should we fly in the day before?

[dknyc1]

My wife & I + 3.5 year old daughter + wifes friend & 3.5 year old daughter are going on 4 nite cruise Dec 12 - 16th.

We are all very excited........

We will be coming from NYC area - just wondering if people think it is a good idea to fly in Sat & stay local or should we just get in Sun am & go direct to port?

The ladies are worried - what about winter weather etc - but I think it must be easier to just fly in that am - not to mention I think it would be somewhat of a waste of $ on the nite before hotel etc.

Any input appreciated.

 

[Masonpips]

Fly in the night before. I think this option will win hands-down given some issues folks have had flying in the day of and having airline or weather issues.

Plus, it is SO much more exciting to add another night to the trip!

 

[huckster]

we have flown in the same day both times we will fly in the night before next rip my grand son was soo tired from early flight. it think the xtra $ for a room the night before will be well worth it.

 

[inkkognito]

We always fly in the night before...saves a lot of stress. You can get a hotel near the airport via Priceline for $28 to $33 for the top star level. We have Happy Limo pick us up to take us to the port, but you can just take the hotel shuttle back to the airport if you use the Disney bus.
Barb

 

[disneybride96]

We have done both. The time we flew in the night before, our luggage arrived in Orlando 7 hours after us. If this had happen on a morning flight, we would have been kind of stinky by the end of the cruise. I vote for flying the night before.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Yes fly in the night before.

A flight delay or cancellation on the morning of your departure could cause you to miss the ship, or at least to be worried sick about missing the ship.

Your departure day will be much more relaxed if you only have to be concerned with getting from an Orlando Airport area hotel (or a port area hotel) to the DCL Terminal at Port Canaveral. Your first afternoon and evening on the ship will be much more pleasant (and you'll all be much more awake) if you didn't have to start that day heading to the airport in the wee hours of morning.

You can get great values on first class Orlando Airport area hotels, especially on Friday and Saturday nights (when the usual weekday guests, business travellers, are not staying). With a Sunday, December 12 departure, you should be able to get a great rate Saturday night. Some folks use Priceline.com or Hotwire.com to book hotels without knowing the specific hotel. Others use hotel websites or other websites to look for good weekend rates at specific hotels.

 

[crisi]

Night before.

Especially on the four night - you don't have an excuse like "but I have to work Friday!"

There are a lot of hotels near the airport you can book off Priceline which will be cheap - if all you want is a place to stay for the night.

Or fly in early and stay at a Disney resort for the night, or the Raddisson by the Port or Ron Jon's or one of the other Cape hotels. The pools on the ship are small, and if either of the girls aren't potty trained, won't be accessible - spend a day in the pool before getting on the ship.

 

[PoohJen]

Remember your embarkation day is part of your vacation - you'll be much more rested having done your travelling the day before!

 

[DrCavin]

Flying in the day-of is not even an option in my opinion

We went in May and our flight to Atlanta & out of Atlanta to Orlando was delayed. If we had flown in the day of we would have probably missed the ship

I don't want to even try to explain to my DW or worse yet DD/DS why we missed the boat was because we tried to save less than $75.

We literally had to run from one gate to the other to make the flight from Atlanta to Orlando. With two kids, the stress level was already elevated & being in an over-crowded airport trying to run and catch a flight was not sexy!!!

Not even debatable in our family, fly in the day before!!!!

 

[lildeb724]

We were on the Magic in October we flew out that morning with a 1 year old and 3.5 year old. I would definitely come in the night before. My daughter was so excited that she could not nap (she did every day we were on the ship) and she had been up since 5 am and wanted to go to the clubs but got there and was miserable because she was so overtired. I will never fly in the day of a cruise again, especially with a kid of the sometimes nap/sometimes no nap age (It was harder on her than on the baby who napped on the plane and in his stroller)

 

[bratray]

weather, weather, weather!!

i live in NY state & know that you cannot trust the winter weather or the weather man if a big snow storm comes in on the day you are departing for your cruise & you aren't in orlando yet.....well, what a horrible disapointment that would be

i'm not leaving till may & don't anticipate any snow, but flying from buffalo you never know & i am coming in the day before my cruise, i think it will just be a lot easier on the little ones

have a great time

 

[antmaril]

Definitely the night before. You just never know about the weather. It isn't worth the gamble.

 

[tvguy]

Day before for sure.
I didn't think about it until now, but my wife and I did 4 cruises before kids in the 1980's. If you lived beyond a certain distance the cruise lines REQUIRED you to fly in the day before, and included a hotel room in the cruise fare. I don't see that anymore.

 

[brack]

At least the day before but we have gone two days before for the last 3 cruises. I do not want to miss that ship!!

 

[CM_Mom]

Let me add my vote not only for the day before but early on the day before. In May we planned to fly in after work on Friday night for a Saturday sailing of the Magic. Our plane was scheduled to leave DFW at 9:30 and get to MCO at 12:30 so we booked a room at the Hyatt figuring that would be better than getting up at 3:00 to get to the airport in time for a 6:30 flight.

Texas provided a thunderstorm with lots of lightning and we FINALLY left DFW at 12:30 and got to MCO at 3:30 AM. After 4 hours sleep we were up for breakfast and to catch the DCL bus to the port. It made Saturday REALLY long. I don't think I caught up with myself until Sunday!

We have decided that we either go on the Wonder like we're planning to do in January or take Friday off when we go on the Magic so we can get to Orlando at a reasonable hour. Us 50-somethings can't function on 4 hours sleep like we could at 25!

 

[jlawall]

I always go early on this trip.....one year my DD's luggage was delayed.....talk about stressful......there are a million reasons to fly in early!!

 

[aprilgail2]

As someone else mentioned the pools on the ship are very small and we fly in the day before, stay at the Raddsion that has a great pool and enjoy the pool for the whole day before boarding the ship. Plus we get a good nights rest before boarding the ship!

 

[DBBN]

Without a doubt...yes.

We've never flown the day of the cruise and never will. We'll be on the Eastern sailing on Nov 13 and we leave home on the 11th. We usually fly out the day before but this time we're trying two days before.

It just isn't worth the risk of missing the ship due to circumstances beyond your control. Be it weather delays, security issues, mechanical problems, etc., things can and do happen. Passengers have missed the ship in the past and flying in the day before virtually eliminates this possibility. It just isn't worth the stress.

Have a safe trip.

 

[mickeyboat]

Please fly in the day before. We learned the hard way. We slew from NH in March and our flight was delayed four hours due to fog. We missed our original connection in Atlanta and ended up on stand-by for another flgiht - due to the kindness of a Delta supervisor (Shelby). Originally we were told we would not make it to Orlando until 6:30.

As it was, we arrived at 4PM, were rushed to the bus, sans luggage, and made it to the ship at 5PM - shortly before it left. We missed the embarkation photos, and entrance into the atrium because we boarded through the guts of the ship. We did not have luggage for three days, when it met us in St. Maarten. We made due, but all the careful planning and packing went down the drain and it was stressful, to say the least.

Good thing we had travel insurance. It, along with Delta, reiumbursed us for items we had to purchase until we got our bags. It would also have made arrangements for us to meet the ship in St. Maarten.

I wish our TA had insisted we go the night before. We learned a valuable lesson.

Denae

 

[silver7]

Have you ever seen the TV show "Airline"?? The weirdest things can make planes delayed, and cause people to miss their cruise. It apparently happens a lot more than you think