4/20/2008, April 20, 2008 - Anyone with us?

[aa4mom]

I hope everyone had a great holiday season! I have started to buy some cruise stuff- I work at Kohls and they are having clearance sales on alot of summer stuff. Does anyone know what the weather is going to be like- I saw that Nassau will be warm, but what about the ocean?

I am glad we cancelled our Radisson reservations. We were flying into Orlando in the evening and I didn't want to get to Port Canaveral so late. We are staying in Orlando for the night, then getting to the port the next morning. The mode of transportation is still up in the air.

I have enjoyed the warm weather we had today and hope it lasts.

 

[Swimmergirl]

How is everyone planning to get to the port? My hubby and I are going to WDW for 3 nights prior to the cruise, and we're considering renting a car. I'm nervous about being able to find our way to the port and return the car and everything! I'm a little OCD about being late to things and its my biggest fear that we'll miss the boat! Anyone have experience driving to port? How are you all getting there?

 

[outahere]

How is everyone planning to get to the port? My hubby and I are going to WDW for 3 nights prior to the cruise, and we're considering renting a car. I'm nervous about being able to find our way to the port and return the car and everything! I'm a little OCD about being late to things and its my biggest fear that we'll miss the boat! Anyone have experience driving to port? How are you all getting there?

Getting to the port from Orlando is very easy, so no need to be nervous. The drive from WDW is a little over an hour, so you shouldn't have any problems making it on board on time. We have driven from Orlando several times, and never had any problems.

Dropping off at least one person and your luggage at the port, before returning your car is much easier. If you're using Budget, their shuttle can get pretty crowded, since they sometimes go to the other terminal prior to going to DCL. So..... if it's just a person with no luggage, it's much easier to get on.

Since we found out about the prom at the Radisson, I'm not sure where we'll stay the night before. That's on my to-do list today. We're flying in Friday evening and staying at the Hyatt that night, but would like to stay near the port on Saturday. Since we're staying in Orlando for a few days after the cruise, we're renting a car (Budget) and just parking it at the port. Since a weekly rental is usually less than two daily rate rentals, it worked out to be about the same amount of money. We did the same thing last April, and it was really nice to just walk across the street, jump in the car and be on our way.

 

[techdude]

Hello all! This will be the second cruise for my wife and me, but the first for our son who will be 2.5. Needless to say we're a bit nervous about cruising with such a young child (but not nervous enough that it kept us from booking. I'm not sure how he'll fit in age-wise with the on-board children's activities (if at all), but my parents are also joining us and I'm sure Nanna and Granddad won't mind watching him for a few hours so we can have some adult time.

We'll be spending 3 days in the parks prior to the cruise and are staying at Port Orleans Riverside. Looking forward to a great trip.

 

[outahere]

Hello all! This will be the second cruise for my wife and me, but the first for our son who will be 2.5. Needless to say we're a bit nervous about cruising with such a young child (but not nervous enough that it kept us from booking. I'm not sure how he'll fit in age-wise with the on-board children's activities (if at all), but my parents are also joining us and I'm sure Nanna and Granddad won't mind watching him for a few hours so we can have some adult time.

We'll be spending 3 days in the parks prior to the cruise and are staying at Port Orleans Riverside. Looking forward to a great trip.

Welcome Aboard........ and Welcome to the DIS!!

If you have any questions, just fire away. I'm sure someone around here will either know the answer or point you in the right direction.

 

[mommykds]

Even though you booked through a TA, you can still book excursions, Palo, etc. online. You will need your DCL reservation number to retrieve your reservation. The reason I mentioned being on board early if you can't get a ressie online is, since this is your first DCL cruise you won't be able to book anything until 75 days out, and paid in full (if you're staying in a suite you can book starting yesterday, Jan 6). Since concierge guests can book at 105 days out and Castaway Club guests can book at 90 days, some ressies are difficult to get online, at the 75 day mark. They do hold back a lot of ressies to be booked onboard, so getting there early is your best chance. Even if you don't get exactly what you want, they do keep a waiting list, and people cancel all the time.

Thank you!

For anyone planning on staying at the Radisson, the night before our cruise....

I just found out that the local high school prom is being held there that night (4/19). When we stayed there last April the prom was the night we stayed and it was pretty noisy until around 1:00am or so.

How is everyone planning to get to the port? My hubby and I are going to WDW for 3 nights prior to the cruise, and we're considering renting a car. I'm nervous about being able to find our way to the port and return the car and everything! I'm a little OCD about being late to things and its my biggest fear that we'll miss the boat! Anyone have experience driving to port? How are you all getting there?

We are planning on renting a car & keeping it until after the cruise. We are headed to Disneyworld after the cruise. I have to price out whats better to rent the car for a few days or the whole week.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I can't believe we can start booking excursions soon! We are going to stay onboard for Nassua, but definitely do the banana boat ride at Castaway Cay.

This is going to be the best vacation ever! 3 nights at Vero Beach, 4 nights on the cruise, and then 2 nights at AKV. Aaaah, can you say HEAVEN?

