DCL and air

[tink5697]

There are 10 of us traveling on the May 15, 2004 Magic cruise. We live in NY (Long Island) and have a perfectly great little airport here (ISP, Macarthur) with a perfectly great price on airfare (under $260.) on Southwest. The flight leaves at 7:10 AM, arriving in Orlando at 9:45, we have paid for the Disney transportation shuttle to take us to Port. This supposedly will have us there by 1:30. This is all good, we have a large group and our ages span from 3-90. The easier the better. That is of course if everything goes according to plan.
My MIL and I were chatting tonight about that being enough time, and our tv local news came across with a "Suspicious package" closing down and evacuating our airport. We began to think, what if this happened to us? Of course it is a one in a million chance, but it is becoming more and more common these past months/years. The tighter security the better.
I called DCL because I know the guarantee if you use their air. They want $353. pp. Almost $100 pp more than Southwest.
We have considered staying over the night before, but then we have the cost of hotel accommodations for 10, and a car to get us to Cocoa Beach or Cape Canaveral, and the parking at the port. It adds up pretty quick when you talk about carting this herd around. We would certainly like to save our money for the ship!
I guess my question is, does anyone have any suggestions or ideas other than what I have mentioned? I appreciate any and all input.

 

[prymsu]

well you could still do your own air, and stay at the Hyatt in MCO, or a nearby hotel that offers free shuttle. You could get two or three rooms, depending on how many adults you have. Then the next morning you could return to the airport and take the airport shuttle over. Also, i believe Happy Limo may be another alternative to get to the port at a lower cost because if you broke it down by person, it would be ten or twelve dollars one way. just some things to think about.

If you decided to rent a car, you could return the car to either Avis or Budget, and take a shuttle from there to the pier so you wouldn't have to pay car rental or parking fees.

 

[kcashner]

My suggestion would be to fly in the night before. You can get a 3* hotel on Priceline for $28-35 per night (that's per room, not per person). The 3* hotels have a free shuttle to and from the airport, and some have a complimentary breakfast. If you go to www.bidding for travel.com, you can get a lot of information about using Priceline and what people have paid as well as reviews of the various hotels. I wouldn't go below a 3* in the MCO area because if you do, you will lose the shuttle and there is a LaQuinta that Priceline uses at a 2.5* that is a real dump.

By flying in the night before, you virtually eliminate the chance of getting caught in an airport mix-up like the one you described. You take the free shuttle to the hotel (sheraton, hyatt, renaissance, etc are the 3*). In the morning, you eat breakfast and take the free shuttle back to the airport where you catch the DCL bus to the port.

You'd need 3 hotel rooms, which would add about $110-120 total to your trip cost, and you might have to buy breakfast in the morning if your hotel doesn't have it complimentary. Most of the hotels are within walking distance of fast food type restaurants, so you wouldn't have to spend much on breakfast....or bring a box of cereal and buy milk!

It's always a good idea to arrive in Florida the night before if you can possibly do it.

Another cost saver would be to arrange a private limo/van to the port. The break even point is 3 adults. If fewer than 3 adults are travelling, DCL is cheaper. IF more than 3 adults, private limo service is cheaper. That way, they'd pick you up at the hotel and take you directly to the port...no need to take the shuttle back to the airport. There are several limo services available. DCL transfers, you pay by the person. Private limo, you pay by the vehicle (but of course, with 10, you'd need a large vehicle.)

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Best case scenario (IMO) would be to NOT take DLC transfers- then the difference in cost is going to be even more (between your flight tickets and theirs- then add on the diff of the transfers) and come in a day early, book however little rooms you can get away with (legally and comfortably) at the Radisson (I think that's the one I have seen mentioned?) near the port, spend the night there- use their shuttle to the port. I think you'd still be saving money that way.
OR you could do the same (no DCL transfers) and either rent a car or take a towncar/limo (might not be able to all fit in one rental car? doubtful...) to any resort (Radisson take the shuttle the next morning, if not... have limo drive you? They do have 3 leg limo rides with FLTours so then it would take you back to the airport also).

I'd rather do that- have an extra day to handle the "risk" of flight delays, have the limo ride, etc- than just pay the extra to DCL for the flight through them. Personal choice though.

What we have decided to do is limo ride to/from- and coming in 2 days early and spending it at GF before the cruise. Best of both worlds.... less risk of missing the cruise plus enjoying a little of WDW before the cruise.

 

[tink5697]

This trip is an all expense paid gift from my MIL, (God Bless her). With that said, I obviously want her to save as much as possible and until I started doing this research I hadn't seen the travel documents.
Well for 10 of us to get to port, she was paying almost $500!!

Unbelievable.
I just convinced her (Not that she really needed convincing, she would leave now if we were all game) that it is actually CHEAPER to fly down the day before and get 3 rooms in Orlando <most have airport shuttle service> at $50.00 per night. Happy Limo has listed on their site (I am waiting for a return email on an exact quote) but they have quoted on their site a 10 passenger van round trip from MCO to Port Canaveral for $195. before tax and tip. That still puts us under what Disney was charging for the 10 of us the day of the cruise. The same price or less for piece of mind!
Thanks so much for everyone's input. I love this board!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Way to go! I think you have it all figured out and made a great choice!

 

[inkkognito]

I think it will all work out very well
Hubby and I do the same thing, although with a lot less people. We get our hotel room via Priceline and have Happy Limo pick us up in the morning. Did you ask for the coupon rate? You could probably do Priceline and would most likely all end up in the same hotel, but it's not guaranteed. It's the Marriott nine times out of ten, but we've gotten the Renaissance and the Holiday Inn Select too.
I know you will be much happier having a day's leeway. We just had a significant flight delay (not on a cruise trio ), that reminded me of why it's the best way to go.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[disneyholic family]

i am also a firm believer in leaving breathing space...
mainly due to delays but also to avoid that feeling of 'being pressured"....
even though you're flying in May when there's no snow, bad thunderstorms have also been know to close down or at least slow down air traffic..
arriving the day before will give you that bit of breathing space (that personally i love to have....but then again, i'm nuts and have us arriving 3 days early, just in case)....

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

If you're still looking at the convenience angle, note that the price DCL quotes for air will include the transfers, which as you noted, go for $49/person. So the DCL price is really closer to $50 more per person. I wasn't sure if you realized this.

That said, I would agree that flying in the day before is the way to go. Living on the west coast, we have to (it's either that or the red-eye), but I find it very relaxing to just have to wake up and board the bus on the morning the cruise begins. We always stay at the MCO Hyatt and use the DCL buses, which isn't the cheapest way to go, but is probably the easiest.

Hope it all works out for you!

 

[tink5697]

Originally posted by Lloyd Dobler
If you're still looking at the convenience angle, note that the price DCL quotes for air will include the transfers, which as you noted, go for $49/person. So the DCL price is really closer to $50 more per person. I wasn't sure if you realized this.

Hope it all works out for you!

No, I didn't know that about the transfers being included! That makes a bit more sense, I wish the service lady would have mentioned that, when I repeated 3 times, "Really? That's nearly $100 more than other airlines" LOL, I guess she figured I knew that part.
Thanks so much everyone for all your help! We are excited about going the day before now and getting "Breathing Room" <I like that term>