Cruise questions

[Disney4me04]

Can someone tell me:

when the 4 day cruises start (day of week)
Is a 4 day cruise worth it.

Also if I wanted to do a land and sea package. Am I better off booking the cruise and then the land part seperate?

Thanks

I am starting to save for 2006. Since we are going to DisneyWorld in 2005

 

[din]

Originally posted by Disney4me04
Can someone tell me:

when the 4 day cruises start (day of week)
Is a 4 day cruise worth it.

Also if I wanted to do a land and sea package. Am I better off booking the cruise and then the land part seperate?

Thanks

I am starting to save for 2006. Since we are going to DisneyWorld in 2005

Starts on Sunday ends Thursday.

Any cruise is worth it

The general opinion is that it is better to book seperately and that way you can decide what resort you want rather than the resort being based on what cat you book.

 

[CM_Mom]

Four day cruises on the Wonder start on Sunday. If you do land/sea you will have to book your own if you want to do sea/land in that order instead of land/sea.

There are varying opinions but you can save a significant amount of money by booking a value resort for the land portion and a higher class cabin for the sea part. If you book land/sea the cabin determines the class of resort.

FYI, most of the time you can save money by booking your own airfare also.

Finally, ANY cruise is worth it. No cooking, no cleaning, delicious food and wonderful entertainment + the mouse. What more do you want?

 

[PinClubs]

The extra day (4 instead of 3) use to be a day at Freeport, but a lot of people didn't care for it so Disney stopped going there.

The one reason I would consider a 4 instead of a 3 is if you want to eat at Palo's (adult only dining experience).

Most would tell it is a wonderful dining experience as are the other three main restaurants, so you could effectively have dinner at all four main restaurants on the ship if you booked a 4 day.

One a 3 day you could eat brunch at Palo's and then have dinner at the other three (Trition's, Parrot Cay, and Animator's Palette).

I guess the bottom line is any day on the Disney cruise ship whether out to sea or visiting an island is a great day.

Jeff

 

[dletz]

I thought they didn't offer the brunch at palo on the 3 day. Am I wrong?

 

[kcashner]

The only thing wrong with a 4 day is that it isn't 7 days long!

You can save significant $ by booking land and sea separately, but it is totally up to the decisions YOU make. For instance, I see that you are staying at a value resort. The value resorts aren't on the cruise packages. SO, if you want to book separately and stay at a value resort (instead of the moderate on the package), you will save $. The packages all include the Ultimate Park Hopper Pass. That pass starts the minute you check in and ends the day you check out. It includes EVERYTHING. The price is roughly based on park admission for every day of the trip, including arrival and departure day (you can find the cost of this pass on the WDW website for your specific number of days). SO...your package includes this cost.

Will you use all the features of this pass? Will you go to the water parks? Pleasure Island? Will you go to a theme park on the day you arrive and on the day you depart? If the answer to ANY of these questions is NO, you might save significant money on Park Hopper Plus passes. Another good thing is that PHP passes never expire...so if you have any left over days, you can use them on your next trip.

For instance, we normally arrive about 3 pm. Sure, I wish I could get there earlier, but with flight schedules, Mears, etc....that's reality. We check in at the resort, then hit the pool....then we do a character dinner at Chef Mickey's or at the 1901 Park Fare. SO, that doesn't use park admission but still gives DD the character experience. Thus, not a park day, the park admission $ saved. Also on departure day, we schedule a character breakfast in a resort before leaving for the ship. Again, no park admission, $ saved. With PHP passes, you still have limited admissions to water parks or Pleasure Island, just not unlimited times. The way we use them, it comes out a lot cheaper. You might even want to look at this option for your earlier trip.

Things to consider....if you do trip insurance, you may want to do it privately if you book separately. If you purchase thru DCL, it will only cover the portion of the trip that you book with them. If you do it privately, it can be cheaper and will cover the entire trip. You can add DCL transfers to your trip (no matter how you book), or you could use a private limo. The break even point for a private limo is generally 3 people. For 2, DCL transfers will be cheaper. For 4, private is cheaper. For 3, usually it is about the same.....DCL busses don't run from the Value resorts to the port. The bellman will get you to Animal Kingdom lodge to catch the cruise bus if you decide on this route.

This is probably way more info than you wanted this early.....Keep asking questions.

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

WE are going in May and booking everything ourselves.
Main reason because I can find better deals on my own. And because I wanted to stay an extra night, but only needed a 3 day hopper pass. With the package they give you a four day hopper with the four night package. And we get there late the first day, and are leaving early the last day to get to the ship early, so a four day would be wasted on us.
-We are renting a car, which I found to be cheaper than the car services, and we can leave the resort for groceries or early dinners and drive ourselves to the parks.
-I have also found the travel ins. to be cheaper on my own.
-And, I'm pretty sure I can get a pretty good deal at a Moderate resort for the time of year I'm going.
-Last, It is such fun planning my own trip, while I dream of Disney in the process. And, using these boards make it so much more fun and easier. HAVE FUN !!!...