What time for flight out of FLL

[WCS Dancer]

We are taking an eastern Caribbean cruise next year out of Fort Lauderdale on the Emerald. It will complete the cruise at 7:00AM on a Sunday.

 

We are trying to decide what time to catch a flight out of FLL back to KC. Questions:

 

1. How early a flight can we safely book? 9AM, 10AM, later?

2. If we decide to take a later flight, say at 3:30PM, how late can we leave the ship. Can we get some breakfast before we leave?

 

Thanks,

Gene

[Toto2Kansas]

We are taking an eastern Caribbean cruise next year out of Fort Lauderdale on the Emerald. It will complete the cruise at 7:00AM on a Sunday.

 

We are trying to decide what time to catch a flight out of FLL back to KC. Questions:

 

1. How early a flight can we safely book? 9AM, 10AM, later?

2. If we decide to take a later flight, say at 3:30PM, how late can we leave the ship. Can we get some breakfast before we leave?

 

Thanks,

Gene

 

A safe time for flights is around 11:00 AM or after, I think Princess suggestion is after 12:00 but we have never had problems making a flight out of FLL around 11:00. Not sure I would book one any sooner than that. NO WAY a 9 AM flight, you would never make it to the gate in time with clearing customs, getting to the airport and going through security. Even 10:00 would be too early.

Remember, they need to totally clear the ship before the new passengers can board, so about the latest you can be onboard is around 9:30 AM normally.

 

Also keep in mind that Princess will offer tours for those with later flights to the Everglades and another tour that escapes me right now. They have a minimum number that needs to book these but they take you from the ship, with your luggage on the bus, to the tour, and then drop you off at the airport later on. Times for tours for those with later flight times will be available onboard towards the end of your cruise.

[Kineticoh20]

We are taking an eastern Caribbean cruise next year out of Fort Lauderdale on the Emerald. It will complete the cruise at 7:00AM on a Sunday.

 

We are trying to decide what time to catch a flight out of FLL back to KC. Questions:

 

1. How early a flight can we safely book? 9AM, 10AM, later?

2. If we decide to take a later flight, say at 3:30PM, how late can we leave the ship. Can we get some breakfast before we leave?

 

Thanks,

Gene

 

We are on the same cruise, we fly out at 1 pm. That way we are in no hurry and can take our time getting off. Nothing worse than after a great holiday, stressing and rushing to make a flight.

[JimnKaren]

We have done this. Book the flight that is most appropriate. If you get to the airport early, ask if there are any seats on an earlier flight. Generally there is a fee, but it might allow you to get out of town earlier. Biggest problem with that is whether you have a connecting flight after departing FLL.

 

Jim

[judbusluc]

If you do walk off.....you can be at your airport gate before 8:15am. We have easily made a 9:01am and a 9:14am flight...both on a Sunday at FLL. No stress at all....just do walk off, get a taxi and you are off. Remember you will be at the airport before the crowds so getting through security is a breeze.

[Pam in CA]

If you do walk off.....you can be at your airport gate before 8:15am. We have easily made a 9:01am and a 9:14am flight...both on a Sunday at FLL. No stress at all....just do walk off, get a taxi and you are off. Remember you will be at the airport before the crowds so getting through security is a breeze.

The stress you'll have is if: a) the ship isn't cleared for disembarkation until 9am or later; b) there are no cabs available; c) it takes an hour to check in at FLL and another 30 - 45 minutes to go through Security; etc. I've seen and experienced all of these disembarking at FLL so for someone to advise you that you can make a 9am flight is a bit disingenuous. Even if you lug all of your bags off yourself, you will not be allowed to leave the ship until it's cleared by the port authorities and that comes with no guarantees. If absolutely everything goes right, there are no hold-ups at FLL, and the stars are in alignment, yes, you can make an early flight but there are so many things that could delay you that are out of your control that I would never, ever book a flight earlier than 11am. FLL is notorious for check-in and security delays. Just ask anyone who flies out of there regularly.

[cacy6893076]

You cannot go by the eta of the ship, because the ship may not be cleared for customes untill 8:00-8:30, I belive no earlier than 10 30 am is the suggested time. 11:00, as toto says sounds better to me, remember you still have to go through security at the airport so if customs clears at 8:30, that would leave you 2 hours to get to the airport and go through security, I am not sure about fll but in denver security clearance in the main terminal is running at least one hour , but that is a larger airport. I like to take the wrost case scenario, I am nervous enough when flying that I don't want to start panicking in the security line.

[willysgrandma]

The stress you'll have is if: a) the ship isn't cleared for disembarkation until 9am or later; b) there are no cabs available; c) it takes an hour to check in at FLL and another 30 - 45 minutes to go through Security; etc. I've seen and experienced all of these disembarking at FLL so for someone to advise you that you can make a 9am flight is a bit disingenuous. Even if you lug all of your bags off yourself, you will not be allowed to leave the ship until it's cleared by the port authorities and that comes with no guarantees. If absolutely everything goes right, there are no hold-ups at FLL, and the stars are in alignment, yes, you can make an early flight but there are so many things that could delay you that are out of your control that I would never, ever book a flight earlier than 11am. FLL is notorious for check-in and security delays. Just ask anyone who flies out of there regularly.

 

Well stated. We never book before noon, regardless of the airport.

 

I've been on two cruises in which the cruise prior to ours had delayed disembarkation - once in San Juan because they did not have Customs personnel available and people were still disembarking at 1 PM.

 

And once in Miami when someone found an unaccompanied bag sitting at the pier and the entire cruise port was closed down for two hours until the bomb squad could get the bag out and opened.

