Earliest flight on disembarkation day

[brewster007]

Hope somebody can help with this. What is the earliest recommended flight time out of FLL on disembarkation day.? I am looking at an 11:50AM flight but I am thinking that might be to early.

 

Thanks

 

Brewster

[POA1]

What day of the week are you flying? If it's Saturday or Sunday, that might be tight.

[brewster007]

What day of the week are you flying? If it's Saturday or Sunday, that might be tight.

 

We are flying on a Friday.

[POA1]

We've always managed to make late morning flights on weekdays. As long as your ship is on time you are probably OK. Check into the Luggage Direct program. It saves you some time.

 

Also try to find out if there are many other ships in port. If you have your departure date, I can look it up for you.

Edited February 17, 2014 by POA1

[brewster007]

We've always managed to make late morning flights on weekdays. As long as your ship is on time you are probably OK. Check into the Luggage Direct program. It saves you some time.

 

Also try to find out if there are many other ships in port. If you have your departure date, I can look it up for you.

 

Thanks. Our departure date is January 5,2015 we are on the Noordam.

 

Brewster

[POA1]

Sorry. The cruise calendar we have only goes through September 2014. :(

 

Most of the time when we had noon flights, we were to the airport by 9:30. Many times the airlines would move us to an earlier flight at no charge.

Edited February 17, 2014 by POA1

[brewster007]

Sorry. The cruise calendar we have only goes through September 2014. :(

 

Most of the time when we had noon flights, we were to the airport by 9:30. Many times the airlines would move us to an earlier flight at no charge.

 

Thanks

 

Brewster

[Aegis1984]

I'm booked on the Friday April 18th flight from FLL to YYZ. If the ship is in on time and we self disembark, or disembark early, I see no difficulty getting to the airport on time.

 

The ship is slated to arrive at 7:00 so that gives us almost 5 hours to disembark, clear customs, get to the airport, check in, clear customs again and get to the gate.

Edited February 17, 2014 by Aegis1984

[ellieanne]

Sorry. The cruise calendar we have only goes through September 2014. :(

 

Most of the time when we had noon flights, we were to the airport by 9:30. Many times the airlines would move us to an earlier flight at no charge.

 

I've never had an airline move us to an earlier flight out of either Fort Lauderdale or Tampa after cruises.

 

Last November in Fort Lauderdale, we were delayed getting off -- there were only two customs agents. We were scheduled to be off between 9:30 and 9:45 and were actually off closer to 10:30. My flight wasn't until nearly 5:00 so it really didn't matter, but my brother had an 11:30 flight would never have made it if he didn't do self-disembarkation. He was off right about 7:15. The delay came up after he got off and was in the taxi to the airport.

 

If you are willing to do self-disembarkation, I thin you may be able to make a noon flight, but I don't like to cut things that closely. As boring as it is, I'd rather wait at the airport than be worried about missing a flight.

Edited February 17, 2014 by ellieanne

[brewster007]

Thank you. I will have to think about it. The next flight is at 3:00pm so no big deal.

 

Brewster

[Krazy Kruizers]

We also had long delays in Ft Lauderdale last November.

It seems they have more agents on duty for the self disembarkation people. Then when they are gone, they cut back to 2 agents which causes long delays to get through immigration.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks. Our departure date is January 5,2015 we are on the Noordam.

 

Brewster

 

Noordam leaves Ft Lauderdale on Jan and returns on Friday, Jan 16, 2015.

Other Ships for Jan 16:

Celebrity Constellation

Legend of the Seas

Silver Cloud

Not a very busy day.

[RuthC]

In the past, HAL has recommended no flights before 11:30 at this port.

If Plan A is Luggage Direct, and Plan B can be self disembarkation should you not be granted Plan A, then 11:50 sounds good.

But if you can't do self-disembarkation, then 11:50 shouldn't, but could, be problematic.

 

I had an 11:45 flight, was terrified it was too early, did Luggage Direct, and was at the gate at 8:20.

YMMV.

[jayisgerman]

We left the Westerdam on December 7th with a flight from FLL at 11:03 AM. We were at the gate waiting for our plane a bit before 9:00 AM. We carried our own luggage off and it was no problem. Wishing you luck!

[DaveOKC]

As others have mentioned, if you can do self disembarkation you should not have a problem. Last time (mid-week) we were at the gate by 8 AM! Friends of ours were in the first regular group off and they made it by 9 AM.

 

I try to book my return flights on American, so I can standby for an earlier flight. I am Gold with them so it is free. Still, you should ask, as they may let you, depending on their situation (they may be over booked on your flight and are wanting to put people on earlier flights).

 

DaveOKC

Edited February 17, 2014 by DaveOKC

[brewster007]

Thanks to everyone for the replys. Self disembarkation will not be a problem so we will go that route. Are there usually taxis available at that time?

 

Brewster

[DaveOKC]

Thanks to everyone for the replys. Self disembarkation will not be a problem so we will go that route. Are there usually taxis available at that time?

 

Brewster

 

Yes - no problem in my experience. Lots of passengers will be getting off with you, and the cabs know that.

 

DaveOKC

[RuthC]

The cabs will be waiting, and since you will be among the first people to come out, there won't be a line or a wait.

I came out with the Luggage Direct group, and there was a long line of cabs.

[brewster007]

Thanks again to all.

 

Brewster

[trixiee]

If you have priority, and are pre-screened for airport security, you will have no problems. We did self-disembarkation yesterday, and spoke to a fellow who had an 0845 am flight. I'm pretty sure he made it! The only snag we hit was with FLL security lines. But it was a holiday yesterday, so that could be part of the long lines there. We were at the gate by 0845, waiting for our 10:50 am flight.

[pbnjrockette]

Disembarkation this January in FLL was terribly delayed because of only 2 security agents working. We didn't get to the airport until after 11 am. Fortunately we had been advised to schedule a later flight.

[sackman]

We have a 10:10 AM flight. We plan on self disembarking. My other option was to wait 8 hours at the FLL airport. I just don't want to do that. I'll deal with the stress of getting all my stuff off the ship as soon as we clear. From the sounds of things, if you self disembark, you can get to the airport as early as 8:00 AM. If that's the case, we'll be there with two hours to spare. I'm good with that.

[DaveOKC]

We have a 10:10 AM flight. We plan on self disembarking. My other option was to wait 8 hours at the FLL airport. I just don't want to do that. I'll deal with the stress of getting all my stuff off the ship as soon as we clear. From the sounds of things, if you self disembark, you can get to the airport as early as 8:00 AM. If that's the case, we'll be there with two hours to spare. I'm good with that.

 

Yes, it can be done, as long as everything goes as planned. The earlier you get to the airport the better, as lines form quickly when the buses arrive from the pier.

 

DaveOKC

[brewster007]

I emailed HAL and they recommended not having a flight earlier then 11:30AM so my 11:50AM flight should be ok.

 

Brewster

[sackman]

Yes, it can be done, as long as everything goes as planned. The earlier you get to the airport the better, as lines form quickly when the buses arrive from the pier.

 

DaveOKC

 

I know there's no way of knowing what kind of delays might be in store for us in clearing immigration. That's out of my control, and I accept that. If I miss the flight, I can only hope to get put on another flight. If I were on any other airline but Southwest, I'd be more concerned. I know they'll work with me to the best of their ability. If I have to, I'll send my wife and daughter home ahead of me, and I'll stay behind. I think the possibility of having to go through that is pretty slim, though. With self disembarkation, I am pretty sure we can be one of the very first off the ship. Then it's just a matter of getting a cab.