Another air option if cruising from Port Canaveral

[EatonDoolittle]

 

FYI only - I know Allegiant Air has a sketchy on-time record, but this might be helpful to some as an option other than Orlando .

MLB is closer to PC than Orlando, and is a nice small, efficient airport.

 

Starting in November, they are offering non-stop flights to Melbourne from Pittsburgh, Concord NC, and Nashville.  I have no other details, just read it in today's newspaper.

 

 

Edited July 7, 2021 by EatonDoolittle

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, EatonDoolittle said:

 

FYI only - I know Allegiant Air has a sketchy on-time record, but this might be helpful to some as an option other than Orlando .

MLB is closer to PC than Orlando, and is a nice small, efficient airport.

 

Starting in November, they are offering non-stop flights to Melbourne from Pittsburgh, Concord NC, and Nashville.  I have no other details, just read it in today's newspaper.

 

 

 

A friend who lived in Fort Pierce fly Alligient to visit family in South Bend, Indiana.  She flew out of Sanford, I think.  She was satisfied with their service.  

[CruiserBruce]

Knowing Allegiant, its probably only 1 or two days per week.

[EatonDoolittle]

True. I don't know who their target market is - lots of aerospace related companies in the area along with the Space Center for weekday business travel, but maybe taking weekend cruise departures into consideration as well.  

 

But it is nice to have another option for people. Non-stops between tertiary airports like this are rare.  

 

[BoozinCroozin]

The issue I have with Alegiant and similar is that they fly every 3rd day. If something happens, there is no real recovery path. You are pretty much stuck until they can get a plane there. I know people that fly Frontier, Spirit, Alegiant all the time, but they are flexible, retired, and have not constraints on time.

[Cienfuegos]

Sanford airport is also a consideration.  SFB  is northeast of metropolitan Orlando and is served by Allegiant, Sun Country, and a host of charter lines.

[thinfool]

We had an Allegiant flight cancelled due to equipment problems.  Allegiant promised a flight at 10 am the next day...they paid for our hotel overnight.  The plane was flown in from Vegas overnight and we left on time the next day.  

[EngIceDave]

MLB may be closer than MCO to the port, but due to traffic and lights having to use surface streets, it will take longer to get to the port from MLB than MCO or even Sanford SFB.

 

From MCO it is literally a straight run on a highway, SR528 "The Beachline"

[Knights on the Beach]

3 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

MLB may be closer than MCO to the port, but due to traffic and lights having to use surface streets, it will take longer to get to the port from MLB than MCO or even Sanford SFB.

 

From MCO it is literally a straight run on a highway, SR528 "The Beachline"

Exactly!  It's a much easier drive from MCO to Port Canaveral.

[EngIceDave]

8 hours ago, cruisemom2 said:

Exactly!  It's a much easier drive from MCO to Port Canaveral.

We must be neighbors.

 

I live on South MI, off Tropical

[Knights on the Beach]

40 minutes ago, EngIceDave said:

We must be neighbors.

 

I live on South MI, off Tropical

Not too far from us - we live on the beach just under a mile south of the Jetty.  We're loving the view from our front door of the Mardi Gras docked in port.  

[EngIceDave]

Well, we do have a small apt off of Tyler and the beach....so....

 

 

8 hours ago, cruisemom2 said:

Exactly!  It's a much easier drive from MCO to Port Canaveral.

We must be neighbors.

 

I live on South MI, off Tropical

[Tapi]

Thumbs up to Melbourne. Thumbs down to Allegiant. Because of their very limited schedule, sparse frequency, lack of interline agreements, and lackluster on-time performance, Allegiant is a horrible choice for anybody trying to catch a cruise. They can, and will leave you stranded with zero back up flights because of the way they operate.
 

I wholeheartedly agree about Melbourne though. I love flying there instead of Orlando. I prefer the small regional airport vibe. It’s uncrowded, lines are short, and you can be outside on the sidewalk very quickly. No lines from hell, no trains, no mile long walks. 
 

Main drawback is the limited air service from a  handful of airlines. I personally live in Atlanta, and Delta offers multiple daily nonstop flights  from ATL to MLB, but I know that it can be more challenging to get to Melbourne from most other cities. But it does work for me. 

Edited July 10, 2021 by Tapi

[Knights on the Beach]

1 hour ago, EngIceDave said:

Well, we do have a small apt off of Tyler and the beach....so...

So that's just a few blocks from us - we're on Ridgewood just north of Cherie Down. We love living in Cape Canaveral!

[EngIceDave]

We moved up here about 15 yrs ago from SoFl

 

The beach place we rent to a couple regulars and we stay for beach weekends.

