Is a 10:55am FLL flight too early?

[Hawk15]

We will be disembarking the Navigator of the seas on Sunday, March 25 in Ft.Lauderdale. I'm considering booking a 10:55am flight, is this departure time too early?

[Ginnyfyr]

We will be disembarking the Navigator of the seas on Sunday, March 25 in Ft.Lauderdale. I'm considering booking a 10:55am flight, is this departure time too early?

 

Assuming you're docked by 7 am, if you can do the express walk off where you carry your own luggage off, you should be okay (last week on Oasis that was from 6-7:30 am). The airport is only about a 10 min taxi ride from the pier so getting off the ship fast would be your biggest obstacle.

[cot427]

If all things go smoothly and as planned, that should not be a problem. You can easily walk off the ship with our luggage and grab a taxi from Port Everglades to FLL in about 5 minutes. However, if things do not go so smooth, be prepared to be a wreck all morning.

 

But all things considered, we made an 11:00 flight in Orlando from the Freedom and Port Canaveral is nearly an hour away from the airport, so you should be fine. It beats waiting at the airport all day for that flight that leaves at 4 or 5 pm!

[SuiteTraveler]

We will be disembarking the Navigator of the seas on Sunday, March 25 in Ft.Lauderdale. I'm considering booking a 10:55am flight, is this departure time too early?

 

The only possible issue you may encounter is a delay by customs in clearing the ship. One year we sailed on a RCCL ship during Spring Break (same time period as you) and we were delayed getting off the ship for over 2 hours while they rounded up 38 passengers who apparently bought marijuana or other drugs in Jamaica and brought them home with them. This was at Port of Miami, btw.

 

However, in FLL the airport is only about 15 minutes drive from the cruise port, so under normal circumstances, you should have no problem using self-disembarkation and then taking a taxi to the airport to get on your flight in plenty of time. Security lines at the airport after a cruise can be quite long, so be sure to allow yourself plenty of time to check luggage and clear security. (In other words, plan to get off the ship early.)

[LarryL]

We will be disembarking the Navigator of the seas on Sunday, March 25 in Ft.Lauderdale. I'm considering booking a 10:55am flight, is this departure time too early?

 

With some luck and self disembarkation you may make it. There will be 7 ships in port that day including the Allure, Carnival Magic, and Ruby Princess. Not sure of the size of the other ships, but this can make for an interesting time at the airport.:(

[Shippy]

We fly to California & like Virgin America. It is either 10:30am or around 5pm.

There are only 2 flights on that airline a day.

We always take the 10:30a & get to the airport with a lot of time to spare. We do, however, ALWAYS do the 'carry your own luggage off' option.

It is not just about getting off the ship early but geting through customs before the long lines.

[nancronin]

We were on the Jewel last March and came home on Friday, the 18th and had a 10:50 flight - we did NOT carry off our luggage and we had no problem getting to FLL on time.

 

BUT it was a Friday ---- on Sundays the Allure dumps all their passengers and that creates huge lines at the airport. We were flying home from FLL two years ago on a Saturday morning and got stuck in the lines with all the people after they got off the Oasis. Since then, we fly home on Saturday afternoons from our time share in FLL.

 

Good luck - hope it works for you cause it's awful sitting at the airport all day.

[DonnaK]

We were off the ship and at our post-cruise hotel (which was the same distance to the airport) by 7:30am.

 

We originally had a 11:10am flight which was cancelled due to hurricane Irene.

 

I wasn't worried about booking a flight at that time. FLL is very close to the pier, and we did express walk off (carrying our own luggage), but the first group to be called was around 7:30am, so still no issues.

[yogimax]

Make sure you book your flight out of Fort Lauderdale, not Miami.

[snowman]

With some luck and self disembarkation you may make it. There will be 7 ships in port that day including the Allure, Carnival Magic, and Ruby Princess. Not sure of the size of the other ships, but this can make for an interesting time at the airport.:(

This is really right on. It could take you a 1-1/2 just to get through TSA with that many ships in port. Don't chance it. We usually fly first class that has a special TSA line and it takes us 45 min.

