12:35 flight from MIA?

[mspink98]

I'm starting t price out flights for our Eclipse cruise next February, and am seeing quite a few options that leave MIA at 12:35. The last few times we've cruised, it's been from Port Canaveral with an Orlando flight, so I have no idea what to expect with POM/MIA. I haven't sailed from POM in 15 or so years.

 

Recent cruisers or those who know the area-what are your opinions on getting a taxi and being to the aitport by 10:30 or so? Am I pushing my luck?

 

ETA: This would be on a Saturday. I know at some airports, day of week can make a world of difference.

[Craig_K]

Although things may happen to delay debarkation at times, I personally have had no problems ever making 11:00 flights. We are usually at the FLL airport by 9:30 or so.

[Fblack]

Last January we had a 12:25PM American Airlines flight home from Miami. We left the ship at 7:00AM. Had our bags and were in the taxi line by 7:45AM. They had lots of taxi's at the pier. We were at the airport by 8:30AM+/-. Biggest issue we had at MIA was that they changed the gates on us 3 times. Seemed like we were forever running from gate to gate.

[Gonzo70]

I would be comfortable with a flight at that time; IMHO it is just about ideal. Gives you some wiggle room for normal delays that may arise, but early enough you won't be waiting around a long time.

[mspink98]

Perfect! Thanks all!

[silentbob007]

We carried off of Eclipse in March and were through customs by about 6:30 AM (as one of the first guests off). Given the relative closeness of MIA to POM, I would feel totally secure in booking any flight after noon (and probably even 11).

[trvlcarib]

The biggest problem you will face is that Feb is far out the times/flights can and will change several times. I used to book flight pretty far out but I am getting sick of tired of my flights changing.

[New Hampshire]

You can always self disembark and be among the first off the ship if You're at all worried. I would be perfectly comfortable with any flight from 11:30 on. We sailed Eclipse in March and had a 10:1t flight. I was a nervous wreck. We self disembarked and were sitting AT OUR GATE at 7:30 AM!!!!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

We got to the airport in plenty of time. We were there 3 hours before our flight. I believe we flew around 1:30. So you'll be fine.

[Snorkel Dawg]

The biggest problem you will face is that Feb is far out the times/flights can and will change several times. I used to book flight pretty far out but I am getting sick of tired of my flights changing.

 

You are so right! Just got off Eclipse & had paid for our flights 11 months in advance, they changed a dozen times. Ended up being 15 hours to get to O'Hare in Chicago from MIA. I would STRONGLY suggest you NOT fly US Air. Our experience was horrible. They will never have me as a customer again.

 

 

But that being said you would be fine with the 12:15 flight out.

[alcpa1]

Unless things go totally haywire you don't even need self disembarkation for a 12:35 flight. It's so much easier not to mess with your own luggage and under normal circumstances it should take about an hour from the time you walk off the ship to arrive at the airport. MIA is about 20 minutes on a good day from the pier.

I'd take a cab, just because I don't like waiting for the bus to fill and often it is about the same price or less than cruise line transfers.

MIA can be a hassle so leave plenty of time to get through security.

The key for booking air now is to monitor your air reservations. This might be even more pertinent if you book on Continental and/or United as they merge operations. We have always found the airlines very cooperative when changes occur. Another aid is joining the frequent flyer program if you do not already belong. Customer service reps are more responsive to their frequent flyers.

[mspink98]

Although I know schedule changes can happen with any airline, we will not be flying Continental/United for this exact reason. We flew Continental this February to Mexico, and the flight changes were ridiculous. The pinnacle of the experience was when we ended up in Houston with 45 minutes to clear customs, recheck luggage, redo security, and get on our connecting flight. On a Saturday night. You can guess how well that worked out, and the airline was horrible in their response-came up with some kind of excuse about weather in Zihuatanejo, and they can't be responsible to weather related delays, but it was perfect in Z when we left, and we took off about 5 minutes early. It wasn't till we landed in Houston and sat on the ground for 30 minutes that things started to go wrong.

 

We ended up flying to ORD and renting a car at 1:30 in the morning, then driving to Milwaukee. It beat a night on the floor in Houston.

 

It would be a cold day in hell before I book with them again, st least until the merger's finished. And my husband might need to be blindfolded and restrained to fly with them again, he was livid.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

We flew American Airlines from MIA and were at the airport three hours early. I should have known from the beginning we were in trouble. They were so disorganized... in the airport- not an American airlines thing just a general thing. We flew NON-stop from MIA to Baltimore and over 100 people did not have bags. There was a long line.. I just went home.

 

Note if your bags are lost, you don't have to stand in that line. Go home or to the hotel and call the airline directly and they will deliver your bags to you without any problem about 24 hours later.

[trvlcarib]

Hey Pinkms98 sounds like the same fiasco we had in Mexico in Dec, Continental from Cancun thru Houston with 1:00hr for customs/security/train to different terminal. All because they changed our flights. The worst so far is in June for a flight I have booked for my folks, Syracuse/Atlanta/COS they have changed their flights 3 times in 4 months some flights have just gone away. Others they rescheduled with 2-3 layovers. They were good about fixing everything but it took a while to get figured out. I would really watch out for the smaller airports, they seem to be most vulnerable to change/discontinued flights.

[cynbar]

I think that flight time will be fine. However, self disembarkation is still a good idea because the lines can really back up as the morning goes on. We did the self disembarkation off Eclipse in Miami in January, and we walked right through customs, and to the front of the taxi line. There were stories online later from the same cruise of long, long lines both getting out of the port, and through the airport. We missed all of that. Although it was an early morning for us, it was stress free, and we both agreed we would do it that way again.

[Whippets]

Just off Eclipse yesterday. We met in the theater at 6:30AM, (the ship had an early breakfast at 6 AM) and were on our way to MIA by 7 AM. US Airways was able to put us on an earlier flight because we had arrived so early. The airport was empty at that hour, walked right through the security line. Our bags arrived without incidence also. Like someone else mentioned, later can be a disaster!