PSA - Don't Fly In The Day of the Cruise

[twangster]

You'll find this advice in various blog posts, threads and just about everywhere.  Yesterday while traveling unrelated to a cruise I saw some unfortunate cruise guests learn this lesson the hard way.

My own travel was changed three times due to a canceled flight and then separate delayed flights for my alternate itineraries.  This has become a new normal occurrence on more and more of my air travel recently.  I'm well used to misconnects and delayed flights as a former business traveler who used to take over 250 flights per year, year after year mostly domestic.  Yet I'm experiencing it more now and the time to recovery is greater than it ever was back in my hayday of being a very frequent flyer.

Yesterday as I was in the process of working with a gate agent to find new alternatives for a delayed Seattle flight I saw two separate groups explaining to other gate agents they are going on an Alaskan cruise and now they were going to miss their cruise.  There was nothing the gate agents could do, there was no alternative flights to put them on.  Our plane broke to the point they took it out of service and they were working to find us another aircraft.

One party stated they had bought travel insurance.  That was wise but they are still missing the cruise, a cruise they probably spent a lot of time preparing and planning.  Getting some or all of your money back through travel insurance softens the financial impact but insurance will never make up for the time invested and the disappointment of not sailing on a cruise you've been excitedly waiting for a long time.

In my case they re-routed me (again) through a different city but I followed the progress of that delayed Seattle flight and it didn't work out well for any cruise passengers looking to sail yesterday.

I heard one gentleman ask the other party impacted "they'll give us our money back right?".  That's when the other party stated they bought the travel insurance so they'll get their money back.  The blank response from this person told me he hadn't bought travel insurance.  You could see his mind doing the math to calculate his losses.

Many years ago I learned this lesson myself the hard way.  Flying from Denver to Houston the day of a cruise involves a short direct flight.  Southwest had five flights that would work and I was on the first one.  What could go wrong?   We got on the plane right on time.  Fully boarded we were ready to depart on time.  That's when I noticed they hadn't closed the boarding door.  Then we didn't depart on time.  Then they cancelled the flight and asked us to deplane.   

No problem right?  Four more flights could get me there.  I was solo.  I just needed one seat.  The best Southwest could offer was the same flight the next day.  All of their flights were already full.  By that point the ship would be well at sea.  After a prolonged battle with my travel insurance provider I did get all of my money back, eventually, but I still missed the cruise.

So as tempting as it is to save the cost a hotel room, just don't do it. 

Don't fly in the day of the cruise.  

[Pooch]

Yup, you and I met a few years ago on Harmony for what was supposed to be a post Covid family vacation.  One day of bad weather, just one for weeks prior to flight day, and my brother & his family couldn’t get from Boston to Florida (and we were all flying out the day before the cruise).  That one bad day created a ripple effect from which they couldn’t recover despite having access to 4 area airports.  

[ZootTX]

Yup. The extra day of vacation and night in a hotel is just the part of the cost of cruising. We live within 4 hours of Galveston and still go down the day before.

[smokeybandit]

I even feel nervous about booking a later flight the night before. I like for there to be additional flights after mine should something go wrong.

[Bob_KY]

Totally agree! 

As a side note - somewhat off topic; return SDF flights options seem to be limited. My initial look is a Monday return flight saves money when compared to Sunday flight prices (factoring in the expense for an extra day stay in FLL).  Wondering if this is more common for others departing from Lauderdale?

[smokeybandit]

I would imagine since Louisville isn't a hub (unless you ship yourself UPS)  or even key connection city, there are simply just less flights.

[WAAAYTOOO]

30 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Yup, you and I met a few years ago on Harmony for what was supposed to be a post Covid family vacation.  One day of bad weather, just one for weeks prior to flight day, and my brother & his family couldn’t get from Boston to Florida (and we were all flying out the day before the cruise).  That one bad day created a ripple effect from which they couldn’t recover despite having access to 4 area airports.  

I remember this very well.  So much tumult and disappointment,

[tjcruisers]

1 hour ago, Pooch said:

Yup, you and I met a few years ago on Harmony for what was supposed to be a post Covid family vacation.  One day of bad weather, just one for weeks prior to flight day, and my brother & his family couldn’t get from Boston to Florida (and we were all flying out the day before the cruise).  That one bad day created a ripple effect from which they couldn’t recover despite having access to 4 area airports.  

