Are We Pushing It?

[Happy2Crews]

I have no experience with Princess cruise lines or the Ft. Lauderdale airport. Will be cruising Jan/Feb 2013. How difficult do you think it will be to depart the ship, catch a cab and check in at the airport for a departing flight around 11:00. We will be a party of four adults.

Thanks :)

[Cruizman1]

Make sure you let the ship know your flight time so they can try and arrange to get you the earliest debarkation slot. But even with this you might be cutting it close for an 11AM flight.

 

I assume you did not book air through the cruise line?

[waltd]

You should be fine as long as the ship does not get back into port late. Also you might want to check and see how many ships will be in port the day you come back. I've read that 4 or 5 ships in port are not an issue but Ft Lauderdale has on occassion 8 ships in port at one time. Posts have stated that when 8 are in port that getting a taxi can be an issue. If you can walk off the ship with your own bags you can get a head start on getting to the airport.

[orangetabby]

I have no experience with Princess cruise lines or the Ft.Lauderdale airport. Will be cruising Jan/Feb 2013. How difficult do you think it will be to depart the ship, catch a cab and check in at the airport for a departing flight around 11:00. We will be a party of four adults.

 

Thanks :)

We just got off the Ruby Princess on Sunday. We selected the Express Walk-off option and were off the ship by 07:15 and at Fort Lauderdale airport by 07:35 for our 10:35am flight. Lots of time.

[Putterdude]

You should have no trouble with that time as long as you self-disembark or arrange for an early disembarkation time. The are lots of cabs at the terminal and FLL is only 10 minutes away.

[KirkNC]

As long as the ship is on time you will be ok. I would want to be in the first group off of the ship.

[Doug R.]

Just returned from FLL on Princess. I would suggest a few things to make your departure painless:

 

1. Arrange for EZ-Check, if your airline participates, when you place your bags out in the hall, you will not have to deal with them again until you get to your final destination, unless for some reason ICE wants to see them. You will also have your boarding passes and baggage tags delivered to your cabin. It is worth every penny of the $20 pp fee.

 

2. Arrange for self-debarkation as well so you are among the first off the ship.

 

3. Take a taxi rather than Princess transfers.

 

4. Don't panic at FLL, the line for TSA will be long, especially if the Behemoth of the Seas is one of the ships debarking that day. TSA is pretty good at moving the line. It was enormous the day we left, however we were through in 30 min.

 

5. Be sure to offer a generous sacrifice to the Gods of Travel the night before. :D

[skynight]

Early in your voyage you will receive a disembark questionnaire. Suggest all of your party select the early walk off option. In this option you will NOT place your luggage outside your cabin the evening before departure. Leave it it you cabin. In the morning, at the time designated, go to the meeting location mentioned on the disembark instructions. You should leave the ship between 7 and 7:30AM.

 

With this option you must wheel/carry your own luggage off the ship and through immigration & customs. Take taxi(s) to the airport, approx. $25, and only a 10 to 15 min ride. You should be at the airport by 8AM.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

Make sure you have a good back up plan if the ship doesn't get there in time.

[sunsetbeachgal]

The ideas above are great...if you are not candidates for self-disembarkation ( mobility issues, too much luggage, etc) request to be one of the first groups off...and yes, get a taxi.

[TMS9539]

We just got off the CB this past Saturday. There were 8 ships disembarking that day. We chose to carry our own luggage off and through security and at our gate at the airport by 7:45. Our flight was also at 11:00 - we had wanted a 10:20 flight but were worried we wouldn't make it. Obviously we could have.

 

However, I think if you don't get off the ship first thing there will probably be lines for taxis and long lines for security at the airport. So I would opt to carry your own luggage so you get off quick.

 

Of course, that was easy for us because we travel light. One carry-on each and that's it. No checked luggage.

[Pam in CA]

1. Arrange for EZ-Check, if your airline participates, when you place your bags out in the hall, you will not have to deal with them again until you get to your final destination, unless for some reason ICE wants to see them. You will also have your boarding passes and baggage tags delivered to your cabin. It is worth every penny of the $20 pp fee.

Note that EZ Check is available only for flights leaving later than 11:30am out of FLL.

 

The time the ship starts disembarkation and you get to disembark depends on the cruise and how many other ships are arriving the same day. On some cruises, the self-disembarkation groups do so over almost half an hour. And, on quite a few of my cruises, regular disembarkation is at the same time or earlier than the later self-disembarkation groups. In other words, doing self-disembarkion doesn't necessarily mean or guarantee you're the first off the ship.

