930 flight out of Fort Lauderdale

[gordiej]

Ask yourself the same question in reverse? How many of you are willing to book a flight that arrives in FLL on, say, 2pm the day your cruise leaves? Sure, much of the time (probably 80-85%), you'll be fine, but then you have to considered that other 15-20% and what the costs are if you don't make the cruise. (In April we had scheduled arrival around 11 for Constellation, and cost of missing was a shuttle ride to Key West for 2, to meet the ship the next morning -- not so bad)

 

Same calculation in reverse - but the odds of delay are *probably* a little less and the cost of failure probably less too, depending on the airline and their schedule and time of year (e.g. if you miss your flight back right before xmas, you may be stuck for a few days).

 

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[WestfieldTraveler]

Ask yourself the same question in reverse? How many of you are willing to book a flight that arrives in FLL on, say, 2pm the day your cruise leaves?

...

 

Same calculation in reverse - but the odds of delay are *probably* a little less and the cost of failure probably less too, depending on the airline and their schedule and time of year (e.g. if you miss your flight back right before xmas, you may be stuck for a few days).

 

We're getting to FLL TWO days in advance - miss my carefully planned vacation, not a chance!

 

Get back to work late - not so bad (only one of us would have to pay the big bucks to fly the same day on another airline) and even then, buying the ticket outright (FLL to EWR) would be less than $100 more than booking the later flight to begin with for that person. Others could stay at a relatives and fly the next day for about $50 more than booking the later ticket.

 

So it all depends...I would not attempt that during the Christmas season - I would not even attempt to pay the prices for a cruise then anyway.

[panthers_4890]

This is for Sk8tbeaker8, Ebaycruiser, Panthers 4890 and anyone else planning an early flight like this.

 

I'm trying to understand you so many of you are willing to risk missing your flight. So I'm wondering, what is your back up plan? What airline are you using, and how do they handle situations like this? For us, we usually end up on United Airlines and their policy is not lenient at all. Any change at all to our reservation, prior to take off, would cost us two hundred dollars a person, and then leave only the tiny remnant of our airfare to use toward another flight. (Meaning it's likely to cost $$$$ to catch the next flight, even if I called before the flight was actually gone.) And the tickets are worthless if the flight has taken off already. Do your airlines allow changes that don't cost so much?

 

 

We did it because Air Tran offered us the best round trip deal by far, and I'm talking hundreds of dollars per person. We had no choice but to pick a 9:30am flight. To me, the risk/reward is worth it, especially when those self-disembarking from the Oasis have a fairly good track record. If it doesn't work out, I know we have no one else to blame, but it won't ruin the fun we'll have. It's a risk, I admit it. But I don't want to spend a fortune for peace of mind only. If I can save money and play the odds that are already in our favor, I'll take it.

 

 

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Edited June 22, 2014 by panthers_4890

[emeraldcity]

We did self-carry off the Liberty. Got in line at 7:10, finally snaked our way through to customs at 8:30. Quick cab ride to the airport and at the gate before 9:30. I suppose it's do-able if you're lining up WAY, WAY before the starting gun ... which we apparently didn't think through very well, but then we had an 11:45 flight, so it worked for us.

[gordiej]

We did self-carry off the Liberty. Got in line at 7:10, finally snaked our way through to customs at 8:30. Quick cab ride to the airport and at the gate before 9:30.

Don't forget that the cutoff for acceptance of checked baggage may be 8:30-9 for a 9:30 flight (check with your airline), and if you miss that, you're not getting on the flight no matter how quickly you can get through security.

 

 

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[Clarea]

We did self-carry off the Liberty. Got in line at 7:10, finally snaked our way through to customs at 8:30. Quick cab ride to the airport and at the gate before 9:30. I suppose it's do-able if you're lining up WAY, WAY before the starting gun ... which we apparently didn't think through very well, but then we had an 11:45 flight, so it worked for us.

Can't believe it's still that slow getting off Liberty. :eek:

[panthers_4890]

We did self-carry off the Liberty. Got in line at 7:10, finally snaked our way through to customs at 8:30. Quick cab ride to the airport and at the gate before 9:30. I suppose it's do-able if you're lining up WAY, WAY before the starting gun ... which we apparently didn't think through very well, but then we had an 11:45 flight, so it worked for us.

