1/21/12 Western Caribbean Cruise

[Loriekins]

Mine have NO CLUE yet that we are going! I honestly wonder how I am going to keep it so secrative until Christmas!

My boys are the least of my concern, its the girl I worry about, she has some anxiety leaving her mommy!

There is no way I could keep a secret from my kid. lol
My son would not go to the kids group when we went in January. He just hung out at the basketball court, pool & with us.


"oh ya, the DH wants to know if anyone has golfed in Cozumel or Grand Caymen, and if he should pack his own clubs and or rent them! And if they have whether or not he should plan his own adventure or do one with Disney?"

Never been to Cozumel or Grand Caymen, so I can't help you but I would look at the price of renting them. Will be a pain to bring your own clubs & not much room in your stateroom to store them. We haven't decided yet on our excursions.

 

[Cheerio]

My kiddos won't know until Christmas either! It's been tough because sometimes they have almost busted me on the Dis! I have to be careful to close the window before I walk away from my laptop They will be so excited!

 

[cojo75]

I would rather him rent them too. I dont even want to think about hauling them through the airport! lol....
I see you are from Ontario too, are you flying, or are you driving? We are scoping out flights right now, and debating flying from Buffalo, Detroit or Toronto!

 

[SuzyL]

I just booked yesterday. This is my first post and my first cruise. We will be travelling with a 11 year old boy, a 10 year old boy and a 9 year old girl!!!! They dont know about it yet, its their Christmas present!

We are waiting until Christmas to tell our kids as well. I didn't think it would be this hard keeping it a secret from them! My daughter is 9 turning 10 in September. She will be excited to meet other girls her age on the cruise. I think someone else on this cruise has a daughter around the same age.

 

[Cheerio]

I would rather him rent them too. I dont even want to think about hauling them through the airport! lol....
I see you are from Ontario too, are you flying, or are you driving? We are scoping out flights right now, and debating flying from Buffalo, Detroit or Toronto!

We are probably going to fly from Buffalo, only Toronto if it's a good price. Where in Ontario are you, we are in Whitby.

 

[cojo75]

We are in London, so just a few hours from 3 major airports.

I am hoping there are a few girls my Abbys age! She gets bored the boys! lol

 

[exnihilio13]

We are probably going to fly from Buffalo, only Toronto if it's a good price. Where in Ontario are you, we are in Whitby.

We're in Ottawa and trying to debate if it'll be with the extra drive to Buffalo or even Toronto. DS can keep busy in the truck for hours but DD...not so much. Then again she'll be a couple weeks shy of 2 by then so she may be potable dvd player-able by then. Is there really that big a savings flying out of Buffalo?

 

[Cheerio]

Right now Buffalo is about $1500 for flights for 7, keeping an eye on Jet Blue and Southwest, neither of their January fares have been released Toronto is $2800! Huge savings even with gas and parking factored in there!

 

[Loriekins]

On our last cruise, our dinner mates were from the Toronto area. They said it was a lot cheaper for them to fly out of Buffalo than the airport near them.

 

[exnihilio13]

Right now Buffalo is about $1500 for flights for 7, keeping an eye on Jet Blue and Southwest, neither of their January fares have been released Toronto is $2800! Huge savings even with gas and parking factored in there!

Yup...big savings for sure. About $900 cheaper for us to fly out of Buffalo..the hitches being:
6 hour drive
Likely need to stop at a hotel due to under 2 year old so wouldn't be able to drive and fly the same day.
And gas as well.
No sure if it's worth it in the end. Whereas we fly out of Ottawa and it's an 11:30-2:45 direct flight and 1:45-4:35 home flight and drive to airport is 30 minutes from our house.
Paying for convenience I guess
Toronto is actually no cheaper for us that Ottawa.
Thanks for the heads up though..didn't realize HOW MUCH cheaper Buffalo was. Maybe once the kids are older...

ex

 

[cojo75]

When you guys fly in from Canada, do you arrive the night before? And if so do you rent a car and drive to Port, take a shuttle, or find a hotel that offers a shuttle? I have found a deal through the Wyndham, in Orlando, but not sure as to whether or not that is a convenient location to stop and get booze, and groceries etc...