 

If you choose self-disembarkation, you'll need to be able to handle all if your luggage, carry-on and bags yourself without assistance and have one hand free on the escalator.

[CFD130]

Princess EZ air has 10:30 am flights posted from FLL for our cruise

[Nebr.cruiser]

We've made a 10:30 flight with ease. It shouldn't be a problem

 

except

 

of course for the (fairly rare) possibility of something happening that makes the ship late or slows down disembarkation. Just have a back-up plan.

[caribill]

Princess EZ air has 10:30 am flights posted from FLL for our cruise

 

Just so people are not confused,

 

EZAir means if a flight is listed, it is OK to book a flight at that time so the OP will be OK with a flight at 11.

 

EZ Check is for your luggage and as pointed out earlier, not available at FLL for flights before 11:30.

[Keith1010]

As others have said as long as there are no delays you will be fine.

 

If you don't like to worry about these things, consider a later flight.

 

Keith

[Happy2Crews]

Thanks all so much for the great advice. ;)

[Eagle Eye]

Be glad you weren't getting off the Emerald Dec 7th. Big hold up of passengers getting off. Was told Customs/Immigration was the cause of the hold up. I know some passengers with Princess Transfer vouchers for an early Delta flight missed their plane. Those who took cabs as soon as they got off the boat instead of using Princess coaches probably made it. iirc, the cab stand had a sign saying minimum 3 passengers per cab.

[caribill]

the cab stand had a sign saying minimum 3 passengers per cab.

 

Interesting since most cabins have only two people in them.

 

I wonder why since the cost is metered, not by number of passengers.

[Eagle Eye]

Interesting since most cabins have only two people in them.

 

I wonder why since the cost is metered, not by number of passengers.

 

I figured they said min 3 passengers, so that if you were in a big hurry to make a flight, you'd offer to "pay" for the missing third person. Just another way to make money by finding a way around regulated $/mile rates.

[ksm77]

We were on the Grand in November ending a transatlantic cruise. We had a 11:30 flight out of FLL. We would have missed the flight if the flight had not been delayed. We did the Princess transport because with 10 ships in port we were told we could have a hard time getting a taxi. We were supposed to get off the ship by 8:30. We did not got off the ship until 9:45 because immigration was very backed up. They would only let a limited number of people off at a time. It was 10:15 by the time we made it to the Princess transport (bus). We waited another 35 minutes for the bus to fill up and the driver to load the luggage (a small lady) by herself. She would not let the men help because she said she could not for insurance reasons. We arrived at the airport at 11:15. We were not allowed off the bus until all the luggage was unloaded. We got to our gate at 11:40 the flight was already boarding but had been delayed for a 12:15 depart. Things can happen that are out of your control that will cause problems. We will never use a Princess transport again in FLL. There were lots of taxi. We will not book a flight before noon again either. In theory everything should be fine but things can happen out of your control.

[serene56]

 

1. Arrange for EZ-Check, if your airline participates, when you place your bags out in the hall, you will not have to deal with them again until you get to your final destination, unless for some reason ICE wants to see them. You will also have your boarding passes and baggage tags delivered to your cabin. It is worth every penny of the $20 pp fee.. :D

 

 

I dont know if this could be done for a flight time of 11am. Ithought the flight needed to be later.

 

 

With FLL we have taken the 11:30 flight quite a few times.

We do not do self embarkation but ask for early off tags at guest services and we are off with the first wave of Zone people. Have been at the airport before 9am.

 

You might also want to check flights into and out of MIA too. but factor in the cost of round trip transportation into any savings.

[capriccio]

We were on the Grand in November ending a transatlantic cruise.

 

Ships arriving in the US after spending the previous season sailing non-US itineraries (for example, transatlantics) can encounter longer immigration procedures - both disembarking passengers and those embarking on the 'first' cruise out of a US port for the season should be aware that they could be impacted.

[Texas Realtor]

We just got off the Ruby Princess on Sunday. We selected the Express Walk-off option and were off the ship by 07:15 and at Fort Lauderdale airport by 07:35 for our 10:35am flight. Lots of time.

 

How many ships were in port? We are trying to catch a 10:55 flight with 6 ships in port. We will do the walk off and hopefully have no issues.

[Pam in CA]

I dont know if this could be done for a flight time of 11am. Ithought the flight needed to be later.

You cannot book EZ Check if your flight is earlier than 11:30am at FLL.