12:30PM Flight out of FLL - Cruising into MIA

Looking for some opinions...

Flight prices are just crazy expensive!

Looking to book a flight home to Buffalo after cruising on the NCL Getaway in November.

Think I can make a 12:30PM flight out of Fort Lauderdale on a Sunday when we are cruising on the NCL Getaway which sails into Miami?

We like to fly Jet Blue or Southwest (no bag fees) and both only fly into FLL.

When we have done it in the past we always fly out around 2pm. The price difference is $75 per person... so if i could make the 12:30 flight I'd much rather pay less.

Thanks in advance for your input!

You could check if the cruise line has a shuttle to FLL or try QLS shuttle

A taxi or private car service would run about $80+ OW

If I could get all of our party to book this flight I would hire a private car service.

We did SAS 2 years ago and it was ok.... but we waited and waited for the van to come, then circled the port twice to pick up more people when the shuttle was already about full.

Plus I noticed if you have 8 or more people its the same price to hire a private car service.

My main concern is will we have enough time to get off the ship, drive to FLL airport, and board the plane by 12:30PM?

Just for two of you? And you aren't thrilled with shuttles? If you are looking to save money but make that flight, I'd just use a cab. You are still saving.

Not sure if cruise transfers will be any less costly. Cab will run pretty much the same as a car service.

The flight time is fine and without a freak delay of some kind, should be easy to make. You want to be at the airport at 10:30. Get off the ship by 8 and you will have some time built in. Figure an hour drive.

Sorry I should of been more specific... I'd book a private van service if our entire party of 7 people would book the same flight as us... (which i'm sure they would) we'd split the cost of the private van.. which would come out to about the same... maybe a few dollars more, than a shared shuttle service.

If I had all the time in the world I'd book a shared shuttle no problem.

Thanks for you input, I appreciate it!

A 1230 flight should be easy :cool: - you need to be at FLL by about 11:00 (earlier is better), which with about an hour drive from POM to FLL translates into loaded into a shuttle/limo/cab and rolling from Miami by 10:00 - the ship will likely have you off before then and you'll have some extra time in your schedule - which is always good.

Check with QLS, MJS, John's Car Service, Larry's Limos and Go Airport in addition to SAS - someone will make you a deal to get 7 passengers travelling together.

Thanks for the suggestions of shuttles, I will look into them. :)

We did this when we cruised on the Epic in March. We walked off the ship with our luggage, got picked up by our car service around 8:00 or 8:30 and we were at FLL within 30 minutes -- waaaaay too early. Our flight was at 12:35. We waited around and finally were able to check our luggage (downstairs) and go through security.

Unless something goes wrong (ship is late, major accident, etc.) you should have no issues making your flight. Use a car service. We used QLS last year and were very happy with them -- the cost of the private van for six of us was very reasonable.

Great thanks for the reassurance!

A 1230 flight should be easy :cool: - you need to be at FLL by about 11:00 (earlier is better), which with about an hour drive from POM to FLL translates into loaded into a shuttle/limo/cab and rolling from Miami by 10:00 - the ship will likely have you off before then and you'll have some extra time in your schedule - which is always good.

 

Check with QLS, MJS, John's Car Service, Larry's Limos and Go Airport in addition to SAS - someone will make you a deal to get 7 passengers travelling together.

I agree with everything said in the post above. We have done a 12:50 flight on our last cruise leaving the carnival liberty out of Miami and flying out of FLL. It was no big deal. Now I do know your ship is bigger, and there are things that can go wrong etc. But on a normal day I see no reason you can't make this flight. In fact, we were so early to the airport they wouldn't let us check our luggage and go through security yet. So, we just sat there and waited.

We did do self assist off the ship, mainly because we like to and because we felt like we would rather have extra time in the airport than not have enough time. So maybe that would be a good suggestion for you. But we used SAS and were the first ones on the shuttle and they even had to circle the port several times to pick more people up. There was more than enough time.

This time we are booking an 11:30 because it was either that or a 2pm. I personally think you will be fine :)

We are planning a noon flight with the same scenario. I think you will be fine. I know the unforeseen delays can happen, but I've read multiple reviews where people have had a scheduled 8am arrival into POM and were off the ship doing self disembark right around 8am or even earlier. We did a noon flight from FLL last year (having cruised from FLL) and our flight was full of people who had cruised into Miami and made it with no problem even with lengthy lines at airport security. I've never cruised NCL or used POM yet, but most reviews make it seem like the disembark process and customs lines move quickly.

We will schedule a shared shuttle but if we do happen to get tight on time we may do a last minute cab or private car to save some time.

Great to hear you are planning a noon flight. I just looked and Jet Blue keeps changing their flight times. The actual flight i'm looking to book is now at 11:50AM. Wish they would stop changing the flights!

Never had this much stress booking airfare before! ha

Thanks again for your help.