Help! Flight home from Port Canaveral

[Desert Cruizers]

LilblackDress, there is no benifit for us to go out of ONT, 1 hour west of us nor Santa Ana, 2 hrs away. Ont isn't any cheaper and further then that we still would need a hotel for the night which again eats up the difference in flight cost. Right now a flight to IAH for us is around $1200 round trip for our July 2017 sailing. I could get a 1 way out of LAX & back but then we still have the two hour + drive after 5 PM back to PS + hotel cost, food., so there goes the advantage of a cheaper flight. I should know next week what the actual flight cost will be for us to get to IAH. PSP has no flights to Hobby, except LAX. From PSP, we can get any flight to the East Coast via Denver, PHX or DFW and they recently added a non stop to NYC during the season.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Desert Cruizers

[LilBlackDress]

LilblackDress, there is no benifit for us to go out of ONT, 1 hour west of us nor Santa Ana, 2 hrs away. Ont isn't any cheaper and further then that we still would need a hotel for the night which again eats up the difference in flight cost. Right now a flight to IAH for us is around $1200 round trip for our July 2017 sailing. I could get a 1 way out of LAX & back but then we still have the two hour + drive after 5 PM back to PS + hotel cost, food., so there goes the advantage of a cheaper flight. I should know next week what the actual flight cost will be for us to get to IAH. PSP has no flights to Hobby, except LAX. From PSP, we can get any flight to the East Coast via Denver, PHX or DFW and they recently added a non stop to NYC during the season.

 

Guess it is all about the time of year and where you are going. I lived in the south bay area for 30 some years. My parents moved to Palm Desert 15 yrs ago. I had to leave my dog with them on more than one occasion when I went out of town...

[Desert Cruizers]

Palm Desert is roughly 14 min East of us and a lovely area. True, summer months really slow down and the flights are greatly reduced but compared to only a few years ago when some airlines pulled out during the summer,more are staying. As an International airport serving all of the Coachella Valley, we do extrenly well for a smaller airport. I don't know what the passenger count was this past year but a year ago, some 2 million passengers flew in & out of here. True this isn't close to places like LAX but for the size that is a lot of people.

[kmorg1234]

The only chance you MIGHT be able to make it is by getting a private ride to Sanford- no picking up or returning of the rental car. Not a great plan, but better than renting.

[Desert Cruizers]

The drive to Orange County is a breeze compared to that LAX mess. Scrabtree, what is the closest airport to your home.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Desert Cruizers

[scrabtree]

A $92 lesson learned is a cheaper hit then missing the flight and having to drive or go to Orlando and try to get a flight home. If the flight was booked less than 24 hrs ago you have a chance at a refund....

 

very true!! lol unfortunatley we booked same time we booked cruise months ago, and didnt really think much about it until I started seeing others questioning times way later than ours.

[scrabtree]

The drive to Orange County is a breeze compared to that LAX mess. Scrabtree, what is the closest airport to your home.

 

EVV is home airport..There is a small airport in Owensboro KY that offers same flight on allegiant on Friday and Monday. I have emailed company about possibly changing flights from EVV to Owensboro (even with fee or whatever) but if that doesnt work the closest airport would be louisville, KY which is 2.5hrs away. and Indianapolis is 3hrs

[Desert Cruizers]

That is a shame that you don't have more flight options in your area. We have friends that have a similar situation where they have to drive 2 + hours to the nearest airport and cost and connections are a problem for them.

[Magellan321]

very true!! lol unfortunatley we booked same time we booked cruise months ago, and didnt really think much about it until I started seeing others questioning times way later than ours.

 

Did you try calling the customer service direct number i posted this morning? If they won't change to Monday at another airport....remember...Delta does have a flight into Evansville via Melbourne International

[PH8]

very true!! lol unfortunatley we booked same time we booked cruise months ago, and didnt really think much about it until I started seeing others questioning times way later than ours.

And they were talking about MCO,which is closer than Sanford..

[laginog]

I agree with Kmorg. IF, and it's a small IF.....you can get a private car to be waiting at the port for you, and rush straight to the airport, there's a slight chance you could make it. Of course, you'll still have to get through check in & security lines. IF you do try it, and Royal offers luggage valet for your airline, that would help a lot!!!

[Magellan321]

Sadly, none of the cruise lines offer luggage service to Sanford Int Airport.

[time4u2go]

I agree with Kmorg. IF, and it's a small IF.....you can get a private car to be waiting at the port for you, and rush straight to the airport, there's a slight chance you could make it. Of course, you'll still have to get through check in & security lines. IF you do try it, and Royal offers luggage valet for your airline, that would help a lot!!!

 

They don't. And even if they did, the flight is way too early to qualify.

[Magellan321]

I only know of one shuttle service from Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach.....the first run is 8:30 am.

[scrabtree]

Did you try calling the customer service direct number i posted this morning? If they won't change to Monday at another airport....remember...Delta does have a flight into Evansville via Melbourne International

 

I havent called yet because I had just sent email when I saw your post. I do have number written down and plan on calling first thing in morning if no response from email. On the email form it says only call customer service if you are 7 days out from flight and otherwise use email..but I will def call

[Magellan321]

I havent called yet because I had just sent email when I saw your post. I do have number written down and plan on calling first thing in morning if no response from email. On the email form it says only call customer service if you are 7 days out from flight and otherwise use email..but I will def call

 

Good luck...hopefully they are cooperative and helpful...fingers crossed!

