Flight Home from Fort Lauderdale?

[lisa70]

Booked on the Oasis of the seas March 30th Booked our Flight home for 10:15am

Do you think we will miss the flight?

[Clarea]

Booked on the Oasis of the seas March 30th Booked our Flight home for 10:15am

Do you think we will miss the flight?

You should be OK. Oasis starts to disembark around 6:15am. I'd either carry my own bags, or get the lowest numbered tag possible just to give yourself the most time. Also take a taxi, don't wait for a shared shuttle to fill.

[Big Feet]

Booked on the Oasis of the seas March 30th Booked our Flight home for 10:15am

Do you think we will miss the flight?

carry off and cab and no problem making it. We've made the 8:30 from FLL to ATL. Allure and Oasis.

[lisa70]

Thank you Clarea again and thanks Big feet i couldn't

pass up $109 ticket lol

[lysolqn]

Hate to rain on your $109 parade but while it's likely you'll have no problem making a 10:15 flight, a late arrival into port for whatever reason or a customs delay could throw a wrench into the works. Admittedly those events don't happen often but as long as you're aware of the possibility and have Plan B in place you should be fine.

[True Texan]

We are on the Oasis in April and have a 10:05 flight. We are crossing our fingers that we have no problems makeing it to the airport on time.

[slyster]

They are right...if you carry your stuff off, you should have no problem. Yes, there is a slight possibility you miss because of a custom, late arrival issue, but I have had a few friends, including myself make it to 10am flights with no problem.

[tugboat]

Hate to rain on your $109 parade but while it's likely you'll have no problem making a 10:15 flight, a late arrival into port for whatever reason or a customs delay could throw a wrench into the works. Admittedly those events don't happen often but as long as you're aware of the possibility and have Plan B in place you should be fine.

 

Can you name one time the Oasis or the Alllure didn't make it in at 5 am, and anyone not make it to the airport by 9 AM?

[Clarea]

Can you name one time the Oasis or the Alllure didn't make it in at 5 am, and anyone not make it to the airport by 9 AM?

Very glad to see you posting Curtis!:D

[macruisefan]

On Oasis or Allure, this will be no problem. I've made 8:30 flights a number of times.

[killtheump]

On our Post - Thanksgiving cruise we carried our bags off and we were at the airport by 7:00.

[Gonzo70]

Barring a highly unusual occurrence you will make the flight, but I'd recommend opting for self-disembarkation to buy a little extra wiggle room just in case.

[spotgrey]

We have made an 8:45A flight couple times with no problems out of FLL. Carry your luggage off and you will have plenty of time. You don't need all those clothes (unless long cruise)...We carried on two pieces of luggage (one each) that fit in overhead bin on plane and had plenty of clothes...Have a great cruise.

[lysolqn]

Can you name one time the Oasis or the Alllure didn't make it in at 5 am, and anyone not make it to the airport by 9 AM?

 

While delayed disembarkation may not be likely, it is possible, and it is the recognition of that very possibility (remote as it may be) that prompts posters to make regular inquiries about reserving return flights with departure times earlier than that advised by the cruise lines. Just asking. "Can I make it?," is a de facto acknowledgement that you are aware there's a possibility you can't! All the encouragement and all the "We were at the airport by 7:30" or "We made it with no problem" replies, well intentioned though they may be, can be misleading and shouldn't be taken as a guarantee that just because someone else booked an early flight and made it, you will too. If that were the case, we wouldn't see post-cruise complaints by folks who book early flights and then blame the cruise line, the port, customs/immigration, anyone but themselves for making them miss those flights.

[lisa70]

Thanks for everyones quick response. My fingers will be crossed

[macruisefan]

While delayed disembarkation may not be likely, it is possible, and it is the recognition of that very possibility (remote as it may be) that prompts posters to make regular inquiries about reserving return flights with departure times earlier than that advised by the cruise lines. Just asking. "Can I make it?," is a de facto acknowledgement that you are aware there's a possibility you can't! All the encouragement and all the "We were at the airport by 7:30" or "We made it with no problem" replies, well intentioned though they may be, can be misleading and shouldn't be taken as a guarantee that just because someone else booked an early flight and made it, you will too. If that were the case, we wouldn't see post-cruise complaints by folks who book early flights and then blame the cruise line, the port, customs/immigration, anyone but themselves for making them miss those flights.

 

 

I disagree. I think your excessively cautionary tone is misleading and alarmist.

 

If someone came on and asked "Can I make a 7am flight?" the answer would be a resounding "no!". It is totally reasonable for the OP to inquire, and the responses we have given are not in any way misleading. OF COURSE there is a possibility that something could go wrong. We all know that. Heck, you could miss a 3pm flight if things went really wrong.

 

The OP should have nothing to worry about.

[Darkwolfe]

FLL is the ONLY airport I'd try that from. The fact that it is literally less than 5 minutes from the port makes all the difference.

 

Even so, I scheduled a 12:30pm flight home for after our Vision cruise next week. I'd rather be reading a book in the airport for a while than be in a rush.

 

But that's me, YMMV. :)

[amybear912]

I disagree. I think your excessively cautionary tone is misleading and alarmist.

 

The only people who find that "tone" misleading and alarmist are people who have no experience with delayed debarkation... I would wager that if it has happened to you, you probably aren't going to take the chance again...

