9:30 flight off Liberty out of FLL??

[tarahumphrey]

Would we be able to make a 9:30 flight out of Ft Lauderdale or would it be too stressful! It's nealy a $200. Savings per ticket.

[PhoenixCruiser]

9:30 PM, yes :D

 

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[mrpayroll]

I would bet .........NO....

[Langley Cruisers]

This seems to be asked and answered daily here.... I find some people say YES go for it, and others who say no way. Personally, I would find it too stressful and would not book a flight that early. IMO, the stress of it all would undo everything the vacation has just accomplished.

 

Ultimately, your call.

[Kamloops50]

Would we be able to make a 9:30 flight out of Ft Lauderdale or would it be too stressful! It's nealy a $200. Savings per ticket.

 

Not very doable. You don't say what ship or arrival time.

You need at least 3 - 4 hrs after arrival before your flight.

Assuming you are on Oasis

 

Arrival 7AM

First passengers leave 8 AM

Customs 30 -60 minutes

Baggage 30 Min

Taxi to FLL 15 Min

Flight Check in 1 hr

 

Total between 3 and 4 hrs

 

Could be longer if the ship late arriving or being cleared by customs .

 

What does RCCL recommend for flight departure Times?

[ryano]

! It's nealy a $200. Savings per ticket.

 

Most of the time peace of mind can be priceless though :) I wouldnt do it myself. What a stressful way to end such a wonderful vacation!

 

Read silentbob007's link to his "I made a 10:05 am flight in FLL but wouldnt recommend it" thread for some excellent advice on this.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=938978

[tarahumphrey]

The ship is Liberty.

 

Where would I find info as to what time the ship is to arrive in port?

 

I went ahead and booked the later flight.

[ryano]

The ship is Liberty.

 

Where would I find info as to what time the ship is to arrive in port?

 

I went ahead and booked the later flight.

 

The advertised arrival time for Libery is 7 am.......It could be earlier than that but then again it could be later.

 

You can find this by looking at your Itinerary :)

[tarahumphrey]

Thanks for the link to silentbob's post. That is exactly the type of info I was hoping to find.

[IrishCC]

Would we be able to make a 9:30 flight out of Ft Lauderdale or would it be too stressful! It's nealy a $200. Savings per ticket.

We did it recently but I'd never try it again . . . . we almost missed it and I was totally stressed!!

 

Colleen

[elvnga]

We walked off Oasis yesterday with our own bags and made it through customs and all the way to FLL by about 6:45. My cabin mate made his 9:00 flight with plenty of time to spare despite an unacceptably slow security line. All that being said, I would not do it. Too many things can go wrong with travel. You can not do it if you use the usual debarkation procedure (let them take your bags off) or have anything to declare in customs. And you have to be down on deck 5 with all your stuff by 6:15 and be able to negotiate both your carry on bags and your checked bags down the winding steep gangway.

[silentbob007]

I think there is a world of difference between getting off Oasis/Allure than other ships. I think they are always ready for those ships. I'm not sure about the others.

 

I was on Liberty in December and only had carry-on luggage. This is from my review:

 

Debarkation

 

Express debarkation started at around 7:30 as advertised. Since this was an older terminal, the gangway was located on Deck 1 Aft, and once leaving the ship, there was quite a walk to the customs terminal. If you have any doubts about being able to handle your luggage, I would highly recommend not doing express carry-off ... it really is a long way (think more than the length of the ship) with some turns. The people who should not carry their own bags were truly exposed AND they slow everything down.

 

Not in any rush (with a 1:20 flight) but with only our small carry-on bags, we decided to to leave a little after 8 which was right when they called the first tags (1-4). The elevators, of course, were completely jammed up with people waiting in each lobby. Being able to, we took the stairs and were pretty much able to walk off with minimal wait in line. Things started to back up a bit once off the ship. This was caused by a few different things .... a) people who could not manage their bags, b) there were only 4 customs agents at that time, and c) the terminal was already starting to get clogged up by people who came out too early and did not have bags ready and then had nowhere to go.

