Flight Departure

Thinking I had plenty of time I booked my flight departure out of Fort Lauderdale for 10:40am. Our ship docks at 7:00am. On the cruise personalizer it is saying I do not have a reasonable amount of time to get our flight. What are your experiences with this? Do you think I'll have enough time?

You may not get off of the ship until around 9 o'clock. Transfer time and check-in at the airport puts a crimp in things. Last year it took 1 1/2 hour to go thru airport check in. Many cruisers flying out at the same time and the line was out the door and down the street at the terminal. It was a mess.

Rather spend time sitting around the airport than trying to rush to make the flight. Not worth the risk of a missed flight. Harry :cool:

nope. nothing before noon is the standard.

only when a ship begins departure procedures by 7 is it reasonable to consider attempting an earlier flight( and even then I'd not chance anything before 11)

it can take an hour after docking before the ship is cleared to begin departure. longer of something goes wrong( typically someone has not closed out their account, or a non US citizen failed to do their required paperwork)

the airport is very busy so security lines can be LONG. same with Customs at the Pier.

Usually you can self debark and get off in minutes with your own bags. Check your ship for this and the usual time. The airport is literally minutes away. Then, try to use the outside porters for bag check if you need to and if your airline offers it.

This is one of those instances where no one can absolutely guarantee you will make your flight. It's possible…but… If something goes wrong you could miss your flight.

Last year we were off the ship, through customs, cab, check in, security etc… and waiting at our gate at FLL by 8:15 am. We did self disembarkation (I hate that!). It was a real drag as our flight wasn't until 12:30 (then delayed 45 minutes). My husband was worried about making it to the airport on time. He got lots of dirty looks from me around 11:30 am when others from our cruise were casually strolling into the gate area.

There are stories abounding on CC both ways, yes and no.

One of the closer airports to the cruise terminal but you are really pushing it with the early a flight. Go with noon or later. What if the ship docks late. What if it take customs two hours to clear the ship. Way too early for this boy

You didn't mention your cruise line, ship or date. The itinerary also matters.

Please scroll down this forum or the Cruise Air forum for more detailed recommendations and the necessity for SELF DISEMBARKATION. Or if you want some of my recs just click on my screen name and look at my many posts about this very topic.