Advice from anyone flying from Atlanta to Miami

[sandradoo]

My husband and I have always drove to our departing cruise port, but considering flying this cruise. Any advice from anyone:confused: flying out of Atlanta around September . Do you fly out day of cruise or the day before? If the day before how do you go about getting a reasonably priced hotel with shuttle to/from airport and hopefully to the ship. We will be on the Breeze for our September cruise. Also is there a particular site you use for the flight/hotel. Thanks for any help.

[teedee]

I always fly out the day before when sailing from Miami (or any Florida port) in Sept as it's hurricane season. I've used Priceline's name your own price with pretty good success for pre-cruise hotels.

Terri

[Colorado Kat]

Definitely fly out the day before. With the cost of the hotel and shuttles to port, and the cost of the airline, you might want to rethink flying vs driving.

 

I envy people who live close enough to drive.

[Hotdog 52]

We fly out a day before. We stayed at a hotel that had shuttle service from the Miami airport to the hotel and also shuttle service from the hotel to the port. I think it was a Days Inn.

[firemanbobswife]

Always fly/drive the day before. Good news is since you're going from Atlanta, you should have a nonstop flight.

 

It's best to go as early as possible in the morning to minimize delays due to summer storms developing in the afternoon. You might have to wait to check into the hotel as your room may not be ready, but there are lots of things to do in FL, so spend a day at the beach or something.

[BenjiRodney]

Always fly a day before to allow enough time to get there. We use hotels.com for rooms.

[sandradoo]

Thanks everyone, I thought we should fly the day before, if that is what we decide over driving.:)

[gelo7]

We always fly in the day before and have always found great prices and hotels online.

[Tapi]

I live in Atlanta (well, kinda. Peachtree City :o )

 

Keep in mind that there are several airlines flying between Atlanta and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, including Delta, Air Tran / Southwest and Spirit.

 

Because there are multiple airlines (including ultra low cost carrier Spirit), fares tend to be competitive and even ridiculously, specially flying into Ft. Lauderdale.

 

Delta tends to have the most frequency between Atlanta and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale and they normally tend to match the lower cost airlines.

 

Air Tran is merging with Southwest, so check to see who will be operating the route on your dates of travel. If it will be Southwest, you'll have the added perk of free checked luggage.

 

Spirit offers some ridiculously low fares (if you have some flexibility and sign up for their alerts). We've purchased tickets to Ft. Lauderdale for as cheap as $39 each way. Do keep in mind that they will charge you for EVERYTHING, even a glass of water. Also, they only have 1-2 flights a day between the two cities and if one cancels, they don't have a reciprocal agreement with other airlines (which may translate into being stuck).

 

Have a great cruise!

[Branman]

I flew day-of to Orlando from Atlanta. If you leave in the morning, it's less likely that your plane will be horribly delayed. It's a direct flight, so you won't have to worry about bad things happening with transfers. The only thing that can really cause you to be delayed would be extreme weather.

[askimdog]

We make our 7 day cruises 10 days. We drive 6 hours to the airport and THEN stay overnight at a family members house. Then we fly into port town the day before our cruise and stay with friends ( either in Galveston/Long beach or Tampa).

 

With delays possible, we always plan to arrive day before cruise. Our last cruise we flew from Minneapolis to Chicago, sat and waited in terminal, then boarded a flight to Louisville and waited in terminal, then to Atlanta and waited a short time on the plane, then landed in Tampa, all day flying, but was a cheap flight all in all. Choppy plans but worth the ticket price!

[waterbug123]

 

Keep in mind that there are several airlines flying between Atlanta and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, including Delta, Air Tran / Southwest and Spirit.

 

 

Should be able to get a nonstop from ATL to MIA on American as well.

 

I flew day-of to Orlando from Atlanta. If you leave in the morning, it's less likely that your plane will be horribly delayed. It's a direct flight, so you won't have to worry about bad things happening with transfers. The only thing that can really cause you to be delayed would be extreme weather.

 

You are referring to a nonstop flight, not a direct flight. A direct flight CAN have connections, and the connection can include a change of aircraft.