Flight into Port Canaveral - any tips/stories for flying in on embarkation day?

[geneparmesan]

I did a search, and I don't see any recent threads on this subject...

 

Let me start by saying that I don't love this plan - my wife and I have always arrived the day before a cruise to try to prevent travel problems from affecting the cruise itself. I understand all the benefits of arriving the day before. That said, we have one specific week this summer that we can vacation, and we can only leave home (Chicago) on a Sunday. Due to that, our options are to either go on a 5 day on a smaller ship starting Monday, or to fly first thing Sunday morning to get on 7-day cruise on Harmony of the Seas out of Port Canaveral.

 

I'm looking at a direct flight that lands in Orlando at 10:45am. I think we would *probably* be OK as it's one of the first flights of the day, it's direct, and we would book the Orlando -> Port Canaveral shuttle directly with Royal (from their side, they say they will allow booking their shuttle if the flight arrives before 12pm). But it does add some risk. So, we're trying to decide if it's worth the risk to get on a "better" cruise for us.

 

Anyone have any tips, recommendations, or good stories from flying in the morning of the cruise? 😃

[ticketsunlimited]

Buy good trip insurance and roll the dice.  What the H*11 you only live once right?

[reallyitsmema]

People do that every week and make their cruise.  Can't you book one of the earlier flights?  I would get the earliest flight of the day to allow for more time for the unknown, if I was going to try and do this.  If you land at 10:45am at MCO, you won't be leaving baggage until 11:30 if all goes well.  You then have at least a 45 minute drive to the port.  No way would I be looking at any shuttle service, I would be using a private car service.

 

Too much stress for me on the morning of a cruise.  Some people wouldn't think twice about it.  Good luck.

[island lady]

You should be fine....on this end.  The shuttles running from the airport on the old Beeline (as it was such a straight shot east/west but now called "Beach Line")  AKA 528 run that route constantly.  Even though further away, it is usually traffic jam free.  And very smart to book RCI transfer shuttle.  

 

In comparison...I tried an overnight in San Juan PR on our last cruise there.  Could not sleep in the hotel.  So we are back to flying in the day of again, which we have done many times.  Also non-stop and early flight. 

 

And...with you leaving in the summer time on an early non-stop with no winter weather to deal with.  I would do it with the time constraints you mentioned.   Sure...problems can come up.....but it's still doable.  

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by island lady

[Itchy&Scratchy]

28 minutes ago, geneparmesan said:

I did a search, and I don't see any recent threads on this subject...

there may not be separate threads in this particular subforum on something so specific as flying into MCO on the day of the cruise. But you may want to check this subforum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/386-florida-departures/

 

Also, it may be mentioned in cruise reviews. For example, we flew into MCO on the day of the cruise for our November sailing. The unpleasant surprise was the cost of the Uber/lyft ($120 each way). Taxis started at $150-175.

We landed before 9 am and got to the port at 10:50 am. Since it was a holiday cruise, lyft/ubers were very busy and we had to wait for a long time for an available vehicle (5 people).

Edited March 4, 2022 by Itchy&Scratchy

[HicksRA]

Just did this in January and had no problems.  I booked the Royal shuttle and air through Air2Sea.  The last shuttle leaves at 1:30.  Reps are standing at the baggage area with a sign to direct you. 

[dcgrumpy]

Are you checking luggage? a few months ago my daughter had to wait over an hour for her luggage at MCO because there was lightning in the area. Luckily she was only going to WDW and not a cruise. 

[geneparmesan]

45 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

People do that every week and make their cruise.  Can't you book one of the earlier flights?  I would get the earliest flight of the day to allow for more time for the unknown, if I was going to try and do this.  If you land at 10:45am at MCO, you won't be leaving baggage until 11:30 if all goes well.  You then have at least a 45 minute drive to the port.  No way would I be looking at any shuttle service, I would be using a private car service.

 

Too much stress for me on the morning of a cruise.  Some people wouldn't think twice about it.  Good luck.

Unfortunately, as we're coming from central time, 10:45am is the earliest arrival time I can get. We'd be leaving at 7:20am. Thanks for the tip, I'll check out private car services as well!

[geneparmesan]

35 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

there may not be separate threads in this particular subforum on something so specific as flying into MCO on the day of the cruise. But you may want to check this subforum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/386-florida-departures/

 

Also, it may be mentioned in cruise reviews. For example, we flew into MCO on the day of the cruise for our November sailing. The unpleasant surprise was the cost of the Uber/lyft ($120 each way). Taxis started at $150-175.

We landed before 9 am and got to the port at 10:50 am. Since it was a holiday cruise, lyft/ubers were very busy and we had to wait for a long time for an available vehicle (5 people).

Thank you, I'll check out that forum!

[geneparmesan]

6 minutes ago, dcgrumpy said:

Are you checking luggage? a few months ago my daughter had to wait over an hour for her luggage at MCO because there was lightning in the area. Luckily she was only going to WDW and not a cruise. 

We likely will be checking luggage, but that is a good point. I wonder if we can get away with carry-ons only. It's tough for a 7-day!

[dcgrumpy]

Just now, geneparmesan said:

We likely will be checking luggage, but that is a good point. I wonder if we can get away with carry-ons only. It's tough for a 7-day!

