Flying in on cruise departure day

Has anyone ever flown into the cruise departure city the day of departure?

I've always gone the day before but I'm considering flying in same day. The cruise in question departs at 830pm. Thoughts? Anyone have experience with same day arrival?

TIA

Flying in on cruise departure day

We did for our Disney Cruise. We had no issues (we landed at 11 and the boat left at 4) wtih the flight but, we were all exhausted.

Flying in on cruise departure day

I did once..and I never did again. It's not worth the anxiety of anticipating delays and missing boarding!

Flying in on cruise departure day

I did it once and our flight was delayed several hours. We were literally the last people on the boat right before they closed the doors. Now we fly in the day before.

Re: Flying in on cruise departure day

We usually fly in day of never had any problems. May reconsider that going forward though.

Flying in on cruise departure day

I considered it for our Disney Cruise in August. We are planning on doing it. But then I realized how early we'd have to leave our house for an early morning flight and I changed my mind. If the ship doesn't board until much later though I may have changed my mind. Flights were cheaper to leave the day before too.

Flying in on cruise departure day

I have. I was not a fan. We had to get a super early flight.

Flying in on cruise departure day

I wouldn't do it. Too many "what if's", flight delays/cancellations/lost bags that won't make the ship in time. Your cruise might depart at 8:30, but the all aboard is usually earlier than that. For instance, Disney cruises typically require everyone to be on board by 3:30, but they start board at like 11am. I like to be on as soon as possible, since cruises aren't cheap! Maximize that time, especially since they kick you off by 9am.

Flying in on cruise departure day

I did and we had trouble finding our transfer so we were superset. We stepped on the boat and the horn blew and the boat started leaving.

Flying in on cruise departure day

Yes. Flew to Puerto Rico for a cruise. Never even stopped to think about flight "what ifs".

Message edited 6/15/2017 3:02:25 PM.

Flying in on cruise departure day

I've done it a couple of times - both in the winter and never had an issue. If you have an early enough flight with such a late departure time, I think you'd be fine.

Flying in on cruise departure day

I've done it multiples times and it always worked out except once. We flew to Vancouver to catch a Princess Alaska cruise. Our flight was delayed for a couple of hours. We were so nervous, we made it on the ship just in time for departure. It helped that we arranged for transportation from the airport to the cruise terminal through the cruise line so they were expecting us. They had cruise staff waiting for us for hours at the airport. I will always fly in the day before now.

Flying in on cruise departure day

I wouldn't chance it. I'm sure people do it all the time with no issues but my luck we'd be delayed and miss the ship.

Flying in on cruise departure day

I wouldn't chance it. On our last cruise out of FL, we flew the day before but our flight and all flights to Ft. Lauderdale were cancelled for the day. We ended up waiting about 7 hours and hopping on a plane to West Palm Beach and driving the rest of the way. If we flew the day of, we would have missed the boat. Not worth the stress for an extra $200.

Flying in on cruise departure day

I did it last month. Flew into Fort Lauderdale and cruised out of Miami. I usually book the first flight out and in my 7 cruises never experienced a problem.

Flying in on cruise departure day

If you were flying to Florida very early on the same day, its could work. In case there is a delay/cancellations..there will be many flights going to Florida later in the day and you have more options. I wouldn't fly to a place like San Juan on the same day because it's a long flight and in case of delays/cancellations, there aren't that many flights and not enough time to catch a later flight. If I have to fly on the same day, the only I would do it is if the fist day on the cruise is a port day as opposed to a sea day. That way, if you can't make it to your cruise, you can fly to the next port and board the cruise next day.

Also, if you book airfare with cruise lines, if there is a couple of hours of delay, they wait for you. When I cruised from San Juan, the ship waited for over an hour for passengers that arrived late because they booked through choice air.

Re: Flying in on cruise departure day

Going to be honest, I wouldn't take the chance. I've always had good luck with flights but in May we went to Disney and it just so happened NY and the tri-state area were getting horrible rain and storms so our flight was delayed. Then back on time. Then delayed again. Then cancelled because there were problems with the plane and we needed to wait for another one to arrive. So then it was rescheduled for the evening. We were suppose to fly out around noon and be in FL by 2:30pm. After all of the chaos, we didn't land in FL until 8:45 that night. If I was cruising, I would've missed the ship.

So long story short, traveling is so unpredictable for so many reasons that I would feel SO much more comfortable flying in the day before a cruise just to be on the safe side and not have to worry. We're cruising out of Ft. Lauderdale next May and we're flying in the day before.

Re: Flying in on cruise departure day

We are going with our parents (who made all the reservations and who are frequent cruisers), and they booked same-day air travel, as they always do. If it was up to me though, I'd go the day before. I'm a worry-wart.