FLL disembarkation flight

[RD64]

22 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

You should be fine. Take a taxi to the airport which is just outside the cruise port. Have a great cruise!

“Should be..”

[Tapi]

I would never book a flight that early (way too early for my taste. One small snafu and you’re out of luck). But with that said, the earliest flight I’ve ever made out of FLL was at 8:35am. We had actually booked a later flight, but as soon as I realized that we’d be at the airport by the 7:30am, I placed us on the standby list for the 8:35am flight. We only had carry ons and mobile boarding passes, so we bypassed the check in counter and went straight to security. 
 

Everything worked out perfectly that time. But there are times when we’ve been held on the ship for various reasons, even when doing self assist, and haven’t made it to the airport until 10-11am.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Tapi

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, RD64 said:

“Should be..”

Will be fine. We book 10:00 flights from PortMiami to MIA which is a lot farther and have no problems. FLL is a mile outside the port. I would not think twice about booking the OP's flight.

 

Some people like to dwell on doom and gloom. What if the ship stops to pick up Cuban boat people and is 3 hours late back to port (real story, happened to us August 2022). Or What if there is fog in the port and you can't go in until noon (happen to us pre-pandemic in Miami). Or What If the ship has to turn back to Nassau to drop off a medical emergency making it late back to FLL (yup, been there, done that). What if a bunch of passengers miss embarkation due to a late flight and join the cruise at the first port... causing CBP to hold all final disembarkation until all of the mid-stream boarders could be found on the ship and undergo a full arrival processing,,, delaying disembarkation of everyone else by 2 1/2 hours (that was April 2022). 

 

We cruise 5-6 times a year and have seen a lot. But,,, I, for one, don't plan on taking a 5 pm flight home from a cruise what if the ship is late into port. If a delay happens, I am on the phone with the airline changing to a later flight. Easy. On the fog delay day, I actually changed my flight twice because estimates of the port opening were too optimistic,,, and once PortMiami opened, there was a long line of cargo ships and cruise ships all waiting to enter the port.

[Eddie Wilson]

13 hours ago, FTLCruiseGal said:

There is someone that posted on another cruise line about a woman that refused to go to guest services to finalize her bill.  She held people up for who knows how long.  He’s got it on YouTube; (I hope I don’t get banned, but it was the Carnival Venezia).  Anything can happen.  So many things are out of our control.

 

Was on a cruise once where 4 people from the same room number were called for over an hour.  

Every 10 minutes an announcement, different languages, held the ship from being cleared. 

 

I had booked a flight which left just before noon.  We made it to the gate at 11 am.

[Ret MP]

9 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Some people like to dwell on doom and gloom.

I prefer to look at it as a precautionary tale of reality, stuff happens and for me, it usually does!

[lcpagejr]

Cruised on Odyssey last Thanksgiving... We walked off ship at 8am (Disembarkation started earlier). Went thru customs , grabbed a taxi and was at Airport by 8:35. Going thru TSA took longer 45 min! but was at gate area by 9:20.... for a 10:30 flight. So if you leave immediately...you have a real good chance of making flight assuming TSA isn't a issue... 2 different lines at immigration...Passport holders and those with BC's... Neither had a large line. but PP line went quicker with Facial Recognition

Edited September 22, 2023 by lcpagejr