Waste of Money? Fly Night Before?

[Hopkins]

We are scheduled for a 7-day western cruise on the Magic sailing January 18th, 2003. I'm looking for airfares, but was wondering if we should fly into Orlando the night before the cruise or the day of the cruise. Since it's January, the chances of a snow storm (well not this year) closing the airport in Philadelphia might occur or a delay and we'd miss or delay our arrival on cruise departure day. Not likely, but it could occur. Is it better to fly the day before the cruise? Is it a waste of money? Even Disney during the winter flies people in the day of the cruise, except people from the west coast due to time differences. I'm inclined to cancel the reservations I have for the airport Hyatt for the day before the cruise and just fly into Orlando the day of the cruise.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.
Tina

 

[ssclbc]

I STRONGLY suggest flying in the day before!!!

You never know what can happen and you DO NOT want to miss the boat. Even in good weather, thunderstorms can pop up and close airports (this happened to my sister flying through DFW on the way to her wedding!! Luckily she was coming in the day before), or your luggage might not arrive when you do (this just happened to me last month. One of our bags didn't get to Orlando until 2 am even though we got there at 1 pm.) or the plane could be delayed for a mechanical reason.

I found that flying in the day before, renting a car one way from the airport to Cocoa Beach and getting a hotel through hotwire.com was actually CHEAPER than getting air and transfers through Disney. Plus I got to pick my flights and had the peace of mind knowing I had some wiggle room if anything didn't go according to schedule.

 

[TartanFan]

I would definitely keep your booking at the Hyatt and fly in the day before - I couldn't stand the stress beforehand of thinking I might miss sailing time! (Believe me, this is the voice of experience - we got stuck in Newark for two days because of technical problems, overbooking and ice storms - VERY long story!) and lost a night of our land portion. I WILL NOT go through that again! If cost is an issue, check out deals on priceline type sites and find something cheaper than the Hyatt for the night before.

 

[Hopkins]

Definitely keeping hotel reservations at the airport and flying in the night before the cruise. Augh, two horror stories and I'm convinced. Maybe might change the hotel to something else and squeeze in a little time at WDW, but definitely we'll be arriving the day before the cruise.

I feel good about this.
Thanks.
Tina
323 days until cruise

 

[Hygiene99]

i believe the night before is best.
like u said snow and i dont think that is covered in the trip insurance so how would u like to miss the boat ....$$$$$
disney can afford to fly people to the ship or give them another sailing date can u ...
we fly in the night before it is better to be safe than sorry
would do it any ways sometimes it is not the weather it could be other factors >>>>>> peter

 

[Jobro2]

Definitely fly in the day before...you will be less stressed and less rushed...peace of mind is worth alot!!

 

[castawayfan]

We cruised Jan 19 this year and flew in the day of the cruise. I was a complete wreck thinking about missing the ship. I would strongly recommend flying in the night before. When you think of all the things that can go wrong, from weather to mechanical problems, its just that little extra protection. We managed to get in just fine, but it really made us nervous.

 

[taswira]

DEFINITELY fly in the day before! Nowadays so many things can go wrong - - from weather to mechanical failures to (heaven forbid) the airport being closed for hours due to the failure of a metal detector or a "suspected" security breach.

Do not take any chances. Arrive the day before and get a good night's rest!

 

["Ginger"]

Yes! Yes! fly in the night before. We flew the morning of on our first 7 day Disney Cruise and missed the flight. U.S Air had changed the departing schedule 5 times and forgot to notify us about the last time change. We made the cruise, much later than we had expect, I was a total wreck. Now we arrive the night before and get a good nights sleep. We enjoy our first day onboard.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Or fly the day before instead of the night before, especially if you're taking the day off anyway to get to the airport that afternoon. Enjoy a relaxing afternoon by the hotel pool and then dinner at one of the many excellent restaurants in the Orlando area or at a WDW resort.

Even if someone could have guaranteed that the Disney Magic would not leave without us if we flew Saturday morning, I still would not have booked such a flight. For a 7:00 a.m. flight, we'd have to leave for the airport before 5:00 a.m., which would mean getting up at 4:00 a.m. What a rotten way to start a vacation. Who wants to be dead tired the first evening on the ship?

And if there's a flight delay, well... you didn't really want reservations at Palo, did you?

 

[inkkognito]

My vote is to fly out the night before. We have started doing this ever since 9/11 (even though it would probably have been a good idea beforehand, too, as we live in Chicago where the weather is unpredictable). We get a hotel near the Orlando airport via Priceline or Hotwire and typically pay between $28 and $33 before taxes/fees. We've always ended up with a hotel with free shuttle service, so we don't have to use Happy Limo till the next day to go to the port. We get a good night's sleep and can get to Port Canaveral bright & early. Usually the hotels even have a free breakfast! It's usually continental, but that's all we need as we know that the huge embarkation lunch will be waiting for us.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[SingingMom]

Take it from someone who didn't think about the option of coming in the day before until everything was already booked - GO THE DAY BEFORE!!

I had such pre-trip STRESS thinking about missed flights, rental car trouble, missing the Port's highway exit - you name it, I stressed about it! I found these boards AFTER all our plans were final - that's where I learned about the Radisson and the sense it makes to come in the day before!! (none of the nightmares occured and we had a wonderful experience - but you never know! )

Oh well, there's always NEXT TIME!