Disembarkation from Port Canaveral and flights from Orlando

[Matt]

14 hours ago, Ryanmw said:

https://www.clearme.com//reserve
 

I’ve made appointments at the Orlando airport which will make it easier to get through security 

I've used this before many times and well worth it (especially since it's free)

[cruisellama]

On 1/10/2023 at 10:40 AM, YoungFamilyExplorers said:

I’m sure that this has been discussed here before so thank you in advance for your help. 

 

We’re planning a cruise in April on the Wonder and we need to catch a flight out of Orlando on the same day we return to port. I wanted to find out what time the earliest flight we could catch out of Orlando would be. I’m not familiar with the area nor the commute time between the port and the airport.

 

Also, when does disembarkation begin for families who need to use the porters.

 

Thanks!!!

The issue isn't transport to MCO (about an hour), the issue is MCO is a terribly outdated terminal/airport for the passenger loading of that resort area.   TSA wait times can be crazy depending upon which airline/terminal you're seeking.

[Fouryearsout]

39 minutes ago, Matt said:

I've used this before many times and well worth it (especially since it's free)

What appointments are you talking about?

[Matt]

On 2/11/2023 at 10:13 AM, Fouryearsout said:

What appointments are you talking about?

https://mco.whyline.com/new?organization=620bf3fb68b5dd0047f6f020&place=620bf838ff11d36c7d566399

It's a free way to get an expedited security line at Orlando Airport

[smokeybandit]

When we flew out of Orlando after Christmas, despite the massive lines to drop our bags, there was literally no one in the Precheck lane.

[Pooch]

We flew out of MCO last week, Wednesday mid afternoon.  TSA Pre Check line was packed, regular line almost empty.  Agent kept saying But you’re PreCheck!  You’ll have to remove your belt & shoes!  We were long through the line before the Precheck line was even up to the ID check.  

[HAK1906]

On 2/8/2023 at 1:43 PM, need2cruz said:

We just got off Wonder on Sunday and had a 12:08pm flight.  Our self disembark time was 6:45AM, but we went to Windjammer and had breakfast and left the ship at 7:30AM.  Walking off the ship was no wait at all.  Opened the app, picked a Lyft that saved $12 because we'd wait 15 minutes.  We got to MCO by 8:20AM.  This was too early for me.  You cannot check a bag before 3 hours early.  So, we waited until 9:08AM to check our bag.  TSA precheck took about 10 min.  Then, we were stuck waiting almost 2 hours before we could board.  Starbucks line past security did take 45min.  But I would have much rather had an 11am flight and less waiting at the airport.

How did you get the 6:45am Self-disembark time?  Looking to get that timeframe to disembark.  My family and I have an earlier flight on that Sunday the 19th of March from Port Canaveral to Orlando.   Trying to get off the ship and onto an UBERxLASAP. I have two teens so hoping they will just get up and sleep on the plane. Flying on Southwest and have TSA pre check.    Thanks.  

[NotPayinExtra]

2 hours ago, HAK1906 said:

How did you get the 6:45am Self-disembark time?  Looking to get that timeframe to disembark.  My family and I have an earlier flight on that Sunday the 19th of March from Port Canaveral to Orlando.   Trying to get off the ship and onto an UBERxLASAP. I have two teens so hoping they will just get up and sleep on the plane. Flying on Southwest and have TSA pre check.    Thanks.  

How early is your flight?

[lkg276]

7 hours ago, HAK1906 said:

How did you get the 6:45am Self-disembark time?  Looking to get that timeframe to disembark.  My family and I have an earlier flight on that Sunday the 19th of March from Port Canaveral to Orlando.   Trying to get off the ship and onto an UBERxLASAP. I have two teens so hoping they will just get up and sleep on the plane. Flying on Southwest and have TSA pre check.    Thanks.  

I live near Port Canaveral and do private rides to and from MCO, along with Uber/Lyft. My rate is $100 and I drive a Black Chevy Tahoe that carries 5/6 people depending on luggage size. I'm a registered Port Canaveral driver and would be happy to accommodate your family for your trip.  [email protected]  (retired firefighter)

[HAK1906]

8 hours ago, NotPayinExtra said:

How early is your flight?

It leaves at 10:30am. Yes I am aware it’s early and a lot can go wrong and I could miss or have to move my flight. However, if I can get off the boat by 7am while carrying my own bags off I’m going to try it.  Fingers crossed. . It as mentioned to me to go to guest services to request an early time to disembark.  Also I am in a Junior Suite and won’t get 100% suite perks.  Thanks y’all. Texas Spring Break 2023.  

[WAAAYTOOO]

46 minutes ago, HAK1906 said:

. It as mentioned to me to go to guest services to request an early time to disembark. 

 No need to go to Guest Services at all.  Just keep you luggage inside the cabin on the last night (do not put it outside your cabin to be collected), get up early enough that you can be downstairs by 6:30/6:45 to start lining up for early walk-off (we get up at 6AM) with your luggage and be among the first to disembark.  Ignore the luggage tags that you get for disembarkation.  When you do self-embarkation you don’t need a “number “.

