What time to book return flight home

[connorlevismom]

It looks like we will arrive back at the port in Fort Lauderdale at 6:15am. Wondering what time I can book a return flight home. I don't want to cut it to close, but also would not like to sit around the airport for hours waiting for our flight. We will be booking a flight from the FLL airport.

We are staying in a Royal Family Suite on the Oasis, just in case that matters in terms of when we will be let off the ship.

Any advice?

 

[Laz]

In general, the earlier you book your flight, the more you risk missing that flight. Although not common, some things that could happen are: The ship is late getting into port, customs could delay releasing the passengers off the ship. customs could randomly choose your party for extensive bag checks, traffic on the way to the airport, delays getting through security at the airport, flight could be moved up. Personally, I never book a flight off of a cruise until noon or later. I would rather be bored at the airport than miss the flight. I will admit, most of those who book earlier flights never experience any problems.

 

[rndmr2]

I agree with the above, I always heard the rule of thumb for any cruise is never book a return flight before noon.

 

[sam_gordon]

If EVERYTHING goes as scripted, you should be able to get on a plane as early as 8:30am. Off the ship by 6:30, getting a cab by 6:45, at the airport by 7.

As far as what can go wrong...
1) Ship late getting to port.
2) Ship late clearing customs
3) A lot of people self disembarking (long line at customs and long line for cabs)
4) You sleeping in late.

 

[Frozen2014]

We had an 11:20am flight home from Allure. We were worried about waiting for our time to leave the ship so we did self checkout. We were off the ship at 7:30am and at the airport at 7:45am. Having said that, everything was on time. If the ship was delayed, then it's always a chance.