Have i allowed enough time to catch my flight?

[cruzdreamz]

Hi, am wondering if I have allowed enough time to make an 11:15 flight from Fort Lauderdale once the Oasis docks at 7am that morning. Can anyone please let me know how smoothly embarkment procedures run and if I will have enough time to make my flight. Also how long takes it take to get to the airport from the port. Thanks

[bigfig63]

We were on the Allure over Valentines day and used the express walkoff. We left our cabins at 0630, had no problem getting an elevator and was off the ship by 0645, through customs by 0700 and at the airport by 0730. Four of us in the group and the minivan to the airport with tip was $20

[cruzdreamz]

We were on the Allure over Valentines day and used the express walkoff. We left our cabins at 0630, had no problem getting an elevator and was off the ship by 0645, through customs by 0700 and at the airport by 0730. Four of us in the group and the minivan to the airport with tip was $20

 

Great, thanks makes me feel we should make it. Could you please let me know if you prebooked the minivan or can you just jump in one at the port. We are from Australia and are not sure what our options are.:)

[bigfig63]

Great, thanks makes me feel we should make it. Could you please let me know if you prebooked the minivan or can you just jump in one at the port. We are from Australia and are not sure what our options are.:)

 

Once you leave the cruise terminal and exit the taxi que is to your left. Depending on how big your party is there are taxi "directors" a teh front of the line that will direct you to a car or a van. A little chaotic but not bad.

 

Also if you are on a foreign passport, you will want to check if you can use the express walkoff. I am not familiar how immigrations handles that and do know that there is a seperate U.S. customs line in the terminal for Non U.S. residents. Sooo the 1130 flight may be a bit tight depending on how they have to handle your passports.

[bigfig63]

Also if I may ask (becauue I am curious) are you coming to the states jsut for the cruise or are you doing other traveling. On our cruise there were many folsks from Brazil, Japan and a couple I met from Great Britain.

 

It kinda blows me away that people would travel that far for a Carribean cruise. Mainly due to the fact the the cruises are pretty expensive and throwing international airfare on top plus hotels and it can get real pricey.

 

Is it mainly the destinations and warm carribean that is the draw or do you buy package deals throughthe cruiseline that makes it reasonable? ANd living in Oz, how can a crusie be any better then that!:)

[cruzdreamz]

Also if I may ask (becauue I am curious) are you coming to the states jsut for the cruise or are you doing other traveling. On our cruise there were many folsks from Brazil, Japan and a couple I met from Great Britain.

 

It kinda blows me away that people would travel that far for a Carribean cruise. Mainly due to the fact the the cruises are pretty expensive and throwing international airfare on top plus hotels and it can get real pricey.

 

Is it mainly the destinations and warm carribean that is the draw or do you buy package deals throughthe cruiseline that makes it reasonable? ANd living in Oz, how can a crusie be any better then that!:)

 

We will be doing Anaheim, Las Vegas and New York as well. We love Disneyland, so thought we would do a few more destinations while we are there. We have seen and heard so much about the Oasis and because we have nothing like it in Australia, we thought we would give it a go. We love where we live and wouldn't live anywhere else, but love how you have so much more of everything in the U.S and love to travel there when we can.

[bigfig63]

We will be doing Anaheim, Las Vegas and New York as well. We love Disneyland, so thought we would do a few more destinations while we are there. We have seen and heard so much about the Oasis and because we have nothing like it in Australia, we thought we would give it a go. We love where we live and wouldn't live anywhere else, but love how you have so much more of everything in the U.S and love to travel there when we can.

 

Wow, sounds like a fantastic vacation. If you want to see Toledo, Ohio let me know!:) We have a minor league baseball team called the Toledo Mudhens and a minor league hockey team called the Toledo Walleye if that tells you anything! Other then that 2 refiners and lots of farmland (boring).

[cruise bear]

I asked the same question myself a few weeks ago, except that we are docking at port canaveral on Freedom of the Seas and our flight leaves at 11:30 a.m...and our trip to the Orlando airport is almost an hour away. Of course the cruise line will tell you that they DO NOT recommend any flights out before 12:30 so they aren't responsible for you missing your connection home. But from what I have read on these boards (folks who have cruised dozens of times), if you have reliable transportation arranged (perhaps spend the extra $ for private transport to airport) and self disembark (you take your bags the morning of), and notify your ship of your early flight, you should be okay. The ports get busy around 9:00 a.m. on return day as most folks eat one last brunch on the ship and wait for the crew to get their luggage (this all takes tons of time). If you are the first off the ship, have a car waiting, it should be okay. Keep in mind things do happen. A ship can be late, a traffic jam could happen....those things aren't in your control but could allow you to miss your plane.

