Will I make the flight?

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Ok, so the sailing is on Jade and it's coming back to Miami on Nov 26, which is Monday.

 

I have a choice of flights at 12:30 pm or 5 pm out of FLL. It is my understanding that the ride from Miami port to FLL airport is about 35 minutes long.

 

On the website it says "Disembarkation 8 am". Does that mean that people start disembarking at 8 am or that the ship docks at 8 am and disembarkation will start 2 hours later?

 

Will we make the 12:30 flight or should I get the 5 pm flight and spend all day at the airport (we've done this twice already, gets kind of old)?

[ColinIllinois]

Barring any major delay at the port you can easily make a 12:30 flight from FLL.

[inkboy95]

If you dock on time if you walk off if there’s no adverse traffic in Miami or Fort Lauderdale and the check in lines are short. Should be fine. If that’s a risk you comfortable with then go for the 12:30 if you wanna error on the side of safety go for the later flight. There are way to many unknowns to have any measure of confidence. Myself I always go with the later flight. But that’s just me.Miami is notorious for bad traffic you just never know plus it a Monday a workday. Plus that looks like the day after the thanksgiving holiday the airport could be a zoo with the late leavers from the holiday.Good luck whichever way you go!

[zqvol]

Unless your ship is delayed in docking a 12:30 flight out of FLL is no problem to make. There is not even any reason to hurry off the ship if you are on time.

[don't-use-real-name]

When it is noted that "Disembarking will be 8:00 am" that is normal.

Ships usually arrive much earlier and then depending on Customs

clearance the 8 o'clock time is the norm +/- minutes.

 

If you are taking the NCL Transfer service to an airport the window or

timing is exaggerated to allow some delays - but the first earliest

flights are usually 6 hours after arrival i.e. arrive 8 flight out 2 pm.

If you are able to leave the ship at 8 most any form of transportation

is going to get you to the airport with time to spare - but not a lot !

 

If you take the NCL Transfers or have your luggage to claim you are

going to need more time but still yet getting a noon time flight is still

possible - hectic as he-double ll. Best that the transfer bus loads

and goes directly to ONE airline instead of multiple stops.

 

Best scenario is to do the Walk-Off with luggage and contract with a

private source Taxi - Uber - Shuttle etc.

 

Like that Hollywood actor once said - "Do You Feel Lucky" ?

Read on as more comments are added especially those more

familiar with FLL and MIA specific operation.

[zqvol]

If you dock on time if you walk off if there’s no adverse traffic in Miami or Fort Lauderdale and the check in lines are short. Should be fine. If that’s a risk you comfortable with then go for the 12:30 if you wanna error on the side of safety go for the later flight. There are way to many unknowns to have any measure of confidence. Myself I always go with the later flight. But that’s just me.Miami is notorious for bad traffic you just never know plus it a Monday a workday. Plus that looks like the day after the thanksgiving holiday the airport could be a zoo with the late leavers from the holiday.Good luck whichever way you go!

 

This is really a sky is falling response. The OP could be the last people off the ship and make a 12:30 flight out of FLL. Al of the if this and if that are worst case scenarios that take a perfect storm for all of them to happen on the same cruise. The best thing OP can do is wait until about 9:00 to get off the ship (which will be near the end of debarkation) and have a quick rush hour free drive to FLL. That will get them there by 10:00 which is more than enough time to waste in an airport on a domestic flight, and plenty of time for an international flight.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

thank you, everyone. I think we'll go with 5 pm.

We always sail out of FLL, so it's our first sailing out of Miami and the reason why I am unfamiliar with port. If we make it to FLL before 12:30, we may ask to go standby if the flight is not sold out.

[www3traveler]

Keep in mind that you are flying the Monday AFTER Thanksgiving. My travel agent says that could be a nightmare in the airport.

 

Late November the weather in other parts of the country could be a mess creating problems everywhere.

 

I have a cruise in 2019 that arrives in NYC on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and he is booking me on a Sunday flight rather the Monday flight I would have liked.

[BirdTravels]

Will we make the 12:30 flight or should I get the 5 pm flight and spend all day at the airport (we've done this twice already, gets kind of old)?

Yes. you will make a 12:30 flight. The ship is on a 2-day return from St. Maarten, so it should arrive in port early in the morning. Self walk off would normally start before 8:00.

[JCDCA]

thank you, everyone. I think we'll go with 5 pm.

