Carnival Freedom moving to Miami

[Cinnamon2]

Got a message from Carnival via my TA that Carnival Freedom is moving to Miami from Ft. Lauderdale.  I am sad because FLL is easier to fly to than MIA and Port Everglades is so close to the airport.  Just venting here . . . our cruise is not until 2022 and many more changes could happen before then.

[1025cruise]

You can still fly to FLL, just need a shuttle to Miami.

[Bgcruising]

I was scared to open that email. At least our port of calls did not change.

[BlerkOne]

I think Freedom has been scheduled to move to Miami for quite a while.

[Bgcruising]

Maybe, but when we booked it was scheduled to sail from Ft Lauderdale.  Oh well... lol

[BlerkOne]

Freedom was supposed to move to Ft Lauderdale in Sept 2021 via Alaska and to Miami in Sept 2022 via Alaska, but it looks like they are moving to Miami in 2021 now.

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47 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Freedom was supposed to move to Ft Lauderdale in Sept 2021 via Alaska and to Miami in Sept 2022 via Alaska, but it looks like they are moving to Miami in 2021 now.

Although Carnival Corporation never really used Port Everglades for their Carnival Cruise Line brand apart from one or two ships here and there, it seems that the trend is slowly moving back to Miami. A lot of the Royal ships are being deployed to Miami instead of their previous homes in Port Everglades.

[Cinnamon2]

2 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

You can still fly to FLL, just need a shuttle to Miami.

Yes, I know and we might do that.  But it is a longer and more expensive ride from FLL to Miami.  Just remembering our cruise in January, arriving at FLL and how easy and fast it was to get to Port Everglades.  This is the main reason we booked the Freedom out of Ft. Lauderdale in the first place.  Also there are no direct flights to MIA from where we are.

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8 minutes ago, Cinnamon2 said:

Yes, I know and we might do that.  But it is a longer and more expensive ride from FLL to Miami.  Just remembering our cruise in January, arriving at FLL and how easy and fast it was to get to Port Everglades.  This is the main reason we booked the Freedom out of Ft. Lauderdale in the first place.  Also there are no direct flights to MIA from where we are.

FLL is still very close to PortMiami and really it's only a little bit longer. From the amount of time you'll save just dealing with FLL instead of Miami, it's really about the same total time invested. The only time I ever use Miami is when I need a long-haul international flight. As much as I love PBI, I pretty much only use FLL these days.

 

I wouldn't stress the extra distance. 

[pe4all]

I was also disappointed when Magic was moved from FLL to Miami as they are doing with Freedom.  I always found FLL easier (and cheaper) to fly into, and easier to cruise out of.  Port of Miami always seemed too congested for me, and traffic from FLL to Miami can be a pain sometimes.  

[Tapi]

Personally, I would consider the move from FLL to MIA inconsequential. There are several times when I've sailed from MIA and flown in and out of FLL. Other times, I've sailed from FLL and flown out of of MIA. For our last cruise out of FLL, we actually flew into PBI and took the Brightline train to FLL (Less than 40 minutes and a fun ride). I lump all of these airports and ports into one. Port Everglade's proximity to the FLL airport wouldn't be a deciding factor for me.  

 

OP: Do consider Uber if you'll be cruising from MIA and flying out of FLL. Super easy to get one and usually cheaper than a shuttle or a taxi. When we sailed on MSC Divina out of Miami, we took an Uber to FLL. It was waiting for us a minute after requesting it. We got there so fast that we were able to standby on an 8:45am flight home. 

Edited October 7, 2020 by Tapi

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35 minutes ago, Tapi said:

Personally, I would consider the move from FLL to MIA inconsequential. There are several times when I've sailed from MIA and flown in and out of FLL. Other times, I've sailed from FLL and flown out of of MIA. For our last cruise out of FLL, we actually flew into PBI and took the Brightline train to FLL (Less than 40 minutes and a fun ride). I lump all of these airports and ports into one. Port Everglade's proximity to the FLL airport wouldn't be a deciding factor for me.  

