Did I make a mistake with my flight out of Miami?

[gram4haley]

I just booked a family cruise on the Carnival Victory out of Miami in January 2006. I booked my own air with Delta. On the last day the ship returns to Miami at 8AM. I booked a 9:45AM flight out. The other option was a 4PM flight. Realistically will I be able to make the 9:45 flight? :confused: Will the cruise line allow me or assist me to disembark early if I made the flight arrangements myself?:confused: I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions to save me time that morning.

 

It has been several years since I sailed with Carnival (or any other line) so I am not sure what the current procedures and policies are.

[Setme2sail]

You will miss your flight.

[Capt_BJ]

former Miami resident and frequent Miami cruiser says:

 

change your flight

 

low odds you'll make that 9:45 .... 1 in 100, and if you do your stress-o-meter will be pegged cuz you will have run every step of the way.....

 

Don't forget that Carn' can't let anyone off until Customs and Immigration say OK ...

[Cruising89143]

You may have a 50/50 chance of making your flight but if I was a betting man I would say that you will miss your flight. January is a very busy cruise month and you will have at least four ships in port that day with a good many people flying out. The security at the airport will take a while to get through and you have no idea how long it will be before the ship is cleared. Then all passengers have to go through customs and immigrations once off of the ship. This can take a while as they usually only have around six agents to clear each ship. I would look into changing my flight time while you have the chance.

[mc'smom]

Oh my , change that flight....

 

9:45 Am, you will never make it.. Even if you self disembark...

 

Enjoy the crusie, I sailed on the Victory this past January...

 

:)

[KJPG]

Yup - change that flight! As there seems to be such a huge time difference in flights for you, if you can, you might consider staying an extra night to check stuff out down there. Then you can get a morning flight the next day.

[katie286]

For a 9:45am flight, you would have to be at the airport by 8:15am in order to go through security and everything. Unfortunately, there is no way for you to do this. You could change airlines for your trip back. Or, leisurely get off the ship, enjoy the day a little (depends how you are getting to the airport) and get to the airport by 2:00/2:30 for your 4:00 flight home. I say go with the latter.

[losuds63]

I just booked a family cruise on the Carnival Victory out of Miami in January 2006. I booked my own air with Delta. On the last day the ship returns to Miami at 8AM. I booked a 9:45AM flight out. The other option was a 4PM flight. Realistically will I be able to make the 9:45 flight? :confused: Will the cruise line allow me or assist me to disembark early if I made the flight arrangements myself?:confused: I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions to save me time that morning.

 

It has been several years since I sailed with Carnival (or any other line) so I am not sure what the current procedures and policies are.

why dont you stay in miami an extra day make the flight for the next morning and enjoy your post cruise vacation day!

[GoinCruisin]

Just because the ship arrives in Miami at 8 does not mean that is the time you will get off... others are right, you will miss your flight... the ship still has to clear customs... I have been on cruises that have not cleared customs until 10... you would have to be at the airport by at the latest, 8:45... I don't see how it would be possible, considering you still have to get to the airport. Even if you self debark, the ship has to clear customs.... change your flight... good luck!!!!

[tef43]

Don't forget that Carn' can't let anyone off until Customs and Immigration say OK ...

Not to mention tracking down any deadbeats trying to skip out on their S&S bills. :rolleyes:

 

Bottom line: Change your flight.

[Darkkskyzz]

Change your flight ASAP!!

 

Last time I cruised...there were problems at the dock and it took us almost 2 hours to get through customs. Better safe than sorry!

[NJCONVCRS]

What is the earliest time that you can realisticaly book your return flight out of Miami, or Fort Lauderdale when docking in Miami? I have a similar problem, as all of the reasonably priced flights are either early Sunday morning, or very late in the day. I haven't booked my flight yet because I have been debating how early a flight I can make. I was thinking nothing before 11:00. On my last cruise, we had a 1:00 flight, and stayed on the Lido deck until about 10:00 - 10:30. It was a very relaxing way to end the cruise. I just can't stand the thought of being in the airport for 5 or 6 hours.

[Eliot Ness]

We just got back from the Victory on 7-03 and had a 3 pm flight out. As others have posted, I sure wouldn't want to try and make a 9:45 am flight.

 

We were the last group off the boat, didn't have to rush and weren't worried if we didn't dock in time or if customs were running late. We had to kill a little bit of time at the airport, but it was better than worrying the whole time about making our flight.

[Sparky2]

They offer Miami shore excursions with airport transfers to MIA or FLL included. These are for people with flights after 3 or 4.

[kytten_kat]

a 1pm flight ... do we have to rush or can it be a bit more relaxed for us ... also what form of transportation do you recommend for getting to the airport ...

Candy

[irishgirl]

A 1 pm flight is almost perfect. The easiest way to get to the Miami airport is grab a taxi out front. It costs about $22 to go to the airport.

[Mark]

YOU MADE A BIGGGG MISTAKE WITH THAT FLIGHT...CHANGE IT OR YOU MAY BE SLEEPING IN MIAMI THAT NIGHT!

