Pre- and Post-Cruise Stays: Airfare, Transfers & Extra Days

Article 7 of 13 in our Cruise Planning Guide — how to plan a cruise, one decision at a time.

With your booking locked in and protected, it’s time to plan the trip around the trip: how you’ll get to the ship, how you’ll get from the airport to the port, and whether a pre- or post-cruise stay is worth adding on either end.

Booking Your Flight

We tend to book our cruises a year out (and sometimes more). For this reason, flight schedules aren’t even available for us to look at. We usually fly United out of the Denver hub, and their schedules don’t go live until about 11 months out. To get an estimate of airfare, I usually plug in some values using the same days of the week (as airfares on days vary somewhat predictably). Once the fares become available, I start working in earnest.

Refundable v. Non-Refundable. This isn’t quite as drastic as it seems. I mentioned Denver is a United hub, so we almost always fly them. For this reason, we usually buy “non-refundable” tickets. In the event we have to cancel, though we won’t get cash back, we will get a credit from United for a future flight.

That said, there are some serious caveats:

• This refund-in-credits plan only applies to Economy-and-up fares. If you book Basic Economy (which I would never advise), you are not eligible for this credit. Your ticket is a true use-it-or-lose-it.
• The credit has an expiration you need to actually plan around. It’s valid for one year from the date the original ticket was issued — not from when you cancel, and not from your original travel date. And the rule is that you have to commence travel by that date, not just have a new trip booked. This is the detail people miss and then lose the credit over.
• You have to actually cancel it, not just miss the flight. The credit exists because you canceled before departure. A no-show (not canceling, just not showing up) is treated differently industry-wide, and the safe assumption is you lose the value entirely. Be sure to take the time to cancel the moment you know you need to.
• The credit is non-transferable, tied to the person named on that ticket — If I cancel and Dwaine does not, he cannot use the credit for a future flight for himself. The credit is tied to me alone.
• These are the rules as they apply to United, but they are not industry-wide. Be sure to check your own carrier to determine what their cancellation rules allow.

Fly In at Least One Day Early

We fly out of Denver, which means even an early wake-up call doesn’t get us to most port cities until afternoon. That’s cutting it too close for our comfort, and here’s why: weather delays, mechanical issues, long TSA lines — any one of them can turn a same-day arrival into a missed sailing. And catching up to a ship that’s already left port isn’t always possible. On a transatlantic crossing, it’s simply not an option at all.

So we build in a buffer. Flying in the day before gives you room to absorb a delay without it costing you the cruise.

It also opens up something worth having anyway: time to actually see the port city. Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Galveston, New Orleans, Long Beach — these are real destinations in their own right, with their own food, sights, and things to do. Treat that extra day as a bonus leg of the trip, not dead time to get through.

We’ve taken this further than one day, too. For river cruises in Europe, we’ve flown in a week or two ahead of time. That’s given us room to visit cities that weren’t on the itinerary at all — Munich, Berlin — or to visit relatives of Dwaine’s, or just to explore a city like Amsterdam properly instead of squeezing it into a single port day. The Anne Frank House alone requires a reservation and eats a good chunk of a day; add the Van Gogh Museum or the Rijksmuseum and a single day on a river cruise itinerary simply isn’t enough.

A note if your airfare is bundled with your cruise fare. Some cruise lines, Viking especially, include airfare as part of the package. If you want to extend your stay on either end, you can usually work with them to change the flight booking — just know there’s typically an added fee to make that happen. It’s almost always worth it.

Don’t Book Your Flight Home Too Early

The same buffer-day thinking applies on the other end of the trip, just compressed into hours instead of days. Don’t book a flight home departing much before 11 am to noon on disembarkation day, even though your cabin has to be empty by around 8 am (Cruise Disembarkation Tips). Getting off the ship, clearing customs, and getting to the airport all take longer than people expect, and none of it is fully in your control.

A good rule of thumb: give yourself at least five hours between the ship’s scheduled arrival time and your flight’s departure, and don’t cut it closer than three under any circumstances. Self-assist disembarkation (carrying your own bags off) and TSA PreCheck can shave real time off that — some cruisers manage a 9 am flight this way — but treat that as the exception, not the plan, especially your first time out. If your port sits far from the airport, like Galveston or Port Canaveral, add even more room. If it’s practically next door, like Fort Lauderdale, you’ve got a little more flexibility.

On a longer or international sailing, especially one ending far from home, it’s often worth skipping the same-day flight question entirely and booking a hotel night instead, flying out fresh the next morning.

Arrange Your Transfers

Getting from the airport to your hotel, and from your hotel to the ship, matters more than people expect — and the right answer changes depending on where you’re sailing from.

When it’s simple: Flying into somewhere like Fort Lauderdale, we always book a hotel that offers a port shuttle. Many of them do, usually for a small additional fee, and it’s worth every dollar. No fumbling with rideshare apps or taxi lines the morning of embarkation — you just show up in the lobby at the right time.

When it’s not so simple: Sometimes the transfer becomes part of the adventure itself. On a recent transatlantic crossing, we planned an extra week in London before flying on to Cairo for a Nile cruise. Rather than a plain transfer from the port of Southampton into London, we booked with a company called International Friends, who drove us in with stops at Stonehenge and Windsor Castle along the way. The price was reasonable, and they gave us plenty of time at each stop — turning what could have been a dull transfer into a sightseeing day of its own.

The takeaway: don’t treat a transfer as an afterthought. A little research can turn it into either a stress-free formality or an unexpected highlight.

Pre- and Post-Cruise Stays: Book Near the Port (and Adjust for Europe)

If you’re staying in the U.S. before or after your cruise, you’re likely already familiar with the hotel styles and amenities you’ll find. Europe runs a little differently, and it’s worth knowing the differences before you land.

• Check-in times run later. Don’t be surprised by a 5 pm check-in. Plan to drop your luggage with the hotel and go explore rather than sitting around waiting for a room — otherwise you’ve wasted a chunk of your day.
• Breakfast usually costs extra, and it’s usually worth it. Most European hotels offer breakfast as an add-on rather than including it. We always take it. It’s a great way to start the day, and it often means we can skip lunch altogether and save some money along the way.

Bottom Line: It’s Your Vacation

Don’t let the cruise line dictate how long your trip lasts. The ship’s schedule covers the cruise — what happens before and after it is entirely up to you. Take charge of it, and make the whole trip yours, not just the part on the water.

Next Up

With airfare and any extra stays sorted, it’s time to look at the optional extras — the drink packages, wifi, and other add-ons that can either enhance your trip or quietly inflate your bill. We cover that in Are Cruise Drink and Wifi Packages Worth It?

Next up in the guide: Are Cruise Drink and Wifi Packages Worth It? Or head back to the full Cruise Planning Guide to pick up wherever you left off.