Morning Flight in Fort Lauderdale, but Debark in Miami

[jbr5049]

We took a chance last week, booking a 9:55am Flight out of Fort Lauderdale after debarking in Miami. I read the forum and was pretty nervous we might not make this flight, but I wanted to share with the community NOT to be afraid of this type of flight!

 

We were on Navigator of the Seas which Debarked in Miami Port A on Monday Morning. 2 Adults, no kids. "Scheduled" Self Assist was 7:30 am

 

Timeline of Events:

6:15 am - Woke Up

6:30 am - #4 in line for Self Assist Debark in the Main Dining Room

6:50 am - Suite and Key Guests Debarked

7:05 am - Self Assist Debark begins from MDR

7:10 am - We cleared Customs (No forms, No Passports, just Facial Recognition and you are on your way)

7:13 am - Requested a Lyft

7:20 am - Lyft Driver Arrived

8:11 am - Arrived at Departures at FLL - Note we hit severe traffic 

8:15 am - One bag Checked

8:25 am - Through Security (TSA Pre Check)

8:35 am - At our Gate

9:30 am - Boarded Aircraft

 

So for the plan to work, you MUST be carrying your own luggage off, or use Suite/The Key expedited Departure. Even with excessive traffic we had almost an extra hour of buffer.

 

Hope this helps with your planning!

 

[MJSailors]

      Glad it worked out for you,a bit too close for comfort for DH and myself. At our age, we look for the least stressful type of travel. And,being retired,we do have a luxury of not having to hurry travel due to jobs,children or other responsibilities. YMMV

I also noted that you did not mention any time for morning coffee- that would be a definite no-go for me !

       Just curious as to why you booked an early flight from FLL when disembarking in Miami. Was it due to a time you wanted/needed to be home or a cost factor?

        TYIA for your reply.

[jbr5049]

It was significantly cheaper to go out of Fort Lauderdale and was a Direct Flight that got us home around lunch. Had to work the following day so this was nice to have the afternoon to ease back into normal life. 

[gfargo53]

thanks for the info

[Grandma Dazzles]

G

[Grandma Dazzles]

Someone just posted this photo on another cruise website showing a TSA line outside the building at FLL with an approximate 1 to 2 hour wait to check bags and clear TSA.  I guess it doesn’t always work so easily!

[ONECRUISER]

37 minutes ago, Grandma Dazzles said:

Someone just posted this photo on another cruise website showing a TSA line outside the building at FLL with an approximate 1 to 2 hour wait to check bags and clear TSA.  I guess it doesn’t always work so easily!

Agree, have seen line out the Door at FLL at least 3-4 times in last 6yrs. Few times as I was waiting(for my ltr flight) heard some miss Flight and even few groups had wait another day to take off. Would never risk it before, now with possible illness, never.   Edit: Twice last 2yrs took until 10:45 to clear everyone off my ship, that after not even starting until almost 8am...

Edited February 15, 2020 by ONECRUISER

[voyager70]

Agree with @Grandma Dazzles & @ONECRUISER.  Glad it worked out for OP but I would never do this.  Last thing I want on the last day of my vacation is to stress about getting up and off the ship super early to catch a flight.  I have enough stress in my everyday life, don't need it on vacation.

 

[taxatty]

On our recent Navigator trip I was about #12 in line in the MDR for Monday morning self-debark, which on our cruise didn't start until 7:35AM. You got lucky getting off 1/2 hour earlier than that--the later you get off the ship that time of day, the worse the I-95 traffic can get. I don't have to worry about making this type of mad dash off the ship in Miami as I live and work not far from the port, but I've made plenty of very slow morning drives from home to FLL (and MIA).  Bottom-line, it worked for you, but I wouldn't count on it working for everyone.

[1025cruise]

I wouldn't even risk a 9:55 flight if I were docked at Port Everglades.

[Eddie Wilson]

On 2/15/2020 at 2:31 PM, jbr5049 said:

We took a chance last week, booking a 9:55am Flight out of Fort Lauderdale after debarking in Miami. I read the forum and was pretty nervous we might not make this flight, but I wanted to share with the community NOT to be afraid of this type of flight!

 

We were on Navigator of the Seas which Debarked in Miami Port A on Monday Morning. 2 Adults, no kids. "Scheduled" Self Assist was 7:30 am

 

Timeline of Events:

7:05 am - Self Assist Debark begins from MDR

8:35 am - At our Gate

 

 

Some may say you were lucky to be at your gate in 1:30. Some may say it’s a cinch.

 

But if the ship is delayed for Debarkation, and/or it is a weekend with many more ships in the Miami port, 90 minutes may not be enough. This morning off Explorer from Debarkation beginning in MDR to gate at FLL took us 150 minutes.  PLUS the Debarkation was delayed, so from the planned time to the gate was more like 170 - 180 minutes, with running into NO highway traffic.

