What time to book departing flight?

[cwhip77]

Hello! Our cruise is scheduled to arrive back at 8am. What time would we realistically disembark and be ready to head to the airport? This is our first cruise so I'm not sure what time I should make our departing flight. Thank you!

[wrp96]

It depends where you are cruising out of, but most cruiselines recommend that you don't book any flights before noon. The 8 am disembarking time is just an estimate on when they'll begin. It might be earlier it, it might be later.

[2Cruise4Ever]

We've always booked our departing flight for mid-afternoon. That's just in case the ship is late coming in. For our next cruise, we're taking the train, though. Our ship (NCL Dawn) is scheduled to be back in port at 8:00 a.m., too. But, our train doesn't leave NYC until 3:00. If we get there early.....great! We'll try to take an earlier train. But, if the ship is delayed for any reason, we have some wiggle room if needed.

 

 

Happy Sailing! And, you'll be completely addicted to cruising afterwards! :D

[PelicanBill]

Well it's somewhat dependent on

 

* what port & airport

* What transportation you are taking

* when you will get called to disembark

 

but taking averages into account, you should really not book return air for earlier than 2pm.

 

Why?

* You should be at the airport 90 minutes before departure

* it may take a while to clear customs and immigration and get your luggage

* It willlikely be 9-10am before you are off ship

* transportation - you may be waiting for others or for the next bus or whatever

* delays are common

[doone]

I agree with the others, it depends upon where you disembark and the airport. For Ft. Lauderdale disembarkation point, I always book a flight for 12:30 pm home. We were off the ship at 8:15 am, but with the added security and all the other ships that are usually in and all these people trying to catch flights home, I would say nothing earlier than a 12 noon flight, at least from Ft. Lauderdale.

[geoherb]

On our last few cruises from Fort Lauderdale, we've found that we could save money by booking our return flight the day after our cruise ended--even after figuring in the cost of a hotel room and meals. It's worth it to us to extend our vacation a day and not have to fight the mobs of passengers at the airport. (These were cruises that arrived back in Fort Lauderdale on Sundays.)

[kokotori]

If your port is Tampa plan on late afternoon or early evening. In April we were due to port at 8am, (high winds,traffic in channel) but we arrived at dock @approx 11am and was not able to leave the ship til 1pm (customs, someone was missing for a awhile). We were in no hurry as our flight left at 7pm and we were waiting comfortably on the lido deck eating and drinking and soaking up the last rays of sun while everyone else was frantic to get off. We left about 2:30pm and it seemed we were one of the last ones off.

[cwhip77]

Thanks for the replies! We're taking a Carnival cruise (Legend in November to be exact) out of Ft. Lauderdale, and will probably be taking taxis to and from the airport.

[doone]

In Ft. Lauderdale, everything is very close. If you are booking your own flights, I would suggest that you fly a day ahead to avoid any possible delays with your flights, you don't want to miss your ship. There are lots of places to stay in Ft. Lauderdale that are close to both the airport and the pier. Check the hotel boards here and you'll learn alot about priceline and all the hotels in the area.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[wrp96]

There have been several posts about how crowded and backed up Ft. Lauderdale airport gets on days when cruise ships are in. Long lines to check in, go through security, etc. are apparently very common. In addition, Ft. Lauderdale frequently experiences delayed flights, both incoming and outgoing. For your return flight, it would be best to book a mid afternoon or later flight.

[melissa593]

Great idea Geoherb, never thought about how mobbed the airport would be. I'll remember that for next time (too late for our Dec '05 cruise out of Pt Canaveral)

We are arriving on Sunday at 10:30am at Orlando, ship departs at 5pm. For the return home our flight out of Orlando is 3pm--figure with time to disembark, the approx 1 hour drive to Orlando and having to be at the airport 2 hours ahead this should give us plenty of time (i hope!!)

[Tomm]

Cruisers who need to make a flight are usually let off the ship first.