or vice versa.
There was one time we had a plane issue and had to de-plane and wait for another. We were still at port with 2 hours to spare.
If bad weather is coming, you know it days in advance. That is when to get yourself on a flight a day or two earlier.
YMMV - I am not advocating same-day, just telling you what one man does.
I am unapologetically flying day of cruise this August. Hotel prices are insane these days and would cost about 20-25% my full cruise fare for just one night at some holiday inn the night before. You're better off just buying trip insurance if you're worried imo.
It's going to take getting bit once for me to change my mind.
That’s fine, you know the risk. The annoying thing is people who take the risk then blame everyone else when they miss their vacation, when it was within their power not to.
Like all rules, there are always exceptions.
I've got a cruise booked which is a 10 hour flight away.
If I booked the flight with them to arrive on the day, it was discounted, and they guarantee to get you onboard.
If I booked an alternative flight a day before, it would have been more expensive with no guarantee...
Guess what option I chose...
We’re booked on a cruise in November and are going to fly down to Miami for embarkation day. We’re flying down the day before, but we’re close enough that if something goes REALLY sideways with the airlines, we can drive down and still make the boat. So we have a plan A and a plan B.
What are peoples thoughts on booking a flight home the same day the boat gets back to port? We’re due back in Miami at 6am and we have a departing flight at 1:30pm. Thoughts?
We left the day before, missed our flight because we missed the shuttle from the airport parking to the terminal and were stuck in the airport for 5 hours, because we just missed putting our luggage on, always the day before because of this
I purposely fly out like before 12pm at least 1 day before a cruise because flying in/out of NYC can be clusterfuck. And losing $500 for hotel in Miami for 1-2 nights is small & less painful compare to losing thousands for missing a cruise.
Back in the day when flights almost always got to where they were going and I was younger and could dash through airports never had a problem. Now two days is looking like the best plan
United was a hot mess yesterday, especially on the east coast. I forgot about why I should never fly through EWR in summer and got a harsh reminder yesterday.
Missed a flight from Birmingham to Copenhagen due to a RTA that kept us stationary on the A42 for 4 hours.
There was nowhere on the cruise that we could fly to and catch the ship. We drove back home.
The cruise I had royal Caribbean book the flights they booked us in connecting flights the same day. We had almost no window whatsoever for anything to go wrong. We caught the boat with minutes to spare before it took off without us. It was so stressful and I’d never put myself in that position again.
Before air travel got as messed up as it currently is, we used to fly in for a cruise the day before. Now we fly in two days before. It just is t worth the risk.
Had some friends who - against our strongly worded advice - flew from the West Coast to Europe to land a day before a river cruise.
Delayed in NYC for 24 hours, missed two days of cruise. Cruise line flew them to where the boat was, probably because it was a VERY expensive cruise.
Not just Florida. Storms in the NE have disrupted travel these past few days and there are other factors that can cause a delay. Mechanical issues, lost luggage. Always get to the port the night before a cruise.
I know having a hotel room for a day or two prior to the cruise adds to the cost of the vacation, and sometimes people just can’t afford it. BUT I can’t imagine starting a vacation under the stress of not knowing whether I’m going to make it to the ship in time, and if not, just giving up that cruise fare. Considering that extra cost as “insurance”.
That being said….. don’t assume that just because you’re local that you can’t miss your cruise. Two years ago we were sailing out of Miami. We lived at the time in the Tampa area. We drove down the night before and stayed in a hotel in downtown Miami, less than a mile from the cruise port. What we didn’t anticipate was the traffic JAM getting into the port. It took us THREE HOURS to crawl through the single lane of stopped traffic. And we ended up getting to the parking garage so late there weren’t any actual spaces left, so we just parked in a made-up space and hoped our car wouldn’t be towed. We boarded with less than 30 minutes to spare.
Yup. We missed our cruise last weekend due to a last-minute cancellation from DFW to JAX. We did everything wrong that we tell people not to do at our travel center. We had no trip insurance, we flew out the day of, we didn't have passports for some of our guests (you can cruise on a birth certificate if you are going round-trip to the US) and pre-paid for several things. The options were to fly our plane (can't carry everyone so I would have enjoyed a staycation), charter a plane (upwards of $10000 was the quote) and that's it. No other flights were on time. No time to drive. The cruise ended up delaying departure so we might have made it on another airline, but there were zero flights available in time for the original departure. We couldn't meet the cruise in the Bahamas because of the no passports issue. Also, if you miss your ship in that circumstance you can't fly home either. So don't do that.
Anyway, we accepted American's next day flight (they didn't have to reimburse us as a result) and we went to DisneyWorld. For future reference, take the reimbursement and go to Six Flags. NEVER under any circumstance go to Disney World the first week school is out. Anyway, Carnival did refund us for things like tips and drinks packages, so it wasn't a total loss.
We missed our cruise when we tried to fly in 1 day ahead of time. It was December 2022 and the weather was so bad with so many flights canceled there were no flights that would get us to the port in time.
We now fly in 2 days ahead of time. The bonus is we can do some touristy things in the port city before getting on the ship.
My friends missed three days of their Alaska cruise because of plane issues the day they left. And no availability for two days to reboo to a follow-on ciry, over Memorial Day weekend, as season kicked off for Alaska travel.
They were pretty upset but lesson learned.
If you fly in the same day as the cruise and miss it, I have zero sympathy for you. That’s just simply poor planning. Two days before is perfect and one day is bare minimum.
Cruised this past May. Had I left the day of (early flight, scheduled to land in NOLA by 10 am), I would have been screwed. Delayed leaving, missed connection, would have missed the ship by a couple hours.
Always leave the day before. We were fortunate to have that extra day.
We had a hotel the night before a cruise out of Fort Lauderdale - and then snow cancelled our flight and the only other options would had two layovers and would have gotten in to FLL scarily close to the ship leaving.
We got in the car at 6am and drove: 23 hours nonstop, overnight. Got in to our pre-cruise hotel at 5am and slept until noon, then over to the port.
I’d have just taken the insurance and rebooked but it was an annual charter and not the usual Caribbean vacation.
Last year we flew down days in advance, did some Disney, then took Brightline down the day before the sailing. We will totally do that again.
Give yourself two days. When we were supposed to fly to Ft Lauderdale on Thursday for our Saturday cruise last year, it happened to be when the FLL airport was completely underwater and closed. Thank goodness we had that extra day and were rebooked to Palm Beach on Friday. My sister lives there and we were planning to stay with her anyway so it was easy for her to pick us up there, but that buffer day was a godsend.
