Picking a flight ~ Independence OTS

[DisneyDatknee]

So we just booked the Independence and we are booking flights. They are high from FLL during this weekend, so we are going to/from West Palm We've done it in the past, not a big deal. Way cheaper and the airport is much better than FLL IMO. Anyways, the ship says it's scheduled to arrive at 7 AM back in Fort Lauderdale. Does anyone have any rough estimates on what time we would get off the boat? We always do self-assist and all of the cruises I've taken, we've always gotten off by 8-8:30, but some people say Port Everglades can get busy? I see that's there's 4 ships in port that day, but It's the Royal Princess at 6 AM, Independence at 7 AM, and the others are Silver Sea and Cunard at later times. We did the Empress OTS last month from Miami and we sat for a 1/2 hour outside the terminal waiting for our family to come pick us up after we got out at 8 AM. That was also with 4 other ships in port! Do you think we will get out by 8:45? If not, when? Worst case scenario, we just take Uber to PBI instead of Trirail. Thank you!

[Clarea]

If you are first in the self-assist line, and there are no delays, you should be outside the terminal by 8am.

[DisneyDatknee]

If you are first in the self-assist line, and there are no delays, you should be outside the terminal by 8am.

 

Thank you very much. I just didn't want to pick a flight time I couldn't make.

[njkruzer]

Don't forget travel time from port everglades to pbi. If it's a weekday you have to figure in commuting traffic.

[heartscontent]

Self assist off Indy is more complicated than usual as you have to carry your own bags down a couple of flights of stairs. They don't have the elevators going all the way down on disembarkation day - don't ask me why! In our experience in April, it took well over an hour to get off the boat. It was the worst disembarkation experience to date and reading the latest CC reviews confirm that this problem still exists. Just be prepared for it and plan accordingly.

[fla33023]

Just off IOS last week. When I looked out in the morning (around 8), I saw plenty of people already heading to customs. They were walking, no line. Only ship at Terminal 25.

[Jarmo]

Off Indy Monday, we were late getting in and there were delays at customs. Self-assist was scheduled to begin at 7:30, but I don't believe it started until after 8:15 or so. We were watching from the top deck and lines were not moving quickly. My guess is this is not normal, but I would have been worried had I been on an early flight.