Anyone stayed at a DVC resort the night before a Cruise?

[Cmbar]

I was wondering if any DVCers have stayed on the night before leaving for a Disney Cruise. We were thinking of using points for the one night and then taking the bus over to the port on Cruise day. Trying to decide if it is worth the hassle of getting over to Disney or should we just stay near the airport or drive over and stay at a hotel near the port.

Is there any benefit to staying at the DVC resort prior to a cruise. Do they check you in for your cruise so you don't have to do that at the terminal? I had heard they did that for a resort stay but not sure if DVC is different. My cruise is booked through member services on points if that helps.

Would love to hear if others have done this! Thanks for any feedback!

 

[csharpwv]

We have done that - but since we had two days before our cruise we spent one night at VWL and then one night at BLT (we decided to leave a day early - hence the split stay since it was a last minute booking!)
By doing this we were able to spend about a full day in the parks.

However- with just one day - and if I were you....

I would spend that night at the port at a hotel with a Park+Stay+Cruise rate that will allow you to leave your car for free (or an extremely cheap rental car from the airport)

Here is my line of thinking -

Parking at the port is $15.00 a day.
Often times you can get a rental car for less than $10.00 a day.
You can drive to the port area upon arrival at the airport, get there early enough to spent the day/evening at the beach nearby, have a relaxing evening, and then have your hotel's shuttle drop you off at the port the next morning so you can get on the ship early and START YOUR VACATION!

Having a rental car before and after your cruise allows you to have flexibility - and as long as you can get the car at a very low rate, you won't have to pay for parking, and you will have extended your vacation by a day by enjoying the area around the port!

After our 3 night cruise last December we drove down to Cocoa Beach early on Sunday morning (waiting for a Mass time at the local Catholic Church) and the beach there is beautiful!

If you can't find a rental car for less than $15 - you may consider staying at a DVC resort (I would suggest Old Key West to put you in the tropical state of mind!)

You will have to pay for shuttle service to the port - SO be sure to compare the cost of the shuttle for your entire party versus renting a car as well!
The BEST thing about taking Disney Cruise Line transportation to the port is that you won't have to touch your luggage at all!

You just have to weigh your options!

 

[shoes99]

We have stayed at BLT and taken the DCL transfer bus to the port. Next April we are staying at AKL Villas and are also taking the DCL transfer bus to the port. We are two adults 65+ and like the luggage transfer service.

 

[vicki_c]

I probably wouldn't bother if you're only coming into town the day before the cruise. We did a cruise in January and stayed at AKV before, but we arrived in the morning on Friday, so we had 1.5 days in the parks and 2 nights at AKV. If we had been flying in on Saturday for our Sunday cruise, I would have just stayed near the Port at one of the hotels that has the shuttle to the ship and where you can leave your car while you're on the cruise.

 

[com_op_2000]

Have done so majority of DCLs, mainly at VB.

 

[lah3hh]

We have stayed many times before a cruise at a DVC resort (OKW, SSR and AKV) but we try to stay at least 2 nights to make it worth all of the 'hassle'. For me it is not really a large hassle other than you can't really settle into the villa with luggage, clothing, shampoo etc.

If I had only 1 night prior to a cruise I would probably take a little later flight and arrive at MCO in time for dinner hour. Grab a supper somewhere and stay right there. The main reason...when you stay at a DVC resort you don't get to the port until later than the airport folks or the ones driving themselves into the port.

Typically the DCL transportation bus leaves from OKW around 11:00 'ish', leaves SSR around the 12:00 'ish' and here's the big one...AKV we left close to 1:00. When we stay at AKV we made it on the ship in just enough time to grab a little lunch and get ready for the mandatory drill at 4:00. I did not like that at ALL...even told DH we will never stay at AKV again prior to a cruise. Maybe times have changed since then but one bad experience is all it takes for me to never repeat it again!!

Good luck in your decision!!!

 

[Cmbar]

After our 3 night cruise last December we drove down to Cocoa Beach early on Sunday morning (waiting for a Mass time at the local Catholic Church) and the beach there is beautiful!

If you can't find a rental car for less than $15 - you may consider staying at a DVC resort (I would suggest Old Key West to put you in the tropical state of mind!)

You will have to pay for shuttle service to the port - SO be sure to compare the cost of the shuttle for your entire party versus renting a car as well!
The BEST thing about taking Disney Cruise Line transportation to the port is that you won't have to touch your luggage at all!

