Please help me envision transfers from wdw resort to port

[DisneyBarbie82]

Sorry, I'm sure this has already been discussed many times over again, but I haven't found the answer to my exact question. Can you please help me envision what it will be like to take the transfers from the resort to the port. To be specific, we'll be staying at the Beach Club.

I've read that the bus will arrive somewhere from 10:45 - 1pm & take about 1 - 1.5 hrs to get to port.
But I'm still a bit unclear as to what happens to our checked luggage & how we get the details of our bus ride.

Will we get a letter on our door the day before our departure (similar to magic express) that will tell us where / when our bus will arrive ?

I'm also having trouble finding any information regarding our checked luggage when taking the DCL transfers. I know that if we were flying directly to the cruise they mail you bag tags (similar to magic express) but how does it work coming from the resort, will we still get luggage tags in the mail or will we get them from the beach club?

Is there any means for them to collect our luggage in advance from us (similar to magic express) or do we have bell services bring it right down to the curb to wait for the DCL bus?
If our checked-luggage does have to ride the bus with us ... Then what? Will there be porters that come right up to the bus to collect it from us, if not are there luggage carts to rent in Port Canaveral?

Lastly, I've booked on DCL.com that we need transfers, but I could not locate any means to tell them more about our transfers (specifically that it's resort pick up not airport pick up, ect) - we are still 75+ days out from our cruise, so I'm assuming that perhaps those details are somehting I submit when we do check-in at the 75 day Mark.

Sorry for so many specific questions, but I like to have a clear vision of each detail in advance so that I can relax and enjoy the trip instead of trying to figure out / plan all those details on the spot.

We're long-time wdw veterans, but this is our first Disney cruise, so I feel really ignorant as to all the little details.
Thanks!

 

[longboard55]

You get a letter the day before, they will tell you when to have you bags ready and where to show up for the bus. They send someone to pick up the bags from your room early in the morning. You go to the place noted in the letter which is usually around the lobby and a nice lady in a sailor suit will check you in and you wait a few minutes with the other guests. At some point she tells you the bus is here and you march out and get on. The Beach House has already stopped at the Yacht club and will stop at the Boardwalk and Caribbean and maybe somewhere else. Your bags will appear outside your ship room a few hours later.

Yes you need to call them and tell them where you are staying

 

[longboard55]

I will add one more thing. Yes disney is expensive, but they are bullet proof, everything that can go wrong has been fixed. This is a failure proof vacation, (unless you forget your passport)

 

[jenmsmith]

We took Disney transfers from Port Orleans French Quarter to Port Canaveal for our cruise last January. I believe that we entered our information at the 75 day check-in. We received our letter of when and where to meet the day before in our hotel room. They pick up the luggage from the room. For us, that was at 8 a.m. It will give the details in the letter.

The timing you mentioned earlier is what we experienced. We met at the front lobby (similar to Magical Express) at 11 and arrived at the port 1.5/2 hours later. We stopped at two resorts on the way to pick up other passengers. I don't believe there's a way to know in advance what, if any, other resorts you will stop at on the way. DCL did have crew member waiting in the lobby of the hotel and meeting and greeting people, answering any questions and checking to make sure all of us were who we should be and where we needed to be.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[mort1331]

THanks for the info, we will be doing our first cruise next March. We were not sure if to do the transfers or drive ourselves. Driving down and staying at OKW couple days before and after. What makes more sense. There are 4 of us and if I am correct that is $70perperson, I think we could drive and park cheaper?

 

[jenmsmith]

THanks for the info, we will be doing our first cruise next March. We were not sure if to do the transfers or drive ourselves. Driving down and staying at OKW couple days before and after. What makes more sense. There are 4 of us and if I am correct that is $70perperson, I think we could drive and park cheaper?

If you are already going to have a car with you, I would drive to the port. It's $120 to park at the port for a 7-day cruise, less for shorter cruises. And you can go on your own time instead of Disney's time. We used the transfers when it was just DH and I and we flew in. But when it's all five of us, we rent a car and park.

