Just booked a 10:30 AM flight FLL

[markel201235]

Please don't beat me up, rather give me an honest opinion of my chances (along with 6 others) of making it from Port Everglades after our cruise next month to FLL for this flight. (10:35 AM takeoff to be exact). It was a good bit cheaper and I would rather get a root canal then sit at the airport waiting for a later flight for many hours waiting to get home. It's a chance we are going to take.

 

Thanks, Mark

[pusywillow]

Good luck, Mark. Hope you all make it.

[shredie]

Miss plane vs. root canal... It's a toss up. :D

[waltd]

This has been answered a million times and you have already answered your own question. It's a chance you are willing to take. So just have a backup plan. If the ship gets in on time and there are no delays and you are one of the first to get off the ship and there are no issues with immigration you can make it.

[san diego sue]

If you do a walkoff not a problem, providing that Immigration officers are there and there are enough personel to get you through fast. If there are huge amount of ships in port that day, getting a cab may be hard. Going through security with huge passenger load getting off ships at same time, could make you miss your flight.I would rather wait in airport than have a very stressful last day of vacation.

[partybarbie]

OP, we are in the same situation as you. Three of us are taking a 10:25 am flight out of Fort Lauderdale. I checked the port information, and the Island Princess is the only ship in port on November 26, 2014. We decided to take a chance on the early flight, otherwise the later flights cost twice as much, with bad connections and layovers. We are going to do the walk-off. We're making sure that we only have one suitcase and one small carry-on each, so that we can manage our luggage ourselves. Hopefully you checked on the number of ships in port the day you are disembarking. That seems to be the main problem for making the early flights, too many ships and not enough transportation to the airport.

[Pam in CA]

With a flight at 10:35, you'll need to be at the airport ready to check in absolutely no later than 9:30. Even then, you may encounter very long lines for check-in and then Security at FLL. It depends on when you're flying. If it's during Thanksgiving week or from mid-December to early January, there'll be huge crowds at the airport. If it's early December, you have a better chance. Not only will there be lots of ships but also lots of vacationers to the area.

 

The reason why it was so cheap is that cruise passengers have a lesser chance of making the flight. It's possible if everything goes right but I sure wouldn't want to stress that much at disembarkation. I've been on too many cruises returning to FLL with delayed disembarkation and people frantic to get off the ship.

 

I wish you luck 'cause you'll probably need it.

[paul929207]

While you have a fair chance to make it, it is also easy to miss it. You just need a minor problem or two to bring you down. If you miss it, you will very likely make that flight the next day.

[Pia1913]

Please don't beat me up, rather give me an honest opinion of my chances (along with 6 others) of making it from Port Everglades after our cruise next month to FLL for this flight. (10:35 AM takeoff to be exact). It was a good bit cheaper and I would rather get a root canal then sit at the airport waiting for a later flight for many hours waiting to get home. It's a chance we are going to take.

 

Thanks, Mark

 

I know you're on the Regal and I know it's December. On a regular ship I would say you won't have a problem with a 7:30 walkoff (that's the usual time), but on something as big as the Regal, the stars had better be lined up correctly and completely. Good luck.

[Northender]

Please don't beat me up, rather give me an honest opinion of my chances (along with 6 others) of making it from Port Everglades after our cruise next month to FLL for this flight. (10:35 AM takeoff to be exact). It was a good bit cheaper and I would rather get a root canal then sit at the airport waiting for a later flight for many hours waiting to get home. It's a chance we are going to take.

 

Thanks, Mark

 

It would be iffy at best. You didn't say when the next flight would be, but if you miss this one you will have plenty of time for that root canal.:)

 

So depending on the time of the next flight, you could use EZCheck and you would not have a luggage problem. There would be 8 of you. How about just heading to downtown Fort Lauderdale and have lunch and then head to the airport. You would then only need to go through security and head for your gate. Just a thought.:D

[sunsetbeachgal]

Haven't done Princess walk off in awhile but did one off a huge ship in Port Canaveral earlier this year...suggest you be down at the walk off area at least 45 minutes prior...lots of folks do walk off and if you want to be off ASAP then make sure you are down there early as the line leaving the ship moves kind of slowly as everyone needs to scan thei card upon exiting.

 

Make sure you have at least one hand free to hold on to the escalator hand rail...if not you are required to use the elevator which is usually much slower. The later you are getting off, the longer the lines for Customs and Immigration will be.

Edited November 2, 2014 by sunsetbeachgal

[gremlinbangles]

As others said it's possible but personally I wouldn't chance it. Living in south Florida I have seen 1 accident tie you up for a couple of hours. I do wish you luck.

[cr8tiv1]

It would be helpful to know the day and ship you are traveling. Someone mentioned Wednesday, November 26, the day before Thanksgiving. I would never travel on one of the busiest days of the holiday season, let alone try to make an early flight off a ship. As many have said, have a back up plan including a hotel booked.

 

Good luck.

