A cruiser looking forward to a Royal Caribbean vacation has left a warning online. After multiple flight delays started piling up ahead of the cruise, this traveler stated the importance of flying well ahead of embarkation.
While it’s tempting to just book a flight the same day as embarkation day on your cruise, more often than not it’s just inviting trouble—or at least some extra stress.
It’s hard enough for many people to get enough time off work to have a nice 7-day cruise, and the idea of flying into the city of the cruise port at least one or two days ahead of time might seem like overkill.
But after one Reddit user posted a warning about what happened this week, a lot more travelers are paying attention.
An Online Warning Turns Real
With a post entitled, “THIS is why you fly in the day before”, user Mamm0nn gave several status updates as they were attempting to fly from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Fort Lauderdale for a Royal Caribbean cruise.
But what began as a minor inconvenience—a flight delay of a few hours—quickly snowballed into a worst-case scenario.
“On our 3rd flight delay… total of 5hr 30 minute delay so far… now getting in at 1AM the date of the cruise,” they posted late yesterday, still hopeful they’d make it to the ship after a late-night arrival.
Read more: 7 reasons you should never fly on embarkation day
From Delay to Disaster at O’Hare
Then came the first bit of even worse news: the flight was canceled.
The traveler then rebooked on a 5:00 AM flight the next morning, figuring they could catch a few hours of shut-eye on the airport floor and still get to the port in time.
So, now it was a same-day flight on cruise day, a situation the person was trying to avoid in the first place.
But the bad news seemed to keep getting worse. In a second update, Mamm0nn shared the sad reality:
“13 hours at O’Hare, 5 delays, 2 flight cancellations. We can’t get to Fort Lauderdale out of O’Hare until tomorrow evening.”
By then, their ship would be long gone. With no rental cars available to escape back to Milwaukee, they faced a bleak wait for a 6:30 AM bus, followed by an Uber ride home.
But there was at least a small silver lining in all of this, which should also be a reminder to all cruise travelers out there.
“Glad we got the insurance!!!” they added, a small win at least after a string of losses.
Others Shared Their Own Close Calls and Advice
The post racked up 211 upvotes, drawing dozens of comments from fellow cruise enthusiasts in the group.
Some offered practical tips like suggesting checking out flight delay compensation through the U.S. Department of Transportation—while others shared their own rules of thumb:
“I’ve never been one to cut it close. Our next one, we’re going in 3 days early.”
The comments were filled with stories of near-misses and hard-earned lessons, from driving cross-country to avoid flights altogether to last-minute shopping sprees when luggage didn’t make it.
The original poster’s story isn’t just bad luck—it’s a textbook example of why flying on departure day is a roll of the dice. Airlines can have issues for any number of reasons: storms, mechanical issues, staffing problems.
Cruises, though? They stick to the clock. Miss the boarding window, and you’re out of luck, watching your vacation fade over the horizon.
Cruise Fever and most cruise experts agree: arriving a day ahead—or even two or three—isn’t overkill; it’s peace of mind. It gives you time to settle in, maybe explore the port city, and start your trip refreshed instead of ready to pull your hair out.
This traveler’s cruise insurance will likely soften the financial blow, covering the cruise fare and extra costs—depending on what type they bought–, but it can’t replace the thrill of taking a cruise.
So, next time you’re eyeing that same-day flight to catch a cruise, think of this story. Think of being stuck at the airport, dreaming of a ship you never got to board.
Flying in early means you have to spend extra time away from home and extra money on hotels, but it’s a vacation, and it’s supposed to be a relaxing occasion.
But if you book a short cruise for a very low price, and don’t mind taking the risk, by all means go for it. Just remember to tell us the story and if it was worth it or not.
