HELP! Never cruised on DCL before...

[Deemarch]

How do you get to the ship? We are planning on booking our own airfare, arriving on departure day and cruising on DVC points...

Anyone with hints, help, etc. please talk to me!

 

[rjh8115]

There are many ways to get there. Some folks use the Disney transfers. They have nice busses (with videos to get you into the mood). You can book these even if you arrainge your own air. I think the down side is that you get to the port with larger groups of people (lines are a bit longer). Another alternative is a town car service.

For our upcoming cruise this weekend, I have booked a one-way rental car through Hertz. We pick it up at MCO and drop it off at the office in Cape Canaveral only a couple of miles from the port. They have a shuttle that will drop me back at the port. Total cost for this one-day, one-way rental (mid-size car) is around $35.00. I've also booked a car for the couple of days after the cruise (same procedure, just reversed).

Hope this helps . . .

Rick

 

[DrCavin]

Like above poster mentioned many ways to arrive/depart the port. I would also suggest arriving a day early. Makes boarding day a lot less stressfull!!!!

 

[MickeyB426]

Like above poster mentioned many ways to arrive/depart the port. I would also suggest arriving a day early. Makes boarding day a lot less stressfull!!!!

I'll echo DrCavin.

If there's ANY way to arrive the night before, it's worth the one night in the hotel. Countless horror stories have been told here regarding flight delays and the possibility of missing the boat (and in some cases, they did).

 

[Mickeyhugger]

To me, the best and most important piece of advice anyone can give you has already been posted...arrive the day before! Not only will you be better rested when you arrive at Port Canaveral, the airlines will have more time to locate any lost luggage should it happen. (I've read too many posts how that really puts a damper on someone's cruise when they don't get their bags until they get to St. Maarten.) Most likely it won't, but you'll still have more time to relax before your week of fun on the cruise!

 

[inkkognito]

In 42 Disney cruises, we've done the transportation just about every way possible. I, too, am a big advocate of arriving the night before. Our most common method is getting an airport hotel via Priceline ($25 to $33 for a top star level) and having Happy Limo pick us up the next morning. If you use the Disney buses, you can take the hotel shuttle back to the airport. But personally, I don't like "cattle calls," so I prefer a towncar.

I've also rented a car each way from Budget, and that's pretty painless. You will have to wait for a shuttle both ways, and I've seen some horror stories, but I've never experienced one personally. On our cruise last weekend, we parked at the port...got there before 11 a.m., and there was no crowd. Hubby dropped me off at the terminal building and then parked the car.

Barb

 

[cruiseletters]

june of 2004 we cruised and we also debated on getting there on the same day the ship left, we finally decided it would be less stressful to fly the day before and get a hotel for 1 night. i think it made all the difference in our stress level {especially flying from calif. it seemed like it took the entire day to get to mco} we then took a happy limo to the port and arrived at 11:00. it was the best vacation we've ever had! have a great time!