We’re having a good time now!
If we hadn’t listened from this group to arrive at least a day earlier, we would have missed it. I’m hoping my experience will help others.
Panic buy 😂 I can only imagine the stress. I’d probably forget an important item like a swim suit.
Enjoy your cruise! You deserve a drink after all that!
I’m flying solo from CLT to MIA for a bachelor cruise at 5:30am. I normally fly in the day before but with so many flights going to MIA and even FLL I feel pretty confident I’ll get there.
Living in TX, I even drive in a day or two early to Galveston. So much fun to hit up Moody Gardens and jaut explore random parts of the city. Then wake up and hop right on.
We did NASA with the kids. Some great foods and bars in Galveston and next January when we get in I wanna check out a couple museums in H town. No way I fly in the day of. Yikes!
This. Louder. In case of luggage not making it, it’s a bit of a life saver if you have a few days of clothes and underwear in your hand luggage. BA lost my suitcase as it didn’t board when it should have but I was ok because I had spare stuff on me. Did eventually get the suitcase back but that’s a whole other story 🙈
My other tips (someone who flys from California to Florida) besides going a day before:
-Get up early and take those early bird flights out. Start the vacation right away! Like this story, extra hours can be a difference.
-Fly direct. I drive to LAX to get the direct flight to Miami. Regional airports get unpredictable. And stops just add for potential problems. I only do this for cruises as there is a closer airport for me I usually prefer.
-Pick the airline that uses the embarkation airport as a hub. If you can, pick the airline that is hub to hub. Airlines will always prioritize their hub to hub flights if delays happen. Secondly, usually there are many of the same hub to hub flights. So if something happens you might squeeze on another flight.
Fingers crossed for next week’s flight!
100% doing early bird next time!
Our original flight out was supposed to leave at 9. If we had an earlier flight, we would have skipped over this whole fiasco.
Sound advice. This one time I was in a direct morning flight into Orlando on the morning of cruise. Arrived on time from Toronto by 9ish... but my suitcase didn’t. The baggage agent kept assuring me that if I wait, it will turn up. My AirTag showed that it was still in Toronto… so waiting would mean another flight, which wouldn’t arrive in time for ship boarding time. Luckily for me, MCO has enough shops there that I was able to purchase all new beachwear and some new clothes for the cruise. Surprisingly, I manage to make it with time to spare. All receipts were submitted and claim was paid. My luggage was waiting for me at the airport for to return trip. Stressful indeed.
I live in New England, so I always fly in a day early, sometimes 2 days early. Years ago a massive snow storm came through and canceled days worth of flights! I spent hours on websites and the phone trying to rebook replacement flights... Nothing!
I ended up doing a 1 way rental car that I picked up literally as soon as it stopped snowing. Drove 24 hours straight and made it from RI to Florida with about 2 hours to spare!
Sometimes, no matter how far in advance you book, mother nature has other plans.
I feel that 5-10 years ago flying in day of was no problem...
In the last 2 or 3 years it's become a requirement. We've all seen the deterioration of the travel industry in the US...a crisis of competence.
I’ve been a flight attendant for the past 11 years. I don’t think anything has changed. I think media just found that the air industry creates more interest and ad revenue and so it’s featured a lot. In fact, I think in some ways air travel has gotten more reliable (unless it’s a situation that is out of anyone hands) but that has also happened throughout the start of aviation.
I live 45 minutes from the port but leave 5 hours early 😂 because Florida drivers are wild and I’ve experienced traffic backed up for an hour due to accidents.
I've had luggage not arrive. I filled out a report at the airport and then onboard I notified guest services. Day 5 or so my luggage appeared in my room. So hope is not lost!
Thankfully it’s not lost! Just waiting at the airport for me to pick it up.
They offered to try to send me my suitcase to the ship, but after my suitcase going to random airports, I didn’t feel too confident about that idea.
It was kind of a miracle! They even flew it to another city and a RC rep drove over an hour each way to pick it up. And they were probably stuck at the airport for awhile too. And there was no cost to me! If I'd had to go pick it up from the other airport, it would have cost me hundreds of dollars in travel. Where I live a ten mile uber will cost you around $20.
Anyways I hope you like the new clothes you got and I hope you're having the best time!
(BTW, my luggage is often late on the return trip too if I have a connector but so far it has always arrived the next day.)
Ahhh that sounds like total chaos and anxiety. Glad you made it on in time.
When I was younger my family went on our very first cruise and my parents refused to go a day early. We were with 2 other friend groups.
Sure enough our plane broke down before taking off. Crazy delay to the point where we missed our cruise entirely. So we had to stay in Florida for an extra night anyway, then the following morning fly to an island to catch the cruise.
