Princess disembarkation

[rsail203]

Except for Alaska, I've had no experience with Princess. We will be taking a Canal cruise on the Island Princess next May, ending at Fort Lauderdale. The ship docks at 7AM. Is there an express self disembarkation available, so we could make an FLL flight at 11:51AM? Will it be too stressful? What kind of past experiences have veteran Princess cruisers had? Thank you in advance.

[skynight]

There used to be. Seems that now you have to select your disembarkation time in the medallion app. Early times should be self disembarkation. Even if it isn't mentioned I know of no prohibition if you wish to wheel off your own luggage. 11:51am is very doable. The airport is only 20 minutes away. Take a cab or uber.

[EDDY0827]

Self disembarkation is what you want. You take all of your belongings with you when you leave.

Do not put your bags out the night before for collection by the crew. Be ready to walk off without any help with your bags and call a ride-share or a taxi outside the terminal. It is a very short ride to the airport. You may be delayed by customs but should make your flight easily.

[franktown]

You would of had no problem making a 11:51 flight out of FLL pre covid.  In fact you would have no need to get of the ship early.  If you leave the ship at 7:30 you will be at the airport by 8:15.  Princess EzAir even lets you book a 10am flight out of FLL.

[Steelers36]

@franktown has it right.  There is no need to rush for your flight time.  You don't even need express walk-off if you have some large bags.  Just get a reasonable early disembark group.  Princess always asked when flight time was.  Expect similar.  Also, by next MAY, all of the current social distancing stuff should be in the rear-view mirror.  

[mjmalino]

On our last cruise our son had to fly back to school the day we disembarked and I think his flight was even a little earlier than that, and we didn't do self-disembark, so you shouldn't have any issues.

[antmaril]

As others have said, you should have no problem making your flight out of FLL.  It really isn’t necessary for you to self-disembark.  

[Thrak]

In the past there have always been taxis waiting when you get off. There were signs and helpful folks who also pointed the way. Very quick trip. However, the last time we were early to the airport. We figured we would just check in, maybe get a drink, hang out a while and read. Nope. The outer terminal was packed with people sitting on the floor, on the planters, leaning against walls, etc. The airline folks weren't checking people in early. We waited in that (extremely uncomfortable) area for maybe 2 or 3 hours. It was absolutely miserable.

[dreams_of_travel]

5 minutes ago, Thrak said:

In the past there have always been taxis waiting when you get off. There were signs and helpful folks who also pointed the way. Very quick trip. However, the last time we were early to the airport. We figured we would just check in, maybe get a drink, hang out a while and read. Nope. The outer terminal was packed with people sitting on the floor, on the planters, leaning against walls, etc. The airline folks weren't checking people in early. We waited in that (extremely uncomfortable) area for maybe 2 or 3 hours. It was absolutely miserable.

 

I've had a similar experience at FLL.  I had planned on hanging out pre-flight in the airline lounge.  Of course that never happened.  I escalated the issue to the airline with which I had status at the time, but there was nothing they could do.  There was some sort of problem with FLL being too small, and not having enough baggage storage space to allow for travelers to check in early.  You'd think they would do something about that since cruising from this port is a big part of tourism.  

[caribill]

15 hours ago, rsail203 said:

Except for Alaska, I've had no experience with Princess. We will be taking a Canal cruise on the Island Princess next May, ending at Fort Lauderdale. The ship docks at 7AM. Is there an express self disembarkation available, so we could make an FLL flight at 11:51AM? Will it be too stressful?

 

As others have said, your flight time will not present any problem at all.

 

The usual question on Cruise Critic is "The ship docks at 7:00AM. Can I make an FLL flight that is at 8:30?"

[wheezedr]

Having made 10:00AM flights out of FLL on multiple occasions I feel you will be very safe.   This is the easiest port to airport connection that I have used.

[rsail203]

Thank you everyone. We always do self disembarkation. I'm only concerned about the possibility about late arrival to the port. Does Princess have any history of late arrivals or slow customs agents at the piers?

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, rsail203 said:

Thank you everyone. We always do self disembarkation. I'm only concerned about the possibility about late arrival to the port. Does Princess have any history of late arrivals or slow customs agents at the piers?

Anything is possible, but rare.  More likely to have delayed EMbarkations.

[CineGraphic]

Express walk off. Forget Uber, there will be taxis everywhere. By the time Uber shows up, you could already be at the airport. We've made 9am - 9:30 flights in the past.

