The other day I got a listener email asking if they should arrive a day early before taking their cruise vacation?
My response was YES, and followed by three reasons:
1. Airline delays. Winter storms, tornadoes, lost baggage and airline mechanical issues are all excellent reason to fly out a day early. Getting travel insurance, especially if flying, is a smart move.
Living in Florida, I tend to leave the morning of and take the first flight out, but the longest flight for me is 55-minute from Jacksonville to Miami, so I can always drive five-hours south in plenty of time. However, if I’m cruising out of NYC, New Orleans, Galveston, Seattle or Boston, I always leave a day early.
2. Last minute shopping. More times than not I’ve always forgotten something on my cruise. A good example is my last cruise I left my sports jacket in the rental car. Arriving a day early allows you to make sure you have everything in order to make your trip smooth as possible.
3. Experience the city. Typically when we cruise in and out of a port, we don’t get to experience what it has to offer. I’ve cruised out of Fort Lauderdale dozens of times before I actually spent time pre-cruise to experience biking the Florida Everglades and taking a day trip down to the Florida Keys to eat some amazing seafood. There are plenty of pre-and post-cruise hotels like Hilton Garden Inn Fort Lauderdale Airport-Cruise Port.
By the way, if you’ve never experienced the Florida Everglades, you are missing out. You don’t need to take a tour, you can rent a car and do it on your own for half the price.
These are just three of many reasons why you should arrive to your cruise port a day early.
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