[kmorg1234]

I only know of one shuttle service from Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach.....the first run is 8:30 am.

 

I was talking about a private transfer where you can set the time you would like to be met at the port, not a shared shuttle. But, while this method usually works, one service failed to show at the designated time and we wound up taking a private taxi anyway since they were still not there 45 minutes later. Or you could just catch a cab that's already waiting at the port, but that would be pricey.

[bigque]

Not me. Lived in that mess for 20 years, won't go back at any price.

 

I was born and raised in L.A. and even though I don't live there now I go out to visit family about every other year and still love it but not enough to want to commute in that traffic everyday! If you hit those freeways at the wrong time of day you can be in for a long ride but if you know how get around on the streets you can make better time during the rush hour times! :cool:

[Magellan321]

I was talking about a private transfer where you can set the time you would like to be met at the port, not a shared shuttle. But, while this method usually works, one service failed to show at the designated time and we wound up taking a private taxi anyway since they were still not there 45 minutes later. Or you could just catch a cab that's already waiting at the port, but that would be pricey.

 

I understood.....however most private car services do not cover Sanford Airport out of Cocoa Beach area. It is not a frequented airport with limited service. Our primary airline was actually Icelandair and they have pulled service out of Sanford and relocated to MCO.

[papaflamingo]

EVV is home airport..There is a small airport in Owensboro KY that offers same flight on allegiant on Friday and Monday. I have emailed company about possibly changing flights from EVV to Owensboro (even with fee or whatever) but if that doesnt work the closest airport would be louisville, KY which is 2.5hrs away. and Indianapolis is 3hrs

 

Not familiar with where Allegiant flies, but since you are looking at changes, have you looked at changing the return trip to leave from a different airport? If you can't find a flight from Sanford, how about Jacksonville or Tampa? Could be they have a late flight that would be easy to make. It shouldn't cost any more for the rental car.

Edited August 4, 2016 by papaflamingo

[Cruise a holic]

We have booked flights home. Flight leaves Sanford airport at 9:55am. We have never been on a Royal cruise before, nor have we flown. We typically drive home. We have a rental car and are hoping if we are in port at 6am as they state we should be, and get off boat within the first hour, drive is 55min from port and airport states to arrive an hour early, in theory we should be fine. But I continue to see posts about people being nervous about making 11, noon, 1pm flights..Should I cancel this flight? Is this ridiculous to think we would make it there in time? Is there any way to talk with Royal and assure we get off boat quicker?

 

Definitely cancel the flight! The airport is typically very crowded, so getting through security, could take well over one hour. Also, no guarantee that the ship will dock and clear customs early. You might not get off until 8:00 am even walk off.

 

Enjoy your vacation with a clear head and change your flight- You can also consider booking air via Royals vendor. If a problem occurs, they will get you on another flight without any charge.

[griffy116]

I would look into the possibility of moving your flight to the following mornings flight & having a relaxing debarkation...for me, one night hotel cost would be worth the car rental, 14 hrs. of driving and my sanity :eek:;)

 

I would second the above. We've driven but we usually fly. The delays that can sometimes happen with disembarkation alone are sometimes up to an hour. We've cruised out of there several times. If you only have the one flight that is an option, stay one night in a hotel. We had the same on our first Med cruise. We opted for the one night hotel and it was a great decision. We just drove last month to Galveston from Atlanta because my son-in-law decided to join us on the cruise and he doesn't like to fly. We have two more cruises booked and we will be FLYING AND on one of the trips, staying an additional night. We always arrive a day early and I'll never cruise without staying at least one night early. Too many things can interfere with the best possible plans.

[Desert Cruizers]

I am not familiar with the area and know what airport would be best for them, but as others have mentioned, if they can spend the one night, use a different airport this might work out better for them. Living in areas, cities that don't have airports with adequate flights & connections can be a major problem for some. We spent one night in FLL coming off our cruise in Oct, not because we didn't have a good connection home but our arrival time would have been around 10 PM. We spent the night took a 7 AM flight back to So Calif and landed at 11:30 AM.

[time4u2go]

Definitely cancel the flight! The airport is typically very crowded, so getting through security, could take well over one hour. Also, no guarantee that the ship will dock and clear customs early. You might not get off until 8:00 am even walk off.

 

Enjoy your vacation with a clear head and change your flight- You can also consider booking air via Royals vendor. If a problem occurs, they will get you on another flight without any charge.

 

Really? At the Sanford airport?

[later]

I live less than 10 miles from the Sanford airport at and have flown Allegiant many times. It is never crowded and Allegiant flights usually run late. Security is not through the TSA but is contracted out. Getting checked in and through security is a max of an hour at most on a bad day.

 

With that said I still wouldn't have scheduled this flight if it was me. The drive from the port to Sanford could be a problem depending if their was an accident or one of our wild fires in the bogs between the port and the airport that closes the roads due to smoke.