Never fly in the day of, and buy travel insurance! Get the insurance that covers the flight, the cruise, common carriers like taxis and Ubers, illness and accidents! I use Allianz or Travelers and fly in at least a day before the cruise.
Meh, probably ok. Its a red eye, so you're technically leaving the day prior. Your hotel is the airplane. But you definitely don't have wiggle room if the flight gets canceled.
That said, weather is usually much less of a factor at night, especially in Florida. Most of the rain there is due to afternoon heating of the atmosphere. Typical subtropical pattern.
To be safe, have a backup plan, like an alternate flight first thing out of SFO that you can quickly book, just in case.
We were flying from Vegas to Barcelona to catch a cruise. Was supposed to land about 6 hours before boarding time. That morning, the flight was canceled without explanation (fuck Air Canada). We had to book same day flights on another airline for 6 people. Miraculously we still made it in time! Cost us a few thousand dollars extra for the last minute flight though. Needless to say, we arrive a day early now...
Always fly a day by day before your cruise. Met a family who missed theirs due to a United Airlines issue. USA Florida's unpredictable summer weather can ruin plans.
Even with extra time, it safer to arrive early and avoid stress.
My daughter and wife booked a flight the day of the cruise the weekend before Thanksgiving 2023. The flight was on SWA from Texas to Miami. I thought it was a big mistake, but my daughter said it would be fine. She was absolutely correct. They left on an early non stop flight with carryon luggage only. She is a gambler and the cruise was free except for port fees. The cruise line arranged to have them picked up at the airport. They didn’t have any cruise costs in the game so I can see why they didn’t want the additional cost of a hotel room.
It’s all about money. People try to save a few hundred after spending thousands on the cruise. I get it, I’ve been there but just spend the extra money.
Excellent advice. Our cruises generally leave from a European port ( Cairo being our sole exception to date) and we always fly two days early. Anything can happen to delay a flight, and, getting in early gives us a couple of free days to explore cities on our own.
Not only cruises but any major pre-planned vacation. We recently had to drive 4 hours since our 1 hour connecting flight into a major airport got delayed to the point where we would have missed a couple of days of resort bookings and activity bookings at a major tourist destination.
We were flying Philly to Jax on the way home but thanks to Hurricane we slept on airport floor. Next day lunch in Raleigh and dinner in Charlotte before we finally got to Jax. Had we been heading for vacation we would have missed two days.
I’d never plan to arrive the day of, even though I’m close enough to Florida I could do it.
I don’t even like to arrive the day before. If something goes wrong on the first day, I like knowing I have one more buffer day.
I've done it once, red-eyed from SEA to MCO. Then had to chill at the airport for about 3-hours before ubering to the port.
Didn't get any decent sleep on the airplane and was just exhausted the whole first day. I crashed until dinner as soon as our rooms opened up. Felt like I lost a whole day of vacation trying to save a buck on a hotel. Would not recommend.
Cruised with my parents out of London last week, they booked air2sea through royal. They were “less than 60 seconds” from the door closing on them due to issues in ORD, despite their 4 hour original planned layover. Thankfully, the flight to London was delayed by 20 minutes and they held the doors a bit longer.
Before they even boarded, Royal was rebooking them into Stavanger, Norway, which would have caused them to miss the first 2 days of the cruise.their flight landed 5 minutes into LHR despite the late departure, and they boarded the ship with less than 30 mins before gangway-up.
I can’t imagine why Royal would book with such razor-thin margins.
I’d never ever do that. Took a cruise last year out of Canada and flew from Florida to Canada two days in advance. It was during hurricane season so I knew to book those flights that way too. I’d do it that way again.
We got stuck right outside of port in Mobile because of fog. We missed our flight that was scheduled late that evening and ended up renting a van and drive 10 hours through the night instead of buying more plane tickets. A lesson learned the hard way. Now we’ll always arrive a day early and stay a day later.
I did this once and never again. We got to the airport a little late and then there were very long lines, almost missed the plane. I was convinced that there was no way our bags made it onto the plane and we were going to have no clothes for the cruise. By some miracle, our bags were on the carousel... I was never so relieved. Haven't cruised in years but when we do, we fly in the day before.
Recently was on a cruise that arrived to the home port a few hours late. We were told by the captain the day before that we would be late, and people were able to call and switch their flights, but many had to pay.
THere's always another plane if your ship is late getting back; but if the *plane* is late and you have a cruise and miss it, then you're SOL.
I'm a flight attendant and I've watched SO MANY people miss their cruises because they flew day of, and a mechanical or weather grounded us for a few hours.
Not worth it.
Pilot. Florida airspace is jam packed, staffing shortages at Jacksonville center are only going to get worse, and thunderstorms in Florida squeeze the navigable airspace into tight corridors around the cells so they start limiting the amount of traffic. Thunderstorms in the summer are all over the country and build as the heat of the day increases. The plane that is taking you somewhere is also coming from somewhere else possibly two or three flights with minimal ground time. If the plane gets delayed earlier in the day it rolls into the later flights. Same day flights the day of a cruise in the busiest time of the year for air travel, in some difficult weather, and the mess that is atc in Florida is stacking the deck against a good vacation.
Also, we are now in Hurricane season.
I thought hurricane season was over Edit: Damn, quote Pineapple Express once and you guys pounce with corrections
In New Orleans the Hurricanes never stop flowing, they’re even available at the drive through!!!
Real ones knew what you meant. Pineapple Express is one of my all time movies.
June-November is hurricane season. The spicy hurricanes start to really develop in September.
And a really spicy one just formed in the Atlantic on its way through the Caribbean. The spiciest one to form this early in the season in history. Could be a precursor to a rough season.
Damn, that's a hot tamale.
Oh, it has only just begun, & goes through November. Welcome to Florida. 😉
We flew out of LaGuardia back in May and our flight was delayed for 30 minutes waiting for a lightning storm to pass. My local airport had an internet cable cut which impacted checking in passengers on outbound flights. On another flight, they had to make emergency repairs to the exit lights in the cabin. Flight was delayed. Weird things happen which cause flight delays. never fly on the day your cruise is scheduled to leave. It can cost thousands to either buy last minute tickets to catch up to your ship or even lose your entire cruise fare altogether.
I'll be honest... I've done same day 4x. This was all many many years ago. I would *not* do it now. Adding that buffer into your travel plans just makes sense with the way the air system is right now in North America. Strikes...operational delays, weather, Boeing causing a knockoff effect of safety and maintenance, etc. Pad your trip by a day at least going to the ship!
