Why not to fly in the morning of a cruise

[Ravenne]

Concerning lost luggage meeting up with you at a later port. Airlines will do their best to forward your luggage to try and meet up with you. Keep in mind though that most Caribbean flights are smaller aircraft and if there’s no extra room in the cargo hold for your luggage, your luggage will not go. Especially with airlines that are not in the same airline group. For example a United airlines lost to bag getting on an American Airlines flight has lower priority than an American pax lost bag.

Not just Caribbean...
It's not a bad idea to look up your flight info on seatguru and get a good idea of the size of the plane. I did that with our return flight from Vancouver on Air Canada...a major airline even. I thought it would be fine. We travel with just carry ons, I'd double checked our bags' dimensions with Air Canada's restrictions, and they all were within the sizes. So we get on this plane, I took one look at the overhead compartment, and went uh....sooooo how do I get this small rolling suitcase in that tiny box? The thing was so small, I struggled to get our personal item backpacks in there. The flight attendant, bless her, had to play Tetris with our suitcases to get them under the seats. I'm sure quite a few people ended up having to gate check their otherwise carryon bags on those planes, and hopefully, it'll get to the appropriate destination, because I can't imagine the cargo area is spacious. Then there were the WestJet plane seats. The overhead compartments were normal size, but the seats all have a box (floatation device, etc instead of the seat cushion being the flotation) underneath them that hangs quite low so you can't shove a bag under the seat like most commercial planes. It sticks out, and you get yelled at by the flight attendant to shove and make your bag fit, but it won't fit because that box is in the way.

I thought I was being smart flying with only carryons and doing my homework so that all of my bags were within the airlines' rules, but I learned real life doesn't always match what their websites say.

 

[mousefan73]

Not just Caribbean...
It's not a bad idea to look up your flight info on seatguru and get a good idea of the size of the plane. I did that with our return flight from Vancouver on Air Canada...a major airline even. I thought it would be fine. We travel with just carry ons, I'd double checked our bags' dimensions with Air Canada's restrictions, and they all were within the sizes. So we get on this plane, I took one look at the overhead compartment, and went uh....sooooo how do I get this small rolling suitcase in that tiny box? The thing was so small, I struggled to get our personal item backpacks in there. The flight attendant, bless her, had to play Tetris with our suitcases to get them under the seats. I'm sure quite a few people ended up having to gate check their otherwise carryon bags on those planes, and hopefully, it'll get to the appropriate destination, because I can't imagine the cargo area is spacious. Then there were the WestJet plane seats. The overhead compartments were normal size, but the seats all have a box (floatation device, etc instead of the seat cushion being the flotation) underneath them that hangs quite low so you can't shove a bag under the seat like most commercial planes. It sticks out, and you get yelled at by the flight attendant to shove and make your bag fit, but it won't fit because that box is in the way.

I thought I was being smart flying with only carryons and doing my homework so that all of my bags were within the airlines' rules, but I learned real life doesn't always match what their websites say.

You bring up a great point on carryon. For those looking at european carriers. They are more restrictive with carryon both by policy and at times smaller aircraft. When I am in US airports I am shocked by the size of almost everyone’s carryon rollers. They HAVE to exceed at least the weight limits and are huge. Wouldnt even fit under the seat ( yes they all should fit under there, you might not have leg room but they should fit there) . Most eeuropean carriers limit to 8kg ( 17 lbs ). Vienna security weighs carryon. Others do too. Low cost carriers are even more restrictive in size and weight. US carriers are an exception on what they allow as carryon. IMO many are now longer carryon size bit small suitcase size taking up half an overhead compartment, sideways. Roll-ons should fit wheels first, handle out

 

[Shanti]

Early December Dallas Ice Storm... You do get winter weather sometimes! And it messes EVERYTHING up when it does. Ex was trying to get out of then back to Dallas inside of 24 hours (for our son's first dance company performance) and it was a nail-biter! Only reason he got back to Seattle was b/c his cab driver was brave and safe at the same time, and they just barely missed a jackknifed truck on the exit ramp getting HOURS early to the airport to his much-changed flight. Then from the moment he landed until when the performance started we were on hold with American, securing his flight back. He missed the 24 hour mark by a few hours but it worked out. And were on the phone for nearly 2 days making it happen. Every time the airline automatically booked him into something it was DAYS later. At one point we were both on the phone and on laptops, finding flights that even the phone agents weren't refreshing fast enough to see.