[Birdie 0229]

Mark: Two weeks ago we had a 10:45 a.m. flight out of FLL after disembarking the Caribbean Princess (which was sold out). There were two additional ships in port that morning. Some of the Caribbean Princess passengers were staying on for back-to-back, however.

 

As soon as the disembarkation paperwork arrived in our cabin, I completed it requesting 7:15 a.m. walk-off and took the sheet to the customer services counter (within 30 minutes of receipt).

 

We were granted the 7:15 walk-off and were second to get a taxi. We were at the airport and through security by 8:30 a.m. leaving plenty of time before the flight.

 

As long as the ship is on time and you are well prepared that morning to disembark quickly, you should be fine. We just decided to give it a try and not worry if we had to make a change. Everything was very smooth.

 

Best wishes for a fantastic cruise and return home.

[Pam in CA]

We were granted the 7:15 walk-off and were second to get a taxi. We were at the airport and through security by 8:30 a.m. leaving plenty of time before the flight.

A lot of ships are still repositioning to FLL plus October is not a big vacation time in the area. Your experience is based on hurricane season, not December prime vacation time. I would never use one of the slowest periods as a baseline. :(

[markel201235]

It would be helpful to know the day and ship you are traveling. Someone mentioned Wednesday, November 26, the day before Thanksgiving. I would never travel on one of the busiest days of the holiday season, let alone try to make an early flight off a ship. As many have said, have a back up plan including a hotel booked.

 

Good luck.

 

Regal Princess. Disembarking is Sunday Dec. 21st.

 

Thanks for all of the responses so far.

 

This kind of reminds me of a previous Princess cruise with a stop in Cozumel. Was told that the ferry returned from Playa EVERY hour on the hour. Ship left at 6 PM. No worries (I thought). All 20 of us would take the 4 PM ferry, arrive at 4:45 then take the 15 minute walk back to the Caribbean P. (this was not a Princess excursion, we did it on our own) Turned out that there was NO 4 PM ferry. We had to take the 5 PM ferry (45 mins) then take the 15 min walk back to the ship. Absolutely no wiggle room. We had some older folks with us so we decided to send the fittest person to get back to the ship to tell them that there were 19 others on their way. Funny thing is, the following day was a sea day upon returning to Port Everglades. Last port of call. Princess was not going to delay leaving at all though. We were the last ones on the ship. Made it by a minute.

 

Mark

[jchris1230]

We just got off of a carnival ship yesterday and there were several ships in. We did self debarkation (walk off with all bags, you are first group off) and were off the ship to airport by 7:00 am. Our flight was at 11:30. It sucked sitting there that long waiting.

 

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[Working 2 Cruise]

With a disembarkation date of December 21, the height of traveling season, this is crazy.

 

I would book a hotel right away because in all likelihood, you will miss your flight and because most hotels will already have been booked... holiday season... If not, you may have to spend the night at the airport.

 

Good luck!

[Working 2 Cruise]

We just got off of a carnival ship yesterday and there were several ships in. We did self debarkation (walk off with all bags, you are first group off) and were off the ship to airport by 7:00 am. Our flight was at 11:30. It sucked sitting there that long waiting.

 

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But this was Miami, right?

[tinatark]

I think you will be fine. At least a 9/10 chance you will have NO issues.

[Mom33]

We disembarked the Royal Princess in March during the height of Spring break.

There were at least 7 ships in port. We had a 7:30 walk off, waited in line about 10 minutes at immigration because there were only 2 lines open and waited 15 minutes for the shuttle to our Parking lot. We were in our car and on I 95 by 8:15.

The airport is right outside the port. We could have been gone even earlier if we took a cab instead of the parking facility's shuttle. :)

 

Another time, our kids caught an 11:00 flight during the same time of year after disembarking the Crown. We all got off the ship at 9:00 and they made the flight with time to spare. They used a shuttle van instead of a taxi.

[deise17311]

We have flown out of FLL numerous times off cruises at 10:30...just do first walk off. Others will give you dire warnings...there is always a chance to miss planes due to weather etc so this is no more or no less.

[jchris1230]

No, I was at FLL. The airport is very close to port. You can see the ships from the airport

 

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[markel201235]

Any recommendations for a shuttle service from Port Everglades to PBI airport? I could change the return flight from FLL to PBI to more favorable/safe time but need to weigh the costs.

 

Mark

[CFD130]

We have done three 10 30 flights from FLL two on Princess and one Royal Caribbean. Did the self disembarkation and we have been at the airport, checked in and having breakfast by 815 all three times. Anything can happen. Ship delay- your flight cancelled, but those things happen. We missed a cruise once because of snow, we always go the day before just for that reason. Well the day we were to leave- huge storm and there we sat. The stormed stopped that afternoon and all flights the next day were on time (of course full too) So if we had gone the same day as our cruise we would have been on it.(Ask the question if you should fly in the same day as you leave-you get the same type of responses See stuff happens

Edited November 2, 2014 by CFD130