11:15 am flight out of Miami, too early???

[marie&rick]

Our ship will be arriving to the port in Miami at 8:00am, is an 11:15am flight out of Miami airport too early??

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

If all goes well it will work ..

[partman57]

DW & DD did it with no problem. They informed Carnival of flight time and requested self departure from Ship. They made it to Airport with time to spare. Now having said all that, Our Ship was sitting off the coast of Miami at daybreak........!

[marie&rick]

thanks

[spacepotatoes]

If you get off right away and all goes well, you can make it. However, we've experienced the cluster*#^$ that is MIA and would never book anything before noon or 12:30. We'd just spend too much time worrying about it otherwise.

[OKLandShark]

DW & DD did it with no problem. They informed Carnival of flight time and requested self departure from Ship. They made it to Airport with time to spare. Now having said all that, Our Ship was sitting off the coast of Miami at daybreak........!

 

Last cruise 2yrs ago, DW and I did the self debark and were off the ship and on our transfer to MIA by 7:15 and on our way to the airport by 7:45(at the latest, I don't recall exact time). Our flight for our upcoming trip is an 11:55am departure.

[cuted126]

I think it could be be done,but I am one of those people who always thinks "What If"? That being said,ive never been on any ship later than 9am.

[Almost Packed]

If you get off right away and all goes well, you can make it. However, we've experienced the cluster*#^$ that is MIA and would never book anything before noon or 12:30. We'd just spend too much time worrying about it otherwise.

 

Yep, been there done that in MIA. What a nightmare trying to get through the lines. It was a mess. I'll never book an early flight out of MIA. The stress is not worth it. I'd rather hang out on the ship, enjoy breakfast and take my sweet time getting to the airport.

 

But that's me. It's bad enough your cruise is ending, why add more stress?

[Msneata]

Many people did choose the earlier flight when we debarked from the Liberty last month but we chose to book the 12:30 fligh. You can then check with the desk for the option to go standby on the earlier flight. During our trip, we did use self-assist but the debarkation process didn't even start until right before 8am.

[lovegood]

I wouldn't do it. It can be done, but you have to count that everything goes right... which not always happened...

[WiscoGirl32]

Our last cruise out of Miami in January 2011, boyfriend and I did self debark and were one of the first people off the ship. It was still dark outside. Pre-reserved a shuttle to MIA. Had to call them to let them know we were off the ship. Our flight was around 11:00 and we were at the airport around 9. Plenty of time. We were all ready to head out the cabin door when they made first call for self debark. I would say go for it!

[ILUVCRUIZN]

Our return flight out of Miami for our February cruise also leaves at 11:15. Our last cruise out of Miami we were off of the ship and at the airport in about 45 min. We did the self assist went straight to the transfer, it filled up pretty fast and were on our way with lots of time to spare by the time we made it to the gate. Hopefully it will be that smooth again, but you never know it is a crap shoot, LOL!!! ;)

[jonbgd]

Our ship will be arriving to the port in Miami at 8:00am, is an 11:15am flight out of Miami airport too early??

If your from Canada would you have to fly out of international which could take longer to get thru than normal TSA.

Either way I wouldnt try it

[alymb03]

Our ship will be arriving to the port in Miami at 8:00am, is an 11:15am flight out of Miami airport too early??

 

My friend had an early flight and they let her self debark with the earliest group and she made it no problem. It may have been like 10:30 or so.

[spacepotatoes]

If your from Canada would you have to fly out of international which could take longer to get thru than normal TSA.

Either way I wouldnt try it

 

That's a great point! We're also from Ontario but we fly through Detroit. Even so, the international thing is one place where MIA can really screw you because unlike every other airport I've been to, they don't separate the international and domestic check-ins. Back in January, we had a Delta flight to Detroit at the same time as a Delta flight to Amsterdam. The baggage drop line was a nightmare. Security wasn't as bad but still crowded.