 

[mevelandry]

You get a letter the day before, they will tell you when to have you bags ready and where to show up for the bus. They send someone to pick up the bags from your room early in the morning. You go to the place noted in the letter which is usually around the lobby and a nice lady in a sailor suit will check you in and you wait a few minutes with the other guests. At some point she tells you the bus is here and you march out and get on. The Beach House has already stopped at the Yacht club and will stop at the Boardwalk and Caribbean and maybe somewhere else. Your bags will appear outside your ship room a few hours later.

Yes you need to call them and tell them where you are staying

Exactly. In our case, we received the letter around 7:00 PM the day before. The luggage pick up in the room was at 8:00 and our shuttle at 11:30

We met the group in the lounge where two representatives took our names and asked for our ID.

The shuttle is nice and comfortable, it is very similar to the Magical Express.

 

[ZerasPride]

Just an FYI - we took our first Disney cruise in January using DCL transfers from Animal Kingdom Jambo House and never received a letter. It actually freaked me out so much that I called DCL from our villa the night before and they assured me our bags would be picked up around 8:00 am. I was told sometimes they don't send the letters out but to be at the DCL desk at 9 or so when they opened and everything went smoothly from there.

Also I called DCL directly to let them know we would need pick up from our DVC resort and the luggage that's that came in the mail reflected pick up from the resort.

 

[cruisehopeful]

THanks for the info, we will be doing our first cruise next March. We were not sure if to do the transfers or drive ourselves. Driving down and staying at OKW couple days before and after. What makes more sense. There are 4 of us and if I am correct that is $70perperson, I think we could drive and park cheaper?

If you have a car, drive. Besides the cost of port parking being less expensive, you can board the ship a lot earlier. When we used DCL transfers from AKL, we didn't get to the ship until around 3:00, when lunch was already closed. We were still able to get fast food from the pool deck, but it was completely crowded and crazy. It's nicer to board earlier if you are going to want to have lunch and relax at all.

 

[ceecee]

We are Disney veterans too and this is our first cruise. I feel like I'm totally out of the loop. We bought the transfers at $70 each because DH trusts them that there are no mistakes. I want to stay 4 days before at WDW then do the cruise and I would like to stay a few nights at Cocoa Beach after the cruise. Can you only use Disney transportation for the day the cruise gets back???? If that is the case I guess we will rent a car.

 

[hanscarlet]

You will get a blue book with luggage tags in the mail about 2 months before your cruise. Keep the blue book if you purchased DCL transfers because there's a page in the blue book you will show people that you purchased the transfers, as proof of payment.

We used private transportation for our first two cruises and this past cruise we used DCL transfers and loved them - the bus is extremely comfortable and contributes to the "excitement" of it all like the Magical Express. Also it seems like all of the private transport companies price almost to the same price at DCL so I don't think it's a lot more expensive.

If we are to cruise and no WDW we will alway use DCL transfer bus, however I am not sure if we will use that or happy limo for our 2017 experience because we will be staying at the Beach Club as well. I have heard the bus time pick up and arrival are completely dependent on how many other parties are at WDW and cruising the same day so my concern is getting picked up at noon and not arriving to the port until 1:30 so for this reason we may opt for private transportation.

That being said, if this is your first cruise, I would say arriving at port around 1:00pm is a perfect time for new cruisers, just make sure you get in the port adventures line to get your meet and greet tickets.

 

[ceecee]

What are Meet and Greet tickets???

 

[kickash]

We will be flying down to WDW and staying at Animal Kingdom for 3 days before our July 30 cruise. I read this thread and a few others and decided that I was not comfortable with using DCL transfers for that part of the trip because of the time. For us, setting luggage out at 8 am but not leaving until 11 or 11:30 was problematic. And then not arriving to the port until very late did not appeal to us, either. We liked our early PAT last year and then being able to board sooner rather than later.

So I decided to rent a car Friday and return it Saturday. We are having lunch at Beaches and Cream that Friday and then we will walk over to the Dolphin to pick up our rental car from Alamo. Then Saturday morning we can leave on our own and drive to Port Canaveral. The Alamo office is right down the street and they have free shuttles to take you to the port. We plan on arriving at Alamo at 10:30 Saturday to make our 11-11:15 PAT. The car rental with tax for 4 people and 5 bags was $77! Much cheaper than DCL ($35/pp x 4 =$140) AND I get to leave on my own time! We will, however take DCL to the airport when our cruise is over.

