Flights and Food

[pontikes67]

@PrincessShmoo I'm sure we'll know this but it's for everyone

We've cruised before but never had to 'rush' off the ship. Just found out our return flight has been changed by airline to 11:45am. We have late dinner so we have 'late' breakfast. If we follow the schedule and do breakfast in the mdr and disembark soon after (thinking 8:30) breakfast, with a private car we'll make the 11:45 won't we?

Or, should we just do Cabanas and debark at 7:30-8?

Can you debark anytime once ship is cleared?

Past couple of cruises, we've not had to worry about this but wondering if we can bring on a big bag of popcorn for the movies? It'll be store bought, and sealed.

 

[Shanti]

@PrincessShmoo I'm sure we'll know this but it's for everyone

We've cruised before but never had to 'rush' off the ship. Just found out our return flight has been changed by airline to 11:45am. We have late dinner so we have 'late' breakfast. If we follow the schedule and do breakfast in the mdr and disembark soon after (thinking 8:30) breakfast, with a private car we'll make the 11:45 won't we?

Or, should we just do Cabanas and debark at 7:30-8?

Can you debark anytime once ship is cleared?

Past couple of cruises, we've not had to worry about this but wondering if we can bring on a big bag of popcorn for the movies? It'll be store bought, and sealed.

On our December cruise on the Fantasy, we had late dining and an 11:50am flight. We ate a full breakfast in the MDR, but didn't linger. We had used Onboard Airline Check-In, and took a DCL transfer bus to the airport. We didn't run around or act/feel rushed, and we still ended up having a lot of wait time at the airport, well over an hour after reaching the gate before boarding began for our flight.

Your plans should work out fine. The only real concerns with your times are if the ship is late getting back to Port Canaveral, if there is a major accident on the way to the airport which brings all traffic to a halt, or if there are major weird snafus at customs at the port or security at the airport. Each of those events are rare, but could possibly happen. If you have the tolerance for that low level of risk, you should have no problem eating late breakfast and then promptly disembarking to get to your flight.

 

[CamColt]

We prefer Cabanas on debarkation morning anyway, so I would suggest eating there and then leaving as soon as you can. We usually have no lines getting off the ship and just a short wait at customs (5-10 minutes) however there was 1 time they stopped guests from leaving and there was a huge line in the ship. Once we finally got off, customs was backed up and the wait there was quite long. So things can happen that make debarkation more time consuming that usual, and I wouldn't want to worry about that knowing my flight was fairly early.

 

[wombat_5606]

This question is asked so often, it should be in a sticky, although it seems, very few people read those. Lol

 

[clten]

Which port are you sailing from (and which ship - size matters in disembarkation)? Assuming since you didn't mention it that it was Port Canaveral but didn't want to assume as each port is a little different. If it is Port Canaveral, you shouldn't have any problem. But since you are taking a private car, I assume you will still need some time to check-in/drop off luggage when you arrive at MCO. Those lines can eat up some time so take that into account especially if you are relating your situation to others that have used Onboard Airline Check-in. And the security lines at MCO can be VERY long.

Also, if you have late dining, your dining may begin at 8 or 8:15 depending on the dining room so 8:30 may not be realistic departure time. We also find that the line builds up after each breakfast service as people are leaving - both in scanning off the ship and in the customs line. Just all little things that may take some extra time and not leave you the cushion you think you have. We usually have late seating and typically do MDR breakfast on the last morning but our rule of thumb is if the flight is before noon, we try to be off the ship by 8. I'd rather have extra time in the airport than risk missing our flight because we stayed for breakfast.

As far as your other questions: Yes, in Port Canaveral once the ship is cleared and general disembarkation begins you may disembark at your leisure (this is where the port you are sailing from matters. Not all of them have all the luggage out at once so some disembark by luggage tag.)

You may bring on store bought food as long as it is still sealed when you embark.

 

[monarchsfan16]

If everything goes according to plan, it'll work. Honestly, though, after my experience disembarking, with a flight that early, I'd want to eat at Cabanas and get out of there. We were on the noro cruise in April. Rumor has it people got sick in the customs line, and that's why they stopped the line from moving (to clean). Regardless of the cause, we waited a LONG time in an area between when we scanned our cards to get off the ship, and the escalator down to customs (this was in Miami). I'm talking close to an hour. We had had late breakfast, and were some of the last served because some of our tablemates showed up late. Minus a quick stop for gas for the rental, we went straight from the port to the airport (FLL, about a 35 minute drive), and we didn't get there until 11:20. It was fine for our 1:20 flight, but I would have been in full panic mode with any flight earlier. So, if I were to have a flight much earlier than that at an airport a full hour from the port, I'd be doing breakfast in Cabanas.