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Fly a day early?


Bingee

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From overseas, absolutely. 
I am in the minority and think flying in day of domestically is ok as long as you adhere to a few basic rules.  1. Nonstop flights only.  2. 1st flight of the day.  3. The scheduled arrival time + ground transportation time gets you there at least 1 hour before 1st boarding time (i.e. around 9am arrival for Port Canaveral or Galveston to account for hour plus drive time and 10am arrival for Miami or Fort Lauderdale since not much ground time).

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15 minutes ago, billdauterive said:

1. Nonstop flights only.  2. 1st flight of the day.  3. The scheduled arrival time + ground transportation time gets you there at least 1 hour before 1st boarding time

Check, check and check... and I missed my cruise.  

I figured it was a direct flight that departed at 5:50am and there were three other flights on that airline alone that would serve me as backup options.  

Then a slow moving prolonged line of thunderstorms moved across Texas.  "Houston, we have a problem". 

One thing about Southwest - they waste zero time canceling flights.  If it's delayed for even a few minutes they'll just cancel it if they can use the plane on another route. 

I was at the airport at 4:30am.  I was on the plane at 5:25am.  My luggage loaded.  Ten minutes after our scheduled departure with the cabin door still open I knew we had a problem.  Five minutes after that the dreaded pilot announcement.  

Me and everyone else scrambled to get on the next flight, which as it turns out also cancelled.  Now two full planes worth of passengers wanted to be the 3rd flight at 11am.  Unfortunately it was already oversold.  They offered me the next day.  Other airlines were going through the same process so there was no other choice but to accept that I was going to miss my cruise.  And I did.

I took a chance since was a direct flight, first of the day, early in the morning with a number of backup flights.  I lost my gamble.  

Don't fool yourself.  Flying in the day of the cruise is risky in all scenarios.  

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40 minutes ago, twangster said:

Check, check and check... and I missed my cruise.  

I figured it was a direct flight that departed at 5:50am and there were three other flights on that airline alone that would serve me as backup options.  

Then a slow moving prolonged line of thunderstorms moved across Texas.  "Houston, we have a problem". 

One thing about Southwest - they waste zero time canceling flights.  If it's delayed for even a few minutes they'll just cancel it if they can use the plane on another route. 

I was at the airport at 4:30am.  I was on the plane at 5:25am.  My luggage loaded.  Ten minutes after our scheduled departure with the cabin door still open I knew we had a problem.  Five minutes after that the dreaded pilot announcement.  

Me and everyone else scrambled to get on the next flight, which as it turns out also cancelled.  Now two full planes worth of passengers wanted to be the 3rd flight at 11am.  Unfortunately it was already oversold.  They offered me the next day.  Other airlines were going through the same process so there was no other choice but to accept that I was going to miss my cruise.  And I did.

I took a chance since was a direct flight, first of the day, early in the morning with a number of backup flights.  I lost my gamble.  

Don't fool yourself.  Flying in the day of the cruise is risky in all scenarios.  

This happened to my brother AND he was flying in the day before!

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Always get there at least a day early. Flown enough for business that I know you don't usually arrive on time. Kind of had something similar to @twangster example. Was on a Make a Wish trip to the house of mouse. It was a combination park/cruise. When setting it up they asked which one to do first, the agent suggested the park first as it would be more relaxing. Had the first flight out in the morning (6am) which should have gotten us to Orlando by 9:30 am. On the taxiway the plane was having issues, we went back to the terminal and waited on the plane for around a hour as they tried to address it. When they couldn't they disembarked us and waited while they flew another plane in from another airport to take us. Ended up getting in around 5:30 pm to Orlando. Kind of fortunate it was the parks first otherwise would have never made the cruise. In the end for me it's just not worth the risk

 

 

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We had US domestic flights cancelled on two out of our last three cruises (over the past 13 months).  Thankfully they were flights home on disembarkation day, although we flew to the cruise two days early for both “just in case”.

Those experiences were the reason we changed our third cruise to a port we could drive to and ate the change fee.  
 

We’re flying to Europe for a cruise in October of this year and are leaving the US four days early.  Our flight times have already changed a bunch, and we expect more changes as we get closer.  
 

