Return flights

[TheBigErn]

What time do you book your post-cruise flight home? Sailing in/out of Port Canaveral and flying in/out of Orlando.

 

[JWG]

The Cruise Line will tell you after 1pm to allow for travel from the port and checking in at MCO, TSA, etc.

 

[MomOTwins]

Actually, the DCL website says any time after 11:25am for Orlando MCO departures after a Port Canaveral sailing: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/ground-transportation/

BUT the elephant in the room is we don't know what debarkation procedures will be in place when cruising resumes. It was always a massive crush of people filling the lobby to try to get off the ship at the same time, a super crowded port terminal, and packed buses to the airport. I could see them staggering departure times in order to avoid heavy crowds if they are not requiring vaccinations, which seems to be the case given test sailings are going ahead. If you're on a 2021 cruise, I'd either book an afternoon flight or plan on staying a night in Orlando post-cruise. If you're cruising in 2022, wait to see what they come up with later this year.

 

[Cheburashka]

The Cruise Line will tell you after 1pm to allow for travel from the port and checking in at MCO, TSA, etc.

No, it doesn't. It says 11:25am or later.

And their recommendation allows for plenty of time, OP. Take it from one who has flown out of MCO after a DCL cruise several times. I've never had an issue getting back to the airport by 9:30.

 

[TheBigErn]

I'll add that I'll have a rental car.

 

[JWG]

You can likely easily get away with 11am depending how quickly you choose to disembark.

 

[lklgoodman]

You never know how long it will take to get through security at MCO. We've had trips where we were able to get through in about 30 mins, other times it's taken well over an hour. I personally wouldn't book any flight before 12. Pp makes a good point about not knowing how disembarking will be on future cruises. It could be the same or totally different.

 

[princessmommyx3]

We have waited an hour plus to get through security at MCO many times. That seems to be the norm for us.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

You can likely easily get away with 11am depending how quickly you choose to disembark.

This was true pre-pandemic. No one knows how the system will function. " ... how quickly you choose to disembark" may not be your choice as others have said. It could be by level (like the opening days for the Wish: platinum 25+...) concierge, platinum, gold, silver, first-timers ... no one knows. Right now, I wouldn't second guess anything and go for a time you will be comfortable with if the situation is out of your hands.

 

[Cheburashka]

This was true pre-pandemic. No one knows how the system will function. " ... how quickly you choose to disembark" may not be your choice as others have said. It could be by level (like the opening days for the Wish: platinum 25+...) concierge, platinum, gold, silver, first-timers ... no one knows. Right now, I wouldn't second guess anything and go for a time you will be comfortable with if the situation is out of your hands.

Since the DCL website is currently advising guests to book flights for 11:25 or later, I think it's reasonable to assume that they aren't going to pull a last-minute bait and switch in techniques that is going to get them off the ship much later and potentially cause problems with their flights. Staggering departure times by Castaway status is extremely unlikely: that would just antagonize a lot of impatient passengers, and that's not the parting feeling DCL wants to send with their customers. They want people (especially first timers) to get hooked & want to sail again.

I don't see why customs would take much longer, but even if the time spent at customs were doubled, that still wouldn't be very long as it tends to be less than a 10 minute wait to get to the front of the line.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Do you have TSA Precheck? That helps get through MCO much faster.
Pre-Covid, we have flown out of MCO at 11:30 and had plenty of time to get lunch.
I think with a private driver and TSA precheck, I'd be willing to go for 11 am but until we see how post covid cruising works out, I'd probably choose after 12 just to be safe.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

All depends on the day and how you hit it we had a 12:10 flight used DCL transport was at the airport by 9 and took us 2 hours to make it through security and take transport to our gate! I was a bit worried! Now I will add this was the 2 days before a Dorian was set to hit and people were evacuating. The airport was crazy never seen it like that. I think in the future I would do a later afternoon flight or early morning next day staying at the airport hotel.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

All depends on the day and how you hit it we had a 12:10 flight used DCL transport was at the airport by 9 and took us 2 hours to make it through security and take transport to our gate! I was a bit worried! Now I will add this was the 2 days before a Dorian was set to hit and people were evacuating. The airport was crazy never seen it like that. I think in the future I would do a later afternoon flight or early morning next day staying at the airport hotel.

