Does anyone NOT fly in the day before?

[BWVDenise]

I'm considering a 7 nite in Nov. 06 and would probably have to fly in the morning of departure. Would it be a nightmare to do that?

 

[mommasita]

It could be a nightmare, and could not...Do a search, and you will find some nightmares...Consider the cost of your cruise, and your flights, and then consider losing that, or having to be flown to the next port, or the one after that, and missing perhaps half of your cruise...Chances are, it will not happen, but you never know.....

We fly in at least a day early, and have had some close calls on that, so imagine a day later, and BYE BYE cruise...

At least, make sure you get amazing insurance....November especiallly, depending on your location, could be very very tricky with snow....

Just wanted to be honest...I would not cruise, if I had to fly in that day....I would wait....

HTH

 

[Ariel&Flounder'sMom]

Yes, people do that, but you take a big risk that many are not willing to take. In New Jersey in November, could you have a big snow storm and not get out? Could there be an ice storm? Could your plane have mechanical problems?

The chances are probably small that something could happen, and you could miss the boat - but it happens. People have posted here that it happened to them. And the hassle that goes with that would spoil my entire vacation.

In Minnesota, I don't want to take any chances. It could snow in June! (well, not really, but that's the way many people in the country think of it)

Good luck!

 

[allears]

BWVDenise, where in NJ. We're in South Jersey. We've flown from Philly to Orlando twice on the same day as our cruises. Both times were in February. We booked a very early flight, giving us some back up options. In both cases it went like clock work and we were on the first buses to the port.

Given the choice I prefer to go the night or day before, but that's not always possible. The likelyhood of the our state being hit by ice or snow in November is pretty remote. But airport and air plane problems are always possible, that's why I'd try to go out early. And absolutely get insurance!

 

[lbgraves]

Don't forget that is still hurricane season so anything could be happening with flights into FL.

 

[rotary2808]

We do it. But were also flying from Alabama, so it isn't that big a deal. I'd rather fly the day before so I don't have to get up so early, but it is worth it. We normally get to the terminal by noon, before they start boarding.

 

[pclaire]

We're flying in the morning of the cruise for our July West coast. Its not ideal, and I'm nervous, but for a lot of reasons I dont have a choice. We booked the earliest possible flight from Colorado to LA (getting in at 7 am!!!) and there are approximately 8 other flights that would get us to the boat on time if we had to switch. that said, I bought a lot of insurance!!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

The only times that we've flown in the day of the cruise it was because we bought airfare from the cruise line. I don't know if that makes a difference to you, but I think you have more protection regarding getting you to the first port of call, or even waiting for your plane, maybe it depends on just how many people are on the incoming flight.

Don't know DCL's policies. However, since we now book our own air, we do come in the night before.

Bobbi

 

[PPFQP]

We did it once, but won't do it again. Everything was in our favor -- the first flight out of the day with the plane already at the gate in the morning, springtime weather. Instead of arriving at 11 am, we didn't get to the ship until 3:30 pm. Our flight was supposed to leave at 7:30 am and didn't take off until after 1:30pm due to a crew problem and a ground stop at the airport in Orlando.

Although we didn't miss the ship or anything, other people on our flight who were flying in for cruises ended up missing connections and transportation. It was a lot of unecessary stress, hassle and frustration that we could have easily avoided.

BTW, DH just got a call from Southwest Airlines today in response to a letter he sent about our travel that day. They are more than compensating us for the situation, although he insisted that he didn't want or need them to. He just thought the situation could have been handled differently and wanted them to think about their procedures if it ever happened again. However, the customer service rep insisted, and they are sending us flight credits. We are going to donate them to a charitable organization. DH flies with them several times a week for work, and their frequent flyer program is very generous. They are an outstanding company, IMHO.

Anyway, our lesson is learned -- we will fly in the day before next time and so that we can fully enjoy the first day of our cruise instead of spending it in the airport.

 

[erikthewise]

If you must fly the same morning, try try try to get a nonstop! It greatly reduces the possibilities for problems.

 

[jlima]

We are driving the night before from Las Vegas to our LA cruise - it is only 4 hours but the I-15 can be a scary place when there are accidents, brush fires, overturned trucks, etc. and I don't want to risk sitting for hours in the middle of the desert on the day of the cruise.

 

[Momeska]

We just returned from our 7-day Western on the Magic last Saturday. We, too live in NJ. We got a flight out of Newark 7:30 Saturday morning and our pilot turbo-ed it and we got there in under two hours. I had printed out our boarding passes online, checked our luggage straight through to the ship at the curb and we were sitting around just waiting for our flight to leave. We arrived by 9:30, didn't have to get our luggage, met a Disney rep easily (they're all over Orlando International!), checked in, got onto the transfer bus (Yes, we booked that with our cruise tickets) and were at the terminal by 11:30. We easily checked in at the terminal and then had to kill time aboard the ship because you can't get into your stateroom until after 1:30.
Granted, we had NO problems and we were fortunate. We were traveling with teenagers, not young children. I was nervous beforehand, too but it worked out perfectly.
In hindsight, however, I wish I had booked an earlier flight home. Our return flight was at 5:40 in the evening, thinking we'd just enjoy our last morning on the ship. Not so...they get you off by 9:00 a.m. I didn't know that at the time so we gathered our luggage, checked it through, boarded the bus and spent 6 hours at Orlando International. We felt like Tom Hanks in "The Terminal". Something to keep in mind.
I just felt we didn't need the additional expense of another night in a hotel. You've got to do whatever makes you comfortable.
No matter what, enjoy...you can't help but to. It's the best vacation we've ever had!

