What part of holiday do you cruise? - The DIS Discussion Forums

Muscateer · 11-09-2009, 03:53 AM

Hi all

Just wondered what part of your holiday do you tend to cruise? Beginning, middle or end.

I would imagine cruising halfway through your holiday would mean checking out of your hotel and back in again after cruise. Seems a bit of a hassle so would probably tend to go for end.

When you end your cruise is there plenty time in the day to get your flight home at night or do you need to have a night's stay in a hotel?

Last question, do you book your cruise separate to your WDW holiday or can you do the whole package?

Sorry for the blonde questions but have never done a cruise and would love to coincide it with my next visit to WDW.

TIA

Ware Bears · 11-09-2009, 04:06 AM

We're doing our first Disney cruise this time and are going towards the start of our holiday. Our first choice would have been bang in the middle but the prices were doubled as it was then Christmas/New Year so we opted for an earlier one and are having 3 full days before we cruise then we will have 10 days in Orlando afterwards.

We will still have our hotel room in Orlando as it is an inexpensive off-site one booked as part of a package which is nice as it means we won't have to take everything on the boat. We have booked the cruise separately to the rest of our holiday.

Whilst researching on the DIS

I picked up that many people said it can be very depressing to fly straight home from a cruise so if you can manage at least one night in Orlando before you fly home that might lessen the blow.

wayneg · 11-09-2009, 04:21 AM

Its difficult because we don't like all the changing from hotel to cruise and back to hotel but would rather do that than straight from port to airport, after the cruise we like at least 1 park day(MK) to end the holiday. This August we managed 2 days after, off ship Saturday flew home Monday.
Many go straight from ship to plane but its your choice, agree we would find that depressing.
We have always cruised later in holiday purely down to cost, later in hol has always been cheaper, this August cruise on the 17th Aug (Eastern) would have cost is $4k, leaving it until 22nd (Western) $3k. $1k cheaper. but as with Elaine above it can work other way.
I always book cruise seperate either direct with Disneycruiseline.com or with Dreamsunlimitedtravel.com to get extra onboard credit. For Royal Caribbean I have used thomascook.com/cruise/ & cruisedirect.com

Pinky166 · 11-09-2009, 05:05 AM

We did our first dcl cruise in September. I like staying in different hotels although packing is a pain but we spent 13 nights in OKW then 4 nights on the cruise & then 4 nights at the Poly after.

If you stay at two Disney resorts then you can do what we did and packed one case with cruise stuff then the other luggage was stored & transferred from OKW to the Poly.

Pooh's-Honey-Pot · 11-09-2009, 11:59 AM

We did the cruise for the last week of our holiday, purposefully as we thought we would be so fat from the 24 hour eating on board that we wouldn't fit in our shorts and skimpy tops for the parks if we did them after (that's sad but true!!!)!!!!!

We bought three week disney park tickets from Virgin (as we had 2 weeks in Disney first, and the two week tickets we're only £10 cheaper); we made sure we were first off the boat that morning, and booked the latest flight home (7.30pm I think). We dropped our cases at DTD, and were in MK by 10.30am to say "bye" for a couple of hours, and then headed to Epcot for the afternoon! We were really pleased with the way it worked out!

~Piglet~ · 11-09-2009, 03:40 PM

We're doing our first Disney cruise next May, after spending 17 days in Orlando. We are flying straight home that night on an evening flight, and the reasoning behind it is that I tend to suffer for a couple of days after being on a boat (I still feel like I am bobbing up and down on the water!) and to a lesser extent when I fly, so I would rather fly straight home on the same day and have both types of motion sickness together

I booked my cruise separately through Dreams Unlimited - but I also booked the rest of the holiday (flights, hotel) separately too

Melcatfish · 11-09-2009, 07:23 PM

Like Wayne we find that towards the end of the holiday is cheaper as we have been in August and US schools go back mid August ish.

We cruises exactly half way through last time as we were switching hotels anyway so we did 5 nights at OKW with free dining, 7 night cruise then 5 nights in a villa.