 

OP: Do consider Uber if you'll be cruising from MIA and flying out of FLL. Super easy to get one and usually cheaper than a shuttle or a taxi. When we sailed on MSC Divina out of Miami, we took an Uber to FLL. It was waiting for us a minute after requesting it. We got there so fast that we were able to standby on an 8:45am flight home. 

Sometimes I forget just how lucky I am to have PBI, FLL and MIA all within an hour from me. You're right -- they really are all grouped into one including the ports. The Brightline is expanding here and its future looks interesting.

 

I'd also recommend Uber as it's very reliable in this market no matter the time of day.

[Gma&Gpa]

We were also booked on the Freedom for Oct 2021.  Got the message yesterday.  Our plan is actually to drive to Florida (from Virginia) and that extra 30 miles is no big deal.  I do think Miami is a beautiful port to cruise out of so I have no problem.  I was pleased to see the ports stayed the same.   And luckily, since it's a year out, none of us had made reservations for hotels (or the two that WILL be flying), flights.

[Georgie562]

With all these ships that have been sold for scrap, we can expect some serious "dancing of the ships"

[Tiger0613]

I booked Ft Lauderdale because I wanted to use the Global Entry line after the cruise.  Unless things have changed, I read somewhere on Cruise Critic that Miami only allowed you to skip to the front of a regular line.  A separate Global Entry line isn't that important in the end, but it was a small thing that I wanted.

 

Ft Lauderdale is also cheaper to get to by Amtrak.  My mom refuses to fly.

[evandbob]

If I booked FLL and was moved to MIA, I might inquire at Carnival if there was a similar or newer class ship left in FLL with the same or similar itinerary and cabin type that I could move my reservation to.  I imagine they wouldn't be a fee for such a move.  If not, then c'est la vie, but there was a reason why I wanted FLL and not MIA as the home port.

 

I have flown to both from NY, and I have driven to each since moving to SWFL.  Miami is certainly a longer drive, with more traffic and construction deIays in that extra 1/2 hour.   I would never fly to one port if I was leaving from the other, not my idea of a fun way to start a vacation.  Sure it can be done, but why make it harder?

 

As far as Global Entry, I've used dedicated G.E. lines at Customs exiting the ship at both ports, and at both airports as well.  If I use Diamond early walkoff, G. E. sometimes isn't even manned then and it's just as easy to use a regular line.  I've gotten to both the MIA and FLL airports so early that each place was deserted when I arrived 8AM that GE wasn't needed going through security to the gate.  Get there later, say after 10am, and GE is quite helpful.

 

 

[Cinnamon2]

15 minutes ago, evandbob said:

If I booked FLL and was moved to MIA, I might inquire at Carnival if there was a similar or newer class ship left in FLL with the same or similar itinerary and cabin type that I could move my reservation to.

There are no Carnival ships sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale through March 2023, according to Carnival's web site right now.  Believe me, the first thing I considered was moving to another cruise.  The biggest criteria for booking this cruise was leaving from Port Everglades because we had such a good experience last time.  If we end up flying Southwest we will fly into FLL and shuttle to the cruise port.  If we use another airline, whether we fly into FLL or MIA will depend on price and times.  Cruise isn't until January 2022 so we won't be booking flights until next summer.

[ProgRockCruiser]

3 hours ago, Georgie562 said:

With all these ships that have been sold for scrap, we can expect some serious "dancing of the ships"

It has already started.  Carnival pulled out of sailing from San Juan, Puerto Rico when Fascination got yanked.  They've pretty well abandoned Port Everglades / Fort Lauderdale - no cruises to book out of there right now.  I don't know if Carnival is done moving things around, but I would not be surprised to see it continue with little shifts here and there over the next year while they figure out how to resume cruising, and from where, and to where.