Is 11:20 too early to book a flt home from Fort Lauderdale?

[ultrablue]

We are booking our own air fares. Coming back from Fort Lauderdale , is a flt at 11:20 too early? Would like to know if anyone had trouble getting off the ship early? The next flt is more money and not until 1:30pm.

[kywildcatfanone]

You will get lots of replies telling you the standard answer is not to book a flight before noon out of FLL, but in general terms you should be fine with an 11:20am flight. The airport is only a couple of miles from the cruise terminal, and it only takes a few minutes to get there.

 

Your biggest concern should be when the ship begins to allow disembarkment. Just because it's supposed to start at 7am, doesn't mean that it will. Any number of issues can cause delays, customs, weather, etc. I've never had a problem, and have been at the airport in plenty of time for a 11:05 am flight, but you do have to consider the possibilities.

 

I always feel better if my last stop on the ship is Princess Cays, it's not too far from the port and therefore less likely for returning late.

 

Most likely, you won't have any problems.

 

Mike

[mii]

As the above poster mentioned it can be done but another thing to consider. If your ship comes back on the weekend when alot of ships are disembarking that means a whole lot of people are trying to get to the airport. Been there done that. So try and find out how many ships will be in port on that day.

 

Marilyn

[Stevesan]

Unless your ship's arrival is significantly delayed, which is rare at Ft Lauderdale, you should be fine.

 

For insurance, pack so that you can utilize "Express Disembarkation". You'll be in the first group off.

 

If there's a large crowd in the cruise terminal, grab a porter to take your luggage. Not because you can't handle it, but because he'll take you directly to a taxi, thus avoiding the taxi line. It can be long and near riotous :D .

 

I've gotten to FLL before 9:00AM when the lines are short, but they can become ginormous after 10:00.

[ggprincess2004]

You shoiuld have plenty of time. Plan to take a taxi, not the ship transfer. A taxi is not any more expensive, and they will drop you directly in front of your airline check in - the transfer bus will not. It's only a 7 or 8 minute trip.

Also, preprint your boarding pass, as most airlines have curbside check-in at FLL, but some only for baggage. Plan on using it. You cannot check luggage in more than 3 hours or so ahead of flight time, so you might not even need self-disembark. Princess will put you in one of the earlier groups anyway.

Do get a porter, and tell him/her you want a taxi, not a shared van.

You will beat the majority of cruise passengers to the airport, and security lines at FLL usually move very swiftly, so you should have no problem.

 

Do not dispair if the ship isn't cleared quite promptly - you can still do this even if you don't get to the airport until 9:30 or 9:45 very easily, and probably even later.

[Toto2Kansas]

We are booking our own air fares. Coming back from Fort Lauderdale , is a flt at 11:20 too early? Would like to know if anyone had trouble getting off the ship early? The next flt is more money and not until 1:30pm.

 

11:20 is exactly what we try for when booking our return flights. Never before 11:00 and with a flight at 11:20, you will usually still have about an hour or more to twidle your thumbs until boarding for home. I would grab it up in a split second while it is still available.

[cruizecrazygramma]

We had a 10am flight last feb. and although we had to rush, we made it just fine. We used the Princess transportation to the airport which took longer because you have to wait for the bus to fill up and all the luggage loaded before you can leave and again when you arrive at the airport you have to wait for all luggage to be unloaded which also took awhile. I would suggest with an early flight that you take a taxi to the airport.

[vmom]

We had an 11:20 flight out of FLL this last Dec. and made it with no problems. We took the second wave of walk-offs which is scheduled to be at 7:45, but was closer to 8:15.

 

The airport is very close to the port, so making an early flight is easier from FLL than other ports.

[Tak8]

I have made flights out of Ft. Lauderdale twice with that time frame. As long as you don't run into any problems, you will be fine.

[Colo Cruiser]

No problem. :)

[wubbat]

We did the 745 AM walkoff on 30 Dec..........we were at the airport at 810Am......

[MercedMike]

Most likely you will be fine -- BUT -- what is your backup plan? What if you miss yours and can't get on the later one?

 

When you travel, stuff happens. The ship can be delayed getting docked. Immigration can get sticky and delay clearance. Your bags can be misplaced and you have to search for them. The taxi line can be long. Traffic can jam up. The security line at the airport can be going slow. Stuff happens.

 

Go ahead and book it -- but please, don't be one of those people who comes on the board after the cruise and says "PRINCESS MADE ME MISS MY FLIGHT!!!" If you choose to take a chance, realize you are taking a chance.

 

Me -- I book FLL flights for 1 PM or later. Frequently I wind up sitting around twiddling my thumbs.

[t&kwelburn]

What happens if they miss that flight?

[vmom]

What happens if they miss that flight?

 

I think they need to ask the airlines that question.

 

I called Southwest and was told they would try to fly me standby on the next few flights (fat chance of getting on standby with all the cruise ships coming in with passengers) or fly me out later in the day. I was made to understand that if I could not get on one of the flights earlier in the afternoon standby, I might have to pay an increased fare to schedule something later.

[geoherb]

We made it to the airport early after our Emerald Christmas cruise. I tried to get on to the earlier flight (10:45) that was going to our hometown, but Delta wanted $100 to change our tickets. We waited in the airport about five hours instead for our 2:20 flight.

[TexBear]

As the above poster mentioned it can be done but another thing to consider. If your ship comes back on the weekend when alot of ships are disembarking that means a whole lot of people are trying to get to the airport. Been there done that. So try and find out how many ships will be in port on that day.

 

Marilyn

 

There's always this site: www.cruisecal.com to tell you what ships will be (or are scheduled for) your port on a particular day.

 

James

[dutchess43]

I had an 11:40 out of FT Lauderdale in Feb & made it with plenty of time to spare. Do not book Princess transfers because you have to wait until the bus is full(has happened to us) before they pull out. Make sure that you are in the group that is the very first passengers leaving the ship, get a porter & get him to get your taxi. This is the quickest way to get going.

[dutchess43]

I had an 11:40 out of FT Lauderdale in Feb & made it with plenty of time to spare. Do not book Princess transfers because you have to wait until the bus is full(has happened to us) before they pull out. Make sure that you are in the group that is the very first passengers leaving the ship, get a porter & get him to get your taxi. This is the quickest way to get going.