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Flights from Fort Lauderdale


k9_Cop
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So my fiancé and I are doing a back to back for our honeymoon in September. Our first cruise is out of a Fort Lauderdale on the magic. I know the ship will get into port well before 8am. My issue is, the first flight to Orlando is at 8am. We need to go there for our 2nd cruise on the breeze with a group of our friends. 

 

So my question is, who thinks it’s possible to get off the ship, get to the airport, and on that 8am flight or Orlando. We would be doing the self assist debark so we don’t need to wait for our bags or anything. 

 

The next flight from Fort Lauderdale is at 215, so there is no way to take that and be able to obviously get on the Breeze in time. 

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I personally would not try for an 8AM flight out of FLL. The suggestion to drive to Orlando might be a good option if the logistics of that work in your favor (where you pick up the rental, the drive time, where you drop off in Orlando or PC, transport to the cruise port).

Edited by joepeka
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This is one time when driving may be faster and wiser than flying. As others have said, rent a car and you should be there in 3 hours. Flying, between check in, wait before the flight, actual flight, retrieving your luggage, getting to your transportation, and then driving to port Canaveral 40 miles away will most likely take more time. And if there are any delays with your flight, you will be royally...out of luck. Don’t do it.

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Have you considered taking a different ship or cruise line that departs/arrives from Port Canaveral for your first cruise? That will save you the logistics of getting from Ft Lauderdale to Port Canaveral on time. 

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18 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

I wouldn't try for an 8:00 flight.

 

Check Southwest, there should be a few options for flights from FLL to MCO.

 

Soithwest was the airline I checked. Mainly because it’s $65 each. They have 8am, 215, and like a 430. I’ve also looked at Miami, America has flights that are $100+. Spirit has a flight at 8am. 

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1 hour ago, Tapi said:

This is one time when driving may be faster and wiser than flying. As others have said, rent a car and you should be there in 3 hours. Flying, between check in, wait before the flight, actual flight, retrieving your luggage, getting to your transportation, and then driving to port Canaveral 40 miles away will most likely take more time. And if there are any delays with your flight, you will be royally...out of luck. Don’t do it.

 

Especially if you've got a loyalty membership with a company like Hertz or National that lets you go directly to the car lot to select a vehicle and bypass going to the counter, which can cut another 15+ minutes from the transit time. 

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9 hours ago, sumiandkage said:

 

Especially if you've got a loyalty membership with a company like Hertz or National that lets you go directly to the car lot to select a vehicle and bypass going to the counter, which can cut another 15+ minutes from the transit time. 

Agreed, Uber from the port until on the road with National for example is probably about 20 minutes.  

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For that 8am flight, you will likely have to have your bags checked by 7:15 or 7:30, as most airlines have a cut-off time of 30-45 min pre-flight.  That means that you'd want to be at the airport before 7am in case there are long lines.   I don't know what time your ship is scheduled to dock, but disembarkation usually doesn't start until 30-60 min after scheduled docking time.  Overall, it's highly unlikely you can be on an 8am flight.    Renting a car and driving is your best bet.

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18 hours ago, k9_Cop said:

 

Soithwest was the airline I checked. Mainly because it’s $65 each. They have 8am, 215, and like a 430. I’ve also looked at Miami, America has flights that are $100+. Spirit has a flight at 8am. 

 

What time are the American flights?  If you can get a late morning flight in the low $100s I'd take it.  Given your situation, it's well worth it over the risk of booking an 8am flight.  Sometimes you read about people booking early morning cruises, but it's to go home; if they miss the flight, maybe it costs them some money to rebook or whatever but you have more at stake....you'd end up missing the entire 2nd half of their honeymoon.  If that happened,  in addition to being sad and disappointed at missing your cruise, you'd be out all the money you spent on it, plus you have to either pay for new flights to go home a week early or find a hotel and pay those expenses for the week.  Either way it's a costly plan B.....far more so than paying an extra $100-200 now for the right flights from MIA to MCO.

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It's impossible. We just got off the ship in FLL yesterday. Did the self walk off as soon as it became available. Did the CBP app and went through that line which was totally empty. Went straight to taxi/shuttle. Southwest terminal was the first in the stop list and we still walked into the airport at 8:40 AM. Then still had to check bags and go through security.

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23 hours ago, mrpayroll said:

I would rent a car and drive to Port Canaveral. 

 

22 hours ago, jdemps said:

Driving is definitely the better option

 

Absolutely: driving is the only sensible way to do this one. Drop the car at a nearby location on Cape Canaveral that will shuttle you to the port. When we did this a couple of years ago, we used Hertz - and you can see from this map just how close it is: https://goo.gl/maps/9DKAtb6Avxp

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Drive. Flying makes no sense. It will take longer to fly factoring in getting to the airport, security, checking in, getting off the plane, getting from MCO to the Port. 

 

A drive from Ft. Lauderdale to Port Canaveral on a weekend morning should take under 3.5 hours. Drive time only you can do it under 3 hours! 

 

As for flights: Southwest, Spirit, American and Silver. Those are the only airlines flying between MIA/FLL and MCO. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/16/2019 at 11:13 AM, k9_Cop said:

So my fiancé and I are doing a back to back for our honeymoon in September. Our first cruise is out of a Fort Lauderdale on the magic. I know the ship will get into port well before 8am. My issue is, the first flight to Orlando is at 8am. We need to go there for our 2nd cruise on the breeze with a group of our friends. 

 

So my question is, who thinks it’s possible to get off the ship, get to the airport, and on that 8am flight or Orlando. We would be doing the self assist debark so we don’t need to wait for our bags or anything. 

 

The next flight from Fort Lauderdale is at 215, so there is no way to take that and be able to obviously get on the Breeze in time. 

NO    ….rent a car or van for your entire group...you could have the car waiting at the port, walk off the ship with your luggage, it would only be a 4 hour drive

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  • 2 months later...

Great idea renting the car for the approximately three to four hour trip. You are driving from South Florida directly to Port Canaveral to meet friends and not meeting up with them in Orlando, is that correct? There was absolutely no way you would make the 8:00AM flight. Enjoy both cruises.

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