Going Home

[cdbaby]

Does anyone know if a 10:00 am flight would be too early when returning? RCCL told me they don't want you to book flights until noon but we went on Mariner of the Seas in September and they started calling people around 7:00 am. I was thinking of trying to see if the local shuttles would pick us up early but I don't want to miss the flight:)

[RDeagazio]

That's cutting it kind of close. Depending on how fast US Customs and INS are in clearing people through the terminal, you might miss your flight. I would suggest booking flts around noon to avoid any possibility of missing your flt.

[superjerryw]

10:00AM is way too early. I have been on cruises where they did not let anyone off the ship until 9:30AM. I would try to book a flight at noon or 1:00PM. Better to wait a couple of hours at the airport than to worry all during the cruise about missing the flight and go through the hassle of trying to get another flight after missing one scheduled at 10:00 AM.

[kmbierworth]

I would agree that is too early, especially if you are leaving Canaveral ond heading our of Orlando - that is a drive.

[Patfan]

Way too early. 10AM is living life on the edge. It is a 1/2 hour to the airport with moderate traffic. 30 minutes to clear customs and get you luggage (even if you can find them all together) another 10 minutes to get a cab and load the luggage. Add in the hour at the airport to check in and get to the gate. In a perfect world you would get to the gate at 9:10 AM. Not too bad if all goes well. However, you will most likely get off the ship at 8:00AM. That gets you to the gate 10minutes late. Be carefull and book at least noon and eliminate stress. Believe me, I have booked 11AM and hardly made it. Don't take the chance.

[springtxbill]

Too early. I have a 10:50 flight out of Hobby on 24 Dec on returning from my Splendour cruise (30 minute drive), but have another reservation for a 2:45 flight already made in case I don't make the earlier flight. I am Diamond so should be one of the first off, but still too close to risk it all on.

[Host Caroline]

Even if you "could" make it to Orlando by 10:00 with check in, security etc. you would miss the flight 99% of the time.. You can call Princess and get their "suggested earliest time" for booking flights from certain ports .. I'm sure RCI has the same thing.. I would use their guidelines.. To avoid the time it would take to do car rental, turn it in etc. would recommend a reliable care service to meet you and drive you there straight away.

When we were on Mariner we used early disembark (carry off your own luggage) and still were not off until 8:30...

[cruisinisforme]

I hate to disagree but I have made that 10:00 flight off the mariner 2 out of 3 times, last time we even got into port late.

 

To agree with everyone you are taking a risk and that is soemthing you need to consider but I was flying on southwest who has all kinds of flight and doesnt charge you if you have to change. The first time I took the Mariner I actually booked the 11:55 flight but we got to the airport so early we switched to the early flight.

 

I do suggest several things. Arrange your own transportation, make sure you are early off with RCCL, and if at all possible carry your own luggage off (last time I had a lot of luggage so I didnt carry it on). You can also print your boarding passes out 24 hour in advance so I did that on the ship also, not sure what airline you are using and if you can do that

 

It is a risk and you have to be aware of that, but like I said I have done it twice and the only reason I didnt the other time was because I was in a group of 17 and we didnt want to risk that many people missing their flight.

[dyanna72]

I would not book a flight before noon. On our last cruise in August on the Majesty the ship did not get to dock & start disembarking until 12:10 in the afternoon then it took almost an hour to get your luggage.

 

Dyanna