Disney cruise line bus shuttle questions?

[spankey]

Well after long hard thought. My wife wants to take the bus from Orlando to the port? Don't ask me why, she just thinks its going to be much easier.. See this is our first trip.. I was going to rent a car but had a bad experience with a security deposit.. I will explain below!



I rented a Ryder truck one year to move us into a new home and the guy stated that there was a $250.oo security deposit so I said fine.. I used my normal mac card/debit card seeing how he assured me all they did was check the card to see if the 250 was there they don't charge anything... Well low and behold come to find not only DID they charge the $250.00 they charged it twice... So it finally got resolved but took almost two weeks till we seen our money again.. So you can kinda see why I am salty about that? Do all rental places ask for security deposits?


OK

I need some info on the disney cruise bus line? Any contact info from anyone that has any? I called Mears and they claimed they Do NOT go to the disney cruise line. Only carnaval!!!

Also do you pay for the bus in advance or when we get to Orlando?

Can anone offer me a web site? I did a search but can't find it?

Thanks again
Spankey

[Senor Ferrari]

The DCL website has information on the transfers they offer. DCL has its own fleet of busses which are themed along the same lines as their ships. They are definitely the easiest way to go for transfer between the airport and the port, but are certainly not the least expensive, especially for groups larger than 3.

The transfers cost $49/pp round trip and include luggage handling. You can purchase them by adding them to your reservation, either by calling DCL or via your travel agent. While I believe you can purchase them at the airport (I'm not positive about this), it's easiest to have them added to your reservation and pay in advance.

When you book the transfers, they will ask for your incoming flight information. Assuming you're arriving the day of the cruise, they will claim your luggage at MCO (you're given special cruise line tags to place on the luggage before you check your bags at your home airport) and transfer it to your room on the ship. When you get off the plane, there will be DCL reps in the terminal to direct you to the busses. They run pretty much all day on the day of the cruise.

If you're arriving on the day before the cruise, you have to grab your bags off the luggage carrousel, but you can check them with DCL the next morning when you check in for the bus (in this case, don't put the cruise line tags on them until the morning of the cruise), and they'll take them from there.

For the return trip, most airlines have a baggage check at the port, so you can check your bags after passing through customs, and you won't have to deal with them until you get to your home airport. Actually, I believe you can use this service regarless of how you're returning to the airport.

[GottaLuvCruising]

Senior Ferrari,

Great job! I used to work for Disney Cruise Line and I couldn't have done a better job myself.

Disney's transfer process is clean and efficient. The motorcoaches are nice and, in each direction they show a video which explains the process and helps orient you to the options on board. If it is a whole family, you could rent a car to save money, but if you are traveling as a couple, I'd use the transfers.

You cannot book directly with Mears. You must do so with Disney Cruise Line. I'd call and have it added to your reservation.

Have a great cruise!

[pvangordon]

Hi - I read somewhere that DCL picks up your tagged luggage at the airport and transfers it directly to the bus. My flight gets in around 8 am, but I think the first bus doesn't leave the airport til 10:30 am. If that's the case, do I need to grab my luggage off the carousel or will DCL still get it? Obviously I don't want to assume anything.

This is my second DCL cruise; first one I did was the 7 day land/sea, so I had a transfer from the Disney hotel, not the airport.

Thanks for the help.

[GottaLuvCruising]

pvangordon,

Put your DCL luggage tags on your bags before checking in for your flight. The DCL airport team will retrieve your bags and deliver them to the ship. The bags actually go to the ship by luggage truck; they are not loaded onto the motorcoach.

You will have a couple hours at the airport before leaving on the first motorcoach. I'd plan on getting breakfast and checking out the shops. You could check with the Hyatt about a day room if you wanted to get a few hours sleep and take an early afternoon motorcoach. If a day room sounds appealing, I'd call them ahead of time to check the rates.

Have a great cruise!

[spankey]

Thanks guys-

We did in fact call our travel agent and so glad I did! After contacing DCL they stated that they did NOT have our middle initials nor birthdates and address and phone number. They did have our names for the reservation.. So my Travel agent got a not so happy phone call from me yesterday...

