Any Canadian Crusiers out there?

[Ottawacruiser]

We are Canadian cruisers as well (myself, DW, DS, DD1, and DD2) and have been on 4 cruises, and have booked the 5th for next year!

There are lots of tips on the cruise section of these boards so I'd also recommend that you check that out.

Also, be aware that Disney will hold your passports for the duration of the cruise. They will take them form you at boarding and return them to you when you clear customs at that very early hour when you are back at Port Canaveral.

Being a frequent traveller, I am never comfortable letting my passport out of my sight, but we've never had a problem. You probably want to ensure you have your passport numbers written down somewhere, just in case (this is a good thing to do anyway).

Also, be aware that cruising Disney style is *highly* addictive. If you think there is an outside chance you will want to go again, ensure you book your next cruise while you are on board - this will get you the best deal and you cancel later if you decide to not go.

Regards,
... Mike (aka the Ottawacruiser)

 

[son3disfan]

Great info!
Thanks so much ....Had no idea about them taking our passports! I made a copy for my inlaws and one for the safty deposit box.( Thanks ottawacruiser )Love the DIS!
Keep the info coming!

 

[U2FanHfx]

Ottawacruiser, do you know if you can book more than one cruise at the discount....say one 7 day and one 4?

son3disfan, a good tip is to bring some tape for the closet doors for those 'rocky' days

Regs,

CJM

 

[Ottawacruiser]

U2fanHfX:

I think you can book more than one cruise while you are on board but I'd recommend you ask this on the Cruise section of the boards where the real experts will let you know!

Son3disfan:

Also be aware that you will not want to miss doing dinner as well as brunch at Palos - this is the adults only restaurant on board the ship. You will need to make a reservation for both of these which you can do on-board when you arrive.

However, be aware that you can (and should) book Palos, as well as many of the excursions, over the internet ahead of time. You can do this only when your final payment is made which I believe is 90 days prior to the cruise for Categories 1 to 3, and 75 days prior to the cruise for the reminder.

Either way, you do not want to miss Palos!

Regards,
... Mike (aka Ottawacruiser).

 

[son3disfan]

Ottawacruiser....
I've heard alot about Palos. If it's adult only, do I enroll my kids in the club first say 75 days out on the internet, then book the restaurant when we are on board( and hope to get the same time?? ) . Do most people get the times they want , or does it fill up quickly? I would love to do a brunch ...

I booked the cruise through CAA .Last year I booked our Disney package through CAA and was not able to access our information online AT ALL.....
( You know , on the MY disney Vacation page..)My reservation number didn't work on the website , and when I called Disney , they said only the travel agent who booked could access. So I hope that I can access online for the cruise. I'm a big planner and would hate to have to call my CAA agent everytime I needed to check something , or change a reservation.
Have you ever booked with CAA?

 

[Jaime]

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

We went on NCL in 1999 and we had to get up at 5:00 to go through customs and missed our breakfast time. It was after 7:00 before we were finished! All international passengers had to do this...so when I read this about DCL I thought it was normal of all cruise lines.

We are going on our first family cruise on the Wonder in November. We are taking the 4 day cruise and we are so excited! We have thought about it for years and now the CN$ is great we thought we'd give it a try!

 

[dhluvsDisney]

We just booked our First DCL Cruise a few weeks ago! It's the Dec 30 New Year's Eve cruise! We are so excited! Looking very forward to it and all the new "research" that goes along with it!

 

[Cruisin]

another Canadian cruiser here.

We have been on 8 Disney Cruises with our 9th booked for January. We have also done 1 Carnival Cruise and 4 Royal Caribbean cruises.

We have enjoyed each and every one of them. But, in our opinion, Disney outshines all of the others (at least so far)

As for why non-US citizens have to clear customs so early in the morning, I have not ever received a satisfactory answer to that

We went on Royal Carribean out of Port Canaveral, the exact same itinerary as the Disney Wonder and were not required to do this.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

Cruisin - how does Disney compare to Carnival?

We are doing our first cruise in August with Carnival - we chose them (or rather my very cruising experienced big brother chose them!!) b/c they seemed to have more ports visited then Disney and were a much better price. Would love to book a Disney cruise though for our next trip to Disney but that won't be till 2009 as we're disney'd out!

 

[Ottawacruiser]

son3disfan:

I think you should book Palos ahead of time - especially if there is a particular day you want to go on. If you go for dinner, you will miss one of the themed dinners in your dinner rotation. For instance, if you don't want to miss the show in Animator's Palate you can either set it up so you do that and go for Palos after (eat lightly at AP!), or miss AP altogether. At any rate, Palos fills up fast!

BTW - I have never heard of children being turned away from the clubs so I'm not aware of there being a compelling reason to book your kids in ahead of time. It's possible to book them in at the terminal on your departure day and get the pager if you have checked in for the cruise but they aren't letting people on the ship yet. I seem to recall that Disney watches the numbers so there is enough space for all the children in the clubs.

I have never booked through CAA. We have always booked through Disney directly, or right on-board. For our next cruise, I am thinking of transferring our reservation to Dreams Unlimited travel so I can access the additional shipboard credit they offer - we'll see!

When are you going and it is 3-day, 4-day, or 7-day cruise?

PM me or reply to this thread and let me know if there is anything else I can help you with!

Regards,
... Mike (aka Ottawacruiser)

 

[Cruisin]

Cruisin - how does Disney compare to Carnival?

