Disembark Mariner??

[RCLFan]

We have a flight from Orlando departing at 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 11th. (disembark day)

 

I am renting a car from Budget in Cape Canaveral, so we will shuttle from the Pier to the rental office on Astronaut Blvd., then drive to Orlando airport.

 

By the way, we did this ship in June, but at that time we didn't need to rush to the airport, since we extended out stay, so now I have some questions.

 

My questions are:

• What is the earliest we can disembark from the ship, what color tags will be called first?
  
• Is there a faster route to the airport other than renting a car, taking into account the shuttle and completing paperwork at the counter? (The cost of the car is about $35.00.)
  
• If we use some other means of transportation, what do you recommend, and what might it cost for 2?
  

Figuring it will take about an hour to drive to the airport, baggage check-in, pier to rental agency, etc. I'm thinking if we can get off the ship by 8:00 - 8:30 we should be ok. Thoughts??

 

Has anyone else had experience with catching a flight about the same time, and if so, what time did you depart from the ship?

 

Thanks.

[ella99]

We were on the Mariner in May and also had a 12:30 flight home at Orlando. I believe we were the second color to be called somewhere between 8:15 and 8:30. We had rccl transfers so I can't address the car rental. We left the pier at about 9:15 and were at the airport about an hour later. There should be no problem. Just make sure you let them know what time your flight is and they will make sure you're off the ship early enough

[RCLFan]

We were on the Mariner in May and also had a 12:30 flight home at Orlando. I believe we were the second color to be called somewhere between 8:15 and 8:30. We had rccl transfers so I can't address the car rental. We left the pier at about 9:15 and were at the airport about an hour later. There should be no problem. Just make sure you let them know what time your flight is and they will make sure you're off the ship early enough

Thanks ella99, my recollection was that they began calling for disembarking while we were at breakfast. I believe that had to be between 8:00 and 8:30.

 

Do you know if transfers can be purchased on the ship prior to the last day? And do you know what was the cost of the transfers?

[pequinina]

I don't know if you can buy transfers on the last day but the cost of the transfer is $25 per person. You'll be fine with the rental car. Just carry your own luggage off in the morning and you'll be the first ones off. We did this last year and made out 11;30am flight with no problem.

[CruznPrnces]

I am just off the Mariner 7/31. As for the disembarkation, I belive they started calling colors around 7:30 or so. I know our original color was called at 7:45, and it was not the first color called. (We had a limo coming at 10:30, so we went down and exchanged them for a color that would let us off around 9:30, giving us time to go through customs and get our luggage and things.) As for the color tags you recieve, they give you a list of the colors and the times they should be called when they give you your tags. If the tags they leave don't work for you, go up to the pursors desk. They have a table set up with all the different color tags set out, and you can choose which ever color you want. This will get you off the ship when you need to be off.

[RCLFan]

Are there any special procedures to carry off your own luggage? In other words, do you need some special tag for that, or do you just not put your bags out on the last evening?

 

What does customs do, since they don't have access to your bags ahead of time? I'm assuming that your bags get "sniffed" or something prior to being put on the carousel for pick up when you do it the "normal" way (bags out evening before).