We will do the DCL transfers.. Seeing how THEY handle our bags.. To me thats worth all the money! But what happens if they or the airline loose it???? ARGGGG We will be screwed.. 4 nights with no clothes.. LOL could you see someone having that happen!!!! What a nightmare....

Any rate.. Thanks again for the tips.... I can't wait to leave already.. And I have two months to go......Come on September..

Spankey:rolleyes:

[pvangordon]

Thanks for the response, Gotta. I just wanted to make sure we didn't happily traipse off to the ship, only to discover our luggage was still sitting at the airport.

[jenr]

If we fly into MCO the day before our cruise can we still utilize DCL transportation? We were hoping to spend the night before our cruise near Port Canaveral. Otherwise, maybe we'll rent a car and drive over to Port Canaveral and take DCL buses back to airport after the cruise. Can we purchase one way fare on their buses? Thanks much!

[AuntieBon]

Can't help with the one way transfers but we flew in the night before, stayed in Orlando and then took the hotel shuttle back to the airport to catch the bus.

[JerseyMom]

If we fly into MCO the day before our cruise can we still utilize DCL transportation? We were hoping to spend the night before our cruise near Port Canaveral. Otherwise, maybe we'll rent a car and drive over to Port Canaveral and take DCL buses back to airport after the cruise. Can we purchase one way fare on their buses? Thanks much!

I've never heard of anyone purchasing one way fare but we always come in the night before (stay at the Hyatt) and we meet the cruise line reps in the lobby of the hotel. If, however, you plan to stay in the Port Canaveral area, you may want to find alternative transportation - I believe that the DCL bus will only drop you off at the terminal (and then only on sail days).

I have always had a wonderful experience with the DCL bus. They are clean, comfortable and the music and videos that they play really sets the mood for the trip.

Have a wonderful trip!

[Senor Ferrari]

You can purchase one-way transfers, either in advance, or at Guest Services on board. I believe they go for $25/person.

We also spend the pre-cruise night at the Hyatt, which again is the easiest, but not the least expensive. Many people rent a car at MCO and drop it off near Port Canaveral. Avis, Hertz, and Budget all have offices near the port and have complimentary shuttle busses. There are several hotels nearby, too. The Radisson is probably closest, and is right near the Budget office.

I would say if you're arriving by mid-afternoon on the day before the cruise, it's probably worth it to drive out to the coast (it's not quite an hour's drive). If you get in late afternoon or evening, I'd say stay near the airport. The Hyatt is right in the terminal, but there are many off-site hotels which have free shuttles to and from the airport.

Like anything, it's a matter of personal preference. You'll probably know if you want to add an hour's drive on to your day after flying in. After flying cross-country, I like the Hyatt, and would rather travel to the port the next morning.

[jenr]

JERSEYMOM (or anyone else)

So if you stay at the Hyatt at MCO and then take the shuttle back to the airport to catch the DCL bus, I assume you purchase round trip ground transportation and just take your luggage back into the airport to meet the DCL rep. Do you go back in through baggage claim area of airport?

Also does anyone know if the Radisson near Port Canaveral has shuttle service to the port?

Thanks

[AuntieBon]

The Hyatt inside the airport has direct pick up. The DCL representatives pick you up in the lobby of the hotel. If you are staying somewhere else (I think we were at the Holiday Inn ?), the hotel shuttle took us directly to the bus loading area for DCL. We didn't have to go back into the airport. Took our bags off the hotel shuttle and directly to the bus.

[Senor Ferrari]

jenr,

The Hyatt is actually in the airport terminal. As Auntie Bon said, you check in for the bus in the hotel lobby. They also have an outside check-in area if you are arriving from off the airport property. Just let the hotel shuttle driver know that you're taking the DCL busses and they'll know where to drop you. Again, there's no shuttle involved with the Hyatt.

If you stay at the Hyatt, identify yourself as a DCL passenger when you check in. They'll give you an envelope which describes what to expect the next morning. Basically, you leave your bags outside your room on the morning of the cruise and they will be collected by the bell staff and then transferred to the ship.

