Recent Jewel cruisers - what time did you dock in Orlando?

We're cruising on November 14th and one of the main things we were looking forward to was being able to see the new Harry Potter theme park in Orlando. The ship docks at 12:00 regularly and the park closes at 6:00 at the time we're there, so we're already talking a limited time of only 4-5 hours to see a crowded park. However, if the ship docks late, that could cut us down to 2-3 hours and that would be horrendous.

We're cruising on November 14th and one of the main things we were looking forward to was being able to see the new Harry Potter theme park in Orlando. The ship docks at 12:00 regularly and the park closes at 6:00 at the time we're there, so we're already talking a limited time of only 4-5 hours to see a crowded park. However, if the ship docks late, that could cut us down to 2-3 hours and that would be horrendous.

Just to be on the safe side you may want to check out Universals web site (hopefully it will have information). Rumor has it the Harry Potter portion of the park has been extremly crowded with loooong lines. (coming the the after noon 4 to 5 hours may not be anywhere near enough).

If I get a chance I'll ask my kids (they know way more than I do) how things are at Universal.:rolleyes:

I think I read somewhere around here that they recently docked at 1:30 instead of noon.

Search the azipod/propulsion threads

We were on the Jewel two weeks ago. We docked at 1:30PM instead of Noon, because of the propulsion problems. I think you are crazy to go Universal and spend that kind of money to be there for three hours. NCL did give a 25% discount on Orlando excursions because of the reduced time, but remember, the ship still left Port Canaveral at the scheduled time - they did not push back the departure time.

We spoke with some people on our cruise that went to Orlando and they said they spent as long on the bus back and forth as they spent in the park and said it was a mistake to go.

I can tell you that I had a unique situation, where I had tickets to Disney, but they were going to expire.. so it was a "use it or lose it" situation. I rented a car for about $45 at Hertz and booked it to the Kingdom.. I spent about 5 hours there, but with parking, lunch and lines, we only went on about 3 or 4 rides.. Now, this worked for me because I had these free tix to use.. If I had to buy passes to get in that day and had my 5 hours reduced by 90 minutes due to the later docking, this would have been a total waste of money. I strongly discourage you from attempting this...

Another thing to remember is that it is NOT a "Harry Potter theme park." It is simply a small portion of Universal Islands of Adventure and there are only three Harry Potter rides. Two of them were rides that were already there that just were given new names, themes and paint.

Before spending a fortune to attempt to get on three rides (and the lines could be long, so you may only get on one), give it some thought. We stayed on the ship that day, as did about 50% of the passengers and had a great time just relaxing, going to the pool, playing trivia, etc..

Recent Jewel cruisers - what time did you dock in Orlando?

Wow, if the Jewel docked in Orlando, no wonder she's having problems now with her propulsion system! ;)

I would not recommend trying to do WWHP at Universal while in port. I was at Universal in January and it was sooo crowded. We spent the whole day there and maybe got on 7 rides and this is even before HP opened up. Friends of ours went this past July, and said the line to just get into the Harry Potter section was 3-4 hours long. They decided to skip it. Universal is definitely going to be insane for the next year or two until the fever dies down. Good Luck with what you decide!:)

We docked sometime btw 1pm and 1:30. Because of this they were offering 20% off the Disney and Universal shore excursions. Basically, you had about 4 hours of park time which I don't think is enough.

We ended up staying on the ship that day and had a very nice time!

Wow, if the Jewel docked in Orlando, no wonder she's having problems now with her propulsion system! ;)

Too cute LOL:D Some day, if global warming continues, probably not in our life time, Orlando may have a beach and port

Wow, if the Jewel docked in Orlando, no wonder she's having problems now with her propulsion system! ;)

That is exactly what my first thoughts were, ROFL.:D

Just a thought, I plan on Disney as we already have the vouchers, but if I rented a car, how much time would I save if no one gets off before the people leaving to Disney/Universal etc. Isn't it 1 hour each way and Disey has free fast passes which are a life-saver;););)

Will Jewel be going into dry dock soon to fix the propulsion problem? We sail March 13, 2011 and plan on going to Disney.

Will Jewel be going into dry dock soon to fix the propulsion problem? We sail March 13, 2011 and plan on going to Disney.

The ship is now scheduled for dry dock on November 28-- that cruise was just cancelled a couple of days ago to enable it.

We took a river boat tour because the time was not worth going to orlando from Cape Canaveral. "Manatees tours" w/ a cab ride and soda beer or wine and snacks was a good informative excursion. we enjoyed it!

"Space coast river tours" search that. I know I'm not suppose to put that on here but it's a good deal. better then doing nothing or going to CoCo beach.

On the 8/28 Jewel sailing, we docked at the scheduled time, 12 noon. We rented a car from Budget for under $50 and did the Airboat Adventure ride and Coco Beach on our own.

On the 8/28 Jewel sailing, we docked at the scheduled time, 12 noon. We rented a car from Budget for under $50 and did the Airboat Adventure ride and Coco Beach on our own.

Which airboat adventure ride did you do? When looking at the excursion through NCL there are several and I don't really know the difference. How did you get the car from Budget and did they drop you off at the port when you were finished with the car?

We were on Jewel last week. We docked in Port Canaveral at Noon.

For who docked at noon, what time did they start to disembark?

LOL the itinerary says Port Canaveral (Orlando) -- forgive my distress ;)

I knew the park (or whatever you want to call it) only had the three rides, but finding out they're just refurbished old rides and recently discovering that the "interactive" experience at Ollivander's is only interactive for 1/20 people, we've decided to give it a pass and have decided to go to Epcot for the day instead. Much less crowded, just shopping and eating, and closes at 9:00.

Thanks for the advice :)

For who docked at noon, what time did they start to disembark?

We did the Kennedy Space Center excursion last week and I think we were off the ship by about 12:30.

My nephew is on the Jewel they were docked today by 12 noon..he did not get off the ship but he said people were getting off when he called us a little after 12:15.

We did the Kennedy Space Center excursion last week and I think we were off the ship by about 12:30.

what time did you get back from the excursion? Is it worth it to go into Cocoa Beach after the KSC?

It can be longer to Orlando from Port Canaveral as the main road is the "Bee Line Expressway." (or "Beach Line Expressway" as they call it now.). It is a toll road and you will be making toll booth stops.

The toll booths can really tie up traffic on the Bee Line and Disney is still further south on I-4. I would say 90 minutes each way if you don't hit a lot of traffic.

Remember to leave yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship in case you hit one of the horrendous traffic tie ups on the Bee Line.