11:35 flight out of Miami on disembarkation day, can we make it?

[dalmoradie]

New to Virgin Voyages and sailing the Scarlet Lady Sept 1 - 6.  Our flight out of Miami on Sept 6 leaves at 11:35am.  Will we be able to catch our flight, or is that cutting it too close?

[CineGraphic]

Yes, you should have no problem checking-in at the airport by 9:35am.

Normally, disembarkation begins at 7:45am, although sometimes "ship happens" and things can get delayed.

 

[cantgetin]

If all goes well, this will be no problem.  Plan to do "self disembarkation" where you carry off your own luggage rather than placing it outside the door the last night and reclaiming in the terminal.

I always look at the "what if" situation.  Example--what if there is a medical emergency and disembarkation is delayed by an hour.  If you needed them, what other flight options are available and how much will the change cost?  If it is caused by a ship issue, will your travel insurance cover it?

[raphael360]

Agree with the above comments. You must carry off your luggage disembark as soon as the doors open. I got my friend to MIA by 9 for his 10 AM flight. 

[Halifax Dude]

Should be no problem....I made a 10:35 flight out of FLL a few weeks ago.  Head down to Deck 7 at 7:15 and stand in line....once the ship is cleared, you'll be off and through customs in 10 minutes.  BUT, do not wait any later than 7:15.....the line gets long quickly.

[jcarter4551]

Since you get off the ship on a Wednesday, you will have no issues getting to the airport for your 1135 flight.

 

I will note that if you ever disembark on a Sunday (as we did a few weeks ago), it is pure chaos to get a cab or any ride share service (Uber, Lyft, etc.) On Sundays, there are 6-8 ships disembarking and loading up for next sailing. It took us 40 minutes to get an Uber (had to pay charge to get priority too) and was a longer wait for taxis. 

[AdoraBelle]

9 hours ago, jcarter4551 said:

Since you get off the ship on a Wednesday, you will have no issues getting to the airport for your 1135 flight.

 

I will note that if you ever disembark on a Sunday (as we did a few weeks ago), it is pure chaos to get a cab or any ride share service (Uber, Lyft, etc.) On Sundays, there are 6-8 ships disembarking and loading up for next sailing. It took us 40 minutes to get an Uber (had to pay charge to get priority too) and was a longer wait for taxis. 

Is the port traffic jam/construction still happening at PoM? We had friends drop us off at terminal V on a Sunday in February, and it took us half an hour to travel the last half mile. I’d never seen anything like it in years of sailing out of Miami. 

[rebeccac]

The traffic issues were still happening as of last month.  

[JanKP]

I would not risk it. We arrived in Miami at 5 am and no one could leave until almost 10 am as there were not enough customs agents or whoever to process the passengers.We were in line waiting to get off the boat form 730 am til 10ish when they finally let us go.  Or, other cruise ships also disembarking had more clout and we were made to wait.

[_tacocat_]

3 hours ago, JanKP said:

I would not risk it. We arrived in Miami at 5 am and no one could leave until almost 10 am as there were not enough customs agents or whoever to process the passengers.We were in line waiting to get off the boat form 730 am til 10ish when they finally let us go.  Or, other cruise ships also disembarking had more clout and we were made to wait.

Sounds like there may have been an actual holdup with the entire disembarkation process vs. just not enough customs agents.  I’ve been on VV from Miami quite a bit, both before the new facial recognition and after it was installed, and the only time we’ve had to “wait” were times when we didn’t start leaving until after 10.

 

if you were in line for the entirety of 7:30-10, that must have been a delay in clearing the ship or some sort of medical emergency that needed to be dealt with vs just a staffing issue.  Most people stay on until after 9:30, so the lines normally aren’t bad at any point before that.

[cantgetin]

Yes, if.....  The problem is that there is a long list of "ifs."  First, if there is a medical or legal issue on board that will be disembarked before anyone else can get off.  You are assuming the ship will dock on time--not usually a problem if Bimini is the stop before, but there can be delays due to things like rescue operations on the way in.  Then there is Customs--not usually an issue, but one never knows with them.  And finally traffic.  On our last cruise, we were basically at a standstill for about 10 minutes, then the problem cleared and it was an under 30 minute ride.

My question would be what happens IF you miss your flight?  Are you on SW with the level that allows you to move to a later flight at no additional fee?  Or are you going to be charged some outrageous change fee by another airline? Or have to buy a new flight totally and hope for a refund later?  Or are there no later flights that will get you to your destination that day?

[JanKP]

@_tacocat_ They told us they were waiting for customs agents or whoever clears the ship to disembark. No emergency. Which led us to believe that the larger ships/bigger companies were given precedence. We missed our flight and spent the rest of the day on standby as all the later flights were sold out/oversold. So next time I won't chance it and will book a flight after noon /

1 pm earliest

[rebeccac]

Interestingly, on our Thanksgiving cruise, they did not use the facial recognition system even though it was there.  Not sure why.  We also had a delay supposedly due to CBP.

[CruisingWalter]

On 5/5/2023 at 9:01 PM, AdoraBelle said:

Is the port traffic jam/construction still happening at PoM? We had friends drop us off at terminal V on a Sunday in February, and it took us half an hour to travel the last half mile. I’d never seen anything like it in years of sailing out of Miami. 

 

When we sailed Scarlet Lady earlier in 2023 it literally took 90 minutes once we entered Port Miami to park our car next to Terminal V. We went the entire length of Port Miami 3 times in a serpentine pattern. It was awful.  Two weeks ago the traffic is still there, though not quite as bad. 

 

If you have an 11:35 am flight I would be off the ship at 7:30a or whenever they open up disembarkation to get out of the port before the traffic starts up. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by CruisingWalter