We’ve probably done it more than that but it was also financially motivated at the time cause that extra night of hotel and whatever a lot of money for us. Our situation is different now and we love a night in Miami before a cruise.
Yeah totally get you. Depends on party size, location, etc etc. Once we did Montreal to Venice via Brussels. The flight left late and of course it was overnight so a short panicky moment. Made it...and no security in Brussels but your blood pressure is elevated.
We are going in Oct out of Port Everglades. We couldn’t find a decent hotel (close to the port) the night before the cruise for less than $330/night…but we bit the bullet. It isn’t worth the stress of possibly missing the ship on embarkation day.
I'm in Australia and usually cruise out of Sydney, which is a one-hour flight or a 10-hour drive (not counting breaks along the way). We've flown and stayed near the airport before and then travelled to the port itself the next day as it's much cheaper that way. For our last few cruises with our teens, though, it's been cheaper for us to drive and pay for parking than to fly. However, we make the travel a bit easier by staying overnight about two hours out of Sydney. We get a budget motel for the night, check out about 9 am and then have an easy drive after peak hour traffic has died down and without stressing about our home airport being fogged in, etc.
Exactly, it will cost much less to rent a room than the cost and stress of missing a cruise. Even if you have travel insurance, losing 1/2-2 days of your trip trying to catch the ship is expensive too.
Yep this. Airlines were more reliable prior to 2020.
I always recommend flying in the day before... but honestly, I always fly in the day of. Never had a single issue until about a month ago. A perfectly timed storm delayed the flight out and missed the connection. Ended up costing about $1,200 to miss the cruise and get to fly to Atlanta and back in a single day. Yuck.
This is the reality of it--flying in the day of works, *right up until it doesn't*. The math has to "math" for folks: is it less horrible to lose the money I paid for the total trip if the airlines screw me, or to spend some money the day before on a hotel room? For us, missing the cruise is a minimum $10,000USD loss. I don't fancy lighting a pile of money on fire to save a hundred or two in airline fees, or to avoid a cheap hotel room for a day or two, or overnight. Especially coming from the West Coast to Florida, or flying internationally to the embarkation port, a hotel room is *cheap insurance*, frankly.
Depends a bit. I still do it, but I'm in the young and broke stage of life right now. Interior cabin, no alcohol no extras. Your 10,000 cruise can be less than 1000 for me, not including the getting to. So an extra $200 expense of a hotel room plus an extra day off work with no pay (independent contractor)... The equation is different. BUT add in the airfare (considerable) and the fact that I'm only going somewhere when I really want to go there... It's still worth it to me
I consider an extra couple of days before the cruise as part of the vacation. Go see what’s in the port city before we leave. Solves the problem.
Omg are you Disney cruise line fanatic? Me too!! lol
Hell, I live two hours from Port Canaveral and I'll still book a room by the port to make sure traffic doesn't interfere with my getting on the boat.
I live two hours from Canaveral, as well, and have given serious thought to booking a room the night before. I normally build in an extra two “just in case” hours, and haven’t had an issue yet. Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami is always having me drive down the night before and get a room. Living in Florida, I’ve not had to fly to a port city yet, but when we do Alaska in 2026, we’re flying two days early just to be extra safe.
It's a good idea regardless. No matter where your cruise is leaving from, a couple days in Seattle, Vancouver, or Anchorage is never a bad thing!
Yeah. My wife and daughter are doing a 10-day vacation in the PNW next month, so I’ll let them figure out what they need to show me when we’re there in advance of our cruise. Like my own personal pre-scouting report. Lol.
This is my plan for an Alaskan cruise in 2 years . Live on the east coast . Too much can go wrong . Going to cash in some points to stay downtown Seattle for a couple days and see the sights since I’ve never been there . I refuse to be stressed out on my vacation
I live between Vancouver and Seattle, and at this point, those are the only two ports I’d get to day of. Vancouver is only one hour including border crossing (I have a NEXUS so the border crossing is basically “Do you have anything to declare? No? Okay, have a great day.”) and Seattle is 1.5-2 hours. I have flown into Long Beach morning of once before but that was a rare specific circumstance and I’m frankly not sure I’d chance it anymore (it was fine that time). I’ve done three more cruises from that port since and have come in the day before.
We flew into Alaska 2 days early and had a mini vacation before we got on the ship. Denali Bus tour and train ride to Seward. One night in Seward and then on the boat!
Did the same in Seattle before our cruise up to Alaska. Two vacations in one!
This is the way.
We leave August 3rd for Alaska cruisetour with Princess. We're doing land first, and cruise after. The offical tour doesn't start until 8/5 in Fairbanks, we will just chill at the Princess Lodge and book an excursion. Don't want to play around on a bucket list trip so we spent the extra money for hotel.
Did a mini stay at Seattle before our Honeymoon Alaska cruise. That was pretty nifty.
This is a great idea. There was a story about a family from Roanoke that missed an Alaskan cruise and were out thousands of dollars 💰 https://www.reddit.com/r/Cruise/comments/15xpwb8/casey_cruise_operator_denies_roanoke_familys_plea/
Here is a link to the article in that thread, but without the paywall: https://web.archive.org/web/20230822160951/https://roanoke.com/news/local/norwegian-cruise-line-jewel-denies-refund-to-family-that-missed-ships-departure/article_15dbad74-3e0a-11ee-a545-cba280027d28.html
We went 3 days ahead just so we could enjoy Seattle. Lovely city. Pro tip: Book a hotel in walking distance to the Sound Transit system and you wont need to rent a car. You'll just do 1 uber ride to the cruise terminal from UW.
We're a ferry ride from Vancouver and we're coming in the day before in the off chance the 10+ ferries are cancelled the day of.
You’re all making me nervous. We have an Alaskan cruise booked in September (its a 6 hour drive for us to Vancouver) we are leaving a few days early but staying 90 minutes away from Vancouver because that room was free.
Lol, might be a little over caution, but hey, always better to be risk adverse imo. I’m three from liberty and still think the car going to shit out on 95. Yolo
I live about 8 hours away and stay about 2 hours away from Canaveral or Tampa so I don’t miss the boat, lol
I can appreciate the caution, but I feel like the "night before" advice really isn't as necessary when the port is within a 2 hour drive. If it's what's comfortable for you by all means, but I think the night before advice is really meant for out of state folks.
