Questions about cruise

[bajam]

So I've been researching but there are a lot of things I still don't understand.

-Do you book your excursions ahead of time or once you're board?
-Will you know what your restaurant rotation is ahead of time? (I'm wondering in case we want to do Palo)
-I see you can do air travel through them or on your own, what do most people do? If you book it on your own what airport do you need to fly into?

Any other helpful tips for a first timer on DCL would be greatly appreciated.

[wilsonfamily4]

I have no answers but love to see that you are making plans! Keep sharing. We are all living vicariously through you!

[bajam]

I have no answers but love to see that you are making plans! Keep sharing. We are all living vicariously through you!

I've already driven my husband insane with all the cruise talk. :rotfl: The biggest part of the planning so far has been deciding to take the trip ourselves and leave the kids with family. I still feel guilty about it but the kids are excited to spend time in OH and we deserve a second honeymoon, right?

[3dog2kidmom]

So I've been researching but there are a lot of things I still don't understand.

Hello fellow Sunshine Cruiser!! I can help somewhat. We cruised with Disney in 2007 and I cannot wait to get back on that ship!

-Do you book your excursions ahead of time or once you board?
Once you are paid in full, and it is 75 days out (I think -- others will correct me if I am wrong), you go online to disneycruise.com and there you can book your excursions and Palo. It's an odd time, like 3 a.m., or something like that!
-Will you know what your restaurant rotation is ahead of time? (I'm wondering in case we want to do Palo)
You can pick your dining time but you will not know your rotation until you board. So it is a gamble as to which dinner you would have to miss to go to Palo. What you could do is if you have early seating for dinner is to book Palo at like 9 pm and do both (maybe just have a drink and an appetizer in the main dining room to save your appetites for Palo). DH and I :heart: Palo!
-I see you can do air travel through them or on your own, what do most people do? If you book it on your own what airport do you need to fly into?
I booked my own air, but price it both ways and see what would work best for you. I actually had frequent flyer miles for this trip! The issue I would have with DCL booking my air is that I think they only fly you down the day OF the cruise, and I would highly recommend flying in the day before in case anything goes wrong or there are any delays. You don't want to miss the ship!! Oh, and you need to fly into MCO (Orlando).

Hope this helps! I am really in the mood for cruise talk, so ask away!!! :cooldance:

[bajam]

So if you fly in the day before where do you go to wait?

Do we need passports on this cruise? I've read conflicting info on if it's this year or next year but the DCL site says Disney will contact you 75 days out to get the number.

[3dog2kidmom]

Disney Cruise Line is on the travel channel RIGHT NOW!!!

[3dog2kidmom]

So if you fly in the day before where do you go to wait?

Do we need passports on this cruise? I've read conflicting info on if it's this year or next year but the DCL site says Disney will contact you 75 days out to get the number.

You'll need to get a hotel, either close to the MCO airport that has a free airport shuttle that you can take back the next day to get the DCL shuttle (unless you're arranging private transportation or renting a car) or even at WDW!! Or you can go ahead to Cape Canaveral and get a hotel there (a couple are recommended on the DIS boards -- Country Inn & Suites, maybe others).

You do not need a passport yet this year. You will need a driver's licence and a birth certificate with the raised seal.

[m 'n c]

I think I read the final official passport rule for cruise ships is that if you sail into and out of the same exact port then no you don't need one - just DL & BC. But if you sail out of say Miami and then land on the west coast say Los Angeles then you will need one. I don't think this cruise does that so you should be ok.

[3dog2kidmom]

I think I read the final official passport rule for cruise ships is that if you sail into and out of the same exact port then no you don't need one - just DL & BC. But if you sail out of say Miami and then land on the west coast say Los Angeles then you will need one. I don't think this cruise does that so you should be ok.

No, this cruise goes from and back to Port Canaveral. I called my TA to be sure! We have them but my friends who might go do not. This is for sea travel... now if you needed to fly home from the Bahamas that would be another story.

[fourfoxesinpa]

Hi Heather,

I hope I can be a better cruise planner than an exercise buddy!! At least, it's something I know about.

Excursions: Once your cruise is registered as paid on the DCL website, you are eligible to book your excursions online. For a first time cruiser, you can go online 75 days before you sail. Reservations open at 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time and it's worth staying up for - especially if you're on a 3 or 4 day cruise and availability is limited. You can also make your Palo reservations at that time. You can wait until you get onboard to make your reservations as they hold spots for folks without internet but the early bird gets the worm and you need to get onboard as early as possible and head right to the area where reservations are being taken.

As far as excursions go, think about which activities you'd like to book. Often times, you can do the same excursion on your own for a whole lot less. Check out www.cruisecritic.com forums or the DIS boards for tons of information. For instance, DCL charges $155 per adult and $105 for kids to go to the Atlantis Resort for the day. That would have been over $500 for our family. But, we took a cab to the resort where we had rented a room at for $129 and had full access to the facility. So, shop wisely.

Dinner Rotation: You do not know in advance which rotation you will have. BUT, you can call DCL in advance and request a certain rotation. This has worked on 2 of 3 times we have requested it (The third time, I really don't think our travel agent submitted the request -she was lousy!)

Air travel - From what I have read, it is always better to book airplane on your own. You have more control of the flights and Disney has been known to change things around at the last minute. We've always booked our own and found great rates from Southwest and AirTran. Get yourself signed up for the DING rates at Southwest and AirTran's emails.