 

[kickash]

What are Meet and Greet tickets???

Last year we had to pick up meet and greet tickets for both Anna and Elsa AND the multi princess one. We were on the Dream and I think tickets were at the Port Adventures desk on deck 3...?? My memory is fuzzy but I had to stand in line and get them. Anna and Elsa met in Animator's Palate and the multi princess one was in the main lobby/atrium.

 

[bumbershoot]

Lastly, I've booked on DCL.com that we need transfers, but I could not locate any means to tell them more about our transfers (specifically that it's resort pick up not airport pick up, ect) - we are still 75+ days out from our cruise, so I'm assuming that perhaps those details are somehting I submit when we do check-in at the 75 day Mark.

Call them.

You *should* get a letter the evening before your cruise, telling you the details of the next day. If you don't, call about it. We didn't, the one time we took the bus from onsite.

They will come by your room at about 8am to get the bags you're checking with them. you can be in your room or not. If you won't be there, many people will leave a tip on the luggage. The next time you see those bags will be in your stateroom. Make sure you've kept everything you NEED out of those bags, and keep your carryon bags well away from the checked bags if you won't be there. Swimsuits, medications, passports (or birth certs and ID, if your cruise and citizenship allow you to use just those), sunscreen...the things you need for that first day, should all be in your carryons.

Meet at the time stated. Rollerbag carryons will go under the bus b/c there's no room for them in the passenger part of the bus. You'll hand them to the drive and s/he will put them under the bus, and it's reversed when you get there. Take the bus, get to the port, retrieve your carryons, follow the line of people going into the building.

We are Disney veterans too and this is our first cruise. I feel like I'm totally out of the loop. We bought the transfers at $70 each because DH trusts them that there are no mistakes. I want to stay 4 days before at WDW then do the cruise and I would like to stay a few nights at Cocoa Beach after the cruise. Can you only use Disney transportation for the day the cruise gets back???? If that is the case I guess we will rent a car.

You can only use disney transport the day you get back.

 

[DisneyBarbie82]

Excellent!!!
Thankyou all so much, this is exactly the details I was needing .
The above is exactly what I was assuming/ expecting from DCL transfers.

Still one question, (and I apologize if someone already answered this and I somehow missed it) how do luggage tags work? I read that they come in that notebook (if your flying directly to the ship) but what happens in this case (getting transfers from a resort) in that case will I still be using the luggage tags they mail to me, or when they come to get my bags from the room that morning will they have the tags ? ... I just want to make sure I have this all planned - thanks again!

 

[bumbershoot]

You get a booklet that has luggage tags in it, and you use those. (make sure you are using the DCL luggage tags, not the Magical Express ones, for the cruise)

 

[clten]

As bumbershoot said, you will still use the baggage tags that you get in the booklet that is mailed to you. Do not put these on until you are at the resort and getting ready for them to pick up your bags to take to the ship. (If the tags are on your bag when you arrive in Orlando, your bags may be taken from baggage claim to the ship before you want them to go!)

Now if for any reason you forget these baggage tags, they will have tags you can use at the resort. (I know the person who checks you in the morning of the cruise will have some. I'm not 100% sure but I think bell services has them as well.)

 

[RedSox68]

THanks for the info, we will be doing our first cruise next March. We were not sure if to do the transfers or drive ourselves. Driving down and staying at OKW couple days before and after. What makes more sense. There are 4 of us and if I am correct that is $70perperson, I think we could drive and park cheaper?

After our first four cruises, taking the Disney bus, we started booking private car services. There are three of us. It was a little more than the bus fees after tip, but we had total control of our pick up times and could make a free grocery stop on the way. We've done it every time since and love the convenience of it. Plus we didn't like how late the buses left the WDW property and how late they arrived to the port. You could rent a car also (which we've also done), but you have to take it to the car rental at the port and shuttle back. We like the convenience of getting door to door service with the private car service. We use selimo.net

 

[Kimberly9701]

I've been following this thread.

For 2 people, myself and a 6 year old.. Is Disney transportation the easiest way to go from WDW to the port, and then back to WDW?

Does it really make a difference to arrive at the port later due to the transfers?