Disney park while crusing

[Rod B]

I am looking up cruises for possibly next year and I remember seeing cruises that when stopped at port canarveral, you get a free day at the parks. I don't know if they will continue doing it right now but my question is if anyone has done a park visit while on the cruise, does it feel like a park day? Or does it seem like a quick stop?

From what I remember, You get a certain time to enjoy the parks like from 9am til like 4 and then have to get back to the ship. Can anyone explain how the process works?

 

[CamColt]

I've done that when we sailed out of NY back in 2012. We didn't stay the full day, but I do recall the first busses were very early (we were on one of the first) and they stayed in port much later than usual port stops. It was definitely later than 4:00 pm. In fact I know the busses were still coming back after dinner time so 10:00, maybe even later.

To me it didn't feel like a full WDW trip but it was a nice taste of the parks. We did 2 parks that day and were back on board probably around 4:00. We had our fill and wanted to enjoy an empty ship.

I thought it was a great cruise as we could drive 4 hours to the port, not have to fly, we got a visit to CC, a visit to the parks, and a Disney cruise out of it. I wish they would do that itinerary in the summer again.

 

[ArielRae]

We’ve done this sailing twice and loved it.
All ashore time was 7am you booked your bus transfer time to the parks ahead of time before cruising. All aboard time was 1am. They had set bus return times for each park.
Here is a link to past sailing info with daily navigators.
https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...ahamian-cruise-from-new-york-november-3-2018/

 

[John VN]

I am looking up cruises for possibly next year and I remember seeing cruises that when stopped at port canarveral, you get a free day at the parks. I don't know if they will continue doing it right now but my question is if anyone has done a park visit while on the cruise, does it feel like a park day? Or does it seem like a quick stop?

From what I remember, You get a certain time to enjoy the parks like from 9am til like 4 and then have to get back to the ship. Can anyone explain how the process works?

We have never done a Cruise - WDW excursion - Cruise so can't provide input; HOWEVER, have done WDW - Cruise - WDW and IMO if time and finances permit would go that route because IT'S A BLAST and TRIPLE MAGICAL

Good LUCK making arrangements AND ENJOY!!!

 

[MnkyGirl]

I've done it twice and it's a LONG day, but they do tend to spoil you on the way there and back. First trip had rain in the forecast so we all got Disney ponchos in our rooms before we left. Both times they had snacks for us on the bus home. (There is something magical about seeing that "Disney Cruise Line" sign coming out of the park and hearing all the "regular" park goers express severe jealousy at the fact that you are getting on a bus that is handing out snacks and are getting back on the cruise ship that night.) We tend to stay in the parks REALLY late so we're those people coming back to the buffet at 1am. Some of our favorite memories are of being absolutely spoiled by our serving team (who happened to be working when we showed up at the buffet) and making the end of the day absolutely perfect.

 

[Sykes]

As others said, it's pretty amazing. You get off early, and the all-aboard time is super late, so you get as much of a day in the park as you want. We were there on Thanksgiving Day and had Thanksgiving dinner at Le Cellier.

One other thing that I'm not sure anyone here mentioned is that when I went the ticket they gave you is pre-loaded with 3 Fastpasses that work on (almost) any ride. We had annual passes at the time and reserved 3 more Fastpasses ahead of time, so we were actually able to do more on that visit than our normal WDW visits. I have no idea if they'll still do this given that Fastpasses are on hold, but hopefully it will come back.

 

[HiStitch626]

We might have been on the same cruise as Sykes as we visited the parks on Thanksgiving day in 2017. It was a full day and we had an excellent time. We went to AK first and the bus left at 7:15. We had lunch at Kona and ended the day at MK. We did the fireworks dessert party and got on the bus to return to port at 10:45. We also had the three anytime Fastpasses and were able to load the tickets onto MDE and book three regular Fastpasses in addition. The only attraction we could not use the anytime passes for was Flight of Passage. When we returned to the ship there was a very nice buffet in Cabanas. We sat outside and it was interesting to see the crew members coming back to the ship with early Black Friday deals.

It was a great day, and a great cruise.

 

[RedHead0186]

Did you have to purchase park tickets separately? Or was that include in the cost of the cruise?

 

[Sykes]

We might have been on the same cruise as Sykes as we visited the parks on Thanksgiving day in 2017.

When I read 2017 in your message I was certain it wasn't that long ago, but I logged into the Castaway Club site and it turns out that it was the same cruise (assuming you were on the Magic). Now I feel old.

Did you have to purchase park tickets separately? Or was that include in the cost of the cruise?

