First Cruise out of Miami, question about port to FLL

[princemama]

Hi everyone!

I first stumbled on this site and thread five years ago on my first trip with DCL. I've always found the help invaluable and have again been reading through the links about sailing out of MIA. Hoping someone might be able to steer me in the right direction once again.

This trip (our third DCL) is the first that we will not be using DCL ground transfers. We're planning on using FG Car services to get from the boat to FLL when we disembark. My question is, what time should I tell them to pick us up? Our flight is late afternoon, not worried about missing it, so I don't want to have to rush off the boat to sit around and wait (ugh, DCL made us do that with a DISASTROUS ground transfer from boat to WDW in the spring this year).

Thanks for your help!

 

[hanscarlet]

I found the experience in Miami was the same as pC in terms of time to get off the boat, they had an easy process of going through customs on the way off so I would say 8:30a. I remember scheduled 9am my first time out of PC and we were waiting around for a long time since we got off and cleared by 8:15

 

[scrappinginontario]

It is customary for DCL to clear their ships by 9am as there will be a terminal of people as excited as you were at the beginning of their cruise to board as soon as then can!

I just looked back at the email I received from SAS Transportation (they were GREAT!!!) about our debarkation date and rather than setting a specific pick-up time they gave me a number to call once we were going into the customs building as that let them know we were starting the debarkation process. We didn't wait long after that before they were there to pick us up and transported us to the FL airport.

If you haven't already booked with another company I highly recommend SAS Transportation! They could not have been better and I liked that they arrived with a van pulling a trailer so tons of room for luggage!

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

It is customary for DCL to clear their ships by 9am as there will be a terminal of people as excited as you were at the beginning of their cruise to board as soon as then can!

I just looked back at the email I received from SAS Transportation (they were GREAT!!!) about our debarkation date and rather than setting a specific pick-up time they gave me a number to call once we were going into the customs building as that let them know we were starting the debarkation process. We didn't wait long after that before they were there to pick us up and transported us to the FL airport.

If you haven't already booked with another company I highly recommend SAS Transportation! They could not have been better and I liked that they arrived with a van pulling a trailer so tons of room for luggage!

Thank you. We booked them for later this month. I am glad to hear they are good.

 

[cgolf]

If possible I would try to set it up so that you can call them once you are leaving the terminal. There are just so many variables, ship comes in a bit late, lots of ships in port (miami varies wildly as to the number of ships in port), customs is beyond slow etc. This is how SAS set it up for us and it worked out great.

Oh and Port of Miami is awesome, we found it easier than PC the 2 times we sailed out of their. This year we go out of Port Everglades, will be interesting to see how that goes.

 

[JW9DVC]

Cheap rental car works well also.

 

[Shanti]

We booked SAS for port to FLL transport last year and they weren't on time. They were not excessively late, but it was stressful as it was our first cruise and the phone number they had given didn't work. So about 10 minutes of stress right after debarking- not a fun way to end the cruise. The young driver was friendly but seemed to have an undisclosed side job selling vacation packages- he kept recommending different (non-Disney) cruise and land destinations, & telling how to get the best deals, & even offered to give me his phone number to set up a trip , even though I was only listening politely and demonstrated no real interest.

At one point while driving he very briefly took both hands off the wheel to gesticulate during his conversation, & I felt uncomfortable, as my young son was in the car. Won't be using SAS again.

 

[cgolf]

We booked SAS for port to FLL transport last year and they weren't on time. They were not excessively late, but it was stressful as it was our first cruise and the phone number they had given didn't work. So about 10 minutes of stress right after debarking- not a fun way to end the cruise. The young driver was friendly but seemed to have an undisclosed side job selling vacation packages- he kept recommending different (non-Disney) cruise and land destinations, & telling how to get the best deals, & even offered to give me his phone number to set up a trip , even though I was only listening politely and demonstrated no real interest.

At one point while driving he very briefly took both hands off the wheel to gesticulate during his conversation, & I felt uncomfortable, as my young son was in the car. Won't be using SAS again.

I would actually report him to the company, as I think I had mentioned to you we had a chatty fellow and his girlfriend that talked politics and stuff, but not an unsafe driver like you had. The other times we have used SAS it was great, so I think you got a bad apple. Not saying you should try them again, but reporting this kid may make other rides safer