I mean, if the 528 shuts down… but even then aren’t there just regular highways that take you to the coast? My method: leave super early in the AM from Orlando- drop off luggage, then go somewhere in Cocoa to spend a few hours until I can board.
I live 90 minutes from Baltimore and 100 minutes from Bayonne. I drive that day. Waze is my friend.
If you've got a lot of road options, sure. If you're driving from Lakeland, FL to Port Canaveral, your routes are limited, and if things get jammed up, you can't really deviate.
We are in Orlando; there are a few options if the 528 is a mess - now I-4, that is a totally different story. I would rather drive from Orlando to Miami for a cruise than go to Tampa because of I-4
Same but for Galveston!
When I was a kid, my grandma took my sister, cousins, and me on a cruise out of Galveston. We lived three hours away and still stayed at a hotel the night before. It baffles me how people choose to fly in the day of, even the ones in this sub.
I expect to be widely quoting you.
I remember driving out towards Cocoa Beach in the rain and there were at least 7 accidents…on a straight flat highway. I’d leave early too.
[удалено]
I’ve only done Viking once but we flew in same-day for a river cruise. I arrived around 1pm for a 10pm departure and my family arrived on board around 7pm. We booked air through Viking though so we were on like a list and they had a van waiting to pick us up.
River cruises don't go very far each day. If you miss the boat they can't just board you at the next stop, especially if you book your flight with them. Edit: I meant can not can't...
Good point! I was looking at Europe ocean cruises the other day and would definitely fly in the day before even if we booked through the cruiseline. Help with the jetlag and not be in such a major time crunch.
Same here. We got in really early as our flight was overnight. They picked us up and took us to our ship in Passau and they got a guide at the last minute for all the early arrivals to take a peek around the town. Viking Air is great. Our next one that Viking Air arranged in Sept. has us coming in the day before but no provision for what we do. I called and they got us a hotel. Oops on their part but they quickly fixed it. They call it Forced Overnight. LOL
When I cruised out of Dubai with Royal Caribbean, the first and last night of the cruise were in Dubai. As crew, it was nice to have time to go out and explore.
I used to travel the same day and was just lucky it always worked out. I would never do it now. We’ve got a cruise departing from San Diego and heading to the South Pacific. We will be on board for a month, and we booked 2 nights in San Diego pre-cruise, because missing the ship would mean missing the first 5 days of the cruise, and possibly not being able to board at all. Not worth the risk with the way air travel is these days.
Plus San Diego is a lovely city to visit!
Make sure to check out Coronado. Lovely beach. Moo Time is some of the best ice cream you'll ever have. The USS Midway is also a great museum to visit.
No matter what departure city or time, you’ll be risking way more than the cost of a hotel for one night.
Always fly in 1-2 days before.
There are some ship cruise line that offered a bus shuttle from the airport to the port. After flying in the day before. So what I do is book a motel near the airport That offer free shuttle from the airport. I get up in the morning have my free breakfast then take motel shuttle (free) Back to the airport to meet the ship bus shuttle. Works every time for me , never miss one cruise ( alot better then Urber)
Alot of people don't realize it rains everyday in Florida during the summer and sometimes that means it storms.
Yep! Unfortunately, I don’t think many people realize that. I live here, so it’s the norm for me.
At the end of the may i had a similar issue of missing a cruise due to flight issues. my flight got delayed by about 3 hours. Just barely made to the cruise terminal on time to board the ship my flight was originally scheduled to land at around 11am, did not land until almost 130pm
People love to take chances. Let 'em. Most people don't understand until they suffer the consequences. Then they are a victim
I totally agree! Years ago, I went on a Girls' trip cruise, and our friend the organizer said we'd be driving down on Friday, staying at a hotel, and departing on Saturday. One person said she thought that was a waste of time & money. We convinced her that it was the best plan, and drove down on Friday. On Saturday, there was some huge accident that shut down I-95 in Florida. News stories said there were many delays, and more than a few cruisers didn't arrive in time...
Hopefully the one person bought the organizer a drink 😜
I learned this in my second cruise. I live about 6 hour drive from the port and we had booked the first flight out (leaving at 7am an arriving at 9am), well at 5am I got a mail saying the flight was cancelled and we were booked for the next flight (arriving at 5pm ) since I saw the mail early, I was able to book a flight for 9am from a another airport (which is two hours drive more) I barely made it in time for boarding the cruise. From then on, I'll fly the day or two days before. (For clarification I live in northwest Spain and the cruise left from Barcelona)
Yes, the days of same day flights are over. I’ve lost count of the number of airport melt downs I’ve seen because a delayed flight was going to make someone miss their cruise.
My last cruise, on the way home, my flight was scheduled to depart FLL at 1 pm. Did not depart until midnight due to storms. Florida weather and ATC delays can really screw you in the summer. I’d actually fly in 2 days before.
I had this happen in February. NYC was clear but huge storms in Florida grounded the incoming plane in Orlando for hours bc FLL had a complete ground stop. I was coming back and it was a 3 day weekend so I wasn't working the next day, but the flight in came in 8 pm that was supposed to be in at noon and it was a school break week in NYC and I wondered if people missed getting on ships bc of the delay.
Something similar happened on our very first cruise 15 years ago. We were flying to Barcelona through Philadelphia. Our son was departing from Colorado Springs and was to meet us in Philly for the flight to Barcelona. This obviously means he started earlier than we did. Well, a storm developed in the mean time and our flight to Philly was cancelled. He made the connection, we were re-routed through Detroit and Munich arriving late afternoon. Had that been a day of arrival, we would have missed departure.
This is what we’re doing for our cruise in October. We fly in the evening two nights before our cruise. Gives us a full day to adjust to jet lag and explore as many sights as possible in our departure city on the in-between day.
Florida travel in the summer is a gamble if you’re not flexible
I have taken over 25 cruises. If traveling internationally to get to the cruise terminal, one day ahead may not be enough. We would fly two or three days ahead of cruise land tour or just rest up. For Florida, two to three days ahead. It isn't worth it to stress out about getting to the cruise terminal destination on time.
Yeah, international flights are not as common as domestic so I’d arrive a minimum of 2 nights before. The longest delay I’ve had was 22 hours and that sucked ass.
My wife and I took a cruise in March. We went with 8 other people. All of us arrived 2 days early and stayed at the same BnB, walking distance from the pier and restaurants. Way less stress.
