Could someone give advice on what time to fly home?

[nisiemouse]

We are going on the Dec 19-23 cruise and want to make reservations soon since it is close to holiday time. What time would you recommend flying out? We will probably rent a car to go back to the airport. Thanks.

 

[Hygiene99]

I would not book anything before noon just to be on the safe side.... I know others will say Earlier is ok but that is just me.....

 

[HappyLawyer]

Hey we are cruising that time too but we are going back to disney i would call disney cruise line they can give u an idea of what time to book a flight for

 

[Princess49]

When we called DCL, they told us not to book our flight any earlier than 1pm. We booked ours a little later, but we are always running through the airport so I'm excited to be able to explore a little this time!

 

[disneybride96]

We had an 11:55 flight, and were back at the airport so early we could have caught a 10:30 flight. We did the breakfast on deck and made our exit at first call.

 

[westjones]

We have had 11:00 flights and been able make it, but later would probably be better (for us it was either 11:00 or 7:00 pm and we didn't want that late, so we made sure we went to breakfast early and headed out as soon as they allowed you off of the ship).

We will be on that cruise too. We are going over to WDW afterwards for a couple of days to see all the holiday decorations. We are driving for that one, so I have no idea what the airport will be like at that time of the year. It is a very busy time.

DJ

 

[inkkognito]

Personally I would probably aim it for around noon. That way, you'll have a little bit of wiggle room built in, and if you get to the airport early, you can spend some time shopping. If you have pets at home, check out Bow Wow Meow. They also have a really nice, big Borders, and of course there's always the Disney store.
It will probably take longer if you use Avis rather than Budget. In all my times of observing the rental car vans, I've seen Avis fill up and still have a line, while the Budget crowd is usually sparser. I've never seen a Hertz van at all.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[tvguy]

We had a 12:35pm flight and had plenty of time. One comment though, why rent a car? The Disney bus is great. And some of the airlines even let you check your bags right at the Cruise terminal before boarding the bus. Only stipulation is that if you have a flight before 12:30pm, they ask that you check your bags by 8 am.

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

We are using US AIR and checking our luggage and getting our boarding passes right at the port.

We are using DCL busses on the return for the 2 of us. We also have a "Day room"($60) at the Hyatt at MCO since our flight doesn't leave until 5:00. Since our luggage and boarding passes will have been taken care of at the port, we can just relax and have a nice lunch and or dinner, and have the comfort of our own room at the airport.

I also would not book a flight before 11:30 am.

 

[DoomBuggieDriver]

Along those lines...
I have heard you can book the Disney bus from the port to MCO while on board the ship-is this true? Do you always end up on a bus or on the Mears Shuttles? If it's definately a bus, I'd do it, but I hate those shuttles....
Thanks

 

[tvguy]

Yes, they mentioned on board you could book the bus on board for the return trip.
I don't even know what the shuttle you're talking about is, all we saw was Disney Cruise Line busses.

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by DoomBuggieDriver
Along those lines...
I have heard you can book the Disney bus from the port to MCO while on board the ship-is this true? Do you always end up on a bus or on the Mears Shuttles? If it's definately a bus, I'd do it, but I hate those shuttles....
Thanks

It is $25 per person using DCL busses. You can purchase your bus tx anytime you are on the ship during the week.

 

[nisiemouse]

Thanks for the advice and the idea about taking the bus and checking bags at the port.

Nick: Your cruise must be coming up soon. I'll miss your smilies when you are gone!

 

[DoomBuggieDriver]

Originally posted by tvguy
Yes, they mentioned on board you could book the bus on board for the return trip.
I don't even know what the shuttle you're talking about is, all we saw was Disney Cruise Line busses.

That's great news- I'll consider the bus then. I had read that Disney sometimes uses Mears Shuttle vans to transport people to the port and from the port to WDW, and I wondered if they also used them to go to MCO... Doesn't sound like it, which is great. Thanks for the info

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by nisiemouse
Nick: Your cruise must be coming up soon. I'll miss your smilies when you are gone!

6 more days to go

.

 

[mmouse37]

The DCL buses are actually Mears vehicles. We were told this by the bus driver. He said the buses and drivers are Mears but have the DCL logo on them.

MJ

 

[tvguy]

Okay, now something makes sense. We did see Disney Cruise Line buses loading passengers at the airport at 11 pm Friday night when we arrived for our Saturday departure.
They must use them for other things on the 4 days a week when they are not shuttling Magic and Wonder passengers back and forth to the port.
And both the driver we had on the way to the port and the way back to the airport spoke as though they had been on the ships, actually, the one coming back to the airport mentioned he was going "again" on the Wonder the next week. I wonder if they give the drivers and greeters a chance to cruise. It certainly would make them better informed on what happens on the ships.