When we cruised before we only did three nights in the last week of a three week villa stay. We didn't pack up everything but obviously took all valuables - our villa hire included the time we were away as it was a short cruise.

Next year we are dispensing with WDW and just doing a Disney Cruise as it suits our family at the moment to do that so the cruise will BE our holiday!

Mel
x

Muscateer · 11-09-2009, 11:33 PM

Thank you all for your replies and you have given some ideas to think about.

It seems as though alot of you book WDW separate too rather than going through a package company. Do you book the hotels direct or is there a good website to use?

I have only ever booked through Virgin hols or Thomas Cook so if I can get a better deal going direct that would be brilliant

. All the more spending money for me

natalielongstaff · 11-10-2009, 02:43 AM

We cruised at the end of our holiday and had our last night at Bay lake towers, it was a great end to the trip

wayneg · 11-10-2009, 04:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Muscateer

It seems as though alot of you book WDW separate too rather than going through a package company. Do you book the hotels direct or is there a good website to use?

I have only ever booked through Virgin hols or Thomas Cook so if I can get a better deal going direct that would be brilliant

. All the more spending money for me

If its a Disney hotel see what offers Disney.co.uk are offering for your dates, for us in August we can stay at OKW with free DDP(3 adults) for £100/night, Disney.com its $295+tax/night, a lot more. Also check package prices but they are rarely cheaper. For us next August Virgin want £5,800 for a 21 night trip to OKW, DIY I am expecting to do it for about £3,800(or less) but willing to do indirect flights.

If you want offsite hotel try travelsupermarket.com to start.

Muscateer · 11-10-2009, 04:56 AM

Thanks Wayneg. Will definetely be staying in a Disney Hotel so will go and have a look at Disney.co.uk and Disney.com.

I did offsite a couple years ago after my last two trips to Disney hotels and I really felt so hard done by and vowed always to stay onsite again.

amystevekai&bump · 11-10-2009, 08:05 AM

we always do ours in the middle - and having seen all the sad faces getting off the cruise ship who were all headed to the aiport

-It made us decide that we never want to feel like that - it's bad enough getting off the boat, but I feel it would be a lot harder with nothing but the flight home to look forward to!!

Next year we are staying onsite at WDW before the cruise (and using the Magical Express and DCL buses for the fist time) and then we have our onsite Universal hotel to look forward to after the cruise. We worked out last year that everyone who advised us to end our holiday at UO was correct - we definitely see the FOTL access and the relaxation of the HRH as a perfect end to our trip!!!

Hope that gives you some more ideas!!

wilma-bride · 11-12-2009, 05:40 AM

It's worth noting that if you are staying onsite, even if you are changing hotels (or not) you can ask them to store and/or transfer any luggage you don't want to take on the cruise with you.

Because we cruised towards the end of our holiday this time, we packed a couple of cases to take on the cruise with us and the other three we left with bell services, who stored them and transferred them to Bay Lake Tower for us. When we arrived at BLT, it was a simple case of calling bell services and asking for our cases to be delivered to the room (although, with the benefit of hindsight, we probably should have just left them as we didn't touch them between then and travelling home the next day).

jns · 11-12-2009, 06:26 AM

we have done it all ways
too much packing and unpacking for a cruise in the middle
I think last time was best
cruised at the end it was nice to relaxe after 10 days in the parks
had an 6pm flight home same day as we got off the ship spent the day at Kennedy space center

but as with every holiday it all depends on the cost of things we are lucky that we can be quite felixable with our holidays dates

UKDEB · 11-12-2009, 06:17 PM

I'm a bit late to this, but I've always said I can't imagine anything worse than disembarking and heading straight for the airport. The one time we cruised DCL we did it mid-trip. My ideal, assuming a two or three week trip, would be 3 days at WDW, 4 cruising, then back and settled in Orlando.

