Fort Lauderdale advice anyone?

[darknightsdespiser]

Greetings - just about to book the Emerald for next January (!), docking on the final day is scheduled for 7am, we would be catching flight back to New York (to connect with one to the UK hence the need to be on it!). The latest possible is 1pm, is this ambitious given how long disembarkation can sometimes take? How far is the airport? Anyone done similar?

 

Depending on the answer to this we may add an extra day, is it easy enough to see the Everglades on an organised excursion from Fort Lauderdale?

 

Any comments gratefully received here is a frosty Scotland!

[Jay_NH]

The airport is about a 10 minute ride from the port. I would not book a flight any earlier than 11 AM so a 1 PM flight is fine.

Jay:D

[leavingocalaagain]

Jay is right on. You will have no problem catching a flight from 11am or later.

[retiredldo]

Depending on how aggressive you want to be, you can actually get a 1000 am flight with no problems at all, however there is always an element of risk but the odds are more in your favor than not of getting that early flight time., They have to clear the ship out and they do this every weekend for multiple ships having said that

 

You could opt to rent a car for the day and spend the day in fort lauderdale, beaches, sawgrass mill outlet, etc etc and most of them will get you at the pier or just a short ride away but you add on the cost of the car and hotel but if you book far enough in advance there are always good deals and in most cases you can return your car right to the airport before your flight

 

Back to the flights, we have just about always done around a 1000 am flight once booked a 930 and in just about every case have been sitting in the airport by 0830

 

Pete

[Wellard]

Good to see yr booking on the Emerald. I sailed on her 3 Christmases ago. Great ship.

 

I always like to stay an extra night after we get off, Fort Lauderdale has so Much to offer. Yes u can visit the Everglades easily from there. Many of the hotels run tours.

 

You may also want to think about flying in and out of Miami. There are direct flights to the UK and many leave in the evening, so you could visit the Everglades in the day and fly home afterwards. It's only about miles between FL & MIA. About £50 for a taxi.

[OhioDogLover]

If you want, there are possibilities for seeing part of the Everglades in a just a few hours. We took a ship excursion after a Ft Lauderdale cruise a few years ago and did the ship excursion before we caught the flight. Saw some wildlife, rode an airboat, etc. It was very interesting. I doubt you can get that done and still catch a 1 pm flight to the UK, but you can try.

Ohiodoglover

[kywildcatfanone]

Greetings - just about to book the Emerald for next January (!), docking on the final day is scheduled for 7am, we would be catching flight back to New York (to connect with one to the UK hence the need to be on it!). The latest possible is 1pm, is this ambitious given how long disembarkation can sometimes take? How far is the airport? Anyone done similar?

 

Depending on the answer to this we may add an extra day, is it easy enough to see the Everglades on an organised excursion from Fort Lauderdale?

 

Any comments gratefully received here is a frosty Scotland!

 

I guess it all depends on whether or not you really want to spend another day in Fort Lauderdale, because a 1pm flight is no issue whatsoever. They will have everyone off the ship by around 9am at the latest. It is only about a 10 minute ride to the airport by taxi.

 

Mike

[ChevyCruiser]

If you stay near the port, there's a water taxi that you can catch under the drawbridge. The water taxi will take you for a nice tour of the yachts and houses of the rich and famous along the waterway. If you get the all-day pass you can get on and off as much as you want. You are very likely to see a manatee or two along the way, as well as iguanas sunning themselves.

 

There was a nice little bar at the northernmost stop, I can't recall it's name, but our water taxi driver recommended it and we spent a lovely couple of hours there before reboarding for the trip back.

 

If you are inclined to bring your own wine onboard, there's a nice shopping center behind the Embassy Suites on 17th Street with a Publix market. I usually stock up there prior to the cruise.

 

You'll have a great time!

[Pam in CA]

Personally, I'd book the 1pm flight. The reason being (and I don't think the other responses have taken this into consideration) you are technically taking an international flight as your final destination is the UK. Airlines always require an earlier check-in for international flights, some as much as three hours. With a 1pm flight, you can relax, disembark the ship later and still be at the airport in plenty of time. I would NEVER chance booking a 10am or even an 11am flight for an international flight, even if you are flying to JFK first.

[Essiesmom]

This is how close the airport is to Port Everglades:

 

[Anubi]

Greetings - just about to book the Emerald for next January (!), docking on the final day is scheduled for 7am, we would be catching flight back to New York (to connect with one to the UK hence the need to be on it!). The latest possible is 1pm, is this ambitious given how long disembarkation can sometimes take? How far is the airport? Anyone done similar?

 

Depending on the answer to this we may add an extra day, is it easy enough to see the Everglades on an organised excursion from Fort Lauderdale?

 

Any comments gratefully received here is a frosty Scotland!

 

For information on Ft. Lauderdale Google Tom Sheridan. He has a website and just completed the most amazing port guide for Ft. Lauderdale. He also has a lot of other port guides for the Med.

 

Enjoy Ft. Lauderdale!!

[darknightsdespiser]

Thank you SO much everyone! Thanks also for the thought re direct flights to UK but we are in a northern part of same and have really good service Newark to Edinburgh - misses out the hell that is Heathrow! Going to arrive in FL on the Fri for a bit of exploring on the Saturday before the Sunday cruise.

Again, thanks for the excellent and fast info....

[Sailingpeace]

Greetings - just about to book the Emerald for next January (!), docking on the final day is scheduled for 7am, we would be catching flight back to New York (to connect with one to the UK hence the need to be on it!). The latest possible is 1pm, is this ambitious given how long disembarkation can sometimes take? How far is the airport? Anyone done similar?

 

Depending on the answer to this we may add an extra day, is it easy enough to see the Everglades on an organised excursion from Fort Lauderdale?

 

Any comments gratefully received here is a frosty Scotland!

 

 

Depending on how many ships are getting into port on that day , the airport may be a zoo. Next cruise, we will be arriving on a Saturday , around 6 ships in port. We will stay in FLL for the day and fly out next mornig, early flight. No need to fear ship beeing late , calmer time at airport and time in FLL. Plus the flight was cheaper on Sunday morning, difference almost pays hotel stay.

 

Have a nice cruise and safe flights.

[Treven]

Whenever I'm cruising out of FLL, I always book a 6 a.m. flight the following day to fly back to the left coast. Not only do I miss the airport mess, I get home by noon, & I start doing my laundry & go pick up my dog from the vet's.