 

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We did flight option through the Royal cruise line,  (air2sea) Florida to Bahamas, literally an hour flight. Air2sea only had flights day of and promised it would be no problem. 

Fast forward we were so delayed we almost missed dinner. (the late seating) They only held the ship because it was a ticket booked through the cruiseline. We missed the entire first day. I will NEVER book the same day of sailing ever again. It's not worth it, fly in a minimum of a day, maybe two thus ensuring a relaxing embarkation day. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, tjcruisers said:

Flown enough for business that I know you don't usually arrive on time.

That's a bit unfair. I practically live on planes, both domestic and international, and most flights are on time (at least, in the developed world) and the statistics are there to back it up. I would never, ever fly in the day of a cruise, but to say you "usually" won't arrive on time is a bit of a stretch. You usually will...but the implications if you don't can be huge. 

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3 hours ago, whitsmom said:

We always fly in the day before now as we have a "too close for comfort" call a couple of times. 

To reinforce this, United cancelled our Newark flight when we were at Baltimore airport, put us on a train, and then the train broke down!   We did ultimately make our flight, but only because the plane was delayed leaving Barcelona.  And this was before the craziness of the last 12 months.  We will never fly the same day as embarkation, and when flying to a different continent, we arrive a few days early for sightseeing.

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3 hours ago, Pooch said:

This happened to my brother AND he was flying in the day before!

Exactly, it can happen no matter how many days in advance you fly in.  Yes, extra days give you more flexibility and reduces the chances of bad things happening. 

That's why I'm in the minority as I think getting there with 95% certainty is an acceptable risk as opposed to 99% certainty with an extra day (nothing is 100%).  I have a higher risk tolerance than others, hence why I go against the grain and say day of is acceptable for some as long as you understand the risks and do a reasonable job of mitigating those risks.

That being said, I am already flying a day early for my next cruise as it's during prime thunderstorm season which increases my personal risk to an unacceptable level (as twangster mentioned on his miss which was my exact fear when booking the flights).

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One other thing to think about (and, again, I am 100% Team "One Day Ahead" on flying) - if you're flying domestically in the US, for example, try to avoid airlines that only have one flight per day (or less). Airlines like Frontier, Spirit, Allegiant, and Avelo often fly a route only once a day, or maybe even once/twice a week. If something happens, you're really in big trouble. Sure, they're going to try to find another plane, but even that can be tricky on those carriers. And their ability to re-route you is much smaller, or even non-existent. My vote in these cases is to always stick to the big guns - United, Delta, American, Southwest...airlines with multiple flights per day (usually), more capabilities to re-route, and bigger fleets with a better ability to sub aircraft in/out when needed. 

I would put Easyjet somewhere in between. I have had really good experiences with them, and am a big fan, but irregular operations do sometimes put them in a tougher situation than an airline like BA. 

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39 minutes ago, Zacharius said:

My vote in these cases is to always stick to the big guns - United, Delta, American, Southwest...airlines with multiple flights per day (usually) and bigger fleets with a better ability to sub aircraft in/out when needed. 

That is good advice.  When my daughter was flying from Boston to Cincinnati, she had to arrive that day because of a test she had to take.  The first flight out was canceled and she thought she was hosed.  But I told her that since we purchased the ticket on one of the big 3 (I would not include SW in this list), the airline will get her on the next available flight.  Sure enough, my airline of choice came thru and she arrived in time for her test. 

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7 hours ago, Bingee said:

Hi there first timers flying in from Gatwick on Easy Jet about 10am an the day. Would you advise flying in the day before??

cheers

I know you have lots of people answering you, but I wanted to make sure there is no doubt.  Flying ... Always a day early unless you have time to drive if your flight has issues.  I drive 4 hours to the Los Angeles port, and I worry about driving the day of the cruise.  That ship will not wait for you 🙂

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33 minutes ago, FireFishII said:

That is good advice.  When my daughter was flying from Boston to Cincinnati, she had to arrive that day because of a test she had to take.  The first flight out was canceled and she thought she was hosed.  But I told her that since we purchased the ticket on one of the big 3 (I would not include SW in this list), the airline will get her on the next available flight.  Sure enough, my airline of choice came thru and she arrived in time for her test. 

