New to sailing from Ft. Lauderdale....have questions

[Embre]

I just booked a Royal Caribbean cruise departing from Ft. Lauderdale, and now I am concerned. From poking around in the boards I get the impression that cruisers more often, fly into Miami and find some variety of transportation to the port rather than fly directly to Ft. Lauderdale and stay there before hand. Is this the norm? I am flying from Washington State and most flights into the Miami/Ft Lauderdale area arrive late at night. Generally I fly in the day before embarkation and stay in a hotel. I'm starting to worry that this wont be quite as smooth as it usually is. Any suggestions on how best to plan for a Ft. Lauderdale departure? Any information is greatly appreciated (I worry until I step onboard).

[DaveOKC]

We always just fly into Fort Lauderdale and stay at one of the many hotels near the pier area (17th Street - Convention Center) or Dania Beach (not far from the airport and 2-3 miles from the pier area I am guessing.  Plenty of places to dine and shop at either area and most hotels have shuttles from the airport to them and then to the pier the next morning (most to the pier have reasonable fees).

 

[FOPMan]

Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL) is 28 or so miles from the Miami airport (MIA). While still a major airport, it is smaller than Miami (or SEATAC). it is adjacent to Port Everglades- about a 10 minute car ride between the airport and cruise ship terminals within the port (it usually takes longer to get from the entrance to the port to the ship than between the airport and the entrance to the ship port).

 

 

[Von & John]

We will fly in & out of Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Miami (MIA) or West Palm Beach (PBI) - whichever has the best value - Departure/Arrival Times, Duration & Price...
We travel from Alaska - so Departure/Arrival Times & Duration have a huge impact on our decision...

We fly in a minimum of 1 day ahead...
We've spent time in both Fort Lauderdale & Miami

 

Our only cruise from Tampa we flew in & out of Tampa 🙂 

Our two cruises from Port Canaveral we flew & out of Orlando 🙂

[LHT28]

If there are flight  to FLL  go for it

Fly in at least the day before

Get a hotel near 17th street  & relax  then take a taxi to the port 

 

 

[indy71]

I have cruised from Ft Lauderdale numerous times and have never flown into Miami (although I would if it was a better value/time). I flew out of Miami one time using a cruise line excursion with Miami departure to get to the airport. We are cruising from Ft. L again in February and I will consider both airports for price and convenient timing, but I have a strong preference for the simplicity and close location of Ft L airport. 

[Embre]

Thank you all for the replies, the information sets my mind at ease for a bit....at least until flight booking time comes around. Thanks again.

[DaveOKC]

My airline just opened up a nonstop to Miami and I considered switching from my one stop to Fort Lauderdale.  Due to higher cost I stayed put.  If it was noticably cheaper I would have considered it.  Figured and extra $50 plus for Uber or Taxi plus $100 extra fare not worth it.

 

 

[Ashland]

Fly into FLL. Consider Hyatt Place (convention center) right next to the Harbor Shopping area with a Publix market , shops and restaurants a favorite is Duffy's. Quick easy cheap taxi (meter never flat rate) from FLL to the hotel and then taxi or hotel shuttle to PE. I believe hotel is charging $9.00pp to the port. When you return take taxi to get back to FLL.

 

Try booking Hyatt Place with ValueTrips  best rates.

 

This is really an easy port to sail from and have done this many times. Enjoy !!

[Elaine5715]

On 9/14/2023 at 6:35 PM, Embre said:

I just booked a Royal Caribbean cruise departing from Ft. Lauderdale, and now I am concerned. From poking around in the boards I get the impression that cruisers more often, fly into Miami and find some variety of transportation to the port rather than fly directly to Ft. Lauderdale and stay there before hand. Is this the norm? I am flying from Washington State and most flights into the Miami/Ft Lauderdale area arrive late at night. Generally I fly in the day before embarkation and stay in a hotel. I'm starting to worry that this wont be quite as smooth as it usually is. Any suggestions on how best to plan for a Ft. Lauderdale departure? Any information is greatly appreciated (I worry until I step onboard).

I would say most of us fly into FLL regardless of sailing from Miami or Port Everglades.  FLL flights, hotels and restaurants are less expensive.  I also think more of the area around Fort Lauderdale is safer to walk about.

[nhraformula00]

Fly into Ft. Lauderdale, the airport and cruise port are 3 miles apart. Plenty of hotels in the area also. Miami airport to Port Everglades will be 1 hour uber or lift ride.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

When we sail out of Ft Lauderdale, we always fly to/from FLL.

When we sail out of Port of Miami, we almost always fly to FLL or from FLL because it's cheaper, but sometimes (rarely) I can find flights that are cheaper to/from MIA or offer a better timing.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 9/14/2023 at 3:35 PM, Embre said:

I just booked a Royal Caribbean cruise departing from Ft. Lauderdale, and now I am concerned. From poking around in the boards I get the impression that cruisers more often, fly into Miami and find some variety of transportation to the port rather than fly directly to Ft. Lauderdale and stay there before hand. Is this the norm?

 

It may depend on where they are flying in from. Coming from the West Coast, like you, we always fly in the day before and stay near the Port Everglades cruise port. Whether we fly into MIA or FLL depends on flight times (both ways) and cost.

 

We'd never attempt to fly in the day of the cruise from the West Coast. I won't even do that for San Francisco or Seattle.

[Ashland]

2 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

It may depend on where they are flying in from. Coming from the West Coast, like you, we always fly in the day before and stay near the Port Everglades cruise port. Whether we fly into MIA or FLL depends on flight times (both ways) and cost.

 

We'd never attempt to fly in the day of the cruise from the West Coast. I won't even do that for San Francisco or Seattle.

Years ago we had no choice and some may be in that situation as well.

We would take a redeye LAX-FLL landing at 6:00am...Can it be done ...yes.

 

Luckily now we have all the time we need, but I do understand those that don't.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

Just now, Ashland said:

Years ago we had no choice and some may be in that situation as well.

We would take a redeye LAX-FLL landing at 6:00am...Can it be done ...yes.

 

Luckily now we have all the time we need, but I do understand those that don't.

 

My point is more about the seemingly, completely unreliable nature of air travel in the U.S. now, especially post Covid. It seems flights are cancelled and delayed for no apparent reason or changed to less helpful times.

[DaveOKC]

1 hour ago, scottca075 said:

 

My point is more about the seemingly, completely unreliable nature of air travel in the U.S. now, especially post Covid. It seems flights are cancelled and delayed for no apparent reason or changed to less helpful times.

So true.  Every flight that I have booked over the past 18 months has been changed at least once by the airline.  Sometimes it works out better for me, as I call them and rechange), but most times its worse.