10:55 am flight ... yay or nay?

[emen822]

I am looking to book my flights for my cruise in April out of FLL. Return flights are 10:55 am or 2:55 pm. I only cruised once out of FLL but remember it being a zoo when we got off (2 years ago). If I arranged for a cab to pick us up and walked off with our luggage, think we have a good shot at making it? I don't remember how long the trip was to the airport and wonder if disembarkment has gotten better (or maybe we were there on an off day).

Opinions please.
TIA!

Mary

[molly361]

If you walk off with luggage you should have plenty of time.

[uksimonusa]

The Cruise port is basically at the end of the runway of the airport, so you should have no problems

[Sue L]

It is a few minute ride, I wouldn't have a cab waiting that you have to "find" I would rather just do self disembarkation and grab one of the ton of cabs that will be there.

I made a 11:20 flight with a ton of time to spare and we docked in Miami. Unless there is a delay in arriving back you should make that flight with no problems.

[amybear912]

I'll be your 'nay'...

Here was our experience...

Our flight was 11:44am...

Cruise did not start disembarking until 9:30am due to customs issues... We walked off with our baggage... but due to the late start, just getting off the ship was a chaos...

Arrived at the airport at 10:30...

They were boarding the plane by the time we arrived at the gate (security lines were long)...

It was close... too close...

I will concede that had the ship disembarked on time we would have made that flight without any issues...

[klr]

We also were delayed three times getting off, once due to Customs "not being available" until 10 AM, once due to Aliens not registering properly so no one could leave until they were found and the last time each passenger exiting got searched in LA due to some comment about a gun. It was noon before we got off that time. The point is, it is out of your control.

[mamasue]

I would go for the later flight..... just so I don't have the stress of wondering if we'll make it!

[newbiecruiser09]

Originally Posted by mamasue

I would go for the later flight..... just so I don't have the stress of wondering if we'll make it!

I would also go for the later flight. If you get there early, you could always try to go stand by on the earlier flight. I would rather have some more time to get off the ship leisurely or spend some time chilling in the airport than to be rushing and possibly not making a flight.

[publicpersona]

You should examine the costs of missing the flights. How many later flights are there to your destination? What would it cost you to change flights if necessary.

We tend to book early flights and have no trouble making them 99% of the time. It isn't a hassle or stressful for us, and I hate sitting in airports wishing I was home. 10:30 or abouts for FLL is a no-brainer for us, and we've made them even when security line was more than an hour. BUT if you don't have a good contingency plan, or think you'll be stressed out if there is any delay, choose the later flight.

[TXFrank]

Does the cruise line industry publish any stats on on-time arrivals like the airline does? I am not sure I would make a critical decision based on that but it might be interested to see which ports and which ships are more efficient with the process.

[SASSYnLV]

I disembarked in Barcelona at 8 am. Thirty minute drive by shuttle bus to Barcelona airport. Got baggage, waited in line and made an 11 am flight to NYC.
Just make sure you get off the ship as early as possible and you should have no problem.

[TRadle]

I believe your flight time is a mere 5 minutes earlier than the recommended flight time by the cruise line. You will have the earliest disembarkment time even if you don't walk off your bags.

The scenarios mentioned above could happen anytime, but they usually don't. The airport is so close to the terminal that if you print your boarding passes the night before and do the luggage valet, which I think is available in FLL, you should have no problems at all.

Buy trip insurance for the unexpected and enjoy your cruise.

[Sue L]

Originally Posted by TRadle

I believe your flight time is a mere 5 minutes earlier than the recommended flight time by the cruise line. You will have the earliest disembarkment time even if you don't walk off your bags.

The scenarios mentioned above could happen anytime, but they usually don't. The airport is so close to the terminal that if you print your boarding passes the night before and do the luggage valet, which I think is available in FLL, you should have no problems at all.

Buy trip insurance for the unexpected and enjoy your cruise.

that is way too early for the luggage valet, that usually have a no earlier then noon restriction. If they do self-disembarkation they will be fine.