[Dan Curtis]

Just two weeks ago we got off the ship at 740, had Skippy transportation pick us up at 750, it was a Saturday, light traffic, dropped us off at delta less than a hour for a 1045 departure.  Delta check in took maybe 10 minutes, the TSA line was very crowded, took around 35 minutes, but still had more than enough time to get to our gate, I knew things would have to go well, it did. Other flights to Cincinnati we thru Atlanta or 4 in the afternoon, we made it fine.

[cobra614]

Guess I'm glad we booked the 4:20 PM nonstop flight home, sounds stress free, except waiting for the flight I guess.

[NotPayinExtra]

6 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

 No need to go to Guest Services at all.  Just keep you luggage inside the cabin on the last night (do not put it outside your cabin to be collected), get up early enough that you can be downstairs by 6:30/6:45 to start lining up for early walk-off (we get up at 6AM) with your luggage and be among the first to disembark.  Ignore the luggage tags that you get for disembarkation.  When you do self-embarkation you don’t need a “number “.

I always thought you had to tell them and be put on a list or something for self disembarking. This saves a step.

[AshleyDillo]

1 hour ago, NotPayinExtra said:

I always thought you had to tell them and be put on a list or something for self disembarking. This saves a step.

Nope, no one checks or stops you. The times really are only for when they expect luggage to be available in the terminal. If you have no luggage to pick up then you aren't waiting on anything. They also have multiple times for self-disembark to encourage staggered elevator use, but again they don't look at numbers for anything other than luggage pickup.

[HAK1906]

On 2/23/2023 at 10:44 AM, lkg276 said:

I live near Port Canaveral and do private rides to and from MCO, along with Uber/Lyft. My rate is $100 and I drive a Black Chevy Tahoe that carries 5/6 people depending on luggage size. I'm a registered Port Canaveral driver and would be happy to accommodate your family for your trip.  [email protected]  (retired firefighter)

Please check your email I sent you a note. Thanks. 

[HAK1906]

I first have to give a major shout out to lkg276.  As shown above he has a service out of Port Canaveral and he picked us up and get us to the airport in plenty of time and NO he was not speeding, he was driving the Florida speed limit of 75 .  Our flight out of MCO was at 9:35am on Southwest going back to Dallas and in the middle of the week I reached out to lkg276 for a ride to the airport for my family.  He responded quickly and we coordinated pick-up times accordingly.  There were four of us with six, yes six suitcases total and his automobile was plenty of room.  We self-disembarked and were off the ship by 6:55AM and in his Tahoe on the way to the airport by 7:01 and at the airport by 7:45. Disembarkation was the easiest and seamless in all my years of cruising.  An absolutely FANTASTIC experience partnering with lkg276.

On 1/12/2023 at 2:51 PM, Matt said:

Can I email you some questions for a blog post?

On 2/8/2023 at 12:23 PM, lkg276 said:

Matt, what questions do you have?

On 2/23/2023 at 8:44 AM, lkg276 said:

I live near Port Canaveral and do private rides to and from MCO, along with Uber/Lyft. My rate is $100 and I drive a Black Chevy Tahoe that carries 5/6 people depending on luggage size. I'm a registered Port Canaveral driver and would be happy to accommodate your family for your trip.  [email protected]  (retired firefighter)

 

[BB1]

What day of the week was your flight?

[HAK1906]

6 hours ago, BB1 said:

What day of the week was your flight?

We left yesterday on Sunday the 19th.  During a Spring Break week.  The ship was at full capacity.

[BB1]

That's fantastic.  I was looking at booking some cruises that return on Monday. I wonder how different that would be.  You are definitely braver than I am booking such an early flight. 

[NoobCruise]

On 3/20/2023 at 7:54 PM, BB1 said:

That's fantastic.  I was looking at booking some cruises that return on Monday. I wonder how different that would be. 

I am no expert on MCO as I have only been there once recently on a Sunday morning after getting off of Wonder but I was dumbfounded at how empty it was at around 9am.  I had booked the free TSA reservation mentioned above for 9:30am. We didn't use it since the default TSA screening was next to empty with a 3min wait at 9am. We walked right through. The airport felt like it wasn't awake yet. It didn't come alive with lots of people for about another 90 minutes or so. If I had to guess the airport at 9am on a Monday morning would be vastly different.

 

Our stats on March 5th were:

After a short trip to the windjammer we self disembarked at around 7:50am.

Caught uber at 8:02am. Arrived at terminal C MCO at 8:48am. Cost $78 pre-tip.

[jerry777777]

On 1/13/2023 at 11:24 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

We’ve used the Royal shuttle from Port Canaveral to MCO many times.  It’s not glamorous but it gets you there safely.  I can recommend it.