Anyway, you can end up with issues. It's just rare.

Yes, anything could possibly happen, such as getting into a major car accident on the way to the airport, a terror threat shutting down all flights, getting very ill right before the cruise, etc. No one can control all possibilities. That's why I get good trip insurance that covers all parts of our trips, including the flights.

But I'm not going to make all of my plans based on a 1% chance of something happening. Winter weather almost never causes issues with early morning direct flights between here & Florida. I've flown out of here when ice was on the roads & there was no disruption at all. I also typically book flights to Florida via SWA, and their customer service is a lot better than American's (although that's not saying much- they are an airline, lol.)

We fly in a day ahead of time and even then, we almost missed a cruise. It wasn't due to weather, it was mechanical...

I even read one account of a person on these boards who missed the cruise due to booking the flight for the night before, when they would have made it if they had booked it for morning of. Evening flights are often delayed, and theirs had some extreme delay that couldn't be remedied until too late the next day. But flights that the airline had scheduled for early the next morning went out on time.

So yes, anthing can happen, which is why we always pay for good insurance.

 

[Dug720]

I even read one account of a person on these boards who missed the cruise due to booking the flight for the night before, when they would have made it if they had booked it for morning of. Evening flights are often delayed, and theirs had some extreme delay that couldn't be remedied until too late the next day. But flights that the airline had scheduled for early the next morning went out on time.

So yes, anthing can happen, which is why we always pay for good insurance.

Yep. It wasn't a cruise I was on in Feb but a WDW trip, but getting down was tense. There was what was predicted to be pretty major snow on Saturday night and my flight was scheduled on Sunday morning. I paid the change fee to move to a Saturday afternoon flight and I cancelled my Saturday night hotel in Newark and got one at MCO since my WDW reservation did not start until Sunday to try and beat the storm. On the train to Newark Airport, I got a text that my flight was cancelled. Immediately called JetBlue as I was getting off the train and going to AirTrain. She got me onto a later flight that evening - after the snow was supposed to start. There was a flight scheduled to go out shortly that I felt like I could make (one reason I am obsessively early to the airport...just in case), but it was showing as sold out. I asked about stand-by and she said I'd have to ask about that in person. So I raced through security - being very glad I have PreCheck - and went immediately to the assistance desk and asked about stand-by. There was a supervisor there who helped the guy helping me, and I don't know how they did it, but they got me on the earlier flight. Which was a little delayed getting out but we did. The flight I got rescheduled to was even later and did not get in until like 3am, so I was very glad that I made the earlier one.

Of course the irony in all of that stress was the "storm" did not have nearly the bite they expected, and my originally booked flight went off exactly on time Sunday morning.

 

[mevelandry]

Yeah, I had one full change of clothes and my pajamas in my carry-on just in case...in future I'm going to bring the same, plus at least one pair of sandals, since I would have been stuck in sneakers all week (in beautiful, warm weather) if my luggage hadn't made it to Miami. Figure between the clothes I wear on the plane and one full change, I can always do laundry and/or buy one or two more shirts to see me through. When I do the runDisney event before the cruise all of my running gear is going in the carry-on, even if it means having to take a bigger carry-on than I normally would when checking a bag. The heck with risking it on stuff that you just have to have for the trip to go off right.

A carry-on is your best bet. I think I avoid almost all risks of losing my luggage by travelling only with my carry-on (yes, even for a whole week! There are a lot of tips on how to pack on Pinterest). All my essentials are in there (glasses, contact lenses, meds). Everything else, I can buy!

 

[mevelandry]

Not just Caribbean...
It's not a bad idea to look up your flight info on seatguru and get a good idea of the size of the plane. I did that with our return flight from Vancouver on Air Canada...a major airline even. I thought it would be fine. We travel with just carry ons, I'd double checked our bags' dimensions with Air Canada's restrictions, and they all were within the sizes. So we get on this plane, I took one look at the overhead compartment, and went uh....sooooo how do I get this small rolling suitcase in that tiny box? The thing was so small, I struggled to get our personal item backpacks in there. The flight attendant, bless her, had to play Tetris with our suitcases to get them under the seats. I'm sure quite a few people ended up having to gate check their otherwise carryon bags on those planes, and hopefully, it'll get to the appropriate destination, because I can't imagine the cargo area is spacious. Then there were the WestJet plane seats. The overhead compartments were normal size, but the seats all have a box (floatation device, etc instead of the seat cushion being the flotation) underneath them that hangs quite low so you can't shove a bag under the seat like most commercial planes. It sticks out, and you get yelled at by the flight attendant to shove and make your bag fit, but it won't fit because that box is in the way.

