Port Everglades cruisers

[MarcyIn Florida]

I have a question for those of you who cruied out of Port Everglades -- what time did the buses get there? (Excluding the horrible broken down bus experience, of course.)

Is there a car rental drop off close to the port?

Thanks!

Marcy

 

[sap1227]

Marcy~You read my mind. I would rather not take a bus, but I am not sure of what else to do.

Where in Orlando are you? We live in Apopka. Good luck wiyj the storm on Sunday!

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

sap: I'm concerned about traffic on a Monday morning after a hurricane on a bus. I'm concerned about curfews again. I'm concerned about getting to PE at 3 pm and not being able to get reservations for anything. Blech. And I'm concerned about being on a bus with a 4 year old and a 19 month old, most of all.

We're in Oviedo, a NE suburb of Orlando.

 

[mrsltg]

Rent a car!!!! We were on the 9/11 Magic (fortunately we didn't have to use the back up plan), and we rented a car from National for $50 one way from WDW to the Fort Lauderdale Airport. The airport has tons of taxis available to take you to port, and then you don't have to arrive with 2000 of your closest friends! You can arrive on your own schedule which was the biggest draw for me.

Good luck!
Erin

 

[sap1227]

Originally posted by MarcyIn Florida
sap: I'm concerned about traffic on a Monday morning after a hurricane on a bus. I'm concerned about curfews again. I'm concerned about getting to PE at 3 pm and not being able to get reservations for anything. Blech. And I'm concerned about being on a bus with a 4 year old and a 19 month old, most of all.

We're in Oviedo, a NE suburb of Orlando.

I understand--we are traveling with 2 2 year olds and an 8 month old--that just sounds like a huge nightmare on a bus for 4 hours. I had wanted to do the Palo brunch, but that is probably out of the question since our cruise is now a 3 Day. I enjoy having dinner as a family and I am not sure I want to give one of my dinners up, especially since there are only 3 dinners now.

Christy

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

Thanks! How far was the airport from the port?

And another dumb question -- if we do this, we'll have to put 2 car seats in the rental car; does the Magic have some place to stow car seats?

 

[bbowers]

You don't even have to get a taxi from the airport - for the 9/9 Wonder, DCL was providing busses from the airport. We rented from National at Cocoa Beach ($45 for a midsize, I think, using a Disney Visa rate) one-way and took it back to the National at the FL airport. Their shuttle took us to the airport and we found the DCL folks at the luggage pickup (we chose Delta - you know, Official Airline of Walt Disney World...) and we were on a bus about 5 minutes after we got there!

 

[TheWog]

if you do use the bus from DCL the ship will not leave without you if you are worried about missing the ship.

 

[Kalypso]

Barb (inkognito) rented from Thrifty and had a great experience with them - they have a shuttle to the Port (Everglades) and everything - I just put a car on hold for the 9/30 Wonder...just in case....

She was able to pick it up in Orlando and return it at Fort Lauderdale and then they shuttled her to the Port.

Some of the buses didn't get there until 7:30...no WAY would I take that chance!

 

[FL_Librarian]

the Fort Lauderdale airport is only a few minutes from the port.

 

[cheysdad]

How far from disney world to Port Everglades by car?

 

[Kalypso]

the Fort Lauderdale airport is only a few minutes from the port

Right - LOL - I meant the buses coming from WDW and the Orlando area that were provided by DCL ...some of those buses didn't get there until 7:30pm - Barb said the transfer from the Thrifty at Lauderdale and Port Everglades was a breeze - she was at the port by 12:30 that day and I think they left the Orlando area at around 8:30 or so.

 

[FL_Librarian]

Originally posted by cheysdad
How far from disney world to Port Everglades by car?

If driving along the coast, it would take 4 hours.

If this is not possible, due to hurricane conditions it could take 6 or more hours.

 

[gshoemate]

We opted to take the DCL bus, renting a car cut into our budget to much. It took 5 calls to DCL to finally get a good enough answer ast to what time the bus was leaving. First we were told that all buses were leaving at 1:00, then we were told we could catch one at the airport at 11:00 and it went on an on until our last call we were told the earliest bus we could catch was from the GF at 9:15. We were their at 8:15, the first ones to check in. The bus left around 9:30, they provided a picnic lunch of pbj, apple, chips and water. Showed movies on the screens. Our bus was pretty quit. My DS who is 2 1/2 made it up until about 45 minutes from port, then he got bored. We were able to keep him occupied by staring at trucks going by. We were at the port and checked in by 1:30. We were still able to catch lunch on the boat and walk around a bit before the lifeboat drill.

If you decide to take a bus, please make sure to call DCL many times until you find out the earliest bus you can catch. We were also afraid that we would show up at the port with everyone else who was on the boat but when we arrived, it was empty. They had multiple buses leaving at various times.

But if you are able to rent and drive down, I would go with that.

Good luck.

 

[ganurse]

i was on the sept 4cruise and i really did not want to take the bus..we did and got there before anyone else it seems like. we were there by 115 and walked straight to PALO and the spa and even lunch. i hate buses and being in crowds but it did take a lot of stress off and we had a good time..im very glad we did it

 

[CM_Mom]

There are several comments about transportation on this thread.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=650864

I really wish I had this decision to make. We're tentatively planning on cruising on the Wonder the last of January but may have to cancel.

Just my guess, but I bet DCL has their act MUCH better organized this time since they will have several days to plan and shouldn't be dealing with a Cat 3 hurricane the whole time.

It sounds to me like DCL has been reading the boards about making decisions sooner so folks can plan.

 

[ksjayhawks]

MarcyInFl

You would have to store your carseats in your cabin on the Magic. Are you bringing a stroller as well? Might want to consider how much room these items would take.

 

[TheGottis]

Originally posted by CM_Mom
Just my guess, but I bet DCL has their act MUCH better organized this time since they will have several days to plan and shouldn't be dealing with a Cat 3 hurricane the whole time.

We are on the 26th Wonder now scheduled for the 27th.

And... no they are not better prepared, but I'll just leave it at that because I am finally calm and don't want to get riled up.

We'll make our final decision tomorrow after we see what Jeanne has done. Only thing I can suggest is to keep calling DCL.

 

[rodriged]

Gottis - sure hope you and your family are still able to make it. All of you deserve it!

FWIW, we are outside Tampa at my parents house riding out the storm. We have elected to rent a compact car from Thrifty at Orlando for only $35 one way instead of the bus. The CM I talked to said there were buses coming in at 1 and 2P and all the buses would be leaving for PE around 2P. Personally, I do not want to be in the cattle line at an unfamilar port waiting in line after a long bus ride with cranky kids (including mine).

Here is praying everyone makes it there and safely.

Signing off for tonight and likely until cruise because of Jeanne and likely power outage here.

Gayle