With the land/sea packages, the type of resort you will be in is tied to the level of stateroom that you will be cruising in. Those staying in Categories 12 thru 8 (the least expensive staterooms) have their choice from the moderate resorts. Those in Categories 7 thru 4 are offered their choice of deluxe hotels, but cannot choose the GF. Those in Categories 3 and above are offered land accommodations in the GF.
You can get better prices for your land portion of the trip if you choose to go with a value resort instead of a moderate or a moderate instead of a deluxe. You'll even do better if you have a room-only code for your stay, since the "value" of your land portion is based on rack rates. You might even want to extend that land portion by a few days if you can get a good rate. Or you may want to make a reservation at a hotel in Port Canaveral for the night before you cruise so that you're already at the port on the morning of departure.
You will also save money by purchasing PHs or PHPs instead of the the the UPHs that come with the package. Chances are very good that you will have little or no time to visit the parks on your embarkation day. The port is a 1-hour drive from WDW and you will want to be there well before the 1pm checkin time. Lines form early and many cruisers like to get aboard as early as possible in order to have lunch, get oriented and make dinner reservations at Palo's.
The Disney transportation from portal to portal is wonderful and they do handle all of your baggage very efficiently. However, for the cost, you could rent a car and park it in the parking lot at the port for the same or less. That allows you the freedom of having your own transportation while in WDW and you will not have to rely on Disney's schedule to get you to your destinations.
Finally, BOOK YOU OWN AIRFARE! I live very close to the Philadelphia airport, which offers many direct flights to MCO as well as connecting flights in major airports like Charlotte and Atlanta. The first cruise that DH and I did (not a
Disney cruise) was booked thru a package which included the airfare. They put us on some little two-prop plane to fly from Philly to Dulles in Washington DC. The flight took longer than it would have taken us to drive the distance! We then connected in Dulles to a jet that took us to MCO. I swore I would never purchase airfare as part of a package again! You loose too much control over your travel and the two-prop gave both of us pounding headaches that pretty much ruined our day.
We've done the Disney cruise twice and loved it! I'd do it a 3rd time but the costs are pretty hefty, even though you are getting 3 great meals per day and your entertainment is included.