 

__

 

Assuming things went as planned, could you make a 9:30? Yes ... if you line up to be one of the first off the ship, can carry your own bags (or wheel them) a decent distance and through cattle chutes, and if you don't need to check any bags once you reach the airport (ie, you can skip that line and don't have to worry about minimum times before flights for checked baggage). Too close, IMO, but as always, it's up to you.

[Starry Eyes]

I am glad you booked the later flight...

[adkboy]

We have a 10:15 a.m. flight out of Ft. Lauderdale on a Saturday this April after embarking from the Liberty. I know this is cutting it close, but the price of the airline ticket was affordable. The air fares are presently out of control. Continental one way from FLL to EWR that day is $600+ pp.

 

The key is patience. Get up early and proceed with a good attitude. Make the memories of the good times last and not relish on the two hours of embarking.

 

But this brings me to the point of cruising within driving distance. My last two cruises were Carnival Pride out of Baltimore and Explorer out of Bayonne. I live in upstate NY. I found it very affordable to cruise without tacking on airline tickets. My next cruise will be back on the Explorer in April 2013 to Bermuda.

 

Happy and Safe Sailing to all!http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

[BeeSkip]

There is a lot of debate about this subject regading early flights all the time...I have played the "chance" of early flights from FLL airport...3 times... I knew that I was taking a risk..and this is important to realize if you decide to take a early flight ( before 11am/Noon) YOU MUST DO THE EARLY SELF DISEMBARKATION NO MATTER WHAT My experience is that the Allure and the Oasis have the early self disembark down to a science...these ships also have a earlier schedule for getting into port and getting everyone off...When we did the Oasis and Allure, we were off the ship and at the gate of the airlines by 8am..both cases no usual delays...Now my most recent experience was on the Liberty..There timeline for the last day is much later..Their self disembarkers are slated to get off about 730am ( Oasis and Allure one hour earlier!!) they dock at an older pier and more walking necessary..You also MUST carry your luggage down at least one flight of steps ( elevators go as far as deck 2 on that morning) You MUST be amoug the first to get off to avoid waiting in customs and taxi line...It is chaotic..the Allure and Oasis much more organized!! All that being said..our Liberty cruise ran is some delays that morning so we didn't get off until almost 8am..Many people in the crowd were really sweating it because they were on 9am flights..We were on a 10am flight and I have to admit I was a little concerned...

 

To sum it all up:

EAch ship has a slightly different timeline..and process for the early self disembarkers

 

KNow you are taking a risk because every so often the ship clears later..9 times out of 10 you can do it..its just sometimes things happen.

 

Travel Light!!!

 

Would I do it again, yes but not before 10am and only from FLL..

 

Bee

[waterbug123]

Not very doable. You don't say what ship or arrival time.

You need at least 3 - 4 hrs after arrival before your flight.

Assuming you are on Oasis

 

Arrival 7AM

First passengers leave 8 AM

Customs 30 -60 minutes

Baggage 30 Min

Taxi to FLL 15 Min

Flight Check in 1 hr

 

Total between 3 and 4 hrs

 

 

That wasn't my experience on Oasis at all. We self disembarked and were off the ship at 7, and since we were so early getting off, we breezed through customs. In fact, we always disembark, and as a result, always breeze through customs before it gets crowded. Self disembarkation also eliminates the need to wait for luggage, and flight check in is only 45 minutes at FLL. So if one self disembarks, it could look more like this:

Disembark 7:00

Through customs and down to taxi line 15 min (7:15)

Taxi to FLL 15 min (7:30)

Flight check in 45 min. (8:15) (less if not checking bags)

At which point one could have a few minutes to spare before a 9am flight.

So the 3-4 hour minimum could actually be as little as 2 hours.

