Oasis out of Port Canaveral - what time for flight home?

[nkereina]

We'll be on the Oasis of the Seas next April out of Port Canaveral. On our debarkation day, we'll be flying home out of the Orlando airport which is about an hour drive from the port. Would you choose an 11:50 am flight home or a 2:30pm flight home? Don't want to be rushing with the 11:50 flight, but it would put us home much earlier which is preferable, as we have an hour drive home once we land. We haven't cruised in years so I'm not familiar with the process, but do know that we'll carry off our own luggage.

 

Second question - if we decide on the 2:30pm flight to be safe, Royal Caribbean offers some kind of alligator air boat tour for people on flights after 1pm. Has anyone done this excursion? I am assuming they get you to the airport with ample time?

 

Thanks all!

[Clarea]

If you arrange your own transportation and are willing to get off the ship early, then I would not have a problem with the 11:50am flight.

[Kamloops50]

We'll be on the Oasis of the Seas next April out of Port Canaveral. On our debarkation day, we'll be flying home out of the Orlando airport which is about an hour drive from the port. Would you choose an 11:50 am flight home or a 2:30pm flight home? Don't want to be rushing with the 11:50 flight, but it would put us home much earlier which is preferable, as we have an hour drive home once we land. We haven't cruised in years so I'm not familiar with the process, but do know that we'll carry off our own luggage.

 

Second question - if we decide on the 2:30pm flight to be safe, Royal Caribbean offers some kind of alligator air boat tour for people on flights after 1pm. Has anyone done this excursion? I am assuming they get you to the airport with ample time?

 

Thanks all!

 

2:30 would be a safer flight .

[BillOh]

If you arrange your own transportation and are willing to get off the ship early, then I would not have a problem with the 11:50am flight.

 

There are a couple of post cruise excursions, but most of those drop you off around that 2:30 time frame and they say they are for people on 5pm or later flights. (Ive done airboat tours out of Port Everglades and Miami, but not Port Canaveral, here I have done a Space Center tour. You probably won't find many royal post cruise excursions that get you back to the airport in time for a 2:30 flight. In most cases a 11:50 flight on a weekend should be possible.

[north29]

I have been out of that terminal with the FREDOM and no real problem with a 11:30 flight, but the Oasis, with, I guess, about 2K more pax, I wonder how quickly debarkation will go If you can wait booking air, I would wait and see what happens. Also it might depend on the speed on immigration.

[Snit13]

Are you certain you would be interested in an airboat tour before flying home? You may be windblown, damp, sweaty, dirty.....who knows. If I were doing an airboat tour I would want to be able to shower and change clothes. Also, Florida is having mosquito issues and you might want to check that out.

 

I would opt for the earlier flight in this instance.

[Magellan321]

I live by the port....take the later flight. Accidents happen all the time on the highway leading from the port to Orlando International. Also, we are not accustomed to clearing a ship the size of the Oasis...this will be a learning curve and major traffic curve for our port.

[time4u2go]

I would definitely do the air boat tour if the timing works out alright (with the later flight). Air boats are a lot of fun and a pretty unique experience.

[Magellan321]

Also keep in mind that most airports recommend getting to the airport 90 minutes before flight....we are a hot spot of security and the suggestion is more like 2 hrs for Orlando with it now being a high security hot spot. My last two flights since May have been on off peak days....one took me from curb to gate 35 minutes....the other took an hour and 20 to get from the curb to clear security! We had a lot of passengers miss our flight stuck in security.

[cello56]

Also keep in mind that most airports recommend getting to the airport 90 minutes before flight....we are a hot spot of security and the suggestion is more like 2 hrs for Orlando with it now being a high security hot spot. My last two flights since May have been on off peak days....one took me from curb to gate 35 minutes....the other took an hour and 20 to get from the curb to clear security! We had a lot of passengers miss our flight stuck in security.

 

I live in Orlando, and totally agree with this poster - getting through security at OIA can vary from super quick to looooooooooooooong and drawn out. I too saw many people miss their weekday mid morning flights while stuck in line at the security checkpoint.

 

You also have to take into account clearing customs at the port. Some days it is fast and quick and others the lines go so slow.

[John&LaLa]

I live by the port....take the later flight. Accidents happen all the time on the highway leading from the port to Orlando International. Also, we are not accustomed to clearing a ship the size of the Oasis...this will be a learning curve and major traffic curve for our port.

