Disembarking. What Next?

We will be disembarking the Regal Princess in Fort Lauderdale on the 30th December but our flight to New York is not until 3.40pm so:

I know the airport is close to the port so distance is not a problem.

What is the latest we can disembark?

What is the latest we can check in for our flight?

And is there anything to see or do before we go to the airport bearing in mind we will have suitcases with us.

Or should we just bite the bullet and find a quiet corner (?) in the airport and read our books?

Can't change our flights.

Thanks for your help.

We are in the same situation but our flights are about 5.30pm (International flight so we do need to be at the airport earlier). I researched and couldn't find anywhere easy to store luggage or local tours, so we have booked a disembarkation tour with Princess. It included a city tour and a boat trip on an old fashioned paddle boat- although we will already have spent some time in FLL we thought this would be more fun than waiting around the airport!

We will be disembarking the Regal Princess in Fort Lauderdale on the 30th December but our flight to New York is not until 3.40pm so:

 

I know the airport is close to the port so distance is not a problem.

 

What is the latest we can disembark?

Probably around 9:30 could be as late as 10, but don't count on it.

 

What is the latest we can check in for our flight?

Depends on the security line. I would allow at least two hours. This is a holiday period with heavy air travel.

 

And is there anything to see or do before we go to the airport bearing in mind we will have suitcases with us.

If you take early walk off around 7am, you could rent a car for a few hours keeping the luggage in the trunk. You may be able to book an early air boat tour of the Everglades that will return you back to the airport in time for your flight. Other than that I think you will just have to wait at the airport.

 

Or should we just bite the bullet and find a quiet corner (?) in the airport and read our books?

 

Can't change our flights.

 

Thanks for your help.

See above

We are in the same situation but our flights are about 5.30pm (International flight so we do need to be at the airport earlier). I researched and couldn't find anywhere easy to store luggage or local tours, so we have booked a disembarkation tour with Princess. It included a city tour and a boat trip on an old fashioned paddle boat- although we will already have spent some time in FLL we thought this would be more fun than waiting around the airport!

Thanks for this. Don't know why I didn't think of it myself :o

Just one further query. The trip we would probably take says it finishes at 1 pm. I assume the finishing point is the airport (silly question perhaps but need to be sure) and with our flight leaving at 3.40 I'm not sure what time we have to check-in and I'm a little paranoid that the trip might run late.

Would be grateful to hear from anyone who has done the sightseeing/water trip and how did the timings work.

Thanks for this. Don't know why I didn't think of it myself :o

 

Just one further query. The trip we would probably take says it finishes at 1 pm. I assume the finishing point is the airport (silly question perhaps but need to be sure) and with our flight leaving at 3.40 I'm not sure what time we have to check-in and I'm a little paranoid that the trip might run late.

 

Would be grateful to hear from anyone who has done the sightseeing/water trip and how did the timings work.

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Just looked and it says for flights after 2.30pm so I'd be comfortable with your departure time.

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We would be taking advantage of EZCheck if we were in your situation. Luggage would go directly to the airport...you wouldn't have to deal with it until your arrival in NYC. You would also receive your boarding passes the evening before you disembark so you would be able to head directly to security upon arrival at FLL, bypassing checking in with your airline.

OP is from the UK, and if that's where they are flying to, EZCheck would not be an option.

In the past I have done a disembarkation tour … an airboat tour in the Everglades, and really enjoyed it

You won't be able to check in for domestic flights until 4 hours before, which means sitting and waiting (in a chair of you're lucky) in the area with all the airline counters. FLL does offer baggage storage for a fee. You could also see if renting a car would be cheaper than a tour.

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OP is from the UK, and if that's where they are flying to, EZCheck would not be an option.

We were in the same boat a few years ago coming off of Cruise in Miami. We were able to book a hotel room for day use. We checked in, took a nap, used the pool, had lunch in their restaurant, and then took showers to freshen up before our flight home.

I can't remember the website I used to find the hotel, but, a quick search of the internet brought up a few. The Hilton line also offers day use, you just need to put in the same date for check-in and check-out and it will pull up the day use rate.

We have done the tours that say they will drop you and your luggage at the airport. They try to stick with the drop off times. Have never had a problem. Will do one in Dec at the completion of our cruise.

We will be disembarking the Regal Princess in Fort Lauderdale on the 30th December but our flight to New York is not until 3.40pm so:

 

I know the airport is close to the port so distance is not a problem.

 

What is the latest we can disembark?

 

What is the latest we can check in for our flight?

 

And is there anything to see or do before we go to the airport bearing in mind we will have suitcases with us.

 

Or should we just bite the bullet and find a quiet corner (?) in the airport and read our books?

 

Can't change our flights.

 

Thanks for your help.

That is such a busy time of the year to travel ... think I would just bite the bullet and get to the airport early.

If you want to go out and about, you’ll most likely be ok if you have TSA precheck. In that case, I would check into luggage valet.

You can probably arrange an early time to get off ... maybe as early as 7 AM ... or stay onboard and disembark around 9:30 AM.

OP stated she would be flying to New York.

Yes, I'm on an internal flight.

