Disembarking in Ft. Lauderdale and time to get to airport

[MaxFan]

We are scheduled to sail the Classic Panama Canal Passage this December, which ends in Ft. Lauderdale. The ship is scheduled to arrive at 6 am. We are making our own flight reservations. Viking is saying not to schedule a flight out of Ft. Lauderdale before 11 am. They said 11 am is the earliest time that we could take a flight. On our last cruise, Viking had us at the airport in Venice 5 hours early! It was a very long wait. The best flight for us is a non-stop that leaves Ft. Lauderdale at 9:45 am; is it reasonable to expect that Viking would have us at the airport in plenty of time for a domestic flight that leaves earlier than 11? Thank you. 

[miami mama]

The cruise terminal and the airport are very close to one another. If you take a cab from the port to the terminal you should not have any problems. However, that is totally dependent upon the ship docking at 6:00 am and having clearance for people to leave the ship at that time. 

[CCWineLover]

42 minutes ago, MaxFan said:

We are scheduled to sail the Classic Panama Canal Passage this December, which ends in Ft. Lauderdale. The ship is scheduled to arrive at 6 am. We are making our own flight reservations. Viking is saying not to schedule a flight out of Ft. Lauderdale before 11 am. They said 11 am is the earliest time that we could take a flight. On our last cruise, Viking had us at the airport in Venice 5 hours early! It was a very long wait. The best flight for us is a non-stop that leaves Ft. Lauderdale at 9:45 am; is it reasonable to expect that Viking would have us at the airport in plenty of time for a domestic flight that leaves earlier than 11? Thank you. 

I personally wouldn’t chance it.  You will have long lines in customs and these days long lines at FLL.  Having done thi multiple times, I see why Viking says 11 am.

then you also have the ship arrival issue. The Mars was late arriving today from the Panama cruise.  Noon instead of 6 am.  So be prepared!

[MaxFan]

27 minutes ago, miami mama said:

The cruise terminal and the airport are very close to one another. If you take a cab from the port to the terminal you should not have any problems. However, that is totally dependent upon the ship docking at 6:00 am and having clearance for people to leave the ship at that time. 

Yes, the proximity is tempting. You're right about the timing, though.

[MaxFan]

13 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

I personally wouldn’t chance it.  You will have long lines in customs and these days long lines at FLL.  Having done thi multiple times, I see why Viking says 11 am.

then you also have the ship arrival issue. The Mars was late arriving today from the Panama cruise.  Noon instead of 6 am.  So be prepared!

I really appreciate the info, esp that the Mars was late! I guess I better look for flights later than 9:45.

[CurlerRob]

1 hour ago, MaxFan said:

We are scheduled to sail the Classic Panama Canal Passage this December, which ends in Ft. Lauderdale. The ship is scheduled to arrive at 6 am. We are making our own flight reservations. Viking is saying not to schedule a flight out of Ft. Lauderdale before 11 am. They said 11 am is the earliest time that we could take a flight. On our last cruise, Viking had us at the airport in Venice 5 hours early! It was a very long wait. The best flight for us is a non-stop that leaves Ft. Lauderdale at 9:45 am; is it reasonable to expect that Viking would have us at the airport in plenty of time for a domestic flight that leaves earlier than 11? Thank you. 

 

I would strongly encourage you to heed the cruise lines' counsel - in this case, not to book prior to 11am. They all base their advice on their experiences over time.

 

These boards are full of screaming pax that chose to go against the cruise lines' advice on many issues. When it ended badly, they blame the line. While FLL is very close by, as noted by the others, all kinds of things can happen - why take the risk of sullying a great trip by courting a departure day problem?

 

Just an example - a recent cruise ended in NYC. Arrival time was 0700. Between docking, clearance, disembarkation and a multi-hour lineup for customs (they were woefully understaffed), we finally made it to JFK about 1pm!

