How early can we get off the Enchanted Princess

[harfield]

Can anyone please tell me the earlist you can get off the ship in Fort lauderdale.  it docks 6am. Its just that our TA has booked us on a 10am flight and its  the the only flight available as we have  connecting flights that evening. Hoping we can do a walk off and a quick 15 minute walk to the airport for JetBlue.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Assuming that the ship *really* docks at 6:00am then you have to wait for port officials to "clear" the ship to disembark.  If all goes well I would say that you could probably get off around 6:30-6:45...but take that with a BIG grain of salt!  The ship could dock late...as well any number of other issues that will delay disembarking.  In my opinion...10:00 might be a bit too early.  I like to have some "time padding" built in to my travel schedule.

[Rick&Jeannie]

10 minutes ago, harfield said:

 Hoping we can do a walk off and a quick 15 minute walk to the airport for JetBlue.

Huh? Walk to the airport in 15 minutes?  Surely you mean a 15 minute DRIVE?

[donaldsc]

Check the distance from Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port to FLL on Google Maps.    According to Google Maps, it is a 4.8 mile walk through a lots of trafficey streets.

 

DON

[Steelers36]

38 minutes ago, harfield said:

Can anyone please tell me the earliest you can get off the ship in Fort Lauderdale.  it docks 6am. Its just that our TA has booked us on a 10am flight and its  the the only flight available as we have  connecting flights that evening. Hoping we can do a walk off and a quick 15 minute walk to the airport for JetBlue.

For a Port Everglades (PE) arrival at the end of a voyage, the large Royal Class ships generally post a 6:00am arrival and the smaller ships, a 7:00am arrival.  That said the ships are there well ahead of those times and docked - unless something unusual happens.  We have never been late getting back to PE at the end of a cruise.  Always wake up and ship is docked.  Same with our friends who have cruised out of there more often than we have (with multiple legs in/out of PE).  Still, it could happen.

 

Now, with the ships arriving and docked early, the clearance formalities are done very early as well.  It is not like at a mid-cruise port where the ship arrives and docks at roughly the time in the itinerary (some captains get there a bit early) and then wait for clearance for a short while.  At PE, they are ready to send people off very soon after the posted arrival time. 

 

So, it is about 15 mins to FLL by taxi (you aren't going to be walking it, right?). 

 

Do you have any priority access to security?  If so, it's going to speed you along (but I don't see that as critical at all).

 

I am guessing you have no priority to clear customs since you are from Australia.  If departing the ship quite early, it may not be bad.  We find CBP processes people through at a good pace and wouldn't be overly concerned there. 

 

In other words, I think you have plenty of time to disembark, grab a taxi to FLL, get your bags checked in ahead of deadline and get through security to the gate area.  I wouldn't even rush off the ship at 6:30am for a 10:00am flight.  But that's me and I know FLL.

 

Are you eventually flying back to Perth?  I am not sure why you wouldn't have booked EZ-Air.

 

Anyway, one more point for you.  Princess EZ-Air considers any flight from 10:00am onwards to be "legal".  Therefore, you are good to go and don't worry about a very low percentage chance of a disaster. 

[AZjohn]

Sorry but the title of your thread made me worried if Enchanted is that bad you want to get off asap 🤭

[caribill]

6 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

 In my opinion...10:00 might be a bit too early.

 

I disagree. You will most likely be at the airport before 8 AM.

 

5 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

For a Port Everglades (PE) arrival at the end of a voyage, the large Royal Class ships generally post a 6:00am arrival and the smaller ships, a 7:00am arrival.  That said the ships are there well ahead of those times and docked - unless something unusual happens.  We have never been late getting back to PE at the end of a cruise.

 

So, it is about 15 mins to FLL by taxi (you aren't going to be walking it, right?).

 

In other words, I think you have plenty of time to disembark, grab a taxi to FLL, get your bags checked in ahead of deadline and get through security to the gate area.  I wouldn't even rush off the ship at 6:30am for a 10:00am flight.  But that's me and I know FLL.

 

 

I Agree.

[skynight]

Assuming the ship arrives on time. and immigration agents are in place.

First early walk off should be around 6:45 to 7:00am. Make certain you visit passenger services so you are assigned the first early walk off time. You have to carry/wheel all your luggage. You would be one of the first in the immigration non- U.S. lines. Immigration should be fairly quick. Once you exit the terminal taxis are all lined up. It is a quick 15 minute, around $25, ride to the airport. You should be at the airport by 8am. Right now air traffic has many delays and cancellations. Holiday periods are really messed up. Air service hopefully will catch up with the demands over time.

[harfield]

Thanks for all your info and is very helpful. Yes  i meant to say, walk off the ship carring our own luggage and then Taxi to the airport. Looks like it is possible.  Yes we are flying back to LAX then conecting flight to Singapore and Australia.  

Thanks Everyone