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Earliest recommended flight Port Canaveral


Palmetto Pilot
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Personally, I would never recommend anything earlier than the afternoon, no matter what port we are talking about.  Too many things can happen that can cause you to miss your flight, including a delay in the ship getting cleared for disembarkation, traffic delays on the way to the airport, etc.  With an afternoon flight you don't have to rush to get off the ship and to the airport.  It's so much nicer ending a vacation by being able to take your time.  Enjoy a leisurely breakfast in the MDR and be one of the last off the ship.  The airport won't be as crazy, either, later in the day.

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I was worried about my 12:25 flight, but it turned out that I made it to the airport by 8:15 am.  I had pre-check, so I was at the gate at 8:30.  However, I would never book a flight out of MCO before noon.  Just because I could have made an earlier flight that time doesn't mean it's a good idea.  I think any time after noon is a safe bet.

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51 minutes ago, Palmetto Pilot said:

I opted for a 2:45 Southwest flight rather than a 12:00 Delta flight. I didn’t want to risk it or stress about it. 

 

I would probably have done that too. I prefer to have extra time, and if it turns out I have even more, I'm good with that. I would take my time and grab a nice lunch, no hurry at all. We've been caught in traffic once on our trip back to the airport, as well as major backups with checking in and TSA, so it's all a crap shoot, IMO!

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Our last two cruises out of Port Canaveral my wife and I have been able to take an 8:00 shuttle to the airport.  This was with priority debarkation and checking our luggage.  On our last cruise on the Breeze back in April we were through security and sitting at our Southwest gate at 9:35 a.m.  Our flight was 12:30, which was the earliest one for us at the time.  I probably wouldn't hesitate to do an 11:00 am flight, especially if I could do self assist.

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We have 7 people in our party including 3 small children which would need car seats in anything smaller than a bus.  $20pp doesn’t sound like much until you multiply it by 7 and then pay it for each way.  So we just booked GoPort for a hotel and transportation to and from the port at what seems a very reasonable rate.  However I am nervous about the trip back to MCO from the port.  GoPort says it’s first come first serve.  This will be the day before Easter and they expect a huge amount of kids on this Disney Cruise.  I am nervous about making a 12:30 flight if there is a huge line to get on the buses.  I would have liked a later flight but there aren’t many nonstops to the west coast. It would have been a VERY long day in the airport with little ones.  The flight seemed reasonable when we booked it. I think it would be fine if we knew we had a “scheduled” ride back to the airport.  GoPort says the buses will run from 7:30-10am.  Even if we got on one of the last buses, wouldn’t we make it if we were at the airport by 10:45am.  To book everything separately for 7 would be much more expensive.

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I started this thread, so just to finish up.  My dilemma was go for the 10:30 flight, or have to wait until 4:30 AND pay an extra $125 per person.   So I'm taking a shot at the earlier flight.  I'm not a stress type person, so if we miss the flight, no big deal.  

 

But one additional question to help us make the flight.   Quickest way to the airport:  Uber or Taxi.  Assume that Taxis are readily available and Uber is an easy pick up too.  Thoughts?  

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49 minutes ago, bclay said:

I started this thread, so just to finish up.   

I believe there are multiple “earliest flight” threads and this one was started by someone else, unless you’re also Palmetto Pilot. 😉

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1 hour ago, Tapi said:

I believe there are multiple “earliest flight” threads and this one was started by someone else, unless you’re also Palmetto Pilot. 😉

 

Yeah, I meant to put this on a similar Miami airport threat  - then I didn't know how to delete my response.   Maybe the moderator can move it to the Miami threat for me!

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On 10/10/2019 at 11:02 PM, BNBR said:

I would have taken the 12 in a heartbeat.  It's easy to make that.  Or whichever was cheaper and direct. 

Well 

On 10/10/2019 at 8:19 PM, Lee Cruiser said:

Our last two cruises out of Port Canaveral my wife and I have been able to take an 8:00 shuttle to the airport.  This was with priority debarkation and checking our luggage.  On our last cruise on the Breeze back in April we were through security and sitting at our Southwest gate at 9:35 a.m.  Our flight was 12:30, which was the earliest one for us at the time.  I probably wouldn't hesitate to do an 11:00 am flight, especially if I could do self assist.

 

On 10/10/2019 at 11:02 PM, BNBR said:

I would have taken the 12 in a heartbeat.  It's easy to make that.  Or whichever was cheaper and direct. 

Well now I wish I had one with the earlier and cheaper Delta flight. Oh well.

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