Disembarkation-r we cutting it close?

[Crus4US]

Just about to book airline tickets, and the cheapest option is a flight from Miami to Phx that leaves at 11:00am. The boat gets to port at 8:00am. We do have FTTF, will this give us priority in disembarking? We have cruised quite a bit, but never with FTTF, so I am hoping this will be an advantage.

[riffatsea]

IF you are able to carry your own luggage off the ship you will be in the very first group to leave so that would be OK.

[GUT2407]

Just about to book airline tickets, and the cheapest option is a flight from Miami to Phx that leaves at 11:00am. The boat gets to port at 8:00am. We do have FTTF, will this give us priority in disembarking? We have cruised quite a bit, but never with FTTF, so I am hoping this will be an advantage.

 

In my opinion, if you need to ask YES.

 

But there is no way I want to spend my last day stressing over making flights.

 

What port and airport?

 

How long before 11:00 does your carrier close check in.

 

What sort of gambler are you?

 

All factor in, but for me way way to tight.

 

Let's make some assumptions,

 

Check in is 10:30

 

Get a cab and travel = half an hour

 

If docking is 8:00 disembarkation is unlikely to start before 8:30 at the earlies

 

Get through customs, on a really good day half an hour.

 

So that looks like if everything goes perfect you've got an hour up your sleeve, think how easy that disappears.

 

Customs running late, ship dicks late, not many cabs when you disembark, traffic's heavy.

 

So for me a big no.

[nwcruiselover]

I totally agree with GUT2407. Assuming the ship is coming into Port of Miami and you're flying out of Miami airport, you COULD make an 11:00 flight, but for me it would be too close for comfort. I wouldn't book anything earlier than Noon. There are so many things that could work against you and ruin the end of your cruise.

[firemanbobswife]

I have made flights as early as 10:00AM on 3 occasions when pulling into POM leaving from MIA. We always get FTTF and carry our own bags off then grab a taxi. Each instance with PLENTY of time to spare. In fact, I could have made the 9:30AM flight each time and not have broken a sweat.

 

I don't stress about it the last day. I do have a back up plan just in case, and I know there is always a chance that it might not work out. Look, Carnival wants to get you off ASAP so they can clear the ship and get the next load of passengers on so they try and go quickly as they can. Do exceptions happen? Sure. But that's a gamble I'm willing to take. Now going down to my cruise is another story! That I do stress about and I always travel down the day before.

 

If you do things like I do you will have no problem. Now if there's a hiccup, then just about everyone flying out the same day will be stressed and only those with late afternoon/evening flights won't be affected as bad. It's up to you.

[ObstructedView2]

We do have FTTF, will this give us priority in disembarking?

We have cruised quite a bit, but never with FTTF, so I am hoping this will be an advantage.

Yes, with FTTF you get to choose between early or late disembarkation.

If you have luggage that you are not carrying off, go to guest services to request/exchange your luggage tags that your steward will leave in your cabin for new tags with a zone number of your choice. In your case, the lowest zone number, and then simply disembark with the self assist passengers.

 

FTTF info @:

https://www.goccl.com/~/media/Files/Irman/bookccl/shipboard_knowledge/FastertotheFunPackage.htm

 

 

:)

Edited October 9, 2015 by ObstructedView2

[Crus4US]

Thanks all. I have the tickets on hold. We can take our own luggage, that won't be a problem. We are flying in the night before, I wouldn't dare risk missing the boat. For some reason, I don't stress as much about getting home..lol

I found flights for later, I might do that, it is more, and a long layover in Houston though.....

Flying used to be so much easier:)

[tonit964]

Even though we hate to have to spend the extra $$$, we always book a flight home after about 12:30pm.

 

We just do not want to end our vacation spending the whole morning stressing about making it to the airport on time. Too many variables for things to go wrong.

[jazm2011]

We've only ever booked a too-close-for-comfort flight once and won't ever do it again. It only takes one stressful situation to knock some sense into me. (It was a 10:30 flight). And not only did I stress just trying to get on the plane on time. But they told us there were no guarantees our luggage would arrive with us. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal. However, this particular time DH put our house keys in his luggage! :eek: My stomach was in knots the entire trip home. Lucky for us, it all worked out.

 

But whatever you decide - let me throw an additional option on the table just in case you haven't already considered it, and in which we did on our last cruise into/out of Miami but in reverse.

 

Have you looked at the flight options out of Fort Lauderdale? You can book a shuttle for $15pp from POM to FLL. Depending upon date and time, I think the travel time is ~30-45 minutes. It might open up some additional times that will work better for you and the flights are usually cheaper from FLL to PHX than MIA to PHX.

[firemanbobswife]

I will add that there is no way I would attempt an early flight without doing self debarkation. However, by carrying off your own luggage and with FTTF, you are among the first off. No wait for Customs, no waiting on bags, no waiting for taxi. Just go.

 

Just because it says the ship gets in at 8 doesn't mean that's actually the time you arrive. I have always been off the ship before then. I think 7:30AM was the latest we've gotten off. In any event (barring an exception) , 11AM is totally doable.

Edited October 9, 2015 by firemanbobswife

[Crus4US]

Have you looked at the flight options out of Fort Lauderdale? You can book a shuttle for $15pp from POM to FLL. Depending upon date and time, I think the travel time is ~30-45 minutes. It might open up some additional times that will work better for you and the flights are usually cheaper from FLL to PHX than MIA to PHX.

