Question for Cruise People

I looking at some of the Disney Cruises online for next year. When flights are involved (in our case, FL), do you fly the day before and get a hotel? Fly the day of departure? The weather in NY is so terrible in the winter and I'm afraid of cancelled flights.

Question for Cruise People

when we did our disney cruise in november, we flew down the day before, and stayed in one of the disney hotels that night. then the disney cruise line bus picked us up the next morning (when we checked into the hotel, they gave us our meeting time) and took us to the port. then, after the cruise the bus took us right to the airport for our flight home it was extra money to use the disney transportation for the cruise... but it was worth it to have it all go so smoothly. i know some people fly in a few days before and do a few days at the disney parks before the cruise. you'll have a blast!!

Question for Cruise People

I'm a worrywart with stuff like that when I've had to fly for cruises so I've only done the day before...I think my honeyoon was the only time I did day of becuse I couldn't get a flight the day before. We got to the cruise terminal rediculously early so DH napped and I caught up on my reading.

Re: Question for Cruise People

the day before is always a good idea if you have the time and money.
We have always just gone the same day. It can be very nervewracking though.

Re: Question for Cruise People

I have done both. But in the winter, the weather would make me nervous so I'd probably fly the day before just in case.

Re: Question for Cruise People

We usually fly in the day of. If traveling during snow season it isn't a bad idea to go day before.

Question for Cruise People

We have done both and I can tell you from experience - GO THE DAY BEFORE. If all goes smoothly you are fine, but any problems day of and you can easily miss the ship. Two cruises ago the plane went out of service - it was a 7 am flight so we should have had plenty of time and luckily we had someone on our plane that was auditioning to be in the shows in the ship so they held the boat for him! If that wasn't the case we would have missed the boat. So much less stressful to go a day before. Last cruise we went the day before and stayed off property. We rented a car, stayed by Disney, went to the hotel pool for a bit then went to Disney Boardwalk and Downtown Disney, then drove to the port in the morning and returned the car. It worked out well!

Re: Question for Cruise People

We try to fly in the day before our cruises.

Re: Question for Cruise People

I've done a mix of things, depending on what time the cruise left & when flights were.

My first cruise was my honeymoon, and I couldn't go the day before b/c I had a wedding to go to!

We try & make sure that ere there is another flight to our destination after ours, just in case ours gets cancelled. Or, try & book the flight through the cruise.

The time we flew to Tampa the afternoon before , had dinner & took our time the next day getting to the boat was the most relaxing.

I also flew the day before on a cruise from Barcelona & that was still a little stressful, b/c it was a long, overnight flight, but it was good to have a day to get used to the time change.

Message edited 5/5/2015 1:17:40 PM.

Question for Cruise People

I would definitely fly in the night before. You can check in for your cruise as early as around 11 a.m., and you want to be on the boat as early as possible, since you are paying all that money for a Disney cruise. with that said, we flew in the night before and stayed near the Orlando Airport. Then drove to the port with a one way rental car the next morning. We dropped it off at Hertz, and they drove us to the boat, which was 5 minutes away, not even. there are a lot of nice hotels near the port, so that is an option also

Question for Cruise People

Definitely day before. I wouldn't want to take the chance!

Re: Question for Cruise People

In the winter, I would definitely fly the night before.

We went on a Disney cruise last spring and flew he day of because I did not want to take too many days off from work. It was a short weekend trip.

We are doing a Mediterranean cruise this summer and we are flying to rome a few days prior.

Question for Cruise People

I've done both - 2 cruises in February that I flew down the day of and had no problem, but there certainly could have been weather issues - we lucked out for sure. One cruise in early March, went the day before - doing that was definitely a bit more relaxing on some levels, but also meant unpacking (to a small degree - had clothing easily accessible and had to have access to toiletries, makeup etc) for one night and then packing it all up again.

Question for Cruise People

I flew the night before because it was Friday night and it was a short flight. I would never fly out on the same day in winter. In the summer if I ever have to fly on the same day, if its a three to four hour flight, I would take the first available flight even as early as 5:00am to leave extra time in case of delays.

Re: Question for Cruise People

I did the Disney cruise last year and we flew down the night before. The cost of the extra night at a hotel was well worth it, because we didn't have to rush or stress about traveling, delayed flights, etc. And we were well-rested and fresh the next day -- you can board early and explore the ship. We wanted to get the most out of that first day on board, and I think it's always kind of tiring to travel by air, no matter how smoothly it goes.

I personally would never fly down the same day.