Cruise & WDW - Which one first?

[5infam]

We are thinking of adding a 3 day cruise on to our next stay. We have been discussing if we should come in the night before (we live in CA so getting there in time on Thursday won't work), come in a few days before and also stay after the cruise. What have you done when combining a DVC stay with a Disney Cruise?

Our concern also is what to do with all of that luggage(there are 5 of us)? Because we stay at DVC, we only pack for 4 days (since we do wash), but last time we packed 2 suitcases full of food (dry goods) and then used the empty cases to bring back souveniers. If we come the night before, I can't imagine storing all that luggage in those small cruise rooms (although maybe the Disney rooms are bigger - I don't know). I wonder if the DVC resort will store it for us? Any suggestions - let us know.TIA

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

5infam:

When are you going to take the cruise? If you were planning on next summer -- you might want to wait a few weeks to make your plans as there have been some very strong rumors that the Magic will be repositioned to So. CA in conjunction with DL's 50th Anniversary. On the DCL website the cruise dates in May, June, & July '05 are listed as TBA. That could be very convenient for our DVC friends in Riverside!!!

 

[BWVDee]

We are doing the 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise followed by a week at BWV. This way we will pack only 1 week of clothing for the cruise and WDW. The day we depart the ship and check into BWV we will go to the store for whatever food and beverages we want for the villa. We also will be able to do our laundry from the cruise and start our BWV week off with all clean clothing. For the souveniers, I always have a soft sided collapsible tote bag in one of my suitcases for the inevitable stuff we find to buy! Works out great.

 

[dreaming of BCV]

We did the 3 night DCL after our trip to BCV last Oct. It was relaxing after park hopping for 4 days. However, we are doing the 4 night DCL next month and then staying 3 nights at OKW. We wanted the extra night on the ship. Our kids would rather spend more days at the parks. They're 10 and 4. Our DS (4) loves the kids clubs, but my DS (10) could take them or leave them.

This time I'm looking forward to still having vacation time after the cruise.

It's just what you prefer. If we had enough time (and $) I would want to spend a week at the parks and then a 7 night DCL!

Whatever you decide you'll have a blast.

 

[5infam]

calypso,

I am really getting excited now that you mentioned the cruise from CA!!! I thought I had heard that somewhere else, but I didn't realize that it was going to be next summer and only for a few sailing dates. I was really hoping that they would move a ship here though. We have been on the 3 day cruises here many times and really don't care to do them again on the same lines, but would definitely go if it were on Disney. WIth that said, as you can tell by my countdown, we are planning our next DVC trip at Christmas 05, but may move it up to April 05 if we decide to do the cruise. This way, we have a much better chance at getting nice warm weather.

BWVDee,

Last time, we brought all that food with us and made a grocery stop at Publix for the perishables. Since we don't plan on getting a car, we use the towne car service grocery stop instead. I guess this could still work, but I will have to shop real fast!!! Also, I did have to grab some stuff at the Screen Door - but I was a little disappointed with the selection and of course the prices!!

 

[OkieDisney]

We do the 3 day because it is over a weekend and so avoids
expensive weekend points.


I am always so frazzled before we leave on a trip that
it is nice to relax on the cruise first.

So we do Th-Sun cruise
Then Sun-Sun at WDW with only one weekend.

Cheers

 

[5infam]

OkieDisney,

Thanks for pointing out that the 3 day cruises start on Thursday. I assumed they were on Friday coming back on Monday morning, but starting on Thursday, coming back Sunday makes my plans look better. I am still not sure though about coming a day early, say on Tuesday. Last trip, the time change got to us, so I was thinking about a lounging day first (Wednesday), then going on the cruise. However, since the cruise can't be boarded until noon or so anyway (I am assuming), then we could still sleep in and be on board in time to sail with no trouble.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

We are doing the 7 day eastern, and doing DVC/WDW prior once the cruise is over, I will just want to get home!!!

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

We are doing this Nov 18th 3night cruise then 2 nights at home Saratoga springs! This is our first vac club trip and I am so excited! It should be fun

 

[mbhoxsie]

Depending on whether you are planning to go commando at WDW, I'd recommend doing the cruise after your stay...

Relaxing on the cruise is a perfrect way to unwind after hitting the parks for a couple days.

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

In our case we are going to Saratoga without going into the parks (we just just had a park trip in Sept & Feb) so we took the 3 days at SSR to relax after the cruise LOL.

 

[BWVDee]

We have been to WDW too many times to ever do anything commando anymore. We picked the cruise first soley because we are meeting friends at WDW the following week.

 

[Johnnie Fedora]

Nothing worse than being booted of the boat, luggage in hand with no place to go but home. You feel so homeless

I vote cruise first then Vero or WDW DVC (non-commando style).

Good Luck!

 

[wtpclc]

We just did 4 land 3 sea in February. Along with teh books recommending it in that order, I do too. We tend to kill ourselves at WDW to soak up every minute. The cruise gives you a little more relaxation time. You can bring what's left of your food on the cruise, as long as it's not open. So snacks would be a good idea anyway.

The room is not really that small. With teh closet, I thought there was a lot of storage for suitcases and I believe you can stuff things under the bed too.

Finally, you'll want souveniers from teh cruise too. I'd recommend WDW, then cruise.

HAVE FUN!!!!

 

[MiaSRN62]

We're doing 4 nights at OKW first and then boarding the Magic on Nov 6th-13. We drive down, so I'm going to pack very organized (at least this is the plan !). All our cruise dress clothes/shoes will be separate so I won't even have to unpack those suitcases until we get on board. Also, all of our casual clothes will be washed at OKW the night of the 5th so we start off with clean clothes right away. BWVDee mentioned she was going to do all of her wash on the ship before checking into BWV. Some friendly advice would be to not wait until the last day to do it----the laundry rooms were literally packed on board our last cruise on that day. I think everyone had the same idea in mind. Maybe do the wash a day or two earlier to avoid the rush.
Ideally, I'd love to do the 4 nights at OKW, then the cruise and then another 2 nights at OKW. But I can't have the kids miss too many school days. I planned our trip around 2 school days that they have off.

 

[tinkgrl]

Hi,

I voted wrong. We usually go to WDW 1st then cruise. In May 2005, we will try Vero then cruise, then HH.

Allison an associate

 

[happyrebster]

We are going on the Wonder for three nights and then to Saratoga Springs. It just worked out to be simplest and cheapest for us that way. We are going to take the red eye out Wednesday night and then straight to the ship Thursday morning. We got a super deal on the three night cruise -- much better deal, in some ways, than spending points to buy weekend nights at SSR! I don't like spending points for weekend nights (or cruises -- we did that with cash because we found such a great bargain).

As to lugguge, you shouldn't need much for the 3-night cruise.

 

[5infam]

happyrebster,

Congrats on your upcoming cruise!! I am curious as to where you got a great deal from? I am not sure who to go to for cruise pricing as I will be paying cash as well. I get e-mails from vacationstogo.com about cruises all the time, but am not sure if they are the cheapest. Any info will be appreciated

 

[BWVDee]

Originally posted by MiaSRN62
. BWVDee mentioned she was going to do all of her wash on the ship before checking into BWV

No,No, No........... I said we are going to do the laundry the first day we check into BWV after the cruise; when we have our own w&d in our DVC villa. I especially like this set up because we will only pack 1 week of clothes plus our cruise dress clothes for 2 weeks of vacation. 1 week DCL, 1 week BWV. Yahoo!

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

We are doing SSR (switching at 7 month mark from OKW) for 2 days before our cruise

in Feb during Presidents week.