Fort Lauderdale Disembarkation Westerdam

[beachdreaming]

Hi all you experienced HAL CC'ers. A couple of years ago in Norfolk, HAL let you off the ship early if you could carry all your own bags. Does HAL still offer this? If I did carry my own bags and took ther 2 of us took cab from the port to the FLL airport - could I make an 11:30 AM flight? Thanks for any insight into this.

[MercedMike]

Hi all you experienced HAL CC'ers. A couple of years ago in Norfolk, HAL let you off the ship early if you could carry all your own bags. Does HAL still offer this? If I did carry my own bags and took ther 2 of us took cab from the port to the FLL airport - could I make an 11:30 AM flight? Thanks for any insight into this.

A couple of weeks ago there was no self disembark. The ship was cleared exactly on schedule and disembarkation began at 8:15. We had early colors, and were off the ship by 8:30. Luggage was well organized, we got a porter easily and he swept us through customs and immigration very rapidly. Everything was moving quickly. Cabs were a bit chaotic with no cab rank or dispatchers, but our porter snagged two cabs and sent us off to FLL airport. We were at the airport by 9:15, checked in and through security by 9:45, in plenty of time for an 11:15 flight. BUT -- every single thing worked perfectly for us. Any tiny glitch anyplace along the way would have held us up and made it very chancy to catch a flight that early. It is much more comfortable to follow the ship's suggestions and book a flight after 12:30.

Have a GREAT cruise!

[NHCruisr]

We were on the February 4 Westerdam cruise - the one with Norovirus. Disembarkation began a bit late, it was not as organized as HAL usually is (incorrect public announcements), and we took the HAL transfer to the airport. The Ft Lauderdale airport was the usual chaos that it is on Saturday and Sunday, lines were long in check in and security. Gates were crowded with people sitting on the floor. Food stands had long lines (and these were people who had been eating for a week!). (We try to avoid Saturday and Sunday disembarkation for all those reasons).

We've had 11:30 flight times many times and have made it. We probably would have made it on this day, but I would have been nervous. It was just too close.

On a very positive note, we had an excellent cruise and loved the Westerdam. Happy cruising!

[Schplinky]

We were on Jan 21 and were not in a great hurry to get off the ship. Our flight was not until noon. The ship arrived at 7 and disembarkation did not begin until about quarter to or ten to nine. They paged one passenger to meet with a customs official and a number of passengers to guest services. There was no noro our week (although there was a code red the week before and after, I think) but inspections may have taken a while.

[Nasmas]

We were on the 02/25 Westerdam also. My husband is in a wheelchair and we had to wait so long for someone to help him, we just barely made our 12:25 flight We wouldn't have made it if he hadn't been in the chair. We would never have made an 11:30 flight. You can make it but why chance it?

[lka1012]

I have always disembarked in Ft Lauderdale and it is generally a breeze up until the time I arrive at the airport. My flights do not leave until 4:30 and the airport will not even let me check my luggage until three hours before my flight. I think next time I will follow the a suggestion and rent a car for a few hours .....

[beachdreaming]

The reason that I'm considering the 11:30 flight is because it's a direct flight, otherwise I leave later and then still have LONG layovers before my next fllight getting me into my home airport late. Then I still have to drive from the airport to my home - about 1 1/2 hours. Hubby and I both work bright and early the next day. Oh.....some day I'll be retired and not have to worry about all of the time factors and having to return to work. Thanks everyone for your input - I value and appreciate it.

[retiredldo]

Take the 1130 flight you will be there in plenty of time is there the possiblity of an exception yes but my goodness they want to get the ships cleared out so the new cruisers can board they pull in around 5 or 6 we were on the 2/11 cruise and they did get in a bit late we were off the ship at 0845, I had a problem with my tickets but we were still way ahead of schedule for our 1030 flight Just ensure that you fill out the information correctly, as you will have a form we were black 2 (independent, urgent) due to flight time 14 cruises have always taken an early flight be with two exceptions one was out of tampa but we cruised out of port canaveral the other P RIco Press on

[Schplinky]

The reason that I'm considering the 11:30 flight is because it's a direct flight, otherwise I leave later and then still have LONG layovers before my next fllight getting me into my home airport late. Then I still have to drive from the airport to my home - about 1 1/2 hours. Hubby and I both work bright and early the next day. Oh.....some day I'll be retired and not have to worry about all of the time factors and having to return to work. Thanks everyone for your input - I value and appreciate it.

i think you'll make it easily. We had to wait around the temrinal to go through security (they only let you go through two hours before your flight) and we flew out at 12:30 so we must have been checked in an waiting by 10:30.


I don't know why it takes them so long to clear the ship but it does. Do keep on top of your luggage tags! We checked in online and said when our flights were and all that. Then, they gave us luggage tags that would see us getting off the ship 45 min before our flight. We went to Guest Services and they gave us new ones. We were off in the second or third group, at 9:10.

[Marie321]

We were on the 12/31 - 1/7 Westerdam. We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale port at 6 AM and were all tied up with gangplank in place by 7 AM. However, we had Noro on the ship and were not cleared to disembark by port authorities until 9:30. We had filed our flight plans and our color was not called, not called, not called . . . Our flight was at 11:20. My husband finally went to the Purser's desk and got permission to disembark. Lines were bad at the airport--we missed our flight.

[Schplinky]

We were on the 12/31 - 1/7 Westerdam. We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale port at 6 AM and were all tied up with gangplank in place by 7 AM. However, we had Noro on the ship and were not cleared to disembark by port authorities until 9:30. We had filed our flight plans and our color was not called, not called, not called . . . Our flight was at 11:20. My husband finally went to the Purser's desk and got permission to disembark. Lines were bad at the airport--we missed our flight.

Hopefully, noro is a rare thing on ships, although I wouldn't say that to the current Ryndam cruisers (or those from the previous two sailings) or those who endured code reds on Westerdam recently. Ok, maybe it's not all that rare anymore.