First Cruise

[Dug720]

Leaving at 10:30 AM seems pretty early - doesn't Disney recommend a 11:30 or later flight?

Yes. What is unclear from the post, though, is if they are planning to spend a night after the cruise at WDW. It kind of reads like that, but not 100%.

 

[heatherking06]

Leaving at 10:30 AM seems pretty early - doesn't Disney recommend a 11:30 or later flight?

They do but that is the only time southwest has a nonstop flight to Memphis

 

[evedein]

Another first hand experience with flight problems: in 1997, my Mom & I were cruising the Inside Passage in Alaska on another cruise line. We were coming from Maryland. We had an early morning flight from Baltimore to New York, then change planes & fly to Vancouver. Who would expect weather problems in June. There was fog so thick, we couldn't land in NY. They finally landed us in a little airport in Connecticut. We sat there all day & into the evening. I remember looking at my watch & thinking "well, our ship has just sailed". They eventually got us out to Seattle at around 3 am. Next day we flew to Juneau, Alaska (the first port of call) . We waited there for 2 days for the ship to arrive. So we lost 2 days of our cruise due to fog on the East Coast. Thank goodness we had the insurance or we would have had to pay for the extra flights, hotel rooms & meals. Not a small amount of money. I never travel on a major trip without insurance since then. I also try to arrive a day in advance.

 

[Caboosey]

They do but that is the only time southwest has a nonstop flight to Memphis

Well, good luck I guess?

 

[Marc D]

My wife spent 2.5h yesterday sitting in a plane, waiting for take-off. Planes couldn’t land at her destination airport because of fog. The flight was only an hour long. You never know what can happen, even in summer. You should always fly at least one day before. I would add that you should not fly in on the last plane on that day to have alternatives if your plane is taken offline like it once happened to us.

 

[heatherking06]

Yes. What is unclear from the post, though, is if they are planning to spend a night after the cruise at WDW. It kind of reads like that, but not 100%.

No. We have a flight out of MCO at 10:30 am sept 2

 

[heatherking06]

My wife spent 2.5h yesterday sitting in a plane, waiting for take-off. Planes couldn’t land at her destination airport because of fog. The flight was only an hour long. You never know what can happen, even in summer. You should always fly at least one day before. I would add that you should not fly in on the last plane on that day to have alternatives if your plane is taken offline like it once happened to us.

We r actually flying in 2 days before the cruise, but flying back the morning of the cruise, we have a flight booked from MCO to Memphis at 10:30 am

 

[Dug720]

No. We have a flight out of MCO at 10:30 am sept 2

Good luck! Fingers crossed everything goes perfectly with disembarking and with traffic and with TSA.

 

[ember1205]

No. We have a flight out of MCO at 10:30 am sept 2

Good luck.

10:30 departure means you have to be at the gate by 9:30-9:45 at the latest. Southwest requires that YOU hand your suitcases to them at check-in. Since ALL SWA travelers are subject to this, expect longer lines at these counters. You will need to arrive at MCO by no later than about 8:45-9:00 to allow enough time to A) get off the bus, B) get your bags, C) make your way to the ticket counter and check in and drop your bags, D) navigate security (ALWAYS a crap-shoot at MCO unless you're TSA Pre and CLEAR), and E) make your way to your departure gate.

Getting to MCO by 8:45 means departing the port by 8:00AM and having zero traffic issues (they routinely make the run in about 45-50 minutes with no traffic events). That means you're off the boat by 7AM to allow enough time to get through Customs and make your way to a motorcoach that's available to leave (and hope there's one leaving early enough).

You should probably plan on NOT having breakfast on the ship, carrying your luggage out on your own, and being at the gangway very early. Might want to set the alarm for 5:30 so everything is packed and ready to go in plenty of time to be at the gangway as the ship is docking.