11-09-2009, 03:53 AM	#1
Muscateer DIS Veteran Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Muscat, Oman Posts: 2,114	What part of holiday do you cruise? Hi all Just wondered what part of your holiday do you tend to cruise? Beginning, middle or end. I would imagine cruising halfway through your holiday would mean checking out of your hotel and back in again after cruise. Seems a bit of a hassle so would probably tend to go for end. When you end your cruise is there plenty time in the day to get your flight home at night or do you need to have a night's stay in a hotel? Last question, do you book your cruise separate to your WDW holiday or can you do the whole package? Sorry for the blonde questions but have never done a cruise and would love to coincide it with my next visit to WDW. TIA __________________ Sadie

11-09-2009, 04:06 AM	#2
Ware Bears Elvis Fan Fridge Magnet hoarder Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: England's Sunny South Coast Posts: 17,963	We're doing our first Disney cruise this time and are going towards the start of our holiday. Our first choice would have been bang in the middle but the prices were doubled as it was then Christmas/New Year so we opted for an earlier one and are having 3 full days before we cruise then we will have 10 days in Orlando afterwards. We will still have our hotel room in Orlando as it is an inexpensive off-site one booked as part of a package which is nice as it means we won't have to take everything on the boat. We have booked the cruise separately to the rest of our holiday. Whilst researching on the DIS I picked up that many people said it can be very depressing to fly straight home from a cruise so if you can manage at least one night in Orlando before you fly home that might lessen the blow. __________________ Elaine WDW Holiday Inn Nikki Bird Easter 2004 ~ DLRP Explorers August 2005 ~ DLRP Explorers Christmas 2005 ~ DLRP Explorers August 2006 ~ WDW Comfort Suites Maingate East / Grand Plaza, St Pete Beach Easter 2007 ~ DLRP Explorers Halloween 2007 ~ DLRP Explorers August 2008 ~ WDW Comfort Suites Maingate East / Disney Wonder / Yacht Club Christmas 2009 New Year 2010 Moderator Disneyland Paris Last edited by Ware Bears; 11-09-2009 at 04:30 AM.

11-09-2009, 04:21 AM	#3
wayneg VMK AceCaptainWayne Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Dewsbury, UK Posts: 11,093	Its difficult because we don't like all the changing from hotel to cruise and back to hotel but would rather do that than straight from port to airport, after the cruise we like at least 1 park day(MK) to end the holiday. This August we managed 2 days after, off ship Saturday flew home Monday. Many go straight from ship to plane but its your choice, agree we would find that depressing. We have always cruised later in holiday purely down to cost, later in hol has always been cheaper, this August cruise on the 17th Aug (Eastern) would have cost is $4k, leaving it until 22nd (Western) $3k. $1k cheaper. but as with Elaine above it can work other way. I always book cruise seperate either direct with Disneycruiseline.com or with Dreamsunlimitedtravel.com to get extra onboard credit. For Royal Caribbean I have used thomascook.com/cruise/ & cruisedirect.com __________________ 1993Travelodge Maingate East,1997Holiday Inn Nikki Bird,1999Sheraton 4 Points/Clearwater Hilton, 2000(Xmas) Disney’s ASMo 2001Travelodge Maingate East, 2002 NYC Crowne Plaza Times Sq./Orlando Sheraton World Resort 2003(Aug) La Quinta Lakeside 2003(Oct) Disney Wonder +Raddison Parkway2004(Oct) Disney Magic + Homewood Suites, 2004(Xmas) Hilton DTD 2005(Oct) Disney Magic + BW Lakeside, 2005 (Xmas) BW Lakeside, 2006(Aug) Courtyard By Marriott LBV + 1st RCCL cruise, 2006(Oct) Disneyland, Cailfornia Howard Johnson, 2006(Xmas)Comfort Inn LBV,2007(Easter)Fairfield Inn, Marriott Village 2007(Aug)Courtyard By Marriott LBV, 2007(Oct) Disneyland CA, HoJo/Vegas, Flamingo,2008(Easter) Windsor Hills, Disney Wonder, Fairfield Inn 2008(Aug)Country Inn, 2nd RCCL, AKL, 2008(Oct)& 2008(Xmas)Fairfield Inn, 2009(May)Country Inn 2009(Aug)OKW, Disney Magic, Regal Sun 2010(Easter) Hampton Inn LBV 2010(Aug) Royal Pacific & OKW 2011 (Aug)Disney Dream