A guy I work with has a son in law who is a commercial pilot. Talks a lot about the issues with flying. He was saying the pilots have to fly so many hours a year to maintain certification. When covid grounded everything the pilots couldn't get their hours. This required them to have to go through the certification process again coming out of covid. Was saying a lot of the pilots who were in their 50's just ended up retiring, as it wasn't worth their effort to recert.

Was also saying the pilot can only work so many hours a day/week/month, that includes more than just flying time, but essentially the time they enter the airport until the time they leave. To a story about a flight that was going form Toronto to Cancun and then back to Toronto. There was a weather event in Cancun which delayed the arrival of the Toronto flight, long enough the make those pilot ineligible to fly the return portion. The airline had to use a private jet to fly his son in law and another pilot down to Cancun so they could bring that return flight back. Creates a real domino effect if anything happens

[DoomSlayer]

As a former Road Warrior for work, I don't how many times I had experienced flight delays due to mechanical failure or weather.  Mostly by hours, but sometimes a day, and one time by three days.  If I am traveling for anything that is time sensitive, important, or costly, you better believe I am going to fly in the day before.

56 minutes ago, tjcruisers said:

...

Was also saying the pilot can only work so many hours a day/week/month, that includes more than just flying time, but essentially the time they enter the airport until the time they leave.

...

I ran into having to wait for pilots twice on one flight and it ended up delaying us about 6 hours.  We were flying out late one evening to go see my parents in Tampa from Dallas.  The incoming flight was delayed from weather, and they informed us there would be another slight delay because they had to switch the flight crew out because the current crew was out of hours.  They had found a flight crew from another flight that came in and still had enough hours left to work that evening.  We all boarded the plane, sat there for a while, and then the pilot informed us of a mechanical failure that had to be fixed before we could take off.  After about an hour, they deplaned us and, then about another hour later they informed us they had fixed the plane, but that the new flight crew was out of hours, and they had to find a new crew again.  Another couple of hours a crew with enough hours was found and we were finally able to take off just before the airport curfews kicked in.  We finally made it to our hotel just in time for breakfast.

[NotPayinExtra]

4 hours ago, twangster said:

they'll give us our money back right

How are some people intelligent enough to afford a cruise, but ignorant enough to assume this?

And don't get me started on insurance. I never spend more than $100pp. Airplane tickets, luggage fee's, hotels, cruise passage, drinks package, dinning package, excursions, etc. It's a major investment. After all those things, a basic $75 to $100 per person travel insurance plan seems like nothing. 

[DoomSlayer]

25 minutes ago, NotPayinExtra said:

How are some people intelligent enough to afford a cruise, but ignorant enough to assume this?

And don't get me started on insurance. I never spend more than $100pp. Airplane tickets, luggage fee's, hotels, cruise passage, drinks package, dinning package, excursions, etc. It's a major investment. After all those things, a basic $75 to $100 per person travel insurance plan seems like nothing. 

Or just use a travel credit card that provides insurance coverage and avoid paying the 3rd party insurance fee. AMEX will provide me food, lodging, and alternative transportation starting at delays of 6 hours or more if I paid for the trip using my Platinum card.  I've had to use the food and lodging benefits a few times and have had no problems filing my claims with them.

[Pooch]

But would it reimburse you for the cruise, assuming you missed it?

[DoomSlayer]

15 minutes ago, Pooch said:

But would it reimburse you for the cruise, assuming you missed it?

Yes, as long as the cruise was paid for using the card.

[cruisellama]

Couldn't agree more.  Our additional preference is to book  flights early  the day before (never the last flight out that evening).  This allows for more flight options if things start to go bad on your first travel day.  If you're going overseas - give yourself even more travel margin by leaving earlier.

[Lovetocruise2002]

Going to add to that I was part of that March 2022 fiasco that @Pooch is referring to. Even then we flew in the day before and we almost missed our cruise! Since that time; we fly in 2 days prior now! 

[ChessE4]

Agree but need to share that with Air2Sea we flew twice to Europe arriving day of cruise and survived. Once plane to Newark was delayed so we were given train tickets. Wouldn't you know, the train broke down. But in the end we made our flight because the plane coming from Spain was delayed. TSA agent and airline staff were helpful. So there are some successes, although I won't tempt fate again.