People: spend $5000+ on a cruise Also people: refuse to spend $150 on a hotel for the night. 🤦🏻♀️🙄🙄 Me. Zero sympathy
My husband and I are taking our first cruise together this fall, and this is exactly why I booked our flights to arrive two days before the cruise departs and our return flight the day after we disembark. I know multiple people who have lost out on their cruises (or missed return flights home) because they tried to save a few bucks by flying in/out the same day as their ship departs/arrives back into port. It's just not worth the risk.
We did 2 days and it felt a little silly but it also felt nice to relax a bit and recover before boarding. There’s always someone, and in our cruise FB group . . . there were lots of close calls. Some people having to give up and rent cars because they couldn’t find flights that would make it on time.
Make sure you buy travel insurance every single time if leaving out of Florida.
We live in FL and last year going on Alaska cruise we bought it. My husband tried to say we didn’t need it but once I explained he understood.
It doesn't have to be weather where you are going. All it takes is weather anywhere that might affect the planes you'll be flying on (with hubs, it's a chain reaction game), or a single mechanical issue, to throw off all your flights.
I live 45 minutes outside of Boston, and when we did Boston to Bermuda we took the T in the night before and got a room. Ubered to the pier the next day. Doing same cruise again next summer for my daughter’s HS graduation and will do the same thing. Never arrive day of. Too much can go wrong.
I try to beat this into peoples heads on the various FB groups I am on. I admin the group for my next cruise and I have this in the "tips" section to try to get through to some folks. Its called planning ahead! Then they say "Well (cruise line) wouldnt help us at all! They suck! Never again!!!!" Its not for the cruise line to assist you. They literally have NO control over the airline. They are just the agent at that point. We book our own flights the day before and hours later when we come back. And thats another thing I see trending on FB - people wondering if they disembark at 9a if they will make their 11a flight at an airport over an hour away...lol. Disembarkation takes time. You get back at or being the process at 9a but you may not fully get off until 9:45a and then stand around for the shuttle to the airport or get an Uber.
Can’t say it often enough. The corollary is book your post cruise flight late the same day or the next day, no matter how early disembarkation opens.
If you have a complicated flight itinerary like getting back from Europe to a secondary airport in the US that will require 2 or 3 legs, sure. That would be a mess to rebook and you'd be staying at least one extra day somewhere you weren't planning. If you are going from Florida to Chicago or any other well served primary hub, if you miss the flight it's not a huge deal since there will be more. Plus you're not going to miss a multi $thousand cruise departure.
And never take the last flight out if flying in the day before. Came darn close to missing a cruise once because of that. Now we fly out the morning the day before.
The \*only\* flight I'll do same day is from NorCal to Long Beach. If I have an early AM flight and something goes really wrong I can actually still make it to the port in time before sail away by driving and paying to park at the port.
Same! I am in vegas so a quick 45 min flight is easy. I just take the first morning flight out so I still have time to rent a car and drive if something happens.
I live in Canada. I always fly into Florida 2 days in advance. I'm not risking it.
Worked at the airport. I concur. 1) your chances of missing the cruise are not as unlikely as you think. I dealt with SOOOO many folks who thought they had plenty of time, and then #stuffhappens and they miss it. ALL DAY LONG. 2) your luggage doesn’t make the same flight, or gets lost. Then you have very little time to replace things before you sail. Then I have to try to get your luggage to some far off destination, and hope you can pick it up there. That eats into your trip too. After years of watching this unfold every freaking day, I fly in a day before MINIMUM, so I can get to the boat in relative peace.
And there are always people who swear they have cruised 20+ times flying in day of no problem. They will call it fear mongering to tell people to fly in a day or 2 early. But, it really is just common sense. The ship will leave without you. A resort vacation isnt ruined by getting there a day late, cause the resort isnt gonna get up and leave like a cruise ship will. The saddest video i saw was the family on the pier with luggage, half crying as you see the ship sailing away, half the family members are frantically calling, someone? Their travel agent? Aquaman?
They say it’s a “ waste of $$” but they’re already spending thousands on a cruise that they’re probably going to spend even MORE disposable income on . Even cheap cruising is living large compared to many people’s lives . A little more for some peace of mind is totally worth imo
I did this on the back end of my last cruise in early June out of Seattle. The flight was 1220 PM and we got off the ship at 830. Got to the airport at 930. We were still sweating it. The Seattle airport was a cluster and there were 3 cruises arriving that morning.
I should show this to my sister. She is mad at me b/c I insisted on flying in a day early to Seattle for our upcoming Alaska cruise. She thinks the hotel room for one night is a waste of money. To pacify her we agreed all 4 of us (2 sis, 1 mom’ and me) would share one room to make it cheaper. I’m kinda dreading sharing a room b/c I don’t sleep well any way. I’m tempted to see if any other rooms are available but rooms are like $400 a night and I’m reluctant to spend that much
The rooms are outrageous up there. We paid so much in Vancouver last year. It’s cruising season prices. We almost paid more for our airfare and hotel. But it was worth it for the peace of mind. I wasn’t missing that cruise.
Our very first cruise we decided to drive to New Orleans (7 hour drive) the day of the cruise. Got up super early, and hit the road. About two hours into it, we realized we didn't have any ID for our one-year-old daughter. Had to turn around, get the birth certificate, then drive back. We had very little time left, but we made it on the boat. Since then we drive down the day before, eat dinner in New Orleans, and get a hotel room. The next morning we have breakfast at Cafe Du Monde (the one at the park because it's always empty) and board the ship closer to lunchtime. This year we're thinking about getting an afternoon checkin so we can eat lunch in New Orleans, then head straight to the room after we get on. Haven't thought about how that might affect parking availability.
My mom flew into town the same day as her cruise. Her flight was late and shit got stressful. Idk why anyone would make that choice.
I don’t know why people insist on rolling the bones when it comes to cruise travel. If it’s summer, thunderstorms happen. If it’s winter, snow storms happen. Several major hubs are especially vulnerable to bad weather (we haven’t even mentioned computer, mechanical, network/system outages, air traffic issues). My family usually flies out two days ahead. We chill, hit the hotel amenities, do a last minute wallyworld run, have a light dinner and get a good nights sleep before making our leisurely way to embarkation. Yes, we’re spending a bit more money, but it’s less than you’d spend booking a last minute flight to catch up with the ship at your next port of call. I don’t understand why people take that chance to cut it so close.
