transportation?

[angedeaile]

We are taking our first ever cruise trip in January and are a bit confused with what we should do about transportation....

We decided to stay at Disney World and it enjoy a few days of that before our cruise. We thought about doing the Land and Sea package, but noticed we couldn't add dining if we went that route and that it is much cheaper for us to book seperately.

So we need to figure out how to get to Orlando to Port on our cruise depature date AND Port to the the airport at the end of our cruise.

What would you guys suggest we do?

BTW-There will be two of us on the trip.

[Piglet822]

Ground transportation can be purchased separeately. I'm not sure what the cost is but you pay "per leg" (not yours, lol) meaning you pay to go from WDW to the Port and then from the Port to the airport. In order to be picked up at WDW you must be staying at one of the DCL resorts. There is also an option of being picked up at Animal Kingdom Park. Where will you be staying?

Another option is a towncar, or you can rent a car and drive out to the port.

[angedeaile]

Yeah, there is the problem..I will not be staying at a DCL.

Right now it looks like our resort will be Wilderness Lodge. If not that resort, POP. Both aren't DCLs.

I read on another thread that it is possible to book through Disney to take a shuttle from one of their DCLs to Port and Port to MCO, but no where does it mention prices.

I assume it would cost more since we would have to be charged, as you said, per leg versus a round trip. Anyone out there ever do this and recall how much you paid in comparison?

As for the rental car, how would that even work? Would we rent it for the length of our cruise and have it parked the whole time or just rent cars twice?

[FatCat]

I agree that Land and Sea is not the way to go. Book separately.

I would you magical express to goto Disney from airport.

Then I would do Towncar or Van depending on your party size for roundtrip from Hotel to Cruise and then Cruise to airport. I would also book in a free grocery stop and get bottled water and other items to bring on cruise.

We generally get from a grocery stop.

Bottled Water - Expensive on board
Beer(Cans)- Need I say more
Juice Boxes - Easy for excursions and I do not want to always walk to deck nine for a free drink

Buckets and shovels for Castaway Cay - Cheap in grocery store. $$ on Castaway Cay

[GreenBeetle]

We are in the midst of a similar situation. Although we are not visiting WDW before the cruise, we are deciding how to get to the Port and back to the airport after the cruise. The $70/person Disney transfer seems a bit much (we are a party of 4).

I do know this much so far. Several car rental companies have offices at/near Port Canaveral. They will also shuttle you (free) to the ship when you drop off a car. So if it's possible to rent a car from your Disney resort (not sure how that works), you could just drop it off before you cruise. Then rent another car for your one-way trip to the airport. I thought the rates I saw online were pretty reasonable.

Does that make sense? If I've totally confused you now, you can PM me.

[Piglet822]

If you do opt to use the DCL service from the resorts, you can take a taxi (after making ground transportation arrangements, of course) to Animal Kingdom Park and take the bus from there. Your luggage would be placed in the luggage bay of the coach.
As for rental cars, I believe Enterprise is one of the companies around the Port Canaveral area and I'm pretty sure I recall Hertz waiting to pick some people up as well.
If you check the different car rental sites their locations are listed so you should be able to tell if they offer service to the piers.

[Tinkermom]

We are going on our first cruise in February. We too are staying a few nights at WDW prior to our cruise. We had planned on using DCL transportation but from all the reading I have been doing I think we will get a towncar. I have read that the DCL busses arrive from WDW at the port after 12:30 or so. We would really like time to take in the sites in the terminal and then board and walk around, eat lunch and such and not feel rushed. I have read that it can be a bit rushed when using the DCL busses. We have used Happy Limo many times and I do like the grocery stop idea to at least get bottled water, juice and such.

[FatCat]

In my opinion the rental car option while it may be the cheapest also takes the longest time. The wait for the car shuttle can be long so a lot of people take cabs. ($8-$10) from what I have read.

You could do the hybrid solution where you do the rental car to the cruise. And then schedule limo transfer to pick you up. I would also take your flight times into account. A Limo on the way back is door to door. Rental car adds on a bit more time.

In your cost analysis do not forget gratuities. If you rent a car and drop your bags to the porters there is a gratuity on bothe ends.
Typically $1 a bag.

[GreenBeetle]

In my opinion the rental car option while it may be the cheapest also takes the longest time. The wait for the car shuttle can be long so a lot of people take cabs.

I thought several of the car rental companies were located right in the airport terminal? Am I wrong about this?

[ElenitaB]

Several car rental companies are located right in the terminal, however they aren't located in the terminal at Port Canaveral.

When we looked at driving out to PC from Orlando, I had a reservation with Budget (they're located in the airport) and are close to Port. I had gotten a GREAT rate using a code from uPromise (less than $40). They run a shuttle from their location in Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach.

[GreenBeetle]

Several car rental companies are located right in the terminal, however they aren't located in the terminal at Port Canaveral.

When we looked at driving out to PC from Orlando, I had a reservation with Budget (they're located in the airport) and are close to Port. I had gotten a GREAT rate using a code from uPromise (less than $40). They run a shuttle from their location in Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach.

Oh, is that what FatCat meant about the shuttle? Did you wait long for transportation back to Budget? That's exactly who we were considering using.

[njb1148]

You can get DCL buses to pick up at WL. I am staying there in Nov and getting picked up by the bus (cost $1.00 more per person). Problem was that when I called to book, the person I talked to said this pick up could not be done. I went on the 4 day Wonder a few years ago and remembered that the bus stopped at WL, so I call again on a different day. Different day, different CM. This time, I was told no problem, arrangements made for pick up at WL. Not sure this could be done at all other resorts but if WL is one of the places you are considering, this could be a good transportation option.

[Piglet822]

Right now it looks like our resort will be Wilderness Lodge. If not that resort, POP. Both aren't DCLs.

I don't know why I didn't catch this initially. I just double checked with our DCL transportation manager and he says Wilderness Lodge is a DCL resort. You should not have a problem arranging transportation from this resort.

Pop Century is not a DCL resort so if you leave from there you'd have to make arrangements to catch the bus at a DCL resort, AK park, or do the rental car.