I have heard that the Taxi Scramble can be wild and woolly at the terminal. We were going to just pre-book a Limo. So let's say we are paranoid and don't have a lot of time to spare and we WANT a limo or private transfer, do you have a recommendation or advice on setting it up assuming we don't know our disembarkation schedule. I'm a rookie at this. Humor me. TIA
I have found Top Shuttle to be good. I've also used Larry's Limo. Both offer great service. Bear in mind that FLL is essentially across the street from Port Everglades, so using a limo or shuttle isn't going to be the most economical choice.
We sailed on HAL last fall from Ft Lauderdale. For $12 per person, we took their shuttle to the airport. For maybe $20 per person (I don't remember the exact amount), we were able to check our luggage and get boarding passes at the pier. Took us all of 20 minutes to get through that line - was taken to the airport without having to deal with our luggage either on the shuttle or and without having to deal with check in at the airport. Was pretty slick. I don't know if the other cruise lines offer the pier-side airport checkin or not, but you should check into it.
We have taken more than a dozen cruises from FTL and I have never understood all the posts about transfers. The port maintains an excellent taxi queue just outside the terminal building and there are always plenty of taxis. The cost of a taxi to the airport is about $15 (and even this is overpriced) and the taxis can easily handle 2 with luggage with other taxis able to handle 4. We are talking total transfer cost of less than $10 per person and using a taxi will always get you to the airport faster than cruise line shuttles. As to arranging private limos, it seems like overkill when you consider that the airport is so close to the port you can see the ships from the airport terminal building. On our last cruise we beat all the cruise line buses to the airport (they sit and wait until they are full) and were able to change to a much earlier flight (we got the last seats) only because we took a taxi. After we were checked-in and through security we grabbed a cup of coffee at the cafe right next to the ticket counter and finally saw the buses starting to arrive (there are many buses because there are usually many cruise ships) and suddenly the short line became a very long line. Each to their own, but I am still puzzled as to why so many cruise passengers seem to be masochistic when it comes to travel. Why pay more money for slower service?
20 people in a group. Geez, I would need a few drinks just to handle the pressure. You could pay about $300 (at $15 each) for the cruise line shuttle buses, but you will probably find yourselves in several different buses unless you get lucky and find a shuttle bus with that many empty seats. On the other hand, you could get 5 or 6 taxis which would cost you about $100 by just getting in the taxi queue. Hmmm. I wonder what it would cost you to charter a special bus to take you the 5 minutes to the airport.