Transportation from the port. We always fly in the day before we cruise. It just is too stressful for me to worry about missing a plane or having a delay. In the past, we've stayed at the Hyatt in the MCO airport. Paid like $55 or something obscene through Priceline. We then got the DCL bus to the terminal and then back to the airport at the end of the week. All other times, we've arrived the day before, rented a car and drove to the port. Stayed at a nice Residence Inn just a couple of blocks from the port. You can park your car for free at the hotel and they can take you in a shuttle. OR, you can drive your car to the port and pay to park (something like $10-12 a day?). We opt to do this because the first hotel shuttle doesn't get to the port until after it opens and we like to be one of the first at the terminal so we can get onboard first and jump in the Goofy pool.

It all depends on how many you have in your party - we have four, so it was about the same price to take DCL transportation vs. Rental Car/Park. With more flexibility, we choose to drive the hour to the port.

Passports - Here is a link to the Department of State official website about passports. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html

As you can see, a passport is not required yet for land or sea travel so you do not need one to take a cruise to the Caribbean. BUT, if you need to be flown, I don't know what you would do. I'd highly recommend getting one. It seems like a big expense but it's good for 10 years and makes travel between countries so much easier.

If I can help you out at all, feel free to PM me. It can be overwhelming and no question is a dumb question.

Again, congratulations on your win. I am truly excited for you.
Jamie

[bajam]

Thanks for the info guys. I guess we need to figure out what will work out best for us. My original plan was to drive down but that's out since we will have to get the kids 6 hours north before we can start our vacation. A 10 hr. trip wouldn't be so bad but we can't do 6 hrs. north and then 16 hours south. We are very lucky to have family who will gladly keep our munchkins for a few days. Just need to get the logistics worked out.

[keishashadow]

OP - r u the winner? if so, congratulations!!!!!!!!!:sunshine:

if SW is in your market, i'd suggest using them. You can switch things around if prices drop or a DING appears, even if you don't use the credit; it's easy to sell in the 90% range on ebay. I've been awaiting the tentative release date for the cruise timeframe (April 17th late am, last time i checked).

ps - imo, best place to spend time before a cruise is WDW or Universal

[m4travels]

Dude is going to chime in on the MCO Hyatt. Dude and Partner Dude ALWAYS stayed there the night previous to the cruise as flying from the west coast it was always an early evening arrival. We've gotten fantastic rates at the Hyatt via Hotwire (not as low as $55, but in the $70-75 range). There is a thread over on the DIS with what to look for to "almost" ensure that you're getting the Hyatt. We've used it every time and it's been a great place to put your head down.

We're going to miss it when we go in September as on of our friends joining us is using his DVC points for a couple nights before. We may just have to make a stop in to say hi to the front desk!!

Have a GREAT time planning for this cruise. You might want to look at travelzoo.com to see when deals for Atlantis come up if that interests you. Those $129 rooms do show up pretty often!

[3dog2kidmom]

Dude is going to chime in on the MCO Hyatt. Dude and Partner Dude ALWAYS stayed there the night previous to the cruise as flying from the west coast it was always an early evening arrival. We've gotten fantastic rates at the Hyatt via Hotwire (not as low as $55, but in the $70-75 range). !

Dude I second the Hyatt MCO! We didn't stay there overnight but did get a day room after our cruise since we had an evening flight home and it was SOOO worth the money. Comfy beds for napping, nice (empty!) rooftop pool, and the staff took really great care of us.

[bajam]

I downloaded the Ding from Southwest. It can't connect to my internet, though. Does anyone use Comcast internet with Ding? It's not my firewall because I tried disabling it and it still wouldn't connect.

[Hedy]

I downloaded the Ding from Southwest. It can't connect to my internet, though. Does anyone use Comcast internet with Ding? It's not my firewall because I tried disabling it and it still wouldn't connect.

I have Comcast and have had no problems using DING!

[bajam]

I have Comcast and have had no problems using DING!

Hmmm, I don't know what the deal is then. I guess I'll uninstall and try again.:computer:

[nicholfamily5]

I'm so excited! Mu hubby and I are leaving the kids home as well. I second the second honeymoon!! It will be nice to have so many couples from SR there!
As I said on another thread, I think I'm leaning towards coming in the day before and going to Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival. I'll be keeping my eyes open for some good deals on Epcot resorts!
Also I think I'm just going to get the passports. My Husband has diabetes, and I shudder to think of the horrors should we have an emergency while out of the country. Worth the price to me!

[Hedy]

Dude is going to chime in on the MCO Hyatt. Dude and Partner Dude ALWAYS stayed there the night previous to the cruise as flying from the west coast it was always an early evening arrival. We've gotten fantastic rates at the Hyatt via Hotwire (not as low as $55, but in the $70-75 range). There is a thread over on the DIS with what to look for to "almost" ensure that you're getting the Hyatt. We've used it every time and it's been a great place to put your head down.

We're going to miss it when we go in September as on of our friends joining us is using his DVC points for a couple nights before. We may just have to make a stop in to say hi to the front desk!!

Have a GREAT time planning for this cruise. You might want to look at travelzoo.com to see when deals for Atlantis come up if that interests you. Those $129 rooms do show up pretty often!

For the Hyatt, look for 4 star hotels with 80+ trip advisor ratings and 4.5 circles. Just got it for $84.

[bajam]

I still don't know what we're doing. We are leaning towards driving. It's not that bad from here. I've been thinking about booking AKL for the night before. The next time we go to Disney our DD will be 3 so we won't be able to book AKL (darn Disney with their lack of 5 people, cheaper deluxes). That's a lot to pay for one night, but it's somewhere my DH has wanted to stay. We wouldn't do the parks, just Downtown Disney. We've never been there. Cirque would be fun to see as well. There are all these plans in my head, but getting the money is another thing.

If I do this I want to fund it myself and have it be a surprise. I had already made my DH a deal(before the cruise) I would be using SR funds to get new doorknobs from Home Depot. About half way done with that. Then I can start earning fun money again.

Oh the decisions.