 

just as some people can do it in 90 minutes, a standard average means there are others who may get unlucky and take 4 hours.  It’s just a gamble and some win and some lose. 

 

Eddie

[purplegrapefruit]

Glad it worked for you, no way I would risk it. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say. With the cost of a same-day flight change,  there's no way I'd chance it.  One little thing goes wrong and you're screwed.

[Cel_cruise]

We flew out of FLL last April in lines that’s looked like that after returning from Sympbony.   It was a mad house - but they said it’s the norm for a Saturday there.   
 

they call people out of line based on flight time.  We were early For our flight and had to wait in the line for 2 hours before they would call us at the 60 min before our flight time.    I will say - the line was at checkin.  It’s not at security! 

[papaflamingo]

On 2/15/2020 at 2:31 PM, jbr5049 said:

 I read the forum and was pretty nervous we might not make this flight.

Exactly.  I understand that for you it was likely worth the try due to having to work the next day, significantly cheaper flight, etc.  But tell us... how nervous the night before were you?  I know for me, I don't want to spend the last night of my cruise "sweating bullets" about making a flight.  Just sayin'.

 

[Joseph2017China]

On ‎2‎/‎15‎/‎2020 at 2:31 PM, jbr5049 said:

We took a chance last week, booking a 9:55am Flight out of Fort Lauderdale after debarking in Miami. I read the forum and was pretty nervous we might not make this flight, but I wanted to share with the community NOT to be afraid of this type of flight!

 

We were on Navigator of the Seas which Debarked in Miami Port A on Monday Morning. 2 Adults, no kids. "Scheduled" Self Assist was 7:30 am

 

Timeline of Events:

6:15 am - Woke Up

6:30 am - #4 in line for Self Assist Debark in the Main Dining Room

6:50 am - Suite and Key Guests Debarked

7:05 am - Self Assist Debark begins from MDR

7:10 am - We cleared Customs (No forms, No Passports, just Facial Recognition and you are on your way)

7:13 am - Requested a Lyft

7:20 am - Lyft Driver Arrived

8:11 am - Arrived at Departures at FLL - Note we hit severe traffic 

8:15 am - One bag Checked

8:25 am - Through Security (TSA Pre Check)

8:35 am - At our Gate

9:30 am - Boarded Aircraft

 

So for the plan to work, you MUST be carrying your own luggage off, or use Suite/The Key expedited Departure. Even with excessive traffic we had almost an extra hour of buffer.

 

Hope this helps with your planning!

 

Just because you were lucky enough for this to work out, does not mean that everyone should do this.  You should always be "afraid" and be ready to "accept" the higher chance of "failure".  The recommended time is to book flights no earlier than 12:00. 

[Mom2labs]

The day of the week makes a difference!  Don’t try it on Saturday or Sunday when there are significant number of large ships in FLL.  We came off Oasis in Miami 3 weeks ago and transferred to FLL for our return.  Mad house!  No seating anywhere, lines out doors, and so crowded that they would not take luggage and check you in if you had luggage until 2 hours before your flight.  On top of it all, some terminals are under construction so there was even less space!  Not a nice way to end a great cruise. 

[jbr5049]

6 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

Just because you were lucky enough for this to work out, does not mean that everyone should do this.  You should always be "afraid" and be ready to "accept" the higher chance of "failure".  The recommended time is to book flights no earlier than 12:00. 

 

My goal of this post was to show that it is entirely possible to make this type of flight with the variables involved. Obviously there was risk, but for me it was well worth the calculated gamble for the price of the flight and the time I got home. 

 

I don't see how you are interpreting that I recommended this to everyone. 

[jbr5049]

6 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

Exactly.  I understand that for you it was likely worth the try due to having to work the next day, significantly cheaper flight, etc.  But tell us... how nervous the night before were you?  I know for me, I don't want to spend the last night of my cruise "sweating bullets" about making a flight.  Just sayin'.

 

 

I was a little nervous when we got our embarkation announcement on day 3 and 7:30 am was printed as the earliest time for self disembark. I was thinking we would be off before 7:00 am so this was a slight shock. I went to guest services just to ask if that was a guide or if that was a concrete time to which the latter was confirmed. 

 

So I knew that if we got off at 7:30 and somehow got delayed through customs we would be looking at an 8:00 am pickup from the pier. Allocating an hour at most for the drive, we would be cutting it very close to drop off a bag and go through security. We have TSA Pre Check and had already paid for our bag so I knew that there would be some time saving, but certainly there were some variables that would be at play that could cause havoc. 

 

There was certainly some stress on disembarkation morning, but this was eliminated as soon as we saw the suite and key guests leaving the ship at 6:50 am because I knew we were just behind them and would have more than enough time for the plan to work. (Which it did)