Flight in Mco the morning on the same day cruise departure

[Chemist]

We just came home from MCO the day after our cruise. Booked a first thing in the morning, direct flight so that we'd have plenty of time to get ready for work/camp the next day.

Our 9:30 am flight was delayed until 3:00 due to mechanical problems. Then at 12:30 it was delayed until 6 pm. At that point the gate agents assured us there WAS a plane for 6 pm. The 6 pm flight also had mechanical difficulties. Several times we looked into alternate flights, even to other airports but everything was full or had horrific connections. The 6 pm flight was delayed until 8 pm when a new airplane arrived. The new airplane also had mechanical difficulties and we didn't take off until 9 PM. Yes, 12 hours late.

And we did "everything right". First flight of the day, non-stop. And no, the delays weren't weather. And while mechanical troubles make the airline responsible, it doesn't guarantee that you'll get there in time for your cruise.

Fortunately, we were coming home from our cruise, so we just had a bummer of an ending to our vacation.


You are also in the middle of thunderstorm season. Two weeks ago we had a flight delayed for FIVE HOURS because the originating flight was stuck due to storms. WE had clear weather and our destination had clear weather.

(With 17 hours of flight delays in a month, I'm ready to be done traveling for awhile. Thankfully my kids were troopers through both ordeals.)

 

[xavier2001]

If it was a direct flight less than 3 hours on a higher reliability airline (Think Delta vs. Allegiant) I would absolutely consider it (and in fact did it for a Fantasy cruise a few years ago). You can look up airline reliability rates on google. But I'd also have trip insurance just in case. That said I prefer to live on the wild side, most of these board apparently do not .

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If it was a direct flight less than 3 hours on a higher reliability airline (Think Delta vs. Allegiant) I would absolutely consider it (and in fact did it for a Fantasy cruise a few years ago). You can look up airline reliability rates on google. But I'd also have trip insurance just in case. That said I prefer to live on the wild side, most of these board apparently do not .

We've flown in the "day of" 4 times (out of 17 cruises), but 8 other cruises were local or B2Bs. That leaves 5 that we flew in at least a day before (or more). Most of those that we flew in the day of, we had backup (plan B) plans, "just in case". These included booking an additional flight one time (prices were really good and it only cost us about $100 extra for the "insurance"), as well as just having a list of the next 4 flights out of LA that would get us to MCO in time.

We've never needed to use any of the plan Bs. Most of the time we take the "red eye". Although it's not so much red eye, as it leave LA at 10:00pm (not terribly late) and arrives in Orlando around 6:00am (a little early, but not bad). That gives us a 8 hour window for a buffer.

 

[n2mm]

Never. Make sure if you have travel insurance. I've not had a flight on time over the past year. SW and Jetblue out of dca and bwi. SW last summer, 4 hours late which included an emergency landing in Jacksonville because mco was closed for a storm.......5 hours late in October for mechanical issues......only 1 hour late in May for mechanical issues (all SW flights). Watched a group of ladies crying because they couldn't get on a full flight as standbys because their flight was cancelled and they were going to miss their cruise. That was enough for me.....I buy travel insurance and fly down TWO days before my cruise now! Good luck on what you decide.

 

[Aliceacc]

There are always possible reasons for delays. Aside from storms-- which can happen any time of year-- there are a million things that could cause your flight to be delayed, causing you to miss your cruise.

With all the money you're spending on this vacation, spend a little more and travel a day early.

 

[asamklove]

We have done it twice - once into Fort Lauderdale & once into San Juan...fine both times.
I'd buy trip insurance & cross my fingers. HAVE A BLAST!!

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Not much of a gambling person and a nervous flier, always the day before and travel insurance. For all the reasons given, plus just the state of airport security, security lines. It may not be the plane, crew, weather. Given all the recent events, security issues at the airport may delay you as well.

 

[Judyat]

You never know. We always book the day before.

 

[sc426]

I always come in the day of the cruise. Of my 4 cruise with DCL, 3 have been in/out of MCO and the other was an Alaska cruise in/out of Vancouver. All three times that I flew into MCO the day of the cruise I have never had a problem, delay, etc. The three times of the year that the cruises were was August, December and February. Our next cruise will be October 2017. We will be coming into MCO the day of the cruise.

 

[wl1117]

Well, there was a family on here that missed embarkation of their Transatlantic recently. They were booked (thru Disney) arriving on embarkation day and missed the boat...they don't wait on you even booking air with Disney. We personally will never risk it.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

they don't wait on you even booking air with Disney.

Not true. We've had delayed departures for parties arriving late who were booked through DCL a couple of times. It depends on how soon the ship must depart to meet other time constraints, and how long the delay will be.

 

[wl1117]

Not true. We've had delayed departures for parties arriving late who were booked through DCL a couple of times. It depends on how soon the ship must depart to meet other time constraints, and how long the delay will be.

