The latest you'd feel comfortable arriving on the day of the cruise

[lovin2cruise123]

We're going out of Miami and our cruise leaves at 4pm. Is getting in at 1:20, pushing it?

 

What about the day of departure... it says our ship gets in at 8 am... would we be able to make a 11 am flight out of Miami?

 

Thanks in advance! :)

[wrp96]

I'm assuming that you are asking if a flight that arrives at MIA at 1:20 pm would be pushing it. If so, then yes IMO that would be too tight. Coming in day of cruise, I would want a flight that lands no later than noon at MIA, even earlier at FLL. For a 4pm departure, Carnival (and the Department of Homeland Security) require you to be checked in and onboard the ship no later than 3pm (2:30 pm if you do not fill out your FunPass in advance). Assuming you've filled out your paperwork, that only leaves 1 hour and 40 minutes to land, get off the plane, get your baggage, get ground transportation, and get to the pier. Last time I flew into MIA it took over 1.5 hours to get the bags alone and it is a 20-30 minute taxi ride to the pier.

 

As to the return flight, 11am should be okay as long as you self disembark and don't dawdle getting to the airport.

[lovin2cruise123]

I thought so.

Hmmm, back to the drawing board for flights. haha! Thanks for your input! :)

[eandj]

We're going out of Miami and our cruise leaves at 4pm. Is getting in at 1:20, pushing it?

 

What about the day of departure... it says our ship gets in at 8 am... would we be able to make a 11 am flight out of Miami?

 

Thanks in advance! :)

 

 

For sure, both are too tight for my liking. Especially your arrival date. :eek: I prefer not to be stressed. In order to do those flights, everything would have to move as smoothly as possible. In this day and age of flight cancelations and delays...I'd rather not risk it.

[ecclectic-eccentric]

As difficult as it is for me to get an extra day off, not to mention the potentially significant cost of a hotel in Miami, I will STILL fly in the day before. I didn't quite learn that lesson the hard way, but close enough. On our first cruise, we gave ourselves what we thought was a decent time cushion, but still wound up sprinting through Miami airport then scrambling for a cab, in order to just make it to our ship in time.

 

For our next cruise, I almost backed out on my promise to myself to always fly in a day ahead when I saw a non-stop flight available, but then I remembered how totally anxious and uptight I was while circling Miami airport (seemingly endlessly), thinking that we were going to miss the ship. Trust me, that is not the greatest way to start your vacation!

 

ee

[VOLLEYBALLDUDE2000]

do yourself a favour - go the day before - way less stressful. For your return i usually tell my clients not to book before 12.30 pm out of Miami

[w&k]

... and if you actually consider flying the same day, search the Royal Caribbean board for 'Pulling a Jamie'. It's the same-day flight saga of a cruise passenger.

 

After the first 2 years flying to San Juan where we spent two full days wasted in airports for a 2-hour direct flight (our minimum delay was 4 hours), we went two days early this year.

 

Next year, we're going out with Princess out of FLL, so we don't have to fly. And our Canadian cruise buddies are doing the land portion of their trip first, as they almost missed the ship twice, starting two days early.

 

Fly in the day before, and relax. If you plan on flying out before noon, be prepared to debark early, carrying all your own stuff.

 

Have a great trip!

 

Wendy