11-09-2009, 05:05 AM	#4
Pinky166 a little on the OCD side very impulsive, which doesn’t bode well for our credit cards! Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Herts, England Posts: 9,806	We did our first dcl cruise in September. I like staying in different hotels although packing is a pain but we spent 13 nights in OKW then 4 nights on the cruise & then 4 nights at the Poly after. If you stay at two Disney resorts then you can do what we did and packed one case with cruise stuff then the other luggage was stored & transferred from OKW to the Poly. __________________ Claire x Here Come the Girls! - Pre Trip Report It's a "Wonder" I survived! = September 2009 Trip Report - Work in progress! Getting ill with the Maguire's! = December 2008 Trip Report - Completed Sept 2000 - Offsite, Sept 2002 - Offsite, Sept 2003 - AKL, Sept/Oct 2006 - Univ PBR, June 2008 - DLRP, Hotel NY, Dec 2008 - Univ HRH, WL & YC, Sept 2009 - OKW, 4 Night Cruise & Poly, June 2010 - Bay Lake Tower, Girls only! January 2011 - Inaugural Dream Cruise, August 2011 - 7 Night Alaskan Cruise My DIS/I.C.E buddy is Rachel (jjk)

11-09-2009, 11:59 AM	#5
Pooh's-Honey-Pot Disney Bride June 19th 2006 Join Date: May 2007 Location: Norwich, England Posts: 1,787	We did the cruise for the last week of our holiday, purposefully as we thought we would be so fat from the 24 hour eating on board that we wouldn't fit in our shorts and skimpy tops for the parks if we did them after (that's sad but true!!!)!!!!! We bought three week disney park tickets from Virgin (as we had 2 weeks in Disney first, and the two week tickets we're only £10 cheaper); we made sure we were first off the boat that morning, and booked the latest flight home (7.30pm I think). We dropped our cases at DTD, and were in MK by 10.30am to say "bye" for a couple of hours, and then headed to Epcot for the afternoon! We were really pleased with the way it worked out! __________________ Sonya Tony and dogs Wilbur & Milly Disney trips:- 1989 - WDW Off Site; 1990 - DLR off site; 1997 - Disneyland Paris off site; 1997 -WDW off site; 2002 - WDW off site; 2003 - WDW off site; 2005 - WDW AS Movies; 2006 - WDW CBR (Disneymoon and Disney Wedding Pavillion Bride!); 2007 -DLR off site; 2008 - WDW POFQ; 2009 - DCL-A week on the Disney Magic (Western) + WDW POFQ; 2010 - Disneyland Paris Hotel Cheyenne; 2010 - WDW Saratoga Springs Resort Take a peek at my 2009 reviews "But We Haven't Lost Last Years Weight Yet"! http://www.disboards.com/showthread....5#post32039625 Check out my 2008 food report "Gluttony . . . Pure Gluttony" http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1837106

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11-09-2009, 03:40 PM	#6
~Piglet~ Mouseketeer Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Wirral, UK Posts: 480	We're doing our first Disney cruise next May, after spending 17 days in Orlando. We are flying straight home that night on an evening flight, and the reasoning behind it is that I tend to suffer for a couple of days after being on a boat (I still feel like I am bobbing up and down on the water!) and to a lesser extent when I fly, so I would rather fly straight home on the same day and have both types of motion sickness together I booked my cruise separately through Dreams Unlimited - but I also booked the rest of the holiday (flights, hotel) separately too __________________ Alison May 2005 - 18 days, 2 weeks at Pop Century and 4 days Gulf Coast 2006 Had a little Princess of my own Sept 2007 Dominican Republic - my Sister's Wedding April / May 2010 - 3 weeks including our Wedding - 10 days at the Pop, 7 days POR & 4 nights Honeymoon onboard the Disney Wonder