You just have to weigh your options!

We are arriving on Sat AM early. I would love to go to Mass on Saturday night. Do you remember the name of the Catholic Church you went to in Cocoa Beach. Did you stay in a hotel near the church? This would be a great idea to just stay there and go to Mass Sat night or early Sunday morning.

We have stayed many times before a cruise at a DVC resort (OKW, SSR and AKV) but we try to stay at least 2 nights to make it worth all of the 'hassle'. For me it is not really a large hassle other than you can't really settle into the villa with luggage, clothing, shampoo etc.

If I had only 1 night prior to a cruise I would probably take a little later flight and arrive at MCO in time for dinner hour. Grab a supper somewhere and stay right there. The main reason...when you stay at a DVC resort you don't get to the port until later than the airport folks or the ones driving themselves into the port.

Typically the DCL transportation bus leaves from OKW around 11:00 'ish', leaves SSR around the 12:00 'ish' and here's the big one...AKV we left close to 1:00. When we stay at AKV we made it on the ship in just enough time to grab a little lunch and get ready for the mandatory drill at 4:00. I did not like that at ALL...even told DH we will never stay at AKV again prior to a cruise. Maybe times have changed since then but one bad experience is all it takes for me to never repeat it again!!

Good luck in your decision!!!

Thank you so much for this post! We were thinking of staying at AKV! So I am glad to know this. I think we will skip this and either stay at the Airport or just head out to the Cape like we usually do.

Thanks everybody!

 

[Donna M]

We are arriving on Sat AM early. I would love to go to Mass on Saturday night. Do you remember the name of the Catholic Church you went to in Cocoa Beach.

Our Savior on A1A is very close Sat. at 4pm

I went to masstimes.org it shows you all the churches in an area (any area) and gives you info on each church, maps too. This is a very helpful site when traveling.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We stayed at the treehouses last Wednesday and headed for the Disney Wonder on Thursday morning. There was no benefit regarding checking in. We booked the cruise for cash.

We had a wonderful SSR/DTD day on Wednesday and it was the start of a great vacation. We would do it just like that again. I was tempted to stay near the port for the free parking at a resort, but I'm glad we didn't. Everyone felt that the way we spent Wednesday was the perfect "day before a cruise."

Bobbi

 

[Cmbar]

Our Savior on A1A is very close Sat. at 4pm

I went to masstimes.org it shows you all the churches in an area (any area) and gives you info on each church, maps too. This is a very helpful site when traveling.

Thank you so much! I will look it up to see about Orlando times as well should we stay there.

We stayed at the treehouses last Wednesday and headed for the Disney Wonder on Thursday morning. There was no benefit regarding checking in. We booked the cruise for cash.

We had a wonderful SSR/DTD day on Wednesday and it was the start of a great vacation. We would do it just like that again. I was tempted to stay near the port for the free parking at a resort, but I'm glad we didn't. Everyone felt that the way we spent Wednesday was the perfect "day before a cruise."

Bobbi

Thank you Bobbi. I was told by some other poster that you can check in for your cruise at the resort if you stay there before hand. I would love that if it meant not standing in line at the port! Thanks for the information.

 

[shoes99]

Thank you so much! I will look it up to see about Orlando times as well should we stay there.



Thank you Bobbi. I was told by some other poster that you can check in for your cruise at the resort if you stay there before hand. I would love that if it meant not standing in line at the port! Thanks for the information.

No you cannot check in for your cruise at the resort pre-cruise unless you are on a land/sea package. We checked in for our DCL bus the day before and were told when to meet and when to have our luggage out for bell services to pick up and put on the truck to the port. We still had to check in at the port. If you have done all your documents online, and have your credentials ready, its a short process at the port.

 

[bobbiwoz]

No you cannot check in for your cruise at the resort pre-cruise unless you are on a land/sea package. We checked in for our DCL bus the day before and were told when to meet and when to have our luggage out for bell services to pick up and put on the truck to the port. We still had to check in at the port. If you have done all your documents online, and have your credentials ready, its a short process at the port.

I agree that check in is very easy. DCL now has what I consider a better way to board than they had before. When you get into the check in line, you are given a group number. After check in, you are free to roam around the terminal, get a picture with Mickey or Minnie, or just sit by a screen and enjoy a show until your group number to board is called. It was better than waiting in line for what seemed forever! Once your number is called, getting on goes very quickly.

