Am I arriving to early? And a luggage question if too early

[Dizneycruiser]

First off, hi there! Awesome board! Okay, now to buisness. I'm arriving to Orlando at 11:00Am. Is that too early? Or is that good so I could get my luggage? Please respond.

 

[ljm]

No, it is by no means too early! By the time you and your luggage are aboard the bus and you get to the port, you will be able to get onboard! We always fly in the night before, and head for the ship around 10:30-11am. You'll be fine!

 

[Dizneycruiser]

No, it is by no means too early! By the time you and your luggage are aboard the bus and you get to the port, you will be able to get onboard! We always fly in the night before, and head for the ship around 10:30-11am. You'll be fine!

Thanks! Because, I saw some posts and it made me feel like I was arriving too early. Thanks again! YAY! I dont have to reschedule my plane!

 

[disneyholic family]

to be honest, i think you're arriving too late...
I would never schedule a flight arrival on the same day as the cruise....too many things can go wrong to delay your flight....
i know lots of people do it but i think they're playing with fire...
i would arrive the day before.....

 

[GDUL]

to be honest, i think you're arriving too late...
I would never schedule a flight arrival on the same day as the cruise....too many things can go wrong to delay your flight....
i know lots of people do it but i think they're playing with fire...
i would arrive the day before.....

I guess that our friends and my wife and I will be testing this on this weekend - LOL! We're like you - we'll be flying in Friday afternoon, giving ourselves some fudge-factor time. We'd be too stressed out otherwise. Our friends our coming in Saturday morning at about 10 AM. They don't have a problem with the "what ifs.........."

 

[Dizneycruiser]

to be honest, i think you're arriving too late...
I would never schedule a flight arrival on the same day as the cruise....too many things can go wrong to delay your flight....
i know lots of people do it but i think they're playing with fire...
i would arrive the day before.....

Doesn't the ship leave at 5:00 PM? It takes 1 hour without traffic to go to port canaveral, I'm taking the disney motre coach. I'm leaving for the cruise in October, so the lines wont be long. I have the birnbaums disney cruise guide 2006, and it says to arrive early to mid morning of the cruise.

 

[Rence]

The issue is that your flight is SUPPOSED to get in at 11am. If it does, you'll be finel

The reason folks encourage flying down the day before is that weather delays, mechanical delays etc can cause a flight to arrive hours late. Now most flights do arrive on time or very close to it. But many don't want to take the risk.

 

[BuzzBoyMom]

I think disneyholic family is trying to say that you should arrive the day earlier BUT IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE arriving the same day, you honestly are okay for arrival. You aren't cutting it too short for travel or arrival.

Disneyholic family, like many here on the boards - me one of them, will advise that you arrive the day before. In fact, I'm trying to convince my friend going with us to leave the day before. My family willl be leaving the day before - with or without them. We just don't need the stress of travel to mess up our cruise!

 

[Dizneycruiser]

The issue is that your flight is SUPPOSED to get in at 11am. If it does, you'll be finel

The reason folks encourage flying down the day before is that weather delays, mechanical delays etc can cause a flight to arrive hours late. Now most flights do arrive on time or very close to it. But many don't want to take the risk.

Ah, I see. But, I asked my travel agent and he said, that being that early, even if there's a delay, we would still make it there early.

 

[karylrocks]

It is also not unusual these days for an airline to cancel a flight even up to the last minute, and reschedule you on a later flight. Since they are in so much financial trouble they will do whatever they can to cut costs. I think what most people are saying here is that even though it is unlikely, it is a big risk considering that if you do miss the ship there is nothing you can to about it and you will be out a lot of money so it is less stressful to give yourself a lot of extra time just in case.

 

[Dizneycruiser]

It is also not unusual these days for an airline to cancel a flight even up to the last minute, and reschedule you on a later flight. Since they are in so much financial trouble they will do whatever they can to cut costs. I think what most people are saying here is that even though it is unlikely, it is a big risk considering that if you do miss the ship there is nothing you can to about it and you will be out a lot of money so it is less stressful to give yourself a lot of extra time just in case.