 

 

Currently, American is cheaper then SWA. (we will have to take red eye to get there) We have flown into FLL many times and taken SAS to Miami. I keep hoping SWA prices go down, but so far it hasn't happened. I don't know why, maybe because it is around spring break?

I keep holding tickets for 24 hours on American, hoping SWA will have a sale that benefits us....lol

[Ready 2 Go]

We cruised on the Breeze in July which ported in Miami. Our flight back to Las Vegas left at 11:30 from Ft. Lauderdale. We carried our luggage off, did curbside check in at the airport (Southwest) and still had an about an 1 and 1/2 to wait for our flight. Keep in mind though, the boat had no issue clearing customs and we were off by 8:30.

 

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[Elaine5715]

Factor in the mornings when fog is a delay factor in docking, passengers missed the ship in ports creating additional Customs issues, the idiot in front of you...

 

Booking a return flight before Carnival's recommended times will result in no assistance from them should there be a delay. You will need to add no return flight or false information on your check in form.

 

There is a reason those flights are less expensive.

[sayaguru]

We were told (on here) not to book flights before 12pm.

 

We were due to dock at 7am. At 6.50 there was announcement saying self assist could disembark. We went to our room and got our nags and walked off at 7.10am. We got a taxi and were at the airport at 8am. Luckily the airline let us move to the 10.30 flight.

[riclop]

Just about to book airline tickets, and the cheapest option is a flight from Miami to Phx that leaves at 11:00am. The boat gets to port at 8:00am. We do have FTTF, will this give us priority in disembarking? We have cruised quite a bit, but never with FTTF, so I am hoping this will be an advantage.

 

FTTF is a waste of $$$ but you should be ok for 8am.

[vwrestler171]

Last cruise out of Miami, I was at my gate by 9:30 for an 11:30 flight. I don't think I've been to the airport any later than 10 AM on my cruises.

[ragethjj23]

Never cruised out of MIA but out of san juan in September, self assist debark started a little after 7, was off the ship at 7:12 and in a taxt at 7:19. Could have made the earlier flight home with hours to spare. Again different port, but you would probably be fine.

[gtaylor]

Yes, with FTTF you get to choose between early or late disembarkation.

If you have luggage that you are not carrying off, go to guest services to request/exchange your luggage tags that your steward will leave in your cabin for new tags with a zone number of your choice. In your case, the lowest zone number, and then simply disembark with the self assist passengers.

 

:)

 

There is absolutely no guarantee that you tagged bags would be on the carousel if you disembark with self assist, and I'm pretty sure that they would not be there, even with tag #1.

 

gary

[cruiser fanatic]

You could probably make it, but I would not take that risk. I would book a flight after 12:00PM to be safe. You never know what can go wrong, ship getting in late, customs issues, luggage issues, etc...

[jacmo24]

Our last cruise out of miami was easily a 90 min wait to check in / drop off bags at the airport. There were frantic people in line that booked those early flights coming off of cruise ships. And then security... This was the 3rd week of July. Not a holiday or anything but several ships had come in that morning and the airport was insane.

[firemanbobswife]

Our last cruise out of miami was easily a 90 min wait to check in / drop off bags at the airport. There were frantic people in line that booked those early flights coming off of cruise ships. And then security... This was the 3rd week of July. Not a holiday or anything but several ships had come in that morning and the airport was insane.

 

 

You can always check in online (or by cell phone and even get your boarding pass on it) and drop off your luggage to the Skycaps. I don't know why more people don't do that.

[Jay Sam]

Too close for comfort for me. If everything works out great then ok, but too much can delay you. I would go for 1P or later. Happy sailing.

[ATL_Miami_Cruiser]

You'll probably be ok with FTTF, I make it to MIA by 9am most of the time. Hope that nothing like this happens,

 

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-southwest-airlines-delays-20151011-story.html

 

Southwest Airlines: Technical issues delay hundreds of flights

 

"By late afternoon, Southwest said about 450 of the 3,600 flights scheduled for the day had been delayed.

E.J. Schultz, a reporter for Ad Age who was taking a Southwest flight from Chicago's Midway International Airport, said the airline was telling people at the gate that travelers with paper boarding passes were OK to board. But those who had downloaded their tickets onto their mobile phones were told they had to stand in line to get a paper pass, he said.

 

 

Schultz said there was a line of about 50 people at the Southwest gate. His flight took off about 15 minutes after its scheduled departure time of 4:30 p.m. The long lines at check-in may mean some passengers didn't make their flights.

 

 

Emily Mitnick, who was flying to Detroit from Denver International Airport, said she missed her 10 a.m. flight, even though she parked her car around 8 a.m., because of huge lines at check-in and at curbside. By the time she got in line to go through security, it was around 10:15 a.m."

Edited October 12, 2015 by ATL_Miami_Cruiser

[Cruzin2paradise09]

Currently, American is cheaper then SWA. (we will have to take red eye to get there) We have flown into FLL many times and taken SAS to Miami. I keep hoping SWA prices go down, but so far it hasn't happened. I don't know why, maybe because it is around spring break?

 

I keep holding tickets for 24 hours on American, hoping SWA will have a sale that benefits us....lol

 

 

You know that if you book tickets on SWA and the fares go down, you can get a credit that you can use within a year? Could be worth booking on for a little later flight.