Flying into FL. for cruise advice

[murph1031]

We are booked on the Valor in Oct. Sailing from Port Canaveral. On our pervious cruises we have always driven to the port. We live in South Carolina. This time we are going to fly instead of driving. Since we have never done this before I have a few questions which I'm sure some of guys will be able to answer for me.

I assume its better and safer to fly in the night before the cruise, which is what we will likely do, BUT if we did decide to fly in the morning of how early would you suggest we arrive at the airport?

Now once we are at the airport, how do we get to the terminal? Does Carnival have a shuttle stop at the area airports?

Is there a preference between Orlando airports over Melbourne, or are they about equal?

We have FTTF booked for our cruise. Would having this booked aid us in getting an earlier shuttle to and from the airport?

And finally, what would be earliest you would book the return flight after the cruise?

 

Thanks for any help in advance, and I look forward to any advice the pro's may share.

[ProfCruise]

We flew into Orlando and took a non-Carnival shuttle to the port (we used this one: http://www.123friendlytransportation.com/) -- it was much cheaper. I believe we arrived at the port around 1pm (shuttle trip was about 45 minutes) and were on the ship in about 15 minutes.

 

In terms of flying out after the cruise, we had a 12:30pm flight on the same day and got there in plenty of time. Used the same shuttle service to get us back to the airport and had no problems.

 

Have fun! :D

[Jenny in TX]

We cruise on the Glory in April and flew in to Fort Lauderdale the day before our cruise left. We got in about 3pm and used a shuttle service to drive us to our hotel (Holiday Inn Port of Miami). It was about $15/person for the shuttle service and it worked out wonderfully. The hotel had plenty of restaurants within walking distance and we took a cab the morning of the cruise to the terminal which was about 5 minutes away.

[Cruising_Kara]

Hey Murph! I am also cruising this october from canaveral!

 

Try go port canaveral. They offer some great fly snooze cruise packages. They also have some stuff on their blog about the pros and cons of each airport. http://www.goportcanaveral.com/blog/airports-near-port-canaveral-cruise-terminals/

[murph1031]

Hey Murph! I am also cruising this october from canaveral!

 

Try go port canaveral. They offer some great fly snooze cruise packages. They also have some stuff on their blog about the pros and cons of each airport. http://www.goportcanaveral.com/blog/airports-near-port-canaveral-cruise-terminals/

 

Thank you, great info :)

[Essiesmom]

We cruise on the Glory in April and flew in to Fort Lauderdale the day before our cruise left. We got in about 3pm and used a shuttle service to drive us to our hotel (Holiday Inn Port of Miami). It was about $15/person for the shuttle service and it worked out wonderfully. The hotel had plenty of restaurants within walking distance and we took a cab the morning of the cruise to the terminal which was about 5 minutes away.

 

This is totally irrelrvant to the question the OP asked. They are sailing from Port Canaveral and flying into Orlando. Not FLL or Miami. EM

[Sparky2]

This is totally irrelrvant to the question the OP asked. They are sailing from Port Canaveral and flying into Orlando. Not FLL or Miami. EM

 

I do understand his/her confusion, though. When I first read the title, I thought to myself, why is he/she flying into FLL if cruising from Port Canaveral. If was when I read the rest of her post that I realized I had mis-read the title.

[fishywood]

Since you have purchased FTTF why would you risk not being at the port early enough to be the first onboard by not flying in one day (or more) early and staying at a hotel close to the port? The Carnival shuttles will almost certainly wait until nearly full before leaving MCO for the 40-50 minute ride to the port. If you fly into MLB a taxi to a PC-area hotel is about a 25-30 minute ride.

Edited June 15, 2015 by fishywood

[toberman]

I do understand his/her confusion, though. When I first read the title, I thought to myself, why is he/she flying into FLL if cruising from Port Canaveral. If was when I read the rest of her post that I realized I had mis-read the title.

 

I did too !! Just shows you have to read the post and not assume anything. ;) I've done that more than once. :o

[murph1031]

Since you have purchased FTTF why would you risk not being at the port early enough to be the first onboard by not flying in one day (or more) early and staying at a hotel close to the port? The Carnival shuttles will almost certainly wait until nearly full before leaving MCO for the 40-50 minute ride to the port. If you fly into MLB a taxi to a PC-area hotel is about a 25-30 minute ride.

 

This was one of the things I had wondering about. So a cab from MLB to PC would about how much? if anyone knows.

Also sorry about thread title, I can see how it was misleading, I will try and fix it.

[JohninDC]

This was one of the things I had wondering about. So a cab from MLB to PC would about how much? if anyone knows.

 

Although the distance is shorter than from MCO, the driving time from MLB to PC is not that much shorter - you are still 40-45 minutes away. Taxi will be expensive. :eek:

 

VERY early flight with a shared shuttle or flying in the night before and getting a one-way rental car (MLB or MCO to PC) is the way to go. We prefer to stay in Orlando, but many choose to stay near the port; all of the major car rental agencies have offices near the port and offer free shuttles - we typically use Avis but that is more for the corporate rate than anything special about the location.

[tdk1938]

This was one of the things I had wondering about. So a cab from MLB to PC would about how much? if anyone knows.

Also sorry about thread title, I can see how it was misleading, I will try and fix it.

I've never been there, but I checked on Google map and PC is about 27+ miles from MLB. I assumed you are flying to Melbourne International airport.

I also checked on taxifarefinder.com for taxi fare and it's between $50 and $60.

I hope that's help.

[Nic6318]

If you are flying in the day before you could consider renting a car for a day. As Fishywood suggested staying at a hotel near the port would allow you to return the car early in the day and get on the ship early. The car rental locations would shuttle you to the port ( aprox. 5min away ). The price of the rental may be less expensive than the cost of shuttles or taxi and you would have the use of the car for the day.

 

Before you decide check out East Coast homeports section you will get lots of information about hotels in the area, car rentals, transfers, etc...

 

Have a great cruise

[murph1031]

Ok so we booked our flight. We arrive in Melbourne night before at 10.30pm. Go Port Canaveral can shuttle us from the hotel to the port. However they have told us that they would pick us up at 10.30am. We have FTTF booked for our cruise, so a 10.30 pick-up would have us at the port by 11.30 at the latest, correct? Would having FTTF have any benefit arriving at that time?

If we decided to book the Carnival shuttle would they pick up earlier than 10.30am? Not sure what time we need to be at port in order to make FTTF worth while.

Thanks

Rob

[JohninDC]

Not sure about FTTF rules (Carnival board is a better place to post that question), but to get there earlier than 11:30 I would either book with someone else, use a taxi or rent a car one way.

Edited June 21, 2015 by JohninDC