There is no question that whenever a cat sees a carrier suddenly appear in a place where a moment ago there was none, there is or soon will be feline hell to pay. To a cat, a carrier can only mean one of two or three unpleasant things; a trip to the vet, the groomer or a boarding facility. All of these kitty-unacceptable locations demand an alteration of their daily schedules and are, therefore, worthy of non-cooperation. Cats associate the carrier with a change of routine and so you must be very careful and try to outsmart them (ha!) if you need to transport a cat anywhere.
One possible tactic is to bring the carrier out of the closet or wherever a day or two before you need it, and place it opened in an obvious place, like the living room. A favorite blanket and some catnip might even entice them to investigate. The cats may be wary initially, but when they see they are not being shoved inside it, they may go in it themselves and check it out. They seem to like being inside as long as the door is open. (I once was lucky enough to find the cat I needed to take to the vet already conveniently sleeping inside the carrier. I simply closed the door. Don’t count on this, however as it doesn’t happen very often.)
You might want to consider getting in the carrier yourself and showing them there’s nothing to fear. Even if you can manage to pull this off, I would bet money you won’t be able to get out without the help of the local fire department. I wonder what the cats would do if that happened. They would probably laugh and figure that we deserve whatever we get for trying to outsmart one of them! Maybe they would release you the next mealtime. Who knows?
Happy carrier!