Late Departures

Do you cringe when you know you have a late flight from your departure airport?  There are plenty of you who do get really fed up that they have to wait a long time for the flight home after getting “kicked” off the ship in the morning.  For most long haul flights the truth is that most of the flights back to the UK are in the evening. For Europe it is better however, sometimes you are not able to get that ideal flight time and have to wait many long hours before you depart.

Many people ask me why they are not able to wait on the ship. That would be perfect wouldn’t it, but the ship needs to be cleaned, beds to made up, and the new set of people are due to arrive.  So, what can you do apart from waiting many a long hour in a airport?

Well there are a few things you can do, forgive me if this is telling you things you already know, however, there are many people out there who are really stuck and want advice.

One of the first things is that sometimes the cruise lines will offer a little city tour before dropping you at the airport. This is for clients who have booked flights with the cruise line, and only confirmed when on board. In my experience the city tour hasn’t been much I must say, and you are still left!  I have booked a airport hotel before, as a day room. You can do this before you go (all subject to availability of course) or you could even book a couple of nights and advise the hotel you are not going to arrive till such a date. This can be a bit more costly of course but at least you know your room is ready and waiting.

The best way though in my opinion, is to get your transfer, go to the airport and pay for your luggage to stay in left luggage. Then go out , get a taxi and see some of the sights in the city. You could even google for a lovely recommended restaurant before you go and have a nice long lunch there, with plenty of time to get back to the airport for your check in. I have done this many a time and find it is the best and cheapest way to get around it.

There are of course, always a few differences. Some cruise lines will let you stay on board but again it does depend on them and you still have to get out of your cabin, in my experience, just bite the bullet and try to do something. I do remember one year coming off a Carnival cruise in New York, NOT having anything planned and we waited at JFK all day – we could not even check in our luggage because the check in desk wasn’t open then! Big mistake!!

Hope this helps!

Till next time x