time of return flight

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freida

Guest
I will be traveling on the Triump in Sept, due to much better rates on flights we will fly into Ft Lauderdale. I am coming from the west coast and I do not want to wait in the airport for hours. Can anyone tell me how long it takes to get to the port of miami from lauderdale and the best time to book my return flight. I have a 1230p flight from Ft Lauderdale to LAX on hold will this give me enough time to get from the port of miami and make my flight?
Thanks in advance
 
P

passant

Guest
Make sure the cruise knows of your early flight, but you should be fine.
freida wrote:

> I will be traveling on the Triump in Sept, due to much better
> rates on flights we will fly into Ft Lauderdale. I am coming
> from the west coast and I do not want to wait in the airport
> for hours. Can anyone tell me how long it takes to get to the
> port of miami from lauderdale and the best time to book my
> return flight. I have a 1230p flight from Ft Lauderdale to LAX
> on hold will this give me enough time to get from the port of
> miami and make my flight?
> Thanks in advance
 
Y

YoRay

Guest
Yo! freida!

Ft. Lauderdale airport is about 25 miles from the port of Miami. With traffic, figure 40 minutes. Debarkation usually starts around 9am - 9:30 am...(for 3,000 people)(if there are no Customs problems). There's a rush on cabs & shuttles, but it's handled pretty efficiently. Nowdays they recommend being at the airport 2 hours b-4 flight time. ..IF everything goes well, it can be made, but other things can go wrong.

Here is section out of my January review concerning early flights:

"For anyone considering early flights, consider this..…We were cruising up I-95 to the airport, and came upon an accident scene that stopped traffic dead. We were between exits and jammed in. A 45 minute delay. Then when we got to the airport, the line to our gate was backed-up, nearly to Cuba, with several hundred people. And gate security wasn’t taking any shortcuts. It took a good hour or so to move from the back of the line to the screening gate. We had a later flight, so we didn’t do that line."

I originally had a 12:30 flight, but changed it to the next later one. I wouldn't have made it. If you miss yours, It'll cost you $100/pp to get the next (available) flight.

I guess you could say it's sorta like the casino..."Do you feel lucky today?"

Hope this info helps.
.
 
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twinkletoes4445

Guest
We BARELY made our 3:00 flight. Between the traffic and the long lines, we almost didn't make our flight. We were also selected to be searched (which took 30 minutes). It was a HUGE mess. I personally wouldn't risk it, but to each his own. Good luck... :)

BTW, we were also on the Triumph.



Post Edited (05-28-03 23:07)
 
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freida

Guest
thanks, do you mind sharing what happened. How did you like the Truimp? I have read differring reviews on the ship.
 
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twinkletoes4445

Guest
We were flagged for a search in FLL. (we were told we were flagged for not using rountrip service on the same airline), and of course, this took a lot of time. There were 6 of us, so we had a lot of luggage. I actually felt sorry for the people behind us because they were just stuck. I did hear a lot of complaining because some of the people in line were pushing it pretty close to their flights, but the inspectors didn't seem to care about that issue..they just went down the line (this was at the first of the year, so this may have changed). We were there 30 minutes or so because of the # of pieces we had, and everyone behind us just had to wait. We also used a Skycap which allowed us to bypass the first long line of people. We also found it slow moving getting to the airport. I personally wouldn't book anthing before 2:00 unless I knew I could definately be one of the first ones off the ship. You also have to allow for incidentials like we encountered. I wouldn't have worried so much except at that time the airlines were doing away with putting you on the next flight if something happened and you missed your flight. I believe there was a time frame involved to be able to get on the next flight, but I don't really remember what it was. I can certainly understand your desire to avoid sitting in an airport all afternoon... :)

As for the Triumph, we had a good time (we did the western route). This was the first time in a long time we have taken a family vacation, so we tended to tune-out a lot of the little things that usually bother people. I had also read several negative reviews, and was a bit concerend-actually we were very concerned- but we really had no problems at all. Of course, this was our first cruise, so we really have nothing to compare it to, but we did enjoy ourselves. We were lucky that we had the same room steward for all three of our cabins because she was awesome. We did have some problems in the dining room, but after speaking with the Maitre d' (sp), the issue was resolved. I hope you enjoy your cruise.. :)

I guess I should add that I am a worry-wart, so this is why I feel the way I do about cutting things close. We almost missed our connecting flight in Dallas going down because of a delay in our originating flight...But we made it. :)



Post Edited (05-30-03 19:09)
 
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freida

Guest
thank you.. I guess I will need to rethink my decision on return flight. Thanks again.
 
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twinkletoes4445

Guest
Freida...I probably wouldn't be so worried about the time if I was flying into Miami. It is just a short cab ride to the port, FLL is another story. Also, my experiences were with 6 and anytime you travel with that many people you have other things to worry about. I knew that if we missed our connections, we would most likely not all get on the same plane the next time (we traveled over New Year's). Best of luck to you and I hope you have a wonderful cruise... :)
 
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