Sailing out of Port Canaveral

[ToyStory3]

Hi - if sailing out of Port Canaveral do most fly into MCO and take the shuttle over? If flying - are there other options that I'm overlooking? Thanks

 

[MagicMe]

MCO is the most widely used airport. From there you can either rent a car to drive over to the port area, use the DCL transportation buses ($35 each way per person) or hire a car service. It will all depend on when you plan to arrive, how long you are in the area and if arriving prior to your departure day, where you plan to stay.

 

[2prettygirl]

Hi - if sailing out of Port Canaveral do most fly into MCO and take the shuttle over? If flying - are there other options that I'm overlooking? Thanks

We have found that if you fly in the day before your cruise, DCL shuttle will not pick you up. You can stay at the Hyatt hotel which is in the airport and the DCL shuttle will pick you up the next morning but we have found it to be cheaper to stay in Port Canaveral and shuttle over using an outside shuttle service. We usually fly in the day before, we use Travel Lynx which does roundtrip shuttle service from airport to hotel, hotel to cruise, cruise to airport and it's very reasonable in cost compared to DCL service.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

If you are not set on using the DCL transfers, you can consider the Sanford or Daytona Beach airports. My recommendation using those airports is to rent a car as it would likely be the most inexpensive option, but there are car services available which will pick you up and drive you to the port. If you fly in the day before your cruise, there are plenty of hotels near MCO which provide free shuttles to and from the airport so you could choose one of those hotels and still use the DCL shuttles on the day of your cruise. The Hyatt at MCO is super-convenient, but you also pay for that convenience.

 

[lanejudy]

MCO is probably the most commonly used airport, but depending on home airport/airline/other travel plans some guests may use a different airport for their cruises out of Port Canaveral.

DCL transfers are only available on the day of embarkation (and debarkation post-cruise). If you arrive in FL a day or so earlier (and/or depart a day or so later) you'd either need to arrange different transportation. DCL transfers are available from MCO or WDW resorts. Disney's Magical Express is a free shuttle between MCO and WDW resorts.

Other transportation options include car rental, hotel shuttles, private limo/car service.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[codex57]

What prices are you guys getting?

Unless you are a single or couple, everything I looked at seems to suggest that renting a car is the cheapest. BY FAR! Over any shuttle service. I mean, it wasn't even close.

So, it seemed like the private services were only cheaper by about $50-60 than Disney's shuttle from what I found. If you stay at the Hyatt MCO before, not having to deal with your luggage was an incredible convenience that was "worth" a decent amount to me. Add in the Disney experience of the shuttles (the kids seeing the paint jobs, Disney stuff playing on board, etc) and we ended up deciding it was worth it to just pay for Disney's transfer shuttle.

After such a long flight, I really didn't feel like renting a car and driving for an hour more. Then deal with parking, etc.

 

[bovioask1]

as i posted in another thread I had a fantastic experience with goportcanaveral.com these guys set up a package for us that came with the airport shuttle to the hotel, a night at the embassy, shuttle to cruise, shuttle BACK to the hotel after the cruise, and then a shuttle to the airport. It was a pretty sweet deal, a little bit of a wait like any shuttle but the service was great. I definitely recommend them and will be using them again whenever i book the next cruise, hoping this coming July

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We have found that if you fly in the day before your cruise, DCL shuttle will not pick you up.

Well, no. Where would they shuttle you to, the day before the cruise?

They only take people from the airport to the port, and WDW resorts to the port.

 

[Heidiatmn]

We fly into mco the night before. We have rented a car and also stayed at the radison which arranged a shuttle for us (for a fee).

 

[2prettygirl]

Well, no. Where would they shuttle you to, the day before the cruise?

They only take people from the airport to the port, and WDW resorts to the port.

They could run like a normal shuttle service and take you to your hotel in Port Canaveral to still get the Disney feel since you are cruising Disney and the cruise ship is in Port Canaveral. That would be my hopes but otherwise you have to stay on Disney resort to use the shuttle service the day before cruising.

 

[hnthomps]

We are taking the easiest, but clearly not cheapest, route. Flying in to MCO the day before, staying at the airport Hyatt, taking the DCL transfer from the airport in the morning to the Port. Our understanding is that we can have our bags picked up from our hotel room and delivered to the DCL transfer so that magically (hah) we don't see them between 8am and when they show up in our stateroom. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong)

We paid $210 total for round trip transfers for 4 people.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are taking the easiest, but clearly not cheapest, route. Flying in to MCO the day before, staying at the airport Hyatt, taking the DCL transfer from the airport in the morning to the Port. Our understanding is that we can have our bags picked up from our hotel room and delivered to the DCL transfer so that magically (hah) we don't see them between 8am and when they show up in our stateroom. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong)

We paid $210 total for round trip transfers for 4 people.

You have it correct. Just remember to tell them when you check in at the Hyatt that you are taking the DCL transfers the next morning, otherwise your room/name won't be on their list for pick up.

 

[Weedy]

They could run like a normal shuttle service and take you to your hotel in Port Canaveral to still get the Disney feel since you are cruising Disney and the cruise ship is in Port Canaveral. That would be my hopes but otherwise you have to stay on Disney resort to use the shuttle service the day before cruising.