 

 

What time did Liberty get into port? The only reason I feel a little better about our situation is because the Oasis is usually early into port (insert the what-ifs here). Why would customs move quicker for Oasis and not the Liberty? Seems odd other than the time of arrival.

 

 

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[EbayCruiser]

This is for Sk8tbeaker8, Ebaycruiser, Panthers 4890 and anyone else planning an early flight like this.

 

I'm trying to understand you so many of you are willing to risk missing your flight. So I'm wondering, what is your back up plan? What airline are you using, and how do they handle situations like this? For us, we usually end up on United Airlines and their policy is not lenient at all. Any change at all to our reservation, prior to take off, would cost us two hundred dollars a person, and then leave only the tiny remnant of our airfare to use toward another flight. (Meaning it's likely to cost $$$$ to catch the next flight, even if I called before the flight was actually gone.) And the tickets are worthless if the flight has taken off already. Do your airlines allow changes that don't cost so much?

 

We fly Southwest and we would just get a later flight. There are several that we can take later that day but they are more expensive. We are taking a chance on the earlier flight. This is the first time we have booked such an early flight but, in the past, we have sat in the FLL airport for HOURS waiting for our flight. Earlier this year, we had to wait 2 hours before we could even check our luggage. So, we are gambling this time. Southwest is great to deal with, we could probably get on the next flight with very little $$$ difference, if any. Not critical that we get back home at any certain time, like it is on embarkation day.

 

We also fly in the morning of our cruise. We take the earliest non-stop flight out of Nashville.

[cruisinfanatic]

9:30 is very safe provided there are no delays. Most of the posters who say "way too early" have never been on Oasis or Allure. Their terminal is the best in the world at getting passengers on and off. The ship is in port earlier than most and walkoffs start at 6:15 give or take 15 minutes

[DonnaK]

People's experience on Vision, Liberty or any ship other than Oasis/Allure is irrelevant to the OP's question or to this discussion.

 

Oasis/Allure come into port early than the other ships, and use a more efficient terminal for processing disembarking passengers. If you self-disembark, you can easily be in a cab and on your way to the airport before 7am.

[Husney]

I say go for it. We made a very early flight last year around 8:30 but flew it stand by as we were booked on the 12:30.

[MrCruzeaddict]

Do you really need the stress? You are STILL on vacation. If this is your only option, that's all you can do. You are banking on everything going RIGHT for this to happen. It's not a risk that I would take, but that's me. Good luck to you if you choose to attempt this.

 

 

joe

[trixietx]

Last May I had a 10:05 a.m. flight out of FLL. Left the cabin at 7:00a.m. and was through customs and at the airport a little after 7:30. Go for it, but have a backup plan, just in case!:o

[panthers_4890]

Not to completely resurrect this topic, but I do want to give an update on our recent experience with a 9:30am flight out of FLL from the Oasis this past Saturday. We had a party of 4.

 

First things first, the Oasis was NOT first into port. The Carnival Freedom was already docked when we arrived, and the Caribbean Princess came right on our heels. We were NOT first off the ship...we probably left 15 minutes after the gangways were cleared for departure at 6:30am. We had to stop and fill out an extra customs form (that was in Spanish, no less), and we were far from first in line at the customs check. There were probably 100+ people in front of us in that line, and with 4 agents working, we got through the line in 15 minutes.

 

We caught a cab immediately...there were tons of them available and zero people waiting for one. We got to the airport just fine, waited for security for about 15 minutes (there was only 1 metal detector open), and we were at the gate at 7:39am (why I remember this time, I don't know, but I remember seeing this time when we walked up to the gate).

 

Disembarking was insanely easy. In fact, I would recommend self-disembarking if you're debating it because it was that easy. Now, I do want to say that the customs line grew exponentially after we got in line, so I wouldn't wait too long. But still, that line moved quickly. It is clear that they've got this down to a science, barring any glitches in the check-out process.

 

So, it is certainly a good possibility that you'd make a 9:00 or even a 8:30 flight when not in peak season from the Oasis should you have no other options. Again, it's never a guarantee, but even after not rushing it that morning, we made it with plenty of time to spare.

 

*To be specific about our departure, we printed our boarding passes the day before on the ship (they offer a 30-minute package for internet for just this reason), so we simply checked our bags at the curb.

Edited July 9, 2014 by panthers_4890