Flying to a Cruise: Best Timing

Flying to a cruise is a precise art, at least for me. You do not want to be too early and wait around… but at the same time, being late could be a very costly mistake. Given that not all flights are on time, for some flying same-day is a big no-no, while others who are less risk-averse are happy to fly at the last minute.

This was running through my brain as I booked our weekend February cruise to the Bahamas. 

You can check out the trip report here, including:

• Affordable and Efficient: Southwest to Florida
• Booking a Cruise: Triple Stack
• Liberty of the Seas: Interior Cabin Review
• Liberty of the Seas: Ship Review
• Perfect Day in Coco Cay Review
• Spending a day in Nassau
• Lounge Review: Centurion Studio FLL
• The Weekend Cruise… would I do it again?

When to Fly?

I thought about flying to Florida the night before. It would have prevented us from having to get up bright and early for a 6am flight the day of the cruise’s departure. It would have been the least stressful option.

That said, it also would have been a more costly option. We would have had to pay for the hotel, whether it was with points or dollars. Further, coming back from school to D.C., I wanted to spend a night at home before flying south. The evening flights are also more expensive than the morning of the day of the cruise.

For those who are risk averse, I think it makes a lot of sense to arrive a day or days prior to setting sail. One can always incorporate Miami or Fort Lauderdale (for many Caribbean cruises) as a destination on a trip. This may also help to save on flights since you have the flexibility of flying in any time on one of the days prior to the cruise’s departure vs.the morning the ship leaves (this was not the case for us).

However, it has the potential to make a weekend cruise significantly longer. A 3-night cruise like ours becomes 33% longer if you stay over the night prior.

One other note, many residents of the state in which the ship leaves will simply drive to the port and have less worry. I am curious what proportion of weekend cruisers are in-state. That said, for many of us around the country, we don’t have that luxury.

The Last Point

I booked a 6 AM flight to South Florida knowing I’d have at least 2-3 more options to fly out if something happened to the 6AM flight. Having said that, I do not think I would have felt as comfortable with a 10 AM departure while trying to make the ship that departed at 4 PM..

It did not make sense for us to fly to Florida the night before, all circumstances considered, especially knowing there were multiple e flights the morning of the cruise’s departure. However, if I was cruising from somewhere other than Florida, I likely would fly in the night before to Europe or Alaska given that often the flights will include a connection, increasing the likelihood that you may not make it on time.