Post Cruise excursion-explanation needed

[3red7s]

we have never done a post cruise excursion.  we disembark the Edge, but our flight out of FLL is at 5:30, meaning we should be at the airport by 3:30. How does the tour work? does the bus pick you up at the dock? do those with excursions get to disembark earlier than the others? do they store your luggage in the bus? what time do tours begin? it says they drop you off at the FLL airport....if so what time? and how do they know?  dont cherish the idea of sitting in the airport for hrs, but also dont want to fret about getting to the airport in time for our flight. 

 

[sailco]

The debark excursions operate in exactly the same way as a regular ship's excursion. You go to a muster area, usually at 8.30am and debark the ship as usual. You take your luggage to the bus and it is securely stowed underneath including your wheeled carry on bags. You can leave any other bags eg backpacks on the bus during stops because the driver will stay with the locked bus while you are sightseeing.

 

The excursion usually lasts about 4 hours and you tour the city with a guide before being dropped at the correct airport terminal. You will be asked a couple of days before debark the time of your flight and which terminal.

 

The debark buses are never full generally about 20-25 passengers so it's very comfortable. Some of these excursions are excellent, others are a bit so so but it's a lot better than hanging around the airport for hours.

Edited February 24, 2019 by sailco

[NovaCath]

On our cruise, only one of the post-cruise excursions ran.  We had booked one that got cancelled and then signed up for the one that ran. It for flights after 2:30 pm from Fort Lauderdale. (The bus went to the Miami airport after Fort Lauderdale airport.) The tour was a trip to a park in the Everglades. We took an air boat ride and they had a very small zoo and they had some alligators in a caged area.  We got luggage tags with the  tour tickets to put on our bags that we wanted collected. We had to meet in one of the bar areas by 8:30 am and check in with a Celebrity staff person.  Shortly after 8:30 am, the Celebrity staff person took us down as a group to collect our bags. We went down a different way to get our bags then everyone else.  After our group got their bags, the staff person then had us get in line for customs/immigration, which wasn't that long and moved quickly.   We met that same staff person outside and then walked as a group to the bus. It was a short walk.  People from the tour company then took over. We had to tell them which airport and which airline as we handed in our bags to be stored in the bottom of the bus. Our bus was fairly full.  Only 2 people were going to the Miami airport and the rest of us were going to the Fort Lauderdale airport after the tour.  There were people from two different cruises on the tour.  It took a bit before we left the port. We got to the park at around 10:15 am.  We could leave items on the bus as the driver stayed with the bus.    After the boat ride and the other two parts of the tour, we had to be back at the bus by 11:50 am and we left the park for the airport before noon.  We got to Fort Lauderdale airport about 12:30 pm. The bus made three stops at the airport.  The tour guide announced which stops were for which airlines.  Our stop wasn't right in front of any of the airline entrances but it wasn't that far of a walk.  Our flight was scheduled for 5:00 pm so we were at the airport, checked in, and through security with hours to spare.  We thought the tour was OK, but we were glad to have done it so we did not have to sit at the airport for even more hours.