Sailing out of Miami but flying into Fort Lauderdale

[DCLMacro415]

Hi, we recently booked a Feb 2019 DCL cruise out of Miami. Typically we fly Southwest, but they do not fly into Miami. They do fly into Fort Lauderdale. Has anyone done this before and have any advice? Would be flying in the day before, so would need hotel and then some transfer from hotel to port. Would then fly from Port to Miami on the return so some sort of transport there. Any advice welcome. Thanks!

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

We did that. We stayed at a hotel near FLL airport with free airport shuttle. We then arranged private transfers from the hotel to port the next morning. We used SAS transportation. We are flying into FLL again for Miami cruise in January.

 

[DCLMacro415]

We did that. We stayed at a hotel near FLL airport with free airport shuttle. We then arranged private transfers from the hotel to port the next morning. We used SAS transportation. We are flying into FLL again for Miami cruise in January.

Thanks for the info, I'm assuming you also used SAS Transportation from port back to FFL?

 

[NC State]

We are planning to do this in May and I'm looking at Jiffy Jeff Transportation. They sent me a list of hotels that they will pick up at. This service is cheaper than Disney's transportation. Plus they will take us to the airport when we return from the cruise as well. Thank you for the other company to check out!

 

[lklgoodman]

Glad to see you asked this question. I'm hoping to book a cruise out of Miami for Jan. 2020 once they come out. We usually fly on Southwest also. Does anyone know how far it is from FLL to the port? I've never been to Miami before so have no idea where anything is located.

 

[lorimay]

Glad to see you asked this question. I'm hoping to book a cruise out of Miami for Jan. 2020 once they come out. We usually fly on Southwest also. Does anyone know how far it is from FLL to the port? I've never been to Miami before so have no idea where anything is located.

FLL is about an hour or so depending on traffic north of the port.

 

[lklgoodman]

FLL is about an hour or so depending on traffic north of the port.

Thanks

 

[hcox31]

We are planning to do this in May and I'm looking at Jiffy Jeff Transportation. They sent me a list of hotels that they will pick up at. This service is cheaper than Disney's transportation. Plus they will take us to the airport when we return from the cruise as well. Thank you for the other company to check out!

We used Jiffy Jeff last January from fort lauderdale They were fantastic.

 

[xavier2001]

We are doing the same thing in January, was SO much cheaper to fly into Fort Lauderdale. Right now I have hotels booked both at Fort Lauderdale and Miami because we haven't figured out the transportation piece yet. Its cheaper to stay the night in Fort Lauderdale but it sounds appealing to get all the travelling out of the way on day 1 and then be able to wake up at the port.

 

[Bethany10]

We're hoping to do this in April of 2020, once those dates release. There are several FLL area hotels that offer an airport shuttle and breakfast (my only 2 requirements). The plan is to book one of those, then use private transport (I'm thinking Jiffy Jeff right now but once I'm actually able to book the cruise I'll settle on which one) to get to the port. Fort Lauderdale looks to have some neat things to see and do, including the beach, but I'm ok coming in later in the day and just getting a hotel close to the airport.

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

Thanks for the info, I'm assuming you also used SAS Transportation from port back to FFL?

Yes, we did. We called them when we entered the customs building and they came into port to pick us up.

 

[ajo]

We've flown to FLL twice because it is so much cheaper than Miami. We stayed at hotels near the FLL airport (there are a bunch all together) and then took Jiffy Jeff to the port. It was super easy and the drive to the port was less than an hour. Both times we had late flights home from FLL so we rented a car near the port and spent the day in Miami, returning the car to the FLL airport. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[koala1966]

Not only is FLL cheaper than MIA, it is much easier to navigate.

 

[ScooterScott44]

Not only is FLL cheaper than MIA, it is much easier to navigate.

I average about 100 flights a year and have to say that FLL is one of the more difficult airports to travel through. Think of it as a small scale LAX with poor or non-existent connections between terminals and one of the slowest TSA checkpoints I have seen. The FLL airport area hotels are decent and usually have good rates for south Florida.

 

[hcox31]

I average about 100 flights a year and have to say that FLL is one of the more difficult airports to travel through. Think of it as a small scale LAX with poor or non-existent connections between terminals and one of the slowest TSA checkpoints I have seen. The FLL airport area hotels are decent and usually have good rates for south Florida.

I would agree with you 100% I've personally flown through a couple dozen different airports, and FLL is by far one of the worst set ups. We arrived early for our flight after our cruise, and the counter wouldn't accept our bags until 3 hours before. We were stuck, with two kids, in the drop off area for over an hour. No food available. No where to sit and let them play on their tablets. We then had a delay on our flight home and there was almost no where to sit in the waiting area, or get food with our kids. It was awful.

This is coming from someone who frequently uses the biggest airport in Canada.

 

[abitagirl916]

We are planning to do this in May and I'm looking at Jiffy Jeff Transportation. They sent me a list of hotels that they will pick up at. This service is cheaper than Disney's transportation. Plus they will take us to the airport when we return from the cruise as well. Thank you for the other company to check out!

I have used Jiffy Jeff Transportation in the past and they were great. We did the same.....flew into FLL and stayed at a nearby Best Western (one that Jiffy Jeff picked up from). They have great communication for the pickup. They also have great communication on the day of debarkation for pickup to return to FLL.

 

[clten]

We stayed at the Hampton in FLL (they are across the street from a supermarket so it was great to pop in and get last minute items for the trip) but be careful, they were trying so hard to be nice they kept insisting on us using their transportation to the cruise port -- except they didn't seem to get it that we were sailing out of Miami and not Port Everglades!

To get to the port in Miami, we used SAS (we had a car to return to the airport so got picked up there). SAS was great. When we got to the port in Miami, the driver made sure everyone knew how to get the transfer back to FLL after the cruise. Very helpful.

 

[lklgoodman]

I would agree with you 100% I've personally flown through a couple dozen different airports, and FLL is by far one of the worst set ups. We arrived early for our flight after our cruise, and the counter wouldn't accept our bags until 3 hours before. We were stuck, with two kids, in the drop off area for over an hour. No food available. No where to sit and let them play on their tablets. We then had a delay on our flight home and there was almost no where to sit in the waiting area, or get food with our kids. It was awful.

This is coming from someone who frequently uses the biggest airport in Canada.

Whenever we fly out of Orlando's airport they also won't take our luggage until 3 hrs before our flight. I think all airports are like that in the US. No seating and food though would be horrible, especially with young kids.

 

[hcox31]

Whenever we fly out of Orlando's airport they also won't take our luggage until 3 hrs before our flight. I think all airports are like that in the US. No seating and food though would be horrible, especially with young kids.

Awful indeed. 2 tired kids, hungry.... no where to sit or eat. Not a great way to end the vacation.

 

[rcchello]

Last time we flew into FLL and stayed nearby. On the day of the cruise we used the hotel shuttle back to the airport and took the SAS shuttle to Miami cruise port.