Experience flying in the day of cruise departure?

[Donna M]

You've got a lot of good suggestions here, but it sounds like you are tied to the times and dates you mentioned. In your case I would try not to think of all the what ifs. Lots of people fly in the day of and have no problem. If you miss the cruise, you miss the cruise. That is what insurance is for. Then you plan another one. Stuff happens. It sounds like you have to be flexible with his schedule anyway, just one more thing. Only pack carry on, since it's just 3 days and that will save a lot of stress and time.

Have fun!

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

I've done it on multiple occasions. That being said I would never do a flight that lands that late. I use a few rules to determine whether or not I should fly in day of:

1. If I'm flying in the day of the cruise it has to be at a time of year when there won't be snow or any other delays that could cancel all flights out of the airport.
2. It has to be the first flight for that airline and that airline has to have several more flights to Orlando that day. For example one airline I fly with has flights to Orlando every one or two hours. I'll usually take the flight that gets in at 8am so I have at least two if not three other chances of making it. That way if there are mechanical difficulties on the flight I can usually get the next one out.
3. I prefer to do it if the airport has other airlines flying into MCO around the same time because if the worst happens and I have to pay to get down with a different airline I have time to do so.

I've never actually had #3 happen and I've always made it in time but not everyone does. I just find its often cheaper than booking a hotel which is why I'm willing to live dangerously from time to time.

I used to follow the same rules and have flown in the day of once or twice. However... we were still in Orlando by 10 am and so I figured even with a little delay we have a few hours buffer. Weather was my main worry when flying. Until we just got delayed 6 hrs flying to the Caribbean at the end of last month. Reason for the delay? Mechanical issue with the plane. We had to wait 6 hrs for the new plane to be flown in from who knows where. We were just going to an all-inclusive resort, so no big deal but had this been a cruise vacation... I would have been panicking. I would do everything possibly to fly in at least the night before. Even if it's a late night flight.

 

[wilkeliza]

This did not happen to us on a Disney cruise but it was a cruise none the less.

Our very first cruise ever we planned to take the first flight out of NYC to Fort Lauderdale. The plan was to have my fiance's parents pick us up and have brunch then they would drive us to the port of Miami. There was no weather issues and this was not during hurricane season or snow season so we figured there wouldn't be any issues. We also thought that by taking a flight that got us into Fort Lauderdale around 10 am that even with the extra driving time we had built ourselves enough leeway in the event of delays and worst case we would skip brunch since the all aboard time was 4 pm.

Fast forward to day of flight and cruise we get to the airport and our plane is no where in site. They mention something about weather and then mechanical and the hours ticked by. Finally we got in the air several hours later. We landed in Fort Lauderdale around 2:30-2:45 pm and had to run through the airport, get our luggage, and get into the car and get to Miami. We got on the cruise ship around 3:45/3:50. We were literately the last people on the ship! Since that terrible experience we have sworn we will never fly in same day again.

 

[Anisum]

I used to follow the same rules and have flown in the day of once or twice. However... we were still in Orlando by 10 am and so I figured even with a little delay we have a few hours buffer. Weather was my main worry when flying. Until we just got delayed 6 hrs flying to the Caribbean at the end of last month. Reason for the delay? Mechanical issue with the plane. We had to wait 6 hrs for the new plane to be flown in from who knows where. We were just going to an all-inclusive resort, so no big deal but had this been a cruise vacation... I would have been panicking. I would do everything possibly to fly in at least the night before. Even if it's a late night flight.

So my question is this, does the airport you're flying out of have other planes (even with other airlines) that fly to the same location? For me Disney is a 2hr flight which means a 6am flight gets in at 8am. Even if a plane couldn't fly due to mechanical issues and for some wild reason every other flight that day from that airline is booked so they can't switch you; could you make the decision to pay for a different flight with a different airline out? At the airport I fly out of (PHL though I would do the same thing at EWR) it wouldn't be a problem and if I had to pay for a different flight to get down the cost of doing so once is much less for me (I travel in parties of one or two) then flying in the night before and getting a hotel every single time. For families this isn't the case obviously because rebooking could be way more depending on where you fly from and the number of people in your party.

That being said, I wouldn't play that game in somewhere like Alaska or Europe where there might not be multiple flights and I wasn't pretty much guaranteed to make it even if it was at my own expense and I wouldn't cut it as close as OP is talking about. That's just me though. I've had many an airline delays and made it out successfully.

