Flight home from Tampa Airport

Need opinions. There is a flight home non stop at 11:25am. Flying home from Tampa. I know the cruise line suggests no flight before 12:00 noon. The only other flight home would be at 8:30pm which means waiting at the airport all day or getting transportation and flying home from Orlando airport which leaves at 4pm. I am torn as to what to do. Any suggestions and opinions will be very helpful.

I have also posted this on my roll call & the Florida boards. Looking for as much information as I can get.

Thank you,

Tight, but doable.

You would need to do self disembark. And grab a cab.

Last year they had days that immigration held things up a bit. And I think a few days where fog in Tampa Bay delayed the arrival a bit.

You mention non-stop. Are their connecting flight options?

If you wind up with the 8pm flight, rent a car and go do something for the day.

Sometimes NCL has a post cruise tour for those with later flights. That would be a consideration if you take the 8:30 flight.

Or do consider renting a car and driving to Orlando for the 4pm flight. As Garycarla suggested, look into connecting flights.

I would do the 11:25 and express walk-off to be off early.

Thank you both for your suggestions. Always so helpful. My dilemma is I only want a non stop flight. I do not want to take the 8:30 flight as it gets me home after midnight. I can't stay an extra day as I have to work on the Monday. I did look at renting a car. Almost the same cost as my transportation company which will pick us up and bring us to Orlando. More convenient. Just trying to avoid the extra cost. This past year we were at the Tampa airport about 10am. Yes it could work but I am just not sure what to do. I guess I am hoping someone has done this taken a flight before noon and has been ok. If we do have a fog delay or customs or whatever I am not sure what would then happen as far as our flights. I will check with the airline unless someone on here knows this as well. I will say I was all set with taking the 4pm flight out of Orlando because the only flights out of Tampa were 10:30am or 8:30pm. They changed the 10:30until 11:25 so it got me thinking.

Again,

Thank you everyone for your opinions and thoughts.

Norma

Thank you both for your suggestions. Always so helpful. My dilemma is I only want a non stop flight. I do not want to take the 8:30 flight as it gets me home after midnight. I can't stay an extra day as I have to work on the Monday. I did look at renting a car. Almost the same cost as my transportation company which will pick us up and bring us to Orlando. More convenient. Just trying to avoid the extra cost. This past year we were at the Tampa airport about 10am. Yes it could work but I am just not sure what to do. I guess I am hoping someone has done this taken a flight before noon and has been ok. If we do have a fog delay or customs or whatever I am not sure what would then happen as far as our flights. I will check with the airline unless someone on here knows this as well. I will say I was all set with taking the 4pm flight out of Orlando because the only flights out of Tampa were 10:30am or 8:30pm. They changed the 10:30until 11:25 so it got me thinking.

 

Again,

 

Thank you everyone for your opinions and thoughts.

Norma

My personal opinion is I would not take the 11:25 flight. Is it doable, yes, but one little hiccup and you would miss the flight. More stress than I would care to inflict on myself but the choice is up to you.

Thank you both for your suggestions. Always so helpful. My dilemma is I only want a non stop flight. I do not want to take the 8:30 flight as it gets me home after midnight....

 

I guess I am hoping someone has done this taken a flight before noon and has been ok. ....

Yes, people make that early flight without a problem. But, some others have missed it due to fog, etc.

Personally, I would do a connection flight before I would deal with driving to Orlando or hanging around all day for a late night flight. We fly often and almost always have a connection due to where we live and are going. Not a big deal.

As to the airlines - they really do not have to do anything. You did after all agree to a certain flight and you did not take it. In practice, most airlines will try to get you on the next AVAILABLE flight. Not it says - AVAILABLE. What other options does that airline have? They are not going to pay to put you on another airline by the way.

I would do it but be aware of risks. Had an easy time in Tampa on previous cruises.

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Yes, people make that early flight without a problem. But, some others have missed it due to fog, etc.

 

Personally, I would do a connection flight before I would deal with driving to Orlando or hanging around all day for a late night flight. We fly often and almost always have a connection due to where we live and are going. Not a big deal.

 

As to the airlines - they really do not have to do anything. You did after all agree to a certain flight and you did not take it. In practice, most airlines will try to get you on the next AVAILABLE flight. Not it says - AVAILABLE. What other options does that airline have? They are not going to pay to put you on another airline by the way.

The only thing for us is with connecting flights we take the risk of getting stuck at some other airport. The stop over is in Baltimore MD. We are from the east coast. Where it is in January the weather is unpredictable. Also, all the connecting flights still do not get me home until almost midnight which is what I am trying to avoid.

As for what the airline I do not expect them to do anything for us. I need to know from them if I can take another flight or at that point go to a different airport and still use my tickets. I do know if there is a price difference I am responsible.

I am just trying to have all my ducks in a row before leaving. Leaving from Orlando is probably the safest choice as I know we will get there in plenty of time. The airport is large enough that we can do stuff rather then just sit around. Where as Tampa is a lot smaller with a lot less to do. My thought process is just that if they say noon time for earliest flight could a half an hour make a big difference. I wouldn't do an hour difference but where the airport is so close it became a real thought.

Again thank you everyone.

It isn't only the fog that you need to worry about. There is construction on I-275 (between the I-4 entrance and the exit for the airport that routinely slows traffic to a stand still. And today, as a little extra, I-275 was closed at Dale Mabry because of an accident.

Of course, there was the surface roads, but with I-275 closed, I am sure Rte 60 (main road through downtown Tampa that turns into the Veterans Expressway near the airport) was packed.

We have done the Dawn Tampa cruise twice, once end of January and once end of February. Both cruises were delayed due to fog. The first delay left us waiting at the pier for hours before boarding and the second we were on the ship and 3 hours late coming in. Either of these cruises and you would have missed your flight. We thought we were just unlucky the first time and we loved the ship so we took a chance and rebooked, surprise....we booked Epic out of Miami this time!

