Worried. Will We Make It?

[emtb12]

We are schedule on the Navigator of the Seas in February. My husband booked the airfare. I just looked at the confirmation of our flights. He booked a 9am flight out of Ft. Lauderdale :eek: The Navigator is due back in port at 5:30 am. To make the matter worse, he booked non refundable tickets:(. Am I stressing about nothing, or are we going to miss our flight? I am thinking we are going to have to carry our bags off to save time!

[seaofwonder]

I think you can change them for a nominal fee. If it's within 24 hours, some lines will let you cancel and rebook.

 

That said, I don't know if you could....it seems doable if everything lines up just perfectly.

[rummenroman]

You should be ok if you carry your luggage off, and are one of the first ones off the ship.

 

That is provided the ship gets in on time, but there isn't anything you can control about that.

[LarryL]

I would be concerned because the ship must be cleared by Customs first. Although the ship may arrive at 0530 doesn't mean you will be allowed off the ship then. I would contact RCL and Customs to see if arrangements can even be made to clear early. If so, I would then say you have a realistic shot at making your flight.

 

It may be better to try to rebook a later flight even though you would have to pay a fee to do so. I've heard people get nervous about 11:30 flights.

 

Good Luck

[kc320]

I think the only possible way you would make that flight is to do the express carry off...any time I have sailed out of FLl it has always been after 8 am or later when I got off the ship...and that is as D & D+ with priority departure...

[Merion_Mom]

There is a chance that you could make that flight.

 

There is a greater chance that you will miss it.

 

You increase the chance of making it by doing "self-disembark", but that is far from a guarantee.

 

Which airline? What other flights does this airline have out of FLL to your destination airport.

[39august]

I would pay the fee to change to a later flight.

[Shippy]

....to only have carryon luggage !

You can check into your flight ahead of time on the ship. The only real bummer is that your luggage has to be checked in an hour before the flight.

It is quick to get to the airport from the ship. We have a 10:30am flight home from our upcoming cruise & have done that before with no problem.

I think you could definitly make it on time to board but not check your luggage in.

[Smurphy]

I would try to re-book because I would worry about missing my flight the entire cruise!!:eek:

[cb at sea]

I wouldn't stress too much, as long as there is a flight later in the day, should you miss the 9am one!

 

If there is something around 10am, you can pay a fee and change the flight to a later time.

[Smurphy]

I wouldn't stress too much, as long as there is a flight later in the day, should you miss the 9am one!

 

If there is something around 10am, you can pay a fee and change the flight to a later time.

 

Flying back to the Northeast on the last day of the kids' school vacation . . . I would be afraid that all the return flights will be booked :eek:

[seaofwonder]

If you miss your flight I think they still charge you a rebooking fee.

[cruzeluver]

Yikes. Pay to re-book a later flight. Even if you do make it, what a crappy way to end a wonderful cruise, rushing like a crazy person and stressing out to make a flight. No way!

[HB Cruiser]

IF it can be done, and that is a big IF, it can be done at the FLL airport. This being said, there is no way I would even attempt a flight from FLL before 11am due to all things that can possibly happen. Unfortunately most, if not all, are not under your or anyone else's control. It is just too risky.

 

Tim

[kruzin']

:(I have flown out of ft ldl many times and the wait to disembark is so nerve racking even if you do self assist...the taxi ride is about 10-15 mins with no traffic...ck-in usually has a waiting line ..security ck always has a line and thats if evrything goes as planned..I would try to do something else...so stressful ....

[SBNDers]

If you are as "lucky" as I am - pray that the airline changes your flight in the next couple of months. I booked airfare for our October cruise in April and the airline has changed the time of each leg of our flight at least twice and I was able to change to a different time and flight without additional cost. If you don't mind playing travel agent, go on line and check your flights every day and as soon as there is a change call your airline.

[princess lala]

My family and I just got off the Freedom a couple weeks ago. (Jul 17-24) and since my Mom has work she couldn't stay with us in florida. Anyway her flight was booked for 3pm. She barely made it. It turns out we had to turn around and make an emergency stop in Nassau. Anyway, point I am trying to make is you never know what is going to happen. I would change your flight for a later one.