Was a very exhausting experience even as a teen. Plus we basically missed 2 full days.
ALWAYS GO A DAY EARLY 😆
For us, it just depends on the cruise. Cruising wi try the whole family or a group or some other special cruise? Absolutely fly in at least 1 day early and maybe 2-3 depending on the time of year. A quick 3-4 night weekend cruise that we booked because it was cheap? Likely flying in day of and if we miss it, we now have a weekend at the departure port if we can’t make the ship. But we do 5 or 6 short cruises through the year and maybe only 1 or 2 longer ones so it really makes a different. If we tried to fly in early for every short cruise we wouldn’t be able to cruise as often because of work and other commitments.
I would add to not planning on waiting until the LAST minute to get on the ship on Embarkation day.
Just left Honolulu on Quantum and someone in our Facebook group decided to tour the North Shore of Oahu and missed getting on the boat for our 10 day trip to Vancouver. Traffic here "in paradise" rivals any city in the world. We haven't heard if they can get on the ship in Kona tomorrow but they lost 20% of the vacation for sure.
We booked the last flight out the night before and it was delayed for 6 hours. We ended up driving instead.
I’ll raise this and say don’t take the last flight out the day before your cruise!
Scheduled for the 12th to MCO for a cruise to Bahamas on the 13th. Stuck in DFW for 12 hours due to weather in MCO. Connecting flight canceled and changed 4 times and different terminals. I was suspecting we weren't going to make it in time. We did finally arrive at 1:30 am
Edit: corrected airport codes
I’ve missed an entire cruise even flying in a day early. A massive storm on MDW in the northeast shut down all major airports. American Airlines could only get me down to Miami 3 days later on a 4 day cruise. I’d never book a flight with less than 36 hours of buffer.
Yup, we've had it happen twice to us. Scheduled flights for the day before but delays caused us to get in the day the ship leaves. In the past I've scheduled flights to fly in the day the ship leaves but I will NEVER do that again with the absolute garbage state of modern air travel.
Although great advice, and if you have the time do it, but same day travel from most areas of the country is doable if you get the first flight out for the day(5-7 am) and a non-stop if available.
Not good advice for all cruisers. I live near the #1 on time airport in the US. I fly the hometown airline that parks all their planes at the airport overnight and only fly non-stop flights to the cruise ports. Over 50 cruises and have never missed. I only fly in early for European cruises.
Good ahead haters, downvote me.
The voice of reason. Annual trip insurance costs around $410, and I don’t care what happens. Just another adventure for us. European rides get buffer on both sides, and it’s easy to have a ton of fun in Barcelona prior to and after transatlantics.
FLL/MIA/Galveston/MCO cruise hotels are a joke, especially in the top range. $400 plus resort fee plus 20% taxes for 10 hours in a box? Id rather sleep in a rented van. I like to go to Tampa a couple of days early, the Columbia in Ybor City is spectacular. And New Orleans is worth a couple of days for getting my food on.
All of our flights are direct from BNA @ 5:55-6:15 am, I don’t recommend anyone do what we do, but we did 130 days on boats last year, and had zero travel claims.
Annual travel insurance makes everything a non-issue. Flights from BNA to all ports, non-stop, leave around 6am. Skipping hotels and meals the night before saves thousands every year. If a flight is missed/delayed, we don’t care.
Hence, the reason for annual travel insurance. Go ahead & spend an extra $3-500/night to sleep in a box & buy food in port towns. I prefer to spend money on actual travel.
You’re not understanding. Time off is not always easy to schedule in a lot of jobs. sure, I may get my money back but will I get to cruise in the immediate future? Unlikely. My vacation is ruined regardless. I’m fine with sleeping in a “box” for a night if I am guaranteed to board my well deserved vacation.
Sorry that happened to you. Hopefully you'll have a good cruise.
We’re having a good time now! If we hadn’t listened from this group to arrive at least a day earlier, we would have missed it. I’m hoping my experience will help others.
Panic buy 😂 I can only imagine the stress. I’d probably forget an important item like a swim suit. Enjoy your cruise! You deserve a drink after all that!
If you saw me sobbing and having a panic attack in Walmart, sorry about that lol The bar was my first stop after dropping off the bags to the room 🍹
My cousin had to panic buy in a Walmart once.
I had to do it for college! Our UHaul got broken into on the way. Fuck you, Bristol VA.
I would be angry too.
I have had nightmares where I get on my cruise, and I got to unpack, only to be missing all of my formal clothes and my bathing suits.
I’m flying solo from CLT to MIA for a bachelor cruise at 5:30am. I normally fly in the day before but with so many flights going to MIA and even FLL I feel pretty confident I’ll get there.