Yes, but I bought travel inscurance. So, if there is a problem, I will be reinbursted. And I dont think so for Delta. Thats the 2nd best airline outthere(so, i heard,the first is Jetblue)

 

[unixadm]

We arrived the day before and stayed at the Radisson at Port Canaveral.

The next morning, we had a fantastic breakfast at the hotel then took the 10:00am shuttle to the port. We were on the ship by lunchtime, ate lunch at Parrot Cay, and enjoyed the day up on deck (even going swimming).

If you land at 11am, my estimate is that you won't get on ship until about 3pm....still doable, with a 5pm sailing time, but you may feel rushed and feel that the day was wasted.

If you can fly in the day before, I would recommend that.....it will be a more relaxing, more enjoyable 1st day, IMO.

You mention trip insurance....thats great, (and highly recommended), but if your plane gets delayed or cancelled, all the insurance in the world won't get you on the ship on time. If you miss the sailing, you may get most of your money back, but you lost out on the memories and enjoyment of the trip, and wasted countless hours of your time.

 

[Dizneycruiser]

We arrived the day before and stayed at the Radisson at Port Canaveral.

The next morning, we had a fantastic breakfast at the hotel then took the 10:00am shuttle to the port. We were on the ship by lunchtime, ate lunch at Parrot Cay, and enjoyed the day up on deck (even going swimming).

If you land at 11am, my estimate is that you won't get on ship until about 3pm....still doable, with a 5pm sailing time, but you may feel rushed and feel that the day was wasted.

If you can fly in the day before, I would recommend that.....it will be a more relaxing, more enjoyable 1st day, IMO.

You mention trip insurance....thats great, (and highly recommended), but if your plane gets delayed or cancelled, all the insurance in the world won't get you on the ship on time. If you miss the sailing, you may get most of your money back, but you lost out on the memories and enjoyment of the trip, and wasted countless hours of your time.

Basically, my main concern is that I get on the ship. If I fell rushed, no biggy. I have a week vacation to get rid of the stress! But, what makes me a little bit comfertable is that it will be october. The kids are in school and the parents have work. It means that the lines to check in will be short and there wont be that much traffic on the road, because, rush hour begins at 5 and we will be on the road at about 11:30 or so. My guess is that check-in will be only 1 hour long at the most. And there may be little chance the flight will be delayed since it's the first florida or Orlando flight leaving at 8AM. If its delayed to 9, we get at the airport at 12, we get to ship terminal at the most 2, we have 3 hours. And since its October, we will make it on the ship. And the travel agent called Disney cruise to see if that would be alright, and they said that it will be perfect.

 

[new2cruise]

I wish I had found this board before I booked - we went through a tavel agent and it's a whole package . Flying in the same day but I don't know what time yet. Getting alittle nervous

 

[Dizneycruiser]

I wish I had found this board before I booked - we went through a tavel agent and it's a whole package . Flying in the same day but I don't know what time yet. Getting alittle nervous

Well, it depends, when are you leaving? If its during the summer, you should go to Orlando the day before the cruise, because, obviously Summer is the crowdest season of all in florida and for vacations.

 

[pdarrah]

I think you are being pretty optomistic on how quickly you can get out of the airport. First, the "arrival" time for you flight is usually when the flight touches down, not arrival at the gate. The plane needs to taxi in, park at the gate, get the door open and then unless you are right by the door, wait to disembark. Usually, we seem to disembark about 15 minutes after "arrival" time when our flights are on-time and everything goes well. Then you need to get through the terminal. You haven't said, but I assume you are taking DCL transfers to the port - I haven't done this, but I assume it is similar to Magical Express to the resorts. First you need to get from the gate to the main terminal - there is a small train that helps with that, but it is still going to take a while. Then you need to find the bus checkin for DCL - again, not a big deal, but it will take a few minutes. Best case, you aren't going to be checking in for the transfers until at least 11:30 (assuming no stops for restrooms or snacks on the way!). Then they will direct you to a bus and it probably won't leave the instant you set foot on it. They will be waiting to fill it - or at least for other passengers they know are arriving around the same time. My guess is that if everything goes smoothly, you'll be leaving the airport around noon and would get to the ship at 1pm. If you flight is delayed or anything else doesn't run perfectly smoothly you'll get to the ship later. This isn't the end of the world - we like getting there early so we can start relaxing and enjoying the ship as soon as possible - but I know that many people arrive later.