It was included for our cruise.

 

[jujubiee4]

From the sound of it looks like this was pretty popular. Why did they get rid of it? Costs?

 

[lanejudy]

From the sound of it looks like this was pretty popular. Why did they get rid of it? Costs?

It was initially offered on Bahamian cruises from NYC (and possibly also from Galveston?). There are relatively few cruises from NYC, but it is a popular option for those of us in the northeast. We keep hoping for more cruises departing from up here.

 

[llachance]

We did it from Galveston and had a ball. Other stop in Key West and Castaway Cay. I always thought it should be a regular offering from Galveston

 

[DisneyConvert]

There are relatively few cruises from NYC, but it is a popular option for those of us in the northeast. We keep hoping for more cruises departing from up here.

Me/us too!

We did NYC <=> Bermuda, Fall of 2019 and it seems like so long ago.
Loved using all the tricks I learned as a commuter to/from NYC PennSta, to make the port connections pretty easy and quite inexpensive as we live in NJ not too far from a rail station.

Alas, we had planned B2B this August to Canada and then to CCay/PuertoRico.

I miss DCL so much.

 

[Rod B]

Wow. I didn't know they gave you that much time at the parks. I thought it was til like 5pm. I do remember seeing DCL meet spots for passengers when I was at the parks. I hope they do continue doing this. I live in NY so that would be perfect if we left from NY.

How was it after coming back to the ship after spending the day at the parks? Do you still feel that drain from being all over the parks all day??

 

[MnkyGirl]

Wow. I didn't know they gave you that much time at the parks. I thought it was til like 5pm. I do remember seeing DCL meet spots for passengers when I was at the parks. I hope they do continue doing this. I live in NY so that would be perfect if we left from NY.

How was it after coming back to the ship after spending the day at the parks? Do you still feel that drain from being all over the parks all day??

I think it will depend on how long you spend at the parks. We were on the first bus to Animal Kingdom and the last bus back from Magic Kingdom. I was so tired I could barely stand up when I got back on board (which is probably part of the reason that our serving team spoiled me... lol)

 

[Sykes]

How was it after coming back to the ship after spending the day at the parks? Do you still feel that drain from being all over the parks all day??

We started the day a bit later than MnkyGirl ... I think we didn't get on a bus until like 11 AM ... but it was still a very full day and we just went straight to bed once we got back to the ship at like 11 PM. We had two at-sea days on the way back to New York after Disney World, though, so we had plenty of opportunities to relax afterwards.

 

[HiStitch626]

We did the same as MnkyGirl, so were tired coming back, but as the day was followed by two sea days, it was fine. If the order was reversed and the parks day was followed by Nassau or CC, you might want a different plan.

It was nice being able to hop as we do not usually do that on WDW trips. I would recommend a TS lunch to give yourself a break in the day.

 

[MnkyGirl]

Our order was reversed, and I made the laughably TRAGIC decision to run the 5k on Castaway the next day. I ended up with one of the worst migraines I've ever had in my life. (Not sure WHAT I was thinking LOL) So handy (obvious) tip... STAY HYDRATED on your Disney day! It's SO EASY to forget to drink anything on that day.

If you don't do a table service meal for lunch, DEFINITELY find a QS that is dark and quiet. We have a favorite spot in each park that we can go and sit in a corner with some food for an hour or so and just relax. (or nap... lol)

 

[msmama]

We did the Thanksgiving Day one in 2017, too! We did 3 of the 4 parks (my companions got tired so we headed back to the ship for dinner). Go in with realistic expectations - you're not going to be able to do everything. We picked 2 rides at each of the 3 parks we visited that were "must do's" (and I think we did a little more).

That day was nice, but the sailing was pretty rough - by far the worst seas I've ever experienced. Everyone at my table, and the neighboring table had at least one day of seasickness or at least feeling off. I don't remember it feeling abnormally wavy but it was icky. And we've done Panama Canal, N. Atlantic, and Canada outrunning a hurricane and I've never otherwise felt slightly seasick like I did on that trip!

 

[Sykes]

That day was nice, but the sailing was pretty rough - by far the worst seas I've ever experienced. Everyone at my table, and the neighboring table had at least one day of seasickness or at least feeling off. I don't remember it feeling abnormally wavy but it was icky.

heh, I knew it was bad when I was down in O'Gill's and one of the cast members gasped and said "woah" at the waves crashing against the windows. Fortunately I was religiously taking bonine and my wife had a scopolamine patch so we were fine. (She had a bit of a rough time when she finally took off the patch on land though.)