Airport transfers from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale

[330_cruiser]

I’ve tried a search but no luck.. I’m organising a cruise for my parents out of Fort Lauderdale.. they are on a direct flight to Orlando. 
 

Anyone know if Silverseas  offer transfers from Orlando MCO to Fort Lauderdale? Neither of them are comfortable driving in the USA unfortunately. 

Appreciate any suggestions.

[Lois R]

8 minutes ago, 330_cruiser said:

I’ve tried a search but no luck.. I’m organising a cruise for my parents out of Fort Lauderdale.. they are on a direct flight to Orlando. 
 

Anyone know if Silverseas  offer transfers from Orlando MCO to Fort Lauderdale? Neither of them are comfortable driving in the USA unfortunately. 

Appreciate any suggestions.

Hi, I have never heard of a transfer from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale. My suggestion is to get them a car service since they are uncomfortable driving. Others may recommend something else but for that many miles? See what a car one way costs......I guess Uber/Lyft may go that way too but if you look on the "Florida Forum" you might some get informative replies over there too.

[Dolcevita Diva]

12 minutes ago, 330_cruiser said:

I’ve tried a search but no luck.. I’m organising a cruise for my parents out of Fort Lauderdale.. they are on a direct flight to Orlando. 
 

Anyone know if Silverseas  offer transfers from Orlando MCO to Fort Lauderdale? Neither of them are comfortable driving in the USA unfortunately. 

Appreciate any suggestions.

Very doubtful. When will you parents be cruising?  Here are a few options to consider if they don't wish to drive:

- Southwest Airlines flies nonstop from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale, so you could book them on a separate ticket if the times would work. 

- The Brightline high-speed train will begin service to Orlando airport later this year (its terminal in Orlando is at the airport) and Brightline provides an excellent experience. 

- The Red Coach bus provides express (no stops) business class bus service between Orlando and Fort Lauderdale airport. RedCoach (redcoachusa.com)

 

Hope these suggestions are helpful.

 

 

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Dolcevita Diva

[taxatty]

11 minutes ago, 330_cruiser said:

I’ve tried a search but no luck.. I’m organising a cruise for my parents out of Fort Lauderdale.. they are on a direct flight to Orlando. 
 

Anyone know if Silverseas  offer transfers from Orlando MCO to Fort Lauderdale? Neither of them are comfortable driving in the USA unfortunately. 

Appreciate any suggestions.

Agreed as to Brightline if it's operating then. https://www.gobrightline.com/orlando

[Lois R]

1 minute ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

Very doubtful. When will you parents be cruising?  Here are a few options to consider if they don't wish to drive:

- Southwest Airlines flies nonstop from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale, so you could book them on a separate ticket if the times would work. 

- The Brightline high-speed train will begin service to Orlando airport later this year (its terminal is at the airport) and Brightline provides an excellent experience. 

- The Red Coach bus provides express (no stops) business class bus service between Orlando and Fort Lauderdale airport. RedCoach (redcoachusa.com)

Good suggestions....or as I mentioned, they could get a car service one way......it might be a bit pricey it is an option.

[Dolcevita Diva]

3 minutes ago, taxatty said:

Agreed as to Brightline if it's operating then. https://www.gobrightline.com/orlando

Really looking forward to when Brightline starts operating to Orlando!

[330_cruiser]

Great suggestions everyone. Thanks all!

 

I never thought of a car service or domestic flight to Fort Lauderdale. Will look into these options. 

 

3 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

Very doubtful. When will you parents be cruising? 

 

 

The transatlantic cruise departs Fort Lauderdale to Dublin May 28th.. so all they need is a one way flight to MCO and  when they reach Dublin it’s a 20 minutes drive home! They have sailed with Silverseas before and really seem to like it.

 

[Dolcevita Diva]

33 minutes ago, 330_cruiser said:

Great suggestions everyone. Thanks all!

 

I never thought of a car service or domestic flight to Fort Lauderdale. Will look into these options. 

 

 

The transatlantic cruise departs Fort Lauderdale to Dublin May 28th.. so all they need is a one way flight to MCO and  when they reach Dublin it’s a 20 minutes drive home! They have sailed with Silverseas before and really seem to like it.

 

Lucky them! That itinerary looked wonderful and even better that it will be so convenient for them.

 

 

 

 

[cruiseej]

I tried getting a price using Blacklane.com, but it didn't even accept the airport to cruise terminal routing. I then tried using Uber's trip estimator, and was surprised it wasn't as outrageous cost as I expected:

 

Of rouse, prices vary all the time with Uber, and my concern is that even if you book well in advance, the price you get quoted is just an algorithm; if they don't have a driver who wants to accept a 7 hour trip on that day, I'd be concerned about the possibility of getting a notice that no drivers are available. 

