Thread: Killing time in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale

Originally Posted by sue miller

The one and only reason I suggest no flights before 1 p.m., is there could be any number of things that could delay a ship, or delay debarkation. Weather, something broke, immgration, unannounced customs inspection. Usually things run like clockwork, but always plan for the unexpected!!

In reality that is very good advise. We have never had a delay that cause us to miss a flight but it could happen.

Originally Posted by sweet angel

We're sailing out of Miami, but our flight is out of Ft. Lauderdale. RCI has a couple of short excursions post-cruise that will drop us off at the airport, but our flight doesn't leave until after 7 p.m. What's around the airport to kill some time?

Would it be worth it to skip the excursions, go back to the airport and get a rental car for the day?

If your flight leaves FLL at 6:55, you would need to be at the airport by 5:30-6:00 at the latest...(all of Spirit's flights leave between 6:30-7:00pm so the ticket counter and security are really busy at that time). If your ship gets in around 7-8 am....you would probably be off by 10 ... that leaves about 7 hours including travel time to spend in Ft. Lauderdale. I haven't looked at the ship's excursions but I bet they are expensive for what they offer. Also, the airport is not really close to anything that you could walk to. To give you recommendations, I would need to know what would you most want to do in the time you have?? What are the ages of people travelling with you? Here are a couple of suggestions: for a relaxing afternoon & if the weather is nice, rent a car at the airport, throw your suitcases in the trunk, drive to Dania Beach (10 minutes away... I can email you directions)...it's a very nice, quiet beach with a little sandwich shack/bar and convenient parking....spend a couple of hours and then head back to the airport.
If you want to do some great bargain shopping, rent a car at the airport, drive west to the Sawgrass Mills Mall (can also email you directions) it's less than 30 minutes away and shop at hundreds of outlet stores.
If you want to do an Everglades tour/airboat rides, I would also rent a car at the airport and drive out there.
Hope this helps!

Thanks once again Mai Tai Mama for your excellent help.

MaiTaiMama, thanks for your suggestions. We've already booked the South Beach/Island Queen excursion. Should kill enough time and hopefully be worth it.