United pushed my flight back -- How late is too late for shuttles?

[XirallicBolts]

I hope this is the right forum,

I booked the 7-night cruise from Port Canaveral on November 10th-17th this year for my honeymoon. My original flights were to arrive at MCO at 11:40AM on the 10th, then depart at 1:10PM on the 17th.

United just canceled the initial flight and now I'm set to arrive at 2:00PM on the 10th. I already reserved the Disney shuttle service. The WDW site says that they can do in-airport check-in from 3:00 to 3:45, but does not mention how late you can arrive and still get on a shuttle fast enough to be able to check in properly.

United does not have ANY flights arriving earlier that day. My only other options are to change to arriving the 9th (more expensive ticket, add hotel, taxi, and possibly not be able to use the shuttle anymore) or cancel and switch to Delta (which is about $600 more expensive).

Anybody familiar with Disney's MCO-Canaveral shuttles that would have some insight? My last cruise was 9 years ago when I was 20, so my parents handled all the details. I'm nervous I'm going to screw up the main part of my honeymoon.

 

[jtkboston]

Do you have travel insurance? If so, check the terms and see if they can help out with fixing things up.

If you call United and speak to an agent, you may be able to get them to rebook you on the previous day with no extra charges. Explain politely that the new schedule is unworkable due to a 7-night cruise departure. Alternately, if they won’t change it they should refund it with no penalties, if you’re willing to make different flight arrangements.

 

[Rob1872]

Where did you see that you could check in for the cruise shuttle from 3 to 3:45?? You have to be on the ship by 4:00pm; you could miss the departure if you left at 3.
2:00 pm arrival gives you NO margin for delay, and still might miss the boat.

 

[XirallicBolts]

I guess I jumped the gun a bit on posting this. My original flight was from Appleton to Orlando, ATW-ORD, ORD-MCO. Searching a bit on Google Flights, determined that only ATW-ORD was canceled. If I fly out of Green Bay (20 minutes away), the original ORD-MCO was still available.

I just called up United and told her the flight out of GRB I wanted to switch to and she took care of it, no issue. No mention of fees or booking costs since it was more than a 2 hour difference. I fly in to MCO at 11:40AM like originally planned.

 

[starvenger]

I'm glad this worked out for you. I hope you have a great honeymoon!

And wedding, if that hasn't happened yet.

 

[Sunshine2U]

If you arrive the day before, you could book one of the airport hotels and take Disney transportation from the airport the next morning. Since we always drive from home to port, I'll leave it there and not risk putting out bad info regarding luggage, etc.

Edited: Oh never mind. I see you have the solution. Welcome and Happy Honeymoon! I guess you figured out this was the right place to post?!!!

 

[XirallicBolts]

Thanks!

Wedding's November 3rd. We planned on doing a week in Destin, Florida and picked our date based on dates Appleton flies to Florida. After looking at Destin a bit, decided we'd rather pay more for a Disney cruise to have less hassle and a better guarantee of a good time. Too easy to accidentally book an absolute dive or miss out on something spectacular -- at least with Disney, they're going to ensure we have a good time.

So of course, now we have a week between the wedding and honeymoon. Plan is to get married, spend the first two nights at the Radisson, then four or five nights in Wisconsin Dells, then Disney cruise, then a few days at home before Thanksgiving. Took off work from Halloween straight through Thanksgiving

She originally wanted to go to the Kohler Lodge because they have a fancy tub she likes. But it's a high-end room during a Packer game so they do a 3-night minimum at $500 per night. For that price, I could just buy the tub she likes so much!


So we should be all set. 11:40AM gives a bit of leeway for possible de-icing delays that can occur in Wisconsin/Illinois during November. Can't be any worse than the freak snowstorm we had earlier this year the day I had to fly to Washington! Close to 20 inches overnight in April!

 

[AgentMama]

Ummm, I would switch your flight to the day before. You could easily miss your cruise if the flight is delayed at all.

 

[Shanti]

I hope this is the right forum,

I booked the 7-night cruise from Port Canaveral on November 10th-17th this year for my honeymoon. My original flights were to arrive at MCO at 11:40AM on the 10th, then depart at 1:10PM on the 17th.

United just canceled the initial flight and now I'm set to arrive at 2:00PM on the 10th. I already reserved the Disney shuttle service. The WDW site says that they can do in-airport check-in from 3:00 to 3:45, but does not mention how late you can arrive and still get on a shuttle fast enough to be able to check in properly.

United does not have ANY flights arriving earlier that day. My only other options are to change to arriving the 9th (more expensive ticket, add hotel, taxi, and possibly not be able to use the shuttle anymore) or cancel and switch to Delta (which is about $600 more expensive).

Anybody familiar with Disney's MCO-Canaveral shuttles that would have some insight? My last cruise was 9 years ago when I was 20, so my parents handled all the details. I'm nervous I'm going to screw up the main part of my honeymoon.

Cancel and switch to Delta. 2pm is cutting it way too close. If your flight is late, you'll miss the cruise. Uh uh.