I thought I was being smart flying with only carryons and doing my homework so that all of my bags were within the airlines' rules, but I learned real life doesn't always match what their websites say.

I noticed that on Air Canada, they rarely measure carry-ons so a lot of people are abusing the rules by bringing luggage that are an inch or two bigger than what is authorized... and some of them bring more bags than they are supposed to. And a lot of people put bags there that could fit under a seat.

 

[beansmom]

Yup! Though we have never missed the boat, we have friends that have. They were stuck in Boston in February two years back for 24 hours with just summer clothes since they thought they would only need Bahama temperature clothing.

this is exactly why we are taking the auto train down next Feb (we'll be in FL for a month)...I told dh I could NOT deal with the stress of Boston weather while trying to make a cruise. Nope...not me.

 

[kiford]

I noticed that on Air Canada, they rarely measure carry-ons so a lot of people are abusing the rules by bringing luggage that are an inch or two bigger than what is authorized... and some of them bring more bags than they are supposed to. And a lot of people put bags there that could fit under a seat.

It depends. I'm amazed by the size (and sometimes the number) of bags that people bring as "carry-ons" that they let on (not just AC but WestJet) which I personally consider to be full sized luggage. However, I've also quite often seen, when the flight is full and it's a smaller plane, that the ticket agents and/or gate agents will weigh carry-ons and/or make people put them into the little bins that determine whether your bag will fit under the seat and then be forced to check their bags at the last minute. I've quite frequently seen requests made for people to check their bags at the last minute for no cost (I'm convinced that some people hold onto oversized carry-on luggage hoping for this to get free bag check) but they will occasionally make people do it. Usually I find that it's only for the shorter flights, like to MCO from Toronto or Toronto to Ottawa, where the plane is small that they enforce it. But they can and do enforce it so I'm always careful to make sure that I'm within limits because you just never know.

 

[southerngirl528]

shorter flights, like to MCO from Toronto

Just to clarify, are you calling Orlando to Toronto a short flight? I mean, it's hardly a long international flight, or a flight to Hawaii, but I would count that as more like a typical domestic flight.

If one is flying in a regional jet, or turbo-prop, for shorter flights, the overhead bins can be SUPER small as someone described above. I just flew from IND to CLT on a regional jet and the bag of popcorn I had purchased in Chicago earlier would BARELY fit! It was laughable. The paper bag was barely larger than a lunch bag.

I think more and more folks are trying to pack everything into a carryon because it seems that the time it takes to get one's baggage after a flight can be awful. I literally wait almost an hour often from the time my plane is at the gate. That is crazy. Being a girl, with all my aerosols and liquids, I rarely can do just a carry-on though.....

 

[YawningDodo]

You bring up a great point on carryon. For those looking at european carriers. They are more restrictive with carryon both by policy and at times smaller aircraft. When I am in US airports I am shocked by the size of almost everyone’s carryon rollers. They HAVE to exceed at least the weight limits and are huge. Wouldnt even fit under the seat ( yes they all should fit under there, you might not have leg room but they should fit there) . Most eeuropean carriers limit to 8kg ( 17 lbs ). Vienna security weighs carryon. Others do too. Low cost carriers are even more restrictive in size and weight. US carriers are an exception on what they allow as carryon. IMO many are now longer carryon size bit small suitcase size taking up half an overhead compartment, sideways. Roll-ons should fit wheels first, handle out

I wish instead of giving size requirements they'd give the actual measurements of the overhead compartments, though I know that's difficult because they're not rectangular and most carry-on bags are. I carry a large, soft backpack that's technically over-size according to the rules, but because of its shape and ability to squish, it fits perfectly in a standard overhead compartment, exactly according to the way you're supposed to load bags in, whereas I've seen lots of rolling bags that meet the requirements set out in the rules but only fit in the bin sideways because they're rigid and have wheels that poke out, and end up taking up tons of extra space. I've never once been asked to gate-check it, though I always know it's a possibility and am prepared for the eventuality. I am a little nervous about taking it to Europe, since the compartments may be a different size, so I may have to get something else to be safe since I don't want to check any luggage (the one time my luggage got lost, it was in Europe and it was a nightmare).

