To Cruise or not to cruise??

[HunnyPot]

We're in the planning stage of our next Disney vacation, in 2007, and are thinking of possibly taking a cruise. We would most likely do the land/sea where you stay @ WDW first and then cruise. For those who have done this, was it worth it? Also, we LOVED having the dining plan on our last trip. Is it possible to add dining to the trip? I know it's included on the cruise, but can we add the plan to our resort stay? I wasn't sure, because I don't think we would have a typical magic your way pass with the cruise also. Any info, advice, or opinions would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance! :wave:

 

[SpenceMan01]

My fiancee and I are doing a WDW/DCL honeymoon in Jan '07. We booked hotel and cruise separately (not the Disney Land/Sea package) for several reasons:

First is flexibility. We wanted a stateroom with a verandah on the cruise, but that would have put us at a Deluxe resort which was a bit out of our price range. We also wanted to stay at PO:Riverside. It was cheaper and I've heard excellent reviews, especially for honeymooners. The packages are usually just as expensive (sometimes more) than booking separately.

Also, your order depends on which cruise you do. For 3 night cruises, you cruise first, then do WDW. It is reversed for the 4 night cruises. Everything that I've read has said to do WDW first and get burnt out, then relax on the cruise rather than relaxing, then burning yourself out at the parks.

Hope this helps! :wave:

 

[sring]

Also, your order depends on which cruise you do. For 3 night cruises, you cruise first, then do WDW. It is reversed for the 4 night cruises. Everything that I've read has said to do WDW first and get burnt out, then relax on the cruise rather than relaxing, then burning yourself out at the parks.

For the 4 night cruise you arrive at WDW on a Thursday and cruise Sunday through the following Thursday.

For the 3 night cruise you arrive at WDW on Sunday and cruise Thursday through the following Sunday.

So you do the parks first.

We did a the Land/Sea package in November 2002, and loved the SHIP. At the time my kids were 5 and 1. We had a hard time dragging the 5 yo away from the kids programs, and one night put the 1 year old in baby sitting to get a break. It was the first time in her life she fell asleep without Mom or Dad present. I also thought I could use a week long vacation at Castaway Cay. It was a great time.

All I need to do now is convince my wife that she doesn't really suffer from motionsickness............

 

[shoppingnut]

I went on the 4 day cruise many years ago and enjoyed it very much, would highly recommend it. I would also contact Kingdom Konsultants who are sponsors here and have them help you plan the vacation, they are the best.

 

[hoppypooh]

My fiancee and I are doing a WDW/DCL honeymoon in Jan '07. We booked hotel and cruise separately (not the Disney Land/Sea package) for several reasons:

SpenceMan01, I was just wondering if you book the cruise and park seperately, how do you get from the resort to the ship or vice versa?
I know there's a bus for land/sea packages but can you still take it if you book seperately? Or is there another cheap way to go about it?

 

[cj2me]

SpenceMan01, I was just wondering if you book the cruise and park seperately, how do you get from the resort to the ship or vice versa?
I know there's a bus for land/sea packages but can you still take it if you book seperately? Or is there another cheap way to go about it?

We're also booking the cruise and Resort seperately. Disney was goign to charge each family of four $236 for transportation. We are using Quicksilver that will be provide us transportation from the airport to the boat, boat to the resort and resort to the airport for $250 total. We have used Quicksilver several times and LOVED their service.

 

[tracyandalex]

we are thinking of going on a cruise in 2007 also, we want to do the 7 night western carribbean. any thought on the best time to go and is the travel insurance worth it?

thanks in advance,

tracy & alex

 

[HunnyPot]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Would it be cheaper to book the cruise and resort stay seperately, even if the room on the ship we want coincides with the resort we want?

 

[SpenceMan01]

For the 4 night cruise you arrive at WDW on a Thursday and cruise Sunday through the following Thursday.

For the 3 night cruise you arrive at WDW on Sunday and cruise Thursday through the following Sunday.

Yep. Just checked the DCL site. I stand corrected.

SpenceMan01, I was just wondering if you book the cruise and park seperately, how do you get from the resort to the ship or vice versa?
I know there's a bus for land/sea packages but can you still take it if you book seperately? Or is there another cheap way to go about it?

Yes you can still take the Disney bus. In fact, that's what we're doing. We're staying at POR before the cruise and AKL for a couple nights after. I just left transfers off when I booked online, then I called and talked to someone and had them add them. You just have to tell them where you want to be picked up and where you want to be dropped off. I assume that they can drop you off at the airport after the cruise if you're not returning to WDW, but I'd double check with DCL on that.

