Need to get from Port Canaveral to MCO by 8:30?

[volk904]

OK now that you are finished laughing I am serious. Coming in on the Freedom of the Seas on Oct 26. Because we are both flying on Flyer Miles 9:30 was the only flight that would work.

 

Found a shuttle service that will pick us up by 7:30 time our choice and they say no problem getting out MCO by 8:30.

 

I guess by question are can we walk off the ship before 7:30? I have never cruised from this port.

 

Second question is does anybody have a better idea?

[John&LaLa]

OK now that you are finished laughing I am serious. Coming in on the Freedom of the Seas on Oct 26. Because we are both flying on Flyer Miles 9:30 was the only flight that would work.

 

Found a shuttle service that will pick us up by 7:30 time our choice and they say no problem getting out MCO by 8:30.

 

I guess by question are can we walk off the ship before 7:30? I have never cruised from this port.

 

Second question is does anybody have a better idea?

 

Getting off the boat will be the only easy part of your trip..let us know how it turns out

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Forums mobile app

[JasonV1]

Could you? Sure.

 

Will you? No way to know until customs clears the ship.

 

I would reach out to some current roll calls for your ship (maybe even try one that has already sailed/is sailing) and see how early debarkation is starting these days. Nothing is guaranteed from one sailing to the next, but you'll have a realistic idea of if it is even possible.

 

Too bad it isn't an Oasis class boat; you can (usually) walk of those at 6:45AM if you self carry.

Edited September 8, 2014 by JasonV1

[sunnydaysmile]

We were on Freedom's 8/24 sailing and she was not cleared by customs until after 7:30. We only saw 2 agents clearing passengers when we finally disembarked, but the line moved fast.

It is possible, if you get to the self-departure lounge at least 1 hour early (take your own bags) to be one of the 1st off the ship. Also, we found the forward self departure lounge was less crowded than the aft lounge.

[karen&roy]

45 minute drive with no traffic. Good luck :)

[time4u2go]

Your far bigger problem will be at the airport. You are traveling on Sunday, the busiest travel day of the week. The lines to check luggage and get through security could easily prevent you from making your flight. You might want to consider packing light enough to not have to check luggage and to carry it on the plane with you. That would at least eliminate that line.

Edited September 8, 2014 by time4u2go

[reallyitsmema]

OK now that you are finished laughing I am serious. Coming in on the Freedom of the Seas on Oct 26. Because we are both flying on Flyer Miles 9:30 was the only flight that would work.

 

Found a shuttle service that will pick us up by 7:30 time our choice and they say no problem getting out MCO by 8:30.

 

I guess by question are can we walk off the ship before 7:30? I have never cruised from this port.

 

Second question is does anybody have a better idea?

 

We have made it to the airport just after 8:30 before without doing self disembark. We were in the first group off and had a private town car waiting for us. This was back when the Mariner was there though, so has been quite a few years.

 

I don't think your problem is going to be getting to the airport, I think security will be your major problem is you don't have TSA precheck. MCO has crazy lines at security.

[cruisenfever]

OK now that you are finished laughing I am serious. Coming in on the Freedom of the Seas on Oct 26. Because we are both flying on Flyer Miles 9:30 was the only flight that would work.

 

Found a shuttle service that will pick us up by 7:30 time our choice and they say no problem getting out MCO by 8:30.

 

I guess by question are can we walk off the ship before 7:30? I have never cruised from this port.

 

Second question is does anybody have a better idea?

Yes, stay an extra day in Orlando.

Edited September 8, 2014 by cruisenfever

[BillB48]

Even if you can get to MCO at 8:30, only leaving 1 hour to get through security... not a good plan. That time of day hoping to weave your way that conga line to be at the gate in sufficient time that your seat isn't given to someone else.

 

You will be putting a lot of stress on yourself at the end of a cruise.

[wrp96]

Second question is does anybody have a better idea?

 

Save the miles for another trip and buy a ticket on a later flight?

[Langley Cruisers]

OK now that you are finished laughing I am serious...

 

Yeah, I think you probably already know this isn't going to work, hence your comment. :p:)

[tm3750]

I would never put myself through that, just take a later flight, you will worry the whole cruise whether or not you are going to make that flight. It is all you will be thinking about, Not a good idea

[RlrCstr]

I think security will be your major problem is you don't have TSA precheck. MCO has crazy lines at security.

 

I fly out of MCO for work several times a year, and have TSA PreCheck.

Even that line can be a long wait. I have cleared in a few minutes, but

on several occasions even the PreCheck line took me over a half hour to

clear, because it was simply too many people. MCO is a Very busy airport,

especially on weekend mornings.

 

When I sail on Freedom, I book MCO flights after 1230pm and have never had a problem, nor felt rushed. And I always do self-carry luggage, so am one of the first ones off the ship.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We sailed on Enchantment in May. We were in the first numbered group to be let off (after self assist). We were not allowed off until nearly 9am! Sometimes you can get lucky and get off early, other times not so much!

[Trekker954]

OK now that you are finished laughing I am serious. Coming in on the Freedom of the Seas on Oct 26. Because we are both flying on Flyer Miles 9:30 was the only flight that would work.

