Airport Baggage Check

[JennsBabySky]

I would imagine you'll still be subject to the airline's luggage restrictions. If you only have a couple bags, then one person shoud be able to check them all.

 

[goofyforlife]

Can someone explain the procedure if you are not on one of those airlines, but do have Disney transfers? We are on Southwest, but using Disney transfers to/from the airport.

Thanks!

Southwest is not at the port

After the cruise your luggage will be loaded onto the DCL Buses with you but you will still have to wait in line at the airport to check in and check luggage.

(an alternative could be to check in after midnight online on the boat....
this would let you print boarding passes, then you would only have to check the luggage at the curb.)

 

[DIScruisers4]

Sorry, this is a bit long:

I called DCL today and spoke to a manager because this impacts us a lot. We have taken three prior DCL cruises, our most recent was January 2004, and we are going again next month. Each time, we have arranged our own limo transportation, and were able to check our luggage at the airline counters at Port Canaveral before heading to the airport. There was really no secret. In fact, this was highlighted during the disembarkation talk, and no mention was ever made about needing to have purchased Disney air or transfers in order to use this service. We were all prepared to do this again for our upcoming trip, but apparently things have changed. After reading these posts, I spoke to a DCL reservation manager who told me that we would not be able to check our luggage with the airlines at Port Canaveral unless we purchased the Disney air or transfers. She did say that we can purchase the transfers on the ship, but that we had to purchase transfers for everyone in our party at $25/person. When I explained that this policy was different than what we had experienced in the past, she that the policy had apparently changed, but she was not sure when this change went into effect.

By the way, we had also stayed at the Hyatt last January the night before our trip, and had DCL transport our bags to the Port while we went in our own limo. Again, no secret here. In fact, the Hyatt gave us a letter when we checked in stating that we could do this. When I informed the front desk that we were not using the Disney transportation and had not purchased DCL transfers, they assured us that it did not matter . . . and it did not, as everthing went smoothly. We planned to do this again, but this policy has also changed, but with a twist. The reservation manager told me that while we could not use DCL to transfer our bags without having purchased Disney air or transfers, we could arrange with a CM at the Hyatt on Saturday morning to transfer our bags only. The cost is currently $25.00 for the first six bags, not $25.00 per person.

Unfortuately, we are traveling with two other families and already booked a limo company with the understanding that we would not need a separate vehicle for all of the luggage because we thought it would be transported separately as in the past. I am now looking into the cost of a luggage vehicle vs. the cost for Disney transfers. I believe it will be cheaper to go with the extra vehicle on the return trip because we are sharing that cost. As for the bag transfers from the Hyatt to the Port, it will probably end up being cheaper paying the Disney price.

These changes appear to be for security reasons, which is great. I would always rather be safe than sorry. I did, however, tell the manager that I hope this policy is, in fact, enforced. Otherwise, I will be upset if I arrange and pay for a separate luggage vehicle only to find out when I am on the ship, then we can check our bags at the port without DCL transfers as in the past. She assured me that this was indeed the policy, so I am now planning based on that information.

I'll post an update soon. Anyone else have a similar recent experience or information on this issue???

 

[jel0511]

I did, however, tell the manager that I hope this policy is, in fact, enforced.

I can at least assure that on the 11/6 cruise, this policy was in fact enforced. When we disembarked and got a porter, we told him that we were planning on using DCL transfers and checking our bags at the port. He immediately told me that we would need our KTTW Card to be able to access the area. There was a DCL CM standing on the walkway between the building and the outside check-in area checking EVERYONE'S KTTW Card as they approached the area. He was definately looking for some kind of code on the Card to show you had bought DCL transfers back to MCO.

 

[DIScruisers4]

Thanks Lori for the update. I can now planning accordingly.

 

[TootyJane]

They are $49 per person for those 3 and up roundtrip from MCO. I believe the one way price (either to/from the airport) is $26 per person for those 3 and up.

We rebooked back-to-back cruises for August 2006 and purchased Disney transfers while onboard this past June. When I got home I got to thinking about the transfer thing and called DCL. Sure enough they had me down for transfers twice because we are on two cruises -- we're a family of 5 and that works out to $490 for transfers alone! Obviously we don't need transfers back to the airport after the first week since we're staying on another week. Roundtrip transfers are $49 per person. Because the back-to-back cruises are "not typical," as the CM put it, we had to purchase one-way transfers "to" and "from" at $25 per person -- that $250.

 

[PPFQP]

(an alternative could be to check in after midnight online on the boat....
this would let you print boarding passes, then you would only have to check the luggage at the curb.)

We would want to take advantage of the online checkin, but is there a printer in the computer center onboard the ship? If so, it would be worth our while to pay the fee for internet service.

 

[missmulan]

there's a printer in the internet cafe but there's also a small fee per page.