ysolde

It seems flight delays and cancelations are creeping up on us again this summer. For those of us heading out to a cruise that is a serious headache. For those of you who fly to your cruise port city, how many days ahead of your cruise do you fly in order to give yourself a buffer to try to ensure that you will arrive at your cruise without a problem? I used to fly down the day before my cruise and stay overnight at a hotel. These days, I try to arrive two nights prior to the cruise in order to avoid any travel mishaps. Flight delays have become a regular thing. Cancelations are to be expected. There is no way of knowing when your flight will arrive, and it seems to me one day is no longer a sufficient buffer to ensure you will arrive at your cruise in time. Am I being overly cautious?

HPN-HRL

I used to be comfortable flying into a cruise port the night before a cruise (two nights if departing out of a non-North American port), but now I am planning to get to a cruise out of North America no later than the morning of the day before departure.

sfvoyage

I also fly into a cruise port the day before, not necessarily in the morning but at least not on the last flight in, so that I can be rebooked on a later flight on the same day should my original flight gets delayed or cancelled.

guv1976

I think that the answer might depend on what the cruise's first port of call is, and how easy it would be to get there if you "missed the boat" on embarkation day. For example, MIA/FLL-NAS is currently available for $107 one way tomorrow on AA/B6.

Hoyaheel

Would also factor in my options for flights - if there's only one flight to a connector, I'd go earlier...

BamaVol

I have flown in the day of a cruise, but no longer do that. Mostly it’s meant arriving the day before departure. We are cruising in September and I am planning to arrive at the port city about 43 hours before the ship leaves. And I’m still a little nervous because September is hurricane season here. But I guess that’s what insurance is for.

747FC

We typically are picking up a cruise 10-12 time zones from us, or in a city (like Tokyo) that may be closer, but interesting to visit in its own right. As such, we usually are flying in about four-five days beforehand. One exception is Vancouver, which is served non-stop from HNL, as well as with multiple airlines with a connection. In that case we spent two nights. In any case, I can't see a scenario where I leave only one night/day buffer.

wrp96

I typically do day before but it depends on the destination. A friend last week thankfully planned two days in advance for an Alaska cruise, as due to mechanical delays, it ended up taking her 36 hours to get from Arkansas to Alaska.

CalVol

We fly in 2 days early and find something to do in the port city.

I've even driven up the night before for a cruise out of Los Angeles and spent the night in a hotel. It's only 3.5-4 hours to the pier from our house. But, I have seen 3 hours turn to 6-7 more than once.

hedoman

Upcoming departure ports......NYC, MIA, SAN. Two nights for each scheduled. Just the way it is today.

SPN Lifer

Arriving in the port city at least two days prior to cruise departure seems a very wise consensus indeed.

Global Adventurer

I'm safe because I only go on cruises during the fall when school is back in session 😀 My upcoming cruise is in September and I fly in the night before and stay at the airport until I catch the metro to the port.

Brighton Line

I fly no more than a day before but I don't take an afternoon or evening flight when that is the most likely time for thunderstorm interference as well as canceled flights due to crew timeouts or mechanicals. That said...

Just had a 7-hour mechanical on B6 they gave our 9a departure which was the first arrival from JFK to the 6a departure as their metal that RON came up lame. B6 only offered to change to HPN all other NYC flights were full. If this travel was for a cruise I would have gone to HPN and let insurance handle the cost of the taxi but just to get home would have been more than the flight cost and I don't buy insurance for just plane travel and no cruise.

Got my $12 meal voucher and $200 flight credit for the delay. Will help pay to get to a cruise out of Florida later in the year.

gretchendz

Like you, I have always done a minimum one night before. I have not quite gone two nights before unless it is a city I really want to explore.

However, I do a few other things with my flights.

1. The day I am flying in, assuming I cannot fly direct, I make sure that I am flying through layover airports with low cancellation rates. This means I NEVER fly through any of the New York area airports.
2. Fly early in the day (ugh!) after checking to see if there are several flights I might be able to get rebooked on. Ideally, three or more possibilities.
3. I usually cannot manage it, but it is a good to not check bags.
4. Watch the weather and if it looks like severe weather might interfere, I rebook to arrive earlier if I can.
5. If there are layovers, I try to make them 2 hours or more (doublle ugh) so if my first flight is delayed, I have better odds.

pbjag

Very timely question. Almost all of my recent cruises have been in Europe, so I've always flown in to arrive a minimum 2 days ahead and I usually book those cruises for April through mid-June.

This year I'm booked at the end of September (hurricane season where I live) connecting through JFK and using frequent flyer miles for a business class ticket booked with the one airline/alliance (Star Alliance) on which I have no status. All of the recent travel meltdowns are giving me pause - especially since I have no status on Star Alliance and will be on a FF ticket - so I've spend the last few days looking at alternate options which will get me across the pond without having to connect in the U.S.

So now I'm tossing a coin between Air France or Air Europa from MIA because at least I'd be within train distance if things melted down at CDG or Madrid - and going in an additional day earlier (arriving at the European connection point 3 days before embarkation; the additional day is primarily driven by award availability). Next consideration/concern - will there be transit strikes in France or Spain at the end of September...?