Airline Question For Carnival Liberty

[Roxy30]

We are sailing on the Liberty on August 19th out of Miami. Do you think a return flight home on the 24th out of FLL at 12:30pm is too early?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Danielle

[Lovefuninthesun]

It will be tight, but it is doable, providing you get off the ship quickly and traffic is not crazy.

If it were me (I'm a little bit of a worrier :o ) I'd shoot for 1 - 2.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

We are sailing on the Liberty on August 19th out of Miami. Do you think a return flight home on the 24th out of FLL at 12:30pm is too early?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Danielle

 

Carnival recommends flights not be any earlier than 12 noon so I would think 12:30 should be fine.:)

 

Bill

[cruzn buckeye]

Not necessarily fine. We were on the Liberty last Sept. and didn't get to the airport until 1:30. We had been to Belize and they do extra screening in the customs line including photos and fingerprints of those not from the US.

We made our flight... because the flight had been delayed... and this was a flight out of Miami. FLL is a 40-45 minute drive. You also need to be at the airport at least an hour before takeoff. Security lines will be long. So not even considering that part, 12:30 minus and hour and forty five minutes, would mean you need to be at the airport by at least 11:00 or 11:15. And remember, this is hurricane season... storms can delay the arrival of your ship...

[cruzn buckeye]

Carnival recommends flights not be any earlier than 12 noon so I would think 12:30 should be fine.:)

 

Bill

I think when Carnival recommends that, they are looking at people who are flying out of the same city... FLL is 40-45 minutes away from Miami, and there is also time it takes to get in and out of the vehicle, go through security, and get checked in. And if you are not lucky, walking a long ways to your gate...

[vacruizer]

I'll also add that while FLL used to be the "easy" airport, now that FLL has the huge RCI ships porting there it is a mess. I experienced the longest security line I've ever seen in January at FLL. We arrived at the airport around 10:30am and it took until almost noon to get through security. The line wound all over the airport. It made MIA look like a piece of cake.

[Ontario_Cruiser]

Well, I booked 11:50 am flights out of FLL so mine are even tighter! I am not particularly worried, but maybe I am naive.

 

OP, just to let you know that Liberty leaves on the 17th, not the 19th. I am sure it was a typo, but just to be sure!

[Tapi]

now that FLL has the huge RCI ships porting there it is a mess.

 

Our experience returning from the Allure of the Seas was actually the opposite. We haven't had such an easy disembarkation and airport check-in ever. Period.

 

We were off the Allure and through customs in 15 minutes. Took a cab, dropped our bags off, went through the security checkpoint and were at our gate at 9:00am for an 11:45am flight. :D

[gabby0102]

Hey Danielle!

 

I'm sure everybody's experience is different, but we sailed the Western itinerary in June on the Liberty and getting to FLL was a piece of cake! Like you, I had booked a 12:30 flight out of FLL and wanted to make sure we didn't have any issues making our flight. We got up at 6:00 the final morning, and even went to the Lido deck for breakfast before we got off the ship. We carried our own luggage off and had heard there could be issues with customs since we our ship traveled to Belize, but we were through customs in less than 10 minutes. No traffic issues at all, and no issue with security at FLL. As a matter of fact, we got to the airport so early that there were 2 flights before ours leaving for Atlanta that we tried to get a seat on, so we could go ahead an get back home. Finally decided it wasn't worth the extra money to change our flights and just waited for our 12:30 flights. Some people like to sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast and take their time getting off the ship- which I totally get - always sad when vacation is over!!! We, however, needed to get back to Atlanta so we were totally cool with getting up and getting going, and just didn't have any issues making our flight.

 

Have a great trip - you're going to love it!!!:)

[vacruizer]

Our experience returning from the Allure of the Seas was actually the opposite. We haven't had such an easy disembarkation and airport check-in ever. Period.

 

We were off the Allure and through customs in 15 minutes. Took a cab, dropped our bags off, went through the security checkpoint and were at our gate at 9:00am for an 11:45am flight. :D

 

That's good to know - the folks at the airport were telling us it was now normal due to the larger # of passengers coming through.

 

May also depend on how many ships are in. It was crazy the day we came in with something like 5 in Miami where we were and 6 in FLL including the big one.

[Tapi]

May also depend on how many ships are in. It was crazy the day we came in with something like 5 in Miami where we were and 6 in FLL including the big one.

 

I agree. We sailed in May and I want to say that there were 3 ships in FLL (Carnival Freedom, a Princess ship and the Allure of the Seas). So not as crazy.

 

Also, because we were off the ship so early, we may have beaten the crowds. The airport did seem to get more and more packed as we waited for our flight.

[Mom2JJandJ]

Was on the Liberty this past April --- Eastern. It was my first time going through FLL and it was a ZOO!!! I think my flight was close to 2pm, but can't remember exactly. We did hang out and wait a bit, we weren't in a rush to get off the ship, but once we got to the airport it was pure mayhem. If you do self-debark and get up early you should be fine. Just make sure you allow enough time between getting to the airport and actually getting through security. It's not fun... at all. Worst security line I've ever seen, and I've gone through a lot of airports.

 

Have a great trip!

[strawberry cheesecake]

I am also sailing on the August 17th Liberty Cruise and I am playing it safe my flight to FLL is for 2:00. I hope this helps you make your decision. Hopefully I will see you on the ship.

[CruzCrazy]

If you're at all concerned and don't want to hassle with carrying your own bags off, you could opt for the Luggage Express program. We used it on our last 2 cruises, Liberty and Victory, and they serviced both airports, MIA and FLL. There were restrictions based on which airline and what time your flight was, but all the info and specifics are provided in your cabin (mixed in with all the Fun Times and ads for the spa, etc., so be on the look-out for it if you're interested). The cost is $20 per person plus whatever your airline charges for baggage fees. You have to sign up by a given deadline and return the forms to Guest Services. They put the charge on your Sign and Sail account. On the last night, you get an envelope in your cabin with special tags to put on your big luggage so it will go straight to the airport. You put your bags out the night before as usual, but you don't see your them anymore until you get to your final destination--so you're not slowed down by looking for your bags on the carousel before going through customs and you don't have to hassle with getting them to the airport or checking them--you go straight to the security line with your pre-printed boarding passes (Carnival prints these for you). It really cuts down on the hassle and the time. You also get off the ship pretty early with Luggage Express--they have you meet in a designated location (for us it was the forward dining room) and then a Carnival rep escorts you to the front of the "ding" line to debark the ship.

 

We used Luggage Express again this past May on our Victory cruise, and it worked just as well. Our flight was out of MIA, but it was pretty early (11:35). We made it in plenty of time. They escorted us off around 8:20 a.m. After clearing customs, we grabbed a taxi with just our carry-ons, went right through security check at the airport (no line at that hour), and were sitting at our gate by 9:15.

 

Luggage Express was money well spent as far as we were concerned. We had also purchased FTTF. We could actually have gotten off the ship earlier with our FTTF zone, but we decided Luggage Express was a better option. We were escorted off maybe 10-15 minutes after they called Priority/FTTF, and we didn't have to bother with our bags, so we probably came out ahead on time in the end.

[semichigan]

You should be fine...from the Carnival FAQ's:

 

Miami - earliest return flight after 11:30 AM for Miami; 12:00 PM for Ft. Lauderdale

 

I would pre-book transportation from Port of Miami to FLL; we have used SAS and QLS before...approx. $13 - $15 per person. We have always been to the airport well in advance of our flights (and we normally cruise during hurricane season). In my experience, I have missed flights before and the airline put me on the next one.