The only catch is that you have to pay for each individual leg. Good news is that it's only a couple bucks (literally) more per person than if you bought them as a round trip. I think we had to do that because of different pickup and dropoff points.

we are thinking of going on a cruise in 2007 also, we want to do the 7 night western carribbean. any thought on the best time to go and is the travel insurance worth it?

We steered clear of DCL's insurance at the suggestion of MouseSavers ( http://www.mousesavers.com/dcladvice.html#tripins ). We went with one from Insuremytrip.com and saved about $50 for the two of us and had the same (or better) coverage.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Would it be cheaper to book the cruise and resort stay seperately, even if the room on the ship we want coincides with the resort we want?

I'd price it out both ways. The main cost reason I booked separately is because I am AAA and I'll be getting the room-only discount on the hotel portion of the trip.

 

[momrek06]

We're in the planning stage of our next Disney vacation, in 2007, and are thinking of possibly taking a cruise. We would most likely do the land/sea where you stay @ WDW first and then cruise. For those who have done this, was it worth it? Also, we LOVED having the dining plan on our last trip. Is it possible to add dining to the trip? I know it's included on the cruise, but can we add the plan to our resort stay? I wasn't sure, because I don't think we would have a typical magic your way pass with the cruise also. Any info, advice, or opinions would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance! :wave:

HELLO! To the OP: DH & I just did the 7 day land and sea. We had a FABULOUS time. We re-booked a 7 day Eastern Caribbean for Feb 2007! Now everyone has given you wonderful info EXCEPT one important thing....the DISNEY DINING PLAN: If you book a PACKAGE through DISNEY the 7 day land and sea you do NOT qualify for the DDP. That is that! I booked and paid and then found all the DISNEY Message Boards and realized that you do NOT qualify when you book it as a PACKAGE. SIMPLE AS THAT. I called everyone from WDW to DCL inquiring and they all said the same thing....BOOK YOUR TRIP SEPARATELY, book land and then book sea and you will qualify for the DDP. At that point I loved my cabin and I did not want to LOSE that cabin if I canceled and re-booked everything separately. But if I can pass this info on to anyone else, I am happy. I really think DH & I were the only ones in the PARKS that did not have a DDP CARD........hhhmmmm!!!:wave:

 

[Feta]

I would have to say no to Cruise. Although I enjoyed some of his work in year's past (like Interview with the Vampire), his later work has been unimpressive. What really drives me crazy is this whole Scientology thing. Why did he freak out on poor Matt Lauer? And what's up with this whole Katie Holmes thing - I bet the rumors are true. I wonder how much he had to pay her? I sure didn't buy his "performance" on Oprah.

So, to sum up - definitely NO CRUISE!!!

 

[Kadee]

HELLO! To the OP: DH & I just did the 7 day land and sea. We had a FABULOUS time. We re-booked a 7 day Eastern Caribbean for Feb 2007! Now everyone has given you wonderful info EXCEPT one important thing....the DISNEY DINING PLAN: If you book a PACKAGE through DISNEY the 7 day land and sea you do NOT qualify for the DDP. That is that! I booked and paid and then found all the DISNEY Message Boards and realized that you do NOT qualify when you book it as a PACKAGE. SIMPLE AS THAT. I called everyone from WDW to DCL inquiring and they all said the same thing....BOOK YOUR TRIP SEPARATELY, book land and then book sea and you will qualify for the DDP. At that point I loved my cabin and I did not want to LOSE that cabin if I canceled and re-booked everything separately. But if I can pass this info on to anyone else, I am happy. I really think DH & I were the only ones in the PARKS that did not have a DDP CARD........hhhmmmm!!!:wave:

Great advice. We have thought about doing the cruise thing, so I will definitely remember this when we do. Thanks!

 

[HunnyPot]

HELLO! To the OP: DH & I just did the 7 day land and sea. We had a FABULOUS time. We re-booked a 7 day Eastern Caribbean for Feb 2007! Now everyone has given you wonderful info EXCEPT one important thing....the DISNEY DINING PLAN: If you book a PACKAGE through DISNEY the 7 day land and sea you do NOT qualify for the DDP. That is that! I booked and paid and then found all the DISNEY Message Boards and realized that you do NOT qualify when you book it as a PACKAGE. SIMPLE AS THAT. I called everyone from WDW to DCL inquiring and they all said the same thing....BOOK YOUR TRIP SEPARATELY, book land and then book sea and you will qualify for the DDP. At that point I loved my cabin and I did not want to LOSE that cabin if I canceled and re-booked everything separately. But if I can pass this info on to anyone else, I am happy. I really think DH & I were the only ones in the PARKS that did not have a DDP CARD........hhhmmmm!!!:wave:

Thank you so much! I appreciate it! I will probably book seperately then, because we really loved having the dining plan, and hope to never have to go to Disney without it! Again, thank you!