Family Warns Cruisers After a Breakdown Made Them Miss the Entire Cruise

Cruise Fever is always reminding cruise travelers to arrive early.  There’s nothing worse than the stress of trying to make it to the ship when a flight is delayed or there is traffic on the road.

As a rule of thumb, arriving at least the day before “sail away day” can keep most problems from derailing a cruise vacation.

But for one Canadian family, a recent attempt to save time and money on a cruise out of New York turned into a multi-thousand-dollar headache.  One member of the family took to Reddit to warn others to “Always. Leave. The. Day. Before”.

After just a few hours of being posted on Reddit, the social media page had already racked up over 250 comments from both sympathetic and wisdom-giving readers. 

The original poster shared how the 7-hour drive from Canada to the Brooklyn seemed manageable enough to leave the day of the cruise.  Unfortunately, this was not the case.

The Breakdown

The family planned to board MSC Meraviglia with a 1:00 PM boarding time. They hit the road at 5:30 AM on a Sunday, leaving them a narrow window for making it to the ship on time.

And just two hours into the trip, the family truck suffered an engine failure on the highway.

Thinking back on the decision to drive down the morning of the cruise, the cruiser stated it was a “Big mistake.”

“No dealerships were open nearby because it was a Sunday, so we basically had to abandon the truck in another country. We rented a car and had to drive home (we wouldn’t have made it to New York in time).” the user shared.

“We missed the cruise… we also got no refunds for the cruise (or excursions) and our travel insurance did not cover anything.”

The loss was just as much personal as it was financial as the would-be-cruise-passenger stated, “I was also supposed to have my birthday on that cruise”.

Why the ‘Day Of’ Strategy is a Gamble

The Reddit thread was filled with veteran cruisers reinforcing the posters message. What was the consensus? If you aren’t at the port city at least 24 hours before the gangway goes up, you’re playing roulette with your vacation.

“People laugh at me for arriving at the airport hours early, but I’d rather be sitting in an airport bar than waiting for AAA and missing my vacation,” wrote one user.

Another commenter pointed out the hidden benefit of arriving early: “If you get in the night before you get a good night’s sleep and a pleasant breakfast instead of staggering onto the ship after you’ve driven cross country.”

I find that I sleep a lot better the night before the cruise when I know I’m only a short taxi or Uber ride from the port.  Sure, you can have travel insurance to soften the blow, but you still miss out on a cruise. 

And if you have Cruise Fever like we have it, that’s the worst part.

The Logistics

Many comments questioned why the family couldn’t simply catch up with the ship at the next stop. But the reality of maritime law and cruise line policy is pretty clear.

When the family asked to meet the ship at the first port, the cruise line refused, citing legal reasons.

“We called MSC and asked if we could meet them at the first port and board the ship, they said no. Apparently it’s illegal,” the user stated.

While sometimes these requests are granted depending on the itinerary and specific port regulations, it is never a guarantee and often involves expensive, last-minute international travel.

Lessons Learned

The quality of your cruise travel insurance also matters as much as your arrival time. While the original family’s plan didn’t work out, other cruisers noted that the fine print makes the difference.

Many in the comments said they now rely on certain credit cards for protection or specialized companies like Allianz to make sure they are covered for car breakdowns or medical emergencies.

Really, the goal is to give yourself extra time for the “what-ifs.”

You might get lucky a dozen times by showing up on the day of the cruise departure, but it only takes one instance to change your whole view of the “show up early” philosophy.

The original poster says they will never take the risk again, stating that this experience changed how they travel forever.

So, learn from this cruiser’s mistake instead of making it yourself. It’s a lot cheaper that way.