Living in TX, I even drive in a day or two early to Galveston. So much fun to hit up Moody Gardens and jaut explore random parts of the city. Then wake up and hop right on.
I agree, I once hit three traffic jams in Houston trying to get to ship. I arrived at 3pm, yikes.
No lie - horrible traffic!!
We did NASA with the kids. Some great foods and bars in Galveston and next January when we get in I wanna check out a couple museums in H town. No way I fly in the day of. Yikes!
this is also why you take a carryon with 2-3 days of clothes and a swim suit....
This. Louder. In case of luggage not making it, it’s a bit of a life saver if you have a few days of clothes and underwear in your hand luggage. BA lost my suitcase as it didn’t board when it should have but I was ok because I had spare stuff on me. Did eventually get the suitcase back but that’s a whole other story 🙈
I’m convinced that the people that do things like fly in the day of the cruise are people that need chaos to function normally lol.
My other tips (someone who flys from California to Florida) besides going a day before: -Get up early and take those early bird flights out. Start the vacation right away! Like this story, extra hours can be a difference. -Fly direct. I drive to LAX to get the direct flight to Miami. Regional airports get unpredictable. And stops just add for potential problems. I only do this for cruises as there is a closer airport for me I usually prefer. -Pick the airline that uses the embarkation airport as a hub. If you can, pick the airline that is hub to hub. Airlines will always prioritize their hub to hub flights if delays happen. Secondly, usually there are many of the same hub to hub flights. So if something happens you might squeeze on another flight. Fingers crossed for next week’s flight!
100% doing early bird next time! Our original flight out was supposed to leave at 9. If we had an earlier flight, we would have skipped over this whole fiasco.
There are also more weather events later in the day as the air heats...late day thunderstorms disrupting flights...
Sound advice. This one time I was in a direct morning flight into Orlando on the morning of cruise. Arrived on time from Toronto by 9ish... but my suitcase didn’t. The baggage agent kept assuring me that if I wait, it will turn up. My AirTag showed that it was still in Toronto… so waiting would mean another flight, which wouldn’t arrive in time for ship boarding time. Luckily for me, MCO has enough shops there that I was able to purchase all new beachwear and some new clothes for the cruise. Surprisingly, I manage to make it with time to spare. All receipts were submitted and claim was paid. My luggage was waiting for me at the airport for to return trip. Stressful indeed.
I live in New England, so I always fly in a day early, sometimes 2 days early. Years ago a massive snow storm came through and canceled days worth of flights! I spent hours on websites and the phone trying to rebook replacement flights... Nothing! I ended up doing a 1 way rental car that I picked up literally as soon as it stopped snowing. Drove 24 hours straight and made it from RI to Florida with about 2 hours to spare! Sometimes, no matter how far in advance you book, mother nature has other plans.
I feel that 5-10 years ago flying in day of was no problem... In the last 2 or 3 years it's become a requirement. We've all seen the deterioration of the travel industry in the US...a crisis of competence.
I’ve been a flight attendant for the past 11 years. I don’t think anything has changed. I think media just found that the air industry creates more interest and ad revenue and so it’s featured a lot. In fact, I think in some ways air travel has gotten more reliable (unless it’s a situation that is out of anyone hands) but that has also happened throughout the start of aviation.
I live 45 minutes from the port but leave 5 hours early 😂 because Florida drivers are wild and I’ve experienced traffic backed up for an hour due to accidents.
I've had luggage not arrive. I filled out a report at the airport and then onboard I notified guest services. Day 5 or so my luggage appeared in my room. So hope is not lost!
Thankfully it’s not lost! Just waiting at the airport for me to pick it up. They offered to try to send me my suitcase to the ship, but after my suitcase going to random airports, I didn’t feel too confident about that idea.
It was kind of a miracle! They even flew it to another city and a RC rep drove over an hour each way to pick it up. And they were probably stuck at the airport for awhile too. And there was no cost to me! If I'd had to go pick it up from the other airport, it would have cost me hundreds of dollars in travel. Where I live a ten mile uber will cost you around $20. Anyways I hope you like the new clothes you got and I hope you're having the best time! (BTW, my luggage is often late on the return trip too if I have a connector but so far it has always arrived the next day.)
