flight home last day of cruise

[nancy1031]

haven't flown out oif miami in years- is a 1pm flight too early - how congested is miami airport- yrs ago they had a special area for crusie passengers only

[Essiesmom]

1pm is fine.  Quite busy, never seen a special area for cruisers.  EM

[Lois R]

Hi, I agree. 1 is fine and I have flown out of Miami multiple times (most recently back in January). There is no special area for cruisers. You will go through the same process as everyone else who is flying.

[nancy1031]

what would be the earliest to book a flight- cruise line always booked the flights-

[mammajamma2013]

1 minute ago, nancy1031 said:

what would be the earliest to book a flight- cruise line always booked the flights-

As crazy as things get at airports, I wouldn't book any earlier.

[ColeThornton]

12 minutes ago, nancy1031 said:

what would be the earliest to book a flight- cruise line always booked the flights-

 

 

Many people on the forums use 1200 as a rule of thumb for Miami.   People have been known to make flights much earlier but why stress getting an early flight after a nice relaxing cruise.  Also, Saturday mornings can be a zoo at MIA airport.

[LHT28]

50 minutes ago, nancy1031 said:

what would be the earliest to book a flight- cruise line always booked the flights-

Are you from UK??

 

 

[nancy1031]

no from cleveland ohio - alot of flights have been cut or leave mia by 10am or so - hoping rates come down a bit more (even thought of using fort lauderdale because flights are cheaper but would end up spending alot of $$ on uber or a cab)

 

[CruiserBruce]

54 minutes ago, nancy1031 said:

no from cleveland ohio - alot of flights have been cut or leave mia by 10am or so - hoping rates come down a bit more (even thought of using fort lauderdale because flights are cheaper but would end up spending alot of $$ on uber or a cab)

 

Highly unlikely prices will come down. The cheaper fare buckets are the first to be sold. And demand is climbing rapidly.

[2wheelin]

Flying out of MIA last Dec, stood in long line and then just as getting to the front was told by staff we should have gone "downstairs" to the cruise checkin. The cruiseline buses apparently drop off there.

[LHT28]

2 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

Flying out of MIA last Dec, stood in long line and then just as getting to the front was told by staff we should have gone "downstairs" to the cruise checkin. The cruiseline buses apparently drop off there.

I did not know  they would check you in for flights  there?

 is it a recent  (post covid)  thing ?

 

We usually fly AC & not too much of  a line up ( pre covid)  I am hoping that it is still the same this fall

[Lois R]

22 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I did not know  they would check you in for flights  there?

 is it a recent  (post covid)  thing ?

 

We usually fly AC & not too much of  a line up ( pre covid)  I am hoping that it is still the same this fall

I would like to know as well. Is this only when arriving on a cruiseline transfer or something? I flew home from the Miami Airport in Jan and went through the regular old line with other AA passengers. I did not arrive at the airport via the cruiseline. Actually a friend picked me up at the port and dropped me at the airport.

[nancy1031]

do you have to buy roundtrip transfers from the cruise line (carnival ) or can i buy just a return transfer (flying  in a day before the cruise)

[Lois R]

25 minutes ago, nancy1031 said:

do you have to buy roundtrip transfers from the cruise line (carnival ) or can i buy just a return transfer (flying  in a day before the cruise)

Hi, I don't know what Carnival does but I have purchased one way transfers before with other cruiselines before. I am pretty sure they accept whatever $ you will pay though. R/T or one way, I would guess you can do either one.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

On 5/26/2023 at 1:32 PM, nancy1031 said:

no from cleveland ohio - alot of flights have been cut or leave mia by 10am or so - hoping rates come down a bit more (even thought of using fort lauderdale because flights are cheaper but would end up spending alot of $$ on uber or a cab)

 

 

58 minutes ago, nancy1031 said:

do you have to buy roundtrip transfers from the cruise line (carnival ) or can i buy just a return transfer (flying  in a day before the cruise)

With Carnival, the airport transfers are sold as port excursions. On the port excursions page, you would click day 1 for transfers to the port, and the last day of your cruise for transfers from the port. You actually have to buy them as one way transfers, there is no round trip option.

 

I wouldn't dismiss Fort Lauderdale so readily.  How many people are you?  What's the flight difference?  Transfers from Fort Lauderdale really aren't that much more, probably a lot less of a per person difference than you are seeing with flights.  Price out a few shuttle companies to get an idea. Hotels in Fort Lauderdale are also generally cheaper than Miami (at least on my date). Also, when I was comparing, I found more FLL hotels that offered free transfers from the airport than MIA. Really, the only advantage of Miami over Fort Lauderdale is the shorter drive to the port (unless you are planning to spend time in Miami).

 

If you get a later flight, Carnival has a combo excursions and airport transfer, which I thought was reasonably priced. We're doing the Everglades tour with airport transfer.  

 

For our family of 5, the difference in flights going into FLL instead of MIA was well over $700. We opted for a private shuttle to the port, instead of a shared shuttle, so that will be $263, (including tip) - we wanted to be able to choose a pick up time. Everglades + FLL transfer was $294. Everglades tickets are $30 each, so taking off the $150, leaves $144 for the transfer.  Even with our private shuttle and including the Everglades cost, we still are spending quite a bit less than a flight to Miami would have cost.

 

 

[BoozinCroozin]

You are going to get a lot of differing advice. You have to decide what your family is willing to do and can live with the consequences. The net is if the cruise ports and debarks as scheduled, you can do self-assist with passport and literally walk to a taxi or Uber by 7:45 and be on the road. Many many people on Celebration make it to FLL by 8:15-8:30AM. The only thing you really have to worry about is something that would delay getting to port (affects almost everyone anyway) or there is a medical emergency. 99% of the time, even an 11AM flight is easily made. It is whether you can manage standby for that 1%.

[Cthy651]

What is the earliest flight you would recommend to Toronto - our flight has just been changed to 11:10am - is this doable??

[BoozinCroozin]

15 hours ago, Cthy651 said:

What is the earliest flight you would recommend to Toronto - our flight has just been changed to 11:10am - is this doable??

Its doable but depends on when debarkation starts really. To do it safely, you need to do self assist (take your luggage with you), obviously use passport since it is Toronto, and if there is a TSA precheck equivalent for Canadians that can be used in the US, that helps as well. Either way, you should still be fine getting to the airport about 8:15. But, anything can happen and delay getting off the ship.