Any where to eat before cruise?

[notaclue]

We plan to take the 4 night Disney Dream cruise which leaves Port Canavarel at 3:45 pm and will be taking the ME bus from the Orlando airport to the port. Is there anywhere to eat close to the cruise terminal? Looking for something within walking distance since we won't have a car. thanks for any help.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We plan to take the 4 night Disney Dream cruise which leaves Port Canavarel at 3:45 pm and will be taking the ME bus from the Orlando airport to the port. Is there anywhere to eat close to the cruise terminal? Looking for something within walking distance since we won't have a car. thanks for any help.

I don't remember there being anything at the terminal or even within walking distance. I don't remember anything at all within walking distance. You might want to get something at the airport.

 

[Anal Annie]

We plan to take the 4 night Disney Dream cruise which leaves Port Canavarel at 3:45 pm and will be taking the ME bus from the Orlando airport to the port. Is there anywhere to eat close to the cruise terminal? Looking for something within walking distance since we won't have a car. thanks for any help.

Don't waste your time! Pack some crackers if you feel you might need something. There will be a TON of food on the cruise! Plan your flight arrival early enough to board the ship and eat at the buffet onboard!! There is also a lot of options around the pool areas. Once you're on the ship it's food, food, and more food!!

 

[MouseMomx2]

As already mentioned, there is nothing at or within walking distance of the port terminal. You could always grab something at the airport.

Personally, we never eat much the morning of a cruise. We board around noon and head right to the buffet for lunch.

 

[Cruznmore]

As soon as you board, the food will be ready. Go to the buffet and enjoy.

 

[notaclue]

Awesome news. I didn't know you could board early and eat. How early can you board? Do the ME busses run between the airport and the port often? We better try to schedule an early flight.

 

[Anal Annie]

Awesome news. I didn't know you could board early and eat. How early can you board? Do the ME busses run between the airport and the port often? We better try to schedule an early flight.

OH my friend you need to go hang out on the Cruise Board Forums!! But to answer your question they typically start boarding around Noon-ish and then allow people into their staterooms around 1:00-ish. The DCL cruise line buses are not called DME and you have to book them separately (I think they cost about $30 or $35 pp) but they will run back & forth from the airport to the port pretty much all day. (It takes about an hour for the drive.) You will want to schedule your flight for early as possible in the day (most people even fly in the day before to avoid the day-of-stress of flying in that day).

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=9

They will answer all of your questions and then some over there!! And you can find your cruise meet thread on the Meet thread forums (there will be a thread specifically for your cruise date) and hook up with other people sailing on your same cruise!!

 

[bumbershoot]

will be taking the ME bus from the Orlando airport to the port.

If you're really going to book a flight that gets in on the same day you sail (not recommended, in case there are delays, etc), what about stopping at the Starbucks in the main part of MCO before heading to the cruise bus?

 

[notaclue]

If you're really going to book a flight that gets in on the same day you sail (not recommended, in case there are delays, etc), what about stopping at the Starbucks in the main part of MCO before heading to the cruise bus?

Ooh I never considered that there might be problems getting to MCO in time to catch the cruise bus. I'll book a WDW resort for one night prior to cruise day. Thank you so much for that idea. I'd hate to miss the boat.

 

[paults]

if you stay at disney the night before make sure you book Disney cruise line bus for the trip from your resort to the port. ( $35 one way each person) If your going back to MCO after the cruise you need to book that too. Also $35 one way.

 

[MouseMomx2]

if you stay at disney the night before make sure you book Disney cruise line bus for the trip from your resort to the port. ( $35 one way each person) If your going back to MCO after the cruise you need to book that too. Also $35 one way.

I would suggest doing a one-way car rental on each end of your cruise instead. You can use it to get from the airport to WDW and then to the port (a very easy drive) the next day. Budget, Avis, National, Alamo, Thrifty, Dollar and Hertz all have port-area branches with free shuttles to the port.

If there are more than two of you this will be much cheaper than the DCL transfers. An added bonus is that you can select an earlier port time as you will be able to decide when you leave WDW. With the DCL transfers you will not leave WDW until noon-ish, putting you at the port between 1:00 and 2:00.

 

[Dean]

Ooh I never considered that there might be problems getting to MCO in time to catch the cruise bus. I'll book a WDW resort for one night prior to cruise day. Thank you so much for that idea. I'd hate to miss the boat.

I would not suggest you try to do WDW just for the night though I do agree with getting down a day early. You could stay at a hotel near the airport or one near the cruise terminal. I would concur with spending time of the cruise board as those there would be most knowledgeable and proficient at such matter.

 

[schoen]

We went on our first cruise this past October. We flew in the night before and stayed at Beach Club. We flew in early in the afternoon. We rented a car at MCO. We went to publix and purchased our drinks for the cruise. We had annual passes, so we spent the evening at Epcot. If we had not had the annual passes we probably would have gone to Downtown Disney, The Poly for fireworks, or maybe mini golf.

A lot of folks like to stay closer to the port, but we enjoyed a Disney Day!

We had a port arrival time of 11:30 am. We left the resort at 9:00 am, and we just stopped at McDonalds for a quick bite to eat. We were on the ship by noon, and we could have had lunch immediately, but we decided to wait a bit since our dinner seating wasn't until 8:15.

 

[com_op_2000]

Don't waste your time! Pack some crackers if you feel you might need something. There will be a TON of food on the cruise! Plan your flight arrival early enough to board the ship and eat at the buffet onboard!! There is also a lot of options around the pool areas. Once you're on the ship it's food, food, and more food!!

Quite agree!
Remember you enter a cruise as a guest, if you eat at every chance, you will exit the cruise as luggage.