 

So you might do better with a car service/limousine company, even though the cost will be higher. If you Google "car service orlando to ft lauderdale" you'd get lots of links of such companies you can explore for a quote. I tried one, and it came up with $567 for an executive sedan or $667 for a larger SUV; another came up $677 for a sedan. Several require inputting a name and contact information, so you might want to email those — but there are a bunch of companies offering Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale transportation. 

 

There are also several bus companies offering transportation from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale, and the cost would be under $100 for 2 people. But it would entail getting to the bus in Orlando and getting a taxi/Uber from the Ft Lauderdale airport to the cruise port. It's do-able, but probably not the optimal way to start a luxury cruise after an overnight flight! 😉

 

As others have mentioned, the new train line would be a perfect solution, but they haven't announced when they will begin service, and you can't bet on the train being running by the time of their cruise.

 

Southwest has inexpensive flights when booked far in advance (currently $114 per person), BUT… the flight times don't seem likely to work if they are flying in and embarking on the cruise on the same day. Southwest's flights are at 9:25 am (almost certainly too early) and 5:25 pm (likely too late). United also has two flights, also likely too late (earliest at 3:40-5:00 pm). Unless they are flying in a day before the cruise?? The only other airline option is Spirit (a cheap discount airline I wouldn't recommend, and their flight times don't work anyway).

 

I don't suppose there's any way to change their flight from Ireland to arrive in Fort Lauderdale or Miami, is there? Even with a connection somewhere, it might be easier on your parents than negotiating travel from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale.

[Stumblefoot]

9 hours ago, Lois R said:

…it might be a bit pricey…

Very pricey, as in $200 to $250 pricey.

[FlyerTalker]

Why are they flying into MCO, unless they are doing a holiday there as well as the cruise.

 

If so, just fly from MCO to FLL or MIA.

[Dolcevita Diva]

@330_cruiser

 

It looks like the nonstop from Dublin arrives in the early evening around 6:30 p.m.

There is a Hyatt hotel inside the Orlando airport, so rather than embark on another 3+ hours of travel that night, you may want to consider booking them in there. Then they can catch a morning flight to Fort Lauderdale or be picked up by the car service. 

 

Below is a car service that I used last year in Orlando for a concert and can recommend. They have electric and hybrid vehicles so their pricing was more reasonable than other quotes we had gotten and  service was excellent. ELEX Transport | Eco-Friendly Luxury Black Car Service in Orlando 

 

P.S. - Very glad to know about that nonstop to Dublin from MCO thanks to your inquiry here. Will keep that info tucked away for future use myself.  🙂

 

[cruiseej]

6 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

They have electric and hybrid vehicles

 

Hope they don't try to do Orlando to Ft Lauderdale and back to Orlando in an electric vehicle; ain't going to make it without stopping for a recharge. 🙂

 

Seriously, though, if they are flying in the day before the cruise — information @330_cruiser didn't provide — then I agree with staying overnight in Orlando, then flying Southwest in the morning. Although going back to the airport can be a hassle, it will cost hundreds less than a car service. If cost isn't an issue, then a car service will be most comfortable and by far the easiest way to go directly from their Orlando hotel directly to the cruise terminal. 

[Lois R]

49 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

 

Hope they don't try to do Orlando to Ft Lauderdale and back to Orlando in an electric vehicle; ain't going to make it without stopping for a recharge. 🙂

 

Seriously, though, if they are flying in the day before the cruise — information @330_cruiser didn't provide — then I agree with staying overnight in Orlando, then flying Southwest in the morning. Although going back to the airport can be a hassle, it will cost hundreds less than a car service. If cost isn't an issue, then a car service will be most comfortable and by far the easiest way to go directly from their Orlando hotel directly to the cruise terminal. 

Hi stranger😀....that was my thinking from the start......directly from Orlando to cruise terminal.  (If cost isn't an issue).

[Rothko1]

I really think a car service is the way to go for them.  Forget Uber or Lyft, you'll probably never get a driver willing to make such a long drive down.  Arrange for a service, have the driver meet them at the airport with a sign, take them to the car, drive them down to Fort Lauderdale straight to the ship.  Yes, a bit expensive, but easy for them. 

 

Brightline might be a good bet if and when they get around to opening the line to Orlando, but that still would involve having your parents hauling luggage to the train, riding down to Fort Lauderdale and then getting from the Brightline station to the port.