 

I've learned things like that WILL cause you to miss a very early flight. Do yourself a favor and don't book anything earlier than 11:30.

[cruise365 24/7]

We are taking an eastern Caribbean cruise next year out of Fort Lauderdale on the Emerald. It will complete the cruise at 7:00AM on a Sunday.

 

We are trying to decide what time to catch a flight out of FLL back to KC. Questions:

 

1. How early a flight can we safely book? 9AM, 10AM, later?

2. If we decide to take a later flight, say at 3:30PM, how late can we leave the ship. Can we get some breakfast before we leave?

 

Thanks,

Gene

 

 

Last cruise we were on there was a bomb scare (unattended suitcase) and that delayed us getting off the ship by 3 hours. Our flight was not until 3pm so we were ok, but if our flight was any time before 1pm we would have been out of luck, better to book a later flight.

[Lynda90]

I have an 11AM flight out of FLL. I would much rather have booked later if given a choice. Unfortunately, that is the latest flight out for me. So it was either that one or stay another night in FLL. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that things work out.

[Flyer]

The last time I checked with Princess they told me to make flight reservations out of Ft Lauderdale not earlier than 10:30. I currently have a flight scheduled out at 11:05 and the Cruise personalizer accepted it as being ok.

 

On the other hand on a transatlantic we were late in arriving and I was on deck and watched our flight takeoff as we were approaching to dock.

 

I'm comfortable with the 11:05 but any earlier and I'd be concerned.

[Pam in CA]

I have an 11AM flight out of FLL. I would much rather have booked later if given a choice. Unfortunately, that is the latest flight out for me. So it was either that one or stay another night in FLL. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that things work out.

Except for very unusual circumstances, such as a bomb threat, you should make an 11am flight out of FLL. I've disembarked in FLL, had the ship delayed disembarkation until almost 9:30am, had a 30-minute wait to check in outside plus Security and still made an 11:20am flight.

[WCS Dancer]

Thanks for the many responses. However, almost everyone only responded to the first question - how early can we safely book a flight.

 

I'd also like to know, if we book a flight at say 4PM, how long can we stay/relax on the ship? Can we get breakfast or maybe even an early lunch on Sunday?

 

We don't like getting up early anyway, and I figure we'd rather hang around the ship for a few extra hours than at the airport. However, I assume they want people out of the way so they can get the ship ready for the next gaggle of passengers.

 

Thanks again for all the informed replies!

[chrysalis]

They want you off the ship as soon as possible....there is no way for an "early lunch"....as someone suggested, you might be able to push it until 9:30, but I would not count on it.

 

You will be assigned a time to get off the ship, and expected to do so.

[WCS Dancer]

Oooops. Moron!

 

I just read through the responses again and I see that Toto already said that 9:30AM is about the latest we can expect to remain on the ship. So that really answers my last question.

[wrp96]

What you should do if you book a late flight is take advantage of the late flight to see some of Ft. Lauderdale. Look for a post cruise excursion (for example, an Everglades tour) or book a rental car for the day and go shopping or to the beach.

[DrivesLikeMario]

It gets a bit difficult to stay on the ship past about 9:30am. The crew gets anxious to clean, they start staring at you and wondernig why you're still onboard. You can't be in your cabin and the public areas are cleared out. With some other cruise lines, it's not a problem, but with Princess, they like to 'get the lead out' with their cleaning & prepping.

 

If you want to do the later flight, go to Everglades Holiday Park for a tour. We really enjoyed our airboat ride there.

[tequilasunrise]

A safe time for flights is around 11:00 AM or after, I think Princess suggestion is after 12:00 but we have never had problems making a flight out of FLL around 11:00. Not sure I would book one any sooner than that. NO WAY a 9 AM flight, you would never make it to the gate in time with clearing customs, getting to the airport and going through security. Even 10:00 would be too early.

Remember, they need to totally clear the ship before the new passengers can board, so about the latest you can be onboard is around 9:30 AM normally.

 

Also keep in mind that Princess will offer tours for those with later flights to the Everglades and another tour that escapes me right now. They have a minimum number that needs to book these but they take you from the ship, with your luggage on the bus, to the tour, and then drop you off at the airport later on. Times for tours for those with later flight times will be available onboard towards the end of your cruise.

 

The other tour is a boat tour looking at homes of the rich and famous on Ft. Lauderdale's canals. They used to also have a butterfly tour but cancelled it due to lack of interest (too bad, I was going to book that one next time).

 

They will take you to either FLL or Miami airports after tour, be sure you book the right one. It's nice, they lock your luggage in the bus so you don't have to worry about it while you enjoy your time in Fort Lauderdale.

[southbayer]

Well when I got back to port from my CB cruise, I thought i had a perfect flight plan back to L.A.

 

Turns out, without anything special, asking to leave the ship early, I got off the ship in a normal fashion, hailed a cab quik, and was at FLL Airport at 8:35am! My flight didn't leave until 1:15pm.

 

I had thought that debarkation was similiar to Carnival, which I had always debarked at about 10-11am. Needless to say, I had a long long wait. Kudos to Princess for the normal speedy debarkation.

We are taking an eastern Caribbean cruise next year out of Fort Lauderdale on the Emerald. It will complete the cruise at 7:00AM on a Sunday.

 

We are trying to decide what time to catch a flight out of FLL back to KC. Questions:

 

1. How early a flight can we safely book? 9AM, 10AM, later?

2. If we decide to take a later flight, say at 3:30PM, how late can we leave the ship. Can we get some breakfast before we leave?

 

Thanks,

Gene