Just one other thought - just because it is October doesn't meen the ship will have fewer passengers. We have sailed twice in October (2004 & 2005) and both times the ship was full. There are probably fewer school-age kids - but there are plenty of younger kids and adults without kids to fill the ship.

pdarrah

 

[new2cruise]

The cruise is May 6, 2006 - I hope we will be ok.

 

[Dizneycruiser]

I think you are being pretty optomistic on how quickly you can get out of the airport. First, the "arrival" time for you flight is usually when the flight touches down, not arrival at the gate. The plane needs to taxi in, park at the gate, get the door open and then unless you are right by the door, wait to disembark. Usually, we seem to disembark about 15 minutes after "arrival" time when our flights are on-time and everything goes well. Then you need to get through the terminal. You haven't said, but I assume you are taking DCL transfers to the port - I haven't done this, but I assume it is similar to Magical Express to the resorts. First you need to get from the gate to the main terminal - there is a small train that helps with that, but it is still going to take a while. Then you need to find the bus checkin for DCL - again, not a big deal, but it will take a few minutes. Best case, you aren't going to be checking in for the transfers until at least 11:30 (assuming no stops for restrooms or snacks on the way!). Then they will direct you to a bus and it probably won't leave the instant you set foot on it. They will be waiting to fill it - or at least for other passengers they know are arriving around the same time. My guess is that if everything goes smoothly, you'll be leaving the airport around noon and would get to the ship at 1pm. If you flight is delayed or anything else doesn't run perfectly smoothly you'll get to the ship later. This isn't the end of the world - we like getting there early so we can start relaxing and enjoying the ship as soon as possible - but I know that many people arrive later.

Just one other thought - just because it is October doesn't meen the ship will have fewer passengers. We have sailed twice in October (2004 & 2005) and both times the ship was full. There are probably fewer school-age kids - but there are plenty of younger kids and adults without kids to fill the ship.

pdarrah

Yes, we're taking DCL transfers. But, I said that it wont be that packed because, most of theime we went to WDW or other places, they were half filled. That's why I chose the earliest Orlando flight. So, if we get on the bus from 12-1, we're fine..... right? Because, I'm preety confident about the trafffic. Like I said, Ocotber, Parents at work, kids at school.

 

[allears]

First off, hi there! Awesome board! Okay, now to buisness. I'm arriving to Orlando at 11:00Am. Is that too early? Or is that good so I could get my luggage? Please respond.

Follow up question? Are you using DCL transportation, if so you don't have to even get your luggage, DCL takes care of getting from the airport to the ship.

Some other thoughts, for those who have booked air through DCL, they always fly you in the day of the cruies (unless you've specified the day before and pay extra for a hotel). So they are accustomed to getting people flown in and over to the ship. They will also do everything possible to get you to Florida and to the ship, in some cases holding the ship's departure.

For our first two 7 day cruises we flew in the day of, in February from the northeast. We did have very early flights and had no problems. We're next sailing in September, and because of hurricane season booked our air through DCL, so we'll be flying in day of. I figure if we have any weather issues on either end of the cruise, better to have DCL take care of it than me.

 

[Dizneycruiser]

The cruise is May 6, 2006 - I hope we will be ok.

You most likely will be fine. Summer hasn't begun yet. But, you should arrive early because, that's when summer begins.