Dublin Departure Question

[Mr. Click]

For those of you who have been there, we are on the Celebrity Reflections in May 2020 and spend our last night docked in Dublin our port of debarkation.  I am trying to figure out if we can make a 9:20am flight on departure day.  Normally I would not try to make a flight this early but since we arrive the day before I am assuming we can get off the ship by 6am and head to the airport. Am I wrong?  Any help is greatly appreciated since I have never been to Ireland.  

[CruiserBruce]

You will be able to depart the ship any time after the ship is cleared the day you arrive. So, yes, you can depart at 6am. You will probably need to carry your bags off on your own.

[ducklite]

This is doable--but if there's a single snag you won't make your flight. 

 

 It's about a 25 minute ride to the airport.  I'm assuming you are taking a taxi or Uber--I'd get that planned in advance.

 

You'll need to plan at least 15 minutes to drop your bags assuming you can use the kiosk--you'll need to plan on 45 minutes if you need to actually stand on line for a representative.

 

Then you'll walk to the airport security lanes and clear Irish security (10 minutes).   

 

From there you'll go to where the US departures are (five minute walk), and you'll again clear security--US this time (15 minutes). 

 

Then you'll clear US Customs and Immigration.  Plan on up to 30 minutes if you don't have Global Entry, five minutes if you do--bring your GE card, it's my experience that their kiosks don't work 25% of the time, but if you have the card they will still process you through in the GE line.  No card?  Go to the long line for those without GE if the kiosks aren't working. 

 

From there it shouldn't be more than five minutes to your gate if you are at the furthest point. 

 

There is very little food and beverage after US security--there's a place you can get coffee, prepackaged sandwiches and pastries (which aren't appealing looking), a small sundries shop, and of course a small bar where you can get a pull of Guinness. There is also a significant lack of outlets to charge devices--don't plan on charging before you board.

 

Flights typically begin boarding about 40-45 minutes prior to departure time.

 

Even from the airport looking out over an industrial estate on an overcast winter day, Ireland is still hauntingly beautiful.   This photo doesn't do it justice.

 

 

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

To add to my post earlier, we have a 9:40 flight out of Venice next June, after our ship spends the night prior. To minimize issues like ducklite mentions, we will actually be getting off the ship the day we arrive (the day before) and staying at an airport area hotel.

[Mr. Click]

We are debating that very idea Cruiser Bruce.  The folks over on Flyer talk tell me that US CBP does not open until 7:30am, I am guessing the UA counter opens around 6am. We have Premier status and Global Entry so I don't think we will have a problem  The good news is we have 8 months to get it sorted out..

[ducklite]

11 hours ago, Mr. Click said:

We are debating that very idea Cruiser Bruce.  The folks over on Flyer talk tell me that US CBP does not open until 7:30am, I am guessing the UA counter opens around 6am. We have Premier status and Global Entry so I don't think we will have a problem  The good news is we have 8 months to get it sorted out..

The 25 minutes or so you'll save won't make a difference in your case.  If the US CBP queues don't open until 7:30, there's no reason to get to the airport before 6:30.   Dublin isn't all that large and is quite efficient.  Given your status and Global Entry, you should have no issues making your flight if you were to leave the ship at 6:00 am.

You can get to the airport and check your bags, clear Irish security and head to The Loop which is a central area featuring a number of restaurants, bars, and of course shopping.  There are LED signs that will tell you when it's time for you to head to US CBP pre-clearance--due to the lack of facilities (and limited seating) they don't encourage people to pre-clear earlier than necessary.  

[Mr. Click]

Thanks for the advice everyone.  As long as we can get off the ship at 6am I don't see any issues making this work. I would never try it if we were docking that morning but since we dock and clear the day before it should not be a problem.  Next on my list is to make sure our GE status is good through May.  I can't quite remember when we got it but renewal could be coming up this coming year.