Miami cruise terminal to Fort Lauderdale airport - how much time to allow?

[VidaKB]

Our ship arrives on Sat Aug 26 @ 6am in Miami and I'm hoping to book flights out of the Fort Lauderdale airport.    

 

Assuming we can get off the ship before 9am, would it be advisable to book a flight departing 1130am or noon?  We are TSA pre-approved so a shorter line I expect.  Also less traffic on a Saturday morning vs during the week?

 

Anyone have experience or insight?  We would likely take an uber from the Miami port to the Ft Lauderdale airport.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

[skrufy]

MIA to FLL is 28 miles. 35 to 45 minute ride, as always depending on traffic. I would not book before 12pm. We did this a year and a half ago. Departed POM at 9:15 and arrived FLL 40 minutes later, for an 11:55 flight.  Arrange your Uber ride as you are heading down to retrieve your luggage.

[Capt_BJ]

in round numbers I'd figure travel time of an hour .... it is doable but probably won't be stress free.

 

depending on the ships in PE that day Ft Lau' can be as crazy if not more so then MIA

[Ashland]

Any reason why you're using FLL instead of MIA...considering the cost and time involved?

Unless the fares are much cheaper. I've been checking for my March 2024 and MIA is less for my cruise end at POM.

[VidaKB]

11 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Any reason why you're using FLL instead of MIA...considering the cost and time involved?

Unless the fares are much cheaper. I've been checking for my March 2024 and MIA is less for my cruise end at POM.

For us, FLL offers later departure times, more direct flight options and much less expensive than MIA.  Guess it depends on the destination.  However, we are flying into Miami before the cruise as there were better departure times, more direct flight options and less expensive.  I can't figure out the airline industry!

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

Any reason why you're using FLL instead of MIA...considering the cost and time involved?

Unless the fares are much cheaper. I've been checking for my March 2024 and MIA is less for my cruise end at POM.

Maybe you have better  flights in March that the OP does in Aug ??

 

I had  a flight in Oct MIA to YYZ    the flight was canceled   so next one to get us home same day  is FLL to YYZ 

 

YMMV

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, VidaKB said:

For us, FLL offers later departure times, more direct flight options and much less expensive than MIA.  Guess it depends on the destination.  However, we are flying into Miami before the cruise as there were better departure times, more direct flight options and less expensive.  I can't figure out the airline industry!

It's always a mystery. Glad you're working out what works best for you. 

 

I got a great rate for my outbound flight (Feb 2024) from LAX-MIA several months ago.

Now I need to book my return flight for March. I didn't book a roundtrip then because I was considering adding a Celebrity cruise onto my RCI cruise which I did.

[abby1257]

On 6/27/2023 at 5:01 PM, LHT28 said:

Maybe you have better  flights in March that the OP does in Aug ??

 

I had  a flight in Oct MIA to YYZ    the flight was canceled   so next one to get us home same day  is FLL to YYZ 

 

YMMV

We are also from Ontario (Toronto)....When we booked our flight out of YYZ to MIA....there were no flights direct...I think AC had one but $$$ , most were stop overs...ugh....So we are doing the FLL which was about 400.00 / person cheaper .... We book SAS Transportation for pick up at FLL airport and drop of at our Miami Hotel the day before the cruise...

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, abby1257 said:

We are also from Ontario (Toronto)....When we booked our flight out of YYZ to MIA....there were no flights direct...I think AC had one but $$$ , most were stop overs...ugh....So we are doing the FLL which was about 400.00 / person cheaper .... We book SAS Transportation for pick up at FLL airport and drop of at our Miami Hotel the day before the cruise...

 Yes seems AC  has cancelled the non stops  from MIA to YYZ   when we are travelling

We always took the 12:20 out of MIA

[volk904]

We have made the trip several times.  Shuttle ride is 30-45 minutes on weekends. We have made flights between 10:30 and 11:00 at FLL no problem.  If you walk off ship usually you can be through customs before 8. The key is walking off.  

[VidaKB]

Thanks everyone -- ended up with a 1pm flight from FLL so should be plenty of time to get there from Miami.

 

Any suggestions for shuttle service to FLL or should I just take an uber?

[VidaKB]

On 7/2/2023 at 11:43 PM, volk904 said:

We have made the trip several times.  Shuttle ride is 30-45 minutes on weekends. We have made flights between 10:30 and 11:00 at FLL no problem.  If you walk off ship usually you can be through customs before 8. The key is walking off.  

Do you have the name of the shuttle service you used?  Just wondering how easy it would be to find your shuttle once you leave the cruise ship terminal.

[VidaKB]

On 7/2/2023 at 11:43 PM, volk904 said:

We have made the trip several times.  Shuttle ride is 30-45 minutes on weekends. We have made flights between 10:30 and 11:00 at FLL no problem.  If you walk off ship usually you can be through customs before 8. The key is walking off.  

 

Edited July 11, 2023 by VidaKB

[mumeof3]

did you uber or use a service

[VidaKB]

Ended up taking an Uber but massive traffic jam at the cruise ship terminal as all the passengers were getting picked up.  I think our driver sat in traffic 30 minutes before pulling up to the curb to pick us up.  But then it was smooth sailing all the way to FLL   Was about $50 USD

[garycarla]

On 7/2/2023 at 10:43 PM, volk904 said:

We have made the trip several times.  Shuttle ride is 30-45 minutes on weekends. We have made flights between 10:30 and 11:00 at FLL no problem.  If you walk off ship usually you can be through customs before 8. The key is walking off.  

 

What is the name of the shuttle service you used?

[Oceans 818]

On 6/27/2023 at 3:39 PM, Ashland said:

Any reason why you're using FLL instead of MIA...considering the cost and time involved?

Unless the fares are much cheaper. I've been checking for my March 2024 and MIA is less for my cruise end at POM.

In December last year we had 8 family members on a cruise and ourselves on a different cruise. We all ended up flying into FLL as it was $$$ cheaper than MIA. We rented a car at FLL and dropped it in Miami near the port. Some family ubered it and some took taxi's to port. In December up til the 23rd they had direct flights to YYZ for $25. It was crazy! We flew Delta booked through Westjet. But the actual planes were WJ. Some family flew Delta -WJ down and Flair back to YYZ. Flair was major expensive but they had booked the return flight way in advance of the flight down as it was important to be back by a specific time on the day the ship docked. So not much flexability.

On 7/11/2023 at 3:00 PM, VidaKB said:

Thanks everyone -- ended up with a 1pm flight from FLL so should be plenty of time to get there from Miami.

 

Any suggestions for shuttle service to FLL or should I just take an uber?

Hi, our December cruise we used the ship shuttle from POM to FLL. it was only $27pp and booked it on the ship. While waiting for our bus to FLL there were several shuttle services that pulled up to p/u passengers and one couple would ask them how much to get to FLL . The one driver offered $10 to anyone who wanted to go and the most expensive was $50. There were hundreds in the line for the MIA shuttles and when the FLL shuttle finally showed up, they didn't even ask for proof of payment to get on the bus, which surprised me. We had never booked through the ship before. An Uber was $50 as I had looked into costs in advance.

I would definitely do a walk off. If the ship docks ontime and you walk off, you know you'll be there ontime. If you have to wait and then find your luggage, if the people in front of you are slow have an issue it can cause a long delay. We usually walk off but they told us to do the luggage drop the night before if we were taking the shuttle. It was a mess in the luggage area, and people blocking the doors as it was raining so it held up the hundreds of people behind them, everytime a family would stop and have a conversation in front of you.