Flights to Orlando..What's too late?

[disneypoor]

What is the latest time you've ever arrived to MCO for a cruise out of Port Canaveral? My DH and I are sailing on the Dream in September, and there is a flight that gets to Orlando at 1:15 on the day of our cruise. I have never flown in on the day of a cruise, but since it's just DH and I, I'm thinking about taking my chances. Would a 1:15 arrival time be pushing my luck? TIA!

Susan

 

[E ticket rider]

What is the latest time you've ever arrived to MCO for a cruise out of Port Canaveral? My DH and I are sailing on the Dream in September, and there is a flight that gets to Orlando at 1:15 on the day of our cruise. I have never flown in on the day of a cruise, but since it's just DH and I, I'm thinking about taking my chances. Would a 1:15 arrival time be pushing my luck? TIA!

Susan

It takes just under an hour to get to the port from MCO (not counting time in the terminal to get from the aircraft to the DCL transportation area), so any delays on your flight could become a major issue very quickly for you. The ship sails around 5, so the gangways probably get pulled at 4:45. Anything more than a 2-hour delay could result in you missing the ship.

 

[MaleficentRN]

You are absolutely pushing your luck.
IMO, anything that gets you in later than the day before is risky. I think they deny boarding after 3pm. That is more than a close shave.

 

[lanejudy]

I believe DCL recommends arriving no later than 1pm, so you'd be pushing it. As PP mentioned, any flight delays could cause you to miss the ship. While the ship may pull out from port at 5pm (I thought it was 4pm but I could be wrong), all passengers MUST be onboard at least an hour before departure. So while technically a 1:15pm arrival could make it, it's a risk. We prefer to arrive at least a day early to avoid concern about flight delays - is there any way you could fly in the day before?

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[mmouse37]

Just got my cruise docs and it says everyone MUST be onboard by 3:45 or you will denied boarding.

Personally, I would never book a flight that got into Orlando at 1:15...much too close for comfort for me....but...according to the DCL website the latest flight arrival time they recommend is 1:45 pm.

Guests Arranging Independent Air Travel

Ground Transfers are available for purchase to Guests who make independent air arrangements. To add transfers to your cruise package, call (800) 951-3532 at least 75 days prior to vacation commencement date. Please be prepared to provide your inbound and outbound flight details.

To assist you in planning and to provide ample time for travel logistics, we recommend the following flight time guidelines:
• Latest Orlando International Airport Flight Arrival on Embarkation Day — 1:45 p.m.
• Earliest Flight Departure from the Orlando International Airport on Debarkation Day — 11:30 a.m.

I would definitely take DCL transfers if I booked a flight that came in at that time. At least you have a better shot at being able to board as they usually hold the ship for folks booked on DCL transfers if their flight is delayed.

MJ

 

[NurseDave]

"This is your captain speaking. We have a little problem with one of the lavatory doors and need to wait for a mechanic to swing by to work on the latch. He's currently working on another repair and will be over right after that. We expect to see him within the next 20min and we'll be on our way as soon as he can get us fixed up."


"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

 

[DisneyOHFan]

You are absolutely pushing your luck.
IMO, anything that gets you in later than the day before is risky. I think they deny boarding after 3pm. That is more than a close shave.

I have to agree. We always fly in the day before to avoid any mechanical/flight issues.

 

[Blanche_Neige]

While I know that some do, I would never fly the same day as departure. Too stressful for me... Had too many flight delays, longest was just under 6 hours.

I always fly in the day before

 

[princesspiglet]

I agree with others and would not do this. We pushed our luck last year just flying into Orlando. I had a HDDR reservation at 5:00pm and our 2 hours NS flight was supposed to arrive at 1:00, so I thought we had plenty of time.

As soon as we were scheduled to take off we hear, "Folks, looks like we are having a mechanical issue. We have the crew checking it out and should be up and running before too long." We sat on the plane, on the tarmac, for 1 hour and 15 mins!! The pilot then came back on and said that we would have to disembark to wait at the gate for another plane because they could not fix the issue. We all got off the plane (which took 30 mins) and waited at the gate for another 45 mins. The new plane arrived and we proceeded to board. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 11:10. We left at 1:45pm.

While we were waiting I was able to contact Disney CSR and told them what was going on and they offered very kindly to change our HDDR res to the 7:00pm show instead. We finally arrived at MCO at 4:00. By the time we got onto ME and got to the resort and checked in, we had about 20 mins to spare before we had to get back into the car to drive over to FtW.

We have decided to never tempt fate like that again. We plan on arriving the night before our cruise this upcoming trip.

 

[lbgraves]

You need to be onboard by 4:00.

 

[MickeySTL]

I'm assuming your flying from MCI (Kansas City.)

I would suggest taking Southwest flight 630 on Saturday. It departs at 1:55 and arrives at 5:35 (nonstop.)

Just checking a few weekends in September I see a savings of between $110 to $180 vs the Sunday flights for 2 people. That will almost cover the night at the Hyatt MCO.

 

[toniosmom]

NO WAY. IMO, fly in the night before.

 

[manateesmom]

I'm assuming your flying from MCI (Kansas City.)

I would suggest taking Southwest flight 630 on Saturday. It departs at 1:55 and arrives at 5:35 (nonstop.)

Just checking a few weekends in September I see a savings of between $110 to $180 vs the Sunday flights for 2 people. That will almost cover the night at the Hyatt MCO.

This is a point. SW is much more expensive flying in or out of Orlando on a Sunday, so you may be saving yourself money as well as hassle.

But if you have to fly day of, I'd never risk later than 11 am.

 

[jaulty]

I think you'd be pushing your luck.
From my experience.... Our last cruise we traveled the day of and one little delay in ATL almost made us miss the cruise. When we got to MCO, we checked in for the cruise at the airport (not as much fun as the port), and were rushed off to the ship (along with 20 other people, which I think, is what made us lucky). We boarded the ship during the safety drill. Literally, just in time. It was very stressful and I would not recommend it for anyone.
Now, if you have to fly in the day of, I would take the earliest flight possible even if that means you get to MCO way too early. I'd rather wait at the airport in MCO than at my home airport watching the clock.

 

[Magic3forme]

we showed up years ago for our flight at 6am only for the airlines to have cancelled our flight.. no warning/ call etc. they had us on a 8pm later that day.... and the earliest they could get us to the ship was 3 days later.

we scrambled to drive to another airport 2 hours away. We made it, but with 6 adults, 8 kids in tow, NEVER AGAIN, the stress is just not worth it...

 

[disneypoor]

Thanks for all of the replies! We booked a 5:20 a.m. Flight that will arrive in Orlando at 10:30. Hopefully we will be safe with that. I know we should fly in the night before but we would both have to miss work to do that and leave our kids for an extra night. I hope things go as planned. Thanks again!

Susan

 

[mom2aredhead]

"This is your captain speaking. We have a little problem with one of the lavatory doors and need to wait for a mechanic to swing by to work on the latch. He's currently working on another repair and will be over right after that. We expect to see him within the next 20min and we'll be on our way as soon as he can get us fixed up."

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

This is almost exactly what happened to us.
There was a whole big to-do about a dog that was on the plane, in a carrier, in the exit row. For whatever reason while they were trying to figure out if dogs were allowed in the exit row (FYI, they decided they were not) they opened the main cabin door...and couldn't get it shut.
They called for mechanic, and we were delayed...between the dog and the door, and the people switching seats) about an hour. Fortunately we were on the first flight down at 6:30 am, but that was enough to scare me into thinking twice before flying down on the day of the cruise...and if I have to fly down that morning, it will only be on the 6:30 am flight. Nothing later.