United moved your flight up by hours, so it's their responsibility & you therefore have the right to cancel with a full refund & no penalty.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Honestly, I wouldn't risk flying in the day of the cruise. There are too many things that could go wrong and delay your flight. Change your flight to the day before.

 

[southerngirl528]

Honestly, I wouldn't risk flying in the day of the cruise. There are too many things that could go wrong and delay your flight. Change your flight to the day before.

I must agree with Maggie'sMom and the PP that have said this. Even arriving a bit before noon is iffy. You live where it's COLD and it will still be official hurricane season here, which means frequent thunderstorms, and they can and DO cause delays fairly frequently here. ( MCO is my home airport, so I've experienced this more often than I can count over the years)

SO many things can happen to cause a delay, and someone else hesitated to mention luggage, but for whatever reason, Orlando can be crazy slow with luggage getting to Baggage Claim. Some airlines are worse than others, but without exaggeration, I have waited over 45 minutes for my baggage numerous times. I would just hate not to warn you of these very real possibilities only to hear in November that your flight(s) ran into delays for weather, mechanical issues, delayed baggage, or whatever. Better safe than sorry in MANY of us here's opinion. Whatever you decide, good luck and CONGRATULATIONS!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

I know you've already phoned and have things basically taken care of.

My only other options are to change to arriving the 9th (more expensive ticket

As you know, when they change the flight time by more than an hour (usually), they cover that cost. They don't charge you.

Wedding's November 3rd.

This might happen again and again. Check your flight OFTEN. Be on top of it if they change it.

So of course, now we have a week between the wedding and honeymoon. Plan is to get married, spend the first two nights at the Radisson, then four or five nights in Wisconsin Dells, then Disney cruise, then a few days at home before Thanksgiving. Took off work from Halloween straight through Thanksgiving

Not sure of your ages or plans, but, just saying, we had that same week in between wedding and honeymoon cruise, and by the time we boarded the cruise we had a tiny stowaway...

She originally wanted to go to the Kohler Lodge because they have a fancy tub she likes. But it's a high-end room during a Packer game so they do a 3-night minimum at $500 per night. For that price, I could just buy the tub she likes so much!

Buy that tub anyway.


And call and get the flight for the day before. If they won't change it at no fee now, hope for another time change and get it done then. Flying in that late the day of the flight is madness.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Almost the right post for this question.
Extend your research to those that have or almost have "missed the ship" by flying in the same day: https://www.disboards.com/threads/another-reason-not-to-fly-in-on-day-of-departure-mco.3696366/ .
P.S. I'm included on this thread and we left the day before !!!!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Given that you're spending time wandering around Wisconsin before the cruise, I think shifting the cost to flying in the day before and staying at a hotel near port is a decision you are unlikely to regret. It seems like more of a shift than a big new expenditure.

And different tastes, but the Dells in November is definitely off-season. Sleepy during the week, and on weekends, often invaded by dance camps and the like. A hotel near port in Cocoa is likely to be warmer/more interesting.

Different season, but our connecting flight in March had delays, and we had to basically teleport to hit our connection, and were only saved by our connection being held for us. Had we missed it, we'd have either been in LATE LATE Friday instead of kinda late, or rebooked to first thing Saturday. Delays happen. And if they happen going from a small plane to a large at ORD, it can get messy.

 

[KashasMom]

So glad that you were able to work this out! I would however stay on top of this and check the flight frequently. Delta changed our flight time SEVEN times for the return from our Alaska cruise until it was finally too early to be able to get off the ship and make the flight. Flight time changes are all too common these days and the further in advance you book, the worse it always seems to be. Congratulations on your marriage and have a wonderful honeymoon!

 

[DCLDVC1]

I'd still seriously consider flying in on the 9th. As you likely know, ORD can be a disaster during bad weather and if you have a delay out of GRB you'll be cutting it extremely close. According to Google Flights, the Nov 10th flight out of ORD is often delayed 30+ minutes so that's also something to consider. You'd still make it but it could add some stress.

 

[MrPTato]

We booked a cruise for this coming March and coming from New England, I can't risk the delays on the day of the cruise. We are flying down the night before and staying at the Hyatt in the airport. I am even thinking about coming in earlier than that on the day before.

 

[cruiser21]

Can you take on a redeye on the 9th if you don't want to pay for a hotel. I wouldn't fly in day of cruise especially on a connecting flight out of cities that have weather issues. I know you already changed your flight, but if you explain the situation and that it's your honeymoon they might work with you.

 

[mike314]

Took off work from Halloween straight through Thanksgiving

I am sooooo jealous I was only able to swing a few days off for my wedding...my honeymoon was a month later. Either way enjoy!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I'll piggyback on what the others are saying. You really should consider flying in on the 9th. With a 11:40 scheduled arrival on your cruise departure day, you have about 2 hours of wiggle room in case of delays. If anything goes wrong with either of your flights, you will, literally, miss the boat. There are many hotels in the Orlando airport area that either have free airport shuttles or are easy and relatively cheap to get to via taxi. I'm sure you could find something for less than $200 a night. You can then simply go back to the airport in the morning and take an earlier shuttle to the port and start enjoying everything the ship has to offer.