Your going to get lots of suggestions here so you will have lots of choices to pick from. I'll throw in my thoughts as well.
I would not take ME back to the airport to get the bus. ME buses stop at other resorts as well so you may have to wait for pick ups at several other places before actually getting on the road to the airport. Its about 45 minutes just to get to the airport and then you need to get on another bus to take you to the port, which is about an hour. You will also have to transport your luggage with you from the resort to the airport to the DCL bus. To me that is way to much work and way to much time.
A car service or car rental would probably get you to the port in good time however you would need to return the rental car and that is another time consumer I did not enjoy. Depending on how many are traveling with you the car service could be cheaper but not always. I have found people don't think about the tip for the service and that brings the cost up so when you price it out don't forget to add that in to your total.
We have tried it all except for the ME to the airport bit, I would never do this for the reasons I have listed. We prefer the bus even though it doesn't get us t o the port early early. I don't understand why people want to get there so early. As has been mentioned earlier you can't board until a certain time, you just float around the port terminal waiting. Our personal preference is to take the bus from the resort. It is much like the ME buses and has a video movie going of what to expect on the ship and different information about it. Your time on the bus really flys by and if it is your first sailing you could get some good information from it. I know others have gotten to the port late however we have done this 7 (I think) times and have always been on the ship by 1. There is no line at check in, there are no crowds of people waiting so you just walk right on. The crowds have dispersed and we are at lunch with a table in no time. I find that there are enough lines during the cruise, if I can avoid the mass crowd before the cruise I start my vacation a lot calmer. Also, once we hand our luggage to the bus driver its gone, I don't have to worry about it at the port. It will find me later.
Again, not everyones choice but I thought I would give my thoughts and reasons. What ever you decide you will have a great cruise with wonderful memories. Enjoy!
I would not take ME back to the airport to get the bus. ME buses stop at other resorts as well so you may have to wait for pick ups at several other places before actually getting on the road to the airport. Its about 45 minutes just to get to the airport and then you need to get on another bus to take you to the port, which is about an hour. You will also have to transport your luggage with you from the resort to the airport to the DCL bus. To me that is way to much work and way to much time.
A car service or car rental would probably get you to the port in good time however you would need to return the rental car and that is another time consumer I did not enjoy. Depending on how many are traveling with you the car service could be cheaper but not always. I have found people don't think about the tip for the service and that brings the cost up so when you price it out don't forget to add that in to your total.
We have tried it all except for the ME to the airport bit, I would never do this for the reasons I have listed. We prefer the bus even though it doesn't get us t o the port early early. I don't understand why people want to get there so early. As has been mentioned earlier you can't board until a certain time, you just float around the port terminal waiting. Our personal preference is to take the bus from the resort. It is much like the ME buses and has a video movie going of what to expect on the ship and different information about it. Your time on the bus really flys by and if it is your first sailing you could get some good information from it. I know others have gotten to the port late however we have done this 7 (I think) times and have always been on the ship by 1. There is no line at check in, there are no crowds of people waiting so you just walk right on. The crowds have dispersed and we are at lunch with a table in no time. I find that there are enough lines during the cruise, if I can avoid the mass crowd before the cruise I start my vacation a lot calmer. Also, once we hand our luggage to the bus driver its gone, I don't have to worry about it at the port. It will find me later.
Again, not everyones choice but I thought I would give my thoughts and reasons. What ever you decide you will have a great cruise with wonderful memories. Enjoy!
