I live in Fort Lauderdale. The port and airport are very close, a 5 minute ride, so you would think a cab couldn't cost much. I don't know the answer to that, but check with cruisecritic.com (the boards, look it up by ports) and you will get all the options! I have seen it discussed there.. You might also want to check on how many ships are in port that day (there are websites...look up Port Everglades) just to get an idea of the waiting time for cabs. Some weekends in winter there are 10 cruise ships here and it can get crazy. Find out how much your cruise line charges...my suspicion is that it's more than doing it on your own, as you are paying for "convenience." Honestly, this should not be a big expense! Have fun!

Take a taxi. Ship transfers might not even operate that early. It's a short and relatively inexpensive ride. It's usually less than $20 for a taxi, but as Joyce says lines can be long. Still that early I think you will be ok, but the airport there can't really handle the volume on busy cruise days regardless.

when you RETURN to FLL you will not be able to check your luggage in any sooner than 2-3 hours prior to your flight arrival. That said, if your cruise line offers the option of having THEM take care of your luggage on the way home take them up on it.

When you arrive at FLL what you will see is a mob scene in terms of traffic on the arrivals level. Those of us who LIVE here often get our taxi cabs on the departures level..if you can manage to snag one which is letting people off.

I would definitely take a cab to Port Everglades as was suggested...be cheaper than using cruise line transportation and probably a LOT faster, too.