We always fly a day early, for all the reasons mentioned above. Plus, since we typically cruise in winter, we like to just get away a day earlier. Our first cruise was part of a group and the flight was early the morning of departure. 7am flight meant 5am at the airport, which meant 4am wakeup call at the hotel. Nothing went wrong, but man, was I tired by the evening, and being a first cruise, who wants to nap or go to bed early?