Earliest Return Flight?

[cruise.mode]

We'll be on the Navigator this June. The port is in Miami, but we'll be flying in and out of Ft. Lauderdale. What do you think is the earliest flight we could book out of Ft. Lauderdale?

[booze brothers]

We have a return flight at 11:10 out of FLL but leaving from MIA port. We plan on taking our luggage off with us to take advantage of express disembarkment. Have a ride scheduled for 8:30 from the port. Let you know what happens when we return Feb. 5

[Fang]

We have never cruised out of Miami and flown out of Ft. Lauderdale. However, we have cruised many times in and out of FLL.

 

We have had no problem getting on an 11:30 AM flight. Depending on the traffic and the time from Miami port to the airport, I would think you will be fine.

[kcl]

My husband and I returned on the Brilliance of the Seas on Monday morning, 1/23, to Miami. Our flight out of FLL was for 11:25 AM, which I thought might be a bit early. We had Beige tags for our luggage ("independent flights, FLL before 1 PM"). Our color was called at 7:15 AM. We breezed through customs, picked our suitcases off the carousel and were in a cab to the airport by 7:45. Now, we were fighting rush hour traffic on a Monday morning but still got to the airport about 8:30 AM. If you arrive back on a Saturday or Sunday you might make it to the airport even faster. Good luck.

[BuyReallyLow]

Just flew back Sunday with an 11:10 AM flight. Absolutely no problem. On Radiance you had two choices - express (taking your own luggage off the ship - you can leave as early as they will allow the first person to leave) or if your flight is early enough and you booked your own airfare - you will be given a White Ticket and be in group 1.

 

They really seem to have this down to a science - the only slowdown is picking up the luggage on the carrousel. We also took our own cab versus the RC Shuttle - which speeds things up. $34 cab fare.

 

Good Luck - it should not be a problem if your flight is not before around 10:30 (best guess).

[steve20832]

We'll be on the Navigator this June. The port is in Miami, but we'll be flying in and out of Ft. Lauderdale. What do you think is the earliest flight we could book out of Ft. Lauderdale?

 

I disagree with some of the above posts. I wouldn't book a flight before 1:00pm. Anything could happen! Ship could get delayed by customs, accident on Rt. 95, ANYTHING! You are better off waiting an extra hour or 2 at the airport than miss your flight and pay a lot of extra money to go home.

It wouldn't shock me if booze brothers missed the flight. Just because RCCL says the ship comes in at 8:00am, that doesn't mean you will be walking off the ship at 8:01am.

[dougp26364]

Personally, after having "anything" happen to us when there was a nation wide fisherman's strike in Spain that blocked all the ports, anything leaving the day of disembarkation is to early IMO. Not only did we miss our flight but a loophole in our Travelsafe trip insurance policy left us holding the bag for the $1,400 cost to get back home. Granted it would't cost that much or be as difficult to get home from FLL but, why take the chance?

 

Of course, staying an extra day is not always an option and an uncovered event is pretty unlikely, even in the worst of times. Still, odd things do happen that can delay a ship getting into port. The late afternoon or early evening flights lower the risk that you'll miss you flight and have to come up with money out of your pocket to get home.

 

Keep in mind that if you miss your flight for a covered reason, even insurance only reimburses you for your additional expenses. You still have to come up with the cash (or credit) out of pocket. The claims for our trip didn't start getting paid or denied until January when the event occured in late October. That's can be a long time to be without a few hundred dollars if it hits you during the wrong time of year.

[wrp96]

Not until after 1pm, especially flying out of FLL and sailing into Port of Miami. I missed an 11:40 flight out of MIA last January - and that was sailing into the Port of Miami. FLL is an additional 30 minutes away depending on traffic.