newbie with a question About This Page:

[toddjody]

I booked a disney cruise with AAA yesterday. Bought my Passporter's Field Guide today. I started reading and am now concerned about the flight from nashville to orlando on the same day the ship sails. I have not paid my deposit yet. Should I talk to the travel agent and see about arriving a day before? I am completely overwhelmed now. My two daughters and I will be going departing on May 25, 2006. Thanks for any comments.

Jody

[Eeyoresmom]

Sorry I can't help with your question, but I wanted to say [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/welcome3.gif[/img] to the boards. I'm sure someone will be able to answer your question soon.

But, I would think that the travel agent should know if you'd get in too late for your cruise - so don't worry yourself too much, till someone who has been on the cruise comes along.

[SHEANA1226]

Hi Jody and Welcome to the boards. It depends on how early your flight is. If it is later in the morning you might want to consider leaving the night before in case your flight is delayed or you miss your flight.

[iamgrumpy]

[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/welcome3.gif[/img] to the Boards!

Even though from Hartford our flight would get in around 11am it was too close to call to make it to the port in time. So we are leaving the day before and taking out a flight around Noon gets us in around 3 and we can have dinner, go swimming and relax sleep and then catch the shuttle to the port the next morning. We are on the April 29th sailing I can't wait.

I would recommend leaving the day before and booking a hotel either near the port and getting a Towncar to drive you to the port. Or stay by the airport and use Disney Transportation to the port the day you leave.

We are staying at the Orlando Airport Sheraton Suites got a great rate and they have free transportation to and from the airport so that way we can get to the DCL shuttles.

Any questions please feel free to ask!

[Belle*]

Welcome toddjody! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] It is a good idea to arrive the day/evening before your cruise. It looks like you are traveling right before a holiday weekend (Memorial Day) so there may be some delays. While it isn't the end of the world if you do fly in the day of your cruise, having that cushion takes some of the pressure off.

[litlTink]

I was reccomended by my travel agent that it is was best to arrive the day before just in case there is a problem with the flight. That is what we did.

[EeyoreNeedsLoveToo]

[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/welcome3.gif[/img] Glad you are here!

This very issue is causing us to strongly consider driving rather than flying from Iowa -- we CAN'T risk missing the boat !, If we do fly in, we will come in a day early, I'd be worried sick if we didn't.

[damon]

We've done this a couple times now and I would always reccomend it. Arrive the day before, rent a car at the airport and drive to Cape canaveral/Cocoa Beach the same day. That way you have your own transportation to get around that night to the beach, to the store (there's a wal-mart near by for those things you forgot) or to diner. And it's very easy to get from the airport to the port, only one road, and you'rhe there in about 45 miiutes.

We used Budget which was great, we rented a mini van for about $65. Dropped off the car Saturday morning. Their office is about 5 minutes from the ship, you can see the ships from all over, they're so big. They have a shuttle that will take you up there, and the shuttle was waiting right there to take us back when we debarked the next saturday. I was most nervous about all the transfers and actually getting to the ship. But this plan worked great! I'd consider renting a car.

[toddjody]

Thanks everyone. I will talk to my agent Monday morning and see about making the change. If I wait to arrive the day the ship departs I know I would be a nervous wreck!

Jody

[DISNEYGOOF]

[ QUOTE ]
If I wait to arrive the day the ship departs I know I would be a nervous wreck!

Jody

[/ QUOTE ] <font color="blue">I would also be a nervous wreck. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] </font> [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] <font color="red">Welcome to the boards! We are boarding our first Disney cruise in less than a month...Yahooooooooooooooo! </font>

[cshepheard]

Welcome to the boards. I too would recommend flying in the night before. I believe it is much better to relax with the extra time vs. sweating about possibly being late and what might get missed.
I hope you have a great time!

[Jillybean]

We usually drive down the day before, but since we had our new baby girl with us last month we decided to fly down the morning of departure. I was a bit nervous about this, but the fact that it was a direct, 50-minute flight made the decision for me. Also, we had never had any problem with this flight being delayed before . . . of course, I still thanked my lucky stars when we arrived at the port with no problems! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

If possible, I would try to get there the day before.

Jill

[dmpyron]

I tell all of my clients who sail from Florida to arrive the night before. Too much to go wrong otherwise. Rent a car and have it to drive around Canaveral/Cocoa Beach that evening.

Heck, I even had a client drive down to Galveston from Austin the night before their cruise, just to make sure that any downturn in the weather (it was a Christmas cruise) wouldn't cause them to miss the ship.

[DCLCelebration]

As a frequent airline traveller (over 100 flights per year) I strongly recommend coming in the day before and I do mean the day before, not the evening. Evening is the worst time for flight delays. I also recommend you stay in Orlando at one of the airport hotels that have an airport shuttle such as the Marriott or the Hilton Garden Inn. Even better, stay at the Hyatt that is right in the airport. I would then arrange now to take the Disney Transfer service from the airport to the ship. You will be on a Disney vacation, let Disney do the heavy lifting. Spend your time relaxing and enjoying your time off.

Hope that helps.

[trinigirl]

Welcome! You probably already got the answer to your question, but I figure I'd share my experience just in case you (or anyone else who joins in) had any lingering doubts. We went down the day before our cruise last December. We flew from Massachusetts and my understanding from friends and co-workers is that we JUST missed a huge storm that hit! I think our flight was one of the last morning flights to make it out of Logan Airport before they stopped all flights! Now imagine if we decided to fly out the day of our cruise? We'd have had to deal with all the folks who couldn't fly out the day before. Also, we rented a car at Orlando Airport from Budget using discount codes I found at mousesavers.com and drove down to Cape Canaveral. It was an EASY, straight drive and only took about 45 minutes. The rental cost me 20 or so bucks and there are a million hotels in the area. The best thing about going down the day before is if you forgot to pack anything, you can go to CVS, Walgreens, Walmart to get what you need. So, definitely go down the night before and book your own flights! It can be cheaper than having it done by AAA. Get the rental so that you can run any last minute errands, drop your family off at the Port the next morning, return the car and take the rental company's shuttle to the Port(make sure they have a shuttle! Not all of the car rental agencies do). One thing I did screw up on though, was when I dropped my hubby and kids off, I didn't give him my passport!! He could have checked us all in while I was returning the car. Good luck to you!! and don't forget. . . HAVE FUN!!!