 

[aa4mom]

We stayed at Vero Beach last April. It was FANTASTIC!!!!!! We had perfect weather- hot and sunny!!! We did alot of nothing. Hung out by the pool and on the beach.

We are still trying to decide on what to do in Nassau. My husband feels since we are there, we should get off the boat and do something. We just haven't figured out what yet. The kids want to go to Atlantis, but dh and I are not water park people. We may just wing it when we get there- see what the weather is like.

 

[mommykds]

We are still trying to decide on what to do in Nassau. My husband feels since we are there, we should get off the boat and do something. We just haven't figured out what yet. The kids want to go to Atlantis, but dh and I are not water park people. We may just wing it when we get there- see what the weather is like.

We are thinking the same thing...we hadn't planned on getting off at Nassau.
If we did we were thinking of going to the pirate museum but probably not.

 

[outahere]

Right now, we're considering the pirate museum and maybe a carriage ride. But..... that is subject to change, depending on the weather and how lazy we feel. We went to Atlantis and toured the aquarium and grounds (on our own) last year, so we don't need to go there again. If we do get off the ship, it will probably be later in the day. Our experience has been that the ship is pretty empty until early afternoon, and it's nice to go to the pool and hang out while a lot of people are off the ship and it's peaceful.

 

[outahere]

This will be our first Disney Cruise. I have two girls ages 7 and 10 and they are so looking forward to going. Any ideas on excursions would be greatly appreciated.

Somehow I missed this when it was posted.......

Welcome aboard and welcome to the DIS.

On two Wonder cruises and 3 stops there on the Norway (a long time ago) we've never done any excursions in Nassau, so I'm not much help there.

 

[mommykds]

Did alot of reading last night on the Passporters Cruise Guide. Getting more excited!!!!!!!

Any of you experienced cruisers know if you can transfer your reservation from one TA to another?

 

[outahere]

Did alot of reading last night on the Passporters Cruise Guide. Getting more excited!!!!!!!

Any of you experienced cruisers know if you can transfer your reservation from one TA to another?

Out of professional courtesy, most TAs will not accept a reservation from another TA. The original TA has to authorize it, so since they would lose their commission, most won't do it. If you are unhappy with your TA, I would take it to a higher level within the company. However, if you're dealing with a small agency, you may not have many options.

If you can manage to get it transferred, it has to be done prior to being paid in full.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

This will be our first Disney Cruise. I have two girls ages 7 and 10 and they are so looking forward to going. Any ideas on excursions would be greatly appreciated.

Hi otmom! Welcome!!! I have a DD who is 9. (DS8 and DS11)This will be their THIRD Disney cruise. No help on the excursions. We don't really do any. The kids love going the kids club on Castaway Cay, so DH and I usually just sit on the beach.

We will be doing the banana boat ride this time, though. Can't wait!

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Just saw this...

Toy Story: The Musical" premieres on Disney Wonder in March, 2008.

WOOHOO! A new show!!!

 

[Swimmergirl]

Whoo hoo! We're down to double digits people! We just paid off the balance on our cruise, so the countdown has officially begun!

 

[otmom]

Hi Marie,
Since you have been on several Disney cruises and our kids are close in age, I was wondering if your children ever did any of the camps on board the ship? Thanks for the tip on the banana boat ride-I'll have to look into it.

 

[outahere]

Thanks for the tip on the banana boat ride-I'll have to look into it.

We've done the banana boat ride and it was a lot of fun. Just a couple pieces of advice....... do not apply sunscreen to your legs before getting on. With all the water being splashed up, the boats are already slippery, and sunscreen makes it worse. We had a couple of people slide off the boats when we went. They stopped to get them back on, but it's a struggle to get on when you are in deep water and have no where to stand. Also, if you have swim goggles I would wear them and don't wear glasses (regular or sunglasses) without having a very secure strap for them.

As for the activities for the kids...... we've been cruising on DCL since our DS was 7. He's done a lot of what they offer in the Club and in the Lab. He has never stayed all day, but picks what he wants to do from the schedule in the Navigator. You might want to go to the FAQ thread at the top of the main cruise board and take a look at the 4 day Navigators. That will give you and your daughters a good idea of what to expect. The activities do occasionally change, but not often.

 

[mommykds]

Out of professional courtesy, most TAs will not accept a reservation from another TA. The original TA has to authorize it, so since they would lose their commission, most won't do it. If you are unhappy with your TA, I would take it to a higher level within the company. However, if you're dealing with a small agency, you may not have many options.

If you can manage to get it transferred, it has to be done prior to being paid in full.

Thanks for the info!

Just saw this...

Toy Story: The Musical" premieres on Disney Wonder in March, 2008.

WOOHOO! A new show!!!

Looking forward to it, we all love Toy Story.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Hi Marie,
Since you have been on several Disney cruises and our kids are close in age, I was wondering if your children ever did any of the camps on board the ship? Thanks for the tip on the banana boat ride-I'll have to look into it.

My kids LOVE the kids clubs. OMG! We have to force them out of there! My youngest wants to go sign in as soon as they open, and wants nothing to do with us all day. The older two prefer to choose a specific activity or two or three.

Prepare yourself for your kids to love it, and try not to feel TOO rejected! LOL