[Jill]

Living in Florida we obviously drive but for our European cruises, we leave 3 days early. This pilot situation supposedly will be an issue for 5 years. Travel insurance is a must

[FionaMG]

18 minutes ago, Jill said:

Living in Florida we obviously drive but for our European cruises, we leave 3 days early. This pilot situation supposedly will be an issue for 5 years. Travel insurance is a must

Exactly what we do when travelling from Europe to Florida to cruise.

[Dan Curtis]

On 8/3/2024 at 9:03 AM, Bob_KY said:

Totally agree! 

As a side note - somewhat off topic; return SDF flights options seem to be limited. My initial look is a Monday return flight saves money when compared to Sunday flight prices (factoring in the expense for an extra day stay in FLL).  Wondering if this is more common for others departing from Lauderdale?

Try CVG, Cincinnati airport in Northern Ky, much more options, and highly advise leaving one or even two days early, especially in the winter months, I work at CVG and saw many disappointed folks on a Saturday morning after a snow, not make it on time.

[ScottD]

On 8/3/2024 at 8:53 AM, ZootTX said:

Yup. The extra day of vacation and night in a hotel is just the part of the cost of cruising. We live within 4 hours of Galveston and still go down the day before.

We're an hour and a half away from Cape Liberty and Brooklyn and STILL go up the night before. It gives us the "we're on vacation" feel a night early, plus nothing better than waking up and having a 15 minute ride to get to the ship 

[FOB]

Flying Scotland to anywhere we leave at least a day and possibly 2 or 3. So going to Amsterdam for a cruise leaving on 22nd August we fly on 19th. (Will see my sister as well)

flying into Seattle on 24th September for a cruise that leaves on 27th

its vacation time as soon as I get to the airport and as a retired couple time is not that much of an issue anymore

[YellowBrickRoad]

As I mentioned in a different post, having been a 32 yr flight attendant, I have witnessed time and time again, passengers missing their cruise. It’s definitely not worth the risk as delays are a constant thing. We deal with weather, mechanicals, crew timing out, weight and balance and delays due to contract negotiations (which is currently happening)…..

Even in a confirmed seat , I have a plan B in case events change. This way I’m not scrambling as I wait for gate agent to let me know of an alternative. This way you can be on phone making changes and possibly getting last remaining seats before getting to podium…

We are driving to our Bayonne cruise in a couple of weeks and always stay overnight in hotel 15 minutes away from the port. My peace of mind is worth everything. And luckily my family is just like me! 
We use our Marriott Bonvoy card that gives us a free hotel stay every year and I save it for this. 

[smokeybandit]

3 minutes ago, YellowBrickRoad said:

Even in a confirmed seat , I have a plan B in case events change

Yep. I always have in the back of my mind what later flights (even for different airlines) are available.

 

[Reigert2008]

On 8/3/2024 at 9:03 AM, Bob_KY said:

Totally agree! 

As a side note - somewhat off topic; return SDF flights options seem to be limited. My initial look is a Monday return flight saves money when compared to Sunday flight prices (factoring in the expense for an extra day stay in FLL).  Wondering if this is more common for others departing from Lauderdale?

This is one of the things that annoy me about SDF and the flight options.  One option we've looked into, but not had to do yet is a one way car rental from IND/BNA/CVG if we can get to them in a better manner and then just drive home.  We'd love to spend an extra day someplace, but most times we need to be back for work the next day.  If you book early enough, the cost can be pretty reasonable and cheaper than the extra hotel night and food.  As I stated, we've not had to do it yet, but that is our backup plan.  

[Reigert2008]

I wanted to add what we do in case it helps someone.  

POV: We typically cruise during hurricane season and Kentucky winter (which can be unpredictable).

1. We fly in the day before for our cruise

2. We book the earliest flight of the day, trying to go in the direction of the cruise (like, don't fly to Phoenix to get to Florida :))

3. When we book our flights, we also book a rental car to pay at the counter and can cancel with no penalty.

 

This generally gives up options to get there via flight on our planned day and the rental car gives us the option to drive if a hurricane is coming or went and flights are still disrupted.  

