Earliest Flight out of FLL

[Teach2cruise4fun]

Hi everyone!

 

Anyone have an idea of the earliest flight I should book out of FLL? The ship is getting in at 7AM.

[chrysalis]

Princess suggests 11:30 but if you walk off, carry your own luggage off the ship, and there are no delays docking or with immigration/customs, you can make it earlier than that. If on the weekend, there are many ships in port and therefore the airport can be a zoo....so ya take your chances

[deise17311]

You will find a lot of posts about this with tons of answers - we have done walk off and taken a 9:30 flight - people will tell you that you have no way of knowing if the ship will be late - it's a gamble but more times than not the ship is on time -

[capriccio]

To be on the safe side, I would say 11 am (and feel more comfortable with 11:30) which requires you to be there by 9:30 so off the ship by 9:15. With the current TSA problems I would aim to leave the ship as early as possible, especially if there are multiple ships in port, since you can face potential backlogs at Customs and Immigration departing the ship and at the security line in the airport.

 

If you decide on an earlier flight, make sure you have a Plan B. Know how your airline will handle the missed flight - will you be up a creek or charged a change fee (and if so, how much), and when is the next flight that has seats available? The last question may be the most important since many flights, especially in season and/or on a day with lots of disembarking passengers, fly full. You may have to wait a day for a flight.

[CruisenOne]

Hi everyone!

 

Anyone have an idea of the earliest flight I should book out of FLL? The ship is getting in at 7AM.

 

To be on the safe side, I would say 11 am (and feel more comfortable with 11:30) which requires you to be there by 9:30 so off the ship by 9:15. With the current TSA problems I would aim to leave the ship as early as possible, especially if there are multiple ships in port, since you can face potential backlogs at Customs and Immigration departing the ship and at the security line in the airport.

 

The last question may be the most important since many flights, especially in season and/or on a day with lots of disembarking passengers, fly full. You may have to wait a day for a flight.

 

I always schedule my Flight after Noon.

Especially on a Sat. or Sun.

FLL can be a real hassle on the weekends.

[Eagle_and_hawk]

We usually schedule ours around noon or shortly afterwards from FLL. If we get to the aiport early, just sit and read a while. If you miss your flight, you never know when they can get you on the next one.

 

Looks like you would have a short flight home like us, so we just assume it's a travel day and not stress over it. Last cruise, we docked at 7:00am and we were in the walk off group. It was 8:45am before our group was called.

[paul929207]

You need to weigh the need to get home early vs. the problems if you get home late that day or even the following day

[Pam in CA]

A lot depends on the time of year. If you're flying during holidays or school vacations, the airports can be a mess with very long lines. There's no way to predict whether Immigration will have just a couple of officers as you disembark the ship or whether the TSA will have just one or two officers handling Security at the airport.

 

A couple of years ago, we were flying home from MIA and there was just one TSA line for all passengers whether you were TT, First Class or coach. I was flying First Class and it took me an hour and a half to get through.

 

It's been all over the news recently that it's recommended that you arrive at the airport two hours before your flight.

 

If you book earlier than 11:30am (Princess recommended time), be sure you have Plan B to fall back on. I try to book after Noon but that's because I don't want the anxiety and stress after a cruise.

[Nāmaka]

A lot depends on the time of year. If you're flying during holidays or school vacations, the airports can be a mess with very long lines. There's no way to predict whether Immigration will have just a couple of officers as you disembark the ship or whether the TSA will have just one or two officers handling Security at the airport.

 

A couple of years ago, we were flying home from MIA and there was just one TSA line for all passengers whether you were TT, First Class or coach. I was flying First Class and it took me an hour and a half to get through.

 

It's been all over the news recently that it's recommended that you arrive at the airport two hours before your flight.

 

If you book earlier than 11:30am (Princess recommended time), be sure you have Plan B to fall back on. I try to book after Noon but that's because I don't want the anxiety and stress after a cruise.