 

I was on Valor May 22 sailing and I was able to make it to Miami International at 12 Noon. The delay is primarily due to the Terminal Facility layout and the new security screening procedures by US Immigration and Customs personnel. My experience has been confirmed by many postings on this website subsequent to the May 22 sailing week.:cool:

[cruising3times]

a i p.m. flight is usually good, however this past dec we were on the Miracle and we did not get off the ship til 12:30 p.m., there were high winds and we docked in the wrong area and the ship pulled out around 8:30 a.m. so we could dock in the correct spot.

[Capt_BJ]

A 1 pm flight is almost perfect. The easiest way to get to the Miami airport is grab a taxi out front. It costs about $22 to go to the airport.

 

7 out of 10 you will be OK

 

and that's $22 per cab ...

 

if you take a group shuttle - they'll go for that per person

 

go figure....:cool:

[CanTex]

Any reasonably priced flights mid-day on a Saturday or Sunday out of FLL or MIA are hard to come by since thousands of other cruisers like you are looking for the same thing. A 1 PM flight is pretty safe, but 11 AM is too early for my risk tolerance level.

 

What is the earliest time that you can realisticaly book your return flight out of Miami, or Fort Lauderdale when docking in Miami? I have a similar problem, as all of the reasonably priced flights are either early Sunday morning, or very late in the day. I haven't booked my flight yet because I have been debating how early a flight I can make. I was thinking nothing before 11:00. On my last cruise, we had a 1:00 flight, and stayed on the Lido deck until about 10:00 - 10:30. It was a very relaxing way to end the cruise. I just can't stand the thought of being in the airport for 5 or 6 hours.

[cyndij]

We just returned from the Victory on 7/17. We did the early disembarktion @ 8:45 AM. We were picking up our luggage at 10:05 AM, and did not get to MIA until 11:40 AM. Traffic in the port area is horrible, horrible, horrible! Needless to say, we all missed the flight. We talked to others on our cruise at the airport who arrived at 1:15 PM. There had to be an issue that particular morning, b/c I have never seem disembarktion so slow.

 

Six out of the nine in our group were able to catch the 8:45 PM flight on standby. AA put the remaining three of us on a 11:30 AM flight on Monday. This got us to Chicago. Once there, we boarded for our return to Richmond, VA. We sat on the plane for 2 1/2 hours and the flight was canceled due to storms on the East Coast. There were no other flights out to Richmond or anywhere in VA until Wed. evening or Thursday morning. Every flight was sold out and overbooked! We opted to rent a car and drove home from Chicago starting at 10 PM to VA. We arrived home at 5:00 PM on Tuesday! Not a very relaxing end to a great cruise.

[CruiseAwayWithMe]

We returned from Valor on July 17, 2005 and didn't have a good experience with our flight times.

 

I didn't sail on Victory but I sailed on Valor. The ship was back in the port of Miami by 5:30 AM and the self assist debarkation was called around 7:30 AM. We got to the airport by 9 AM and we were supose to have a 1:27 PM flight and we were 4 hours early. We asked if we could get an earlier flight and the person at Northwest said "You have to because your 1:27 PM flight was CANCELLED." They said the only non-stop flight they have back to Detroit was at 9:30 AM. We took it and were on "stand-by" because if we didn't get it then we had to stay in Miami for a whille. We went through security and we were choosen to get "randomly checked".......they ran a bepper down us. We kept on saying "We have a flight in 15 minutes!!!" and no one seemed to care. As a matter of fact, the lady in front of us is like "We all have early flights." but her flight was like at 11:45 and ours was in 15 minutes. We got through security and everything by 9:20 ish and we ran through the airport. They paged us over the loud speaker and we got on the plane at 9:25 AM. Also, we ran the whole way there and the gate 11 was at the back of Miami. We had three people and two people were in row 5 and the last one was in row 8. Probably could have gotten first class if it wasn't filled. Our original row number was row 19 so we got upgraded to the front. We barely made this flight and they shut the doors right when we got on it. It was a very close call because our original flight was cancelled because the plane was busted. I would say that you would be very worried and stressed out about missing the flight. Take the later one so you have time not to be worried. We had to take 9:30 AM because our original flight at 1:27 PM was cancelled. Well, have a nice time!

[Shipbound]

I can not believe anyone would book that flight. I try not to book a flight before 2:00pm when going home from a cruise. What were you thinking !!!!

[Bsan1221]

As someone who lives in Miami I doubt you'll make your flight.

 

I think the only way you could MAYBE make it is if the ship isn't held up by immigration and you choose to CARRY OFF your own luggage. When you carry off your own luggage you will let you off the ship first and you'll have the luggage with you already (so you dont go through all the trouble of trying to find it in the terminal).

 

On a Sat/Sun you should make it within 15 minutes from the port to the airport.

 

Tell you taxi driver to take SR-112 to Okeechobee Road.

[Boston6]

9:45am flight?

 

I have only one question: Are you bringing your own weed on board or do you plan on buying some on the islands?

 

 

Carnival will allow you to disembark early. You'll need carry your own luggage off to have any chance of making it. However, you need to realize that NOBODY gets off the ship until immigration and customs clears the ship.