Bobbi

 

[Crystal_27]

We always do this. In 2009, we stayed for one night at BLT (did MNSSHP) and this year we stayed one night at BCV. Happy planning!

 

[trampslady]

We are doing this TODAY! We arrive at MCO at 3:30 and are renting a car and staying at BCV. We have our Owners Locker en route, and we will leave it there with Bell Services along with our extras so that when we return from our cruise on Sunday, we will be ready to begin our next seven day vacation.

We like having a car to drive to the port so we get there when WE want to. For a three day cruise, that means get the party started EARLY!

 

[goofy4tink]

We did it a few years ago. We had our room at port all booked. We were being picked up by a car service at MCO and heading right to port that Sat morning. But, we found that there was a narrator at CP that night that we really wanted to hear, so we booked OKW for that one night, and had the car service pick us up at OKW instead of MCO. We got to the ship by 9:30...first in line to checkin. It all worked out very well for us.

 

[n2mm]

We have always arrived day(s) prior to the cruise. The only advantage to us is peace of mind. A few years ago I was at the airport waiting to fly out and there was a group of ladies who missed their connection and flying stand-by. Only a couple got on our flight, which meant everyone left behind was going to miss their cruise. It was sad as they were all crying. After that I swore I would never fly out the day of our cruise and always arrive prior. I am the type of person who worries about car trouble or a flat tire on the moring heading to the airport, so no way I could handle that kind of stress. We always rent a car as we often add days to the end of the cruise for WDW time. This works great for us. We were just on the cruise a couple of weeks ago now that the parking lot construction is better, you can walk right to your car from the port on the return home. We like getting to the port first thing and getting a low number. We arrived at 10:00AM this time and were group number 3. Pretty good given we were traveling with some high maintenance daughters (and their families). We left at 9:00AM and arrived at 10:00AM.

 

[Greatfalls]

We'll be doing a THV for a Saturday night in August before our cruise. We'll also be staying the weekend after the cruise, location TBD. We're looking forward to taking a mid-morning flight from DC and then just hang at the SSR pools all afternoon, even if we can't check in. I was thinking about whether to do DLC transporation or hire a van from Florida Tours. As we have 6 people, it looks like the van is cheaper, and we'll have more control of the time when we want to leave on Sunday morning. Noon from SSR is just too late.

 

[materise]

Stayed at BWV and it was great. enjoyed the park actually for the evening before

 

[helenk]

I've never done this before but we are heading to WDW in May for one night at the AKV-Jambo House, concierge for one night and then heading over to the port for a 4 night cruise.
We will be renting a car since there will be 4 adults and 1 child and we got a good deal on the rental.
I thought it would be neat to fly down early on Saturday, check in and just kind of chill out at the villa. I booked concierge just for a treat for us all.
When we are done the cruise we are driving back to WDW and staying 2 nights at Kidani and then flying back home late Saturday.
I promised my family just relaxing at the villa, no commando touring at the parks. We will most likely go to the MK once we are done the cruise but I have no plans for the parks the first day we arrive.

 

[missy2217]

We have stayed many times before a cruise at a DVC resort (OKW, SSR and AKV) but we try to stay at least 2 nights to make it worth all of the 'hassle'. For me it is not really a large hassle other than you can't really settle into the villa with luggage, clothing, shampoo etc.

If I had only 1 night prior to a cruise I would probably take a little later flight and arrive at MCO in time for dinner hour. Grab a supper somewhere and stay right there. The main reason...when you stay at a DVC resort you don't get to the port until later than the airport folks or the ones driving themselves into the port.

Typically the DCL transportation bus leaves from OKW around 11:00 'ish', leaves SSR around the 12:00 'ish' and here's the big one...AKV we left close to 1:00. When we stay at AKV we made it on the ship in just enough time to grab a little lunch and get ready for the mandatory drill at 4:00. I did not like that at ALL...even told DH we will never stay at AKV again prior to a cruise. Maybe times have changed since then but one bad experience is all it takes for me to never repeat it again!!

Good luck in your decision!!!

We just stayed at BLT last week before a cruise and the bus picked us up at 11:30 and went to two more resorts. We got on the boat at 1:30, and like you said had enough time for lunch and the drill. Would like to get there earlier next time.