Story: We had to use the rental car on a cruise in November 2022 during Hurricane Nicole to get to FLL.  We knew the port was fine (I have friends in the area) and that the cruise was happening, but the remnants of the store were going to hit Atlanta about the time our flight from Louisville was going to land. Our fear was that our first flight would be delayed or the 2nd flight would be delayed/cancelled.  We didn't want to chance getting a car in Atlanta with everyone else trying, so we canceled the flights and made the extremely long drive to FLL.  We did end up leaving the night before, since we had the car and spent the night in Tennessee to break up the drive.  We passed through Atlanta during the storm and it was terrible to drive in, but we had a good trip and made the cruise in plenty of time.

 

Fun Fact: Not only did our flights not get delayed, they actually landed a few minutes early at both airports :) 

[Va4fam]

On 8/3/2024 at 12:48 PM, DoomSlayer said:

Or just use a travel credit card that provides insurance coverage and avoid paying the 3rd party insurance fee. AMEX will provide me food, lodging, and alternative transportation starting at delays of 6 hours or more if I paid for the trip using my Platinum card.  I've had to use the food and lodging benefits a few times and have had no problems filing my claims with them.

Does using AMEX Platinum to book a cruise provide insurance if you can't make it to cruise due to airline delays?

[AshleyDillo]

I just want to add that travel insurance is tricky too.  If you make a proactive decision to prevent yourself from missing the cruise and it costs you extra (not taking your flight, car rental/gas, added hotel expense) they likely won't cover that. You have to suffer an actual disruption in your original travel plans in order to get reimbursed for any additional expenses that it takes to get you to the cruise.  

[smokeybandit]

23 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

I just want to add that travel insurance is tricky too.  If you make a proactive decision to prevent yourself from missing the cruise and it costs you extra (not taking your flight, car rental/gas, added hotel expense) they likely won't cover that. You have to suffer an actual disruption in your original travel plans in order to get reimbursed for any additional expenses that it takes to get you to the cruise.  

Even when you do have legit disruptions, it can take a while.

I had a 7 hour delay on a flight due to the crowdstrike stuff. And Allianz hasn't even looked at my claim yet.

[DoomSlayer]

1 hour ago, Va4fam said:

Does using AMEX Platinum to book a cruise provide insurance if you can't make it to cruise due to airline delays?

If you book your entire trip using the card, including the airline, cruise and hotels, then yes.  This is their benefits guide for trip cancelation and coverage: Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance - Guide to Benefits for American Express® Card Member

[Rakaia]

22 hours ago, ScottD said:

We're an hour and a half away from Cape Liberty and Brooklyn and STILL go up the night before. It gives us the "we're on vacation" feel a night early, plus nothing better than waking up and having a 15 minute ride to get to the ship 

We do the exact same thing. We are only about a 2 hour drive up in upstate NY from Cape Liberty/Brooklyn and we stay in a nearby hotel the night before. Total "start of vacation" vibes a day early and easy drive in the morning! 

[ScottD]

5 hours ago, Rakaia said:

We do the exact same thing. We are only about a 2 hour drive up in upstate NY from Cape Liberty/Brooklyn and we stay in a nearby hotel the night before. Total "start of vacation" vibes a day early and easy drive in the morning! 

I'm literally booking my room in Elizabeth today for our cruise at the end of the month! 

[Rakaia]

9 hours ago, ScottD said:

I'm literally booking my room in Elizabeth today for our cruise at the end of the month! 

Heading to the Residence Inn Elizabeth/Newark Airport on Friday for our Saturday Liberty cruise! 

[smokeybandit]

On 8/5/2024 at 10:04 AM, smokeybandit said:

And Allianz hasn't even looked at my claim yet.

For the record, they've since approved my claim without any questions or requests for more documentation. So I guess that's a hat tip to them for future travel insurance.

[billdauterive]

On 8/3/2024 at 7:11 AM, twangster said:

Don't fly in the day of the cruise.  

Fully agree for the VAST majority of people.  But it can work in certain situations.