 

[BWVDenise]

Momeska,
I read your trip report last night and even had my dh read it. It was excellent. We went on the 3 niter last year and didn't care for it, but I think this could be different.
I hate to add another expense to the trip, but I don't want to take any chances either (and with all the bad luck we had on the first cruise, we don't want to be taking chances!!)

 

[Momeska]

Thanks for the kind words. I kept a journal the whole time because I think I'm getting old and feeble-minded. It made it easy to remember the trip and it was therapeutic. Just wait...post cruise disorder is awful!

 

[mickeyboat]

Nightmare here!

DCL booked our air. We were scheduled to arrive at MCO, after a connection in Atlanta, at 1PM. With flight issues and a dash through the Atlanta airport, we arrived at 4PM - yes, that's right, 4PM.

We boarded the DCL bus, got to port at 5PM. We didn't even get to see the terminal, no embarkation photo, NO LUGGAGE - they didn't have time to get it off the plane and on to the bus. We missed the sail away party.

Luckily we had our bathing suits and the kids sleeping lovies. I had one change of clothes for me and the kids. DCL shipped our luggage to meet us in St. Maarten, but all that careful planning was for naught. DCL was wonderful in getting us whatever we needed, but the whole fiasco put a slight damper on our trip - and the kids learned what "going commando" means.

If at all possible, go down the night before.

Denae

 

[rbork]

I will never fly the same day as a cruise AGAIN!

My husband and I left in Jan. from BWI for a cruise. Our flight was scheduled to lv a 9 and arv at 2pm - leaving plenty of time for a 6pm departure. Yeah right! The morning of the departure, I found myself saying, "please just get me off the ground." It was snowing (turned out to be blizzard.) We were delayed in Atlanta for some other passangers who were late making the connection. We landed at 5pm and guess what? No Luggage. Finally boarded bus to cruise terminal resolved to the fact luggage might be delivered by St. Maarten. Allowance was something crazy like $150 for us to buy clothes on board. We ladies know swimsuits alone cost about $80.
A Miracle happened - our luggage appeared on the sidewalk! We literally RAN pulling our luggage to the ship. Checked in record time of a 2 minutes officials glanced over our docs and were told to just get on the ship. We were the last couple to board at 6:10pm. They held the ship for us.
We were lucky to have even made the ship. We vowed to NEVER fly the same day again.

We plan on driving this time to Florida and staying overnight in Cocoa to rest up for vacation!

 

[princesspumpkin]

After taking 12 cruises, I flew in on the same day (from NJ) except for one. I never even heard of flying in the night before a cruise until I got on the Dis. When I read about people doing this, I thought that these people were , or they were just impatient. Well, for my first DCL cruise, we flew in the same day - that day was the day that USAIR ticketers walked off the job and the conveyor luggage belt was broken. Needles to say, the lines were extremely long and there was luggage all over the place. I was late getting to the gate (you must be there 15-20minutes before your flight). I got bumped, the next flight to Orlando was overbooked by 45 people already. The only thing they could do is fly us into Tampa. We took it, got into Tampa around 12:30 and a limo got us to the ship at 3:45!!! Too close for comfort for me. I will never fly in the same day again. Even after all of those times that I had nooo problem, just thinking about missing my entire cruise made me vow to spend an extra $100 or so and fly in the night before. Just my 2cents.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

I hate to add another expense to the trip, but I don't want to take any chances either (and with all the bad luck we had on the first cruise, we don't want to be taking chances!!)

____________________________________________________

I can certainly understand not wanting to add another expense to what is already an expensive vacation. Once we tally up everything, we want to look the other way. LOL!

That said, you will be VERY glad you flew in the day before! (Should you decide to do so.) You'll be better rested, and have peace of mind once you board your flight that you have PLENTY of time to get to Port Canaveral.

Since your trip is still more than a year away, add it into your cruise budget now. It will be very well worth it. I don't think anyone here has ever regretted flying down the day or evening before, but there are many who've regretted flying in the same day.

Good luck! Hope it all works out for you.

 

[CM_Mom]

Let me add my vote for flying in the day or night before - but for a different reason. Aside from all the horror stories, you're MORE RESTED the first day of the cruise if you get to MCO in time to get a decent night's sleep and then get up in a leisurely fashion, get to port around 10:30 or 11:00 and begin your cruise. Besides, you get the maximum time on that beautiful ship and have enough energy to enjoy the evening activities.

Last year we actually did fly in the night before....but because of weather issues we arrived at MCO at 3:30 in the morning If we had come in the day of we would have had to leave our house at 4:00am to get to the airport, through security and on the plane in time to get to MCO by 12:00 and that was cutting it WAY too close for me.

NEXT time, we're taking the day before the cruise OFF and flying in to arrive before 6:00 pm so we can have a relaxing dinner and get some sleep. Then we can fully enjoy the cruise.

 

[crisi]

You don't need to add a big expense. Fly in LATE the night before (you are probably worried about missing work on Friday?) and stay in an airport near MCO. Apparently you can get some great deals from priceline and most of the nearby airports shuttle. The next morning, sleep in, go back to the airport and catch the shuttle.

We are planning on doing this for our 2006 cruise because we don't want to pull the kids from school for the day. Which means a long flight in, probably switching planes, and arrival at 11:00 pm. But if its delayed, we will still make the ship.