Celebrity Airport Transfer to FLL

[pnutzlaw]

We are booked on the Silhouette next month and purchased return transfers from Port Everglades to FLL. Has anybody done this through Celebrity? Was this smooth and easy? Any issues? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

[ondeckatsea]

It's good. When we cruise the same day we fly in it's as easy as can be. Just look for the person with the lollipop sign and she'll direct you to your luggage pickup belt after which you hang out with all the others going to your ship and eventually you'll get on the bus to the ship. They will put all the luggage on a bus going to your ship. Hold onto your carry-ons.

[pnutzlaw]

Thank you for the response, but I was only inquiring about the transfer process back to the airport after disembarkation. We will be in South Florida with a rental car for 2 days prior to sailing and the rental car company will be shuttling us to the pier.

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

[ondeckatsea]

Oh, I'm sorry! Getting off the ship is not as exciting but usually pretty easy. They will give you luggage tags which are to help people with the earliest flights get off first, also you will have a transfer ticket. If you are at all nervous talk to the people at the pursers office. Hopefully, the process through the lines after you get your luggage in the terminal won't be too long. It was awful for us in March this year when the government cut back on customs personnel. Also, the lines at the airport checking in were bad but we managed and got on the plane in time. JUST in time. Celebrity does a good job getting you on and off the ships but it definitely isn't as much fun getting off. Good Luck! Have a great cruise and don't worry about it. It always seems to work out well.

[pnutzlaw]

Oh, I'm sorry! Getting off the ship is not as exciting but usually pretty easy. They will give you luggage tags which are to help people with the earliest flights get off first, also you will have a transfer ticket. If you are at all nervous talk to the people at the pursers office. Hopefully, the process through the lines after you get your luggage in the terminal won't be too long. It was awful for us in March this year when the government cut back on customs personnel. Also, the lines at the airport checking in were bad but we managed and got on the plane in time. JUST in time. Celebrity does a good job getting you on and off the ships but it definitely isn't as much fun getting off. Good Luck! Have a great cruise and don't worry about it. It always seems to work out well.

 

Thanks so much. Our flight is not until shortly before 2 PM. It seems from reading the boards that the biggest issue with getting back to the airport on a busy port day is the taxi lines. That's why we did the transfer.

[trabeler]

We will be arriving in Port Everglades on Sun, 5 Jan on the Century. We are likely to dock at Pier 4 and Royal Princess will likely be at Pier 2. There are 8 total ships in port that day.

 

Our return flight is at 11:30. A little earlier than I would have liked but when I made all the reservations (almost a year ago), I didn't realize the port load that day and it was also before sequester, etc, etc. Back then the collective wisdom was that anything after 11 am was pretty comfortable.

 

Recent comments have been that the taxi stand can get backed up when ships are at both Piers 2 & 4.

 

Our current plan is to do self disembark as early as possible (we are supposed to arrive at 7 am) and taxi to FLL. Another option is using Celebrity transfers, which avoid the problem with taxi waits, but I don't know when we'd actually leave the ship and how long the wait would be for a bus.

 

What is the collective wisdom of the group here? Since the Celebrity transfer has to be bought in advance, I can't just "wait and see" how the taxi line looks when we get off. Is the taxi stand busy from the earliest departures or is the "long waits" feedback from the prime time of 9-10 am?

 

Which option would you choose? Yes, I know the ship could be late, and if so, we'll just stay the night and try the next day.

[C 2 C]

We arrived at Pier 4 on Constellation a week ago.

Celebrity transfers are $15.40 each.

Bus departures are very early since buses are required to take passengers from airport to ships after 11 am.

 

The problem we have with buses is that they only leave when the bus is full and will then drop passengers off at different gates according to airlines. The whole process may take an hour as all the luggage is unloaded.

 

If you intend to get off early I would suggest a taxi or a shuttle service.

[TomTN]

We arrived at Pier 4 on Constellation a week ago.

Celebrity transfers are $15.40 each.

Bus departures are very early since buses are required to take passengers from airport to ships after 11 am.

 

The problem we have with buses is that they only leave when the bus is full and will then drop passengers off at different gates according to airlines. The whole process may take an hour as all the luggage is unloaded.

 

If you intend to get off early I would suggest a taxi or a shuttle service.[/quote]

 

Are cabs waiting outside the terminal? Approximate cost?

[Gonzo70]

Taxis are easier, faster, cheaper and more comfortable. Taxis are readily available (may have to wait a few minutes in line - but wait will almost certainly be shorter than for the Celebrity coach bus to be fully loaded). The taxi will cost approximately $15 per taxi; the Celebrity transfers costs about that much per/person. With a taxi you will have your own vehicle and proceed directly to your terminal whereas with the Celebrity transfer you will be on a large bus with dozens of others, wait for all the people and luggage to be loaded and then possibly stop at multiple terminals before you arrive at yours (and half to wait for people to exit and retrieve their luggage at each stop). Absolutely no reason to opt for the Celebrity transfers IMHO; taxis are a MUCH better option.

