Booking Palo

[Bigmonty]

Hi

Myself and my girlfriend and coming over from sunny Scotland (spot the joke) our first land/sea Disney vacation on the 13th October, the cruise being the 4 day Disney Wonder leaving on the 17th.

We have done most of the booking ourselves such as flights etc.. but I thought I'd leave the transfers up to Disney as the prices seemed reasonable and they took a lot of the hastle out of it.

I have recently discovered this fourm and to my dismay it appears that using the DCL transfers will most likely ensure that we will not be at the port in time to get reservations for Palo.

My questions are am I correct in this thinking and if so are their any recommendations people have such as do you think it's worth me trying to arrange alterantive transport to the port?

Thanks for your help.

A dismayed Scot and his signnifcant other!

 

[pvangordon]

I took the DCL transfer when I did the land/sea package and probably made it onto the ship about 1:30 pm or so. I was able to get reservations but the choices were limited. Be prepared to head straight for Wavebands (or wherever the ressies are to be made) and be flexible with your time. We were on a 3-night cruise and I think we ended up with 5 pm on Sat night, one of the last slots.

 

[confal1]

We did a 4 day cruise last year and did not make ressies for Palo because we were not sure that our 3 1/2 year old would like the kids club. She did. I called one day around 1pm and requested a table for that evening and they called back about 1/2 hour later with a time of I think 5:30 or 6:00. I don't know if that happens a lot but I do think that parents make Palo ressies and then either the kids are too tired for the club or they don't want to go, anyways a lot can happen so if you get to the ship and are out of luck just keep calling and trying once you set sail. Good Luck and Have Fun.

 

[chris44]

I have not ever used DCL transfers so I cannot compare. But I always use a town car service. It also takes all the hassle out of your transfers, as you do not need to rent a car or drive - just let the town car driver handle it, as he will know exactly where to take you. You can schedule the car to pick you up at the airport and take you to your hotel. Then you can schedule a car to pick you up at hotel and have you at the port at the time you choose to arrive, rather than arriving on Disney's schedule.

I highly recommend Southern Elegance, as I have just used them and they are terrific and very dependable with new clean cars. I don't have the direct phone number with me, and the toll free number won't help you from Scotland. But if you're interested, let me know, and I'll find the phone number.

 

[jbaby13]

Or you could add a Romance at Sea Package to your vacation. Not only will you get to book the Palo resverations in advance, but you get a couples massage, a champange breakfast, and a romantic gift basket. I think it is $299.00 to add it on and many people think it is worth it just to be able to reserve in advance. Hope this helps.

Jen

 

[ivanova]

I've heard as long as you make your Palo ressies before the life boat drill at 4pm you shouldn't have any problems getting a ressie.

 

[LoveMickey]

We use Tiffany Town Car, they are great.

If you already have transfers set up from airport to resort, you can just have them take you from Resort to Port.

With just two of you, it may be a little bit more expensive than Disney Transfers. We usually have 4 of us, and it is cheaper and well worth the cost.

Plus they will stop at a grocery market, if you need to pick up some stuff.

 

[Bigmonty]

Thanks for all the replies.

I've spoken to the other half and we have decided just to stick with the Disney transfers seeing as it's our first cruise and we have paid for them already.

I'll be disapointed if we get on board and can't get reservations for Palo but it wont be the end of the world. It's also a good excuse to go back again if we like the rest of the cruise.

Here's hoping no other hurricane hits in the next week and a half and Castaway has been reopened!!

Cheers

 

[kennancat]

Don't worry about it too much. The last time we went on the 3-day Wonder, we ended up getting on the ship later than planned (thanks to the traveling companions who didn't seem to understand what "we need to leave Orlando at noon" meant ) By the time we got on the ship, all the reservations were taken and we found out that the ship was 100% full for our cruise. We put our names on the waitlist, and they called us the next day to let us know that there was a reservation available that evening. So not as smooth as we would have liked, but we still got in