Is An 11:20 am Flight Doable

[gmbhardy]

We will cruising on Celebrity for the first time in January. We are on an 11 day Southern Caribbean cruise that gets back to Fort Lauderdale at 8:00 am (according to the published itinerary). We are staying in a Retreat Sky Suite. Is an 11:20 flight from FLL to Toronto doable or should I book a later one. We are avid cruisers and know that sometimes things go sideways but under normal circumstances what time does disembarkation begin.

[jwlane]

4 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

 Is an 11:20 flight from FLL to Toronto doable 

Yes.

[neverlaysup]

You can be at the airport by 8:45am if you get off the ship at 8.

 

[RD64]

It is doable, but remember - life happens. As long as you have a back up plan just in case, all is good.

[doghog]

Do self disembarkation. 

[gmbhardy]

Do Retreat cruisers get priority disembarkation?

[1Virgo]

it could be tight if there is a delay in the ship being released from Customs.   That happened in January to us.   However, we made our Toronto flight.     Walking  your luggage off is faster than trying to find it in the terminal

I also booked a private driver and that helped (Larry’s Limo Service)

[dcbiker97]

5 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

Do Retreat cruisers get priority disembarkation?

Sort of.  You’ll gather in the Retreat lounge (or  Michaels club) and they will escort you to the area on the ship where you disembark. That usually allows you to bypass the others waiting in line. 

[terrydtx]

We have done 9:30 flights from FLL with no problems. The airport is 10-15 minutes from the port.

[JamieLogical]

You can literally see the cruise ships from the airport in Ft. Lauderdale. You could probably walk if you had to with the cruise port and airport being so close to each other. Being in Retreat you will have priority disembarkation. You will be fine.

[39august]

With Retreat, you can go to the Retreat Lounge and be escorted oft the ship as soon as the walk-offs begin. Celebrity assures suite pax that their luggage will be available at that time. If in doubt, ask the Retreat concierge about it. So, should be no problem at all. . 

[hcat]

doable unless one thing glitches

if u can book later, I would..just to avoid stress!

[gdpups]

That’s the flight I would book myself, cruised in and out of Ft Lauderdale many, many times,  the airport is really close and quick off the ship when in a suite.  

[Mark_K]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

We have done 9:30 flights from FLL with no problems. The airport is 10-15 minutes from the port.

With an 8:00am arrival time?  

[George C]

4 hours ago, gmbhardy said:

Do Retreat cruisers get priority disembarkation?

Yes , concierge will escort you off and you can have a glass of champagne while you wait. Agree we flew thru immigration 

[Cruise till you drop]

5 hours ago, doghog said:

Do self disembarkation. 

I would beg to differ that you’ll still have lots of time even without self embarkation 

[Tigerfnan23]

We walked off with our luggage at around 8am, grabbed a shared cab and arrived at the airport a little after 9.  

[Jim_Iain]

Very doable.     As a Retreat Guest you are the first off the ship when disembarkation begins and you can leave at anytime right after they complete walkoffs.    Suite Luggage is all roped off an available immediately.    Also Immigration is usually done via electronic clearance.   You just walk up to a camera and get a green check mark and walk through.

 

Most of the time, even when taking our time we are at FLL no later than 10:00 and have plenty of time. 

[Oceangoer2]

6 hours ago, gmbhardy said:

We will cruising on Celebrity for the first time in January. We are on an 11 day Southern Caribbean cruise that gets back to Fort Lauderdale at 8:00 am (according to the published itinerary). We are staying in a Retreat Sky Suite. Is an 11:20 flight from FLL to Toronto doable or should I book a later one. We are avid cruisers and know that sometimes things go sideways but under normal circumstances what time does disembarkation begin.

that's the flight we always book...no problem making it.  If you're a little nervous about the timing, let your butler (team) know you want an early disembarkation.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Oceangoer2

[kasowell2]

Gotten off many times in Ft. Lauderdale and I didn’t fly but I’ve driven and can say I was close to Daytona by 11:30 and I didn’t do self luggage

[1Virgo]

18 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We have done 9:30 flights from FLL with no problems. The airport is 10-15 minutes from the port.

if you are flying International, which is Canada included, it takes a bit longer to get through and to the gates

[Oceangoer2]

13 hours ago, Oceangoer2 said:

that's the flight we always book...no problem making it.  If you're a little nervous about the timing, let your butler (team) know you want an early disembarkation.

I should add to this.....we'd never book a 9:30am flight....and that is with a ship port arrival around 5am...so with an 8am arrival (if that's truly when the ship does come in)  is just tooooo close to push it. 

[Nancycat]

I have waited at immigration for a while that would be the only issue 

[KKB]

Easy peasy.

Retreat will take you right down as soon as you are able to walk off.

10min cab ride MAX to airport.

[WhiteSoxFan]

I agree with you should be OK.  Do priority disembarkation, carry your own bags and there should be a line up of taxis.  You don't say what day of the week this will be but hopefully not a weekend.  Last January we disembarked on a Sunday and the security lines were insane.  There was a line to get to the Pre-check line.  The standard line went to the end of the terminal and then half way back outside.

 

To be fair we took our time getting off the ship and were in no rush and still had no problem catching our 12:30pm flight.