11-09-2009, 07:23 PM	#7
Melcatfish In full planning mode! Just one more victim of a drive-by tag attack Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Essex Posts: 931	Like Wayne we find that towards the end of the holiday is cheaper as we have been in August and US schools go back mid August ish. We cruises exactly half way through last time as we were switching hotels anyway so we did 5 nights at OKW with free dining, 7 night cruise then 5 nights in a villa. When we cruised before we only did three nights in the last week of a three week villa stay. We didn't pack up everything but obviously took all valuables - our villa hire included the time we were away as it was a short cruise. Next year we are dispensing with WDW and just doing a Disney Cruise as it suits our family at the moment to do that so the cruise will BE our holiday! Mel x __________________ Wishing and Waiting For 2012 Itinerary Announcement - Hoping for a Baltic Return in 2012!

11-09-2009, 11:33 PM	#8
Muscateer DIS Veteran Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Muscat, Oman Posts: 2,114	Thank you all for your replies and you have given some ideas to think about. It seems as though alot of you book WDW separate too rather than going through a package company. Do you book the hotels direct or is there a good website to use? I have only ever booked through Virgin hols or Thomas Cook so if I can get a better deal going direct that would be brilliant. All the more spending money for me __________________ Sadie

11-10-2009, 02:43 AM	#9
natalielongstaff I need a cup of tea and a big bar of free chocolate nowI will be back later too stalk some more Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: leicestershire,england Posts: 71,510	We cruised at the end of our holiday and had our last night at Bay lake towers, it was a great end to the trip __________________ April 2003 DLRP, November 2004 WDW and Barbados, September 2005 WDW, September 2007 WDW,October 2009 WDW

11-10-2009, 04:56 AM	#11
Muscateer DIS Veteran Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Muscat, Oman Posts: 2,114	Thanks Wayneg. Will definetely be staying in a Disney Hotel so will go and have a look at Disney.co.uk and Disney.com. I did offsite a couple years ago after my last two trips to Disney hotels and I really felt so hard done by and vowed always to stay onsite again. __________________ Sadie

11-10-2009, 08:05 AM	#12
amystevekai&bump DIS Veteran Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Exeter, Devon, UK Posts: 2,653	we always do ours in the middle - and having seen all the sad faces getting off the cruise ship who were all headed to the aiport -It made us decide that we never want to feel like that - it's bad enough getting off the boat, but I feel it would be a lot harder with nothing but the flight home to look forward to!! Next year we are staying onsite at WDW before the cruise (and using the Magical Express and DCL buses for the fist time) and then we have our onsite Universal hotel to look forward to after the cruise. We worked out last year that everyone who advised us to end our holiday at UO was correct - we definitely see the FOTL access and the relaxation of the HRH as a perfect end to our trip!!! Hope that gives you some more ideas!! __________________ Amy x Dec 2010 - nearly 4 weeks!! -(7 nt BLT(MK View!!)/ 5 nt AKV (savannah view)/ 7 nt DCL ( for Xmas!) /7nt HRH(for New Year!)) Between Oct 1979 & May 2008 - approx 24 trips (including Disney Wonder x 2, Polynesian, Animal Kingdom Lodge (Savannah View), Contemporary Resort, Grand Floridian, Caribbean Beach Resort, Coronado Springs, All Stars Sports, off site hotels (inc Hard Rock hotel!!) and villas) PLUS - DLP x 8 visits & Disneyland California x 1 visit - And our 1998 Disney Wedding at the Wedding Pavillion!!