Hello, It seems you folks certainly have enjoyed many cruises and have a wealth of expertise. My family of 3 will be self-departing from the ship with only carry-on luggage. Sun, April 16th from wonder of the seas at Port Canaveral. We will disembark as early as possible from deck 9. We are all able to carry our carry-on luggage down the stairs. Our flight home departs from MCO at 2:45 PM and we purchased Royal Caribbean's transfers for its shuttle bus. I know their shuttle bus is fairly large and needs to fill up before it leaves to drive to MCO. I've read that Royal Caribbean generally starts this self-departure at 7:15 AM. In your experience, if we get off the ship as early as possible (I know it has to be cleared by customs) will the Royal Caribbean transfer shuttle bus(es) already be there waiting for passengers, or do they only start to run and show up much later that morning. Also, how long does it take for one of their shuttle buses to fill up and begin to head to MCO? It would be a real drawback and time killer if we self-depart as early as possible and then have to wait at the dock for a long time for the Royal Caribbean transfer to show up and then also wait a long time for it to fill up. I know it's a full size bus and would expect it takes 30 mins to fill up... but if it arrives let's say at 10:00 AM and we have to wait on the pier all that time and if takes over an hour to fill up... then taking a Uber from the pier to the MCO would certainly seem to be the way to go to be assured that we arrive at the airport without undue time pressure to check-in (no checked luggage) and go through TSA security which I believe could take up to around 2 hours or more as I believe multiple cruise ships will be disembarking that morning and it's the end of spring break for many kids. Thank you for your advice! ~Jerry

 

[Xaa]

With a 2:45 PM flight you're going to be fine.  You don't really need to self depart at 7:15 unless that's what you really want.  The busses will be there and assuming you're one of the first on, about 30 minutes is right.

[smokeybandit]

If you're taking the RC shuttle there is a specific time they ask those people to depart. Like 8:30 or so

[WAAAYTOOO]

Jerry, you will be fine with a 2:45 PM departure. I think that is a perfect departure time.  The shuttles are very efficient, IMO.  You won't have to wait very long for the bus to leave.  Being the worrier that I am, I would much rather get off the ship early and get to the airport and then worry about how long I have to wait around.  If it's me, I AM going to self-assist and get off the ship as early as possible and catch one of the earliest busses, but I don't think that's entirely necessary.

[jerry777777]

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Jerry, you will be fine with a 2:45 PM departure. I think that is a perfect departure time.  The shuttles are very efficient, IMO.  You won't have to wait very long for the bus to leave.  Being the worrier that I am, I would much rather get off the ship early and get to the airport and then worry about how long I have to wait around.  If it's me, I AM going to self-assist and get off the ship as early as possible and catch one of the earliest busses, but I don't think that's entirely necessary.

Hi, Thank you very much for the information, advice and suggestion. We think alike. It is not entirely necessary but it's the prudent thing to do.  I would just substitute "worrier" (what people may perceive we are) with what we actually are: "careful, comprehensive, risk averse planners" . Thanks again and I wish you guys the very best on your next cruise!

[jerry777777]

9 hours ago, Xaa said:

With a 2:45 PM flight you're going to be fine.  You don't really need to self depart at 7:15 unless that's what you really want.  The busses will be there and assuming you're one of the first on, about 30 minutes is right.

Hi, Thank you very much for this very useful information. I can now rest easy!

[jerry777777]

6 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

If you're taking the RC shuttle there is a specific time they ask those people to depart. Like 8:30 or so

Hi, Thank you very much for this very useful information. I'll follow-up about that time when I'm aboard the ship.

[smokeybandit]

46 minutes ago, jerry777777 said:

Hi, Thank you very much for this very useful information. I'll follow-up about that time when I'm aboard the ship.

On the last full day you'll get a sheet with the departure times for the various luggage tags. One of those time slots on that sheet is devoted just to RC transfers.

[jerry777777]

27 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

On the last full day you'll get a sheet with the departure times for the various luggage tags. One of those time slots on that sheet is devoted just to RC transfers.

Thank you for the additional very useful info.

[jerry777777]

BTW - I don't travel much but in hindsight I really should have applied for TSA pre-check or CLEAR. However, there is a new free service called Clear Reserve (offered at several airports including MCO) where you apply on their website 3 days before the flight departure and can request a specific time window to be allowed to use a dedicated/expedited TSA security lane which reportedly averages a 5 min wait. Unlike regular CLEAR still have to take off shoes etc. but potentially saving so much time by not having to wait on the regular TSA security line is nice for this trip.

[t65010]

On 1/12/2023 at 3:51 PM, Matt said:

Can I email you some questions for a blog post?

How to contact you concerning transport from Port to mco? Have 11:30am flight 6/21/24

[smokeybandit]

9 hours ago, t65010 said:

How to contact you concerning transport from Port to mco? Have 11:30am flight 6/21/24

I assume this was meant for  lkg276? The email address is provided above.