I plan on taking the risk so we are home before too late (kids go to school next day).

[thewebbys]

The airport is only 15 minutes away. Just make sure you are one of the first off. If your flight is NOT international take advantage of the valet luggage service for $20/pp available for these airlines. Then use express walk-off.

 

Air Canada

Air Tran

Alaska Airlines

American

Continental

Delta

United

US Airways

Jet Blue

Southwest Airlines

[Canusa02]

We used express checkout when we left the Allure on Sunday morning, and we actually walked off the boat a half hour prior to the earliest scheduled time frame. We were at FLL well before our early afternoon flight.

I'm sure there are cabs waiting throughout the day, but at that time of morning, you will have your choice of dozens of taxi cars and vans. After you clear U.S. customs, just walk out of the door and you will see a sign pointing you to the left for cabs.

[DonnaK]

We did self-assist, and were off the ship by 7am (that was without rushing). You need to be able to handle your own luggage, meaning you need to lift the luggage by its handle onto the escalator and have one free hand to grasp the escalator handrail. Otherwise, the port security in the terminal will direct you to the elevator, which often has a long line.

 

If you cannot manage your luggage, go to the customer service desk early on in your cruise, and tell them that you need to be in the first group off the ship. You'll claim your luggage at the terminal.

 

There is a taxi queue - no problem getting a taxi to the airport, especially if you are leaving the ship before 8am - it's a 15 minute ride.

[cruzdreamz]

The airport is only 15 minutes away. Just make sure you are one of the first off. If your flight is NOT international take advantage of the valet luggage service for $20/pp available for these airlines. Then use express walk-off.

 

Air Canada

Air Tran

Alaska Airlines

American

Continental

Delta

United

US Airways

Jet Blue

Southwest Airlines

 

Could you please let me know whether I would book this service through royal caribbean or the airline direct?

[cruzdreamz]

Thanks to all of you who have replied. My only problem now is if we get help up at customs because we are travelling on Australian passports.

[kazda]

Thanks to all of you who have replied. My only problem now is if we get help up at customs because we are travelling on Australian passports.

 

I'm from Australia also going on Oasis in August and was thinking of using express walkoff to board a 12.10 flight to JFK.

I'll be watching this thread for replies to see if there are delays in customs due to travelling on passport other than USA.

[cruzdreamz]

I'm from Australia also going on Oasis in August and was thinking of using express walkoff to board a 12.10 flight to JFK.

I'll be watching this thread for replies to see if there are delays in customs due to travelling on passport other than USA.

 

Would love to hear what you think of the Oasis when you get back and if you have any advice or tips. I did start another thread on non us citizen and disembarkment if that helps.

[publicpersona]

Could you please let me know whether I would book this service through royal caribbean or the airline direct?

You typically cannot use the luggage valet if you have a morning flight. Maybe.

 

But I don't think I'd worry much about 11:15 AM flight. The lines at FLL can be long, but they get you through.

 

It's hard to answer a question of "Can I make my flight?" without looking at what happens if you don't make the flight. Best case you reschedule onto one an hour later at no cost. Worst case is you are out a thousand dollars and stuck at the airport for a day. You need to examine your downside potential.

[golf43]

We were on the Allure a few weeks ago. We did self assist getting off the ship. We had an 11:30am flight. Got to the airport very early and they would not check us in yet. They said they would check us in when it was 90 minutes before our flight. My dh asked if there was an earlier flight which the guy said yes. So we asked if we could get on that flight. We were able to switch to an earlier flight which left Fort Lauderdale at 8:40am. So just beware if you get off the ship early, you might not be able to check in. We were on USair.

[kazda]

Would love to hear what you think of the Oasis when you get back and if you have any advice or tips. I did start another thread on non us citizen and disembarkment if that helps.

 

thanks for pointing me to your other thread.

Seems that we'll all be fine. :)

 

Yes I will post I review when I get back. Having only cruised on P&O around the pacific islands and with no change to the ports visited, hubby and myself are really looking forward to the Oasis.

[Foncai]

We are from Australia and yes we made a 10 am flight.

We walked off at at 6.40 from the allure. Got thru customs no probs and got the airport with plenty of time to spare.

My advice- just get up and be ready to go. We thought about stopping for breakfast but then more people started to trickle off the ship. Just get up and go. You'll be fine!

[aaronlisa]

Would we need to use express/self checkout for an 11:15 flight after getting off the oasis? I was kind of hoping not to get up that early that day but if normal debarkation time will make it hard to make the flight then we wont have a choice.