Rental car from Port Canaveral to MCO

[amandacolorado]

Cruising on carnival dream, just wondering what time you usually get off the ship.

 

We have a 2pm flight out of mco. I am not sure what time to book the rental car for. We will need to be at the airport around noon to drop off but when booking online they ask for a depart time.

 

thanks

[latitude918]

I can't offer any advice on that end, however...

 

A quick tip from a person who used to live in Florida (for a couple of years): if you don't mind changing planes, next time, fly into the Melbourne, FL airport -- airport code MLB. Melbourne is only like a 10 minute drive from PC and is a decent sized airport, like West Palm Beach or Ft. Meyers. and it will save you a lot of headache if you ever sail out of Port Canaveral again.

[kcwingwalker]

Cruising on carnival dream, just wondering what time you usually get off the ship.

 

We have a 2pm flight out of mco. I am not sure what time to book the rental car for. We will need to be at the airport around noon to drop off but when booking online they ask for a depart time.

 

thanks

 

Here's a link for Florida cruises and it might help you:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495

[Scrapnana]

Cruising on carnival dream, just wondering what time you usually get off the ship.

 

We have a 2pm flight out of mco. I am not sure what time to book the rental car for. We will need to be at the airport around noon to drop off but when booking online they ask for a depart time.

 

thanks

Usually by 8:00 disembarkation has begun. The one hitch in the system is the shuttle that each rental car agency runs between the port and the agency office. If there are many people using the same company you may have to wait for numerous runs between port and office (we waited 45 minutes). If I were to do it again, I would have one person get on the shuttle and leave the rest of the party and the luggage at the port. One person usually has no trouble getting on the shuttle. Then once you pick up the car, come back and get the rest of your group. The offices are no more than 1-2 miles from port.

 

I would put sometime between 8 and 9 for the reservation.

 

Good news - returning cars at MCO is a snap

Bad news - security lines are long

[JanineM]

If you "self disembark" (carry your own luggage) you will probably be off the ship before 8:30 am (could be 7:30 am even!). The latest we have been off the ship (with them removing our luggage) was about 9:30 am.

 

I can't offer any advice on that end, however...

 

A quick tip from a person who used to live in Florida (for a couple of years): if you don't mind changing planes, next time, fly into the Melbourne, FL airport -- airport code MLB. Melbourne is only like a 10 minute drive from PC and is a decent sized airport, like West Palm Beach or Ft. Meyers. and it will save you a lot of headache if you ever sail out of Port Canaveral again.

 

Actually, MLB is about a 40 minute drive from the Port. A taxi to the Melbourne airport will cost you about $50 - so it is just as easy to fly out of Orlando. We used to live half way between Port Canaveral and the Melbourne airport and the only time we would fly out of MLB was if we were going to Atlanta (direct flight).

 

Other than the hassle of getting a rental car, it's a SUPER EASY drive from the Port to MCO. You turn right onto 528 and then take a ramp to the airport - straight shot (plus a stop for a toll). It's a 50 minute drive except in the very rare instances when there is a brush fire or an accident.

 

If you have a rental car and are able to get off the ship early, you could head over to the beach in Melbourne to enjoy a couple of hours in the sand, then drive towards Orlando at about 11:00 am and you'll arrive in plenty of time for your flight. And if you decide to get to the airport earlier, it's actually a pretty nice airport for a long wait. There are plenty of shops and places to eat.

 

Hope this helps!

[wallie5446]

Your plan is a good one, we have done the same thing 3 times. If your party is just 2,3,4, people, then IMHO, I would have everyone get on the bus to go to the car rental office, as sometimes the traffic can back up getting in an out of the pick up area at the port.