11-12-2009, 05:40 AM	#13
wilma-bride Would love a diet on Cadbury Flakes Admits she's strange when it comes to eggs Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Calne, Wiltshire Posts: 12,189	It's worth noting that if you are staying onsite, even if you are changing hotels (or not) you can ask them to store and/or transfer any luggage you don't want to take on the cruise with you. Because we cruised towards the end of our holiday this time, we packed a couple of cases to take on the cruise with us and the other three we left with bell services, who stored them and transferred them to Bay Lake Tower for us. When we arrived at BLT, it was a simple case of calling bell services and asking for our cases to be delivered to the room (although, with the benefit of hindsight, we probably should have just left them as we didn't touch them between then and travelling home the next day). __________________ Joh Fred and Wilma Go On Honeymoon Fred and Wilma Second Time Around Fred and Wilma and the Girls Came Too Fred, Wilma and Friends February Fun & Frolics Fred and Wilma do DVC, DCL & DDP - The Food Fred, Wilma and Family do Disney Bad Mothers Handbook - a work in progress Nat and Joh make a (food) Porno

11-12-2009, 06:26 AM	#14
jns Tries hard to get the jelly off Jaffa Cakes without breaking it!!!! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Donegal Ireland Posts: 9,155	we have done it all ways too much packing and unpacking for a cruise in the middle I think last time was best cruised at the end it was nice to relaxe after 10 days in the parks had an 6pm flight home same day as we got off the ship spent the day at Kennedy space center but as with every holiday it all depends on the cost of things we are lucky that we can be quite felixable with our holidays dates __________________ 1997 Dixie Landing and St Petes beach 1999 All Stars Sports 2002 Amerisuites and Beach Club 2004 Port Orleans Riverside and All Star Sports 2005 Port Orleans Riverside and The Contemporary 2006 New York , Pop Century, Disney Wonder and Port Orleans Riverside 2007 Animal Kingdom , Disney Magic , Saratoga Springs and New York 2008 DLRP Santa Fa , Beachclub Villas, Wilderness Lodge ,Disney Magic and New York 2009 BayLake Towers, Beachclub Villas and Disney Wonder *We now know the secert* too!! Trip report 2006 Trip Report 2008 WDW / DCL**

11-12-2009, 06:17 PM	#15
UKDEB Found the Tag Fairy's hangout All whacked up on Scooby Snacks Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Gloucester, UK Posts: 10,938	I'm a bit late to this, but I've always said I can't imagine anything worse than disembarking and heading straight for the airport. The one time we cruised DCL we did it mid-trip. My ideal, assuming a two or three week trip, would be 3 days at WDW, 4 cruising, then back and settled in Orlando. __________________ October 1992 ~ Enclave Suites, I-Drive May 1996 ~ Omni Rosen, I-Drive October 1998 ~ Villa-Clear Creek August 2000 ~ Beach Club/Villa-Sunset Lakes July 2001 ~ Animal Kingdom Lodge/Hard Rock Hotel/Villa-Formosa Gdns Christmas 2001 ~ Villa-Formosa Gardens October 2002 ~ Hard Rock Hotel/Villa-Formosa Gdns May 2003 ~ Portofino Bay/Villa-Cumbrian Lakes January 2004 ~ Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes/Villa-Formosa Gardens July 2004 ~ Grand Floridian/Portofino Bay/Villa-Formosa Gardens December 2004 ~ Villa-Rolling Hills/Disney Wonder Cruise/BoardWalk Grand Villa/Contemporary April 2005 ~ Washington DC, Shenandoah, Blue Ridge Parkway, Charleston, Savannah, Royal Pacific Resort/Villa-Acadia Estates January 2006 ~ Reunion Resort/Royal Pacific Resort April 2006 ~ Celebration Hotel/NCL Jewel Cruise/Hotel Victor, Miami/Beach Cottage-Disney's Vero Beach October 2006 ~ Reunion Resort/BoardWalk Villa/Rosen Shingle Creek August 2007 ~ Saratoga Springs//Reunion Grande January 2008 ~ Saratoga Springs/Beach Club Villas/Reunion Resort November 2008 ~ BoardWalk Villas/Royal Pacific Resort/Saratoga Springs

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