 

If the non-stop flight is attractive and you are able, you might consider staying overnight in Ft. Lauderdale and flying the next day. If that's not practical, I'd suggest a later flight. Good luck! 🍺🥌

[ohiojohn]

I agree with not scheduling a flight before 11am, yes it can be done but sh_t happens.  I just got off the Viking Star today Oct 24. Today was a Tuesday with only Viking and a Princess 3,000+ passengers in port Everglades.   I used Viking Air and had a 11:31 Delta flight to LGA then on to Columbus Ohio. These flights made for a very long travel day to get home with a 3.5 layover at LGA.  This was doable as we would use the Delta Sky Lounge, and the Viking promotion included air at no cost.  One last item we probably have over 20 cruises disembarking at Port Everglades, so I know the port and FLL well.  Of these 20+ cruises sh_t never happened to me.  But this cruise it did, yes it did.  The cruise started from Montreal and ended 15 days later at Fort Lauderdale.

Nothing but great things to report on this cruise, HOWEVER……. ON Monday late morning we noticed the ship throttled back going very slowly, maybe 4 knots from 16 knots.  Monday was the day before disembarkation.  The captain made on announcement that we lost an engine and we will arrive late.  He also mentioned that passengers with Viking Air would also be re-routed automatically, and for independent travelers they should not arrange a flight leaving before 4pm at FLL or MIA.  So for the first time I  did not have control of the situation because I used Viking Air, and my travel agent could not help when I used Viking Air.

About 4 hours later we noticed the ship was back at 16-17 knots. I have an app that shows me this, called Marine Traffic.

So the ship docked around 11:30am, cleared quickly and independent travelers could disembark around noon.

Viking told us we could stay in our rooms till 10am, which was the same time Breakfast ended. Typically we would have to get up early to eat and be out of the room by 8am. Now back to Viking Air, they routed us on a direct Southwest flight leaving at 5pm, repeat a direct flight. Sorry for the long post, but wanted to provide a lot of data so individuals can understand anything can happen.  But for us everything ended as a better positive than negative.

Btw after getting our bags there was no immigration to go through, we just walked out of the terminal.  I guess we were on cameras using facial recognition, but just my guess.

Summary, a fantastic cruise, loved Montreal and Quebec City, food was great, ate at Manfredis 2x and ate at the Chefs table 4x, booked another cruise while on this cruise. 

[ericosmith]

You also need to consider the number of ships in port that day.  Large numbers will slow everything down at the airport.  Airfares there are highly dependent on ship arrivals and departures.  I've found that the difference in airfare can more than pay for the hotel room on certain days.

[MaxFan]

Thank you all so much. Each reply has added to our decision. All of you have been so helpful!

[island lady]

Yes, the airport is so close you can see it from the top deck.  

 

Is it possible things can go wrong?  Most definitely.   Weather delays (fog is a big one), medical delays (happens a lot with age group), Mechanical, etc.   We have had them all.  

 

No way would I book a flight earlier than 11 am, even being that close to the airport.  

[DrKoob]

On 10/24/2023 at 5:56 PM, MaxFan said:

We are scheduled to sail the Classic Panama Canal Passage this December, which ends in Ft. Lauderdale. The ship is scheduled to arrive at 6 am. We are making our own flight reservations. Viking is saying not to schedule a flight out of Ft. Lauderdale before 11 am. They said 11 am is the earliest time that we could take a flight. On our last cruise, Viking had us at the airport in Venice 5 hours early! It was a very long wait. The best flight for us is a non-stop that leaves Ft. Lauderdale at 9:45 am; is it reasonable to expect that Viking would have us at the airport in plenty of time for a domestic flight that leaves earlier than 11? Thank you. 

Even though it isn't far to the airport, just two weeks ago we were held on the ship by Customs until 8:45. Since you would need to be at the airport by 7:45. If you get held up, you could be in big trouble.

[PatriciaF]

Our first Viking cruise ended in Venice.  The port was completely fogged in.  We had planned to stay two nights, so airline flights were not a problem for me.  For those with Viking Air, not a problem for them.  Many had an extra hotel night due to the delays.  We were finally cleared to sail to Trieste and docked.  We were bused back to where the ship would have been docked.  We took the people mover back to the main transportation hub plaza, Piazzale Roma.  Our hotel was within 100 feet of the end of the people mover.  Some of our fellow passengers laughed as we walked into the parking basement (as we were instructed to do if we arrived after 7 PM) to check in.  But--the laugh was on them--lots of them never been in Venice before walking through the canals to find their romantic canal side hotel.  I wondered what time they finally got to their hotel.