11:40am or 2pm departure flight PC?

[Lisa F]

Hey all

With airlines getting closer to releasing dates for my late February cruise, I'm starting to try to think about what I want to do for the return.

I will be flying into PVD (providence) so options are limited. It's just myself and the kiddo so we'll do Disney transfers for simplicity. We have early dining and will probably do the MDR breakfast last day. I live on martha's vineyard so any travel day will end with a ferry trip, so I don't want to get home too late.

It seems like for the last year or so, Jet Blue has had a 2pm flight from MCO to PVD and assuming that continues, that is one option. The upside of this - we would have plenty of time at the airport to grab a sit down lunch and be at the gate an hour before departure and won't have to worry about eating again until we land in PVD. Other upside: someone else will handle my luggage the whole way to PVD. Downside: with baggage fees, likely more expensive than Southwest is. Other downside, I get into PVD later in the day, but not too late to catch the 2nd to last ferry home in the winter.

Southwest always has a "late morning/early afternoon" flight that I tend to take for my WDW trips - it has been as early as 11:30 and as late as about 1:10 at various times. Right now on Saturday January 4th it is running at 11:40 - I thought I read that Disney doesn't recommend earlier than 12:30 departure but I doublechecked their website and they say 11:25. We have TSA Pre-check so that helps a bit at the airport. Is 11:40 a reasonable time with some time to hit the bathroom and grab something to eat for lunch on the plane (to go) given I don't want to feel rushed/stressed departing the ship? Upsides: get home earlier, likely cheaper than jet blue. Downsides: I'd have to handle my own luggage, might be a more rushed/stressed/frantic departure from the ship. Maybe neither of those are actually downsides though!

Anyone with experience on the timeline of it all? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the timing of it all.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hey all

With airlines getting closer to releasing dates for my late February cruise, I'm starting to try to think about what I want to do for the return.

I will be flying into PVD (providence) so options are limited. It's just myself and the kiddo so we'll do Disney transfers for simplicity. We have early dining and will probably do the MDR breakfast last day. I live on martha's vineyard so any travel day will end with a ferry trip, so I don't want to get home too late.

It seems like for the last year or so, Jet Blue has had a 2pm flight from MCO to PVD and assuming that continues, that is one option. The upside of this - we would have plenty of time at the airport to grab a sit down lunch and be at the gate an hour before departure and won't have to worry about eating again until we land in PVD. Other upside: someone else will handle my luggage the whole way to PVD. Downside: with baggage fees, likely more expensive than Southwest is. Other downside, I get into PVD later in the day, but not too late to catch the 2nd to last ferry home in the winter.

Southwest always has a "late morning/early afternoon" flight that I tend to take for my WDW trips - it has been as early as 11:30 and as late as about 1:10 at various times. Right now on Saturday January 4th it is running at 11:40 - I thought I read that Disney doesn't recommend earlier than 12:30 departure but I doublechecked their website and they say 11:25. We have TSA Pre-check so that helps a bit at the airport. Is 11:40 a reasonable time with some time to hit the bathroom and grab something to eat for lunch on the plane (to go) given I don't want to feel rushed/stressed departing the ship? Upsides: get home earlier, likely cheaper than jet blue. Downsides: I'd have to handle my own luggage, might be a more rushed/stressed/frantic departure from the ship. Maybe neither of those are actually downsides though!

Anyone with experience on the timeline of it all? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the timing of it all.

While DCL recommends after 11:30, my comfort zone is not before 1:30.

I don't really want to be "first off" and have the added stress of "will the bus make it to the airport in time?".

 

[Lisa F]

While DCL recommends after 11:30, my comfort zone is not before 1:30.

I don't really want to be "first off" and have the added stress of "will the bus make it to the airport in time?".

thanks, that is the kind of realistic feedback I was hoping for. What is your typical morning cruise timeline?

It seems like it's not out of the possibility that southwest will have more like a 1-something flight as they have those flights around the holidays... that is what I had my last couple of februaries, the 11-something was in January not February. Of course it can change year to year but just trying to decide what I'd do if so I can book what I need to .

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

Maybe I'd book the earlier flight if I had private transportation. The DCL bus won't leave for the airport until it is full so you could end up sitting on the bus for 20 - 30 mins (that's happened to me, but we had plenty of time so it didn't much matter).

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What is your typical morning cruise timeline?

Get up as late as I can (typically around 6:45-7:00). Early breakfast (we usually do early dinner), then just get off when ready.

The buses for the airport depart when full. The early buses run pretty frequently, but will spread out more the later you get off. The last bus is usually around 9:30, but could be later, if there are stragglers onboard the ship who haven't gotten off yet.

 

[Lisa F]

Get up as late as I can (typically around 6:45-7:00). Early breakfast (we usually do early dinner), then just get off when ready.

The buses for the airport depart when full. The early buses run pretty frequently, but will spread out more the later you get off. The last bus is usually around 9:30, but could be later, if there are stragglers onboard the ship who haven't gotten off yet.

do they give you a departure time if you are trying to make a flight? obviously 9:30 won't work for 11:25!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

do they give you a departure time if you are trying to make a flight? obviously 9:30 won't work for 11:25!