The shuttle service is run by Disney. Why would they take you to a hotel that someone else will make money from?? Not a good business practice.

 

[2prettygirl]

The shuttle service is run by Disney. Why would they take you to a hotel that someone else will make money from?? Not a good business practice.

They are making more than enough on the cruise alone! Don't get me wrong, I love everything about Disney but we won't do the shuttle service when you can book a hotel in PC and a cheaper shuttle service that goes round trip. We are paying enough for the cruise!

 

[2prettygirl]

Can someone clarify, if you take the Disney shuttle, you may not get to the cruise terminal until later, correct? If you take your own transportation or different shuttle service, you can check in earlier (if times are available) and get on the ship earlier, right?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Can someone clarify, if you take the Disney shuttle, you may not get to the cruise terminal until later, correct? If you take your own transportation or different shuttle service, you can check in earlier (if times are available) and get on the ship earlier, right?

Not necessarily. When you do your online check in, you select a Port Arrival Time. Your PAT is tied to the boarding number you get when you check in at the port.

You will get the same boarding number, regardless of when you actually arrive/check in at the port, whether you arrive 30 minutes early, or 3 hours late.

The terminal opens for check in at 10:30. Boarding generally begins around 11:15-11:30 with Concierge and Platinum Castaway Club guests, followed by the announcement of boarding numbers. Once the number being announced catches up with the number being issued at check in, Open Boarding is announced. This means anyone holding any boarding number can board. This typically occurs around 12:45-1:00.

DCL transfer buses from MCO start arriving at the port around 10:15. DCL transfers buses from the WDW resorts generally start arriving at the port around 12:30 until around 2:00.

 

[codex57]

We are taking the easiest, but clearly not cheapest, route. Flying in to MCO the day before, staying at the airport Hyatt, taking the DCL transfer from the airport in the morning to the Port. Our understanding is that we can have our bags picked up from our hotel room and delivered to the DCL transfer so that magically (hah) we don't see them between 8am and when they show up in our stateroom. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong)

We paid $210 total for round trip transfers for 4 people.

Can someone clarify, if you take the Disney shuttle, you may not get to the cruise terminal until later, correct? If you take your own transportation or different shuttle service, you can check in earlier (if times are available) and get on the ship earlier, right?

I just did this in December. It was $280 total for round trip transfers for 4 people. $35 each way/person.

Yes, as Shmoo said, make sure you tell the Hyatt people at check in. There's a list they give to Disney to make sure the bags get transferred. I'd double check with Disney when you get down to the 1st level (where the buses are; the "ground" floor of the airport where most everything is is on level 3) as well. It did work seamlessly and I highly recommend it. I really wish it worked the other way around if you stay at the Hyatt after the cruise.

I think you have to leave your luggage inside your room ready to go by 8:30am. I think we left our room roughly around 8am, grabbed some breakfast, and then headed down to wait for the bus. The first bus didn't board until 9am. So you wait. I think we were 3rd in line to check in, and about the 8th family in line to get on board the bus. We were on the first bus out. Got to port pretty early (a little after 10am). We weren't the first to arrive, so other Disney transfers from elsewhere and other people managed to beat the first bus from the airport. That said, it was pretty empty. No line to check in at the Port. No line to check the kids in to the kids club. Very few people around to get in the way of your pictures. But the TVs weren't on yet in the sitting areas and I was in group 18 to board the ship. That would have let us on around 12:30pm by my estimate at how fast they were boarding. Luckily, the workers controlling who boarded let those who had later PAT times board early if they were standing near the entrance and things weren't too crowded at the gangway. We ended up boarding with Group 10 or 11, which was nice because that let us in (the already long line) to go get in line to get tickets for things like the Princess Meet & Greet and to change our dining reservations (my main reason for wanting to board early).

 

[2prettygirl]

Not necessarily. When you do your online check in, you select a Port Arrival Time. Your PAT is tied to the boarding number you get when you check in at the port.

You will get the same boarding number, regardless of when you actually arrive/check in at the port, whether you arrive 30 minutes early, or 3 hours late.

The terminal opens for check in at 10:30. Boarding generally begins around 11:15-11:30 with Concierge and Platinum Castaway Club guests, followed by the announcement of boarding numbers. Once the number being announced catches up with the number being issued at check in, Open Boarding is announced. This means anyone holding any boarding number can board. This typically occurs around 12:45-1:00.

DCL transfer buses from MCO start arriving at the port around 10:15. DCL transfers buses from the WDW resorts generally start arriving at the port around 12:30 until around 2:00.

So if you take a DCL transfer bus and you have an early check in time, it won't matter if you miss that time since you are on the DCL transfer, right? Pretty much whenever you get there is ok.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So if you take a DCL transfer bus and you have an early check in time, it won't matter if you miss that time since you are on the DCL transfer, right? Pretty much whenever you get there is ok.

Yes.

In reality, it doesn't matter, really, if you miss your selected PAT, regardless of how you arrive. You'll still receive the same boarding number, whether you arrive early or late.