Miami airline departure times

[zoe girl]

we'll be on the epic in october and was wondering if a 10am flight from the miami airport is too early.

[AF-1]

Check with your cruise line. they normally have a not earlier than departure on the last day. If everything goes smoothly, u should be able to walk off the ship, clear customs, grab a taxi, and head to airport. One way to check; find out when the first shuttle bus from Norwegian departs the port. That will tell you what time you should book a flight.

[fideauxdon]

I'd feel safer with a Noon flight. Don't forget that the airlines prefer that you be there two hours before flight time, so that doesn't leave you any room for error like late arrival.

[Keith1010]

I would also recommend checking with the cruise line.

 

Personally I would recommend a Noon flight.

 

I would never book a flight as early as the one you are considering.

 

Keith

[6rugrats]

Yes, it's too early.

[cb at sea]

It may be tight...but it doable, if you really, really rush. 11am is a great time for a flight...generally, you'll be at the airport before 9am....but that's not guaranteed!

[Keith1010]

The question was about a 10:00 AM flight. Just take a 12:00 Flight. Folks spend too much time worrying whether they will make it or not. A vacation should be fun.

 

Keith

[grandmato4]

Personally I would never book a 10 a.m. flight out of Miami. Noon is the earliest we'll book if flying out of Miami.

[PennyAgain]

The Miami airport can be a real mess on cruise ship arrival mornings. Added to the long lines to check bags and go through the TSA, there are very long walks to your gate.

 

Don't crowd yourselves on time. It just isn't worth trying to do that.

[navybankerteacher]

Even if there were no other ships arriving that day, you would have many of your 4,200 fellow Epic passengers also trying to get to the airport (not to mention several thousand Miami area vacationers heading home the same day). Because airlines now suggest arriving two hours before flight time, you would be pushing it to be sure of getting there by 8:00 AM. Any delay in returning to port or customs and immigration clearance would leave you looking for a later flight, at likely higher cost. Anything before noon is a bad idea.

 

Why stress yourself out just as you return from vacation.

[imsulin]

I'm thinking the reason you're considering purchasing a flight that leaves at 10 am is because it's quite a bit cheaper than flights that leave later than that, and there's a reason for it. The reason is that a flight that early for a returning cruiser is probably not doable. I doubt that the Epic will be the only ship returning to MIA that day, so add several thousand others trying to fly out of MIA the same day. I think most cruise lines advise purchasing a return flight by Noon at the earliest. You also have to figure in the zoo that the MIA airport typically is on cruise-return days (been there several times), and the very long check-in and security lines.

 

You may want to consider booking a mid-late afternoon flight and take advantage of one of the post-cruise tours. One of these tours that a 9-year old would really enjoy is the Everglades tour! You get to ride on an airboat and see alligators in the wild....really fun! There's also a small zoo and an alligator exhibit and you can feed a tame "resident" crane. You get a good history of the Everglades as well. It's a great tour! I've done it three times, and my then 22-year old son LOVED it! Your luggage is secured in the tour bus, and you're dropped off at the airport afterwards. It's not that expensive, and well worth the money.

 

In 2004 (?) we did a cruise over Spring Break, and while onboard, observed a group of college kids (from our local University, as it turned out) bragging about the "great" deal they got on Air Tran for a 9:45 am return flight. We had also booked our return flights on Air Tran, but for 3:30 pm. Well, guess which group of college kids missed their flight, and were seen frantically calling their parents to try to book hotel rooms and pay for air change fees! It was hard not to chuckle. There was even an article in our local paper about it....these kids didn't get home until Tuesday night. Spring Break is notorious for packed flights, and Fall Break (your cruise is in October?) is getting to be the same way.

 

Get a later flight! Happy cruising!

[Gathina]

This topic gets beaten to death on a regular basis, like every week. If you do a thread search you'll find a myriad of responses..from the ones who assure you it can be done, to the ones who actually read the fine print on their cruise docs and it consistently says "after 12" (most of the time), to the ones who insisit it can be done then miss it.

 

There is never a guarantee that a ship will clear on time, and never a guarantee you won't be fighting lots of other variables..like long lines at the airport, all the other ships coming in from Miami and Fort Lauderdale ports, plus Miami airport is huge and confusing because so many people there act like deer caught in the headlights.

 

If it's to save a few bucks, is it really worth it?

 

Check what your cruise docs say.