Catching the silver meteor after a cruise

[erierail]

We are arriving back from a cruise in ft Lauderdale and want to catch the silver meteor. We have plans taking the walk off option on the ship and try to catch the train in ft Lauderdale. I wonder if the connection is to tight? Another option would be to catch the train further north like in deerfield beach where the station is also near I 95. Its going to be on a Saturday morning so traffic should be relatively light. Any body have a similar trip?

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

I have been on several cruises, and the actual time we've been allowed off the ship have varied greatly from the approx. dock time given. And once off the ship, sometimes we can just leave and sometimes we had to all wait to speak with a customs agent.

So, I have great concerns you might have the connection too tight. What's the suggested earliest connection time by the cruise line? On my cruises it was like around 2pm (even with a dock time of 8am).

BTW, there use to be a discount offered by Amtrak for those cruising. I don't know if they still offer such.

 

[zephyr17]

The Silver Meteor leaves Ft. Lauderdale at 8:50 am. I think that is going to be too tight, given the vagaries of debarking from a cruise ship, dock time, customs, etc. Deerfield Beach is only 18 minutes later at 9:08, I do not think that is going to make a difference, if you are going to miss 8:50, you probably are going to miss 9:08. The Silver Star goes through at 12:30 pm, which seems a lot safer. Hopefully by the time you cruise, the Star will have its diner back.

 

[erierail]

I have been on several cruises, and the actual time we've been allowed off the ship have varied greatly from the approx. dock time given. And once off the ship, sometimes we can just leave and sometimes we had to all wait to speak with a customs agent.

So, I have great concerns you might have the connection too tight. What's the suggested earliest connection time by the cruise line? On my cruises it was like around 2pm (even with a dock time of 8am).

BTW, there use to be a discount offered by Amtrak for those cruising. I don't know if they still offer such.

 

[erierail]

We will be arriving on the emerald princess. Princes cruises has the option to walk off with your luggage . the ship generally us at her slip around 6 am, with walk off being around 730 to 8 am. Its about 25 minute's to the station. Things could go be OK, or maybe not.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Most of our members would recommend staying overnight before and after the cruise and getting a fresh start on the Meteor the next morning. I would never want to have that close a connection to the Meteor. You would probably be o.k. to make the S Star but remember there is no dining car on that train, which may be a consideration in your planning.

 

[erierail]

I am arriving the day before the cruise but out of time on the back portion. On about nine cruises into port everglades on princess never had issues in disembarkations. Always at the airport by 10ish. Just never done the walk off thing.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

We will be arriving on the emerald princess. Princes cruises has the option to walk off with your luggage . the ship generally us at her slip around 6 am, with walk off being around 730 to 8 am. Its about 25 minute's to the station. Things could go be OK, or maybe not.

I do the walk off with my own luggage too. However, that doesn't allow you to leave until the ship is cleared by customs to start disembarkation, and again, if customs wants to interview each passenger or not.

On one cruise, they would not let "walk offs" leave until about 4 hours later than scheduled. Not that this will always happen, but IMHO, you need to have enough padding in your plans to cover such.

 

[erierail]

Yeah lucky never to me lol,

 

[capltd29]

I wouldn't even think about it. I think it's one thing for you to have a tight Amtrak connection, but at least you are ticketed through and Amtrak will at least be aware that you were on a delayed train. In your case, missing your connection will be the same as a no-show and you would likely either be on your own for airfare or the Silver Star (if there are rooms available). Assuming you missed the Meteor but managed to catch the Silver Star, you would most likely be not refunded for your no show ticket, and then be charged a high bucket price for a last minute ticket on the silver star or silver meteor (the following day).

At the very least, I would take the later Silver Star. Diner or not, is it worth that much stress and potential cost? You might make your connection, but I would say its no better than 50/50.

Also, this might be a better question for a cruising forum, since the Amtrak portion of is pretty set and stone. Maybe people with experience with that particular ship and routing have tips about disembarking.

 

[TEREB]

I would never chance trying to make the Meteor. Things happen. Stress is not a nice way to end a cruise. Enjoy a relaxing breakfast in the Horizon Court then take the Star.

Go to Cruise Critic. There's a North American Homeport forum which has a Floida departures sub-forum. There's also a Princess Forum. If you're not already a member, join and pose your questions there.

 

[TinCan782]

Last year's cruise (Alaska out of Seattle), we overnighted in Seattle between the Coast Starlight and the cruise and again on the return...J.I.C.

Next year's train/cruise will be the same.

We always budget extra time. That includes taking the day off (at home) before departure and the day after return before returning to work.

 

[jersey42]

I thought about doing this in November with a 6:00 am arrival on the Caribbean Princess. We ended up staying an extra day in Florida for the reasons others have mentioned. That said, if we had chosen to walk off with our luggage, we would have made the train with plenty of time to spare. YMMV.

 

[OBS]

FWIW, you will get the exact same advice/ suggestions from the CruiseCritic board on this subject. You have received very sound advice here regarding your options...

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

So you can enjoy your Cruise without the worries of missing an already tight connection, I would do whatever it takes to get an extra day at the end and book the Meteor for next day. FLL is an excellent place to do an overnight and that will give you the chance to relax and unwind before you start moving again.

 

[NETrainfan]

We stay at a hotel the night after a cruise and take the train the next morning. We have had many cruise disembarkation delays over the years.

 

[Dixie]

We are just off the Silver Star this morning after a cruise that debarked in Miami yesterday. We left the ship at 8:25 am and were in a taxi by 9 am. The train departed Miami at 11:50 am. It worked out great. if the Silver Star serves your route, it's a much better option. And always get trip insurance for trip interruption / missed connections.