We are doing our first cruise in August with Carnival - we chose them (or rather my very cruising experienced big brother chose them!!) b/c they seemed to have more ports visited then Disney and were a much better price. Would love to book a Disney cruise though for our next trip to Disney but that won't be till 2009 as we're disney'd out!

I wouldn't want to comment on how Carnival compares to Disney because I haven't cruised on Carnival since 1994. So I'm not really up to date on what Carnival is like.

Yes Carnival is cheaper and most cruise lines are cheaper than Disney.

So far we can see a big difference in the quality of things between Disney and Royal Caribbean.

Now I would not hesitate to go on a Royal Caribbean cruise or even to try Carnival again. But given the choice, I would personally choose the Disney cruise.

 

[connorsmom911]

Can't actually compare because while we have cruised on Carnival, our first DCL is in Jan 08. We did love Carnival...we sailed on the Destiny, southern caribbean itinerary, back in 2001. My little sister just celebrated her honeymoon on a Carnival cruise out of Tampa and loved it as well. They are already booked again for April 2008.

I hear that DCL is going to blow us away, but given the cost factor, we will likely sail with Carnival again in the future. What we are paying for a 4 day DCL we could do a 7 day Carnival. While I love all things Disney, I would like to stretch my dollar and get the best of both worlds...WDW parks and Carnival cruises!!

 

[son3disfan]

son3disfan:

I think you should book Palos ahead of time - especially if there is a particular day you want to go on. If you go for dinner, you will miss one of the themed dinners in your dinner rotation. For instance, if you don't want to miss the show in Animator's Palate you can either set it up so you do that and go for Palos after (eat lightly at AP!), or miss AP altogether. At any rate, Palos fills up fast!

BTW - I have never heard of children being turned away from the clubs so I'm not aware of there being a compelling reason to book your kids in ahead of time. It's possible to book them in at the terminal on your departure day and get the pager if you have checked in for the cruise but they aren't letting people on the ship yet. I seem to recall that Disney watches the numbers so there is enough space for all the children in the clubs.

I have never booked through CAA. We have always booked through Disney directly, or right on-board. For our next cruise, I am thinking of transferring our reservation to Dreams Unlimited travel so I can access the additional shipboard credit they offer - we'll see!

When are you going and it is 3-day, 4-day, or 7-day cruise?

PM me or reply to this thread and let me know if there is anything else I can help you with!

Regards,
... Mike (aka Ottawacruiser)

Thanks so much for all the info !
I'm booked for a 3 day in March. My husband is turning 40 and I wanted to add this on to our normal Disney March break vacation. He does get car sick as a passenger so I wanted to try a quick cruise first. ( I 'm sure he'll feel sick!) I booked Cat 10, connecting rooms, on level 2 , midship. We were told this is good for motion sickness. Looks like a good location from what I can see. I've been reading and learing so much from these boards!

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

Thanks for the info - I guess we'll just have to plan a DCL cruise so we can compare

We are still doing our week at Disney after the cruise and we really liked the ports we hit with the carnival cruise.

 

[SAGE]

Alittle off topic, but hopefully the right folks to ask
I'm flying from Buffalo return and am wondering were Canadians purchase duty free? Is it the cruise ship or the Orlando airport? Since I'm not landing in a Canadian airport, does it matter?
Last time I flew WestJet and picked up some alcohol at MCO. This is the first time flying from the US.
Thanks!

 

[candizfan]

It is imigration you clear on the ship. Once you collect your bags in the terminal building you clear customs. Two different steps but the customs part is really fast.

You do have to get up really early and they do not let you lounge around the ship at all. Everyone has to be off by 9am I believe.

We were on the Magic for 7 days in March and we had to pick up our passports at 6:15 and breakfast has to be served early because they cannot have any open flame during refuelling.'

They have a lot of work to do to get the ship ready for the next group.

Have a great time.

 

[Ottawacruiser]

Hi SAGE:

I'm assuming you will be driving back from Buffalo to Canada, so you can pick up your duty-free right before you cross the border.

You can also pick up duty free goods on the ship but I believe they are for importation into the US. When we were on the cruise last year, we bought a few bottles on the cruise but declared them when we entered Canada.

I don't think you will have the opportunity to purchase duty-free at the Orlando airport, seeing as your flight to Buffalo would be considered domestic.

The Canadian Border Services Agency has a web-site with all of the rules regarding what you can bring back into Canada. A good place to start is with the guide located at http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pub/cp/bsf5056/bsf5056-07e.pdf

Regards,
... Mike (aka Ottawacruiser)

 

[SAGE]

Thanks Mike for the reply!
The cbsa guide was very helpful.

 

[nokidz]

Just off the Wonder on July 19th. As of that cruise, 4 day departing on July 15th, DCL does not take your passports, you keep them, no camera's allowed in the Terminal, atleast no picture taking allowed and no more getting up early to clear customs because you are non-US citizens. We received customs docs the night before that we filled out. We got up at 645am, showered, grabbed our carry on luggage and went to our last dinning room on our rotation for breakfest at 745am, our scheduled time, finished that at about 830am and headed off the ship. We found all our luggage in the terminal and because we had a passport, we were wisked through the lines and were in our car by 910am. zoom, zoom. no problems at all.

We re-booked on the ship for Jan 6th, 2008.

 

[SAGE]

I'm really glad to hear we do not have to get up so early!!