[gdpups]

On my last cruise out of FLL our longest wait was to go through immigrations, it took well over an hour. Getting a taxi was no problem, but the line at the airport security was also very, very long. We didn't plan for these delays, so departed the ship when Celebrity called our number. We only made our flight because it was delayed coming in!

 

On our cruise out of FLL next month you can bet we will be off that ship extra early. I'd rather wait hours at the airport then miss my flight!

[teecee60]

We will be arriving in Port Everglades on Sun, 5 Jan on the Century. Our return flight is at 11:30.

 

Which option would you choose? Yes, I know the ship could be late, and if so, we'll just stay the night and try the next day.

 

Unless physical limitations preclude it, self debark/roll your own luggage at the earliest possible time.

 

You will breeze past all the people waiting on the ship, and those in a frenzy looking to claim their luggage on shore, and be first in/first out of customs.

 

You'll be at the head of the line, for a reasonably priced cab that will leave the pier as soon as you are in it, for the "grueling" 5 minute ride to the airport.

 

(anytime I can minimize or eliminate someone else handling, damaging, or loosing my luggage, I will opt for the minor inconvenience)

[Shining Clem]

Following up on Gonzo70's post. We took the Celebrity shuttle bus from the ship to the FLL airport a year ago. What a mess!

 

Everything s/he sez is true, plus the buses have to unload at a bus unloading place at the airport. This is far away from the main terminal entrance. In our case it was one of those slightly steep upward inclines that can be a challenge with even rolling luggage. We had been away for nearly 20 days in various venues, so weren't traveling light. It was a hot hot day, with no breeze and no Red Caps came out to help many elderly pax. Then inside the airport, either United or Delta had not opened many check in gates. There were also many ships unloading that day - several from a Princess ship had already missed their flights. There was NO coordination which we could see between staffing at the airport and the # of boats unloading. The TSA inspections that day were actually moving along, but getting to them.............

 

The driver of the bus was a sweetheart - working very hard to help people get their luggage off the bus as fast as possible. But he was working against forces he had no control of.

 

The whole thing left a very bad taste in our mouths for Celebrity & FFL & the airline. Celebrity needs to take a lesson from HAL in Vancouver, BC. Their red jacket people were very visible and helpful. After trying to avoid FLL exits, we would opt for the taxi. At least they would drop you off right at the airline doors, not 1/4 of a mile away.

[Trainer]

Ft. Lauderdale is well known for customs and immigration delays. On Dec. 9 this year, we were in line for more than 2 hours. A delay first ocurred because not all the agents showed up and others had to be called in. In addition, US citizens and international passengers were all lumped together. (This was the Equinox TA) Normally there are separate lines. . We were 'told' everyone was being fingerprinted, but this was not true. Only non-US citizens were printed, but since everyone went through the same lines, it was very slow. So be prepared for long delays.

[ron46936]

I would like to second (or third) the taxi recommendation. For two people it is half the price and a whole lot easier than the ship transfers. If you have three you save even more and some cabs can handle 4.

[Baseball fan]

I just did this. I shared a taxi with some friends going to terminal 2 and I went to terminal 3. It cost us around $15. It was much quicker to walk outside the terminal as the taxis are lined up. Very quick. There were 4 ships in port that day and it wasn't as crowded at the airport as I expected (even with the AA cancelled flights due to weather in Dallas).

 

Highly recommend a taxi.

 

Dena

[Hlitner]

Have to smile at this entire topic. We just debarked from the Eclipse last Saturday in Ft Lauderdale, and the port was a total zoo because of 6 large ships. Yes, the taxi queue was a bit long...but we did manage to get on a shared van after a nearly 40 min wait (it cost us $11). As we were waiting for the van we watched a Celebrity airport shuttle bus loading a few feet away. Apparently they did not have enough passengers to fill the bus so it just sat there for at least 30 min (it was still there when we left in our van). As to the taxi queue, at its peak there was probably a 45 min wait. If we had simply jumped in the taxi queue and waited patiently, we would have been out of the port faster then our van or the outrageously priced shuttle bus.

 

The other issue was the security line at FLL which was more then 1 hour long. We only made our flight (despite having arrived at FLL 2 hours before our flight) because the SWA folks pulled us out of the long queue and moved us to a shorter queue (they did this for anyone with a flight leaving within the hour).

 

Hank

Edited December 18, 2013 by Hlitner

[Orlandocruiser]

We just disembarked the Silhouette in FLL on Sunday. It took us over an hour to get through customs but the line for cabs was about a ten minute wait. There were only two of us and the line was handled by a Deputy Sheriff so it was orderly with no line jumping. There were plenty of cabs and the only reason that there was any wait was that it took a while for each party to load their cab. Now if you needed a van there was a wait until another van returned. BTW the fare (before tip) was 11.90 to the Avis Rental Car part of the terminal.