11:15 flight

[durangoscots]

Unless something really out of the ordinary happens ... such as one of the ship's engines failing, reducing speed significantly, or another totally unpredictable delay, 11:15 a.m. is fine. You'll have no trouble whatsoever making that flight.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

Like happened to us with the Statendam this year. I would not risk it unless you are ready to fall back on plan B without getting an ulcer.

 

Susan

[retltrcrr]

to Mary

 

Changing to an earlier flight is more up to the agent than it is the airline. When you check in, and you need to have your bags with you, ask politely if there might be room available on an earlier flight. The agents are looking at the count on yours and later flights and it is usually to the airlines advantage to get people out as early in the day as possible due to delays that come later in the day. If your booked flight or any after you are in over sell status, they will gladly put you on an earlier flight to avoid paying over sell later in the day. So look for the agent that has a smile on their face and put one on yours. An upcharge is always a possibility, but many times they wave it if it is to their advantage to fill an earlier flight. We've bumped up many times, we took over sell many times, and we've been told no many times, but it never hurts to ask!

[sodomojo]

We did it last month - our flight was 11:10 and we actually had time to kill after going through the security. Make sure you're the first ones off the ship though.

[Susie51]

In FLL DH and I found the shuttle line was shorter also. We have tried expediated departure, but there were so many people waiting near the gangway to get off, that it was hard to manuever our luggage through the crowd. Anyone who came down the stairs or off of the elevator got in front of us. They were not carrying off all of their luggage so it was easy to tell they did not have expedited tags.

[DonMaryCar]

that is encouraging about changing flights retltrcrr. Will give it a whirl if we get to airport soon enough.

[suse]

You could always ask your cab driver to drive extra fast. I usually tell them I will give them a very, very good tip if they would drive slower. Works every time.:)

[rmglhorne]

Do the same conditions apply to Tampa Airport. Never flown out of Tampa. Is the airport closer to ship than FFL airport. We have 11.25 am booking to Lax. Ryndam due to dock at 7 am ,Looking at other comments it appears we should make it in plenty time.

[RuthC]

The Tampa airport is noticibly further away from the port than the Ft. Lauderdale airport is---I used both in February this year. :D

I would allow a half-hour for the cab ride in Tampa, but it might have been a bit less (it was a Sunday).

[Charles4515]

On our Jan 8 2010 departure from Ft. Lauderdale we having mid afternoon flight on American. Several of you have posted about getting a earlier flight once you get to airport. When you do this, where do you check for a chance at getting a earlier flight. I assume you don't check your luggage outside until you check on this. If you change flights does it usually result in a fee increase.

 

Thanks alot for any input. We are those people who usually book a safe flight then sit around the airport for 4-6 hrs waiting for that safe flight.

 

Mary

 

On American you ask the ticket agent to go standby on the earlier flight and they don't charge an extra fee. I have done this the last two years on American out of Miami in December and both times I got on an earlier flight. I would never book an 11:10 flight out of Miami because it is a zoo. But i even got on a 10:45 flight going standby. They mark your luggage with a standby tag and both times the luggage was on my flight. For Ft. Lauderdale 11:10 is probably okay since the airport is close to the port although I would probably not have booked anything before 11:30 myself. I have an 11:50 flight out of Ft. Lauderdale booked this December and not worried about that.

[sail7seas]

We came home from FLL December 20 this year. There were about 10 or 11 ships that came into Port Everglades on December 19 and 20. We had hoped to meet Laffnvegas and her DH for a quick hello but got nervous the airport would be a zoo and had better get moving. Disappointing we had to say impossible to Lisa as I had hoped for our meeting.

 

We had stayed one day post cruise and went to the airport in time to hopefully beat many of the crowds disembarking. The lines were so long to both check in and clear security (Jet Blue) that we never would have made an 11:10 flight by arriving at 8:30. Sure, it made a difference it was so close to Christmas and there had been snow in the northeast but nevertheless, it was good we went early and had time to deal with the lines.

 

[Terpnut]

We came home from FLL December 20 this year. There were about 10 or 11 ships that came into Port Everglades on December 19 and 20. We had hoped to meet Laffnvegas and her DH for a quick hello but got nervous the airport would be a zoo and had better get moving. Disappointing we had to say impossible to Lisa as I had hoped for our meeting.

 

We had stayed one day post cruise and went to the airport in time to hopefully beat many of the crowds disembarking. The lines were so long to both check in and clear security (Jet Blue) that we never would have made an 11:10 flight by arriving at 8:30. Sure, it made a difference it was so close to Christmas and there had been snow in the northeast but nevertheless, it was good we went early and had time to deal with the lines.

 

If one avoids the Thanksgiving or Christmas/New Year holiday periods, you won't have any problems making an 11:15 am flight during the other 48-50 weeks during the year.

[catl331]

If one avoids the Thanksgiving or Christmas/New Year holiday periods, you won't have any problems making an 11:15 am flight during the other 48-50 weeks during the year.

PROVIDED that the ship docks on time, there are no delays in getting the ship cleared for disembarkation, there are no traffic accidents or other tie-ups on the way to the airport, etc

[Terpnut]

PROVIDED that the ship docks on time, there are no delays in getting the ship cleared for disembarkation, there are no traffic accidents or other tie-ups on the way to the airport, etc

This is all true, and of course, there is never any certainty in life, BUT for Port Everglades and FLL:

 

1. The cruise line has a very strong incentive to make sure that the ship arrives on time and early because they need to turn the ship around for the next sailing. So their incentive is in line with anyone's incentive to disembark early and catch an early flight.

 

2. From Port Everglades to FLL is a very very short ride with no highways or even regular local roads to traverse--just a little windy back road straight to the airport. Can't even imagine there can be traffic because it's only used by taxis and shuttle buses.