I guess I should say its not guaranteed that they'll wait on you.

 

[RedSox68]

I guess I should say its not guaranteed that they'll wait on you.

There is a whole thread about the woman who recently missed the departure of the EBTA from PC because she booked through Disney and Delta put her on a plane arriving at 1 p.m. So Disney got her to Boston to meet the ship there but they did not wait for her in PC

 

[JillSchorr]

we are going on our 9th cruise tomorrow and we have always flown the morning of with no issues. We have good trip insurance but it's definitely a risk! We always take the first flight out in the morn...the 6 am one and have never run into a problem. We have a 2 hour flight.

 

[bumbershoot]

If you're risking it, and if you are assuming you can somehow make it on the ship later if there's a delay...make sure you have a passport and make sure there's a port stop that you can fly to.

The TA situation was lucky there was a Boston stop. If it had gone straight out to see, there would have been no way even though she booked air through Disney.

Ultimately the word "guarantee" just means you get some money back if the thing they are guaranteeing can't happen.

 

[Lilly Belle 84]

Two weeks ago my brother flew in the morning of and because of a delay missed his connection, the rest of our party was getting ready at the Hyatt MCO since we had flown in the day before and when we got his call I can tell you we were all distraught thinking we'd have to board without him. While it all worked out eventually, it was just as stressful and disappointing for us as it was for him. We all agreed next time no one would fly in the day of, it's just not worth it, you never know what can come up.

 

[disneymath]

I'll add my vote to the NO, don't do it, arrive the day before group.

It's not just weather that can delay or cancel a flight. Even if you are flying in from a major airport and using an airline that is part of an alliance, the less time you have to get to your destination, the less chance the airline will be able to come up with a Plan B to get your large group to MCO on time, or even together, if something does go wrong.

(We travel as a party of 8, and had flight issues getting to Copenhagen last summer ... and we booked our flights to arrive a day and a half before the cruise departed. Long story short, the airline, part of the Star Alliance, couldn't rebook us all on the same flights. We ended up with new flights that had us arriving on departure day. To make matters worse, my parents were routed through the USA (we're Canadian), experienced additional delays, and barely made it on the ship. They actually missed the regular muster drill, it was that close. It was so stressful and our worst travel experience ever.)

 

[bumbershoot]

Today is a fun example.

DH is traveling. He isn't supposed to anymore, having gotten a promotion, but he was their only hope LOL. So he's going from NY to Savannah. I dropped the ball and wasn't even *thinking* weather, and so no one checked weather. If I had checked Newark's website 6 hours ago I would have seen the tornado warning info and I would have urged him to get to the airport earlier. La Guardia put up the tornado warning EIGHT hours ago. But he wasn't flying out of LaGuardia.

So he got to the airport nice and early for his 3ish pm flight. Got on the plane....delayed at gate. Nearly an hour later they were "unboarded". Then the flight was cancelled. As were tons of others.

United had nothing so he got that refunded and booked with Delta. Out of LaGuardia. Hour-long cab ride there, really really early for a 9ish pm departure.

But NY and ATL (oh yeah, he can't get to SAV tonight at all) are 3ish hours behind. So almost immediately his 9ish flight leaves after midnight. Not sure if it's going to be all fixed tonight, or if the dominoes are going to keep falling until the morning.

What if this happened the night before your flight? What if dominoes were still falling and your flight was delayed unexpectedly? What if it was delayed and then the pilots or crew went overtime and had to switch out? What if the delays from the night before meant your crew was over-time and they had to let them sleep or get a new crew? And that delayed you? etc etc etc.


It's easy to gamble when it's never happened to you. But when you see how bad it can get and how long the badness can last, it's hard to convince yourself to take a day-of flight.

In March we took an overnight flight on Delta to arrive early in the morning for our cruise. We were soooo nervous the whole time. It worked out. I doubt we'll do that again after this reminder.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Bumbershoot, I hate to give you a "like", as your DH did not have any experience to "like". But I do agree with you (so you got the like).

Flying in the same day "should" be fine. But what if it's not? That's what you have to ask yourself as you make this decision. Paying out for a hotel a night early sucks, especially when you've already paid a lot for a cruise. But paying a lot for a cruise sucks as it sails away without you, too.

 

[Becky925]

We had a flight several years ago. It was suppose to leave at 6pm. We got to the airport super early to grab dinner and just look around. It's about a three hour drive to that airport. We get there around 3pm. Have dinner, I get a text that our flight is delayed. Turns out the flight is delayed because there is some sort of mechanical issue. My plane had to be repaired, fly to Boston, fly to Orlando, come back to Dulles and pick us up and fly us to Orlando. All told we were almost delayed 5 hours. It cut into some of our Star Wars Weekend time, but fortunately our cruise didn't leave for two more days. Moral is, even if it's semi quick fix, if your plane was suppose to go somewhere else first, it still has to make all it's trips before it comes back to you.