 

[EngIceDave]

1 hour ago, Tapi said:

Thumbs up to Melbourne. Thumbs down to Allegiant. Because of their very limited schedule, sparse frequency, lack of interline agreements, and lackluster on-time performance, Allegiant is a horrible choice for anybody trying to catch a cruise. They can, and will leave you stranded with zero back up flights because of the way they operate.
 

I wholeheartedly agree about Melbourne though. I love flying there instead of Orlando. I prefer the small regional airport vibe. It’s uncrowded, lines are short, and you can be outside on the sidewalk very quickly. No lines from hell, no trains, no mile long walks. 
 

Main drawback is the limited air service from a  handful of airlines. I personally live in Atlanta, and Delta offers multiple daily nonstop flights  from ATL to MLB, but I know that it can be more challenging to get to Melbourne from most other cities. But it does work for me. 

With ATL as your home, the world is your oyster.

I pay a premium to use MLB, MCO is less expensive. Can be as little as $50 and as high as $250, and you ALWAYS have to go through ATL is you're flying Delta

 

If on Delta, no matter what, you're flying through ATL. If you're flying to Atlanta, you'll still have a stop over at ATL first....LOL

 

Sanford can give you that small airport vibe, but I don't think it's serviced by Delta

 

The drive from MLB to PC can suck...or be nice if you're not in a hurry and want to look around and do "the tourist thing"

[Cienfuegos]

Whether you're going to Heaven or Hell, you still have to change trains (now, planes) in Atlanta.

[Knights on the Beach]

2 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

We moved up here about 15 yrs ago from SoFl

 

The beach place we rent to a couple regulars and we stay for beach weekends.

 

Our original plan was to find a condo we could rent out to snowbirds and use it the rest of the year on weekends until we were ready to retire. That plan flew out the window the minute we walked in the door, then when we walked out on the balcony we knew it was home. We moved over from Orlando 4 years ago - best move ever.  Still working but have been working from home the past 15 months. 

 

[EngIceDave]

Cool

 

We may find a place on the ocean or river soon

[EngIceDave]

33 minutes ago, Cienfuegos said:

Whether you're going to Heaven or Hell, you still have to change trains (now, planes) in Atlanta.

I'm stealing that line, with the edit

[maureencruiser]

I'm flying into MCO, out of MLB.  Cruise Control shuttle would charge me 110.00 for a shuttle to MLB because I have to rent the whole shuttle, due to Covid.  People suggested I just use Uber, but, I'm worried.  Would drivers refuse the ride from Canaveral to MLB because it's too far?  My flight is at noon, so, no time to play around.  Thanks to anyone who has actually done it.  

[thinfool]

I suggest that you do a fare search for uber, lyft and a local taxi.  It is not very far.  Uber drivers tend to love longer trips.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 7/10/2021 at 7:30 AM, Tapi said:

Main drawback is the limited air service from a  handful of airlines. I personally live in Atlanta, and Delta offers multiple daily nonstop flights  from ATL to MLB, but I know that it can be more challenging to get to Melbourne from most other cities. But it does work for me.

is it still a good option during covid?

Delta tickets are $109 ATL-MLB and $179 ATL-MCO for our November cruise (one way). There are 5 of us, so the difference adds up.

We've never cruised out of Port Canaveral before and I have just now found out about MLB airport. I do realize that even though the distance from MLB is half that of that from MCO, the time it takes to drive is about the same (an hour).

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 8/25/2021 at 7:46 PM, maureencruiser said:

I'm flying into MCO, out of MLB.  Cruise Control shuttle would charge me 110.00 for a shuttle to MLB because I have to rent the whole shuttle, due to Covid.  People suggested I just use Uber, but, I'm worried.  Would drivers refuse the ride from Canaveral to MLB because it's too far?  My flight is at noon, so, no time to play around.  Thanks to anyone who has actually done it.  

we are with you on HOTS on Nov 21. We are considering flying into MLB instead of MCO due to price difference. I actually bought tickets on SW for a 6 am flight ATL-MCO, but SW cancelled it and rebooked us on a noon flight, so it's a no-go.

 

It's 50+ miles from MCO to the port, and 30 miles from MLB to the port, but the driving time is about the same - an hour. I don't see why uber would refuse to drive you to MLB - it doesn't make any sense. They make money by driving, that's literally their job. We are definitely using an uber/lyft.

[maureencruiser]

5 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

It's 50+ miles from MCO to the port, and 30 miles from MLB to the port, but the driving time is about the same - an hour. I don't see why uber would refuse to drive you to MLB - it doesn't make any sense. They make money by driving, that's literally their job. We are definitely using an uber/lyft.

 

I know, I guess I'm just being dumb, lol.  I'm thinking they won't want to be stuck out at MLB after they drop me off?    MLB is awesome, if the times and price work for you.  Much smaller than MCO, so, not as crazy.  I'm gonna check with Cruise Control again to see now that it's closer, are they sharing the shuttle yet?  I'd just prefer having a set ride.