Fly out the day before or morning of?

[brat5063]

This is our first cruise. We live in the DC Area and are about an hour away from 3 airports. I don't think it would be a problem for us to get on a 8 AM flight the day of the cruise. Which is what I had in my head. I believe our boat leaves around 4ish. My mom, who has been on numerous cruises thinks we should fly down the night before. That would add the cost of a hotel room. What do you prefer? Our DCL reservations include the DCL bus transfer, so I am assuming if we flew down the night before we would have to stay at an airport near the hotel.

TIA

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Picture yourself waking up on the morning of your cruise, to look outside and see torrential downpours, high winds and massive thunderstorms all over the area. Not a pretty picture which is why folks recommend to fly down at least the night before, then, if flights are cancelled, it gives you time to get on another flight, or possibly just decide to drive through the night to get there! By the next morning, it's too late for that. Better safe than sorry.

 

[redheadtove]

I would take a flight down the night before, it will give you peace of mind that once you are in Orlando, you are there and there is very little chance that you will miss your cruise. Weather is tricky around the world, just because it is usually nice one day it does not mean it will be nice the next. Yes it means there will be the add cost of the hotel but at least you will be there.

 

[Shell54]

Night before. We flew out of Philly and even though it was only about a 2 hour flight why take chances??? Severe thunderstorms, mechanical problems... lots could happen..it was worth it to us to stay at the the Hyatt MCO for one nite and take the Disney transfer the next morning..no stress.

 

[sissy_ib]

Picture yourself waking up on the morning of your cruise, to look outside and see torrential downpours, high winds and massive thunderstorms all over the area. Not a pretty picture which is why folks recommend to fly down at least the night before, then, if flights are cancelled, it gives you time to get on another flight, or possibly just decide to drive through the night to get there! By the next morning, it's too late for that. Better safe than sorry.

Or even better the plain didn't show up because the airport it is coming from has bad weather! This has happened to me more than once.

 

[Plaid Princess]

This is the first cruise I'm flying in for (having just relocated to the west coast from Orlando) and I'm opting to fly in 2 days early to give myself plenty of "wiggle room".

 

[momof2minnies]

Another vote for day before!!!

 

[MandyGirl]

Talk to any airline dispatcher, and they can tell you of the little things that can happen and cause big delays (or cancellations) to flights. Weather in another part of the country (that cancels your airplane coming in to take you to your destination... even though you are on the first flight of the day doesn't guarantee the plane made it in the night before), a luggage bin not closing correctly (causing a mechanical delay), a false-warning light that causes a plane to return to original airport because that is where the maintenance facility is, a person complaining of tightening in the chest (which creates a diversion to an alternate airport, which may not be where that airline flies, then waiting on refueling from a contractor they have to find at the last minute), etc. Not worth the risk IMHO. And yes - those above are just flights I have experienced personally while I was flying, and I'm not the one who is the dispatcher. He has more stories he could tell...

I would suggest flying the day prior. I have seen too many sad "I missed the ship" stories over on other cruise message boards.

 

[pillow]

I would fly in the night before and stay overnight at the airport Hyatt which is right there in the airport. Then in the morning, you just have to walk downstairs and take whatever transportation to the port (less than an hour away). You can get "stay certificates" off the Hyatt's website to make it cheaper for you. We used cbshuttle to get to the port, which was cheaper than Disney tranportation. Good luck!

 

[Alexander]

Another vote for flying in the day/night before. Better safe than sorry. I cannot imagine missing the ship!

 

[Purdue Mouse]

We flew in the night before and used rewards points at the Holiday Inn Express. There are airport shuttles for most hotels. After we ate the complimentry breakfast we used Ace Transp for a stress free ride out to the Cape. The check in process went quickly.

 

[Alikay]

My April 2012 airline reservation has a connecting flight that was cancelled last week. They changed my flight and now we arrive 2 1/2 hours later. Luckily we chose to come the day before. I'm told the airline could make more schedule changes and flight cancellations. I'll add that the airline did not notify us, I just happened to check my reservation. I'll keep checking it.

 

[JanDave]

Get an airport hotel on Pricelne to save $$$. Just make sure to bid for hotels that have airport shuttle - usually 2.5 and higher.

Jan

 

[insureman]

Fly the day before. We cruise during Feb vacation week and since we live in the Northeast where the winter storms can be unpredictable we don't want to chance it. This upcoming Feb western Magic cruise we are actually leaving 2 days before.

 

[stargazertechie]

I've done it both ways and I've never missed the ship. If you have the ability to fly in the day (or even taking the last flight out the night before as to not need to take another vacation day) DO IT. It's so much less stress.

 

[mesaboy2]

Day before--no question. Think of that couple hundred on the hotel as insurance on the thousands you have invested in your cruise.

 

[glindamood]

Another vote for flying in the day or evening before. There are just too many things that can happen and if you are delayed, the ship will not wait for you. Someone posted not too long ago about a flight issue and they did not sail. That is a huge amount of money lost to them.

 

[Bethshaya]

The price of a hotel the night before will be nothing compared to the cost of missing the ship and having to fly your entire family to the next port of call.

Mom is experienced, listen to her. Fly the night before and avoid all that stress.

 

[virginiamama]

Always day before for us. I find travel days exhausting and stressful and I always end up staying up way too late the night before we fly out. I prefer to stay at the Hyatt MCO, relax by the pool, have a nice dinner and get to bed early. We wake up raring to go and have 100% energy for the first day of the cruise.

 

[conandrob240]

Unless absolutely impossible, I always arrive day before a cruise. You never know what could happen - just not worth it