We would be taking advantage of EZCheck if we were in your situation. Luggage would go directly to the airport...you wouldn't have to deal with it until your arrival in NYC. You would also receive your boarding passes the evening before you disembark so you would be able to head directly to security upon arrival at FLL, bypassing checking in with your airline.

Can you explain exactly how this works and would I have to organise it before we cruise or do it on board. What about our carry-on cases. I wouldn't want them to go in the hold so would we need to keep them with us?

Also would it make any difference as we are UK citizens re security, etc etc.

We did EZCheck at the end of our cruise on April 1. With just our carry-ons, we took a cab to Bonnet House which is a beautiful museum right off A1A. Both the home and the grounds were lovely and was a nice way to spend the day. We were able to leave our carry-ons in the ticket office of the museum so nothing bulky to carry during the tour. We still had time to catch a quick lunch before heading to the Ft. Lauderdale airport.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for this. Don't know why I didn't think of it myself :o

 

Just one further query. The trip we would probably take says it finishes at 1 pm. I assume the finishing point is the airport (silly question perhaps but need to be sure) and with our flight leaving at 3.40 I'm not sure what time we have to check-in and I'm a little paranoid that the trip might run late.

 

Would be grateful to hear from anyone who has done the sightseeing/water trip and how did the timings work.

We do this everytime we have to have a later flight out of Fort Lauderdale. We do the one with the boat trip down the river and intracoastal. We lived in S. Fla for 43 years and still don't get tired of doing this. You take your luggage to the bus(or if flying domestic use EZFlight and then you don't have to worry about any luggage or just your carryon), then go to Las Olas Blvd. which is near where you pick up the boat, and you can do a little looking around, shopping, or like us, get our wonderful ice cream cone at the gelato store. Then a very nice boat trip that gets you back to the bus at noon and then to the airport. We get there around 1pm and our flight left at 2:55PM on SW. Plenty of time and just enough. If you want a little more noise and "excitement" then do the airboat trip. Either one is a fun way to use up your time instead of sitting at the airport which doesn't have nice rocking chairs, etc. like at the Seattle airport!!

Any other specific questions, would be glad to help you.

Pooh

Can you explain exactly how this works and would I have to organise it before we cruise or do it on board. What about our carry-on cases. I wouldn't want them to go in the hold so would we need to keep them with us?

 

Also would it make any difference as we are UK citizens re security, etc etc.

I don't believe there are any citizenship restrictions, but you might want to confirm that.

EZCheck Page 1.pdf

EZCheck Page 2.pdf

About 1030.

Another option would be to purchase a club pass if offered for the airlines you are flying at. This way you can relax, get something to eat or drink. If offered I would compare this costs vs the tour by Princess.

I’ve done this tour with Princess & it was great.

Please let us know what you decide & how it worked.

Tom😎

Another option would be to purchase a club pass if offered for the airlines you are flying at. This way you can relax, get something to eat or drink. If offered I would compare this costs vs the tour by Princess.

This would be a hard-to-do option.

The clubs are past security. You cannot get past security until you have a boarding pass. You cannot get a boarding pass until 3 or 4 hours before the flight, so you would have to wait pre-check in for several hours.

I suggest taking a Princess tour. Your luggage will be on the bus with you.

Thanks everyone. You've been a great help as usual. I think we will do the sightseeing tour as it seems a good way to round off the cruise. Not decided whether to use the EZCheck or simply 'schlep' the cases with us, but we've plenty of time to choose which one suits us best. (Knowing DH, I think he would prefer to have the cases with us).

Only 21 weeks to the start of our trip + a further week until we board the Regal Princess !!

This would be a hard-to-do option.

 

The clubs are past security. You cannot get past security until you have a boarding pass. You cannot get a boarding pass until 3 or 4 hours before the flight, so you would have to wait pre-check in for several hours.

 

I suggest taking a Princess tour. Your luggage will be on the bus with you.

Really? SMH -- Just checked in and it is 23 hours before my flight. My electronic boarding pass is available on my phone and tablet. If I was on Princess -- easy to check in once we are in port, zip down to the Internet Cafe, air drop and print if I don't want to use the electronic pass.

I use lounges all the time. The lounge does not have to be associated with your airline. A couple minutes searching will provide info on location / prices associated with the lounge.

The last couple of times we flew out of FLL, our flight was not until about 6p.m. We couldn't check luggage until 4 hours before flight so we just got one of the carts for our luggage and found some seats for the wait. There are more seats available by the baggage claim (downstairs) than by the check in counters. We just people-watched. I think we were some of the last people off the ship - around 10:00.

Thanks everyone. You've been a great help as usual. I think we will do the sightseeing tour as it seems a good way to round off the cruise. Not decided whether to use the EZCheck or simply 'schlep' the cases with us, but we've plenty of time to choose which one suits us best. (Knowing DH, I think he would prefer to have the cases with us).

 

Only 21 weeks to the start of our trip + a further week until we board the Regal Princess !!

Doing the post cruise tour early Dec so can let you know how we get on!

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If you fo a post cruise excursion in FLL to the Everglades your luggage will be placed in te storage area under the bus. At each stop it wiil remain there locked up to be retrieved when you are dropped off at the airport. No need to constantly "schlep" your luggage.