Not just Caribbean...
It's not a bad idea to look up your flight info on seatguru and get a good idea of the size of the plane. I did that with our return flight from Vancouver on Air Canada...a major airline even. I thought it would be fine. We travel with just carry ons, I'd double checked our bags' dimensions with Air Canada's restrictions, and they all were within the sizes. So we get on this plane, I took one look at the overhead compartment, and went uh....sooooo how do I get this small rolling suitcase in that tiny box? The thing was so small, I struggled to get our personal item backpacks in there. The flight attendant, bless her, had to play Tetris with our suitcases to get them under the seats. I'm sure quite a few people ended up having to gate check their otherwise carryon bags on those planes, and hopefully, it'll get to the appropriate destination, because I can't imagine the cargo area is spacious. Then there were the WestJet plane seats. The overhead compartments were normal size, but the seats all have a box (floatation device, etc instead of the seat cushion being the flotation) underneath them that hangs quite low so you can't shove a bag under the seat like most commercial planes. It sticks out, and you get yelled at by the flight attendant to shove and make your bag fit, but it won't fit because that box is in the way.

I thought I was being smart flying with only carryons and doing my homework so that all of my bags were within the airlines' rules, but I learned real life doesn't always match what their websites say.

That's crazy! I have a large backpack I normally use for carry-on that fits perfectly in a full-size overhead bin, but it doesn't fit in the bins on the smaller planes that fly in and out of Montana. No normal carry-on does; those planes and their bins are tiny. But because they operate within the standards set by the national carriers, you can still take those items as carry-ons--you have to gate-check them, but it's a separate gate-check system with no charge, and you pick your bag back up at your arrival gate rather than at baggage claim. I've gotten so used to it that I always assume I won't have any access at all to my larger carry-on while I'm in the air...but that I'll still be able to take it without getting charged.

A carry-on is your best bet. I think I avoid almost all risks of losing my luggage by travelling only with my carry-on (yes, even for a whole week! There are a lot of tips on how to pack on Pinterest). All my essentials are in there (glasses, contact lenses, meds). Everything else, I can buy!

Oh, I know the benefits of going carry-on, and I have gone carry-on only for years. I'm probably going to go carry-on only when I fly to Europe this fall, though I'm going to have to check requirements and decide whether my regular carry-on will work.

I started checking a bag on some trips in the last couple of years because I get a free checked bag when I fly United and because there are conveniences to be had when allowing oneself to bring more than will fit in carry-on. On the cruise this January, for instance, I checked a bag with most of my clothing because I was bringing two costumes, including a very bulky pair of boots. The other reason is the gate-check system for full-size carry-on (described above in reply to Ravenne) that I have to deal with every time I fly from my home state to wherever I'm connecting through. When I have a tight connection, bringing a full-size carry-on could put me at risk of missing my connecting flight if they're slow about unloading things and getting them to the arrival gate to be picked up. I had a tight connection in Denver in January (on the original itinerary, at least), so I'd decided the risk of lost luggage was a lesser evil than the risk of getting delayed on my connection.

 

[Bethany10]

IMO many are now longer carryon size bit small suitcase size taking up half an overhead compartment,

I agree, and I've never flown outside of the U.S. I've noticed more and more people trying to take huge carryons on the plane rather than pay for a suitcase. At $25 one way, for our family of 4 thats $200 round trip for the suitcases. That's a plane ticket to Atlanta for us. It leads to a major headache when trying to get anything into or out of the overhead bins too as they're all jammed with these huge suitcases.

 

[Bethany10]

and the bag of popcorn I had purchased in Chicago

I am so jealous. Garrett's or Nuts on Clark?

 

[southerngirl528]

Hahahahaha!!! Figured someone would catch that! You're fast! Yes. It was Garrett's. Chicago Mix. Now we both want a snack, yes?

 

[Bethany10]

Sigh. I've been known to take a layover in Chicago just to get the popcorn. Coming out of KC it's not that unusual depending on where you're going. My DH goes to Lexington frequently and the last time he had a Chicago layover I made him bring me back a snack.

