11 a.m. flight for Eastern Caribbean cruise on Eurodam

[sunsetcruise]

Help - we are looking at booking an 11 a.m. flight on the day of disembarkation on March 19, 2011. The itinerary says the ship gets in at 7 a.m. Holland America says not to book a flight before noon but wondering what experience other people have had.

Thanks for any help. :)

[Globaliser]

Holland America says not to book a flight before noon ...If the cruise line advises not booking a flight before noon, then why are you trying to book a flight before noon?

If you are chasing the lower prices, remember that there's a reason why earlier flights on cruise ship turnaround days are often cheaper than later flights: they're cheaper because they're too early for the cruise ship passengers, so demand is lower, so prices are lower.

[KAKcruiser]

Even though the ship arrives at 7 a.m. passengers are not permitted to disembark until immigration clears the ship. And, there is always the possibility that the ship will arrive late. There is a good possibility you would make the flight. But, maybe not. Do you want to take a chance?

[terigo]

What a way to ruin a perfectly lovely vacation..... stressing on the last day about whether you are going disembark with enough time to make your flight.....

You could be delayed getting off the ship for any number of reasons, the most common of which are customs and immigration.

We once sat around in the public rooms till after 10AM because some non-Americans (whose names they kept calling on the loudspeakers) did not show up for immigration check...

Luckily, we just get in our car and drive home from the pier, but if we had to fly......no way would we take the chance on a flight before noon, no matter HOW long we had to hang out at the airport.

[High Flyer]

Help - we are looking at booking an 11 a.m. flight on the day of disembarkation on March 19, 2011. The itinerary says the ship gets in at 7 a.m. Holland America says not to book a flight before noon but wondering what experience other people have had.

Thanks for any help. :)

Welcome to CC. I noticed they are forcasting a little over 13,000 folks arriving and another 13,000 departing on March 19, 2011. If everything went perfect, I think you could make it. The key word here is "IF"........I have to go along with everyone else and advise for a later flight and maybe a FLL shore excursion if for no other reason than to calm the nerves and keep the glow going.:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Why be stressed on the last day of the cruise with catching an early morning flight home -- book a later one -- far too many things can go wrong.

[Randyk47]

I'm far from being as experienced as many on this board but I have cruised out of Ft Lauderdale several times. I've learned a couple of things the hard way or very close to the hard way. Never fly in the day of the cruise if you can avoid it. Never book a flight out before noon. Interestingly the only flight we've missed outbound was actually out of Tampa and it was a 1 PM flight so that goes to show even later flights are no guarantee. Stuff can happen and all sorts of stuff happened that morning from late arrival in port due to weather and engine trouble to clearing immigration and customs.

[mindydaile]

The other thing to consider is what airline you are flying and whether you will be checking bags. The last time we went out of FLL after a cruise we were at the airport by 9am but between the line to check bags and the line at security we didn't make it to our gate until just after 11:45. Luckily our flight was at 12:25 so we were fine but ended up cutting it much closer than we would have thought.

[navybankerteacher]

Help - we are looking at booking an 11 a.m. flight on the day of disembarkation on March 19, 2011. The itinerary says the ship gets in at 7 a.m. Holland America says not to book a flight before noon but wondering what experience other people have had.

Thanks for any help. :)

It is interesting how people seem to be disinclined to take the advice of the line, which is something of an expert in the field of debarkation in particular and travel in general; and seem to prefer advice from unidentified strangers who, from the tone of many of the posts seen on CC, may very well be certifiable.

[natty bumppo]

I've been in the same dilemma before and just faced the same for our January 15 Eurodam. Non-stops in the $80-$90 dollar range for FLL to BWI with times from 10:45 to 11:15 or so. Couldn't do it; too risky. Went for a 1:35 instead and will pay more. Even with only three previous cruises, I have seen an unexpected customs delay that would have made the flight impossible. I also realized that I would end up spending the vacation wondering if I would catch the earlier flight instead of enjoying myself. And disembarkation morning is stressful enough even without racing the clock.

[babygirl722]

Book the later flight and be stress free!

[Himself]

I would not book until noon or 1PM. Last year I was on the Zuiderdam and we got into FLL at Port Everglades and the Eurodam was also in. Disembarkation for us was a disaster that day. i attribute it to two big HAL ships being in port at the same time. I was supposed to get off at 9:45 and it was darn near 10:45 when I l left the ship and 11:15 when I cleared the terminal. My flight was at 1:00 and I did not have too much time to spare.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Welcome to the HAL Board of Cruise Critics, you have come to one of the best places to ask questions.

I too have to agree with all the others, I have done several cruises out of FLL and there is no way I would book a flight before 12 Noon and actually more like 1PM. I have seen several occiasions due to winds the ship coming back in do not always make it in by 7 AM and then if there are problems clearing customs, I was delayed getting on the Statendam in April 2009 because the ship did not get in till after 10 am and disembarkation did not start till 11:00. Plus the other problem is you are sailing on Saturday and so is the Oasis of the Seas so along with the Eurodam and her passengers you have another 5000+ passenger also wanting to catch flights out of FLL. We were there in January with a 1:30 flight home on a Saturday and trust me we did not have much for spare time. The line to get a taxi took over an hour :eek:

I am heading to FLL in 3 weeks and we are cruising out on Sunday. September still has very few ships so there should not be any crowds but I still selected a flight that left at 2:30 in the afternoon and I could have gone much earlier.

[Willsot]

For our last two departures out of FLL we had 1:30 p.m. flights which were just right for us.

[Copper10-8]

Yes, it is possible to make that flight out of FLL since it is one of a few airports which is extremely close to the port (San Diego's Lindbergh Field is another one). However, it is also possible that Mr. Murphy can make an appearance (in multiple scenarios) and if he does, you'll be up caca creek without a paddle. I would book a flight at or after 1200 hrs

[natty bumppo]

A quick search on Southwest's cruise site and a count of ships listed capacities returning that day indicates approximately 18,000 passengers (give or take 1,000) will disembark in FLL on March 19. A staggering number.

[PC168]

Carry your own luggage and if they let you do the express check out. We booked our flight 10:40 last year, 10:40am! very risky and we made it out of from Miami last year, we carried our own luggage and arrived at the airport at 8am. Sat there for over 2 and half hour but that flight was delay and did not leave until 3pm because the snow storm from north. What a stressful day for us.

[Tampa Girl]

It is interesting how people seem to be disinclined to take the advice of the line, which is something of an expert in the field of debarkation in particular and travel in general; and seem to prefer advice from unidentified strangers who, from the tone of many of the posts seen on CC, may very well be certifiable.

I tried not to laugh. Failed.

[Oceanwench]

It is interesting how people seem to be disinclined to take the advice of the line, which is something of an expert in the field of debarkation in particular and travel in general; and seem to prefer advice from unidentified strangers who, from the tone of many of the posts seen on CC, may very well be certifiable.

Awesome post! :D

We drive to the port, so we don't have to worry about airport nonsense. Phew!
But as so many others have said, listen to HAL and book a later flight. So much can go wrong, including traffic jams! We're known for those down here.