Any Canadian Crusiers out there?

[son3disfan]

We just booked our first Disney Cruise!
March 2008.
Would love to hear some fellow Canadian's experiences....
We are going to drive down, spend 4 days in Disney before the 3 day cruise.
We booked 2 Cat 10 rooms ( for extra space) .
My husband will be 40 next spring , so I thought it would be an awesome surprise to add this on to our regular spring break.....I hope the kids can keep the surprise!

 

[nokidz]

nice! we are cruising on Wonder on July 15th. 4 Days of relax-tivity!

 

[talicskai]

I am booked on my 3rd DCL departing Feb 2/08 and am as excited now as I was the first time! It will be 4 years since I last went and there is lots of new stuff. I am a TA and have put together a group so there are 55 of us confirmed right now ~ most of them are friends or "friends of friends" so it should be a blast! Your only regret will be that you didn't book the 7 day!
Have a great time and I hope you meet someone on the DIS who is traveling on the same date as you!

Teresa

 

[connorsmom911]

We're booked on our first DCL cruise, 4 day on Jan 27/08. We're planning to spend 3 or 4 nights in WDW beforehand too. This is to celebrate Connor's 5th birthday. We booked it before I found out I was pregnant, so this will be baby's first trip too (20 days to go!). And we'll be 4 generations...my grandparents, parents, dh and I and the kids. We've got 2 of the "secret porthole" category 10 cabins and a sideways cat 11 all on deck 5. Most of our planning is all done, just waiting to hear about the pirate and princess party, whether they are a go for Jan/Feb again or not. That was in the original plan, but I haven't heard anything yet. I want to make my ADR's for at least one character meal. And get this, my 180 day mark is July 25! So I'll check in to the hospital and make my ADR phone call while I'm waiting to get my c-section

 

[squirrel]

My only regret is that I only had 4 nights! I also wish I had been a bit more adventurous and tried some different food-I'm a picky eater.

 

[mrs.explorer1977]

We took our second Disney cruise in January. It's true that your only regret will be that you didn't book the longer one!

The only downside of the whole thing was having to get up super early on the last day to clear customs because you're not a US citizen. BUT, the upside of this is that you can get to breakfast early and basically have the whole day ahead of you. Both times we went, we had the whole day to spend back at WDW before leaving. It was kind of a nice way to end our vacations!

Have a great time!

 

[SAGE]

The only downside of the whole thing was having to get up super early on the last day to clear customs because you're not a US citizen.

Hi Mrs.explorer 1977
Does this mean you clear customs and have to directly leave the ship?
I booked a town car pick up for 9AM - just assumed we could sit around and have a few coffees after customs.

 

[son3disfan]

The only downside of the whole thing was having to get up super early on the last day to clear customs because you're not a US citizen.

Could you explain this?
I was hoping to relax on our last morning....
( I'm tring to imagine all of us standing around in pj's ..)
Wouldn't you go through customs AS you are leaving the ship.....

 

[SAGE]

I'm hoping some experienced "Canadian cruisers" can answer the customs question. We have our 1st cruise at the end of August. I had read somewhere Canadians have to clear customs REALLY early! I hope we can stagger back to our cabin and not have to rush off the ship.

 

[mrs.explorer1977]

Because we're not US citizens, we have to clear customs before they'll let ANYONE off the ship when you get back to Port Canaveral.

I think it starts around 6:30 am and both times we've cruised, it's been in the Walt Disney Theatre. You line up to get your passport back, then you go and sit in the theatre and wait until there's a customs agent ready to take you.

Once you've cleared, you can go back to your room. You can also still go for breakfast. If I recall correctly, you can either go to the sitdown breakfast in the same restaurant as you ate in the night before, or to the buffet upstairs on the pool deck.

While getting up so early on your last day does stink, the benefit is that you don't have to clear customs AFTER getting off the ship with all the US citizens -- you just head right down to pick up your luggage and catch your bus/towncar/etc.

Don't forget to keep out clothes once your luggage goes outside the room for pickup the night before! We've seen families both times in their pj's the next morning leaving the ship because they didn't keep clothes for the morning!

HTH!!

 

[SAGE]

Thanks so much for the reply!!
It is early however at least we do not have to rush right off the ship.

It's my understanding, all passengers have to be present for customs - then the only challenge will be getting my 18 year old vertical at 6:30AM

 

[son3disfan]

Thanks explorer!

Great Info , and much appreciated. ( I knew I'd get better info posting on the Canadian board instead of the Cuise board!)

I'm a bit of an OVER planner... so I'll take as much info as I can get!

Keep it coming!

 

[mrs.explorer1977]

Thanks so much for the reply!!
It is early however at least we do not have to rush right off the ship.

It's my understanding, all passengers have to be present for customs - then the only challenge will be getting my 18 year old vertical at 6:30AM

It's true -- everyone in your party MUST be there for customs. Bit of a drag for the young ones and the teens!! But, they could probably get away with being only semi-conscious!!

 

[mkmommy]

We are on the 7 day Western for Spring Break 2008. It would be nice to add on the 4 days off between spring break and Good Friday, but maybe we will try and sneak a day in at Magic Kingdom before we hit the ship.

 

[U2FanHfx]

We have gone on two in the past and our most recent was our wedding cruise. We are currently booked for mid-October and then again for next September.

The worst is getting up so early the last morning to get through customs. To make matters worse the customs agents were late and then one of the guys wasn't supposed to be there and through a hissy fit. It took over a half hour and we were at the beginning of the line.

While we were waiting I turned on my phone and the email came rolling in. One email was a notification that CanJet was going out of business. Canceling all flights as of Sunday and we were flying them out on Saturday. We were on the last flight from Orlando!

Regs,

CJM

 

[shaycamp21]

We just went on our second DCL cruise in March. The cruise is all the magic of Disney without all the busy craziness of the parks. We loved every minute of it esp. Castaway Cay Disney's breathtaking private island. The shows are a must see and try and dine at Palo--amazing food and service!!! Don't forget to pack a costume for pirate night which is so much fun. Yes it is pain to get up early the last day but really not so bad.

My only regret is that it is way too short. We first did the three day which was done in the blink of an eye, then the four day was better having that extra day at sea but still too short now I've vowed we HAVE to do a 7 day.

 

[son3disfan]

What was March like as far as the weather in the evening... Sweaters?
On your 3 day cruise did you have a semi formal night? I've been reading about one night to dress up, but not sure if it's for the 3 day cruise.
What was everyone wearing. We are shorts and t shirts people...
thinking I'll need some shirts with collars for the boys, and pants?

 

[B&B Mom]

So happy to see other Canadian cruisers out there!!!!

We enjoyed our first 7 day cruise in April this year. It really was a wonderful vacation. Palo's is great a must do! Also would recommend the Rasul too . It was heavenly. Castaway Cay was the highlight of the trip for us. WE had a beautiful day and we all enjoyed the comforts that Disney provides on the island.

Be sure to head over to the DIS Cruise section of the boards....there is so much info about everything cruise related. Also check out the meets section each sailing has a group of posters who will be cruising on every departure date. Great way to meet people and hear what others are planning for their upcoming cruise.

Happy planning!

 

[Cruiser1969]

My username says it all . . . a cruiser all the way!!!!

We did a 7-day cruise in May of 2004 and just can't wait to try out the new ship in 2011!!! DCL provides a truly magical vacation!!!!

 

[minnie56]

I sell cruises...why do Canadian's have to clear Customs before the others at all?? I know of no other Cruiseline that this is the case? Keep forgetting to ask the DSM..so maybe you all know?

Thanks