[antmaril]

I just want to add (I replied above) that FLL can be a hot mess.  If you get there too early, they might not let you check your bags.   This photo was taken on February 1, 2020.  The day before the Super Bowl in Miami.  It was crazy.  But, the year before (no Super Bowl), it was almost as bad. It can get VERY busy at FLL.  
 

 

[Thrak]

Those people in the picture are VERY lucky. We sat for hours in the outer lobby where there are no chairs or facilities. People were on the floor, on the planters, and leaning against walls.  There were just as many people but they were much less comfortable.

[joepeka]

I will add to the experiences of getting to FLL too early. We've never been able to check in and check our luggage sooner than three hours prior to flight departure. Not much room to sit in the terminals outside the security checkpoints. Our last cruise out of PE we ended up spending nearly 12 hours in the airport due to airline mechanical problems.... no fun at all with three small children! 

ETA: I will agree with others however, the OP's flight time should be no issue and I wouldn't think self-debarkation would be necessary.

Edited June 24, 2021 by joepeka

[Thrak]

Options for folks in FLL include Princess excursions. There are a couple that will take you - and your luggage - and then drop you at the airport afterward.

[RRFan]

32 minutes ago, joepeka said:

I will add to the experiences of getting to FLL too early. We've never been able to check in and check our luggage sooner than three hours prior to flight departure. Not much room to sit in the terminals outside the security checkpoints. Our last cruise out of PE we ended up spending nearly 12 hours in the airport due to airline mechanical problems.... no fun at all with three small children! 

ETA: I will agree with others however, the OP's flight time should be no issue and I wouldn't think self-debarkation would be necessary.

Agree with this!  This has always been our experience at FLL--no earlier than 3 hours before your flight.  Another caveat is for you to check on what ships will be in port that morning.  If the passenger load of the ship is, say 3,500, then at least 3,400 will be getting off and most head to the airport.  At the same time, nearly that many people are coming into FLL to get on to a ship, so that's 7,000 people in transit from one ship.  FLL has 8 cruise terminals, so you could multiply that number by 8 if it's a full load day. Yes, many people won't be flying that day or will be driving.  Plus many ships (like RC etc) have a much larger passenger load so the numbers go up.  It's worth a quick looksee to find out how many ships will be docked the day you get off to help you know how early you need to get to the airport.  

[ehogan]

If I were you I would try to disembark as early as possible.  Our Oct. 2019 cruise ended Port Everglades and it was the worst disembarkation we experienced in 40 cruises.  It was so disorganized, apparently a problem with customs agents, crew turnover and a complete lack of Princess staff available to direct passengers to proper areas/ procedures.  I cant remember how long it took to board the bus to FLL but over an hour at least.

 

Hopefully it was a one  off but we are pretty hesitant about trying it again.  

 

 

[antmaril]

6 hours ago, Thrak said:

Those people in the picture are VERY lucky. We sat for hours in the outer lobby where there are no chairs or facilities. People were on the floor, on the planters, and leaning against walls.  There were just as many people but they were much less comfortable.

Oh yes, we experienced that, too.  That picture I took was at the gate, but before they would let us check our bags, we were in that front lobby and it was chaos.  The OP really shouldn’t arrive too early.  It could be a hot mess.  

[Ombud]

So my FLL->SFO flight (1 stop) is December 19, 2021 at 11:53AM. I think this might be holiday rush time. How late could I disembark? If using a Princess shuttle do they get me the disembark time slot or do I?

 

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by Ombud

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, Ombud said:

So my FLL->SFO flight (1 stop) is December 19, 2021 at 11:53AM. I think this might be holiday rush time. How late could I disembark? If using a Princess shuttle do they get me the disembark time slot or do I?

 

 

Never use Princess shuttle, but they will gather your flight info and assign you to a bus time that will get you to the terminal in good time.  Someone who has done it will be able to say how far ahead, but I bet they allow a good two hours.

[Ombud]

It'll be interesting if I'm stuck in that mess

 

11 hours ago, antmaril said:

I just want to add (I replied above) that FLL can be a hot mess. ...  

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by Ombud

[caribill]

13 hours ago, antmaril said:

I just want to add (I replied above) that FLL can be a hot mess.  If you get there too early, they might not let you check your bags.   This photo was taken on February 1, 2020.  The day before the Super Bowl in Miami.  It was crazy.  But, the year before (no Super Bowl), it was almost as bad. It can get VERY busy at FLL.  
 

 

 

Since this was the day before the Super Bowl, the crowd there has nothing to do with that event unless people were fleeing town to avoid it.

 

But imagine what it would be like the day after the Super Bowl.