Ft Lauderdale transportation to ship

[Beave8920]

Hello everybody....need some help. Can anyone advise if Princess or anyone else for that matter provides transportation from FLL to the cruise ship. We are taking a redeye and will arrive @ 6:45am. We would like to arraign the transportation before we arrive.....thanks

[Toto2Kansas]

There are Princess transfers available to the pier, but arriving that early, they will not leave until closer to 11:00. The ship will not begin boarding until between 11-1. If you don't want to hang out at the airport, you might find a place to grab breakfast. A taxi would be the way to go. I don't think they will even allow you into the pier area that early in the morning.

[ggprincess2004]

If you are arriving that early, you will have a bit of a wait until you can board the cruise ship.
Princess does provide transportation to the ship, a transfer, but in FLL you don't really need it. Also, you will wait around the airport for quite a while until Princess lets the first transfer bus go.
If you grab a cab from the airport to the pier, taxi fare is about $10 -12, and it's a 10 or 15 min ride at most.
My suggestion would be to take a cab to a comfortable hotel with a nice lobby, and have a leisurely breakfast, kick back, relax, and about 10:15 grab a cab from the hotel to the pier.
Princess has a lounge at the pier (you have to find it - walk around the building toward your right when you are looking at the ship) with coffee, etc., and you can stake out a space there, and will be among the first to board, maybe at 11:30 ish, maybe at noon. It depends upon how their disembarkation goes as to how earlyl they will actually begin boarding.
If you wanted to do a bit of sightseeing I suppose you could, but after a red eye, I suspect you might want to just chill a bit.
FLL is a really easy port city. You might want to check the departures board for a suggestion or two about where to cool your heels for a few hours before you make your way to the pier. Hope this helps!:)

[Beave8920]

:cool: That's what I was afraid of....I was hoping Princess might pick up the bags and we good do some breakfast and sighseeing......but thanks for the info.

[ggprincess2004]

Great minds think alike!

[sonomaphil]

[quote name='Beave8920']Hello everybody....need some help. Can anyone advise if Princess or anyone else for that matter provides transportation from FLL to the cruise ship. We are taking a redeye and will arrive @ 6:45am. We would like to arraign the transportation before we arrive.....thanks[/quote]

Wow the ship doesn't ever get to port until 7! Maybe you can look into a day rate at one of the hotel/motels in the area. At least then you have a place to hang out...and take a nap!

And you don;t want to just wait in line for all those hours at the terminal...it gets hot!

[Toto2Kansas]

[quote name='ggprincess2004']Great minds think alike![/quote]

:) :)

[jlp20]

The airport is very close to the cruise center. A cab ride, which would be the quickest and easiest should be around 20+ tips. There is a free bus operated by the airport that cycles between the cruise center and airport, but I do not know the hours.

You say "red eye" but don't say what time you arrive in Ft. Lauderdale. The cruise center is far from comfortable to wait to get on the ship. I believe they stick to the 1 PM schedule in opening. Be forewarned that at the cruise center, Princess provides water and juice to waiting passengers and the center has rest rooms, that’s it. We got there early, about an hour, and were bored to tears. At least at the airport there are expense food stands and there are people to watch.

[Daniel1313]

You better look at the first thread again. The poster clearly stated that they arrive at 6:45 A.M.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

[quote name='jlp20']The airport is very close to the cruise center. A cab ride, which would be the quickest and easiest should be around 20+ tips. There is a free bus operated by the airport that cycles between the cruise center and airport, but I do not know the hours.

You say "red eye" but don't say what time you arrive in Ft. Lauderdale. The cruise center is far from comfortable to wait to get on the ship. I believe they stick to the 1 PM schedule in opening. Be forewarned that at the cruise center, Princess provides water and juice to waiting passengers and the center has rest rooms, that’s it. We got there early, about an hour, and were bored to tears. At least at the airport there are expense food stands and there are people to watch.[/QUOTE]

The op said they will be getting in to FLL at 6:45am.
The cruise pier is definitely open before 1pm usually about 10:30 to 11am.

Bill

[Beave8920]

[quote name='Beave8920']Hello everybody....need some help. Can anyone advise if Princess or anyone else for that matter provides transportation from FLL to the cruise ship. We are taking a redeye and will arrive @ 6:45am. We would like to arraign the transportation before we arrive.....thanks[/quote]

:confused: Thanks everybody, great info and I appreciate the responses...but maybe a better question would be what is the earliest time we can check our luggage with the cruise ship ?

[ggprincess2004]

You may be able to find a Princess rep at the airport (but not at 6:45 in the morning:eek: ) and put your luggage with what they are taking to the pier. The usual thing is get your luggage from baggage claim, and assemble it in the place designated by the Princess rep.
The port will probablly be ready for your luggage sometime after 10 a.m., unless they had a problem disembark. Much before 10 - you could get somewhat frustrated trying to get your bags "handled".
That being said, if you check the hotels that Princess uses in FLL, and you head over there from the airport (assuming your plane is on time) you just might find the Princess rep - it's pretty easy. I have never had a problem with just asking if they would put our checked luggage on the luggage truck, even though we weren't using a Princess transfer. Most of the time they will have the bell staff collect luggage from the hotel rooms between 10 and 10:30. It goes right on the luggage truck, and you will find it in your stateroom sometime later in the day. We haven't done this in FLL because we haven't needed to, but have great success with this in other ports.
To find the hotels, look at the Princess website - extending your vacation and ports of call sites. They will list the hotels that they use. Most are very, very convenient to the airport and the pier.
Barring that, if you choose to hang out at a hotel for breakfast, etc., the bell captain will probably store your bags for a few hours for you.
I know schlepping the bags is a pain - Princess uses a few nice hotels in FLL which aren't a bad place to kill a few hours. But honestly, I wouldn't buy a Princess transfer in FLL - get to the pier as Toto and I discussed, and you can get on board, relax and/or get your bearings.
Here is the link to the Princess hotel info: [url]http://www.princess.com/destination/caribbean/extend_stay_FLL.html[/url]

[Beave8920]

:) Thanks gg....great info! Sounds like a great plan....we flew into FLL about 28 years ago for a Sitmar cruise! ......so my recollection of the place is a little rusty! I knew flying in at that time was going to present some problems, but we have an event on sat (sailing ona sun), so we couldn't go earlier......but I knew I could count on some cc'ers to work this out! Thanks again.

[drpack]

When I arrive at the port around 10:30 there are already several hundred people already waiting inside were the seats are. They usually fill this area by 11:00. I have a friend that arrives at the port at 9:30 and has never had a problem checking his bags.

The boarding has always started by noon.

[orangeo1]

We've always went to the port by 9:30 on each of 3 Princess Cruises. There are always Princess staff who wear oval name tags (the porters usually don't help as much) outside that you can ask where to drop your luggage off if you are going aboard the next sailing. They sometimes do have a look on their face like "what are you doing here so early", but they do always help you.

The cab ride from the airport to the port is the best option, the transfers are slow and will not leave until the bus is full. There is not much food going between the airport and port, but you may be able to get to a nice hotel if you get a good cab driver. It will just cost you a little more since you need to get another cab to the port.

Have a great cruise!!