 

Found a shuttle service that will pick us up by 7:30 time our choice and they say no problem getting out MCO by 8:30.

 

I guess by question are can we walk off the ship before 7:30? I have never cruised from this port.

 

Second question is does anybody have a better idea?

 

Probably if you are under these circumstances: You are in a suite, and the concierge can assist you to the front of the line off the ship and that he printed your boarding passes for you.

(You can also start lining up before dawn to be one of the first off the ship)

There is not a backup in CBP.

Your car service is prompt and you find each other easily enough.

You do not hit any traffic.

You have carry on luggage, or if not, you have priority checkin with your airlines.

You have TSA Pre-check.

 

So if all that goes well, you might be okay.

[frisbeewife]

If you go through with this plan, you'd better have a good Plan B.

 

I was a Road Warrior for my former employer and one of Murphy's Laws of Flying is: the closer your flight time is the longer the security line is. Meaning, if you get there in plenty of time there never seems to be much of a line at security and all the machines are working, but if you're pushing it then there's a HUGE line and half the machines are shut down.

 

Another Murphy's Law of Flying (unrelated to this topic): the shorter your layover is the farther apart your connecting gates will be. This one never fails......

 

Anyway, good luck. I wouldn't try it, but it's entirely your choice. Let us know how it goes!

[mrpayroll]

We fly out of Orlando several times a year and it takes at least 45 minutes to an hour to get through security.

[cello56]

Security when getting off the ship can be a nightmare. Even if you self disembark, you will still need to make it through the long line waiting for an agent. I have also noticed lately that more and more people are choosing to self disembark. So the line to even get off the ship can easily be several hundred people long.

 

There is really only one road between PC and Orlando Airport. It is often closed with even one accident, tying up that direction for a long time.

 

OIA is a large airport. You will have to stand in a long line for security. THEN you will have to get on a shuttle train to go to the terminal you need. THEN you will have to find your gate, which could possibly be a long walk from where you got off the shuttle.

 

Keep in mind too that while your flight may be leaving at 9:30am, the boarding process starts earlier than that. I have seen flights that have already closed the door and decoupled from the jet way ten minutes before departure time.

 

Could you stay an extra day in Orlando and use your 'miles' to fly home the next day? There must be a later flight even if it is not as convenient.

 

Good luck. You are going to need it!

[Starry Eyes]

Youa sked for other ideas; here are three options...

stay over night and fly next day using your miles or

save the miles for another trip and buy return ticket or

make a back up plan in case you missed your early flight (for example, buy a refundable ticket for a later flight)

[Lisacruzzes]

We departed FOS on 8/17/14 and did the self-disembark. My sugesstion should you decide to go forward is to be waiting OUTSIDE on Deck 4 by the agent podium. We were aproximately 10th in line and cleared customs and were sitting on our shuttle bus at 7:00 am.

 

In April we had an 11:10 am flight out of Miami and departed LOS in Fort Lauderdale at 8:15 am - used a prearranged trip with Super Shuttle and was at the Miami airport at 9:20 am and had no problem making our flight.

 

Hope this is helpful - good luck!!

[rolloman]

Part one, get off the ship first. Lots of options, if you are D+ or Suite passenger or have the ability to make friends onboard with a D+ who wants to debark first, or worst case get in self assist line about 6 am.

 

Part two- Live here, drive the 528 MCO route everyday, should not be an issue.

 

Part three- airport security- this is the wildcard. Have carry on baggage only to minimize check in wait. Worst case, if you don't make it, fly standby on next flight out (hopefully at no extra charge)

[Eng23]

Seriously I do not think you will make your flight. Even if you make it to the airport by 8:30 you will be waiting in a long line at the TSA security checkpoint. Orlando's TSA checkpoints are notorious for being long and not moving quickly. You will be competing with other cruise passengers and probably hundreds of people heading home from Disney resorts.

 

For a 9:30 am flight you would need to be check in and in the boarding area by 10 minutes before departure which for you would be 9:20am. Most airlines close the doors to flights right at that time and will not allow you to board. Good luck though and let us know how things work out.

[Langley Cruisers]

For a 9:30 am flight you would need to be check in and in the boarding area by 10 minutes before departure which for you would be 9:20am...

 

Hmm.. not sure if you meant physically check in with luggage or "check in" (be present) in the boarding lounge/gate area, but I don't know any airline that will put luggage on a flight within 60 minutes of a flight. I know - we missed a flight once by 5 minutes (good thing we were flying in the day before or we would have missed the cruise).

[maggieq]

We had an early flight the last time we cruised out if port canaveral. I think our fight was 10:20 a.m. We didn't get it the airport until close to 8 am. Yes, the security is crazy at this airport.. As you can see we haven't cruised from port canaveral for a while. More costly and I don't like the proximity from airport to cruise port. Don't do this flight.

[1ParticularHbr]

Others have given all of the valid reasons so I won't re-state them but, if you're keeping tabs on "yes" vs. "no" responses but me in the "No, you're not likely to make it" column.