I also wouldn't do it on holidays where the number of people travelling grows to the point where if a flight is cancelled there's not a likely chance of getting on a different one.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Out of our 17 cruises we've flown in the day of departure 4 times, 4 times we flew in 1-4 days prior, and 9 cruises we didn't have to fly to embark.

The trips we flew in the day of embarkation, we arrived with plenty of time (generally 6 to 9 hours prior to all aboard time). And all of them, we had a Plan B, in case something came up with the original flight. Never had to use Plan B.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

So my question is this, does the airport you're flying out of have other planes (even with other airlines) that fly to the same location? For me Disney is a 2hr flight which means a 6am flight gets in at 8am. Even if a plane couldn't fly due to mechanical issues and for some wild reason every other flight that day from that airline is booked so they can't switch you; could you make the decision to pay for a different flight with a different airline out? At the airport I fly out of (PHL though I would do the same thing at EWR) it wouldn't be a problem and if I had to pay for a different flight to get down the cost of doing so once is much less for me (I travel in parties of one or two) then flying in the night before and getting a hotel every single time. For families this isn't the case obviously because rebooking could be way more depending on where you fly from and the number of people in your party.

That being said, I wouldn't play that game in somewhere like Alaska or Europe where there might not be multiple flights and I wasn't pretty much guaranteed to make it even if it was at my own expense and I wouldn't cut it as close as OP is talking about. That's just me though. I've had many an airline delays and made it out successfully.

I also wouldn't do it on holidays where the number of people travelling grows to the point where if a flight is cancelled there's not a likely chance of getting on a different one.

Yes, I agree with you. If you have to fly in the day of the cruise - it's very smart to book first available flight and to fly out of an airport where there are several daily flights to your destination. Orlando is also only a 2 hr flight for us, which is why we did risk it before and have flown in arriving at 9:30 or 10 am. I was nervous but knew we have a buffer of several hours.

 

[kaseyC]

We did it once and it was only because we truly had no choice. 2014 EBTA, my eldest DD's HS graduation was the evening before. There was no way we were going to miss it. So I tried to decrease the risk as much as possible. We took the earliest non-stop flight out of Milwaukee and booked DCL transfers so we didn't have to claim our luggage. Our flight left about 6:15 am, my newly graduated DD literally got home from a grad party grabbed her bags and jumped in the car with us. LOL For us it worked out well, no delays and we were landing at MCO by 9:30am. Caught the bus to the PC and were checking in around 11:00... before many of our friends who had come the day before.

Your arrival time seems a bit late, I would be very wary of that. Not much room for error.

 

[Flight]

Over the years I've been delayed due to weather, mechanical problems, missing crew, sick crew, crew that didn't have enough hours left on their flight day, passengers who became ill or developed heart or breathing problems, disruptive passengers, a broken gateway, a couple of security shutdowns (the terminals were cleared of passengers and then we all had to go through security screening again), a problem loading luggage on the plane, waiting for a connecting flight, waiting for the my aircraft to arrive from another destination, the smell of smoke on the aircraft, and getting the doors to seal properly. Not to mention being rerouted due to weather, and luggage being delayed or misrouted. From these experiences, I don't trust the airlines to get me to my destination on time, though they usually do.

Listen to Sir William! He is right on! I have seen it myself on multiple occasions. I always recommend flying in the day before.

 

[Sparkie]

OP- I fly Southwest from Bham to Orlando a lot. Only 1 time has my flight been delayed. It was a 5 pm flight that got delayed somewhere and didnt arrive to Bham until 7pm.

That 10 am flight should be fine.

 

[openwater]

It is only an hour's drive to the cruise terminal. This risk is really 99.9% about flight arrivals and 0.1% with a traffic jam/closure of the road to the Port. Once you landed, do not be overly concerned about making it in time for the last Disney bus.

Mears transportation has a booth next to Carnival in the arrivals area and they can arrange a private or shared shuttle at the last moment. There is also Uber Black. And car rental although when running late I would NOT rent.

Having said this, I agree with others - it is far less stressful to arrive a day early!