The Radisson at Port Canaveral does have a shuttle service to the port terminal. Here's the hotel's website: http://www.radisson.com/capecanaveralfl

[josephina]

We used InterPlex Transportation for our trip to the port. My sister-in-low used their service in 2002 and recomendet them. We followed her referal and ware very pleased. They ware graet! Very profecional service. The driver went out of his way to accomodate us.

http://www.interplex.net

Good Luck!
J

[edd1]

You should look into car service transportation from Orlando International to the port. Usually you can get faster and cheaper transportation than renting or taking the busses. The web site Taxi-MCO.com will list individual drivers who will take you to the port and return you to MCO. You contact who you want and they will give you a price. Most will give a roundtrip price and you pay that when you are dropped off. They meet you drive your family over ther and pick you up when you return. There are other companies listed on the internet that do the same service.

[OceanLiner]

Well after long hard thought. My wife wants to take the bus from Orlando to the port? Don't ask me why, she just thinks its going to be much easier.. See this is our first trip.. I was going to rent a car but had a bad experience with a security deposit.. I will explain below!



I rented a Ryder truck one year to move us into a new home and the guy stated that there was a $250.oo security deposit so I said fine.. I used my normal mac card/debit card seeing how he assured me all they did was check the card to see if the 250 was there they don't charge anything... Well low and behold come to find not only DID they charge the $250.00 they charged it twice... So it finally got resolved but took almost two weeks till we seen our money again.. So you can kinda see why I am salty about that? Do all rental places ask for security deposits?


Spankey

Oh I have had this problem, and it's very sneaky how they do this. They say that they are not charging or debiting anything to your card, what they don't say is that they are "reserving" the amount from your account. Any way that you look at it, the money is not available for your use! Just tell me the truth, don't surprise me.

In March of 2005 we had an incident at The Ritz Paris. We had prepaid six nights for a suite with a wire transfer in order to gain a very favorable exchange rate, and I had the reciept. When we checked in they swiped my card for misc charges. Well guess what? Their policy was to "reserve" an amount equal to the total room ratef or misc charges, and the wire transfer had not been applied to my bill, so they "reserved" another amount equal to the total room rate. At this point I had paid for the same suite three times, but according to the front desk my account was simply pending credit for the wire transfer, nothing was charged to my debit card, only reserved. Needless to say by the time everything was done The Ritz could not have been nicer and they took very good care of us, but it took the general manager to release the funds and it still took almost 2 days.

[crzn4fun]

I am doing the one way transfer with th DCL transportation for my upcoming cruise. I thought it would be easier to take their transportation to the port since they pick up our luggage and transport it. There are 2 of us. I am renting a car after the cruise to spend a few days at WDW post-cruise. I rented from Budget since they have a shuttle from the port and they had the best rate for our dates.

Have a wonderful cruise!

[glen tev]

Theres a good company called Fla tours that has nice a/c vans.Picked us up at the airport and handled all our trip needs.Mears actually left us stranded at Mgm after paying for a round trip ticket.It may be worth checking out.worked well for us.

[Host Mick]

Theres a good company called Fla tours that has nice a/c vans.Picked us up at the airport and handled all our trip needs.Mears actually left us stranded at Mgm after paying for a round trip ticket.It may be worth checking out.worked well for us.

You can't just leave us hanging like that.
How did Mears strand you at the DID/MGM Studios? Dish it out.

[glen tev]

We were staying at orange lake resort and bought r/t tickets through mears for transportation(this is in Feb/superbowl weekend)The sheet said to call 1 hour prior to pickup.I called at 3.30 for a 6 pickup.So were standing at the pickup stop watching numerous mears cars and buses go right on by.After about 1 1/2 hours waiting and at least 10 phone calls to mears-Nothing.Were all dressed in shorts,the suns down ,my kids are freezing and i'm pissed.So i finally walk to the other side of the park and looky see there's 10 to 20 mears cabs all sitting there drinking coffee.So i asked who want s a $20 tip to get us back to orange lake and all the mears guys come running.They were a little upset when i said anyone but mears.I hired the independent.I had all the calls on my cellphone so the desk at orange lake gave us our money back.We hired fla tours the next day for magic kingdom(we had also used them to and from the airport)Right on time.Our driver Tony was great.Nice new leathered vans.Very smooth.And they go to port canaveral terminal.As for Mears i would walk before i ever gave them a dime of my money again.