In my situation I almost always fly in day of (domestically) as long as it's a direct flight and is scheduled to land well before lunch.  It works for me specifically as all my cruises these days are casino comps, so if I happen to miss the ship I'm not out any money (port fees and taxes are returned).  I only book excursions that are refundable.  I usually fly Southwest so I have the option to cancel and not even get on the plane if it's delayed too much and get my points (or money) back.  My work schedule is very flexible with PTO so I can move dates around very easily.  I've already been to most of the destinations (in North America) so usually there aren't places that I'd be really upset about missing.  I'm the type of person that HATES unpacking then repacking to move when I'm on vacation (which is why I love cruising so much) so I try to avoid 1 night hotel stays as much as possible.
I also have a higher risk tolerance than most so I'm willing to risk the outliers and costs associated with them.  My luggage gets lost?  Oh well, I'll just buy another set and clothes that were in it.  The plane is delayed on the tarmac or in the air?  Oh well, I'll just get a flight back when available and hotel if needed. Maybe I'll just stay in the city and tour a few days and spend the money there instead of on the cruise.

Now having said that, any time I'm meeting other groups on a cruise or if the itinerary has something I specifically don't want to miss, then yes I'll fly in day before to be certain I don't miss the ship.

[steverk]

I have flown in the day of the cruise and never had a problem. However,  I always arrived tired and stressed. Flying in the day of just isn't worth it to me.

That said, I understand the downside of Flying in early.  The hotels are expensive. It can be boring if you don't have a rental car or get a hotel right in the middle of the action. 

[Ampurp85]

I think this is an important PSA for most people.

But I am in the same situation as @billdauterive I just don't advocate to others to do what I do.

I also would never do this if it's over a 4hr flight. I used to fly more for work and have tons of horror stories but thakfully, knock on wood, have avoided that when it comes to cruises. Living in Chicago I am lucky to have access to lots of direct flights.

For me it's much more stressful to do pre cruise hotel stays as a lot can happen and I'm having to deal with more logistics.

The thing is that air travel has become more of a gamble. Sadly I've known people who were flying 3 days beforehand and never made it to their cruise. The most important thing imho is to have coverage in case life happens.

[WAYNO]

From the West Coast, flying to the East Coast, we have to get there a day or more early.  We're flying against three time zones, and we're fighting airplane changes and layovers along the way.  It's easily 12 hours or more from PDX to Florida.  We just cannot take a chance.  One burp and we could miss our cruise altogether.  The one time we tried a red-eye, our flight was changed.  The airline said they could get us on another flight 4 hours later, but that would have caused us to miss the cruise.  I ended up cancelling everything, but being early in the covid era , the cruise cancelled itself anyway, so fortunately I was out nothing.  It was a cheap lesson.

On the other hand, we cruise from Los Angeles often.  The same time zone, a two hour flight, and leaving early in the morning, we get there way early.  If there were flight hiccups, we have many opportunities to make it up.  There are probably more flights from PDX to LAX than any other destination.  It's always worked, but i still make sure I have my travel protection in place. 

 

 

 

 

.

[RockerDom31]

Reading through this thread has made me do some alternative travel research.

Living in Jersey, we can easily drive to NYC, Philly, and even some places more south like Baltimore and DC.

Has anyone from the northeast traveled to Florida via train? An Amtrak from Philly or NYC to Orlando is considerably much less expensive than an airplane ticket though it's a 20-24ish hour travel time. I suppose delays can happen with any mode of travel. But not having to check in (and pay for) luggage, having the extra legroom (especially nice that the seats are only 2 per row), and the views along the way are all appealing.

I have nothing against flying - we'd do it if have to. Flights are plentiful from here. It just seems more and more annoying to do so nowadays!

[Cakemeister]

On 8/3/2024 at 11:48 AM, DoomSlayer said:

Or just use a travel credit card that provides insurance coverage and avoid paying the 3rd party insurance fee. AMEX will provide me food, lodging, and alternative transportation starting at delays of 6 hours or more if I paid for the trip using my Platinum card.  I've had to use the food and lodging benefits a few times and have had no problems filing my claims with them.

At $695 per year, the AMEX platinum card quickly pays for itself. The benefits are substantial. They even throw in $20 monthly for a "digital streaming credit" which would cover my Audible subscription. If you fly to your cruise port and cruise more than twice a year, this card or something like it is a great deal. Thanks for posting this!

[Ampurp85]

I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve which has a $595 fee but almost the same benefits. I have an annual insurance policy, but I am not renewing because the card covers me better and I pay for everything on the card. And there is less hassle. Travel insurance can be a pain to navigate.