I would include Southwest on this. They are, I believe, the third largest in the US, and while they don't have a hub/spoke system, they do have plenty of flights out of most of their airports that they do have a pretty good chance of re-routing you if nothing else. I'm not the biggest Southwest fine, but they've always done a good job of accommodating me on other flights (even if it's through a different connection point) when needed. 

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I’ve done red eyes to Florida several times from California without issue.  But, I fly all of the time for work and my preferred airlines generally treat me well.  I’ve never had a red eye cancel.  I’ve only been delayed overnight once.  It can happen — particularly these days.

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We fly in a day early, but not everyone has the work flexibility to make that work. Looking at all the teachers, 1st responders, etc.. that have rigid time off and set work schedules.  If you have to fly in day of, use the great tips above to minimize your risks, and I'd add bring carryon luggage only to that list. Have a great cruise and try not to stress about getting to the ship. Ultimately most of these problems are not controllable. 

 

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Without a doubt, travel to the port is the most stressful part of the trip.  We have always gone out a day early.  Last June, even with a scheduled flight 30 hours prior, our trip was in doubt until the evening before.  Our late morning flight from Boston to Miami kept getting pushed back 2 hours at a time, with the final push back being 6:30PM.  The crew was sitting in the terminal waiting for the plane and the worry was that they were going to timeout before the plane got there (bad weather elsewhere caused the plane to be delayed).  We finally made it to Miami at 11PM.  If that flight had not gone off, the chances of making it to Miami the next day were slim and none.

Our next sail is January 2024.  For that time of year, we'll be travelling 2 days early.  Worst case scenario is we rent a car and drive 24 hours to Ft. Lauderdale or get as close as we can and drive from there.  But we have the extra day of buffer to deal with winter weather delays.

The only 2 times we didn't stress were sailing out of Boston (45 minute drive) and Bayonne (4 hour drive).

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On 3/15/2023 at 12:45 PM, PatsFanBrian said:

The only 2 times we didn't stress were sailing out of Boston (45 minute drive) and Bayonne (4 hour drive).

I wish we could all live close to a port.  Those are close to my times too for Boston and Bayonne.  I never thought about grabbing a cruise from those ports before this past year.  I am now checking out the itineraries from those ports.   Maybe one day soon. 

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We are North of Tampa & drive to Florida ports & even then drive over one day early.  Long story short we were driving across the State to Miami, due to a brush fire out of control halfway there Alligator Alley was closed by the State Police. Everyone on that road had to turn around and go back the way we came, we then had to cross Florida another way. If it had been same day we would have missed the ship, no doubt. The added hours and the added traffic we would have arrived to wave bye bye to our ship. The only port we drive same day is Tampa, but even then we leave super early just in case, it is literally 30 minutes from our home. I never take for granted we are within driving distance to the ports, we are not the most skilled drivers down here, 🤦‍♀️

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EasyJet!!! You may consider flying in a week early just so you meet your luggage lol 

Joking aside never fly in on the day of a cruise. You can use Skyscanner to check the history of your flight! See if its always late arriving at destination or if its cancelled on a regular basis.

 

 

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2 hours ago, FireFishII said:

I wish we could all live close to a port.  Those are close to my times too for Boston and Bayonne.  I never thought about grabbing a cruise from those ports before this past year.  I am now checking out the itineraries from those ports.   Maybe one day soon. 

Bayonne will have the better cruises, all year round. Depending on where you live in the NE area you could try the train. We're going to do that come September to get home from Bayonne after a TA.  You might want to think about doing a TA fly over to Europe for the cruise back to Boston(?) if Royal offers it. We had booked on Serenade Copenhagen to Boston for this fall. Royal cancelled sending Serenade to Europe so they offered us Jewel to Bayonne, which we're taking.  And then if you have the time fly over to take the cruise just before the TA, that way you get 2 cruises for the price of 1 airfare, as the cost to get home from either Bayonne or Boston isn't to bad.

Or I see that this year since they didn't send  ship to Europe and then bring it back to the states, they're sending Grandeur from FL via the SCaribbean to Boston to do the Fall foliage cruises.  IN the past they've offered a repo from Boston to FL via the Caribbean but I see not this year. They're sending the ship back to FL empty.

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