Flying in on the day of your cruise, should I consider it?

[SL6827]

I know that it is not advised to fly in on the day of your cruise, but that thought has entered my mind. If we book a direct flight with Delta from Atlanta to Orlando with a departure time of like 6:30 that morning I think we would still be OK in the event of a delayed flight. What say you?

 

[SuJo]

I never fly in the day of, am too worried that something will go wrong. Have been on flights where it was delayed so much they had to reschedule for the next day.

 

[otten]

What you need to know is will you be okay in the event of a cancelled flight? If the next flight doesn’t land until the afternoon you might be in trouble. Same if you can’t get on the next flight. If there is say a flight every 2 hours I might be okay with it.

 

[kendall]

What's the weather like in ATL and MCO during the time of year you are going to fly?
Will you be on the first flight out so if there are mechanical or crew staffing issues and you are delayed or have to take a later flight, there are later flights that will still get you there on time (assuming there is room to get you on the later flight)?
Do multiple flights fill up on that route or is there generally room (should you have to be rebooked to a different flight)?

I think ATL-MCO is a pretty common route with multiple flights. So up to you and your comfort level! If there are multiple flights I would be tempted to take the first flight out in the morning, have breakfast in the MCO airport, then board transportation to the port. I also understand the stress-free aspect of flying in the night before, resting without stress of worrying about the flight, and getting up and going to the port. And if worse comes to worse, it is probably 7-8 hours and you can drive ATL-Port Canaveral.

 

[Adventurelawyer]

Depends on when you're flying. If theres a substantial threat of weather impacting the airport at the time of year you want to fly, then nope. If not, carry on.

 

[pezgirlroy]

Nope I would never fly in the day that we are sailing.

 

[allears]

I have flown in the day of the cruise a few times, especially early on. I fortunately didn't have any issues, and there was only once our early outbound flight from Philly was delayed, but only by an hour. Still if you can swing it, the day before leaves you with more options. I also found that flying in the day of made it a very long travel day and felt beat by dinner time on the ship. It's so much nicer to get there the day or night before and get a good nights sleep before heading out to the port and embarking. Coming in the day of just felt like all I was doing was traveling from one mode of transportation to the other.

 

[o&smom]

On our first cruise we flew from Portland, OR and landed in Barcelona the morning of our cruise! We felt so guilty being on vacation so long with a 10 day cruise. Luckily all went well, especially since they were cancelling flights around that time due to volcanic activity in Iceland. We ALWAYS fly in at least a day early now. Not taking a chance again.

 

[SL6827]

No, no major weather issues in May.

 

[randumb0]

From ATL to Orlando? I'd do it. Delta probably has a flight every hour

 

[AgentMama]

Some people do it and it goes fine. There is no way I could do it. The worry and anxiety it would cause me if something happened with my inbound flight would create too much stress. It's all what level of risk you're willing to accept.

 

[braycon]

Flying in the day of absolutely gives me the willies, so we don't do it. I do think odds are greatly in your favor that everything will be fine given such a short trip, early flight time in May...but flying can be a fickle thing. If the flight leaves on time, you could easily be to PC way before noon. So, it's certainly not a big gamble, but then again we're not big gamblers.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

An early morning May flight from Atlanta to Orlando via Delta? Absolutely, yes, I would. No severe weather risks, an early & direct flight on a legacy carrier, lots of alternative flights. Wouldn't hesitate.

 

[SL6827]

Plus I'll have insurance. May or may not do it.

 

[jtntx34]

I flew day of cruise DFW to MIA this past December. We were booked for 6am flight that left around 7am. It was a long day, but it was fine. I slept GREAT that night.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Although we now always fly in at least one day early, our flights originate in Chicago so weather issues make us more cautious. Flying from ATL sounds much more doable. You might price flights on Delta through DCL. Then, it there’s an issue, DCL will work to get it resolved. Our first cruise, back in 2004, we flew in on departure day Chicago ORD to MCO with an early morning departure, booked through DCL. The flight was delayed, but the MCO to port bus was waiting for is and we made it to the ship about 3 pm. Not the greatest start to the trip, but everything worked out in the end.

 

[Tehanna]

Not ever. I've heard too many stories of friends whose flights were delayed by 12 hours or more.

 

[Heather07438]

Could driving or rental car still get you there in time? Just make sure to consider traffic delays in the worst case scenario.

 

[DisBNewB]

Depends on how often flights are running. If there are several airlines, with regular flights? Then maybe (assuming not a big storm time of the year, etc).

I'd be too nervous to do that regardless, but my cruise this past fall, a family in our cruise group didn't make it because their flight was canceled. They were coming from California, if I recall correctly, on the last flight of the day, and it was canceled (for non-weather related reasons). There wasn't another flight until the next morning, which wouldn't have gotten them to the ship on time. Watching that play out as they tried to find another flight that would work, and failing, would definitely have me leaving a generous cushion of travel options.

 

[darnheather]

I once had a 4 hour flight scheduled. The plane sat on the runway for two hours with a flat tire. Before that flat tire got fixed another tire went bad from taking all the weight. The entire flight got scrubbed due to union rules and I ended up with no flight out for the entire day. I personally wouldn't risk my cruise even on a short flight.