Transfers and Transportation

[Disneylandfanatic]

I am trying to plan my transportation for my January cruise. It seems rather complicated with what I am doing and would LOVE some advice.

Here is the trip plan:
Arrive one day early (fly in to MCO)
Now we can either get transportation to Port Canaveral, or stay near airport and use DCL transfers.
Once we get our transportation to the ship the next morning we will board the cruise.

Disembarkation:
transportation to WDW
Then I will need transportation from WDW back to MCO.

I am looking for something somewhat simple, and cost effective. It seems that I can do the DCL transfer option, stay the night near the hotel and then use the transfers that morning, then use the transfers to go from cruise ship to wdw and then magical express to get us back to the airport. Am I correct with this plan and is it $70.00 per person for this? Seems like an easy way to go and not too bad of a price.

If someone has a better plan, or a significantly cheaper one, or if you think that staying the night at port canaveral is better HELP ME!

 

[SeaSpray]

I am trying to plan my transportation for my January cruise. It seems rather complicated with what I am doing and would LOVE some advice.

Here is the trip plan:
Arrive one day early (fly in to MCO)
Now we can either get transportation to Port Canaveral, or stay near airport and use DCL transfers.
Once we get our transportation to the ship the next morning we will board the cruise.

Disembarkation:
transportation to WDW
Then I will need transportation from WDW back to MCO.

I am looking for something somewhat simple, and cost effective. It seems that I can do the DCL transfer option, stay the night near the hotel and then use the transfers that morning, then use the transfers to go from cruise ship to wdw and then magical express to get us back to the airport. Am I correct with this plan and is it $70.00 per person for this? Seems like an easy way to go and not too bad of a price.

If someone has a better plan, or a significantly cheaper one, or if you think that staying the night at port canaveral is better HELP ME!

That sounds like a pretty good plan to me. We'll be doing something similar, depending on our flight arrival time, the day before the cruise. If we arrive early enough (before evening), we'll have a towncar pick us up at MCO and bring us to a Port Canaveral hotel, then use the hotel shuttle to get to the port in the morning.

If we end up with a late flight we'll stay at the MCO Hyatt and take DCL transfers the next morning, either a towncar or DCL transfers back to WDW/MCO, depending on whether we stay for a few days after or not.

I'm actually more inclined to go down to WDW for a couple of days before the cruise, rather than after.

And yes, basically the DCL transfers are $70 per person, roundtrip.

 

[RMAMom]

We just got back from our first cruise and took DCL transfers from AOA to the ship and from the ship to POR. Coming back was a no brainer and I will do that again, it was quick, easy and painless! However, I will never take DCL to the ship again. They didn't get us there until 2:30 and by the time we boarded the ship I felt like they had robbed me of 4 hours of my vacation on the ship. For our next cruise I intend to hire a car service so that I can control the time that we arrive. I know that doesn't answer your question really but I wanted to "warn" you that if you take DCL to the boat you will miss hours of fun!

 

[sdflipside]

In Feb, I did exactly what OP was thinking. Super easy. Because we did it that way we did not have a PAT. We left the Hyatt early so we got on first bus going to port. We were very first bus there, and on ship by 11:30 am. Going to WDW, we were off ship by 7:40 am, and we at our hotel by 9ish. Bus back to MCO just as easy.

 

[Disneylandfanatic]

I am liking the fact that we will not have a PAT if we do it this way and will be able to get on the first bus to the port. I also like not having to worry too much about the luggage (except for our carry-ons). We can just have a relaxing day at the Hyatt, maybe hang out at the pool eat at the restaurant or the food court and get ready for our vacation ahead (that is if our flight gets us there early).

to the person who posted about the long delay, can I ask why there was such a long delay. It also seems like those were different ports, so could be a whole different story with MCO to PC.

 

[Disneylandfanatic]

Actually, if you are talking about transfers from the resort to the port...I have read on these boards multiple times that the pickup time is much later for the resort folks as opposed to the airport folks. So I don't think I will have as much of a delay trying to get from the airport to the port.

Anyone have problems or long delays from the airport to the port?

