time to be on line for early flight with self-disembarkation?

[lara68]

We are on the Oasis for the first time in June. We have a United 10:30 flight out of Fort Lauderdale and are planning on self disembarkation. After reading some threads we are getting nervous about getting to the airport on time because of long lines waiting to get off the ship with the self disembarkation. Any ideas what time we should get to the line to be assured we will be one of the first ones off the ship??

[Paulxyz2004]

We are on the Oasis for the first time in June. We have a United 10:30 flight out of Fort Lauderdale and are planning on self disembarkation. After reading some threads we are getting nervous about getting to the airport on time because of long lines waiting to get off the ship with the self disembarkation. Any ideas what time we should get to the line to be assured we will be one of the first ones off the ship??

 

About 4am.

[lara68]

wow, I'm so glad I posted. We have done this on Celebrity, but of course, it was a much smaller ship. I would have never thought to be there so early. Thanks for your quick reply!

[SamFritz]

Ignore Paulxyz2004. The airport is just a 10 minute cab ride once you clear customs. If you want to give yourself the full 2 hours at the airport, start heading off the ship at 7:30 -8:00.

 

 

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[Ann262]

I guess it is too late now, since you already booked your flight, but I wouldn't book a flight out before noon from a cruise ship. It is just too stressful and makes for an unpleasant end to a nice trip.

[Paulxyz2004]

Ignore Paulxyz2004. The airport is just a 10 minute cab ride once you clear customs. If you want to give yourself the full 2 hours at the airport, start heading off the ship at 7:30 -8:00...

 

 

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...and join the 2-3 hour line at customs. Not even taking into account at that time they might not even let you off the ship if there´s a back up line at Immigration and customs already.

[spookwife]

Ignore Paulxyz2004. The airport is just a 10 minute cab ride once you clear customs. If you want to give yourself the full 2 hours at the airport, start heading off the ship at 7:30 -8:00.

 

 

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uhh they are not so far off( although I would probably be more like 0600)

 

i have seen the self peeps in line on ships like GR( a whole helluva lot smaller than OA) and if you get stuck in the middle or back of the line, by the time you get to Customs you are looking at a similar wait as you get in Tokyo when 8 international flights all arrive at the same time. Not pretty.

 

then you have to hope and pray a cab is right there, and you aren't having to wait for the next batch to pull around.

[CruiseKeeper]

Just off the Allure with a 10:30 flight. We don't prefer such an early flight but there weren't many non stop flights to PHL from FLL. We sure didn't want to hang around FLL until evening. We walked off the Allure, getting in line to walk off at 6. Even at that early, we were probably 30th in line. There were no issues with customs and we were in a cab at 7. We missed out on the luggage valet service but saved hundreds on our flight as well as we were home by early afternoon.

[Ocean Boy]

About 4am.

 

That is ridiculous. This past March on Allure we got in line around 7 AM after eating breakfast and we were at the airport shortly after 8 AM.:rolleyes:

[f1mauro]

My personal experience, I have done 3 oasis class cruises. Self disembarked each time. The doors generally open at 6:30am and I'm at my parents condo 20min up the coast by 7:30am.

 

Last month's cruise I had to book a flight home instead. It was 10am flight back to snowy Buffalo. We were down by the lobby at 6:30 sharp when the doors opened. (make a note, make sure you can carry your luggage with one hand free through the terminal as there is an escalator to ride down. Security will force you to use the elevator otherwise, and you can imagine the bottleneck delay that would cause)

 

Customs was roughly a 10min delay with a relatively short line, as it's usually been. We quickly were ushered to a line of waiting cabs, at the airport check in, security strip down, had a piece of luggage hand searched, were cleared to go. I purposely checked the time on my watch because of all these very threads I've read, the time was 7:15am!

 

Waited at the gate for 2 hours thinking how we could have easily made a 9am flight:eek: at least FLL has free wifi and charging stations to pass the time.

 

I would never risk disembarking past 7am though, as the crowds get exponentially larger and wait times would increase 10 fold. Especially at the customs line, cab ride and traffic, airline counter and especially security with 7 other cruise ships emptying out at the same time!!! Just use common sense.

 

As we were qued up to board our flight one gentleman told me how he just barely made it and was sure his luggage wasn't going to be on the same flight. He left Celebrity cruise ship and was held up on a bus waiting for other passengers at 8:30, got to the airport and held up about an hour at security. Talk about stressful!

 

Based on my other experiences I wouldn't hesitate to book an early flight. Just remember there's always the outside chance that unforseen circumstances could delay the ship's arrival time which would be beyond anyone's control.

 

My experience is based on my mid November cruise, more ships in port. Yours is in June? There may be only two that morning, even better. Just beat the crowds by being at the gangway by 6:30 and you will have no worries.

 

Have a great cruise you'll love the ship!

[BillOh]

About 4am.

 

That sounds a bit early. Most time the ship isn't even in port then. The line in my experience hasn't been that long. On my first Allure cruise we decided to have our final breakfast in the MDR. We went down around 6:30am. The elevators won't go down to deck 4, so we had to get off on deck 5 and take the stairs. There were crew there saying, "Early disembark, right this way, no lines".

[masonpips]

We just did this on the Saturday after Thanksgiving (busiest flying Saturday ever?). We left our room at 6:30 and were standing outside the terminal at 6:45. Make sure to have one hand free so you can take the escalator (a backpack or tote over your shoulder is fine). We didn't leave by taxi until 7:15 as our SIL/BIL had to go back for one of their kid's seeps cards and they had to take the elevator (too many bags) so we waited to say good-bye to them

 

We were at the airport and through security by 7:40, even with waiting for them. Our flight was at 10:15 so we had a LONG wait. And Southwest terminal at FLL sucks, so be prepared - one sit-down restaurant, busy as hell and really nothing else to do.

[masonpips]

That sounds a bit early. Most time the ship isn't even in port then. The line in my experience hasn't been that long. On my first Allure cruise we decided to have our final breakfast in the MDR. We went down around 6:30am. The elevators won't go down to deck 4, so we had to get off on deck 5 and take the stairs. There were crew there saying, "Early disembark, right this way, no lines".

 

We were able to walk off on Deck 5, right across from the pub on Oasis

[lara68]

I really appreciate all of your feedback. We are heading to Newark with our 6 year old grandson. If we were on our own, we would have gotten the next flight mid afternoon. We figure after 7 days, he'll want to get home to his parents (and I figure we'll be exhausted!).

[lara68]

also, I just realized, I could get on line alittle earlier than my husband and grandson and they could then meet us on line , right??

[f1mauro]

If by 'online' you mean 'in line' then yes I saw a few people doing this and it was no big deal. However, if the line gets the go ahead to begin disembarking and your party hasn't arrived yet you'll obviously have to step out and wait for them.