Ft Lauderdale airport transfer to port

[cmdchiefthom]

Thanks everyone for your advice!:)

[josie724]

In our case it was Mrs. K who....well, let's just say I got "The Look" :eek:....it never seriously crossed my mind not to go in the day before after that. :)

 

Your wife sounds like my kinda woman :D

[charleysmom]

Hi Pam... Are you on the NA leaving this Sunday? If so, we've got a pretty active roll call going. And my mom, sister and I also have the transfer. My plan is to check in, then cab it to Total Wine. BTW, we're originally from KY.

 

Ann

[Pam in KY]

Ann, we are going on the Eurodam on the 18th...sorry I won't get to meet an fellow Kentuckian!

[Randyk47]

Your wife sounds like my kinda woman :D

 

Interestingly it was kind of her "fault" we didn't fly in the day before. This was actually our honeymoon cruise and we'd just gotten married in Huntsville, Alabama. It's late March and you'd typically not worry about weather, at least not winter weather. What happened was we got stuck on the ground in Huntsville because of an early morning thunderstorm in Atlanta. Once we got to Atlanta we'd missed our connecting flight to Ft Lauderdale. No problem as there was another flight within the hour. Got on that flight only to have it have a mechanical problem once in the air....the flaps wouldn't retract. So we fly in circles around Atlanta for over an hour burning and dumping fuel so we can land in Atlanta again. Finally landed and got on another flight to Ft Lauderdale but now we're like four hours later than we were initially scheduled. Landed in Ft Lauderdale to be greeted by the HAL rep who at this point was literally jumping up and down about "hurry, hurry, hurry....we're going to miss the ship!". Interestingly we have no idea where our luggage is but as it turns out it actually made the very first flight and has been sitting in the Delta luggage service for a couple of hours waiting for us to show up. Might add that this is one of the few times we actually used HAL air and transfers so HAL had been tracking us the whole time. Anyhow, we grab our bags and the HAL rep literally throws us in a white paneled service van for one of the most hair raising drives to the terminal you can imagine. They are literally closing the doors on the Ryndam and we and our luggage get loaded through the last open service door at dock level. We actually had to wait for a pallet of bananas to be loaded. I think the ship sailed within 30 minutes. No exactly the way to start a honeymoon and when I mentioned we should have come in the day before like I wanted to I got "The Look". :eek:

[josie724]

Interestingly it was kind of her "fault" we didn't fly in the day before. This was actually our honeymoon cruise and we'd just gotten married in Huntsville, Alabama. It's late March and you'd typically not worry about weather, at least not winter weather. What happened was we got stuck on the ground in Huntsville because of an early morning thunderstorm in Atlanta. Once we got to Atlanta we'd missed our connecting flight to Ft Lauderdale. No problem as there was another flight within the hour. Got on that flight only to have it have a mechanical problem once in the air....the flaps wouldn't retract. So we fly in circles around Atlanta for over an hour burning and dumping fuel so we can land in Atlanta again. Finally landed and got on another flight to Ft Lauderdale but now we're like four hours later than we were initially scheduled. Landed in Ft Lauderdale to be greeted by the HAL rep who at this point was literally jumping up and down about "hurry, hurry, hurry....we're going to miss the ship!". Interestingly we have no idea where our luggage is but as it turns out it actually made the very first flight and has been sitting in the Delta luggage service for a couple of hours waiting for us to show up. Might add that this is one of the few times we actually used HAL air and transfers so HAL had been tracking us the whole time. Anyhow, we grab our bags and the HAL rep literally throws us in a white paneled service van for one of the most hair raising drives to the terminal you can imagine. They are literally closing the doors on the Ryndam and we and our luggage get loaded through the last open service door at dock level. We actually had to wait for a pallet of bananas to be loaded. I think the ship sailed within 30 minutes. No exactly the way to start a honeymoon and when I mentioned we should have come in the day before like I wanted to I got "The Look". :eek:

 

 

Randy, oh so it was a don't you dare say "I told you so" kinda look.....:D Yup my kinda woman.....;)

 

I guess Murphy's Law was REALLY following you on that one. :eek:

 

I guess if I had a connecting flight I would have flown in the day before....Believe me. I'm not suggesting that people do it...I know it's a gamble.

