Trip report re: 10:00 AM flight out of Miami (7:00 docking)

[jazzydiver]

I am posting this to report my experience with having an early flight out of Miami on our debarkation day.  It is a topic that comes up repeatedly and I wanted to share my experience.  Bear in mind your mileage may vary.  Our group weighed the risks and decided we personally were comfortable with the level of risk.

 

**I am posting a quick sum up here, since I wound up getting really wordy below.  We debarked almost a half hour later than I expected.  We had to call our shuttle service to adjust the pickup.  Were picked up at 7:50, at airport at about 8:15, had a frustrating time wastage of almost 45 minutes at the airport concerning whether we had to pay baggage fees, and still had time to grab (very quick) bite to eat and board our plane on time.  If you don't mind getting up extra early to be first off the ship, there is indeed plenty of time to get to the airport.  If you get stressed out very easily, you may not want to try it.

 

**Factors that made this plan work for us:  We checked in online before getting off the ship to have the security of knowing the airline knew we intended to make the flight.  We all have TSA pre-check to help get through security faster.  We pre-booked our private shuttle service ahead of time.  Being familiar with the port and the airport added another level of comfort for us.  As I stated before, we had 45 minutes of time wastage over one problem and still made the flight just fine.  The likelihood of having weather AND customs clearance AND traffic AND airport holdups all happening on the same day seems unlikely but of course isn't impossible.  We accepted that risk.

 

The purpose of this post is to share my experience, not to convince people to do something they are uncomfortable with or have already decided they don't want to do.  If you want to read my long-winded report, keep reading.

 

Part of our decision was based on our past experience of sailing on the Escape last January.  We had a docking time of 8:00 AM and flight time of 11:05 AM.  We were actually cleared to leave the ship prior to 8:00, and were on the curb so quickly we called the shuttle service to see if they could alter our pre-arranged pickup time to pick us up immediately.  They arrived within 10 minutes and we had plenty of time at the airport for a leisurely breakfast.

 

On this trip (cruise end date was Oct 23), we were on the Jade and our docking time was listed as 7:00 AM and our flight time was 10:00 AM.  Given our prior experience, I scheduled our shuttle pickup for 7:25.  Our last night on the cruise, I was mildly concerned to hear our debarkation time would be 7:15 AM rather than 7:00.  We chose to get up extra-early and started lurking in the atrium area somewhat after 6:00 AM.  We were eventually (6:20? 6:30?) directed to wait in Bliss, and found the debarkation line had started forming down the passageway next to Bliss.  We were about 20 people back from the start of the line, maybe more.  By the time 6:45 or so rolled around, the line was getting very long.  We started moving at somewhat after 7:00 or so, but then were held up by some unknown issue and stood on the deck waiting again.  There were two passengers who debarked first, and the rest of the line stood waiting around for several minutes.  I was able to call our shuttle service to request the pickup be delayed, and also to advise our pickup point would be different (we docked in Terminal D instead of Terminal B), and we were advised to call back once we were curbside and ready for pickup.  We were let off close to 7:30, and Customs was a breeze - hardly any wait.  We phoned the shuttle again and they picked us up about 7:50.  We were at the airport by probably about 8:15 or sooner.  We then had issues with trying to have our luggage fees waived (credit card holder benefit) and stood at the customer service desk for a solid half hour while the rep tried to sort it out.  Finally had to give up and pay the fee.  At this point it was 9:00 AM.  We headed to the separate TSA pre-check area, got through within a fairly short time.  Managed to hustle up to an airport lounge we have access to, snarf down some breakfast (this used up about 10 min), and walk very quickly to the gate.  They were boarding the last group at that point, and we were boarding the plane at about 9:40 or so.

 

At no point did I ever have a concern about missing the plane.  Was it relaxing?  Not really, but all of our leisure time was sucked up by the time-wasting luggage nonsense.  Would I do this again?  Absolutely, but I would not book a flight any earlier.  I would also not book the shuttle pickup quite so early, since apparently we were pretty lucky in how quickly we got off the Escape.

 

For all those who would ask WHY have an early flight...we live on the west coast and flight times to get home the same day are somewhat limited - especially if we are trying to get home before midnight.

 

If you have questions, please ask.  If you just want to flame me, please move on.  I already explained that the risk level was acceptable to me.  Thank you.

[JohninDC]

Thanks for the detailed feedback.  Glad it all worked out for you and your group.

 

Hope you had a great cruise!