We are staying a few nights in Lisbon after a cruise. We'll have a very early flight out. We're debating whether to stay in town or near the airport. How difficult (and is it possible) to get to the airport with luggage from the center of Lisbon using public transportation?

We had a 6:30am flight and had the hotel call a taxi for us at 4:00.
The was no traffic at that time of the morning and even though we paid a premium to have the taxi come to the hotel (as opposed to just going out to the street to hail one) it was only about 15 Euro. I think it was well worth the money.
At that time of the morning, there were taxis lined up at Rossio Square waiting for passengers. But of course we didn't know that at the time.

We've done the opposite, catching a bus from the airport to our accommodation [between the airport and the centre of Lisbon]. The stop was just outside the airport. Quite straightforward but it was about noon on a weekday and the bus was crowded.

You would need to check that buses are running at that time.

A couple of things I found out from our trip to Lisbon last Oct.
- Staying in town or near the airport won't make any difference very early in the a.m.
- Bus is very convenient between airport and town.
- However, the first Carris Autobus #91 from the airport is at 7:45; so figure no earlier than that from downtown.
- So, taxi is very likely your only way. Be sure to ask an estimate of the price before you get in the cab, and ask that the meter run.
- Taxi queues are all over town, but if you want to be sure to find one, have your hotel call one for you the night before. There was no one at our hotel that could speak English to call for us and we decided to just take a chance with getting one at the taxi queue 4-5 blocks from our hotel, but we were surprised to find a queue right at the doorstep.
Our ride cost us 10Euros at 3:30 a.m. The rate is different at night (don't recall the hours), and if you have a very big luggage, there's an extra 1.50Euro charge .
Hope this helps

Why don't you just call a taxi?? They aren't that expensive. Why drag all that luggage on public transport that early in the morning????? Don't be daft, sweetie. Have the front desk call you a cab.

I have been to Lisboa many times.

If I understand the replies correctly, it should cost about 15 Euros (or $18 US) for a taxi from the airport to the cruise terminals. Not per person, but per taxi, plus extra for luggage. We will be arriving around noon at the airport. I'm guessing that our arrival time will mean more because of more traffic, but even for 25 or 30 Euros, it sure beats the $144 the cruise line is charging for our transfers. Please clarify that I'm understanding this correctly.

You understood correctlty. Make sure you know which is the cruise terminal.

Like Sher, we had our Residenciál call for a taxi at around 4:15 AM. It took avout 15 min to get to Portela Airport but our (KLM) 5:25 AM flight had been cancelled. We were rerouted on Iberia to Amsterdam via Barcelona. We made our Northwest/KLM flight from AMS back to Detroit.

We stayed in the middle of Lisbon: on Avda. da Republica near Saldanha. If you care to stay closer to the airport you can, but I don't think Carris operates before 6:30 AM, so either way you'll probably have to take a Taxi.