There's some debate about this. My take is that anything after 11:30am should be fine. It's likely you'll be able to make an earlier flight. The latest I've ever arrived at the airport and gotten through security was about 10:15am, this was right after Sept. 11, when you couldn't check your luggage at the port or at the curb, so you had to wait in line at the check-in counter. I'm usually through security and to my gate before 10:00am. The problem is that there's a slight chance that the ship could arrive late in Port Canaveral, which could make you miss an earlier flight. This is why the 11:30-noon timeframe seems to be the norm. For anything earlier, you have to weigh how much of a chance you're willing to take that the ship arrives on time vs. how long you are willing to wait at the airport. I personally don't mind waiting at the airport, so we tend to book a bit later, usually around noon or a bit after.
Note that we always take the DCL buses, so arrival times using other modes of transport (towncar/limo or rental) may vary slightly.
Thank you Senor Ferrari for your help. I guess booking a 1 pm flight should be OK.
Bari
P.S. I love reading your postings and I've learned so much from you. I'm doing back to back cruises 1/19/03. 2 days @ Castaway Cay.
I just got back from a cruise on the Wonder. We took a limo from the port to MCO and had an 11:10 AM flight and made it no problem. I think that we arrived at MCO around 9:45 AM. Good Luck and have fun.
Recently returned from the wonder 10/27 sailing. We had an 11:30 flight, which turned out to be no problem. We were picked up by a towncar at 8:45 am and sat around the airport for over an hour.
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