Transportation from Port of Miami to PBI

I am looking to book a cruise for my family of 5 on NCL in January 2016.

The airfare is about $125 cheaper per person if we fly in and out of Palm Beach International.

We'll fly in the night before the cruise, so we'll have plenty of time to figure out transportation to the boat.

The boat arrives in Miami at 8 am. The flight I'm looking at would leave PBI at 11:50 am.

Is that enough time to get to the airport? What reliable, cost-effective mode of transportation do others recommend?

It will be on a Sunday, so Tri Rail may not be an option on the weekend if we are in a hurry.

TIA!

I am looking to book a cruise for my family of 5 on NCL in January 2016.

 

The airfare is about $125 cheaper per person if we fly in and out of Palm Beach International.

 

We'll fly in the night before the cruise, so we'll have plenty of time to figure out transportation to the boat.

 

The boat arrives in Miami at 8 am. The flight I'm looking at would leave PBI at 11:50 am.

 

Is that enough time to get to the airport? What reliable, cost-effective mode of transportation do others recommend?

 

It will be on a Sunday, so Tri Rail may not be an option on the weekend if we are in a hurry.

 

TIA!

The most cost effective transfer would be renting a car but I don't think you should count on making that 11:50 am flight given that you would need to be first off the ship (assuming the ship is on time but realize 8 am doesn't mean that disembarkation starts then), have no issues renting the car, make the 70 mile journey (75 minutes at least, potentially much more on a workday), turn in the rental and still be at the airport by 9:30. I just don't think there are enough minutes in your morning to make that flight! Even if you arrange for private transportation, you will be cutting it close.

We did this on our last cruise out of FLL. It was $600 cheaper for us to fly in/out of PBI than FLL or MIA.

First, let me go ahead and say that you SHOULD NOT book an 11:50am flight out of PBI, regardless of which port you leave from. FLL is notorius for having back-ups due to Customs and you may not get off the ship until 8-9am even if you walk off.

I will share our experience with you and hopefully that will help you decide your plans. We did use Tri-Rail, on a weekend both times & we would do it again in a heartbeat, It was soooooo much cheaper than renting a car or getting a taxi. We had a flight time of 12:30pm out of PBI. It was also very easy & we did not have any issues with our luggage.

On disembarkment morning, we had our luggage & were in the MDR at 7:20am ready to walk off at 7:30am. The line started moving, but there were about 300 people already in front of us. It kept moving & I thought how much extra time we were going to have at the airport, so we were feeling good. Well, it didn't last long. With only 6 people in front of us, the line stopped....and we waited.....and waited.....and waited......we were told from the crew member that there was a back-up in Customs & they were told to stop letting people off until they got the go ahead again.

It was 8:55am before we walked off the ship. We made it outside at 9:15am & got in the taxi line. Guess what....no taxis.....at all! We waited 20 minutes for taxis to begin showing up. There were about 75 people still in line for a taxi, so all we could do is wait. (You need to take a taxi from the port to the Tri-Rail station, not far.) We finally crawled into a taxi at 9:45am and headed to Tri-Rail. We arrived at Tri-Rail (on a Sunday) and waited for the train. We waited about 25 min for the train.

It arrived & off we went heading to PBI. Once at the PBI Tri-Rail station, we ran over to get on the next shuttle bus over to PBI (only about a 15 min ride). We arrived at the airport at 11:45 & ran inside to check our bags (thank goodness my hubby only flies 1st class, so we did not have to wait in those very long lines that time). We did not even have time to sit down to eat. We had to grab some food & run to the terminal to catch our flight. We walked up to the terminal just as they began boarding for our flight.

So, again, I would not recommend an 11:50am flight out of PBI. I don't think you would even have time to rent & drop off a car with just that little bit of time. If you want to fly in/out of PBI, choose a later flight when you fly home.

If no back-up in Customs, we would have been at the airport much sooner, but when you need to plan for any "what if" situations occur. We haven't had any Customs issues in Miami, but, it does take longer to get from MIA Tri-Rail to PBI & you will have more train stops along the way. It will be much better to arrive early for a later flight. :)

Whichever you decide, have a great cruise!!

Thank you for the quick and awesome replies!

I think this convinces me that saving a few hundred dollars is not worth the anxiety of getting 3 kids off of the boat.

It looks like there is a 3:30 flight out of Fort Lauderdale that should work better. Hopefully we can enjoy the trip home. :D

Thank you SO MUCH for your input.

Thank you for the quick and awesome replies!

 

I think this convinces me that saving a few hundred dollars is not worth the anxiety of getting 3 kids off of the boat.

 

It looks like there is a 3:30 flight out of Fort Lauderdale that should work better. Hopefully we can enjoy the trip home. :D

 

Thank you SO MUCH for your input.

I think that is a wise decision.

In case you don't want to be hanging out at the airport until flight time here are three alternatives:

• You can look into doing a cruise line excursion (an airboat ride in the Everglades is real popular) that will drop you off at the airport
  
• Or you can DIY in Fort Lauderdale:
  
  • If you are using your cruise line's express baggage (where you put out your luggage the night before and don't see it again until your arrive at your home airport) you can pick up a taxi and go to the beach or the water taxi or the Jungle Queen or Carrie B (see http://www.sunny.org for info on attractions and http://www.watertaxi.com).
    
  • Alternatively you can take your luggage to FLL and store it at bags to go (http://www.bagstogo.net) and, if it is a weekend day, take the free sun trolley to downtown FLL (http://www.suntrolley.com, click on airport link for that route) or, if on a weekday, take a taxi.