When you sign up for a cruise most people think they have to take the transportation provided by the cruise lines. That is definitely false. It is your choice how you get to the cruise lines. When it comes to larger groups you can save money because the price charged by the individual drivers is per vehicle, compared to per person in the travel package.

   Disney Cruise Lines now charges $69.00 per person roundtrip for transportation to the cruise lines. Carnival (69.00) and Royal Caribbean ($64.00). That means that your group of 10 will pay $690.00 for transportation, on a Disney cruise ship, when you could have got a 10 passenger car service vehicle for around $225.00, a savings of 465.00.  Even if you are a two families you can go in the same vehicle unless you want to be split up. Of course, you can still get two vehicles and pay $450.00, which would be $250.00 cheaper than Disney Transportation.

   Another tip to keep in mind. The transportation from the cruise lines do not set you up for a morning departure from Orlando International Airport. You can get off the ships and be at MCO by 0900 to 1000 which would enable you to take a flight out after 1100. The cruise lines do not recommend this because that means you can't take their transportation back to MCO. There are many cruise line passengers who are stuck in the airport 2 to 8 hours because a late morning flight was never scheduled.

   Recently I cruised on the Disney Wonder. You are able to get out of the Disney ship early enough to catch a flight home after about 1030 hours. The disembarkation by Disney is the most efficient of all the cruise lines. First off, in the evening before departure, send all your bags you need to pick up to the ship for unloading. Hold one of the extra tags they give you to replace the tags you used on your luggage to board the ship. When you get up around 0500 hours get ready and head to breakfast. Breakfast starts at around 0600 at all the dining rooms and even the beach blanket buffet. You can get coffee on the 9th deck.

   About 0700 - 0715 head to the 3rd floor atrium, where you boarded the ship. Get in line and soon they will start letting you off the ship. Once off , get out your remaining baggage tag and hold on to it. Walk straight ahead across the gangplank and into the terminal. Go up the escalator to the second floor of the terminal. After the escalator you will see the porters waiting to help you. Give them your little tag and they will lead you to your luggage which is already set up in a certain order. They will load it for you, letting you verify all your luggage is there. He will load it for you and than head to the customs agent who will check you out and than send you packing. It is worth the $5.00 or $10.00 you give the porter to help you. I was actually out of the terminal at 0755 and headed over to pick up my car. Going to Orlando International you will get there approximately one hour after you board your rental or the car you hire to pick you back up.

   The bus transfers are probably a little different as the bus go back fully loaded to Orlando International Airport.

Check out the advantages of Car Service Transportation:

   1.  You get personal "meet and greet" service at Orlando or Sanford airports.
   2.  No waiting around for the busses to load or waiting for others. 45 minutes to the Port after baggage pick up.
   3.  Car seats if you want to protect your small children. Disney busses don't crash so they don't allow baby seats.
   4.  When you leave the boat, it is straight to the car service vehicle and straight back to the airport. (45 minutes).
   5.  Transportation fees do not have to be paid 3 months in advance of the cruise. The fee is paid at the port.

   Transfer fees are included in your initial price when you book online. To find the price of the transfers you have to click ahead twice. The first click gets you to the page where you accept Disney helping you with airline reservations. The second click will get you to the page where you are able to decline the transportation and the insurance if you desire. Once you decline either one or both of them go to the bottom of the page and request the total to be reconsidered. They page will than come up with the price after you decline transportation or insurance or both.  Insurance is priced out at $59.00 per person and transportation is priced out at $69.00 per person.

Disney states in your directions: You are on a Disney Cruise Line package: Please tag your luggage prior to leaving home, with the enclosed Disney Cruise Line luggage tags. Now if you do this your luggage will be automatically picked up by Disney and taken to the ship. If you want to pick up your luggage yourself do not tag them until you pick them off the carousels when they arrive. If you tag them and are using car service companies, let the driver who meets you know so you won't have to wait for ten minutes at the carousels and then find out they are on the way to the ship.

   Obtaining transportation from the drivers listed on this site makes things a lot less hectic at Orlando International Airport. At OIA cruise passengers have been known to wait two to three hours before they can board a bus to the cruise terminal. You just sit there and wait until they are ready to board you. Yes, no waiting around to load a bus with a bunch of other families, if you take a private car. You will save an hour or two right there. When the driver gets to the port you unload your baggage and than can walk over to the entrance to go aboard the ship. The ships start opening up around noon. Many passengers I have taken to the Port early have told me it is a plus to get there early.

   Many travelers plan on traveling to Orlando the night before the cruise. They obtain reservations at a hotel on the coast and stay the night at that hotel. This site has transferred many families to the Radisson at Cocoa Beach. The hotel is across the street from a McDonalds and is five minutes away the the cruise terminals. They have free transfers to the port, last I heard.

   Your private driver is waiting at the ship when you disembark. It is so nice when you see him waiting for you. Your luggage is taken to the vehicle, you load and be on your way back to the airport.

Disembarkation from the cruise ship Carnival Sensation.

   I cruised on the Sensation in March, 2008. The check out procedures are a little bit different than the Disney ships. They will give you a luggage tags, with a number, on your last day of the cruise. The higher the number, the later you will be called to get off the ship. ! - 5 are first called around 0800 in the morning. 6 - 7 around 0820and than the sequence continues. The number 20 gets you off the ship about 0930 to 1000. They have three or four areas, on the ship, where you can wait while they get to your number. It is possible to get the number changed if you go to the pursers office and talk with the lady up there. Some drivers carry a form that you can show to the purser that states your transportation will be at the ship to pick you up at a certain time. You can also show them an airline departure time of before 1200 and your will be able to get a lower number.

   Once your number is called you proceed to the exit floor and get in line to be checked out. It is a very easy process. You bags will be in the terminal waiting for you. It is probably best to pick up a porter at that time and walk him over to the bag area and show him your bags. He will get them and walk you through customs. And again your driver will be waiting for you as you walk out of the tunnel that leads to the parking lot. This is a very easy departure from the ship and you will be very happy you chose car service because your bags will be loaded into the vehicle and you will be on your way to MCO or SFB. You do not have to wait for the bus to load to get going.

Here are some links to the ships that sail out of Port Canaveral:

Carnival Cruise Lines:               Sensation     Glory

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines:  Mariner of the Sea    Sovereign of the Seas

Disney Cruise Lines:         Wonder and the Magic