Carnival Sensation - Transportation & Disembarkation

[esff1421]

My wife and I are going on our second Carnival cruise in May on the Sensation sailing to Key West and Cozumel. We are flying to Miami and I was wondering is it better to use a taxi or Carnivals shuttle service? We will arrive at 9AM and have plenty of time to spare. However, on day of disembarkation it states we will be in port by 8AM and my flight leaves MIA at 10AM. How smooth is the disembarkation process? I plan on carrying my bags and being ready to go as soon as possible that morning. Again, is a taxi or the shuttle service better? Faster?

 

Thanks

[solocruzin]

You may want to consider changing your flight as I don't think you'll make it. Although the ship docks at 8am, it takes awhile for it to go through Customs inspection. Last cruise for me we docked at 7:30 am and were not released until after 9.

[solocruzin]

Sorry, forgot to add that we also were "self assist" and carried our own bags.

[jgaudette3]

My wife and I are going on our second Carnival cruise in May on the Sensation sailing to Key West and Cozumel. We are flying to Miami and I was wondering is it better to use a taxi or Carnivals shuttle service? We will arrive at 9AM and have plenty of time to spare. However, on day of disembarkation it states we will be in port by 8AM and my flight leaves MIA at 10AM. How smooth is the disembarkation process? I plan on carrying my bags and being ready to go as soon as possible that morning. Again, is a taxi or the shuttle service better? Faster?

 

Thanks

I would change my flight to a later time. TSA wants you at the airport approx. 2 hours before your flight and it has been my experience that getting clearance to disembark the ship takes about an hour in Miami. With self assist you will be among the 1st off the ship not leaving you much time to make a 10 AM flight.

[Triple C]

Hi! We just disembarked the Sensation last Saturday. We arrived on time at , but there was a problem at the port, and we could not get off until after 9. Once we did, it took maybe 15 minutes to get off, but I wouldn't count on it. Even a perfect scenario would be tight and stressful and probably still result in a missed flight.

[nchikk]

Like everyone else has said, you should seriously consider changing your flight time on debark day. Any of these things, none of which is within your control, could happen:

 

The ship is late in making it back to POM.

USCBP chooses to not clear the ship in a timely manner.

USCBP is a cluster-youknowwhat and taking way longer once you debark.

There is a wreck somewhere on the way to MIA and traffic is at a standstill.

The TSA security line at MIA is stupid busy that particular day.

Or any number of other things...

 

I'm sure many people have made a 10:00 flight after a cruise, and that's great for them, but do you need to stress on your cruise worrying about whether you can get to the airport on time?

[stefyo]

We did self assist a few weeks ago and were off the ship and through customs before 830am. If you get lucky and that happens to you then yes you will make your flight. There is a ton of cabs waiting outside to take you to airport.