We've been in and out of Port Everglades (Ft Lauderdale) well over a dozen times in 23 years of cruising. Typically we book our return flights to depart FLL not earlier than 11:30 AM and have done very well. Interestingly the one and only return flight we've missed was the latest we've ever booked and that was a 1:30 PM departure. Go figure but it was the "perfect storm" of a bulky ship engine, heavy fog, and an issue with the ship/passengers clearing Immigration and Customs. Couldn't get off the ship until around noon and didn't get to the airport in time to make the check-in cutoff. Stuff happens when you least expect it. We were prepared, at least to the point that we knew what our flight options were, and AA was able to get us on the next flight making us only 3 hours late getting home. Others were not so lucky and friends from Europe were delayed nearly 48 hours.