Disney Transfers

[mmssbrg2]

Hi All,

My fiancé and I will be going on the Dream for 4 nights in early December for our honeymoon cruise (I guess she'll be my wife by then). We're staying at French Quarter for two nights before the cruise and then six nights at a DVC after the cruise. We'll take the transfer from the port to our resort after the cruise. But my concern is if we take the transfer from French Quarter to the port, we won't get to the port in time to sign up for mixology, whiskey tasting, etc once we board. We've decided, since we're planning on doing California Grill on Sunday night and because it's a shorter cruise, that we will skip Palo/Remy, and we aren't worried about stateroom upgrades. Will we be ok getting to the port later, or do they fill up fast enough that we should we just do a one-way car rental when we arrive at MCO so we can get to the port earlier in the day on embarkation day?

Thanks!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

If you absolutely would rather get to the port early you could take DME back to the airport then do the transfer to the port from there. Those buses start running way earlie than the resort transfers.

You didn't mention when in December you're going on your honeymoon cruise (CONGRATS!). If it's not a holiday cruise then you should still have availability if arriving via a resort transfer. Just be sure to make Guest Services your first stop when you board.

 

[Tom]

Like @sweetpee_1993 said, take a bus to the airport early, then from there to the port.

We just sailed on the Dream 2 weekends ago and stayed at the Boardwalk the night before to make sure there were no air vs embarkation conflicts. Since we stayed Concierge, we got first boarding at 11:00am or so. Disney won't get you there that early from WDW.

So, when we booked our room, we just gave them a flight number and departure time for early that next morning, and bought an MCO-PORT transfer. The night we got to the Boardwalk, we went to Concierge and scheduled an actual DME pick-up for something like 8:15am. It worked perfectly, and we got to the port just in time to check in, sit in the lounge, and be the very first family to board.

 

[mmssbrg2]

I was thinking about taking DME back to the airport and then take the transfer to the port from there but figured that might be more time consuming and a bit of a hassle. We haven't ruled that out as an option though.

We're cruising Dec 1-5.

 

[Tom]

I was thinking about taking DME back to the airport and then take the transfer to the port from there but figured that might be more time consuming and a bit of a hassle. We haven't ruled that out as an option though.

We're cruising Dec 1-5.

It's more time consuming, but the only way you'll get to the port before 1pm unless you take a towncar...but I don't know what those cost.

The process of getting DME to the airport, then from there to the port was relatively simple. We threw our bags under the bus, then told the driver what we were doing, so he let us off relatively close to the DME area at the airport.

We went in, tagged our bags for the cruise, gave them to the guy driving bags to the port, then hopped right on the DCL bus. Piece of cake.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I'm with Tom and Kelly. Go to the airport or spend a little more and get a town car.

 

[mmssbrg2]

I think we'll probably do that then. I think we'd prefer more time to explore the ship on embarkation day anyway. This will be her first cruise ever and my first disney cruise. We're very excited.

Tom -- If we schedule DME around 8:00/8:30 what time would that likely get us to the port? And do we have to schedule the cruise line transfer from MCO at a certain time or is it like DME where they run continuously as the buses fill up?

I've been lurking this board for tips since we started the planning process. I've been to WDW many times but DCL is new to us. You guys are great! You may hear more from me as our planning progresses. Thanks for all the help!

 

[Tom]

When we made our 1-night reservation at the Boardwalk Villas, we added DME and plugged in a flight time of 11:30am and made up a flight number. When we checked into BWV, we got the DME Pick-Up Letter and it had the wrong time.

No big deal - I just went to Concierge, told her what we were doing, and she gave me the pick-up times for the next morning. DME picked up at BWV at X:15 and X:45. We chose 8:15am.

It made a few other stops then onto the airport. Got there in the usual 45 minutes. Walked a little bit to the DME queues and went to the queue specifically for the DCL port. They took our tagged checked luggage and put it on a box truck. We got right on a bus. They sit there and depart regularly.

If I recall, we arrived at the port right around 10:30am. Went through security, checked in, and waited our turn to board (which was 11 for us since we were concierge).

 

[kasey1988]

What would the board time be for those not concirge guests?

We are cruising in September and were trying to decide the best way to get to the cruise port early! Going back to the airport (from AOA) may be a good idea!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

What would the board time be for those not concirge guests?

We are cruising in September and were trying to decide the best way to get to the cruise port early! Going back to the airport (from AOA) may be a good idea!

Boarding starts around 11:30. You will board based on a boarding number you are given when you check in. That boarding number will be determined in part by the arrival time you pick. As a rule of thumb, all boarding numbers have been called by 12:30 and you can just walk on at that point.

 

[shoppingnut]

If you were to rent a car to go to the port, you should be aware that some rental car companies will not transport you from the rental car place to the ship until after 10:00am. I heard them telling people this who had arrived at about 9am while I was on line waiting to get our rental car to spend the day at WDW before heading to the airport after our cruise.