[Droop]

If it were me I would definately pay the change fee to rebook. It will keep you from worrying the whole trip if you are going to make it back in time. It would always be in the back of you mind during the trip. :D

[CruisinDawn]

....to only have carryon luggage !

You can check into your flight ahead of time on the ship. The only real bummer is that your luggage has to be checked in an hour before the flight.

It is quick to get to the airport from the ship. We have a 10:30am flight home from our upcoming cruise & have done that before with no problem.

I think you could definitly make it on time to board but not check your luggage in.

That was my thought. I have seen to many standing at the counter 45 minutes before a flight trying to check luggage only to be told sorry you missed the cutoff for luggage. I do know it varies by airport but with a 9am flight it would wreck the last night of my cruise with worry about the morning.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[Artemis]

If you're worried now, just imagine how this nagging concern is totally going to ruin the anticipation every single time you think about your cruise for the next 6 months. And picture how stressed out this is going to make you every single minute of your vacation. By the end of the cruise, after the mounting squabbles and nasty flare ups this will cause, it will happen. You and your husband will have a huge fight. Probably in public. It won't be pretty. And then, after tossing and turning the night before, getting up sleep-deprived at 4:30 AM to hustle down to be first off, hurtling down the gangplank with your luggage, telling your cab driver to go so fast you're white-knuckled, and sweating bullets through all the Murphy's law occurences at FLL that blow through every single spare minute, you'll either be screaming at each other (again) or staring stonily out the window as you watch your plane take off without you.

 

Ooops! I wasn't talking about you...I was having a nightmare about what would happen in my house if we did this! :eek:

 

Seriously, I am very aggressive with travel arrangements and often take risks others wouldn't touch. But even I wouldn't do this. ;)

 

I hope you are flying Southwest so you can change without penalty.

 

Are you flying Jet Blue by any chance? The last time we flew out of FLL post-cruise was this past March 2011. The security line was so long it went outside the terminal onto the sidewalk. No kidding! It was a mess. I asked why, they said it always happened with Jet Blue on weekends. ?? It sounds logical FLL is super busy on cruise turnaround days, and March is spring break season just like February is Valentine's, Carnival/Mardi Gras and President's Day, but I didn't get why a particular airline would take it on the chin over others?

 

Anyway, add my vote to the pile. And just thank your lucky stars you didn't make that booking! :D

 

I hope you have a fabulous time on the AOS!

[Beth C]

Add me to the take the hit and pay the rebook $ list...

 

I have only flown back once on the day the ship docked and we did every scenario described - Express walk off departure (that line alone must have been 1/2 of the ships pax) caught a cab to FLL and told him to step on it... had to wait in the line up OUT the door before we could even get into the airport to drop luggage... by the time we got through security we had enough time to grab an overpriced disgusting sandwich and sit down... it was time to board the plane... this was a 1330 flight!

 

Too stressful to ruin the last night before heading back to the real world IMO :)

[HB Cruiser]

Another thing to consider, by reading prior posts, is the FLL airport was built prior to the arrival of Oasis/Allure. This is a very small airport with several thousand passengers hitting it all at once. Security is not set up to handle this as well as the airport structure itself.

 

I am still trying to talk you into changing times. :)

 

Tim

[wendyatpml]

[Ft. Lauderdale airport is really close to the port but sometimes getting off the ship is hairy. I would see if you can book something after 11AM. We made a 10:30 flight but it was close.

[Langley Cruisers]

... there is no way I would even attempt a flight from FLL before 11am due to all things that can possibly happen. Unfortunately most, if not all, are not under your or anyone else's control. It is just too risky.

 

Completely agreed.

 

Is there anyone in this thread who thinks you could make it? Probably not. Might you? Maybe. Should you try? No way. The stress it will cause you will undo everything the entire cruise just accomplished.

 

Bite it and re-book. There's no other way to say it. I say DH owes you jewelry for this one. ;):p

[sn2792]

We did express walkoff on Allure in February and were at the airport and checked in using the outside porters for Southwest by 6:45. We had a 11:00 AM flight so we were there in plenty of time. We would have been able to make a 9:00 AM flight as well, but I would never risk booking anything that early.