Flight time 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.

Thank you,

Unless there is a delay for fog - in which case everyone with a flight is out of luck :( - you can make an 11:25 flight from TPA. For that flight you need to be at TPA by about 10:00, which translates into off the ship, with bags, and clear of customs/immigration by about 9:40.

A quick $25+tip cab ride will get you to TPA. You can give yourself some schedule flex if you carry your bags off the ship or upgrade to a low debarkation number.

You'd have even more flex if you grabbed a rental car (both Avis and Hertz have locations close to the port) and caught the 4:00 flight from MCO - which is only a 90 or so minute drive from Tampa. Your call - good luck! :)

Thank you John. I have looked at the rental car to go home from Orlando. Almost same cost as my transportation company so I would just get picked up. Easy. It would be more convenient going home from Tampa. No extra cost for transportation.

I think we can get off the ship anytime we want. I have always just waited until last minute. This past year we were at the airport around 10am. No fog delays and a quick disembarkation.

Is there a lot of taxi cabs just waiting for those that get off the ship to go to the airport?

Thank you again as you and everyone here are always so helpful.

Norma

Lots of cabs, we have walked off in Tampa at 9:00, collected bags, cleared customs, taxied to TPA, checked in and been at the gate by just after 10:00.

Thank you once again. I am still torn as to what to do. I know in a perfect world we could get off the ship and be at the airport in plenty of time. If and a big if there is any type of delay and we miss the flight I am at the mercy of the airlines. The next flights would all have stop overs in MD which weather could be an issue. The last flight out is at 8:30pm. No guarantee they will have space on the flight nor do I really want to get home close to midnight. I need to be back in work on the Monday. I am leaning toward transport back to Orlando for the 4pm flight home. I am thinking for me less stress. If we have a delay there are still non stop flights home from Orlando. I will give this a few more days to consider. Any other thoughts?

I'm all for less stress - you do not want to spend your cruise worried about making your flight home. Good luck!

I will be calling SW today to find out what choices I will have if I miss my early flight. If I can choose any flight home we may just take the chance. I do not want to stress. Although, if it was a noon time flight I wouldn't question it. Now if there were a fog delay I wouldn't make that flight either, so it is only 35 minutes earlier. I can walk off the ship as we won't have too much for luggage. (I've learned how to pack less):eek: I will keep you informed of my decision and once again thank you for your thoughts.

Be sure to post after your cruise to let us know how it worked out. Good luck! :)

I called the airline today. I guess it really doesn't matter which way I decide to go. I am figuring that if there are no delays we get home at a reasonable time. I would be able to get to the airport in enough time. Just have to get off the ship kicking and screaming a little earlier. LOL. If there are delays we will miss both flights as I am sure the transportation company won't wait all day and we would at that point have no way to get to Orlando. If I am going to miss the flight the airlines have told me I just need to phone them and they will allow me to rebook on a later flight. Of course I have to pay the difference. Understandable. I am now thinking I should just book it and be done. Home from Tampa! Will do this tomorrow.

Thank you again for all your help. I will let you know final decision and I will come back after the cruise and let you know how I made out. My cruise isn't until January so I have a bit of time.

Just to let you know I did book the flight home from TPA @ 11:25. I will hope for the best. Of course by waiting the extra day the price increase this morning was about 40pp. Oh well. I decided not to wait any longer and drive myself crazy. I think we will be fine with the flight time. Wish me luck! I know it is still a little ways away but I will come back and let you know how I made out.

Thanx again,

Norma

I have a question about the taxis in Tampa. Are they all the same or are there vans as well? We will be in a group of 4 with lots of luggage since our cruise is 22 days. Are the taxi vans the same price as the regular taxis?

Well back today from my fantastic cruise aboard the NCL SUN. I did end up taking the 11:25am flight out of Tampa. We did easy walk off carried our luggage, there were shuttle vans right outside 10.00pp. Didn't need to wait for a taxi. We were off the ship, in a shuttle and at the airport by 9:30. I think maybe a little earlier. We had a lot of time to spare. Cruise ship actually came in a little late as we had horrible seas coming back. Made our 11:25am flight and I am home. Yes same circumstance I would do the same thing again.