 

Hopefully the learning curve is over after 4 months. :eek:

[Merion_Mom]

Are you certain you would be interested in an airboat tour before flying home? You may be windblown, damp, sweaty, dirty.....who knows. If I were doing an airboat tour I would want to be able to shower and change clothes. Also, Florida is having mosquito issues and you might want to check that out.

 

I would opt for the earlier flight in this instance.

 

I have done it. Twice. I was not windblown, damp, sweaty or dirty. ;)

[3Blessings]

I would definitely do the 11:30. With you carrying your own luggage off the ship you will probably be on the way to the airport by 7:30 at the latest.

[Magellan321]

Hopefully the learning curve is over after 4 months. :eek:

 

I would hope....but not banking on it :rolleyes:. Let's face it...we both live here and the port may be growing and beautiful but the growing pains continue. With almost 12,000 passengers(not including any staff) to clear and move around on April 9 and another big day of arrivals boarding with lots of schools out the week leading into Easter...I would expect delays.

[John&LaLa]

I would hope....but not banking on it :rolleyes:. Let's face it...we both live here and the port may be growing and beautiful but the growing pains continue. With almost 12,000 passengers(not including any staff) to clear and move around on April 9 and another big day of arrivals boarding with lots of schools out the week leading into Easter...I would expect delays.

 

Sure, but I was at the port when they had six ships last year and things seemed pretty smooth overall.

[Queen of Oakville]

We always have booked at 11-12 flight no matter what port.

 

On Freedom and Disney, we've done it from Port Canaveral. The key is to control what you can. Leave the ship early and carry off your own bags.

 

our preferred method of travel is to rent a car. You want to rent a car from a location that is close to the port. The shuttles run a shorter loop and you will get to your car faster.

 

Having TSA pre-check will help too.

 

We are flying out of MCO when we sail Oasis in November. Our flight is for 11:45.

 

 

when the cruise is over, I want to get home ASAP. The idea of killing time before a flight home doesn't appeal to me.

[cello56]

Carrying your own bag off USED to mean you made a speedy departure. Now however there are just SO MANY people carrying their own bags off that the speedy departure seems to be a thing of the past. Unless you are literally at the very front of the line, there can be hundreds of people waiting to clear customs ahead of you. Still faster than checked luggage, but just not so speedy anymore in my opinion. We waited over an hour to depart with our luggage on our Serenade cruise last April.

[molly361]

I am hoping that once the OA comes up to PC that self diembarkation is still as early as it is in Ft. Lauderdale. We don't really know that it will be yet.

 

Does the FR start self assist at 6:15-6:30 like they do on the Oasis class ships??

[RCI Cruisers 004]

You could probably do the early flight as long as you don't dawdle and get right to the airport. We usually take our time getting off Freedom and still get to the airport by 10. That being said, Oasis is a much bigger ship with a lot more people trying to get to MCO. If I had the choice, I would go with the later flight and enjoy the shops and food at the airport while waiting for the flight.

[Scotty G]

I am hoping that once the OA comes up to PC that self diembarkation is still as early as it is in Ft. Lauderdale. We don't really know that it will be yet.

 

Does the FR start self assist at 6:15-6:30 like they do on the Oasis class ships??

 

Freedom starts self assist around 7:30.

 

Since legal Sequestration is still in effect I don't know if RCI/RCCL has the political power to have more Customs Agents assigned to Port Canaveral because they have decided to move Oasis there. For those who don't know about this here is a brief explanation. You can Google for more details:

 

a sequester is the employment of automatic, across-the-board spending cuts to reduce annual budget deficits. The most recent sequester was put in place by Congress in the 2011 Budget Control Act and took effect in 2013. The sequester of 2013 cut $1.2 trillion in spending over nine years.

 

Hopefully there will be adequate numbers of Agents but one of the problems that have occurred since Sequestration came about are delays at US ports because of too few Customs Agents.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Scotty G

[KansasK]

Are you certain you would be interested in an airboat tour before flying home? You may be windblown, damp, sweaty, dirty.....who knows. If I were doing an airboat tour I would want to be able to shower and change clothes. Also, Florida is having mosquito issues and you might want to check that out.

 

I would opt for the earlier flight in this instance.

 

We did the airboat tour because our flight was later in the afternoon. We were windblown and certainly had to comb our hair after it, but were not dirty or sweaty. We had no mosquitos that we noticed and no bites.

 

The Zika problem is in a small part of Miami now, but by the time you go, no telling how far spread it might be. You might want to research that since they are out in the daytime.