Ft Lauderdale flight

Is an 8:50a flight out of Ft Lauderdale (disembarking Oasis) doable? We have only cruised out of Ft Lauderdale a couple of times. The 8:50 flight is quite a bit cheaper than all others.

I would be very uncomfortable with a flight that early. I'm sure people have done it before, but you have virtually no margin for delay.

For an 8:50 flight you need to be at the airport by 7:50 at the latest if you are going to check bags. You MIGHT be able to do it, but you might not. You would need to carry your own luggage off and be in the first wave of folks off of the ship. If all goes right you will make it. If one thing doesn't you won't. No way would I do a flight that early.

My brother had a flight that early on the Oasis last year, but it was in the middle of the summer, and not peak season. He made his flight just fine. Just make sure you're one of the first off the ship, make it known your flight is that early, and if it appears you might have issues making it at FLL, curbside check your bags, and then show the first TSA agent you see your boarding pass, and they'll bring you to the front of the security line.

Not worth the stress in my opinion...

There is a reason why that flight is cheaper. I would not chance that flight for a second

nope...would not do it...I would be thinking about it all week...not a nice vacation...too many factors that can hang you up...all out of your control...good luck trying to rush customs folks...DOES NOT HAPPEN...THEY MOVE AT THEIR OWN SPEED...and most of them do not smile and when you say thank you...:eek:

I by all means understand trying to save money with airfare, I always try. That being said, there is no way I am going to rush my trip back to reality within an hour of ending my vacation. I just spent 3-7 of the most relaxing days of my life and not gonna kill that feeling within minutes of leaving the ship.

Tim

I think that would be to close , not worth the stress

There is a reason why that flight is cheaper. I would not chance that flight for a second

Exactly. It's poorly timed for cruise connections so there is less demand. How far out are you booking? You always run the risk of a slight schedule change too. I imagine those mid-morning flights during peak times have very few empty seats making it difficult to get on another flight. Just not worth the stress IMO.

After hearing stories of people being able to do the early flights from FLL, we decided to give it a try in November after our Allure cruise, and we were sitting at the gate at 6:50am for an 8:20am Southwest flight. The key is being in line to walk off with your luggage by 6:00am at the latest (and hope the ship isn't delayed). Allure and Oasis in Fort Lauderdale are the only ships we would even think of doing something like this. It definitely made for a better transition back to reality on Monday to be home in Colorado by mid-day Sunday instead of sitting in an airport all day and then arriving at 7:00pm and getting home at 9:00pm.

And here I was worried about my 11:05 flight. Good luck, hope you can make it.

Thanks for the feedback friends! We will probably book a later flight.

What's the secret to quick disembarking for Oasis and Allure? Earlier arrival and more capacity in the terminal? My only experience is with terminal 25 which I understand is said to be the slowest.

What's the secret to quick disembarking for Oasis and Allure? Earlier arrival and more capacity in the terminal? My only experience is with terminal 25 which I understand is said to be the slowest.

Get in the self-assist line as early as possible.

My brother had a flight that early on the Oasis last year, but it was in the middle of the summer, and not peak season. He made his flight just fine. Just make sure you're one of the first off the ship, make it known your flight is that early, and if it appears you might have issues making it at FLL, curbside check your bags, and then show the first TSA agent you see your boarding pass, and they'll bring you to the front of the security line.

The earliest we ever book is 10:30, but sometimes we get there and the 8:50 flight hasn't left, but that is really cutting it close.

And I have never seen TSA allowing someone to cut ahead in line because they were short on time. Has anyone else?

Why are you asking? Of course you can do it. But I'm with the other 99% of people who would not risk it. Good luck.

It took us over an hour to go thru Customs and Immigration after a cruise last November at Pt Everglades. They only had a few agents on duty. What a nightmare!

It took us over an hour to go thru Customs and Immigration after a cruise last November at Pt Everglades. They only had a few agents on duty. What a nightmare!

I am with you. I did self assist and would not have made this flight. you are cutting it too close.

Why are you asking? Of course you can do it. But I'm with the other 99% of people who would not risk it. Good luck.

I think that was answered in their original post. :rolleyes:

On a ship that big I would say no. But there are factors that could allow you to make it if everything works out.... You would have to walk off the ship or perhaps if you have a suite and get off super early. It would help if you are TSA pre check. FLL is one of the easier trips from ship to airport...but the earliest we have done is 10 am. And we are usually one of the first off and we have our pre Check and global entry certifications.

Remember that, potentially, thousands of other passengers from Oasis and from other ships are heading to the same airport as you. There is absolutely no way I would book a flight this early.

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It took us over an hour to go thru Customs and Immigration after a cruise last November at Pt Everglades. They only had a few agents on duty. What a nightmare!

I agree with you, there are some things you'll have no control over. There were 4 agents checking us all out on Indy in January. Just because we did luggage valet didn't help those others in line.

We chose to spend an additional night in FLL, mainly because our arrival home, leaving around 1 Pm would have gotten us home around 10 PM or after. We now leave around 7 AM the next day and arrive home at 11:30 AM in Calif at the end of our OCT 2015 SOS cruise.

This is why I love Southwest and their miles program. With Southwest, you can cancel a flight up to 10 minutes before departure and get all your miles back.

We booked a 9:15am flight out of FLL, also after the Oasis. But, we also booked a 6:15pm flight. We are going to do our best to make the 9:15am, but if that doesn't happen we'll wait for the 6:15pm and incur no penalty by canceling the 9:15am.

I'm not sure what their cash policies are, maybe they just refund for credit and not cash though. They have no change fees, but I'm not rolling the dice and assuming the flight won't be full last minute, we just book both.

This way, we will probably make the 9:15am flight and not have to worry about it the whole time, because our worst case scenario is as good as we could have done anyway.