 

Funny thing is....when we did arrive in FLL on time...my dh turned to me and said...."see I told you, plenty of time" he too got the death stare :D

[donh1]

Personally, I would ride the bus, make sure my luggage gets taken, check-in, and then go back out to get a taxi over to Total Wine and More. To minimize the cost of that trip I would pre-order on-line.

 

Having done both I can tell you the Taxi is the way to go. Price wise it is cheaper and more importantly you don't have to wait until they get up to 56 persons loaded on the bus and their luggage. The cab driver will definitely make a stop for wine along the way. Taking the bus to the pier, dropping off my luggage and then getting a cab to the wine store would definitely not be my choice.

[Randyk47]

Randy, oh so it was a don't you dare say "I told you so" kinda look.....:D Yup my kinda woman.....;)

 

I guess Murphy's Law was REALLY following you on that one. :eek:

 

I guess if I had a connecting flight I would have flown in the day before....Believe me. I'm not suggesting that people do it...I know it's a gamble.

 

Funny thing is....when we did arrive in FLL on time...my dh turned to me and said...."see I told you, plenty of time" he too got the death stare :D

 

It was a lesson learned...actually relearned....and we've never again flown in the same day. In fact, for our Med cruise we're actually flying in a couple of days ahead of time. Partially because of the three flight schedule and partially because we want to see the sites in Barcelona before we sail. And, more on track with this thread, even there we're not using cruise line transfers, instead opting to go with a limo service shared with another couple we're cruising with.

[jtl513]

Having done both I can tell you the Taxi is the way to go. ... Taking the bus to the pier, dropping off my luggage and then getting a cab to the wine store would definitely not be my choice.

I agree, but if you read the post that I was replying to, the poster already has the transfers, and by saying that they are "well past final payment" are implying that they aren't interested in cancelling them. They apparently want to send their bags on the bus, and take a taxi to Total Wine and the pier. I was saying that I think that's a bad idea, and that they should stay with their bags.

So after reading this thread, I have a question regarding a transfer. We're already booked for a transfer FLL to the pier, and are well past final payment. Do we have to put our own luggage on the bus, and also then take it off the bus at the cruise terminal? We were thinking of having the bus take the bags already tagged, getting a taxi over to Total Wine, and then either meeting the bus, or just checking in when the taxi dropped us off at the pier.

[edmusic]

We chose to go with a taxi based on these cc boards. They said it should be no more than $15 from FLL to dock. Our driver chose a route that costs us $17 plus tip ($20) total. It seemed like he took a long time to get out of the airport but having never been there before I didn't know any better, and I didn't want to make a stink over a few dollars. On the return trip, it seemed like the taxi route into the airport and to our terminal was shorter and more direct. The cost coming back was $13 plus tip. I chalked it up to the airport layout and the exiting from were a bit longer than entering into the terminals. Yes, No?

[jtl513]

I chalked it up to the airport layout and the exiting from were a bit longer than entering into the terminals. Yes, No?

Maybe. Many cabbies have been known to go up to the 24th St entrance to the port rather than taking the straight shot from I-595 into Eller Drive. To be fair, there are some cruise ship piers up in the Northport area that are close to the 24th St entrance, and maybe the cabbie doesn't know until he enters the port which pier your ship is at. :)

 

[skooter35]

So after reading this thread, I have a question regarding a transfer. We're already booked for a transfer FLL to the pier, and are well past final payment. Do we have to put our own luggage on the bus, and also then take it off the bus at the cruise terminal? We were thinking of having the bus take the bags already tagged, getting a taxi over to Total Wine, and then either meeting the bus, or just checking in when the taxi dropped us off at the pier.

 

Is this doable????

 

I have just called HAL for this same question because we have the transfer but want to make a pit stop for drinks. I was told that because we are sailing in 30 days we would NOT get our money back. Also we would have to stay with our bags and not pass them off to the HAL shuttle.

So our plan is, if we have enough time once our bags are wisked away at the port we will grab a taxi to find a store. If no time then we will just buy a soda card onboard.

And our next cruise would fly into city port a day earlier and taxi to the pier.

~~Angie :D

[sullaRaffaello]

Personally, I would ride the bus, make sure my luggage gets taken, check-in, and then go back out to get a taxi over to Total Wine and More. To minimize the cost of that trip I would pre-order on-line.

 

Are you permitted to check in and then go back out?

[catl331]

Are you permitted to check in and then go back out?

Sure. You could even board to drop things off and then go back ashore.