[Pichu21]

We will be disembarking the Navigator of the seas on Sunday, March 25 in Ft.Lauderdale. I'm considering booking a 10:55am flight, is this departure time too early?

You'll be fine :) Just do what the above posters said and everything will go smoothly.

[atljoo]

We had a 10:15 am flight from FLL after the Allure, and had zero problems making the flight. We were given group 8 tags for debarkation, and were off the ship at 7:55 am, in a taxi at 8:25 am, and at the airport by 8:45 am.

[silentbob007]

Make sure you check the debarkation time ... is it 7 or 8? I've found Navigator to take a bit longer than Oasis/Allure.

[beagledude]

This is really right on. It could take you a 1-1/2 just to get through TSA with that many ships in port. Don't chance it. We usually fly first class that has a special TSA line and it takes us 45 min.

 

It still took 45 minutes even with priority security? We fly American and were hoping priority security would eliminate the log jam at FLL. We have an 11am flight and I really don't want to carry my luggage. In fact, hoping we can still do luggage valet with the 11am. We are disembarking on a Sunday with quite a few ships in port.

[snowman]

It still took 45 minutes even with priority security? We fly American and were hoping priority security would eliminate the log jam at FLL. We have an 11am flight and I really don't want to carry my luggage. In fact, hoping we can still do luggage valet with the 11am. We are disembarking on a Sunday with quite a few ships in port.

On that day there were 6 ships in port at the same time. The lines at TSA were horriable. When we got to the check in point the guy said that they were short 6 agents that were off. This was the priority line for Delta. This was a Sunday morining come on TSA you knew that 6 ships were in port. Not my favorite people, the TSA.

[BriBooVa]

We booked through choice air and were able to get an 11:30 flight on USAirways. The connection is in Charlotte and home by 3:15pm. In December, the Navigator 6-night arrives back on December 10, 2011 at 5:30am (according to the details).

 

Now my question...based on others experience, what time will debarkation begin? I know Allure and at least 2 other ships are due in that day...so, I am sure it will be crazy at the airport, we will want to get over early as we can to try to beat the crowd.

 

Just curious.

 

Thanks,

 

B

[jaminvermont]

The RCCL website suggest 11:30 as the earliest flight departure for your sailing. As others have said, you'll probably be ok if you use self debarkation. Enjoy your trip!

[silentbob007]

If it is scheduled to arrive by 5:30, debarkation will probably start sometime between 6-7. I wouldn't worry about an 11:30 AM flight with that early of arrival.

 

For those of you who have never flown through FLL, (my opinion) it is an airport that really can't handle the people going through it, especially on busy days. Queues for security sometimes have to be broken up into several different sections because there is simply not enough space for a single line.

[beagledude]

On that day there were 6 ships in port at the same time. The lines at TSA were horriable. When we got to the check in point the guy said that they were short 6 agents that were off. This was the priority line for Delta. This was a Sunday morining come on TSA you knew that 6 ships were in port. Not my favorite people, the TSA.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I've already checked to see if American had a priorty line at FLL, but have also see them shut down due to being understaffed. I read on another thread that ealiest departure for luggage valet out of FLL was 11am (recent cruiser looked at paperwork) and MIA was 2pm. Hoping that's true as that would keep from having to check luggage.

[yarlenna]

If you are going to fly before 11.30, just have a plan B. Yes, most times you can make a early flight, BUT anything can happen on any day.

[amybear912]

The question is not, "is this flight too early?"...

 

The 2 questions you should be asking yourself are:

 

Can I afford to miss the flight if something goes wrong?

 

And...

 

"do I like to gamble?"

 

All these folks telling you that it will be fine cannot possibly guarantee such a thing and have been very fortunate in the past... For all the success stories listed here, there are just as many missed flight stories and too close for comfort stories...

 

Last time I debarked and flew out of FLL, we were delayed by customs and NO ONE started leaving the ship until 9:30! We were running to the gate to make our 11:44am flight...

 

If that scenario wouldn't stress you out, then by all means go for it!