11:10 am flight on departure day?

buzzrelly

DIS Veteran
Joined
Nov 20, 2005
Hi all! I messed up my flights for the day we disembark and now I have us going home the following day because the flights home on the day we disembark were crazy expensive. However, I am now seeing a flight for the same price we paid for the following day but it leaves at 11:10am. If we did express walk-off, and hired a car, would we make it?? Thanks!
 
Hi all! I messed up my flights for the day we disembark and now I have us going home the following day because the flights home on the day we disembark were crazy expensive. However, I am now seeing a flight for the same price we paid for the following day but it leaves at 11:10am. If we did express walk-off, and hired a car, would we make it?? Thanks!

We did! We had a 10:40 am flight on our disembarkation day, getting off the Fantasy in PC. One caveat - we were in a concierge stateroom, were escorted down for express walk-off, were the second family off the ship and are also TSA pre-check. I think as long as you are very close to the front of the express walk-off line and have a car pick you up at 8 am, you should be fine. We were in a car by 8 am and were at MCO by 8:45 am. Just be prepared for long security lines at MCO if you aren't TSA pre-check.
 
Our flight is 11:50am. My TA said we should be okay with this one - just not to dawdle getting off the ship.
 
We did! We had a 10:40 am flight on our disembarkation day, getting off the Fantasy in PC. One caveat - we were in a concierge stateroom, were escorted down for express walk-off, were the second family off the ship and are also TSA pre-check. I think as long as you are very close to the front of the express walk-off line and have a car pick you up at 8 am, you should be fine. We were in a car by 8 am and were at MCO by 8:45 am. Just be prepared for long security lines at MCO if you aren't TSA pre-check.

Thanks! I just made the change even though I’m a little nervous. We are not concierge but I have TSA Pre-check and last time I traveled with my family, we all got it. If the 1pm flight comes down in price I will switch it. Otherwise, I’ll just hope for the best!
 


Just make sure you have a back-up plan (including the cost of a hotel for a night or two if necessary) if you miss it.

Even PreCheck at MCO is not super quick.
 
We did a 10:25 with Concierge walk-off, private car leaving at 7:30, Express check-in at the airline and TSA-Pre. We would never do it again and planned accordingly for our upcoming cruises, opting for a connecting flight later or even the next day with a stay at the Hyatt on disembarkation day. As an example of what can go wrong, last March, while waiting for our private car at the curb, we saw a family leaving in a hurry in a cab. Once on the 528, we saw the same cab with the hood opened on the side of the road, about half-way between PC and MCO. We also had car trouble with a private car service on a separate vacation and had to wait 30 minutes on the side of the highway for a replacement car to come and get us.
 
We had an 11:35 flight, did express walk-off at 7:15 am, and ended up getting to the airport on DCL bus transportation, checking our bags, through security, and were sitting at our gate around 9:30 with two hours to spare. I really wouldn't be too worried about 11:10am--that's just 20 minutes prior to the recommended DCL time.
 


I think it will be fine. We did an 11:50 and waited at the airport for hours.
Of course many things could go wrong at many points. So it depends how risk adverse you are--and how much a long wait at the airport kills your vacation vibe (we aren't good at sitting around).

I think you'll be fine.
 
The difficulty of timing flights after a DCL cruise (either too early or too late, or you pay a lot more $ for a "just right" time) is why we almost always plan to stay for a few nights after the cruise. For cruises out of Port Canaveral, we usually go to WDW for 2-3 nights.

Still, I think the OP will probably be OK. Just be sure not to dawdle getting off the ship.
 
Thanks everyone! I’ll try to change it if I can but if I can’t I like this better than having to figure out what to do for a whole day and night after the cruise. We are spending three nights at WDW pre-cruise and really just want to get home on Saturday.

Thanks for all the advice!
 
Sorry, just a couple more questions. Let’s assume I am keeping this flight and want to disembark as quickly as possible. Should I keep my luggage with us? Southwest does not participate in airline check-in, is that correct? I guess having it with us is better than having to search for it in the terminal?
 
If you want to do self-disembark, you will need to keep your luggage with you. And you need to be ab,e to handle it all as there will be no one to assist you with it.
 
If you want to do self-disembark, you will need to keep your luggage with you. And you need to be ab,e to handle it all as there will be no one to assist you with it.

This was not our experience at all. We put our our luggage the night before for the pick-up, got off first thing when they opened the doors at 7:15, and there were plenty of porters just standing around in the terminal waiting to help. We asked one and he helped us find our luggage in no time, walked with us through customs, and loaded it onto the bus. Well worth the tip to have his efficiency to make it all very easy. Reading up on this, I guess this means we didn't do "express-walk off" after all, but regardless, we still were at the gate at 9:30 just twiddling our thumbs waiting for our flight.
 
This was not our experience at all. We put our our luggage the night before for the pick-up, got off first thing when they opened the doors at 7:15, and there were plenty of porters just standing around in the terminal waiting to help. We asked one and he helped us find our luggage in no time, walked with us through customs, and loaded it onto the bus. Well worth the tip to have his efficiency to make it all very easy. Reading up on this, I guess this means we didn't do "express-walk off" after all, but regardless, we still were at the gate at 9:30 just twiddling our thumbs waiting for our flight.

I have no doubt that porters will do anything for money.

But DCL’s self-disembark policy is you have to handle your stuff yourself.

And yes - everything works fine until there is an accident or a car breaks down or doesn’t show.

But everyone has their own comfort level and way they want to end their vacation. I am in Shmoo’s camp that even having to have that “what if...” in my mind makes for a horrible way to end vacation.
 
I have no doubt that porters will do anything for money.

But DCL’s self-disembark policy is you have to handle your stuff yourself.

And yes - everything works fine until there is an accident or a car breaks down or doesn’t show.

But everyone has their own comfort level and way they want to end their vacation. I am in Shmoo’s camp that even having to have that “what if...” in my mind makes for a horrible way to end vacation.

I just looked up the DCL debarkation letter for port canaveral and it specifically says that if you leave your luggage in outside your room the night before, like we did, "Porters will be available in the terminal to assist you as you proceed through Customs and Border Protection."
 
I just looked up the DCL debarkation letter for port canaveral and it specifically says that if you leave your luggage in outside your room the night before, like we did, "Porters will be available in the terminal to assist you as you proceed through Customs and Border Protection."
Yes, porters are available, once you get off the ship. But there's no help getting you and all your bags off the ship (elevators/stairs/escalators/lines of people) if you opt for self-debarkation (handling your own bags).
 
Thanks everyone! I’ll try to change it if I can but if I can’t I like this better than having to figure out what to do for a whole day and night after the cruise. We are spending three nights at WDW pre-cruise and really just want to get home on Saturday.
If it were me, I'd go home the next day, and go back to WDW for a night -- especially if you don't have to take any more vacation. Even without park tickets, you could hang out by the pool all day and/or go to Disney Springs for dinner. I would hate having to go from a DCL cruise right back to reality. Going back to WDW helps us ease back slowly. :)

P.S. I don't like to fly in the day a cruise departs, so we usually go to WDW before a cruise as well. :cool:
 
I just looked up the DCL debarkation letter for port canaveral and it specifically says that if you leave your luggage in outside your room the night before, like we did, "Porters will be available in the terminal to assist you as you proceed through Customs and Border Protection."

If you are leaving your bag in the hall and getting them in the terminal, you are not doing express walk-off. Express walk-off means you are wrangling all your bags yourself. At least until you get to the terminal where there are I’m sure (I ignore them because I was raised that if you bring it, you carry it) are plenty of porters with their hands out.
 

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