 

There are lots of success stories but for every one of those, there's at least one that didn't make it. Not worth the stress.

[Tapi]

It's been hit or miss for us. On one sailing we were off the ship early enough to make a 9:15am flight :D, but on a few sailings we've still been on the ship at 10:00am. Our worst experience was on the Destiny where debarkation was delayed until 2:00pm! :eek:

 

11:15am is "doable" although any delay with ship arrival, security, traffic, check in, or TSA lines can definitely throw a wrench in your plans. If you DO book this flight, have a backup plan (and extra cash), just in case.

 

Personally, I wouldn't book a flight before 12:00pm.

[soozles]

I just got off the liberty today, from Miami. I'm sitting in the ft lauderdale airport about to board an 1120 flight home. We were originally booked for a 3 pm flight, but we got to the airport super early and they had seats available so we took it. If we can do it from fll without even rushing off tge ship, I'm sure it's possible from Miami. It's only like a 15 minute cab ride.

[Keith1010]

I would book a Noon or later flight.

 

Keith

[vacruizer]

I've done it easily two years running for our January cruises from Miami. It's the only nonstop back until late that night so it's REALLY nice if we make it be back to the airport by 1:30 or so and then a 2 hour drive home (which we'd be making in the middle of the night if we did the later one.) The flights are also less than half the cost of other flight times for us. Some advice, though:

 

• you need to use self debark for it to work. Grab a cab and head straight for the airport
  
• don't linger when you get to MIA - get your bags checked, dropped off, and through security before the rest of the thousands of cruisers clog up the lines
  
• Know that there's a small chance the ship or customs could delay you and you could miss the flight. Have a backup plan, insurance, and funds in case you need alternate arrangements home.
  

For us, the risk is well worth it. Odds are small that we will be delayed into port, and if it happens I'm certainly not going to get upset. I'm also one of those people who would just as soon get off the ship the last morning - no point hanging around anymore with nothing to do, no entertainment, no room to hang in.... and knowing it's over.

[bbohbbneedacruise]

It all depends on just how many other ships are in port that day. You have to account for both Everglades and POM.

I would at least check the port schedules as precautionary measures.

I use http://www.cruisetimetables.com/ to check the ports before making airline reservations.

 

4 ships in POM and 4 ships at Everglades can be approx 20,000 people all trying to get flights between 2 airports.:eek:

[yogimax]

Just becasue it was o.k. for someone else doesn't mean it will work for you! Circumstances change each week.

[MissKIA]

We had a flight booked to leave Miami at 4:45 and our ship ended up getting to port about 3 or 4 hours late because of propulsion problems. We went directly to the airport once we got off the ship and by the time we trekked through the entire airport (or so it seemed) we ended up waiting to board our flight for maybe half an hour. There is NO WAY we would have made an 11:15 flight. I don't even think the ship had docked yet by that time. I wouldn't book that. Way too risky!

[MissKIA]

I should also mention that the Liberty was great and opened all the phone lines so people could change flights and arrangements etc. but it was almost impossible to get through, the phones were all tied up. There were also HUGE lines at the guest services desk. It was pretty much a mad house.

[elsplace2]

On one of our cruises, we had a medical emergency and had a passenger airlifted, the day before our ship ported....making our arrival time delayed. The captain did his best in making up time but the ship pulled in dockside around 9:30am and we didn't get off until after 10:00am because we self-disembarked, but I heard alot of people were missing their flights. Luckily our flight wasn't until 12:25 so we were OK, but the day before we were stressing because we did not know if we were going to make it. Not a great way to spend your last day on a cruise.

 

It can be done if all goes well, but you just never know!!

[soozles]

You can always book a later flight, and if you get to the airport, you can change your tickets for an earlier flight if you are on time. That's how we got on our 11:20 flit, when our original flight didn't leave until 3:15. They had seats, so it wasn't an issue. But this way, if there is a hold up, you can at least keep your seats on the later flight.