 

[SeaSpray]

Actually, if you are talking about transfers from the resort to the port...I have read on these boards multiple times that the pickup time is much later for the resort folks as opposed to the airport folks. So I don't think I will have as much of a delay trying to get from the airport to the port.

Anyone have problems or long delays from the airport to the port?

I have read the same thing, that DCL pick-up from WDW resorts can run kind of late, but if you're going right from MCO and taking the bus from there, they start running the busses early. That's what I'm counting on if we do end up staying at the Hyatt.

 

[chinhk]

I am trying to plan my transportation for my January cruise. It seems rather complicated with what I am doing and would LOVE some advice.

Here is the trip plan:
Arrive one day early (fly in to MCO)
Now we can either get transportation to Port Canaveral, or stay near airport and use DCL transfers.
Once we get our transportation to the ship the next morning we will board the cruise.

Disembarkation:
transportation to WDW
Then I will need transportation from WDW back to MCO.

I am looking for something somewhat simple, and cost effective. It seems that I can do the DCL transfer option, stay the night near the hotel and then use the transfers that morning, then use the transfers to go from cruise ship to wdw and then magical express to get us back to the airport. Am I correct with this plan and is it $70.00 per person for this? Seems like an easy way to go and not too bad of a price.

If someone has a better plan, or a significantly cheaper one, or if you think that staying the night at port canaveral is better HELP ME!

We will be cruising in Sept and our plan is almost the same as yours. Arrive in MCO the day before and we have decided to stay at the Hyatt regency MCO simply because the advantage of checking in at the airport hotel after a long flight and also they have the special arrangement of luggage service with Disney. We are travelling as a family of four adults so the cost is about the same if we use the disney transport or a private chauffeur (the only advantage of private chauffeur is that we can select the pick-up time).

From what I understand is that if you have booked the disney transfer, all you need to do on the day of embarkation is that to leave your luggages in your room and they will collect it and deliver them to your staterooms onboard. Amazing service but I can't help stop worrying about will they missed off my luggage.

Also, I've been informed that the first disney bus leaves MCO airport at 9.30am (and then the frequency is about every 20mins so you should have no problem arriving at the port on time).

 

[TDC Nala]

Did the Hyatt luggage service in September and we even had breakfast before the bus departed and we got to the port BEFORE the ship started any boarding at all. And they did not lose our luggage.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We will be cruising in Sept and our plan is almost the same as yours. Arrive in MCO the day before and we have decided to stay at the Hyatt regency MCO simply because the advantage of checking in at the airport hotel after a long flight and also they have the special arrangement of luggage service with Disney. We are travelling as a family of four adults so the cost is about the same if we use the disney transport or a private chauffeur (the only advantage of private chauffeur is that we can select the pick-up time).

From what I understand is that if you have booked the disney transfer, all you need to do on the day of embarkation is that to leave your luggages in your room and they will collect it and deliver them to your staterooms onboard. Amazing service but I can't help stop worrying about will they missed off my luggage.

Also, I've been informed that the first disney bus leaves MCO airport at 9.30am (and then the frequency is about every 20mins so you should have no problem arriving at the port on time).

They no longer checkin for the cruise at the airport. You just checkin for the transfer bus. And checkin in for the cruise at the port.

 

[tinkerbell 766]

We just got back from our first cruise and took DCL transfers from AOA to the ship and from the ship to POR. Coming back was a no brainer and I will do that again, it was quick, easy and painless! However, I will never take DCL to the ship again. They didn't get us there until 2:30 and by the time we boarded the ship I felt like they had robbed me of 4 hours of my vacation on the ship. For our next cruise I intend to hire a car service so that I can control the time that we arrive. I know that doesn't answer your question really but I wanted to "warn" you that if you take DCL to the boat you will miss hours of fun!

It always puzzles me slightly why people are in such a hurry to board. That said, we are lucky enough to be taking a 7 day cruise, so will have plenty of time aboard.
We are flying in from the UK the day before we board and are staying at AKL the night we land. Having a leisurely morning and breakfast, before boarding the DCL transfer without any hassles, appeals to me far more than rushing around just to get an extra couple of hours on the ship. Perhaps it is just me