 

The recommended arrival time is now 3 hrs before your flight. Just saw that last night on the news. On one cruise we had a passenger die the night before disembarking. No one got off the ship before 10am! Lots of missed flights that day.

[OCruisers]

Too many things can happen that might delay your departure from the ship!

Also there now is more airport security.

An early afternoon flight would the soonest we would book.

Edited May 19, 2016 by OCruisers

[janetz]

11:30 No need to walk your luggage off. :)

[neverbeenhere]

Book as early as you want (9:30am). BUT, have a backup plan.

[skf]

I recently posed this question on CC boards...We could have taken an 11:25 am or 1:30 pm and everybody recommended the later one.

[donaldsc]

Have you seen the recent news items about the TSA lines? Some are as long as 3 hours.

 

DON

[Mrs.Gosse]

Not to mention FLL is the longest TSA checkpoint I have been in, in years! That whole thing was laid out terribly and the staff was the rudest I had ever encountered at an airport. We thought we had too much time but it turned out the security ate up a lot of it, lucky for us since we had to wait about 4 hours. We have the ability to take an early flight but since we didn't want to risk it the next nonstop flight wasn't till 5 p.m. . That was a really long time for us to wait so we did one of the Fort Lauderdale excursions through princess. We really enjoyed it and we love not having to worry about getting a taxi or an Uber to the airport. It was also extremely cheap. I think we ended up spending $20 more than the cab would have cost. We decided from now on we are going to fly home the day we get back but just take a princess sponsored Excursion that drops you off at the airport. It was so easy. Every other cruise we stayed the night just in case because we prefer a.m. flights. This was worth are change in routine.

[Lucky TGO]

Last February I had a 11:30am flight out of Florida. The Royal was in Florida at 6am every thing went well. It was on a Wednesday. If you book before

12:00 noon you're taking a chance it's just a roll of the dice. Good luck!!

Tony

[riclop]

hi everyone!

 

Anyone have an idea of the earliest flight i should book out of fll? The ship is getting in at 7am.

 

10-1030.

[Putterdude]

Our experience has been to have flights from about 1115 to 1200 and are usually sitting in the departure lounge by 0920 to 0930.

[myfuzzy]

The last time we flew out of FLL, last Nov, we stood in the security line for over 2 1/2 hours. We allowed ourselves 2 hours, just made it to the gate in time to board (whew). Depending on how many ships are in port, disembarkation issues, cabs..traffic out of the port, other possible issues. Have you thought about staying overnight at a hotel and getting a flight mid next day? Todays airport security, you never want to take that chance. If having the ship dock, be the first one off and to the airport to get that first flight home. Maybe you should rethink your schedule.

[Teach2cruise4fun]

Thanks everyone for your input! I am now looking at different airlines because I don't want to push it too close!

[ggprincess2004]

Given the issues with the TSA, and the fact that with lots of ships in port there may be delays disembarking as not enough ICE agents are available to keep the process moving smoothly, I wouldn't try for a really early flight. Wait for an early afternoon flight, take advantage of EZ check for your luggage, and consider applying for TSA pre-check if you haven't done that as of yet.

 

Pre-Check saves us lots of time at the airport, but leaves us without the opportunity to do a tasteful striptease in the screening line, unpack and repack our carry-ons, and worst of all, we miss the free massage. Seriously, if you have enough time before your cruise, get it asap. (You might want to consider Global Entry, as pre-check is now included, and that will speed you through ICE at the pier, but there is a longer lead time for approval in that system. If you have enough time to do so before you sail, go for it.)

 

While the FLL airport is not the most interesting or exciting place to hang out, we usually pull into the bar/restaurant in our concourse, have a very relaxing brunch with cocktail and ease back into reality. We can catch up on news feeds, and just chill until it is flight time. No stress about missing flights, just gradually raise the stress level back to "reality" over the course of a few hours waiting for our flight.