I have a couple questions...

[SteveMouse]

Um. It is a pretty direct route from Port Everglades to Orlando. I grew up 5 minutes from PE, and know the area pretty well.

Exit Port Everglades onto 17th Street. Make a left on Federal Highway/US1 (3rd light?) Go south about a mile. Get on 595 west (it's a right exit off US1) to the Florida turnpike north. 3 hours, 15 minutes later you're in Orlando.

If you go out the other exit from Port Everglades, you still make a left on US1, get in the right lane, and get on 595. Travel time's the same.

If I were to fly into/out of MCO for a FLL cruise with a 4p flight time, I'd probably keep the car for the week (if I got a good rate) to save the hassle of getting the car after the cruise. I'd want to be off the ship by 9a to allow time for immigration/customs, drive time, and lunch. On the flight in, I'd price shop hotels, depended on what time I landed and when I'd want to drive to FLL.

 

[Sytrace]

From the OP 's countdown ticker it appears they are sailing on the Magic out of Miami (which is another 30-45 minute drive from Ft. Lauderdale) in January.

Taking this into consideration, I would definitely fly into Orlando, then drive to Miami or even Hollywood FL (between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale) and find a hotel room the day before boarding.
Then on the way home, drive from Miami (looking at 4 to 5 hours) to Orlando. Either a late flight or stay overnight in a hotel near the airport or at the airport.
There are rental cars at the airport of course which would make more sense, but you can also rent one off property and shuttle into the airport the day of departure.

If you get a hotel room in Hollywood you will spend less to get to the port in Miami than if you were to stay in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale the day before. Same with a rental car, if you book one offsite that has a shuttle system, you will spend less than actually booking it at the airport.
Your costs will be as follows:
Car rental : I assume you would pick it up in Orlando, drop it in Miami, pick up in Miami and drop off in Orlando, thus not having any parking charges at port and not having to pay for it while not using it. (But will add to your travel time )
Car parking at port (if you just rent it for the entire length of the trip and decide if it is worth the parking charges at the garage.
hotel for one night for each leg Or a late flight out of Orlando the night of departure.
To be honest, I am not sure how much you are really saving by going thru all the hassle of driving 8 to 10 hours round trip, stay in a hotel and renting a car.

Was a cruise out of PC that much more expensive? Maybe consider 4 nights on the Dream instead of the Magic?

Oh and we like second seating

 

[cgolf]

From the OP 's countdown ticker it appears they are sailing on the Magic out of Miami (which is another 30-45 minute drive from Ft. Lauderdale) in January.

Taking this into consideration, I would definitely fly into Orlando, then drive to Miami or even Hollywood FL (between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale) and find a hotel room the day before boarding.
Then on the way home, drive from Miami (looking at 4 to 5 hours) to Orlando. Either a late flight or stay overnight in a hotel near the airport or at the airport.
There are rental cars at the airport of course which would make more sense, but you can also rent one off property and shuttle into the airport the day of departure.

If you get a hotel room in Hollywood you will spend less to get to the port in Miami than if you were to stay in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale the day before. Same with a rental car, if you book one offsite that has a shuttle system, you will spend less than actually booking it at the airport.
Your costs will be as follows:
Car rental : I assume you would pick it up in Orlando, drop it in Miami, pick up in Miami and drop off in Orlando, thus not having any parking charges at port and not having to pay for it while not using it. (But will add to your travel time )
Car parking at port (if you just rent it for the entire length of the trip and decide if it is worth the parking charges at the garage.
hotel for one night for each leg Or a late flight out of Orlando the night of departure.
To be honest, I am not sure how much you are really saving by going thru all the hassle of driving 8 to 10 hours round trip, stay in a hotel and renting a car.

Was a cruise out of PC that much more expensive? Maybe consider 4 nights on the Dream instead of the Magic?

Oh and we like second seating

We have sailed out of Miami twice now and it is much easier than going out of PC. For some reason next year prices are really elevated and flights are selling out. We tried to research the reason, but could not find one. Most hotels are at least double normal prices and flight prices are the highest we have ever seen them.