 

Having said that, please note that I am not saying everyone should book a 9am flight. The OP isn't on Oasis, so arrival won't be quite that early, and everyone has to decide for themselves how much leeway they need to feel comfortable. Beyond that, here is my standard list of things that one must ask oneself when deciding what time to book a flight:

 

1. What time is the ship scheduled to arrive?
   
2. If not super early, like Oasis/Allure, (which start disembarking before other ships) how many other ships will be disembarking that day?
   
3. Are you both willing and able to do self disembarkation?
   
4. What is your transportation to the airport?
   
5. Will you be checking bags at the airport?
   
6. Will you be able to procure a boarding pass prior to arrival at the airport? (via concierge onboard printing it for you, or friend/family member who will pick you up prints at home for you, or your airport/airline accommodates e-boarding pass on smart phone, etc.)
   
7. Do you have any priority status with your airline that will allow use of a priority check in line and/or priority security line?
   
8. And in the near future.... will you have official status as a "trusted traveler" that may allow use of an expedited security line, depending on the airport?
   
9. What are you options if you miss your flight? Is your ticket refundable or will your airline charge a fee to switch you to a later flight? Will they charge you for a new "same day" ticket purchase? Can you afford that? How many later flights are there? Do you have the ability, schedule-wise and price-wise, to stay the night if you cannot be accommodated on a new flight until the following day?
   

[Langley Cruisers]

^ You guys, post #7 - OP has already booked a later flight. :)

[BillOh]

^ You guys, post #7 - OP has already booked a later flight. :)

 

 

The question as noted does come up almost weekly though. The answer to finding the correct answer for the person asking, is weighing the alternatives. On our last trip out of this port, we could have made the earlier flight and in fact did get to the airport in time to do so, we had booked the later flight to be safe, but it was $75 per each x2 to get home 3 hours earlier. We decided to relax, read books, eat at restaurants and just relax. It wasn't worth it for me to get home 3 hours earlier for $150. For others it might. On the other hand, I didn't look into what the cost would have been to book the earlier flight and not make it. Then of course there is the fact that you have to hope there is still space on those later flights.

[momphoto]

Our friends recently missed flights for 5:30pm......and the ship was suppose to dock by 7am, but due to fog it did not dock until mid afternoon, a total mad disorganized disembarkation and they did not arrive at airport until 7pm. Who would have thought this could happen??? One couple took insurance and easy to rebook for following morning.....other couple did not and a much harder time to rebook and then their luggage was lost on the way home.

[Azspeed]

I would bet .........NO....

 

Hey MRPAYROLL

 

Who are you? I'm the former owner of Robert F White payroll service in Chicago...sold to ADP. Drop me a note.

[Trekker954]

The ship is Liberty.

 

Where would I find info as to what time the ship is to arrive in port?

 

I went ahead and booked the later flight.

 

The Liberty starts disembarkation at 8:15ish and the last two Liberty's I was on, did not disembark before then (Nov and Dec). People doing express (carry your own bag) start lining up by 0630 to be the first off. We've had bag taged 3, released also around 0815, end up on the tail end of the express line and and at our airport gate by 0900. I've got a 1015 flight scheduled in a couple of weeks off the Liberty and am counting on making it. I'm not sure if you have access to a lounge but if you can get your boarding passes printed while on the ship and only do carry on, that should help

[windjamming]

I know the OP has already decided on a later flight, but for future readers of this thread :), it's also important to know how many ships are also disembarking on the same morning. On our recent Liberty cruise, we were joined by at least 3 other ships -- one of which was the Allure -- at Port Everglades.

 

I have no idea how customs officers are distributed amongst the piers, but I can say that it took a full hour from leaving the ship to get to customs. FLL was also a zoo.

[gelo7]

This seems to be asked and answered daily here.... I find some people say YES go for it, and others who say no way. Personally, I would find it too stressful and would not book a flight that early. IMO, the stress of it all would undo everything the vacation has just accomplished.

 

Ultimately, your call.

Ditto...