Dream Debarkation

[LisaBi]

Help please! I've done some searches, but am not coming up with the details I'm looking for. We are sailing on the Dream 1/8/11, and I can't decide what time flight to book out of Orlando on debarkation day. My choices are 11:30 or 3:30. I've never sailed Carnival before, so don't really understand their debarkation process. It sounds like it is more common than not for debarkation to take quite a while?

 

I'm not necessarily in any hurry to get off the ship. If they call your number early, do you have to go then, or is it just that you can't go BEFORE they call your number? On my prior cruises, it was pretty much impossible to not be off the ship and thru customs by 8:30 am - they started kicking you out of staterooms by 7:00 and food was closing down by 8:00. Even taking 11:00 am or noon flights, we ended up with time to kill at the airport.

 

If it matters, we plan on taking Carnival's bus service from the port to the airport. I guess my bottom line is that I'd just as soon sleep in a bit and not rush off the ship, and don't want to have to stress about making an early flight, but also don't want to have too many hours to kill. At MCO, I've had times where I got bags checked within 10 minutes of arriving, and other times where I almost missed my flight due to long check in lines.

 

Thanks!

[shortstop95]

I have never been off a ship as early as the Carnival Dream on debarkation day 8/28. They started calling self-assist (which we were) at 6:00 a.m. We were the last self-assist to go and were clear customs and on the street by 6:30 a.m. back at the Orando airport way way too early for our flight. Seems to be the norm with the Dream- so I think you'll be alright booking the early flight if it's what you want.

[SnowWhiteNYC]

Just off the dream. They started calling self-debarkation by about 6:15 am. Our number, 18 was called later, we got off when they made us get off...nobody makes you leave until last call, or at least that has been my experience.

[timh111]

Think you'll be safe with the 11:30am flight. We were on the Dream this past April and we were off the ship by 7:30am (NOT self assist)!!

[shadoo]

1130 is plenty of time. We found the disembarking process of the Dream the easiest we have every experienced on Carnival. We hired our own transportation and ended up waiting an hour for it to come. (they were unable to pick us up earlier). We got to MCO early, check in was a breeze and were at the gate long before we needed to be there.

Have a great cruise!

[CruiserCindy]

1130 is plenty of time. We found the disembarking process of the Dream the easiest we have every experienced on Carnival. We hired our own transportation and ended up waiting an hour for it to come. (they were unable to pick us up earlier). We got to MCO early, check in was a breeze and were at the gate long before we needed to be there.

Have a great cruise!

Hi

I noticed you are from NH did you happen to fly southwest out of Manchester? We havea 12:15 flight on SW and hope we make it back to Orlando in time . We are using Lauras Shuttle and they said we would but I have not heard much about them and hope all goes well.

Thanks for any info:)PS also Carnival would not let us book their shuttle because we had a flight before 1pm.

[shadoo]

We flew Delta into Boston, nonstop. I would not hesitate to book a 1215 flight out of MCO. We had such an easy time of it and our transport was ABC Shuttle. No problem with them either, except that we got of the ship so early that we had to wait for them to pick us up at the port. Make sure you do self-assist disembarking which was quick and easy. Barring unforseen circumstances, I think you would be fine, with time to spare.

 

PS..we love to fly out of Manchester, but we were in a group that wanted to fly out of Boston....flight was cheaper even with limo to and from. We live in Auburn, which is just outside of Manchester. Flights from Manchester are great except that sometimes they are way more expensive and force us to go to Boston. Also, more nonstops out of Boston.

Have a great cruise!

[LisaBi]

So what would be a good target time to be at the airport if one lingered on the ship till the last group called?

[timh111]

So what would be a good target time to be at the airport if one lingered on the ship till the last group called?

 

That is tough to answer. Just because the majority of us on this thread have had early disembarkations, doesn't mean you won't run into trouble. Anything like someone lost a passport, an unpaid cash onboard account or questionable luggage found by customs can delay disembarkation. ALWAYS plan on a delay and if you don't experience one, you may just have to wait a few hours at the airport for your flight. I would say that 12:00pm (+/- an hour) would be a safe bet. :)

[UpstateCruizer]

If you do self assist you should be off with plenty of time to spare for the earlier flight. However the one key factor that stands out with your post is that you have elected to use Carnival's transfers. They will be waiting until the bus is full before leaving for the airport. That part would have me nervous. When we got off the Dream in April (not using self assist) we easily grabbed a shuttle service to take us to the airport. If I were in your shoes based on what I experienced in April I'd book that earlier flight, do self assist BUT I'd grab a shuttle service that was ready to leave when I got off the ship. Imagine a bus load of people and you sitting there praying you make the early flight? If you opt for the later flight you will need to be off the ship somewhere around 10am. This is the part that some people consider a leisurely way to end a cruise but IMO it's far from relaxing to sit there and wait while the ship's staff is cleaning and preparing for the next group of cruisers. Enjoy the Dream it's a beautiful ship with so much to offer :)