 

There's more to it than whether or not the ship arrives on time and many a poster begins their inquiry by stating: if the ship arrives at x time can I make a y flight time without any thought as to what can happen after the ship arrives tha can delay your timely arrival...

 

In my experience at FLL, the ship arrived on time but customs did not clear the ship for debarkation until 9:30... At this point, the ship is filled with irritable passengers all stressing about getting off the ship on time... Tensions are high and tempers are flared...

 

Then the ship is cleared and EVERYONE is pushing and shoving their way off the ship...

 

Now, you're off the ship and cabs are struggling to keep up with the demand...

 

Then you're at the airport with a crowd of folks you would not have seen had the ship debarked under normal circumstances... The line to check in is long, some have now missed those early flights so they're trying to get a new flight... The security line is insane...

 

A delayed debarkation creates a bottleneck that causes further delay...

 

So when someone asks about early FLL flights I see nothing alarmist about relaying that experience... Then let the OP determine if the savings is worth the possibility of that hassle...

 

It's a gamble that the individual needs to decide if they are willing to take... Hopefully, hearing both sides allows them to make a more educated gamble within their comfort zone...

 

I think people make the inquiry looking for both experiences...Of course they realize there could be a problem but maybe they don't see the bigger picture that delayed debarkation is...

 

I think it's a disservice to say: Yeah, no problem ... Without also providing accounts of the "it happened to me"...

[E&D]

We just got off the Allure carrying our own bags last week and had plenty of time for our 10:15 flight. It worked out well last year too when we were on the Oasis. Good luck!

[lysolqn]

I disagree. I think your excessively cautionary tone is misleading and alarmist.

 

There's a reason every cruise line advises pax against booking return flights before a certain time and it's not for the purpose of boosting the revenue of kiosks at the local airport by making pax sit hours waiting for their flights home! Not sure how many cruises you've been on but I can tell you that while disembarkation from the vast majority of our 50+ cruises was unremarkable, we've experienced delayed disembarkation resulting from weather, customs/immigration issues, police matters, pax medivac at sea resulting in delayed arrival and delays due to cash paying pax with as yet unsettled accounts on the morning of arrival.

[SoonerDan]

We did it. We had a 945am flight out of FLL. Just did our research here and it was no problem

 

We did express carry off

 

Left our room at 647

Through customs and in the cab at 659

At airport 708

Through security at airport and at our gate by 720

 

Ended up bored with nothing to do at the airport.

[lisa70]

SoonerDan i will do express walk off have DH and kids ready at 7:00

[waterbug123]

 

There's more to it than whether or not the ship arrives on time and many a poster begins their inquiry by stating: if the ship arrives at x time can I make a y flight time without any thought as to what can happen after the ship arrives tha can delay your timely arrival...

 

In my experience at FLL, the ship arrived on time but customs did not clear the ship for debarkation until 9:30... At this point, the ship is filled with irritable passengers all stressing about getting off the ship on time... Tensions are high and tempers are flared...

 

Then the ship is cleared and EVERYONE is pushing and shoving their way off the ship...

 

Now, you're off the ship and cabs are struggling to keep up with the demand...

 

Then you're at the airport with a crowd of folks you would not have seen had the ship debarked under normal circumstances... The line to check in is long, some have now missed those early flights so they're trying to get a new flight... The security line is insane...

 

 

Generally speaking, the capacity of the terminal that handle Oasis/Allure, combined with their early scheduled arrivals, combined with the close proximity of FLL mean that those mid-morning flights are usually not a problem. But you're right in that there could also be a delay at customs, and/or a crowd at the airport when you arrive. So I usually offer the following as a more complete list of things to consider when weighing the risks of an "early" flight, in addition to the ship and it's scheduled arrival time in port:

 

Are you both physically able AND willing to self disembark, carrying all of your luggage off yourself?

 

Do you have your own transportation to the airport (private car or cab), rather than a ship-arranged shuttle?

 

Will you have Wi-Fi access onboard to check in for your flight online ahead of time?

 

Do you have to check bags at the airport, or can you limit your packing to carry-on only?

 

Do you have any elite status with your airline that will allow you to use a priority check-in line to check in and/or check bags?

 

Do you have any elite status with your airline that will allow you to use a priority security line? And/or do you have "trusted traveler" status to access the TSA Pre-check security line?

 

And in the event that things go wrong and you miss the flight...

 

Do you have any elite status with your airline that will give you an edge in being re-accommodated should you end up missing your flight?

[seetosea]

Booked on the Oasis of the seas March 30th Booked our Flight home for 10:15am

Do you think we will miss the flight?

 

Our experience getting off the Oasis: We walked our own luggage off at 6:30 and were at the airport at 6:45 am. Seriously! We had to wait four hours at the airport for our flight. Getting off the Oasis and Allure was the smoothest ever. Next time, I'll book an even earlier flight or stay aboard a little longer and have breakfast.

[Beth C]

I hung around on board for a while on my last Oasis trip since I wasn't flying out that morning but picking up a rental car and didn't want to return it in the wee hours of the morning and wait for my flight (@ noon) the following day. We got off the ship around 8:45 and were sitting at the airport by 0915 (took the Alamo shuttle)... finally around 10:15 we had enough and picked up the rental so we could get on with our day - I think we waited longer in the Alamo line up than we did getting off the ship!