Can anyone answer a question about Miami?

[lonetree1353]

Myself and three girlfriends are booked on a Caribbean cruise leaving March 18-25, 2007 our spring break. We all are in education hence the horrible time to take a vacation :(
We have the cruise booked but seem to be having problems with our flights. Does anyone know how long it takes to get from the cruise docks to the airport? Our ship docks at 7:00 AM and if we disembark with our luggage we will hopefully get off fairly quickly. I have found a flight that leaves Miami at 11:35 AM via Toronto to Vancouver arriving at 6:07 PM. Is this doable? We then have to take a ferry across to Victoria but this 6:07 PM arrival would make it possible. TIA for any advice you can give me.

[lonetree1353]

Well I googled the distance from the airport to the port of Miami and the answer is 8 miles. Now I just need to see if anyone has any idea how long it takes to get off the cruise ship. Thanks

[cookieee]

Well I googled the distance from the airport to the port of Miami and the answer is 8 miles. Now I just need to see if anyone has any idea how long it takes to get off the cruise ship. Thanks

I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help with the distance, but I will say this, the traffic down here is he*l. So please take that into account, especially if it is a work day. Joan

[lonetree1353]

Thanks Joan. It will be Sunday morning at 7:00 Am when we dock. My guess would be that it wouldn't be too bad but who knows.

[cookieee]

That's good. I know it's a while before your cruise, but I just want to wish you and your friends a real good time. Sorry you won't have much time to spend in Florida. I know you are probably used to cold weather, but sometimes in March it can be a little nippy here. Bring a sweater :)

[kim21]

Hi there, Check with the cruise line and/or read through any materials they may have sent to you. My experience has been that the printed materials, provided by the cruise line, offer recommendations for reasonable departing flight times in comparison to the docking time. In addition to the traffic in Miami, there is also the time needed for checking in with the airline and security clearances, etc. Best wishes, Kim

[ChristyMarie]

You should have just enough time. You can qualify for early disembarkation. When you book you'll supply them with your flight information, including times, and they will schedule you to get off early. The early ones clear pretty quick and if you don't get a time as early as you are comfy with just go to the customer service desk once on board and request an earlier departure time. I had to do that once because of a trip to Sea World and it was no problem.

Also, instead of putting your luggage out the night before, and then having to search for it, just take it with you - speeds up the getting off the ship process considerably.

I would expect to be off the boat by 8am since clearing customs can sometimes take a little while. However, once the ship is cleared you basically just walk off and go through one little customs line where you just turn in your little declaration form. That entire thing takes maybe 20 minutes from ship to cab line.

Have fun!!! The weather will be perfect at that time.

ETA: also don't do a cruise transportation shuttle to the airport - cabs are always the quickest or call for a private car. The shuttles sit there forever waiting for everyone to board, then stop at every single terminal and you have to search for your luggage. Not worth the $$ savings if you are in a hurry.

[lonetree1353]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I did some searching on the internet and found information about cabs from the airport to the cruise port are around $20 so we will do that. I am off on Saturday morning to book our cruise on the Freedom of the Seas. The ship looks amazing.

[suebear37]

If you take your luggage off you should be fine. Check out the Cruise Critic message boards ( www.cruisecritic.com) & you'll find there's always some sort of discussion about early flights, either on the Royal Caribbean board or the Cruise Air board.

We're looking at the same thing... sailing on the Freedom in February & flying Jet Blue in & out of Fort Lauderdale. Patiently waiting for the airline to release the flights for February & we're going to try to make their 11:30 flight.

One more thing... our favorite bar waiters moved from the Voyager to the Freedom... so if you see a Jamaican bar waiter chanting "Here comes the Doctor, I have your medication", flag him down. His name is Joseph & he and his partners in crime (Basil & Howard) are the best!!!

[lonetree1353]

Thanks for the information. I will check out the bar waiters when we go. :D Last summer the same ladies and I did the Alaskan Cruise on the Radiance of the Seas out of Vancouver. We had a fabulous time. You can sure see why these cruises are so popular now.