It is sounding more & more like I should keep my original plans. Fly home from Orlando. I do not want stress. Especially after a relaxing week aboard my favorite ship the Sun!!! Wish I could extend my time a few extra days.

I want to thank everyone who responded. I know there is no real right or wrong. I was just looking for opinions. Not sure there will still be construction or a lot of traffic in the area come January but the fog delay that could happen. I do remember reading on several weeks that there were fog delays.

Thank you again.

Need opinions. There is a flight home non stop at 11:25am. Flying home from Tampa. I know the cruise line suggests no flight before 12:00 noon. The only other flight home would be at 8:30pm which means waiting at the airport all day or getting transportation and flying home from Orlando airport which leaves at 4pm. I am torn as to what to do. Any suggestions and opinions will be very helpful.

 

I have also posted this on my roll call & the Florida boards. Looking for as much information as I can get.

 

Thank you,

Take the 11:25. Plenty of time.

Need opinions. There is a flight home non stop at 11:25am. Flying home from Tampa. I know the cruise line suggests no flight before 12:00 noon. The only other flight home would be at 8:30pm which means waiting at the airport all day or getting transportation and flying home from Orlando airport which leaves at 4pm. I am torn as to what to do. Any suggestions and opinions will be very helpful.

 

I have also posted this on my roll call & the Florida boards. Looking for as much information as I can get.

 

Thank you,

We were on the Dawn this past Feb and the ship didn't get into the dock until after 10 AM due to heavy fog. Many folks who had early flights missed them.

Try checking into daytime tours or sightseeing trips around Tampa to kill some time.

We cruise from Tampa in December and our flight is booked for 1:45. I've visited Tampa/St. Pete's many times in the past and the fog has proven to be a problem a few times. Luckily, because I've always preferred to take our time leaving, I've never missed a flight.

I was faced with the same identical problem when booking our flights for a Tampa cruise. My sis lives near Orlando and will be with us on the cruise, so we went for the 4pm out of Orlando. I would have worried myself sick over the possibilities of fog delays if I hadn't. Having to be at work the next morning and a long drive home from the airport, late night arrivals would not have worked for us either.

Leaving for a cruise is wonderful and exciting, but making plans to come home-------BUMMER!!!!

Leaving for a cruise is wonderful and exciting, but making plans to come home-------BUMMER!!!!

Unless you're not planning on returning it's kind of a necessity. ;)

I thank you all for all the opinions and thoughts. I am still trying to decide. I do think in a perfect world I would be safe and could be at the airport in Tampa with time to spare. Although, one delay, whether it is fog, customs or construction I could miss my flight. If there were other non stop flights it wouldn't matter much but if I miss my flight I am at the mercy of the airline. If there is availability the next few flights are all with stops & change of planes. They all stop in MD and weather in January is just too unpredicible for me. Other then that I am waiting for the 8:30pm flight home if and only if they have seats available. I am still leaning toward a stressless vacation and will probably just go home from Orlando. If there is a delay and if for some chance we were to miss our 4pm flight from Orlando there are still several nonstop flights home. Yeah, I think I have made my decision.

Thank you,

You'll be fine. Our flight home last year was at 11:30am on a Sunday coming off the Dawn. We did early walk off but their was a major problem in customs. We walked off the ship at 7:50 but it took 90 min to go thru customs. We grabbed a cab and 9:30 and were at the airport before 10:00am.

Are you insisting on only using your "airline of preference"? If that is the case, it may behoove you to look at other flight options. TPA is a good size airport, and has many flights available. I find it difficult to believe that a flight with a better time isn't available. Spoken from a person who is very familiar with TPA.

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Are you insisting on only using your "airline of preference"? If that is the case, it may behoove you to look at other flight options. TPA is a good size airport, and has many flights available. I find it difficult to believe that a flight with a better time isn't available. Spoken from a person who is very familiar with TPA.

 

 

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I have looked at all airlines. My preference is a nonstop flight. That is where the issue is. Southwest which seems to be the only airline with the non stop flight. If you know of another airline that offers non stop to PVD I would look into that. Like I said I would prefer to fly home from TPA because it would be more convenient. The only times available are either 11:25am or 8:35pm. The later flight has me getting home around midnight. Not how I want to end my vacation. I wish the flight was at 1:00 I wouldn't even question it.

I wouldn't question 11:25... it's totally doable, and not pushing it that close under normal circumstances. I just booked 10:55 out of TPA in fact, and didn't think twice. Of course if there's fog, delayed customs, etc there will be people who booked after 1:00 who might miss too... you can't plan for everything. Are you able to handle all of your own bags? With NCLs self-debarkation you can actually get off quite quickly.

I have looked at all airlines. My preference is a nonstop flight. That is where the issue is. Southwest which seems to be the only airline with the non stop flight. If you know of another airline that offers non stop to PVD I would look into that. Like I said I would prefer to fly home from TPA because it would be more convenient. The only times available are either 11:25am or 8:35pm. The later flight has me getting home around midnight. Not how I want to end my vacation. I wish the flight was at 1:00 I wouldn't even question it.

The nonstop flight is going to be the issue (even if you went TPA-BOS). You would have to make a connection to have a more convenient time from your home airport

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The nonstop flight is going to be the issue (even if you went TPA-BOS). You would have to make a connection to have a more convenient time from your home airport

 

 

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Thank you for the thought. I really have looked into every option. I know the non stop is my issue. Flying into BOS isn't an option as our car will be in PVD. If it weren't January the connection wouldn't be so bad. Anyway, hope to be able to phone SW today and find out what type of options I will have if we miss the early flight..