I have a hard enough time trying to stay under 50 pounds for a 7 day cruise. LOL

 

It never would have crossed my mind either. I've flown into MCO dozens of times and never had a problem. I just looked at my texts, she landed at 3:56 and texted me at 5:18 that she was still waiting for luggage. 

[SG65CB]

I wouldn't risk it in the winter from Chicago, but flying nonstop in the summer - I'd take the chance. Summer storms could delay the flight but only tiny chance to cancel it. And a 7:20 AM flight means it's probably the first flight of the day, with the plane already at the airport the night before, so no worries about the plane's arrival being delayed due to weather problems elsewhere. 

[geneparmesan]

10 minutes ago, dcgrumpy said:

I have a hard enough time trying to stay under 50 pounds for a 7 day cruise. LOL

 

It never would have crossed my mind either. I've flown into MCO dozens of times and never had a problem. I just looked at my texts, she landed at 3:56 and texted me at 5:18 that she was still waiting for luggage. 

Haha, we have the same problem staying under 50 pounds!

We flew into MCO a few weeks ago, and it was a long wait for our checked luggage (maybe 20-30 min?), but not that long! That would be very frustrating.

[Cigar King]

1 hour ago, geneparmesan said:

I'm looking at a direct flight that lands in Orlando at 10:45am. I think we would *probably* be OK as it's one of the first flights of the day, it's direct

You'll probably be fine.  If this is the AA flight, we took that a couple months ago.  Smooth flight.  The Orlando airport was a zoo though.  They are building a new terminal so that should help.

[island lady]

Terminal C...the new one being built in Orlando with rail connection that is currently being built, will have Jet Blue located there, plus others that have not been announced.  

 

It's pretty impressive and modern looking so far!  

[Toddcan]

Worth the (minor) risk, in my opinion.  Direct flight in the summer is a significantly better scenario than a connecting flight from Buffalo in Feb 🙂  You've made it even less risk by booking the royal shuttle.. they will wait for those if they HAD to. 

[bigque]

I go a day early driving or flying. Those that say they go the day of and never had a problem then congrats but all it takes is one time for something to go wrong. We drove from Charlotte NC once and left to get to our hotel in Cocoa Beach by 1:00 the day before the cruise. About an hour out on I-95 the traffic slowed to a lieteral crawl and stop. We were about 4 miles to the next exit and when we got there all traffic was being detoured off that exit. Needless to say it was a cluster. With the detour and detour traffic ewe did not get to the hotel until 5:30. If this would have been the day of the cruise we would have missed the ship. 

[cured]

2 hours ago, geneparmesan said:

Unfortunately, as we're coming from central time, 10:45am is the earliest arrival time I can get. We'd be leaving at 7:20am. Thanks for the tip, I'll check out private car services as well!

Unless you are locked into one airline, there are earlier flights out from the Chicago area. For instance, Southwest flights leave Midway at 5:00 am and arrive MCO at 8:30 am on Sundays in the summer.

[geneparmesan]

21 minutes ago, cured said:

Unless you are locked into one airline, there are earlier flights out from the Chicago area. For instance, Southwest flights leave Midway at 5:00 am and arrive MCO at 8:30 am on Sundays in the summer.

Thanks! I was just looking at that! It's a longer ride to Midway, and we'd have to wake up at like 2am, but we may go for that option and hopefully sleep on the plane.

[reallyitsmema]

25 minutes ago, cured said:

Unless you are locked into one airline, there are earlier flights out from the Chicago area. For instance, Southwest flights leave Midway at 5:00 am and arrive MCO at 8:30 am on Sundays in the summer.

 

I knew there were earlier flights, figured they wanted to use a specific airline or airport.

[geneparmesan]

12 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

I knew there were earlier flights, figured they wanted to use a specific airline or airport.

I didn't even think of Midway... I live north of Chicago, and typically would check even Milwaukee before Midway! But in this case, it's worth the drive.

[Computer Nerd]

4 hours ago, geneparmesan said:

Anyone have any tips, recommendations, or good stories from flying in the morning of the cruise? 😃

Best tip I can give is "Don't fly the morning of the cruise".

[MLP12]

I flew in the same day a couple of months ago.  I booked my air through Royal Caribbean, which made me feel some better about the risk. (Thinking if there was a cancellation or delay they would help me get another flight.)  I also flew out at 7:30 a.m.  I had no delays and landed in Florida at 9:30 a.m.  I used an uber to get to the port.  Everything turned out great, but I was nervous until the plane took off.  There's always a risk, but if I had to choose I'd take the better cruise.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 hour ago, cured said:

Unless you are locked into one airline, there are earlier flights out from the Chicago area. For instance, Southwest flights leave Midway at 5:00 am and arrive MCO at 8:30 am on Sundays in the summer.

yeap, I too purchased a 6 am flight on SW ATL-MCO. A month later SW cancelled a 6 am flight and moved us to the first available flight at 11 am. It's a no for me, dog. Now I have $500 worth of SW credit, since I had to cancel SW tickets and buy Delta tickets instead.

[reallyitsmema]

3 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

yeap, I too purchased a 6 am flight on SW ATL-MCO. A month later SW cancelled a 6 am flight and moved us to the first available flight at 11 am. It's a no for me, dog. Now I have $500 worth of SW credit, since I had to cancel SW tickets and buy Delta tickets instead.

 

Why didn't you get a refund?  I have cancelled two flights for my Mom on SW and was able to get it credited back to her credit card.