[fdnycruiser]

If they have no interest in visiting Orlando, why not change the booking to Miami ?  It sure would make their lives easier. Orlando is 200 mile away, and at least a 4-5 hour drive, and worse if traffic 

[ggo85]

I would also go with a car service.  There are surprisingly few inter-FL flight options.  One is Silver Airways but they aren't particularly reliable.  You also have to add the cost of a car from FLL airport to the terminal.  By the time you pay for 2 people to fly on Silver, plus baggage fees, plus the taxi to the terminal, you're almost at the cost of a car service.

 

Driving across the state isn't fun (of note, it's much easier to go north/south than east/west).  Thus, I wouldn't recommend it for someone not used to driving in a lot of traffic.  And you have to return the car.  I would be concerned re Uber / Lyft given the distance involved.  

 

A car service is $$ but it pales in comparison to the cost of a SS cruise.  Your parents will have confidence someone will actually show up, they will ride in comfort, and be confident of arriving at their ship on time.

[FlyerTalker]

Again....no one is answering the big question.  Why would you fly into Orlando, which is over 200 miles from the Fort Lauderdale port, rather than flying into Fort Lauderdale or Miami, which are just around the corner, by comparison?

 

And ground transport from FLL or MIA is a piece of cake.

 

This whole process is starting from some flawed premise.

[cruiseej]

1 hour ago, FlyerTalker said:

This whole process is starting from some flawed premise.

 

It's not a premise; it sounded like the airline tickets had already been purchased. That at least seems likely, with the cruise only 3 months away.

 

I'd guess they booked it because it was the only non-stop to Florida from Dublin; we don't know if they didn't grasp the geography of Florida, or just assumed it would be easy to travel from point to point. But since the original poster has not returned to answer questions or offer more information, we're probably wasting time speculating and tweaking suggestions. 

[taxatty]

3 hours ago, ggo85 said:

I would also go with a car service.  There are surprisingly few inter-FL flight options.  One is Silver Airways but they aren't particularly reliable.  You also have to add the cost of a car from FLL airport to the terminal.  By the time you pay for 2 people to fly on Silver, plus baggage fees, plus the taxi to the terminal, you're almost at the cost of a car service.

 

Driving across the state isn't fun (of note, it's much easier to go north/south than east/west).  Thus, I wouldn't recommend it for someone not used to driving in a lot of traffic.  And you have to return the car.  I would be concerned re Uber / Lyft given the distance involved.  

 

A car service is $$ but it pales in comparison to the cost of a SS cruise.  Your parents will have confidence someone will actually show up, they will ride in comfort, and be confident of arriving at their ship on time.

There are actually plenty of flights--American (49 flights a week) and Delta have regular flights between MCO and MIA, and Spirit and Southwest fly between MCO and FLL (along with Silver).

[330_cruiser]

On 2/27/2023 at 11:35 PM, FlyerTalker said:

Again....no one is answering the big question.  Why would you fly into Orlando, which is over 200 miles from the Fort Lauderdale port, rather than flying into Fort Lauderdale or Miami, which are just around the corner, by comparison?

 

And ground transport from FLL or MIA is a piece of cake.

 

This whole process is starting from some flawed premise.

 

There is no direct flight from Dublin to Miami in May. Orlando is the closest direct flight to Miami.

[330_cruiser]

Thanks for all your suggestions re: internal flights and car service, much appreciated

 

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, 330_cruiser said:

There is no direct flight from Dublin to Miami in May. Orlando is the closest direct flight to Miami.

 

So...in order to fly on a non-stop, we fly into a city that is 230 miles away from where we actually need to be.

 

Makes perfect sense.....to someone.

 

 

[Cavangirl]

I’m also on that Silversea  cruise from Fort Lauderdale in May . Aer Lingus did at one stage fly into Miami but not at the moment .We are flying into Orlando the evening  before , the flight gets in at 6.30 pm. We are taking the Red Bus the next morning at 8.00 am .Not ideal but the bonus we arrive back to Dublin Port and home is just 20 minutes away .Swings and Roundabouts!

[GTO-Girl]

9 hours ago, Cavangirl said:

I’m also on that Silversea  cruise from Fort Lauderdale in May . Aer Lingus did at one stage fly into Miami but not at the moment .We are flying into Orlando the evening  before , the flight gets in at 6.30 pm. We are taking the Red Bus the next morning at 8.00 am .Not ideal but the bonus we arrive back to Dublin Port and home is just 20 minutes away .Swings and Roundabouts!

are you taking the bus to Ft Lauderdale the morning of your cruise????  I sure hope not!!!😳

Edited April 18, 2023 by GTO-Girl