 

[Cheerio]

Yup...big savings for sure. About $900 cheaper for us to fly out of Buffalo..the hitches being:
6 hour drive
Likely need to stop at a hotel due to under 2 year old so wouldn't be able to drive and fly the same day.
And gas as well.
No sure if it's worth it in the end. Whereas we fly out of Ottawa and it's an 11:30-2:45 direct flight and 1:45-4:35 home flight and drive to airport is 30 minutes from our house.
Paying for convenience I guess
Toronto is actually no cheaper for us that Ottawa.
Thanks for the heads up though..didn't realize HOW MUCH cheaper Buffalo was. Maybe once the kids are older...

ex

Yeah, the morning flights from Buffalo are cheapest which means we'd have to factor in a hotel for the Thursday night.

I'd stay in Ottawa, so not worth the drive - plus with snow that can easily double in drive time

 

[Cheerio]

When you guys fly in from Canada, do you arrive the night before? And if so do you rent a car and drive to Port, take a shuttle, or find a hotel that offers a shuttle? I have found a deal through the Wyndham, in Orlando, but not sure as to whether or not that is a convenient location to stop and get booze, and groceries etc...

I can't decide which is better. We will either stay by the airport (taking a free shuttle to the hotel) and get a limo on the Saturday to the port OR will rent a car, stay near the port and return the car once the family is at the port on Saturday. I think it depends on hotel prices, and car rental prices as it gets closer.

 

[exnihilio13]

Originally Posted by cojo75
When you guys fly in from Canada, do you arrive the night before? And if so do you rent a car and drive to Port, take a shuttle, or find a hotel that offers a shuttle? I have found a deal through the Wyndham, in Orlando, but not sure as to whether or not that is a convenient location to stop and get booze, and groceries etc...

I can't decide which is better. We will either stay by the airport (taking a free shuttle to the hotel) and get a limo on the Saturday to the port OR will rent a car, stay near the port and return the car once the family is at the port on Saturday. I think it depends on hotel prices, and car rental prices as it gets closer.

With Ontario January weather...get there the day before. You just never know what delays, cancellations, etc you could run into and 24 hours gives you the buffer and makes things less rushed the day of the cruise. Also gives that window for picking up forgotten items, booze, having a good lunch before boarding, etc.
We plan on staying in an Orlando hotel night before cruise and likely night after as well. Less hurried for the plane and maybe do some outlet shopping or something.
Haven't started checking into hotels much yet though but really anything nearby-ish the airport should amount to about an hour's drive for car service (and there's been a few services recently floated on the boards but don't recall the names off hand)

ex

 

[tggrrstarr]

So what excursions is everyone looking at? I'm thinking about just taking a taxi to the beach at Grand Cayman but there are just too many choices for Cozumel! We definitely want to check out one of the ruins excursions.

 

[Loriekins]

So what excursions is everyone looking at? I'm thinking about just taking a taxi to the beach at Grand Cayman but there are just too many choices for Cozumel! We definitely want to check out one of the ruins excursions.

That is a really good question! I told my hubby we need to decide by our check in date end of October. We were talking to CM's, Stateroom hostess & severs on our last cruise about our up coming cruise. Everyone said that GC is a great beach place & Cozumel is a great shopping place (good beaches too). I've heard wonderful things about Seven Mile beach. We aren't going to do an excursion at Key West, unless we do the tour (wouldn't do it through Disney though), probably just wonder around.

 

[SuzyL]

So what excursions is everyone looking at? I'm thinking about just taking a taxi to the beach at Grand Cayman but there are just too many choices for Cozumel! We definitely want to check out one of the ruins excursions.

We did the Tulum excursion several years ago. I enjoyed them, but my husband wasn't as thrilled as I was. I don't think we will do any excursions in Cozumel, my son is too young for most of them. One of my co-workers went to Grand Cayman in January and gave me a list of things to do. She said Stingray City was fun. I can pm you the other ones she suggested. We bought our kids snorkel sets so we will either snorkel on our own or walk around Key West, Cozumel and Castaway Cay.

 

[exnihilio13]

Pretty cool thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2749661
Not that I'm concerned about lifelong freindships or anything but I do dig the fact that there was kinda an extra level of familiarity and opportunity for participation in the cruise and facebook group was part of it.
Think I'll probably fire up a group closer to the cruise date in the fall (since there may be some that change dates, have to cancel, etc). Cool option to have and kinda adds a more interactive precruise option to get to know each other a bit.

Any rate...neat to read about the DIS group element adding so much to it.

ex

 

[Cheerio]

That's awesome, I'm all for that let me know when you start it! We have the excel list to invite those who are already coming

 

[tggrrstarr]

I had seen that thread, it's really cool. Let's do it! I think September is a good start time, four months should be enough time to plan stuff, unless you think we'll need more time.