Early disembarkation?

[Sarahlou]

I'm booked onto a 3 night cruise on the RCL Majesty of the Sea in early Sept whilst my partner goes off to a Sci-Fi convention (!). I need to leave the ship ASAP in Miami as our flight is booked for 10.15am so I'll need to be at the airport at 8.30am or thereabouts. Couple of questions - roughly how far/long is it from Miami Pier to the airport and how easy is it to arrange to be first off the ship?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[musicmansmom]

my advice--get a later flight. you will never make it. there might be hold ups getting off the ship ( a passenger that hasnt paid his bill, an immigration issue , or the ship might even get into port late ). then you have to get your bags, grab a cab and get to the airport. i dont know how long it takes to get to the airport without a traffic back-up, then you have to get through it to your gate. IMO no-way are you not going to make it. pay any fees to get a later flight.

[Cnote]

I agree to get a later flight. Any kind of delay will make you miss the flight. Went on a cruise last year (left from Texas) and we had to wait because there were guest on the ship that like had warrants or something, so the police or whoever came to escort them off, then we had to wait for the customs people. That took like 45 minutes, I think because we had to wait until the dogs sniffed luggage before they would let us off and for some reason going thru customs was slow. I didn't get off the ship until around 10 and I was in the early disembarkment group.

 

I now try not to get a flight leaving before 12.

[kitty9]

As someone who just recently flew out of the Miami Airport after a cruise, I honestly tell you there's no way you're goint to make that flight, and you most certainly won't ever make it to the airport by 8:30. Miami is the worst airport I've ever flown out of, in terms of being crowded and insanely unorganized. Bejing was better organized than Miami. Realize this: there are so many things that go wrong when you try and disembark a ship and if even one thing happens, which you can usually count on, you might not start leaving the ship until after 9am. I don't know of any line that begins allowing passengers off the ship until at least 8:15 or later. Then you have to find your luggage, stand in a long line for US Customs, find your transportation, fight traffic to the airport which can take 30 minutes, stand in a long line to check your bags---and it could be longer if you're in coach---, and then stand in another long line for security---this last time the wait time for security was 42 minutes. Every cruise line tells their passengers not to book any flight before noon, and even better if it were after 1pm.

[Sarahlou]

Thanks for the advice - I'll change the flight so!

[wrp96]

Okay, this is weird that I'm saying it (as somebody who once missed an 11:40 flight after a cruise in Miami), you could possibly make that flight. IF:

 

you carry your own bags off the ship AND you are in line to get off the ship before they even start calling the self-disembark group that way you are the first person off the ship AND you have a car service waiting to take you to the airport AND you checked in online for your flight before you left the ship.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Okay, this is weird that I'm saying it (as somebody who once missed an 11:40 flight after a cruise in Miami), you could possibly make that flight. IF:

 

you carry your own bags off the ship AND you are in line to get off the ship before they even start calling the self-disembark group that way you are the first person off the ship AND you have a car service waiting to take you to the airport AND you checked in online for your flight before you left the ship.

 

I'll add one more caveat--IF there are little or no traffic tie ups on the expressway to Miami International AND you meet all of WRP96's other criteria for success.

[wrp96]

I'll add one more caveat--IF there are little or no traffic tie ups on the expressway to Miami International AND you meet all of WRP96's other criteria for success.

 

Hey, I didn't say that it was probable that they would make it even if everything I said happened, I just said it was possible.

[Sarahlou]

Thanks for all the advice - I've managed to change to a 1pm flight - I know I wouldn't have enjoyed the cruise otherwise as I'd have been worrying about the flight.

 

Thanks again.

[wrp96]

Good idea, you'll feel a lot better, and not so rushed. If you do get off the ship in time, depending on your airline, you may be able to fly standby on that earlier flight, but if you had missed that earlier flight, it's a lot harder to get a standby seat on a later flight.