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Regal early disembark, experiened passengers please

caribbean2000

By caribbean2000,
in Princess Cruises

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caribbean2000

caribbean2000

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We will be on the Regal next March and for various reasons need to book a flight from FLL in the mid morning (9:45 to be exact, according to a flight we're looking at). I know Princess has an early disembarkation option when you carry your own bags off but in our 20 cruises with Princess we've never used it. Assuming arrival at the airport no later than 8:15 - a bit earlier would be better of course - is it possible to disembark near 7 a.m.? We have Global Entry so getting through customs should be relatively easy, based on past experience. So.....

 

Would like to hear from someone who's done this recently, i.e., is it possible to get off the ship that early?

 

thanks!

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JimnKaren

JimnKaren

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IF (that is a BIG IF) the ship is late in its arrival, your early flight would not work. Is there one about 2-3 hours later that you might be able to board in case you miss the early one?

We have found more and more passengers are getting off early and it tends to get a bit crowded in the terminal lines; however, your global entry would make it super-easy to get through. Cabs will be plentiful and the ride is quick that early in the day. Are you accustomed to getting yourself and your luggage off easily?

Jim

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skynight

skynight

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According to the schedule the Regal arrives at 6am. My experience in FLL is that early walk off begins around 7am, maybe as late as 7:30am or as early as 6:30am. I have seen all of these times. It really depends on when immigration has staffing in place. Once through immigration a taxi to the FLL airport is around 15/20 minutes. Of course, any delay in arrival of the ship will effect the times. With early walk off you have to wheel all your own luggage, no assistance.

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caribbean2000

caribbean2000

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I understand that we will have to wheel off our luggage. Not a big deal. We have taken cabs many times to and from FLL airport so we know the time frame for that. If the ship is late that could certainly affect the flight situation for us but knowing we would be able to disembark at the times mentioned assuming the ship is on time is good info, thanks. Later flights are more than double the price of the one we're looking at so that definitely factors into our decision.

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Hlitner Excellent Advice! Rare

Hlitner

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  • We just disembarked from the Regal this past Sunday.  On this trip we had booked a 10:35 flight from FLL so decided to do the self-disembarkation option.  The schedule said we could disembark anytime after 6:30 and we decided there was no reason to get off that early.  We relaxed and had breakfast at the International Cafe which was in full view of the disembarkation lines.  When we got down to the IC it was about 6:50 and passengers were already disembarking (there was a pretty long queue) from the nearby dining room which was the waiting area for self-disembarkation.   The line was all gone by 7:30 which is when we simply walked off the ship (with our luggage) and cleared Passport control in about 1 minute.  Our Global Entry did bypass the regular line which might have had those folks waiting about 10 min.  We walked out of the terminal, got in the taxi queue and was at the airport by 7:55.  We could have easily made a 9:45 flight (we had TSA pre-check which saved us a good 15 min wait in the security line).  If we had booked a 9:45 tight we would have been among the first off the ship which would have gotten us to the airport by 7:30.

But there is a "catch" to these early disembarkations.  When things work normally everything is OK.  But there are some cruises when bad things happen such as a late docking or the CBP folks holding up a ship's clearance for some reason.  We were flying Southwest so even if we had missed our flight there were some options without any penalties.  But most airlines charge a hefty penalty to change your flight (which may or may not be waived) which is the risk you take.

 

Hank

 

 

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Ahoy2umate

Ahoy2umate

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Also departed the Regal on Sunday Nov 11th. The Harbor Pilot boarded the ship at 5:15 am and we docked shortly before 6 am.  We were in the Orange 2 group taking the Princess transfer to Miami Airport.  We left the ship at 7:06 am, found our luggage and headed for Immigration.  We had Global Entry.  IMPORTANT: ONLY THOSE WHO HAD THEIR GLOBAL ENTRY CARDS WITH THEM WERE ALLOWED TO BYPASS EVERYONE.   With only one person ahead of us, we cleared quickly. The bus left at 7:45 am and with light Sunday traffic, we arrived at Miami Airport at 8:25 am.  

 

With the lines of cabs next to our bus, you should have no problem.

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pcsunlover

pcsunlover

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You are going at a busy time of year - March - Springbreak.  I would look to see how many ships are in port with passengers disembarking at the same time.  We typically cruise in March and a few years again we weren’t able to get off the ship until almost 10am because 7 ships were in port and there weren’t enough Customs agents to clear everyone. We barely made our 11:25am flight.  It totally ruined the “come back new feeling”.  It may be fine, but I would make sure that you have a backup plan just in case.

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Hlitner Excellent Advice! Rare

Hlitner

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On 11/13/2018 at 7:48 PM, Ahoy2umate said:

Also departed the Regal on Sunday Nov 11th. The Harbor Pilot boarded the ship at 5:15 am and we docked shortly before 6 am.  We were in the Orange 2 group taking the Princess transfer to Miami Airport.  We left the ship at 7:06 am, found our luggage and headed for Immigration.  We had Global Entry.  IMPORTANT: ONLY THOSE WHO HAD THEIR GLOBAL ENTRY CARDS WITH THEM WERE ALLOWED TO BYPASS EVERYONE.   With only one person ahead of us, we cleared quickly. The bus left at 7:45 am and with light Sunday traffic, we arrived at Miami Airport at 8:25 am.  

 

With the lines of cabs next to our bus, you should have no problem.

Interesting.   We walked off the ship about 20 minutes after your group, strolled into the Global Entry Line (nobody asked for our cards) and walked right up to the CBP Officer who glanced at our Passports and waved us through we a cheery "Welcome Home."   On our previous disembarkations at Port Everglades and Port of Miami it has been hit and miss as to whether anyone asks to see the GE card.

 

Hank

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luckyinpa

luckyinpa

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On 11/13/2018 at 3:59 PM, tothemall&beyond said:

We live about 45 minutes from the port and walk off all the time. Have done it as early as 7am numerous times and have been back home in time for my husband to work by 9am.

 

so do you go on all those last minute 299 deals. i couldnt resist if i lived down there that close

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Todd320

Todd320

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Posted (edited)
On 11/13/2018 at 6:48 PM, Ahoy2umate said:

   IMPORTANT: ONLY THOSE WHO HAD THEIR GLOBAL ENTRY CARDS WITH THEM WERE ALLOWED TO BYPASS EVERYONE.   

 

It is the Princess port employees  that are responsible for checking GE cards.  They have no kiosks so they use the GE cards (which normally never get  used ) to verify that you can use the GE line. In our experience the Custom and BP agents never ask to see the GE cards.

 

We routinely catch 8;00 Delta flights, earliest 7:45.  If you can be at the tip of the spear head (first 10 people off) that really helps with the ultra early flights.  

 

Of course we have back up plans if were delayed.  Also I would not recommend 8:00 flights for others, to risky but just reporting our personal experience.

Edited by Todd320
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LeeW

LeeW

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This morning the Global Entry line was slowest.  Partly because the untrained terminal staff kept putting people with the phone app in the line in front of us and partly because they also sent non-US citizens to the same line.

 

We were scheduled for later 9:00 departure and were off ship by 8.  Lines at airport normal security were several hundred people long but TSA Precheck was quick.  We were at the gate before 9, but several people in our area had already missed early flights due to security.

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john_galt

john_galt

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GE saved me a lot of time at FLL. There were hundreds of people in the regular line and 1 guy ahead of us in the GE line. Best money I've spent in a while. American had been marking 1st class tickets as TSA preCheck anyway so I really didn't gain much there. 

 

 

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