? about doing 7 day cruise and then parks

[jfeasel]

A group of us is looking at doing a 7 day Eastern cruise next summer and then tacking on 3-4 days at the parks afterwards. Has anyone ever done this? We did the 3 day park, 4 day cruise in 2000 and the check in and transportation were a breeze. Will we be able to use Disney transportation to get to a Disney hotel once we get off the ship? Will will have one card that will serve as our ship key and room key like it is on the 3 day land, 4 day cruises? Any hints? Because of our kids' schedules, we can't go to the parks prior to the cruise.

Also, does Disney still handle all the luggage for you if you book their transportation? I took a Royal Caribbean cruise in June and we had to claim our luggage at the airport and when we got off the bus due to 9/11 security measures.

 

[Lisabell]

I can answer some of your questions...

We sandwiched our cruise between 1 day at WDW prior to and 4 days after our 7-day cruise. We used a towncar to get to and from the resorts and DCL transportation from the resort to the port and back again. I think it all boils down to which "legs" of the journey you want to book with DCL transportation (and my Travel Agent took care of the transfers for us).

You will have a separate KTTW card when you check into your resort (and yes, you'll have to check in separately). I'm not sure how the luggage works if you're going directly from the airport to the port as we have always traveled at least one night prior to our cruises.

After your cruise, the DCL bus will drop you (and your luggage) off at your designated resort. Most likely Bell Services will be ready, willing and able to move your luggage for you at that point.

A little piece of advice, though. If you can afford to, use a Towncar for ALL legs of the journey. We found that using the DCL bus to the port got us there VERY LATE (didn't board the ship until after 2 pm) I started my vacation scrambling and had a mini meltdown just before the lifeboat drill. Not the best way to start a vacation. A towncar may even be cheaper for you depending on the number of people in your party as the price is per vehicle rather than per person.

Have fun planning!!

Lisabell

 

[Samsma]

Hi JFeasel!

When are you going? We're planning the same thing for the June 28, 2003 Eastern Cruise. Me, 36, DH 46, DS10, DD 4

 

[dylan'smom]

We did this also & it worked fine with the DCL transportation. They played a movie on the bus ride from the port & everyone enjoyed using their service. We didn't opt for the car rental because the DCL was so seemless -- the bus was waiting to leave right after we disembarked, & after we reclaimed luggage from customs, it went back to DCL on the bus we were boarding, via the porter.

The trick I have learned if you are combining these trips is to go through the actual cruise line for the WDW ressies. They will create a "package" for you that saves quite a bit on the resort portion. I have read that this is not the best way if you have existing passes or other discounts, but for us it saved several $100's over the listed WDW packages by themselves. Another bonus with using them is that even when the prices have not been released for the next year, DCL has rooms to offer and even have always beat the CURRENT year's price for the parks. Of course travel agents who call DCL have access to this service too (you may need to tell them), but if you try to book the resorts through WDW without the package being put together by DCL, it is not only more $$, but they often will tell you that the prices for packages are not yet available!! Hope this makes sense...

Good luck!!