 

[serenitynow]

Hahahahaha!!! Figured someone would catch that! You're fast! Yes. It was Garrett's. Chicago Mix. Now we both want a snack, yes?

Oh yum. Every time my Sam’s Club gets Garrett’s Chicago Mix in we stock up because it doesn’t last long in the store.

 

[laurenpetro]

i don't think i have the stomach lining to handle flying in the day of.

 

[ChicosWife]

Definitely. My father who lives in southern Ontario was flying to Santiago for a cruise a few years ago. He decided to fly out of Buffalo as it's a lot less expensive than out of Toronto. He'd booked two nights in Santiago prior to the cruise. The night before they were scheduled to fly out there was a snow storm warning. So he decided to drive to Buffalo the night before the flight and stay in a hotel. The morning of his flight, the storm started and when he went to the airport the flight was cancelled. They couldn't book him anything for two days which would mean he'd arrive after the ship left. But they were able to get him a flight out of Toronto the next day. So he stayed overnight in Buffalo again. It took him 6 hours to drive to Toronto the next day due to weather, traffic and road conditions. Got to the plane barely in time. So they missed one night in Santiago but made the ship in time. His insurance paid for his extra night in Buffalo, costs for flight changes, and one night in the hotel in Santiago which added up to about $1100.

Wow! That's great!!

 

[RedSox68]

Before I left on my June 2 Mediterranean cruise I had seen posts on here about whether it was ok to fly in the morning of a cruise. I just wanted to give a PSA that there were actually a couple of families on my cruise that tried to do this for our cruise leaving from Barcelona. However, their flight was delayed and they actually did miss the ship. Then our next day was a sea day so they missed that as well. They ended up catching up with the ship on the second day of the cruise, the port day in Naples, dropping off their luggage with the ship and going directly on their excursion. (I actually saw them handing the luggage over as I got off for my excursion). So, just know missing the boat has happened to people very recently.

NOT a great way to start a vacation. My stress levels by that time would be flatlining

A lot of people (including my boss) grit their teeth at spending that one-night hotel room fee. For me, it's well worth the peace of mind!

 

[Smurfie00]

Not just Caribbean...
It's not a bad idea to look up your flight info on seatguru and get a good idea of the size of the plane. I did that with our return flight from Vancouver on Air Canada...a major airline even. I thought it would be fine. We travel with just carry ons, I'd double checked our bags' dimensions with Air Canada's restrictions, and they all were within the sizes. So we get on this plane, I took one look at the overhead compartment, and went uh....sooooo how do I get this small rolling suitcase in that tiny box? The thing was so small, I struggled to get our personal item backpacks in there. The flight attendant, bless her, had to play Tetris with our suitcases to get them under the seats. I'm sure quite a few people ended up having to gate check their otherwise carryon bags on those planes, and hopefully, it'll get to the appropriate destination, because I can't imagine the cargo area is spacious. Then there were the WestJet plane seats. The overhead compartments were normal size, but the seats all have a box (floatation device, etc instead of the seat cushion being the flotation) underneath them that hangs quite low so you can't shove a bag under the seat like most commercial planes. It sticks out, and you get yelled at by the flight attendant to shove and make your bag fit, but it won't fit because that box is in the way.

I thought I was being smart flying with only carryons and doing my homework so that all of my bags were within the airlines' rules, but I learned real life doesn't always match what their websites say.

We might have been on same plane. Those overhead bins were SMALL.... Luckily our carryon were international hardshell without any pockets and kid sized. But I saw so many people having trouble putting their carryons inside the overhead. My husband said the flight attendants were encouraging people to put smaller items overhead and larger items under seat

 

[southerngirl528]

We might have been on same plane. Those overhead bins were SMALL.... Luckily our carryon were international hardshell without any pockets and kid sized. But I saw so many people having trouble putting their carryons inside the overhead. My husband said the flight attendants were encouraging people to put smaller items overhead and larger items under seat

On a lot of the smaller regional jets and turbo-props, the gate attendants ask everyone with to "Valet Check" their larger carry-ons due to the tiny size of overhead bins. What surprised me flying last week was that apparently for those souls that have booked the new category of "economy coach" (the bare bones cheapest fare where you don't even get a seat assignment until flight time I think, last to board, etc., etc.), were going to be CHARGED to "Valet Check" their bags if they didn't move fast enough when the gate attendant offered valet check. YIKES.