 

[Sytrace]

Um. It is a pretty direct route from Port Everglades to Orlando. I grew up 5 minutes from PE, and know the area pretty well.

Exit Port Everglades onto 17th Street. Make a left on Federal Highway/US1 (3rd light?) Go south about a mile. Get on 595 west (it's a right exit off US1) to the Florida turnpike north. 3 hours, 15 minutes later you're in Orlando.

If you go out the other exit from Port Everglades, you still make a left on US1, get in the right lane, and get on 595. Travel time's the same.

If I were to fly into/out of MCO for a FLL cruise with a 4p flight time, I'd probably keep the car for the week (if I got a good rate) to save the hassle of getting the car after the cruise. I'd want to be off the ship by 9a to allow time for immigration/customs, drive time, and lunch. On the flight in, I'd price shop hotels, depended on what time I landed and when I'd want to drive to FLL.

I need to drive with you then, because anytime I have ever driven from Orlano to Miami, it took 4 hours minimum. And I am not a right lane driver by any stretch of the imagination. lol

 

[Jennifer777]

Fly in to West Palm Beach (PBI). It's only 40 - 50 minutes north of FLL (50 miles) depending on traffic and there are plenty of RT fights from Kansas City to PBI for $$356/pp via Southwest. We prefer PBI over FLL. It's smaller and less busy.

 

[belac]

Vote for PBI here as well, the security line is also much easier. Always fly to PBI for Miami cruise.

 

[Jennifer777]

You know, if you're really looking to save money and don't already have the Southwest airlines card, they're always running promotions where you can get 50,000 bonus points after spending so much the first 3 months when you first sign up. That would be more than enough points to cover you and your son flying into PBI and possibly even FLL. Then you would only pay the 9/11 tax/fee which is around $12/PP and the annual fee which is around $60 and charged up front. Just be sure to pay if off in full each month if you do this or it's not worth it. You can cancel it when you get home. Might be worth considering if you're really looking to save money.

 

[tlprice]

Fort Lauderdale airfare has been expensive lately. Not sure why. I know my daughter's recent trip to FLL for one person cost almost as much as both of our upcoming tickets to MCO in October combined. The drive from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale is at LEAST 3 hours and that is probably driving above the speed limit (I'm not sure we've ever actually driven the speed limit on the turnpike!). Also remember you will have to pay tolls on the turnpike all the way there and back which also adds to the cost.

As for dining, my DD9 and I did late dining on our last cruise and will do it again on our upcoming one. There is just so much going on and so much to do and if you do excursions, main seating would be really rushed for us. We are also usually pretty late eaters and night owls, so it works best for us.

 

[MPS516]

Is there a reason you have to fly into FLL ? Looks like MCI to MIA flights are about $ 350

 

[bumbershoot]

Is there a reason you have to fly into FLL ?

In the first post she said it was because the FLL flights were about 1K and MIA is about the same.


OP we see positives and negatives to either dining time. We do NOT use if it's busy as a reason, though. I figure half the ship is at early and half the ship is at late. So it's the same "busy" either way. Mabye there will be fewer kids at late, but that's not accounting for the west coast kids who don't particularly want dinner at 2pm their stomach's time and who will be able to stay up late for a short cruise.

Late works with our stomachs better. But then we feel like time after dinner is limited and our bellies are still full around bedtime. Early makes us feel like we have all the time in the world after dinner, and if we're a little hungry we can always find a cookie somewhere. (though for me it really means I have room for a beer, LOL)

 

[elvispursley]

Just thought I'd add a thought for 2nd seating dining and why we do it with our kids. First, we're used to eating around 730, and we're from Seattle. If we at 1st seating, we'd be eating like at 3pm PST ! The other reason we do it is so we can take our time with dinner and not feel like we're rushed. I know that with 1st seating, you have a time limit with how late you can linger at the table as they have to get ready for the next seating. We felt it gave us a little more time to chat with our servers and get to know them a little better. Plus, we didn't have to hear the kids whining before bed, "I'm hungry...can I go get ice cream"? hehe