Post Cruise flight out of MCO - 11:15 a.m?

[scooter90]

We have two options out of Orlando after our cruise on the Freedom of the Seas. Is a flight leaving at 11:15 a.m. doable or do you think I should book the flight out at 1:45 p.m.

 

Since I have to work the next day, getting home 2.5 hours earlier would be nice but I'm worried about the ship clearing customs and us getting to the airport in time.

 

Any experience with this? Thanks!

[KarinaGW]

We have two options out of Orlando after our cruise on the Freedom of the Seas. Is a flight leaving at 11:15 a.m. doable or do you think I should book the flight out at 1:45 p.m.

 

Since I have to work the next day, getting home 2.5 hours earlier would be nice but I'm worried about the ship clearing customs and us getting to the airport in time.

 

Any experience with this? Thanks!

 

It's a 45min-1 hour drive assuming good traffic. Is it a doable proposition? Sure, why not? People will tell you they got to that airport from that cruise port before the ship even docked. BUT! Let there be a docking issue, a customs issue, an accident on the highway and it suddenly becomes you yelling at your steering wheel or your spouse or the driver or shaking your fist at the gods of travel.

 

Book the later flight.

[Papa T]

I agree - go for the later flight a have some peace of mind!!!

[scooter90]

Thanks! With the added security these days I thought the later flight might be wiser too.

[BlueHerons]

It's a 45min-1 hour drive assuming good traffic. Is it a doable proposition? Sure, why not? People will tell you they got to that airport from that cruise port before the ship even docked. BUT! Let there be a docking issue, a customs issue, an accident on the highway and it suddenly becomes you yelling at your steering wheel or your spouse or the driver or shaking your fist at the gods of travel.

 

Book the later flight.

 

I agree. I've been gridlocked on that stretch before and it is maddening. I'd hate to have to jockey to make a flight.

[marci22]

Plus, the security line at MCO is always at least a 20 min wait.

[reallyitsmema]

Is it doable? Yes, we have done it but given the choice, I would take the 1:45pm just for peace of mind.

 

We had an early afternoon flight booked but Delta consolidated a bunch of their flights and we ended up with an 11:15am. Our only other choice was 7pm so we stayed with the earlier flight. We made sure we had an early color off the ship and arranged for a private car service to take us to the airport. We were at the airport just after 8:30am and all checked in and going through security by 9. The security lines were huge on that particular day but we were through in about 1/2 hour and made our flight with ease.

 

Given the same choice again, I would pick the earlier flight. Since you do have the afternoon option, I would go for the extra time to get through security with all the craziness these days.

[marci22]

Also realize that your flight may be changed several times between now and your trip. Our Continental flight has so far been 11:15am, 10am, 1:15pm, and currently it's at 12 noonish.

 

So book something doable so that if they change it by 45 min you can still make it (I think the rule is that if they change your flight by 90min or more they will reschedule you for free). In our case, our original flight was cancelled so they let me reschedule to the time I wanted, which got changed yet again.

[#1packerfan]

We just came off the Monarch on December 14th. We did self-disembark and were at the airport by 9 am. We have always flown out before noon from Port Canaveral. This was the 4th time and we have never had any issues at all. I agree with the OP. It's nice to have the time when you get home, especially because we live almost 3 hrs from the airport.

[marci22]

If you book the 11:15am flight, and the airline moves it to 10am, will that be ok? This happened to me on Continental just recently and they let me change the flight to a later one because they had cancelled my original flight. I don't know if there is a change fee if you just want to change "because it's a little too early". It's another thing to consider.

[yogimax]

We just came off the Monarch on December 14th. We did self-disembark and were at the airport by 9 am. We have always flown out before noon from Port Canaveral. .

 

Unfortunately, there are no guarantees. Better to book a later flight and standby for an earlier one than book the early flight, miss it, and be subject to all sorts of fees

[HB Cruiser]

We just came off the Monarch on December 14th. We did self-disembark and were at the airport by 9 am. We have always flown out before noon from Port Canaveral. This was the 4th time and we have never had any issues at all. I agree with the OP. It's nice to have the time when you get home, especially because we live almost 3 hrs from the airport.

 

Monarch disembarking is much easier than Freedom.

 

We had pre-noon flight once from Orlando after a cruise on Mariner. NEVER AGAIN!!! Yes, we made it but to get soooo stressed about making a flight after a great relaxing cruise just does not make since.

 

Another time cruising from Port Canaveral we had a 1:00 flight we barely made. There was a fatal accident on the Beach Line between Canaveral and Orlando and traffic was rerouted. THANK GOD we had our son's GPS with us (this was before most rental cars had them). We never would have made it. We parked at MCO at noon.

 

Tim