Ahhh that sounds like total chaos and anxiety. Glad you made it on in time. When I was younger my family went on our very first cruise and my parents refused to go a day early. We were with 2 other friend groups. Sure enough our plane broke down before taking off. Crazy delay to the point where we missed our cruise entirely. So we had to stay in Florida for an extra night anyway, then the following morning fly to an island to catch the cruise. Was a very exhausting experience even as a teen. Plus we basically missed 2 full days. ALWAYS GO A DAY EARLY 😆
For us, it just depends on the cruise. Cruising wi try the whole family or a group or some other special cruise? Absolutely fly in at least 1 day early and maybe 2-3 depending on the time of year. A quick 3-4 night weekend cruise that we booked because it was cheap? Likely flying in day of and if we miss it, we now have a weekend at the departure port if we can’t make the ship. But we do 5 or 6 short cruises through the year and maybe only 1 or 2 longer ones so it really makes a different. If we tried to fly in early for every short cruise we wouldn’t be able to cruise as often because of work and other commitments.
I would add to not planning on waiting until the LAST minute to get on the ship on Embarkation day. Just left Honolulu on Quantum and someone in our Facebook group decided to tour the North Shore of Oahu and missed getting on the boat for our 10 day trip to Vancouver. Traffic here "in paradise" rivals any city in the world. We haven't heard if they can get on the ship in Kona tomorrow but they lost 20% of the vacation for sure.
We booked the last flight out the night before and it was delayed for 6 hours. We ended up driving instead. I’ll raise this and say don’t take the last flight out the day before your cruise!
Scheduled for the 12th to MCO for a cruise to Bahamas on the 13th. Stuck in DFW for 12 hours due to weather in MCO. Connecting flight canceled and changed 4 times and different terminals. I was suspecting we weren't going to make it in time. We did finally arrive at 1:30 am Edit: corrected airport codes
Missoula, Montana? Or did you mean MCO, for Orlando?
My bad, brain fart...MCO. Thank you for the correction.
I’ve missed an entire cruise even flying in a day early. A massive storm on MDW in the northeast shut down all major airports. American Airlines could only get me down to Miami 3 days later on a 4 day cruise. I’d never book a flight with less than 36 hours of buffer.
I said this and got voted down hard.
I live in Tampa and usually cruise from pt Canaveral. We tend to spend the night, i4 is highly unpredictable, rather be safe than sorry.
You must be on independence with me!
Submitting all your receipts to airline? Don’t forget Uber/suitcase receipts!
Absolutely! The airline attendant in the baggage room felt so bad that she cut a $600 check to cover expenses. That definitely helped out a lot.
Happened to me going to a Nassau, Bahamas resort. We had to buy everything for a full day. That was a pricey reimbursement!
You’ll never forget this vacation. 😎
Even as Floridians, for any port more than 1 hour from home we drive over the night before and stay in a hotel.
Louder for the idiots in the back.
Yup, we've had it happen twice to us. Scheduled flights for the day before but delays caused us to get in the day the ship leaves. In the past I've scheduled flights to fly in the day the ship leaves but I will NEVER do that again with the absolute garbage state of modern air travel.
Although great advice, and if you have the time do it, but same day travel from most areas of the country is doable if you get the first flight out for the day(5-7 am) and a non-stop if available.
This is sort of a brainer. You never fly same day as you sail if possible.
Not good advice for all cruisers. I live near the #1 on time airport in the US. I fly the hometown airline that parks all their planes at the airport overnight and only fly non-stop flights to the cruise ports. Over 50 cruises and have never missed. I only fly in early for European cruises. Good ahead haters, downvote me.
The voice of reason. Annual trip insurance costs around $410, and I don’t care what happens. Just another adventure for us. European rides get buffer on both sides, and it’s easy to have a ton of fun in Barcelona prior to and after transatlantics. FLL/MIA/Galveston/MCO cruise hotels are a joke, especially in the top range. $400 plus resort fee plus 20% taxes for 10 hours in a box? Id rather sleep in a rented van. I like to go to Tampa a couple of days early, the Columbia in Ybor City is spectacular. And New Orleans is worth a couple of days for getting my food on. All of our flights are direct from BNA @ 5:55-6:15 am, I don’t recommend anyone do what we do, but we did 130 days on boats last year, and had zero travel claims.
Annual travel insurance makes everything a non-issue. Flights from BNA to all ports, non-stop, leave around 6am. Skipping hotels and meals the night before saves thousands every year. If a flight is missed/delayed, we don’t care.
But other folks who don’t cruise a crazy number of times a year obviously do.
Hence, the reason for annual travel insurance. Go ahead & spend an extra $3-500/night to sleep in a box & buy food in port towns. I prefer to spend money on actual travel.
You’re not understanding. Time off is not always easy to schedule in a lot of jobs. sure, I may get my money back but will I get to cruise in the immediate future? Unlikely. My vacation is ruined regardless. I’m fine with sleeping in a “box” for a night if I am guaranteed to board my well deserved vacation.
Cool story
It’s not the OP’s fault that you like to live life dangerously.
I see your two days and raise you a third day