Leaving the ship....

Our family is excitedly awaiting our Merrytime Disney cruise on Dec. 3......this will be our first cruise! Our itinerary shows that we are ashore at 7:30 a.m.......in Port Canaveral. When can we expect to physically be off the ship? Is it a lengthy process to disembark the ship upon returning to port? Our return flights from Orlando (to Canada) are at 11:45 a.m.. Is it realistic to think we can be off the ship and make the 45 min drive back to Orlando in time? I appreciate any advice anyone has to offer.

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

The ship will ask you when your flights are, and if within reason, schedule your disembark time prioritized by those times.

When you disembark the ship, you will need to find your bags, (unless you carry them off) and clear Immigration and Customs.

I believe 11:30 is the earliest recommended time for flights in your situation. So you are going to need to step on it. What is your transport plan? I don't think the ship will provide transport for that early a flight.

In the future, I would suggest figuring out the logistics before committing to a flight time.

An 11:45 flight will start boarding at 11:15 (or earlier) at which time passengers not at the gate might lose their seats to standbys. To be sure to to get to the gate by 11:15, you really want to be sure to get to the airport by 10:15 to check bags and clear security. To get to the airport by 10:15 - after allowing time to get a taxi after leaving the ship, you want to be off the ship no later than 9:15.

Being off the ship by 9:15 means you can make your 11:45 flight IF EVERYTHING GOES RIGHT: no traffic, no delay in getting a taxi, carrying off your luggage so you would not have to locate any.

Yes, you can, and probably will, make that flight. How difficult/expensive would it be to re-book if you did not? If I believed there were several later flights I could make, at reasonable cost, I would go for it. Otherwise, I probably would look for a later flight. Of course, if there is no later flight that would work for you...

Hi CruiserBruce! Thanks for your speedy response. I haven't actually booked flights yet......the purpose of my post was just that, to ensure we would have adequate time to make an 11:45 flight first! So, now.....thanks to your suggestion.....I think I'll look at a later flight! No one has asked for our flight times as of yet.....should I be getting in touch with someone about that?

Our family is excitedly awaiting our Merrytime Disney cruise on Dec. 3......this will be our first cruise! Our itinerary shows that we are ashore at 7:30 a.m.......in Port Canaveral. When can we expect to physically be off the ship? Is it a lengthy process to disembark the ship upon returning to port? Our return flights from Orlando (to Canada) are at 11:45 a.m.. Is it realistic to think we can be off the ship and make the 45 min drive back to Orlando in time? I appreciate any advice anyone has to offer.

For the most part DCL cruises out of Port Canaveral dock early in the morning (think 4-5 am). Once the ship has been cleared, the "big doors" open for debarking. Generally this is around 7:30. If you are in the group waiting for this, you can probably be off the ship fairly quickly with a short wait for customs/immigration. One note on this, if you do want off that early, you'll need to carry your bags off with you.

Many people leave their bags outside their doors the last night and DCL will get them off the ship and into the terminal for them to be claimed before going through customs/immigration.

It's about an hour from Port Canaveral to airport. If you have a rental car, allow time to drop off car before heading to your airline to check in. Security at Orlando can be pretty quick (less than 30 minutes) or a real bear (2 hours).

Book the later flight & relax, nothing worse than a great cruise then having to stress while rushing to get to the airport hoping you're going to make your flight

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Hi CruiserBruce! Thanks for your speedy response. I haven't actually booked flights yet......the purpose of my post was just that, to ensure we would have adequate time to make an 11:45 flight first! So, now.....thanks to your suggestion.....I think I'll look at a later flight! No one has asked for our flight times as of yet.....should I be getting in touch with someone about that?

They will ask for your flights when you are onboard in order to determine priority for getting off the ship.

I too would book a later flight.

Can you make the 11:45 AM flight? You might but if something goes wrong you can easily miss it.

My view is simple. I don't like to spend time cruising and worrying whether or not I will make the flight.

No one knows what your experience will be like and that includes the airport.

You might have no lines there but history means nothing if you arrive and there is a long line.

Same goes for the arrival of the ship.

I would look for an afternoon flight but I don't like stress when I am cruising.

Keith

You just walk off the ship when your luggage tag color is called. Then find your luggage and leave the terminal. If you have an early flight you can switch to a color called earlier. You will have a notice in your cabin, the day before, explaining the time when you'd get off. They don't have the room for everyone's luggage to put it all out at the same time so after one group has gotten their luggage they put out the next group. This is why you can't just get off and find your luggage- which may not be out yet.

We have seen buses just going to the airport in Port Canaveral which leave as soon as they fill up. Then another bus comes for the airport. This is the way to go as a cab will not want to go all the way, 60 miles, to the airport.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

You are very wise to book the later flight.

This way you won't be stressed with worry about making your flight.

And you will have time to have some lunch before your flight.

You don't say if you are flying domestic or international and I see no 'location, indicated in your signature. You cannot make it throgfh international check in an securitty in time but maybe domestic.

You don't say if you are flying domestic or international and I see no 'location, indicated in your signature. You cannot make it throgfh international check in an securitty in time but maybe domestic.

She said:

Our return flights from Orlando (to Canada) are at 11:45 a.m

I would book a later flight.