 

[JoieNsk]

Over the years I've been delayed due to weather, mechanical problems, missing crew, sick crew, crew that didn't have enough hours left on their flight day, passengers who became ill or developed heart or breathing problems, disruptive passengers, a broken gateway, a couple of security shutdowns (the terminals were cleared of passengers and then we all had to go through security screening again), a problem loading luggage on the plane, waiting for a connecting flight, waiting for the my aircraft to arrive from another destination, the smell of smoke on the aircraft, and getting the doors to seal properly. Not to mention being rerouted due to weather, and luggage being delayed or misrouted. From these experiences, I don't trust the airlines to get me to my destination on time, though they usually do.

Could your DH swap his shift with someone else to allow you to have an earlier flight?

+1000

My husband is an airline pilot, I hear lots of stories from him, and we fly a lot too. I personally would make everything possible to never take a risk of flying the same day.

And I work in the hospital too, and I would totally try to switch my shifts around - as somebody mentioned here - there might be situation when you CAN'T leave your shift at the time you need: mass casualty, etc. Not even mentioning the moral reasons not to live your shift in situation like this - you risk loosing your job if you do leave.

But I understand - in life you need to do risky things sometimes. So if I would have to fly the same day - I would make myself "mentally ready" to miss the cruise - if that has to happen. And of course make sure I have travel insurance in place.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

If you have to air in the same day, you have to fly in the same day. It is not a good idea as so many delays can happen.

1. Your late getting to your airport due to car problems or traffic.

2. TSA security is backed up.

3. The flight is cancelled. The incoming fight is late.

4. The plane has mechanical problems or the flight crew is late and/or timed out to work.

5. Weather is bad..snow or heavy rains,

6. Your flight is diverted to another airport due to security issues or weather.

6. The transportation to the port is late, has traffic or breakdowns.



Granted this does not happen often, but you miss the vessel and its a big problem!



What ever you decide to do I hope you have great cruise.


Best Regard...................AKK

 

[truck1]

This might not really help you at all. Another poster recently had the same thought as you and ended up with quite a difficult situation and got very little help from Disney:

Flight Delay and Will Miss Transatlantic Cruise

OP, have a look at this thread as this is what can happen. Most likely everything will work fine, but you have the risk that you miss you cruise. You need to know whether it is worth it for you to have that risk.

Beat me to it.

 

[TACK]

I booked the Galveston cruise for January. I am travelling in from Canada. Originally I booked the red eye coming in early the day of the cruise. But, the more I thought about it, I realized that I would be hooped if I couldn't arrive at the exact time. Our issue is the flights are not the best to get in the day of.

So, despite the fact that I need to take an extra vacation day (which was hard on my daughter since those days are fewer for her than my entitlement) and book a hotel for overnight, I feel much better about getting there a day early. I have had too many encounters with planes not arriving in time, mechanical, weather (lots of those), etc.

 

[MPS516]

We have flown in same day multiple times from the far north, only for shorter cruises. Our guidelines are similar to Anisum in post #3. Our single most important rule when flying the same day is have Travel Insurance, if there are issue, we're covered. While we have never missed yet on same day fly in, knowing that we can always book another 3 or 4 day junket later covered by insurance takes away all the stress.

 

[nenglim]

I have done it twice and was 50% successful. Needless to say, we missed our first cruise in 2010 because of snowmageddon! The CM had recommended travel insurance and i listened! ( i havent bought travel insurance since .) We got all our money back except the prepaid tips. That you cant get back.

Our second cruise we flew same day again BUT in April this time and i got the first flight out to minimize any chance of non weather related delays.... our flight was at 555am. We used DCL transfers and got to PC early. It was still nerve wrecking. I did not relax until we were up in the air. And really relax when we landed.

I agree with most that if you have to fly same day, i would get the earliest flight out to minimize any nonweather related delays. And get a travel insurance if you can... for the Just-in-case something happens happen.

 

[Pooh2]

We just took our first cruise in Alaska, flying to Seattle and taking Amtrak up to Vancouver the day before we got on the ship.

Our locomotive died and there was a 2 1/2 hour delay. There were some VERY stressed passengers who were getting on their ship that afternoon. We got to Vancouver about close to 3. Those passengers had to wait on their bags, get through customs, get to the port and go through check-in, customs and security all in an hour before all-aboard 4pm. Hope they made it but to me that would be much too stressful a way to start a cruise!