We always sail out of FLL, so it's our first sailing out of Miami and the reason why I am unfamiliar with port. If we make it to FLL before 12:30, we may ask to go standby if the flight is not sold out.

 

So why did you ask the question? The majority of the responses rightly noted that the earlier flight would be fine. Sounds like you’ll have 6 hours or more to burn now at FLL.

[newmexicoNita]

Ok, so the sailing is on Jade and it's coming back to Miami on Nov 26, which is Monday.

 

I have a choice of flights at 12:30 pm or 5 pm out of FLL. It is my understanding that the ride from Miami port to FLL airport is about 35 minutes long.

 

On the website it says "Disembarkation 8 am". Does that mean that people start disembarking at 8 am or that the ship docks at 8 am and disembarkation will start 2 hours later?

 

Will we make the 12:30 flight or should I get the 5 pm flight and spend all day at the airport (we've done this twice already, gets kind of old)?

12:30 should be pretty easy to make. I would not want to wait until 5pm. We are facing that on our flight coming home from San Juan in Feb. only worse. We originally had a 2pm flight which was fine,but it has been changed to 9am or taking a 5:30 flight, getting us home at 11pm. Of course being mid winter and we are in our 80s, we do not relish the idea of driving home that time of night. We have decided to just spend the night at the airport hotel in Dallas that night. Of course we also know the flight times will probably be changed again. Life is filled with surprises everyday. :rolleyes:

[Itchy&Scratchy]

So why did you ask the question? The majority of the responses rightly noted that the earlier flight would be fine. Sounds like you’ll have 6 hours or more to burn now at FLL.

because there was one Princess cruise we were on that had immigration and customs problems and we didn't get to get off the ship till 1 pm. That was in Port Everglades. We felt very lucky that we had the 5 pm fight that day because by the time we actually made it to the airport, checked the luggage in and went through security, we only had time left for a quick lunch and then it was time to board.

 

We've done the 5 pm flight 2 or 3 times already, but not by choice - the 12:30 pm flight was always sold out. This is the first time the 12:30 flight was still available, and if we sailed out of Everglades port, I wouldn't even ask - I'd just book it. But since we sail out of Miami, and we've never done that before, and since this is our first cruise with NCL and we are unfamiliar with its disembarkation procedures, I had doubts about traffic, and the time it takes to get back to the airport, and logistics in general.

 

 

Keep in mind that you are flying the Monday AFTER Thanksgiving. My travel agent says that could be a nightmare in the airport.

We always do a Thanksgiving cruise and come back on the same 5 pm flight on SUNDAY after Thanksgiving. It's bad, but not usually a nightmare.

This time the return flight is on Monday. We'll see how that goes. Judging by the fact that the Monday flight is 1/2 price of the Sunday flight, it should be much better.

[rigs32]

I’ve debarked in Miami and been inside FLL before 8:30 twice. Each time I walked off as soon as we cleared (just after 7) and arranged for a private shuttle.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[marktwothousand]

12:30 will be fine. I did a 12:15 up to Canada and I was hours early after my 8 AM Excape docking.

 

Yes, it might be busier than normal on a holiday, but there's also extra staff on hand to handle those days.

 

Don't waste your time sitting around the airport for the day. Take the 12:30.

[KarlChilders]

Seriously, that time should be fine

[kathy884]

We had a similar situation. I first booked a direct flight home from Fort Lauderdale for 7 p.m. (and was going to rent a car for the day from there for luggage and to do something -- visit a mansion in the area), but then changed our flights to 12:30 p.m. as like you hanging at the airport and coming up with activities to do that are fine but not must dos in Fort Lauderdale gets old. But we will fly to Washington D.C. and then home. Still we get home four hours earlier. We should be able to make the 12:30 p.m. but we will take our own luggage off the ship (self disembark) to make things more efficient to maximize our chances. Also, if we miss the flight (unlikely), we are willing to accept the consequences. Last time where we had to collect our luggage (didn't self disembark) we got to Fort Lauderdale at about 10:30 a.m. and to the gate at about 11:00 a.m. Then we did the freebie bus into town, etc. because of a later flight.

[ray98]

12:30 is an easy flight to make. On our last cruise the earliest flight was 1:30. We stayed on the ship and were in the last groups to get off and Uber dropped us off at FLL around 11am.

[cb at sea]

You are likely to be off the ship by 8:30am....they really try to clear the ship ASAP.