Carry off luggage?

[awfw]

I know that several of the other cruise lines have instituted the choice to carry off your own luggage at disembarkcation. Does Holland America allow this and would it help to do this and make a 10:30 am flight from Ft. Lauderdale airport? Thanks for any help you can give.

awfw

[jjones]

I usually roll my own bag off the ship because I don't like searching for it among the thousands of other bags in the warehouse. It should save time if you tell the purser's desk you need to be in the first group to disembark to make your flight time. Take a cab, waiting on the bus can eat up all the time you saved.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Yes - HAL does allow passengers to take off all their own luggage -- they are the first group to be called.

[O2B@C]

Yes, HAL does allow passengers who agree to carry their own luggage to do so, and to disembark first. They will distribute a form to your cabin for you to fill out and return, where you can indicate that you wish to do so.

Even if you do so, however, and take a cab (which you will need to do if you want to get to FLL fast), planning on making a 10:30 am flight is chancy - not impossible, but at best, a nail-biter. So much can go wrong, and in these days of full planes, if you miss your flight, you may have to wait quite a while before you can get a seat on another one at the last minute.

The fact that the airport is only 10 or 15 minutes from the port is deceptive. Remember that the airlines require you to be at the airport about an hour before your flight, especially if you are checking bags. If the ship is late coming into port, or if there is a delay in the ship being cleared for disembarkation by customs and immigration, you might not be able to disembark as early as you had planned. If there are several ships in port, particularly if your ship is not the first to begin disembarkation, the lines for check-in and security at FLL may be long.

Do you really want to end your wonderful relaxing cruise vacation with this kind of stress? If it's still possible for you to do so, I would recommend that you rethink your post-cruise flight plans. Good luck!

[awfw]

Thanks for your responses. I realize that trying to make a 10:30 flight is risky and that we will be playing a game of chance but the alternative is to wait until early evening for a flight that gets in very late. We really don't want to take a shore excursion in Ft Lauderdale and don't want to hang in the airport all day! My thinking is that we can try it and if it doesn't work we have until Sunday night to find a way back since we return on a Sat.! Haven't made the final decision yet, but we'll see. Thanks again.

awfw

[awfw]

Thanks for your responses. I realize that trying to make a 10:30 flight is risky and that we will be playing a game of chance but the alternative is to wait until early evening for a flight that gets in very late. We really don't want to take a shore excursion in Ft Lauderdale and don't want to hang in the airport all day! My thinking is that we can try it and if it doesn't work we have until Sunday night to find a way back since we return on a Sat.! Haven't made the final decision yet, but we'll see. Thanks again.

awfw

[awfw]

Thanks for your responses. I realize that trying to make a 10:30 flight is risky and that we will be playing a game of chance but the alternative is to wait until early evening for a flight that gets in very late. We really don't want to take a shore excursion in Ft Lauderdale and don't want to hang in the airport all day! My thinking is that we can try it and if it doesn't work we have until Sunday night to find a way back since we return on a Sat.! Haven't made the final decision yet, but we'll see. Thanks again.

awfw