Cruises - Connecting flight after a cruise

My father and his wife will be finishing up a one-way cruise Southampton(UK)-NYC on a Wednesday in September at noon.

I need to book them a flight to come visit me in Chicago. What time should I book the ticket for, and departing which NYC airport? (EWR,LGA,JFK)

I've never been on a cruise. Are they usually on time? Is there a mad scramble to get from the seaport to the airport?

Any advice would be appreciated, especially when I should book the connecting flight for. Thank you for your help.

The cruise line or travel agent will have a listing of the earliest flights out of the three airports based on arrival time. I would guess they would be four or five PM if the arrival is at noon.

LGA is something like 11 miles from the port, JFK and EWR about 17 or 18 each. In New York terms, that means plan at least an hour minimum to LGA, and at least an hour and a half if not two hours to JFK or EWR.

The mad scramble at the cruise ship port in New York is to just get off the pier. So while not everybody will be heading to the airport like at some ports (there are three airports, plus many people will be staying in the city, and many live in the area), but transportation is still a pain from there. They may want to consider having a car service instead of a taxi.

Which airport really doesn't matter that much. If they are going by car, LGA and EWR are probably easier. If they are considering the train to the airport (which I would not recommend with luggage), then EWR is easiest followed by Kennedy, though they would still need to get to Penn Station to get the train.

I am also assuming you mean the port in Manhattan for everything above, there are also cruise ship ports in New Jersey which are much closer to Newark and in Brooklyn which would make LaGuardia or Kennedy better choices.

You can have them book the post cruise to airport transfer which includes baggage handling with most cruise lines. This is a great service that pick up you bag the night before docking at NYC and you will be with your bags at the airport. The coach will be waiting at a special area and there is no need to fight with the masses for taxi/car.

The cruise line will also have recommendation as to which airport is closest to their pier/terminal and what is the earliest time you should book a flight for.

Might want to check that arrival time, too. Most ships arrive much earlier in the day. I'm guessing that noon time is actually the suggested flight time.

If you let me know the cruise line and ship, be happy to give you the suggested time for earliest airport departure, and their port information.

where are they going after ord?....how are they getting to southampton?...

theres a ? of ticket cost from ord to home....it may make sense to buy the ny-ord-home if the open jaw is 700 mi or so....

otherwise, i would do the cruise air w/xfer from the ship...

a while back, we did a taxi from the east river port to lga & had no problem w/ a 2pm flight...

good luck...

a while back, we did a taxi from the east river port to lga & had no problem w/ a 2pm flight...



If in fact the ship is scheduled to dock at noon, that's gonna be cutting it very very close.

If in fact the ship is scheduled to dock at noon, that's gonna be cutting it very very close.

we don't have the sked...it needs to be checked....thanks for pointing it out...

ps....if its a cunard ship, it will sail the evening of arrival & will have arrived that am...

pps...must not be cunard, i cant find any that meet the op's info...my curiosity is piqued!

Thank you all so much for your very helpful responses. I have sent an email asking about the cruise details, and I'll call my father's wife tomorrow if I don't hear back.

I live in ORD (well, not the airport literally), my father & his wife in LHR. I assume they're taking the train from London to Southampton.

I was going to book them an open jaw NYC-ORDx-LHR using either BA, AA, UA, or CO miles, depending on the best deal I can get (No YQ on inbound LHR premium cabins, right?). But then I was thinking that if the cruise is delayed, they could miss the first leg of their air itin, which would result in problems as both are no-status on any airline alliance. So I was also entertaining the possibility of a cheapo NYC-ORD ticket followed up with a separate one-way ORD-LHR, if there was a significant possibility that the cruise would be delayed.

Anyway, I'll post cruise details here tomorrow.

There would have to be some type of major event on the ship for them to be delayed, Cruise ships are usually in with plenty of time to turn the boat around and get back out on time, as delays affect both the cruise people are on and the people waiting to get on the next trip.

I would not worry too much about that. I would be more concerned with the flight being delayed because of thunder storms in New York or Chicago.

They won't be late unless it's a hurricane or something, they usually have extra time padded in the schedule.

there are 2 cruise terminals there, one in mid manhattan on the hudson, the other in brooklyn....

there are 2 cruise terminals there, one in mid manhattan on the hudson, the other in brooklyn....

There is also Bayonne in NJ.

I would not worry too much about that. I would be more concerned with the flight being delayed because of thunder storms in New York or Chicago.


Thank you. Sept IROPS are definitely a thought in the back of my mind! Anyway, the cruise actually gets in midday on Tuesday and then they stay overnight onboard and disembark Wednesday.

are they on the queen mary 2, getting off 9/28?...if so, i think it will dock in brooklyn...

Anyway, the cruise actually gets in midday on Tuesday and then they stay overnight onboard and disembark Wednesday.

That's pretty cool, if you have the chance you should come out and join them, take them around, and fly them back to Chicago.

Cunard has different airport transfer service at different price points.

There is one where your bags are claimed for you at the pier, you are escorted through local immigration/customs then a private cars will take you to the airport with your bags. My parents use this service on 2010 QM2 UK/US sailing from Brooklyn Terminal to EWR.

Another one is a coach that goes from pier to airport with less personalized service.

Both are recommended for senior for the assistance starts inside the pier as opposed to getting bag, dealing with immigration/custom and then getting to taxi or hired car.