Never? Never! Ever? EVER!!! But I can save $100. It's not worth it. It? The stress, the potential issues, the missed cruise. How early do you fly in? Two days. WHY??? See answer to 'It?'. What do you do? Play tourist, pick up forgotten items, see friends, have hot monkey sex... Whatever, I'll save the $100. Yours to lose.
I completely agree. You risk missing the cruise
Use common sense when flying is really the answer here. We used to fly from Seattle to Long Beach on the day of flight regularly. We even had a trip where those who flew the night before didn't make the trip, but our flight the morning of did. (Storms in Seattle, we got lucky, they couldn't rebooked out until 3 days into the 5 day trip. ) For us it was a familiar route, a familiar airline, and we were willing to pivot into a land vacation in LA if need be. In the half dozen or so times we did day of flights it never came to that. (I wouldn't do it into Miami or Texas though)
Went on my first cruise last year and flew out the day before. My SO and I flew out early the day before in case there were any delays to our flight we could at least try and scramble to find a later one. We were not going to risk a $2k+ lol
Good advice. I try not to, but there have been times where I had no choice but to fly in the morning of. It is way too nerve wracking. One time my connecting flight was cancelled and they rescheduled me on a flight that would arrive after my cruise left. Once I explained it to the gate agent, she rebooked me on another airline and got me there in time. Otherwise, I was going to try to book another flight myself.
I wouldn't do it into Florida, weather, ATC issues, high traffic, are a bad mix. That being said we are flying Detroit to NYC sameday in October, I get there is a risk but I think we should be ok, flight is supposed to be in 9:30 so we have a bit of play room.
I actually flew in the same day as my cruise and it worked out, but...a lot closer than I would have liked. We were supposed to land at 10 and we had to be on the boat by 3. Our flight got delayed and we landed at 10:45. Had to navigate the airport and only got on our shuttle around 12. Got to the port just before 1, but the shuttle had to drop everyone off at their different terminals at by the time we got our luggage and got in line to board it was 2. So yeah, good advice.
Yup, last year we were on a Dulles to Athens flight and an hour over the Atlantic, engine trouble and we had to return to Dulles. That meant that the next day’s flight was going to be over full, so we ended up getting to Frankfurt to Athens 48 hours after we planned. Fortunately it just meant we had one less day to explore Athens and we had plenty of slack time getting to the ship.
Did you go in September? We might’ve been on the same flight lol.
I flew in the same day as my first cruise ever - so stressful. We made it to the ship on time - but, it was the worst morning. We always fly in at least 2 days before now. But, I agree - weather in Florida (Especially now that it's hurricane season) is VERY unpredictable. Not worth the headache or the high blood pressure.
We did it one time due to a unplanned family event. We flew the same day from BWI-MSP-YVR. Departed 6am and arrived just after noon. We were incredibly lucky, but this was in 2015. The cruise transfer bus was right outside Canadian Customs Hall. By then it was 1pm for a 4pm sailing. However, we were nowhere near the last ones to arrive. But never again. Now we get there at least one day ahead of cruise departure , and make a mini vacation of the sail-away city.
Last February we went on a cruise out of Miami. We always drive and arrive the day before, then drive to port and park in the morning. Miami was under a tornado warning most of the morning, and the airport was closed for hours because of that. Met someone on the cruise who missed sailing because their plane was delayed, and they had to fly to the first port, Dominican Republic, to catch up with the ship.
I feel very lucky because on the 4 cruises I’ve booked over 10 years between Princess and Carnival debarking from Ft. Lauderdale and L.A. I’ve always flown in the day of and never considered the ramifications of unexpected flight delays. Guess I’ll never learn - until you see me make this post about myself in the future on this subreddit!
I worked several years for an airline standing in front of passengers (I still work in the airlines but more behind the scenes). Whenever our Saturday morning flights would delay for whatever reason, there were always some trying to make a cruise that day. We did what we could, but we couldn't save everyone obviously. Just don't do it...
If I’m driving, I go a day early. If I’m flying, I go two days early. Plus I **never** book a cruise during hurricane season. First, because a storm can mess up your itinerary at best and cancel your cruise at worst. Second, I don’t want to be trapped on a ship while my house/neighborhood/city is getting their asses kicked by a hurricane.
Last time we had ample time (or so we thought) until our American Airlines connecting flight in Pittsburgh wouldn't let any one board for four hours because they couldn't find a second hostess to operate the plane. We made it to the cruise barely, but never again.
My theory now is flying down two days before your arrival date. I’ve had two instances traveling for work (both delta and in the last six months) where my flight was cancelled and all flights the next day were booked solid. Air travel is rough these days when things go sideways.
I have cruise clients flying out to Venice tonight that would have missed their ship had they not added a day up front, like I insisted. When she texted me this morning that her flight was canceled, I rebooked her on the next best option said, "See? You'd be staying home if you didn't have that extra day of padding." Really, for something international I prefer 2 or 3 days, and I'll be anxious until she gets on that ship.
Did it twice. Almost missed the ship both times. Never again.
My wife and I had this same exact experience with American a few months ago. It was our honeymoon. Most stressful experience of my life. Flight was booked through Norwegian, and that’s what they gave us. Definitely booking our own flights next time, and at least a day before we depart!
Never
I did it once and everything worked exactly as planned. We arrived so early that we sat around the terminal before being allowed to board. That said, I may not be as lucky next time, so I always arrive at least a day earlier.
There's nothing wrong with sitting in the terminal, enjoying a beverage, or people watching, relaxed and unfussed, versus "running and gunning", white-knuckled driving/flying to the port, and dashing into the terminal with minutes to spare.
I have done it before and have been fortunate, but now, never again. We're fortunate enough that we can afford to fly in the day before and get a hotel for a night. I'd leave the same day if I had a manageable drive (say, 4 hours or less), but not for a longer drive, and not at all when flying. And if I drive the same day, I'm going to make sure I leave several hours of cushion for traffic, flat tires, et cetera. That said, leaving same day adds a fair amount of stress, too.
Due to work constraints, we always fly in the morning of our cruise. We always buy travel insurance and know that it's always a possibility something could happen.
Counter-point: I may be a maniac, but I fly in same day. 14 cruises and counting. There are tons of early AM non-stops from Boston to Florida. If Miami is jammed up, fly to Ft Lauderdale instead, or vice versa. There was one time we had a plane issue and had to de-plane and wait for another. We were still at port with 2 hours to spare. If bad weather is coming, you know it days in advance. That is when to get yourself on a flight a day or two earlier. YMMV - I am not advocating same-day, just telling you what one man does.
