Southwest-flight home

We do early bird too, so here's an extra tip if you only care about using it for the return trip home... if you add it on while you're booking round-trip, it'll default to charging for both flights. But if you decline it, then go back to purchase it later on, you can buy it just for your return leg (or vice versa, if you weren't doing this for a cruise). I found that out accidentally, after I bought our tix then had a "d'oh!" moment the next day.
 
"Do families get to preboard?

An adult traveling with a child six years old or younger may board during Family Boarding, which occurs after the “A” group has boarded and before the “B” group begins boarding."


Also, they can and sometimes do drop family boarding if there are a huge number of kids.
Thanks! Maybe I was thinking under 7. I appreciate the clarification!
 
Early bird here as well. I remember before they had it dashing back to the Wonder, praying for internet to check-in. Glad those days are over.
 


My last cruise I checked in online using the SW app and used the boarding pass through the app. No paper boarding pass needed. The one before that my last day was (supposed to be) a CC day, so I did EBCI.

SW has added self check in kiosks at MCO to tag your bags.

That will make things so much easier!! Did not enjoy standing in a long line just to check my bags. Woo hoo!
 
This year we'll be going to WDW the day we get off the ship we fly out that Sunday. We'll be able to check in on our phones and happily will be able to check our bags at the resort before we board magical express!
 
I am one more vote for paying the $15 to do early bird for the return trip. But my experience is from the other side of the coin. We didn't pay for the early bird because we were staying an extra day in Orlando. So we figured we'd just check in the day before, no problem. So first we alsmost forgot to check in at the right time, and then even when we did check in at exactly the right time we got a number in like C, and THEN, once all the early birds and families with young children boarded, we were pretty much dead last to board. So I now realize that the only people who didn't pay extra (besides us) to get early bird, were the families with kids 6 and under who didn't need to. Lesson Learned.
 


Depending on your kids, you might qualify for family boarding which is between A and B.

If you have a kid that is 7 or under, you can board between A and B groups regardless of your actual boarding number.

More often than not we've found the "family boarding" to be suspended at MCO due to the large volume of parties with young kids. I suggest having a back-up plan -- EBCI, a trusted friend/family member checks you in, ship's free or paid wifi, etc.

Enjoy your cruise!
 
I did early bird check in and then went to Guest Services within the 24 hours. They had a form for me to fill out with the flight info and they printed the boarding pass and it was delivered to my room later in evening.
 
Thanks for starting this thread. We are getting ready to book flights once the next set of dates comes out for our October cruise. I have been debating on paying for the early bird. Its $60 each way with the 4 of us - although SW is about $500 cheaper than other airlines PLUS the free bags so we would still wend up ahead money wise. I keep wavering on the fact that we are flying in a couple days before for a quick trip through universal and staying a day after to see KSP. So we *could* do check in ourselves but do I really want to have to try to remember it when we our brains are on vacation mode.
 
We have done both having and not having Early Bird. Either way, around the 24 hour mark I check in on my phone to see our boarding position. We use ME to get back and forth to the airport, so we also use the resort check-in so we can check our bags in the AM. They typically check our bags AND print us airline boarding passes. This happened for us last summer, so relatively recently...
 
My daughter and I flew home on Southwest today after a 3-night cruise. I was able to use my phone while the ship was docked at Castaway Cay to check in, and got boarding numbers of B3 and B5. Our flight wasn't until late afternoon, though -- it might be more difficult to get good numbers for flights earlier in the day.
 
Do we really need paper passes? I see people just showing their phones.

I hadn't thought about this, so I'm glad OP asked.
 
We've had only positive experiences with south west. We actually like the self seating. Seems to make boarding go faster. And really like not paying extra for our luggage.

I agree. We've had great experiences. They are also one of the few airlines with a large variety of non-stop flights out of the Milwaukee airport which we love even though we live in IL. Not a fan of O'Hare and usually only fly out of there for our international flights. Also with 3 teen DDs who pack like they are going away for months, the two free bags are a plus. ;)
 
My daughter and I flew home on Southwest today after a 3-night cruise. I was able to use my phone while the ship was docked at Castaway Cay to check in, and got boarding numbers of B3 and B5. Our flight wasn't until late afternoon, though -- it might be more difficult to get good numbers for flights earlier in the day.

Is there wifi on CC?
 
Is there wifi on CC?
The Disney Cruise app works on Castaway Cay, so there is WiFi. I think you would be able to access the shipboard data plan if you have purchased it (or if you're using the 50MB available free when booked on the first night), because my husband used his plan after we set sail from the island. To check in with Southwest, I used my cellular service, because T-Mobile doesn't charge for data in the Bahamas.
 
I would strongly encourage you to have your boarding pass prior to entering the line (specifically at MCO) as the line for people who don't have boarding passes is huge and if you have boarding passes, the line is much quicker and shorter.
Don't quite understand this advice. Which 'line' do you mean? Its been 5+ years since we flew Southwest, so I'm unfamiliar with their set-up.

I'm interpreting that there are two lines to check-in at the airport: one for folks who need boarding passes and/or have to check bags, and another for folks who have checked-in and only need to check bags. Did I interpret correctly?
 
We just do EBCI and then go through security and to the gate with the boarding pass on the SWA app on our phones. Doesn't get much easier and no waiting for guest services.
 
For those that have flown southwest home-how do you check in? Will guest services print your boarding pass even though they are not part of the on-board check in? Anything else I need to know?

We were on the Dream, last year, and asked guest services to check us in and they did. We just gave them our confirmation numbers. We got "B" boarding. I will add that they printed the boarding passes also for us and they were waiting for us, in our room, after dinner. No, we didn't have EBCI.
 
Don't quite understand this advice. Which 'line' do you mean? Its been 5+ years since we flew Southwest, so I'm unfamiliar with their set-up.

I'm interpreting that there are two lines to check-in at the airport: one for folks who need boarding passes and/or have to check bags, and another for folks who have checked-in and only need to check bags. Did I interpret correctly?
Southwest has one line for those who just need to check bags, and one line for "full service". The "full service" line will get your bags checked and get your boarding pass, but you're also stuck in line with everyone who needs special service. Like - those who are traveling with unticketed babies, unaccompanied minors, etc. So the full service line takes a long time, esp at airports with a larger number of little ones flying. However, Southwest also has kiosks separate from both lines that simply issue boarding passes. Unless you HAVE to use full service for other reasons, it's typically faster to use the boarding pass kiosk to get your boarding passes, and then get in the checking-bags-only line, which moves faster b/c it's literally all they're doing. Hope that clarifies things.
 

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