Safest time for a return flight?

[Princess_Iliana_of_Avalor]

Hi all!
Cruising out of Miami in December of 2019 and was wondering what’s a safe time to book a return flight after debarkation? It’s our first cruise ever and we don’t really know how any of this works lol... We’ll most likely be flying in and out of Miami International.
Thank you!

 

[AngelDisney]

The DCL website suggests not before noon from the Miami Airport. I have booked for 12:15 pm initially but the flight has been moved up to 12:05 pm. Hope there is no more flight time change! Mine is an international flight so I need to be at the airport at least two hours prior. I may do Express Walk-off with carry on baggages to cut down time.

Have fun planning!

 

[ScooterScott44]

The airport is not too far and pretty much directly down the Dolphin expressway. The hard part to predcit is traffic. It will mostly depend on which day of the week but traffic can be tough. If you arrive in Miami on the weekend expect less traffic on the roads in the morning. Maybe someone local can give better details on that aspect.

Still taking traffic into account, I think 11:00 is still possible but will be a bit of a rush. If you are a seasoned traveler and have TSA-Precheck, etc. you might be able to go even earlier than that but that would really be pushing it. You will probably hear more about how to not push the limits because of so many potential problems and I am just looking at what is possible related to the earliest. Only you know if you are comfortable with taking those risks.

 

[AgentMama]

You could probably easily make 11:30 if there are no issues, but I would stick with 12pm to be on the safer side.

 

[T & R]

In Miami, you could easily arrive at MIA airport by 8:30am. This of course is excluding all the "what if" scenarios and you carry your own luggage off and not do the bags in the hallway the night before thing. They will start letting people off at approx 7:30am and it's about a 15 min cab ride to the airport. You will get a lot of replies about what if's such as boat late, customs, traffic, etc but even a 30 minute delay for something and you'll still be at MIA by 8:30a. I'll let everybody say how wrong I am, but I'm just writing from personal experience. There will always be exceptions and you'll get replies from the family who was on a cruise that docked 2 hours late, but the norm is debarking starting at 7:30am. We had no problem making our 9:30am flight and there was no stress, especially now that there is online check in. The only thing is, not sure if your cruise is early Dec or late Dec. If later in Dec towards Christmas, there may be additional MIA delays due to holiday season. This is in regards to Miami of course, Port Canaveral and MCO is entirely different animal.

 

[Numtini]

So, how are people feeling about FLL? We currently have an 11:55 booked. We don't mind doing early walk-off.

 

[starvenger]

So, how are people feeling about FLL? We currently have an 11:55 booked. We don't mind doing early walk-off.

As long as you've got your transportation in order you should be good. Check in online if you can so that all you need to do is a bag drop (if you have checked luggage).

 

[oufpat]

I plan on a 11:50 flight out of Miami after our cruise next April.

 

[mevelandry]

I've done a 11:20 flight (leaving from the Port of Miami to FLL). I've done an express check-out and took a cab and it worked out well (I've had enough time).

However, we were lucky that we did not have to dock late that morning.

I wouldn't do this again.

 

[Princess_Iliana_of_Avalor]

In Miami, you could easily arrive at MIA airport by 8:30am. This of course is excluding all the "what if" scenarios and you carry your own luggage off and not do the bags in the hallway the night before thing. They will start letting people off at approx 7:30am and it's about a 15 min cab ride to the airport. You will get a lot of replies about what if's such as boat late, customs, traffic, etc but even a 30 minute delay for something and you'll still be at MIA by 8:30a. I'll let everybody say how wrong I am, but I'm just writing from personal experience. There will always be exceptions and you'll get replies from the family who was on a cruise that docked 2 hours late, but the norm is debarking starting at 7:30am. We had no problem making our 9:30am flight and there was no stress, especially now that there is online check in. The only thing is, not sure if your cruise is early Dec or late Dec. If later in Dec towards Christmas, there may be additional MIA delays due to holiday season. This is in regards to Miami of course, Port Canaveral and MCO is entirely different animal.

We’re doing early December so I’m glad to hear we won’t have any issues!

 

[cruiser21]

If you don't want breakfast I'd say 10 am would be the earliest. We made a 930. It only took us 20 minutes to get the airport and that was on a Friday. I hate sitting around airports. I usually try to arrive about 90 minutes to 2 hours before a flight. If you plan on hanging out for breakfast I say 11am, but no later then that.