Time between getting off cruise ship and flight out of Miami.

[trilinearmipmap]

We are going on a seven day cruise on Royal Caribbean from Miami April 22nd to 29th. The boat is supposed to arrive in Miami at 7 AM. We need to allow enough time to get off the boat, pick up our luggage, make it to the airport, check in, pass through security, etc.

 

I have a choice of booking a flight out at either 11:30 AM or 3:30 PM.

 

I don't want to cut it too close but I also don't want to spend hours and hours waiting around with our luggage in an airport.

 

Any suggestions?

[Llav01]

I've sailed out of miami twice. 8 months ago we were on the Brilliance and we had a 12:30 flight. We figured we had plenty of time to get to the airport so we told them we had a 12:30 flight (as opposed to telling them we had an earlier flight). Well we were the last ones off the ship as they ran into computer problems. Luckily we didn't have to travel to FLL aiport. We still made it. Its a very short ride to the Miami airport. One thing to keep in mind...Royal Caribbean uses the conveyour belt for luggage. We waited for our luggage to make it's way around.

 

This last time (last week) we had a 1pm flight. We were off the boat by about 8:30. This time we told Celebrity that we had an 11am flight to make sure we were given one of the earlier disembarkation times. We were the first group to disembark behind the express group. With express you have the option of being the first group out but you have to carry your own luggage out. Celebrity puts out all the luggage in groups in the warehouse and so they're already there waiting when you come out (no conveyor=no waiting around).

 

I think you'd be ok going out of port of Miami to Miami airport for an11:30 flight. Just make sure you are on the first group to disembark. Enjoy your trip.

[wrp96]

Can you carry your own bags off the ship and do the self-disembark option? If not, then I recommend booking the 3:30 flight and then if you get to the airport early enough for the 11:30 flight trying to get on that flight standby.

[Bequia]

I have a choice of booking a flight out at either 11:30 AM or 3:30 PM.

Any suggestions?

 

Book the 11:30am, you'll get there with plenty of time to spare. ;)

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[Scoutcat]

Please pay attention to the guidelines from your cruiseline. They usually have a suggested "no earlier than" time for flight departures on the day of return. You can't bank on the ship getting back exactly at the scheduled time, nor on disembarking taking place without a hitch. Mechanical problems, weather, or customs issues can all cause delays. Having to kill a bit of time at the airport beats missing your flight any day!

 

Why not consider one final shore excursion to fill in the time? You can leave your baggage on the bus while you are touring whatever and then they will take you to the airport after your excursion. (We did the Everglades that way last December.) People on excursions are usually among the first off the ship, too.

 

"Scout" aka Carol

Dayton, OH

 

Carnival Valor~December 2005

[fastrock]

We had two noon departures using Carnival with no problems. We did do the early departure on the ship, ask the CD where they need to meet and be there. Both were post 9/11.