flying into MAI or FLL day of cruise

I know, I should not fly in the day the cruise embarks, but have no choice due to work issues, it is fly in that day, or not take the cruise, so have it narrowed done to 2 non-stop flights, which are both similar in price. I was hoping a non-stop would lessen the risk of not making the ship. One flight is on American arriving at Miami at 8:45am, second flight is on Southwest, arriving in FLL at 10:40 in the am. Cruise departs out of Fort Lauderdale at 4p. Am I better off with the earlier arrival into Miami or the later arrival into FLL. Just don't want to cut it too close. Thanks for any input.

I'll vote for FLL. Cruiseport (Port Everglade) is less than 30 mins drive from FLL.

If you absolutely have to fly in day of, then I vote for the one with the earliest arrival. That way if there are mechanical or weather issues, you have more time to get to the ship.

We flew (out of Chicago) on the same day the ship departed in March (spring break). We got in at 10:30am. I had hired a large cab (3 girls, lots of luggage) and wanted to stop at Publix & the wine store before getting on the ship. We were actually early & had to wait in line. Don't worry about it. We flew into FLL & I would prefer that anytime rather than go into MIA.

I would fly into FLL if cruise leaves out of Ft.Lauderdale. It would save you the traffic aggrivation. You can see the port from the Airport, in FLL, so that should tell you how close it is. It is about an hour travel time from MIA to FLL.:)

KT

You should be ok flying into Ft. Lauderdale, as the drive from MIA to Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale) would be close to 1 hour anyways, if you were to fly into Miami instead.:)

Choose whichever one is most economical. Both arrival times give you plenty of time to get to your ship. ;)

90

One thing I learned to considering in all my years of business travel - be aware of options if you flight is canceled. For example, if your AA flight is the only one from your airport that will get you to your destination while the SW flight has other flights a bit later that will also work, you should take this into account (am I making sense?).

My last trip into FLL we had a number of passengers that missed their earlier flight but were able to get on ours and still make it in time.

DaveOKC

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. With air travel in it's current state, it really is hard to predict which flights give you the most options if yours if cancelled, the 2 options are the only non-stop morning departures, so you would then have to take connecting flights to get to your destination, with all of those possible delays. We are flying from New Orleans to Miami, so have the additional worry of morning fog that sometimes delays departures in the fall and winter, just can't remember what month the fog increases. Then it is between trusting Southwest for ontime arrival versus American Airlines