No, you just get off when you want. Unlike some of the other port, at Port Canaveral you can get off at anytime, once the ship has been cleared (generally around 7:00-7:30).

 

[Bonnie1222]

It's not worth the risk/stress. Take the later flight. I have been on cruises where Debarkation has been delayed and when I normally get off the boat and make it the 75 minute drive home by 10:30 I have still been sitting in customs at that time trying to go home. I think they didn't clear the boat until close to 9 am to start debarking that time.

 

[MomOTwins]

We had an 11:35 flight on our first cruise with early MDR dining and we were were at the gate by 9:30. Delays are always possible but I hate waiting around MCO for hours and hours, so I'd be inclined to go with the 11:40 if it were me.

 

[Lisa F]

We had an 11:35 flight on our first cruise with early MDR dining and we were were at the gate by 9:30. Delays are always possible but I hate waiting around MCO for hours and hours, so I'd be inclined to go with the 11:40 if it were me.

what time did you end up getting on the bus with early MDR dining?

I'm not even sure what SWs schedules will be, around holidays they tend to have their mid-day departure more like 1ish than 11ish so that might be my best choice - I am going to have to wait for them to release but I'd like to know what I am doing too!

 

[Lisa F]

It's not worth the risk/stress. Take the later flight. I have been on cruises where Debarkation has been delayed and when I normally get off the boat and make it the 75 minute drive home by 10:30 I have still been sitting in customs at that time trying to go home. I think they didn't clear the boat until close to 9 am to start debarking that time.

That's a little what I'm worried about, if I miss the flight I don't have many other options until a MUCH later flight.

 

[tankin]

@Lisa F Personally I think your initial posting lays it out well... If its me, I don't want to risk MCO where I have to stop to check in bags (and the occasional loooong lines associated with it) and hope the Pre-check line on at Saturday isn't too long. If the flights were reversed and DCL was handling the bags, I might consider but in your case, unless you are saving an inordinate amount of money, why risk the stress?

 

[xQuizx]

Here are my notes from my last 2 cruises.

December 2, 2017 - Using Disney transportation from Fantasy to MCO.

• 6:45 AM Breakfast at specified restaurant
• There was a long line to exit the boat
• Apparently, there were missing people in customs.
• We got in line around 7:50AM and were on the bus by 8:55AM.
• We arrived at the airport around 10:00AM
• We had a porter move our luggage from the bus to curbside check in.
• We were through security and on the train to the terminal by 10:48AM
• 12:20 PM Southwest flight to Chicago from Orlando

December 1, 2018 - Using Private transport from Fantasy to MCO.

• 6:45 AM Breakfast at specified restaurant
• 7:40 AM Finished breakfast
• Grabbed alcohol while everyone was finishing up
• 8:00 AM Got in line to leave ship
• We were all the way back in preludes
• There was a shorter line coming from Animator Palate
• 8:30 AM Went through customs
• 8:30 AM Take private shuttle to airport
• 8:45 AM Started loading van at the curb
• 10:00 AM Arrived at the airport
• Beth stood in line while I moved luggage around
• 10:30 AM Our family through security using TSA pre check
• 11:15 AM Sister's family through security no TSA pre check
• 12:40 PM Southwest flight to Chicago from Orlando

Note that if you take Disney transportation they drop you off on the other side of the airport. We used a porter to bring our luggage to Southwest curbside. We use curbside because the lines are normally shorter then inside the airport.

So on average with both methods we were getting to the terminal by 10:45ish.

Hope that helps!

Cheers!

 

[soniam]

You would definitely want to skip the MDR breakfast and do the get off the boat early thing. I can't remember the exact name for it. I would hate to cut it that close. Things can always happen. Later, if better. Plus, your avatar says that you are a wise woman

 

[lklgoodman]

I understand wanting to get home before it gets too late. However you never know when something could happen that could make you miss an early flight. We got off one cruise to find out there had been a wreck and all buses, cabs, and cars were well over an hour getting to the port for pick ups. This past Jan. we debarked during the govt shutdown took nearly 2 hours to get off the ship! Thankfully we had flights a little after 2pm each time, so we were fine, but there were a lot of worried people around us. I think most people probably have no problems with flights around 11:30, but you never know when something could happen to make you miss it.

 

[hnthomps]

Both cruises we've taken we could have made an 11:30am flight with time to spare. I absolutely would book that one. Our first cruise we had a 12-ish flight and were worried about the timing because of things I'd read on here...we didn't even try that hard and we were at the airport before 9am.

EDIT TO ADD - I just checked my trip reports. On our first cruise we were in line to debark at 7:30 (after a sit down breakfast) with a 2 & 4 year old and had picked up bags, cleared customs, and gotten to the airport by 8:30am. On our second, we took as long as we reasonably could to get off, as we had 8 hours to kill before our flight. Even so, we were off the ship, to the airport via DCL transfers, into a rental car from the airport, and at the Florida mall by ~9:30am.

Having extra time at an airport with a child is not a gift. You need enough time, but not too much time.