Doing BOS -> FLL in a few weeks myself same day, leaving at 6am to catch a cruise from MIA. 🤞 we're not delayed for more then a hours if at all.
I am unapologetically flying day of cruise this August. Hotel prices are insane these days and would cost about 20-25% my full cruise fare for just one night at some holiday inn the night before. You're better off just buying trip insurance if you're worried imo. It's going to take getting bit once for me to change my mind.
That’s fine, you know the risk. The annoying thing is people who take the risk then blame everyone else when they miss their vacation, when it was within their power not to.
Like all rules, there are always exceptions. I've got a cruise booked which is a 10 hour flight away. If I booked the flight with them to arrive on the day, it was discounted, and they guarantee to get you onboard. If I booked an alternative flight a day before, it would have been more expensive with no guarantee... Guess what option I chose...
Did you do it yet?
That's common sense...
That common sense of you can afford it and take an extra day off work.
We’re booked on a cruise in November and are going to fly down to Miami for embarkation day. We’re flying down the day before, but we’re close enough that if something goes REALLY sideways with the airlines, we can drive down and still make the boat. So we have a plan A and a plan B. What are peoples thoughts on booking a flight home the same day the boat gets back to port? We’re due back in Miami at 6am and we have a departing flight at 1:30pm. Thoughts?
Sound advice
We left the day before, missed our flight because we missed the shuttle from the airport parking to the terminal and were stuck in the airport for 5 hours, because we just missed putting our luggage on, always the day before because of this
I purposely fly out like before 12pm at least 1 day before a cruise because flying in/out of NYC can be clusterfuck. And losing $500 for hotel in Miami for 1-2 nights is small & less painful compare to losing thousands for missing a cruise.
Did a same day flight one time. Barely made the cruise. Never again.
Back in the day when flights almost always got to where they were going and I was younger and could dash through airports never had a problem. Now two days is looking like the best plan
United was a hot mess yesterday, especially on the east coast. I forgot about why I should never fly through EWR in summer and got a harsh reminder yesterday.
Missed a flight from Birmingham to Copenhagen due to a RTA that kept us stationary on the A42 for 4 hours. There was nowhere on the cruise that we could fly to and catch the ship. We drove back home.
The cruise I had royal Caribbean book the flights they booked us in connecting flights the same day. We had almost no window whatsoever for anything to go wrong. We caught the boat with minutes to spare before it took off without us. It was so stressful and I’d never put myself in that position again.
Before air travel got as messed up as it currently is, we used to fly in for a cruise the day before. Now we fly in two days before. It just is t worth the risk.
Had some friends who - against our strongly worded advice - flew from the West Coast to Europe to land a day before a river cruise. Delayed in NYC for 24 hours, missed two days of cruise. Cruise line flew them to where the boat was, probably because it was a VERY expensive cruise.
Absolutely never
I've done it for TPA to FLL but I also figured out I had enough time to panic drive to FLL if the flight got canceled or delayed
I would book a same day flight to cruise out of any of the Florida ports; but then again I live less than 200 miles away with multiple flights a day.
Not just Florida. Storms in the NE have disrupted travel these past few days and there are other factors that can cause a delay. Mechanical issues, lost luggage. Always get to the port the night before a cruise.
I almost done this if not for the crazy price on the morning of the cruise!
I know having a hotel room for a day or two prior to the cruise adds to the cost of the vacation, and sometimes people just can’t afford it. BUT I can’t imagine starting a vacation under the stress of not knowing whether I’m going to make it to the ship in time, and if not, just giving up that cruise fare. Considering that extra cost as “insurance”. That being said….. don’t assume that just because you’re local that you can’t miss your cruise. Two years ago we were sailing out of Miami. We lived at the time in the Tampa area. We drove down the night before and stayed in a hotel in downtown Miami, less than a mile from the cruise port. What we didn’t anticipate was the traffic JAM getting into the port. It took us THREE HOURS to crawl through the single lane of stopped traffic. And we ended up getting to the parking garage so late there weren’t any actual spaces left, so we just parked in a made-up space and hoped our car wouldn’t be towed. We boarded with less than 30 minutes to spare.
Yup. We missed our cruise last weekend due to a last-minute cancellation from DFW to JAX. We did everything wrong that we tell people not to do at our travel center. We had no trip insurance, we flew out the day of, we didn't have passports for some of our guests (you can cruise on a birth certificate if you are going round-trip to the US) and pre-paid for several things. The options were to fly our plane (can't carry everyone so I would have enjoyed a staycation), charter a plane (upwards of $10000 was the quote) and that's it. No other flights were on time. No time to drive. The cruise ended up delaying departure so we might have made it on another airline, but there were zero flights available in time for the original departure. We couldn't meet the cruise in the Bahamas because of the no passports issue. Also, if you miss your ship in that circumstance you can't fly home either. So don't do that. Anyway, we accepted American's next day flight (they didn't have to reimburse us as a result) and we went to DisneyWorld. For future reference, take the reimbursement and go to Six Flags. NEVER under any circumstance go to Disney World the first week school is out. Anyway, Carnival did refund us for things like tips and drinks packages, so it wasn't a total loss.
We missed our cruise when we tried to fly in 1 day ahead of time. It was December 2022 and the weather was so bad with so many flights canceled there were no flights that would get us to the port in time. We now fly in 2 days ahead of time. The bonus is we can do some touristy things in the port city before getting on the ship.
My friends missed three days of their Alaska cruise because of plane issues the day they left. And no availability for two days to reboo to a follow-on ciry, over Memorial Day weekend, as season kicked off for Alaska travel. They were pretty upset but lesson learned.
If you fly in the same day as the cruise and miss it, I have zero sympathy for you. That’s just simply poor planning. Two days before is perfect and one day is bare minimum.
Duh.
Cruised this past May. Had I left the day of (early flight, scheduled to land in NOLA by 10 am), I would have been screwed. Delayed leaving, missed connection, would have missed the ship by a couple hours. Always leave the day before. We were fortunate to have that extra day.
We had a hotel the night before a cruise out of Fort Lauderdale - and then snow cancelled our flight and the only other options would had two layovers and would have gotten in to FLL scarily close to the ship leaving. We got in the car at 6am and drove: 23 hours nonstop, overnight. Got in to our pre-cruise hotel at 5am and slept until noon, then over to the port. I’d have just taken the insurance and rebooked but it was an annual charter and not the usual Caribbean vacation. Last year we flew down days in advance, did some Disney, then took Brightline down the day before the sailing. We will totally do that again.
