More proof to fly in early!

[MonaMN]

Meanwhile, I am thinking that (living in MN), we have messes like that fairly frequently! Fingers crossed that we won’t have issues for our January cruise!

 

[Dug720]

For us it was definitely 2009, because we weren't in WDW in Dec 2010! That was the terrible winter in DC that had the big Dec 2009 snow that kept us in WDW 2 extra days, and then the 3+ foot Snowmageddon in Feb 2010.

Must have happened 2 years in a row. Maybe DC got it 2009 and further northeast in 2010. Because it was definitely just days before my flight for the 2011 WDW Half that I got back home.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

It's not just the money, though, Sometimes, work schedules do not allow the extra day. It's either fly in the morning of, or don't take the cruise at all.

Yes to this. It isn’t possible for my DH to take an extra work day off. Not everyone has the luxury of flexibility.

It is just the two of us now but I’ve taken the DD’s on vacations solo many times but I’d rather be in an airport with him then in a hotel room by myself. He’s funny and good company. Plus I have no sense of direction. Yes I have gotten lost in malls and airports.

Some cruise lines offer free or cheap airfare that includes airport transport but only if you fly day of. There are deviation fees involved if you want to arrive early or stay late.

 

[Tasmen]

In a cruise group on another site, we had some members of the group make it on the ship in the slimmest of times. Muster drill was delayed for them and everything. Flight delays caused it.

I get too anxious traveling about missing things to not be an earlier flyer.

 

[Eeyore54 fred]

Must have happened 2 years in a row. Maybe DC got it 2009 and further northeast in 2010. Because it was definitely just days before my flight for the 2011 WDW Half that I got back home.

I don’t remember December 2009 but it started snowing Christmas Day 2010. We were supposed to leave the next day to drive down from Virginia and we moved our departure up and drove until 3 am to get ahead of the snow which followed us to South Carolina.

 

[AquaDame]

If this were my cruise - I'd be arriving a few days ahead of my husband!

I was going to say the same thing:
Sometimes my husband has had to fly in the day of cruise. He’s always made it. The rest of us fly in the day before or sooner depending on our plans. Being married doesn’t mean you have to be joined at the hip.

Others have said it but fly the rest of your party early. If there is an emergency, getting ONE standby flight would be easier/cheaper.

In our case it is just my husband and I but I assure you we aren't joined at the hip. I spent 19 days without him in Japan earlier this year, and he has spent two months in the UK for work so far as well since February.

Two reasons we wouldn't split up normally: I'm not a great flyer; I will go solo as I did for Japan if I must but I'd rather fly with friends. Second, a main point of our vacation is to be with each other too. Misery loves company as they say - even if we're stuck in Chicago in the winter without jackets at least we have each other.

I can't really argue that one seat on a plane is easier to find than two - thankfully so far that hasn't been a deciding factor in our reroutes. If they did say well we can send one of you via X and the other via Y then we'd take the tickets and go for it, but so far we've been able to fly in the same plane at least and have only had to sit apart once.

 

[flowsoul]

It's always better to allow at least 1-day allowance before your cruise! Getting stressed about making it in time for your cruise is definitely not a good way to start your vacation.

 

[Birdie dog]

In 2014, I arrived in Copenhagen 2 days before a cruise on Royal Caribbean. However, I didn't see my checked bag until it was delivered to the ship the day I sailed! I'm a firm believer in flying to a cruise port at least 2 days prior to a cruise.

For the 2015 inaugural Norway cruise, we flew SAS to Copenhagen on Monday (arrived Tues AM) and didn't get our bags until Thursday and we sailed Friday.

 

[heggy]

On our Christmas cruise 2017 leaving from Port Canaveral, met folks from Baltimore whose flight was canceled for some reason. These folks were traveling with others and decided to rent a 15 passenger van and drive to PC. The families planned to fly in the day before.
They were not going to let a cancel flight stop them from making the cruise.
Depending on the route, it is between a 13 to 15 hour trip from Baltimore and PC.
Guessing I would have done the same thing.

 

[GoofyDisneyDaddy]

On our Christmas cruise 2017 leaving from Port Canaveral, met folks from Baltimore whose flight was canceled for some reason. These folks were traveling with others and decided to rent a 15 passenger van and drive to PC. The families planned to fly in the day before.
They were not going to let a cancel flight stop them from making the cruise.
Depending on the route, it is between a 13 to 15 hour trip from Baltimore and PC.
Guessing I would have done the same thing.

We come from DC and one of the reasons I like to fly in the night before is worst-case scenario, I have time to drive down instead. Far from ideal, but an overnight drive beats missing the cruise. Fortunately, I've never had to do make the drive

 

[YoDisney]

I guess I really lucked out the last 2 disney cruises when we sailed the Fantasy end of june from port canaveral. we had a redeye from SFO to MCO, arrived on time at MCO in the am & waited a bit for our cruise transportation svc to arrive...both times booked air seperate from DCL
our next cruise in feb 2020, doing the same thing with a redeye flight from SFO as well to miami. I am worried considering it's winter time but it's a little hard for my sister to take a full extra day off to fly in 1 day early..the silver lining is our flight this time is booked w/DCL