[silentbob007]

Originally Posted by TRadle

I believe your flight time is a mere 5 minutes earlier than the recommended flight time by the cruise line. You will have the earliest disembarkment time even if you don't walk off your bags.


Buy trip insurance for the unexpected and enjoy your cruise.

I believe that if you choose a flight earlier than what the cruise line recommends, trip insurance will not cover that flight and the costs associated with missing it ... this may vary based on insurance chosen but don't think this will automatically cover you.

I made a 10:05 flight out of FLL carrying off as soon as I could but it was closer than I would have liked (and flying Southwest, I wouldn't have made it if I had needed to check bags as the lines were insane). You have better odds if you are in FLL midweek as opposed to Friday-Monday.

[tw861]

A hard call there. It will become very stressful if there is any delay at all getting off the ship. That being said the you can see the airport from the ship. This past January Continental had an 11:30 flight to Houston I could have booked but didn't because Carnival discouraged it. Opted for the 2:30 departure, took our time getting off the ship and still got to airport about 10:30. After a long wait to check bags..about 30 mins, was very busy with all the ships in port. The agent said he could get us on the 11:30 if we wanted, and offered to do it without charging the fee. We did it and rushed to security..another 20 minute wait. Fortunately ours was the first gate after security and we walked on with less than 5 minutes to spare.

If everything goes well should be no problem but just remember depending on your airline, it could be a long wait for both checkin and security.

[curtains]

If you are going to spend a lot of time worrying about it, I would take the later flight. We are usually off the ship really early, but things can get delayed.

[crusinmama06]

I'll be your NAY too!

There is no comparision between Miami and FLL. The traffic at FLL is MASSIVE. It's like one big bottleneck.

Here is our story. Our TA at the time wanted to schedule 10:45 flights for everyone in the group. I talked her out of it and said "No flights before noon". Having never been to FLL personally, she went along with me.

We get off the ship really early and hit the long line of taxis. You must wait in this massive line. Then the airlines have that "45 minute" check in limit so if we were 1 minute late to the counter (and believe me, there were many) then the airline will lock you out of that flight.

So yes, the distance between the port and the airport is about 1.3 miles. However, there are too many "what ifs" when you are dealing with FLL. Their traffic flow is terrible. Their cab situation is terrible.

We made it to the airport at 10:45am - so luckily, we were in time for our noon flight.

[CanuckMO4]

Hi there just puting in my 2 cents,I was on the Voyager 1 trip and we got into port at 1025 am instead of 7 am due to bad weather,This was a nine night out of New York.Needless to say at lot of people missed there 11 and 1130 flights and there money.Over here in Canada they say in the fine print in the back of the book you shouldnt book your return flight before 1pm if your making your own arrangements.I think better save than sorry.

[SeaTeach]

Originally Posted by emen822

I am looking to book my flights for my cruise in April out of FLL. Return flights are 10:55 am or 2:55 pm. I only cruised once out of FLL but remember it being a zoo when we got off (2 years ago). If I arranged for a cab to pick us up and walked off with our luggage, think we have a good shot at making it? I don't remember how long the trip was to the airport and wonder if disembarkment has gotten better (or maybe we were there on an off day).

Opinions please.
TIA!

Mary

After being on vacation (which is suppose to be a debriefing time), I would not dare to add stress at the end of it by putting myself in a situation which could go wrong. Chill on your return. Hauling your own luggage with people coming at you from all angles, standing in the same spot on the same floor for too long, with a plane to caught in a few minutes will raise your blood pressure and cancel the positive. Why do that so soon after a vacation?

[suni]

The airlines changed their schedule and we also will be departing at 10:55 am. I have no choice. We are planning to carry off and hope for the best!
I would rather risk this than sit in the airport for three hours ! That is SUCH a downer, ecpecially after the near all nighter that we usually have on the last night on the ship!