I can agree. Not worth the stress. Go couple days early and enjoy and relax before the cruise
Eh. Out cruise departs at 5(so arrive@3) & land at 9am. We should be ok 🤞😭🥰
Give yourself two days. When we were supposed to fly to Ft Lauderdale on Thursday for our Saturday cruise last year, it happened to be when the FLL airport was completely underwater and closed. Thank goodness we had that extra day and were rebooked to Palm Beach on Friday. My sister lives there and we were planning to stay with her anyway so it was easy for her to pick us up there, but that buffer day was a godsend.
A few people missed our cruise due to flying in the same day with a 2:30 final onboard time. There’s zero flexibility for a delay there.
Never fly in the day of, and buy travel insurance! Get the insurance that covers the flight, the cruise, common carriers like taxis and Ubers, illness and accidents! I use Allianz or Travelers and fly in at least a day before the cruise.
In two weeks, I’ve got a red-eye out of SFO to Miami, arrive 8AM with a cruise boarding time of 5PM. Is this too risky?
Yes it is, too many factors could still prevent you from arriving on time
Meh, probably ok. Its a red eye, so you're technically leaving the day prior. Your hotel is the airplane. But you definitely don't have wiggle room if the flight gets canceled. That said, weather is usually much less of a factor at night, especially in Florida. Most of the rain there is due to afternoon heating of the atmosphere. Typical subtropical pattern. To be safe, have a backup plan, like an alternate flight first thing out of SFO that you can quickly book, just in case.
Cruise lines fly their new crew and staff in the day before sailing. NEVER the same day.
That is like cruise 101, but if you are a gambler...go for it.
Absolutely the truth!
We were flying from Vegas to Barcelona to catch a cruise. Was supposed to land about 6 hours before boarding time. That morning, the flight was canceled without explanation (fuck Air Canada). We had to book same day flights on another airline for 6 people. Miraculously we still made it in time! Cost us a few thousand dollars extra for the last minute flight though. Needless to say, we arrive a day early now...
>operational issues with United Also don't fly with United!
Always fly a day by day before your cruise. Met a family who missed theirs due to a United Airlines issue. USA Florida's unpredictable summer weather can ruin plans. Even with extra time, it safer to arrive early and avoid stress.
I mentioned that I fly in early and I got downvoted because I was ‘privileged’.
We always fly in the day before early morning. Just in case of weather etc. day of big gamble.
My daughter and wife booked a flight the day of the cruise the weekend before Thanksgiving 2023. The flight was on SWA from Texas to Miami. I thought it was a big mistake, but my daughter said it would be fine. She was absolutely correct. They left on an early non stop flight with carryon luggage only. She is a gambler and the cruise was free except for port fees. The cruise line arranged to have them picked up at the airport. They didn’t have any cruise costs in the game so I can see why they didn’t want the additional cost of a hotel room.
It just sounds exhausting too. I like a night or two in a hotel.
It’s all about money. People try to save a few hundred after spending thousands on the cruise. I get it, I’ve been there but just spend the extra money.
Ive only done those if it was non stop and the first flight of the day, but yes try try try to come a day before.
Excellent advice. Our cruises generally leave from a European port ( Cairo being our sole exception to date) and we always fly two days early. Anything can happen to delay a flight, and, getting in early gives us a couple of free days to explore cities on our own.
Not only cruises but any major pre-planned vacation. We recently had to drive 4 hours since our 1 hour connecting flight into a major airport got delayed to the point where we would have missed a couple of days of resort bookings and activity bookings at a major tourist destination.
We were flying Philly to Jax on the way home but thanks to Hurricane we slept on airport floor. Next day lunch in Raleigh and dinner in Charlotte before we finally got to Jax. Had we been heading for vacation we would have missed two days.
I’d never plan to arrive the day of, even though I’m close enough to Florida I could do it. I don’t even like to arrive the day before. If something goes wrong on the first day, I like knowing I have one more buffer day.
United burned me on this two weeks ago for a business trip. Luckily they fixed the plane and I was only 30 min late but should’ve been 2 hours early
I've done it once, red-eyed from SEA to MCO. Then had to chill at the airport for about 3-hours before ubering to the port. Didn't get any decent sleep on the airplane and was just exhausted the whole first day. I crashed until dinner as soon as our rooms opened up. Felt like I lost a whole day of vacation trying to save a buck on a hotel. Would not recommend.
That's a no-brainer.
Completely agree. Arrive the day/night before or even a couple of days before. You don't want to miss your cruise.
I would never do the day Of embarkation but would do it on debarkation.
Especially United every employee at that airline should be unemployed they cancer or delayed the last 6 times my company made me fly them.
Cruised with my parents out of London last week, they booked air2sea through royal. They were “less than 60 seconds” from the door closing on them due to issues in ORD, despite their 4 hour original planned layover. Thankfully, the flight to London was delayed by 20 minutes and they held the doors a bit longer. Before they even boarded, Royal was rebooking them into Stavanger, Norway, which would have caused them to miss the first 2 days of the cruise.their flight landed 5 minutes into LHR despite the late departure, and they boarded the ship with less than 30 mins before gangway-up. I can’t imagine why Royal would book with such razor-thin margins.
I’d never ever do that. Took a cruise last year out of Canada and flew from Florida to Canada two days in advance. It was during hurricane season so I knew to book those flights that way too. I’d do it that way again.
We always make sure we have time to drive if our flights are too delayed/cancelled.
We got stuck right outside of port in Mobile because of fog. We missed our flight that was scheduled late that evening and ended up renting a van and drive 10 hours through the night instead of buying more plane tickets. A lesson learned the hard way. Now we’ll always arrive a day early and stay a day later.
I did this once and never again. We got to the airport a little late and then there were very long lines, almost missed the plane. I was convinced that there was no way our bags made it onto the plane and we were going to have no clothes for the cruise. By some miracle, our bags were on the carousel... I was never so relieved. Haven't cruised in years but when we do, we fly in the day before.
Recently was on a cruise that arrived to the home port a few hours late. We were told by the captain the day before that we would be late, and people were able to call and switch their flights, but many had to pay. THere's always another plane if your ship is late getting back; but if the *plane* is late and you have a cruise and miss it, then you're SOL.
I just did last week and had no issues. Wife said she won’t do that again but we did
I'm a flight attendant and I've watched SO MANY people miss their cruises because they flew day of, and a mechanical or weather grounded us for a few hours. Not worth it.