Killing some time between debarkation and flight Miami

I'll be getting off the Navigator of the Seas and going on the Everglades tour which I booked through RCL. It looks like this tour will end about Noon or 1:00pm. My flight doesn't leave until ~6:00pm.

Does anyone know if they will hold my baggage after the trip or drop it off at the airport with all the other RCL baggage so I can pick it up later? That way I could go kill a few hours someplace else and not hang at the airport for 5+ hours.

[robbie]

The only time we did this, our luggage was on the same bus as the tour. Sooooo, when we were done, we had to take our luggage. It was an airport drop-off so there we were.

We had a tour cancelled after one cruise and arrived at the Orlando airport 8 hours before our flight!! We had to wait 2 hours before we were able to check our luggage in because they had a 6 hour before flight rule. Check with the airlines, then check your luggage in and go do something.

[sal7202]

The disembarkation - airport lag is a real problem. 2 cruises ago we went on a tour after we got off the ship, our luggage went on the bus with us and they dropped us off at the airport approximately 6 hours before our flight was scheduled to depart. It was a nightmare. We couldn't check in with the airlines until 4 hours before the scheduled departure, no one would take our luggage, we ended up sitting around all afternoon with all our luggage waiting until we could check in. Because there are a limited number of flights into our small local airport, the next time we cruised we decided to stay over a day in Ft. Lauderdale and fly out the next morning. this was marginally better, but still not the perfect solution. We are considering flying into a larger airport that is about an hour and a half from our home the next time we cruise.

[jasonalec]

Go to the nearest hotel and check you bags with the valet. Tell them you just checked out or you will be checking in later. It will just cost you a tip. There is a hilton right near the port that will do or if you want to hang in south beach just do it at one of the hotels there.

[jasonalec]

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Any suggestions as to what to do near the airport if I drop my checked baggage off 6 hours early?

Thanks for the advice so far.

[jasonalec]

People watching in South Beach is fun or you can go to CoCo Walk.

Husband and I spent eight hours at the Miami airport. It was fun...you MUST do the moving walkways on the third level!!!

[jasonalec]

Forgot about that. Scratch my answer. Do the walkway to Burger King! lol...

[Lyn]

Recently back from Navigator and our flight out of Miami was at 3:30pm. Because of that we were able to get the last disembarkation time of 11 a.m. So, that morning we had breakfast, our cabin steward let us keep all of our luggage in the cabin inside the closet so that they could begin to make up the room. After breakfast we got our luggage and went to the lounge on the 13th floor, which was deserted. We lounged on the sofas, some of us napped, and we spent a leisurely, cool time awaiting our trip to the airport. When we were called at 11 am, it took another hour to go through security, get on the bus, and for the bus to fill up and leave the pier. Another 20-30 minutes to the airport, which was very hectic, no porters for curbside check in, and long lines inside. Even though we used the self check-in method, we then had to wait in a long line to place the luggage in the back for the porter to take to the plane. After that we had lunch, and finished with only 1 1/2 hours to spare and arrive at our gate.

We had decided not to do any tours in Miami as we had already done an everglades tour in the keys a few years ago, and it is very humid, hot and buggy and we knew we would be on an airplane until 6:30 pm. Also, didn't feel like touring around another city.

Bon Voyage! The trip was fantastic, just the logistics of getting there and getting home are tedious....but the trip was well worth it. However, next time I will try to avoid Miami airport.