Okay WWYD, a red-eye or arrive at midnight (m)

[OurDogCisco]

Here's the situation. We are going on a cruise next May and I found some great airfare deals for $240 roundtrip from California. Anyways, we could fly red-eye and arrive in Orlando at 8 am. Or we could fly late afternoon and arrive at midnight then either get a room at the hotel or drive to cocoa beach and get a room there. We can't take morning flights because dd is in school and we are truly pushing it with the school district by taking 5 days from school.

My dh says if we do red-eye he thinks we'll get about the same amount of sleep because by time we get to the room and stuff it could be 2 am or later depending on where we stay. But if we do red-eye at least we could get some sleep on the plane.

I am not sure which to do???? Help....

Tina

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

I'd probably do the arrive at midnight thing, as that's what we've done a couple times. I've never done a red-eye, but I think that you'd be better off getting sleep on land and then going right to the port.

 

[ohiominnie]

The May 8th cruise, right? You look familiar.

I'd do the midnight thing too. I'd crash at the Hyatt at the Airport and then get to the port the next day. Sleeping in a bed is MUCH better than sleeping in an airplane, even if it's for a shorter time period.

We're flying in this September for a surprise cruise for the kids. I believe our flight lands at 11:30 pm and we're going to hit the Hyatt. Then take the Disney cruise line bus to the port the next day (I know, I know, it's more expensive than getting a car, or a town car etc etc, but the kids have ALWAYS wanted to take the bus so we'll do it, get it out of their system and say "been there, done that!")

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

Hi OurDogCisco.

we could fly red-eye and arrive in Orlando at 8 am. Or we could fly late afternoon and arrive at midnight then either get a room at the hotel

There's a reason the flight is referred to as "red eye." Take the late afternoon flight and get a good night's sleep at the airport Hyatt. You'll feel refreshed and ready to start (rather than end) your first cruise day...

 

[tezb]

It also depends on whether you are able to sleep well on the plane. We did a red eye for our first land/sea in 2000. We only did this because our travel agent booked it this way and didn't really have a choice. Their way of thinking was that we don't miss out on anything and when we arrive in the early a.m. we have the whole days at the parks. Wrong....I was so exhausted I was actually falling asleep/dozing at the park. I lost sleep I couldn't get back and while the cruise was great, I still remember the way I felt when we first got to WDW. We also came from the West Coast so it was a long trip. Ever since that, I will not do a red eye. This will be the 2nd time we arrive late at night, 11pm or so and we get a room at the Radisson and get at least 6-8 hrs sleep. Also, remember you won't be exhausted arriving because being from Calif we are 3 hrs behind. Just get to bed on time. We also are just doing the cruise so have plenty of time to rest too.

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by ohiominnie
The May 8th cruise, right? You look familiar.

I'd do the midnight thing too. I'd crash at the Hyatt at the Airport and then get to the port the next day. Sleeping in a bed is MUCH better than sleeping in an airplane, even if it's for a shorter time period.

We're flying in this September for a surprise cruise for the kids. I believe our flight lands at 11:30 pm and we're going to hit the Hyatt.

We are on that same cruise and I believe we are going to fly in the day early and stay at the Hyatt also...I think we are going to get a limo to take us to the port though, I have no desire to sit on a bus and go, especially since I want to stop and pick up a case of soda and some bottled water on the way.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Okay, you all win! I prefer the red-eye but my kids probably would like the midnight flight. So, I booked our flight. I can't believe the price I got but with my luck the flight price will decrease!

Tina

 

[din]

Originally posted by OurDogCisco
We are going on a cruise next May and I found some great airfare deals for $240 roundtrip from California ....

We are looking at tickets for next April.... where did you get these prices??? Also where in CA are you flying from??

 

[OurDogCisco]

We are flying out of Sacramento Airport. Actually, I am a member of Interval (Timeshare trading company) and they quoted me airfare for $240 pp using Delta Airlines. So, to double check their quote I went to the web site and Delta was selling the seats at $330. But the flight was a red-eye. So, then I checked American Airlines web site and they quoted me $242 pp (including the tax) so, the airfare is really like $202. I thought it was a great deal and they had the times I wanted to fly. So, check out their site. I doubt the tickets will get any lower so, we just went ahead and booked even though it is 11 months out. Good Luck!

Tina