To me, this says in almost worst case scenario, you still got through security more than 1 hour before your flight. Without Dorian, you would have been sitting at the gate for more than 2 hours.

 

[Cheburashka]

To me, this says in almost worst case scenario, you still got through security more than 1 hour before your flight. Without Dorian, you would have been sitting at the gate for more than 2 hours.

And a hurricane evacuation is nothing like a normal experience, obviously.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

And a hurricane evacuation is nothing like a normal experience, obviously.

Exactly. Still a noon flight worked. So many ppl say it should be after 1 or 2 to “be on the safe side”. At that point, you might as well make it an 8 or 9pm flight and go visit a park for the day.

 

[Weedy]

Of course this was all pre covid:
If you have early dinner you will will be assigned early breakfast (the last morning only) 6:45 am.
Late dinner late breakfast 8am.
It’s a full breakfast.
Cabanas was open for a buffet breakfast 6:30-8:00.
We always did late seating so had late breakfast.
What we found was:
It took 30-45 minutes to eat breakfast.
20-30 minutes to get off the ship.
Your luggage will be picked up the last night of the cruise and delivered to the cruise terminal. You will be assigned an area (Mickey, Donald, Goofy) were your luggage will be. Remember there are 4000 passengers on the Dream or Fantasy so that’s a lot of luggage. It’s a good ideas to put some ribbon or tape on your luggage to help find it. Depending on how much luggage/how many people this can take 15 or so minutes.
20-30 to get through customs.
Then 5-10 minutes to get to your car.
It’s easy to get out of the parking garage because you pay on the way in.
It’s an easy drive to the airport 45-60 minutes
But be sure to build in time to return you car, check bags and get through security.

 

[Cheburashka]

Of course this was all pre covid:
If you have early dinner you will will be assigned early breakfast (the last morning only) 6:45 am.
Late dinner late breakfast 8am.
It’s a full breakfast.
Cabanas was open for a buffet breakfast 6:30-8:00.
We always did late seating so had late breakfast.
What we found was:
It took 30-45 minutes to eat breakfast.
20-30 minutes to get off the ship.
Your luggage will be picked up the last night of the cruise and delivered to the cruise terminal. You will be assigned an area (Mickey, Donald, Goofy) were your luggage will be. Remember there are 4000 passengers on the Dream or Fantasy so that’s a lot of luggage. It’s a good ideas to put some ribbon or tape on your luggage to help find it. Depending on how much luggage/how many people this can take 15 or so minutes.
20-30 to get through customs.
Then 5-10 minutes to get to your car.
It’s easy to get out of the parking garage because you pay on the way in.
It’s an easy drive to the airport 45-60 minutes
But be sure to build in time to return you car, check bags and get through security.

Good summary. I'll add for the OP's benefit that you can choose to get an early breakfast from Cabana's (opens at 6:30am) instead of dining in the MDR for breakfast, regardless of which dinner seating you had. You can eat the food either at Cabana's or in your stateroom. A lot of people who are in a hurry to depart do this, so they don't have to wait for a full service breakfast before leaving.

You can also choose "express walk-off", in which you do not send your luggage to the terminal the night before, but instead carry it out with you, to avoid having to look for it upon departure. The disadvantage of this is that with luggage you'll have to use an elevator to get downstairs the last morning instead of stairs, and the elevators get very busy on departure morning.

And if you're using DCL transfers (I know the OP is not) and flying on a participating airline, you can check your luggage via DCL, put the checked luggage in the hallway the night before departure, and then never have to deal with it again until you arrive at your home airport's baggage claim.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

You never know what security will look like at MCO. And in a post-covid world, who knows. We just recently got back from a quick stay at WDW. Noticed as we arrived on Monday morning that security lines were long, but nothing like they had been before covid. You could wait for the better part of an hour before the pandemic. Return trip (we had TSA Pre)-that line was longer than normal security. At least I didn't have to take off my shoes In all our trips back home from a cruise, we tend to have a rental car, plan on a flight that is decently priced and that we are not rushed. No one wants to end a cruise unhappy. If the time is too long, we may resort hop or go to Disney springs. It is just a more pleasant way to end vacation.