Flight Home- what time?

[Ragnrok23]

Approx what time should I book my flight home after my cruise? We dock at Port Canaveral at 7:35am

Thanks!

 

[4 mickey]

Hi ,
Well if you want to take breakfast and don't want to rush too much and the boat has to get clearance for debarkation .... I would say in my opinion nothing before noon also given the security at the airport ( who knows exactly how long it can take ..... ) starting at noon is a good option.

 

[mommasita]

Yes, Disney recommends nothing before 12:30 PM. This is a great time, you don't have to rush off the boat, nor wait hours at the airport. If your flight is a bit later, there is lots to do however in MCO...

 

[needabreaknow]

The last Disney cruise we went on we were at MCO by 10:30, but Disney does recommend 12:30 or later.

 

[kcashner]

Technically, you are supposed to be at MCO 2 hours before your flight. As above, DCL recommends not scheduling a flight before 12:30.

That said, we had a 12:30 flight, and arrived at MCO a few minutes after 9 am. The airline moved us to a 9:30 flight! We and our luggage were delighted.

If you are not on an airline where you can check in at the port, you can expect a long line for luggage check in at MCO sometimes--we have waited in the line for an hour, but on other occasions it has been more like 10 minutes. If your airline participates in the check in at the port deal, you will get thru the airport security check fairly quickly (10-30 minutes).

Can you make a 12:00 flight? Probably. Can you make an 11 am flight--maybe, especially if you eat at the buffet breakfast. However, when the ship docks, US Customs takes control of it and no one gets off till they say so. While DCL would love to have to big doors open by 8 (and usually does), we were on one cruise where the doors didn't open till well after 9 (and you should have seen the line!) You are safest following the DCL recommendation of 12:30 or later.

 

[sue]

one BIG word of advise..... I found this out the hard way. Don't bring black luggage!!!! Everyone brings it and it is extremely hard to locate your luggage in customs once you are off the ship. Disney does place all the luggage in sections according to where your stateroom was located, but our section had I bet you, 200 pieces of black luggage to look through. We looked for close to 45 minutes for one of our pieces of luggage. Another thing you can do, if you have black luggage, is to tie a piece of ribbon or bandana etc to the handle. This will help you determine which piece is yours faster.

 

[Ragnrok23]

Thank you everyone for the advice. We are most likely going to fly Southwest unless I find a steal on another flight, so I doubt they have check-in at the port

And I forget what color luggage we have, but I know it's not black, I hate having to pick out black luggage from the aiport, never mind a cruise

 

[woody73]

12:30 or later.

Woody