Do we have to be selfish when booking specility cruise?

[Laura's Dad]

We are planning a WDW trip in May to coincide with the opening of the new Star Wars movie and wanted to do something different that we had not done. My wife wanted to look into a fireworks cruise. I know that it is very hard to book the Illuminations cruise and that you have to book 90 days ahead of time. My wife really likes the MK fireworks better than Illuminations and is interrsted in booking a Wishes cruise around Bay Lake. However, I know that Wishes is presented at different times and there might not be a cruise at that time that matches the MK fireworks time. Also, the official park hours for May will probably not be published until March, after the 90 day date to book occurs. Do we need to be selfish and book the last specialty cruise for each night of our stay and then cancel the reservations that we don't use when we find out if there will be a MK fireworks show that can match our cruise time? Or do we need to wait until the May hours are published and book then. I read on the boards that the Wishes cruise is not nearly as hard to obtain as the Illuminations Cruise. I have already checked the projected times for our trip on the DIS. Are these reliable enough to plan on? Any input or prior experiences would be appreciated.

 

[dreams4disney]

I am not sure what to tell you. I am really wanting to get one for my DS birthday while we are there. It is Memorial day so I am not sure if we will be able to. I don't care of it is Illuminations or the wishes cruise. I will just be happy to get one. I have four boy's and I know they would love it!
good luck at getting the cruise that you want!

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

I have the same problem. We want to book a cruise for wishes for 4-28 ( our wedding anniversery), but have no clue yet if they will have wishes that night.

If I book Illuminations cruise, is that always at 9 pm? what time do I book the cruise for?

 

[tmfranlk]

I was under the impression that they schedule the cruise times to coincide with the fireworks. I thought that if the fireworks were later, the cruise was later. I may very well be wrong though, so maybe someone else can say for sure. Also, you might try checking historical park hours and fireworks time to make an educated guess.

 

[Penny12]

When you book the cruise you don't ask for a specific time, you just tell them that you want one to coincide with Wishes/Illuminations in fact, they expect that - there really aren't many people who want to book an evening cruise that <i>doesn't</i> include the fireworks!

Closer to departure you then ring them back up and they'll tell you what time you're expected to be at the marina for departure

So as long as Wishes is being shown that night, you'll have no problem with the time.

 

[drumflower]

When I booked my wishes cruise a week ago I told them I wanted to see wishes. Well a couple of days later Disney changed its hours, so I called to change the times. The CM said not to worry because I have the boat for wishes and if the times change I still get that boat for wishes. She did say, keep checking hours, but I won't lose my spot because Disney changes its hours. Now the big problem is knowing in advanced when Disney will have wishes. I think during busy times of the year, they will probably have wishes every night. They have wishes every night in Feb. Good Luck! Maybe book a couple to be safe! Just rememer to cancel in advance! In our case wishes is at 10pm and the boat leaves Contempory at 9:30.

 

[WDSearcher]

The Wishes cruise ALWAYS coincides with the MK fireworks. The IllumiNations cruise ALWAYS coincides with IllumiNations. I doubt people would buy them if they didn't. When you book the cruise, just tell them what night you want to go, and the cruise time will be automatically adjusted to match the fireworks times.

Do NOT book the latest cruise each day and then cancel the ones you don't need.

Not only will this totally mess up other people trying to book cruises for one of those days, if you somehow forget to call and cancel the ones you're not using, you'll be charged in full for all of them!

 

[funhouse8]

I just wanted to say that it's not that easy to book a specialty cruise for each night. It took me four days to finally get though on time (started calling each morning a few minutes earlier then stated time) I always missed it by one. The one I did get was the one I called for while at a campground on a sunday morning. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was a nut. I almost lost it because of reception. I was in my popup in a very strange position saying "Can you here me now?"

 

[westjones]

When you book the cruise you don't ask for a specific time, you just tell them that you want one to coincide with Wishes/Illuminations in fact, they expect that - there really aren't many people who want to book an evening cruise that <i>doesn't</i> include the fireworks!

Closer to departure you then ring them back up and they'll tell you what time you're expected to be at the marina for departure

So as long as Wishes is being shown that night, you'll have no problem with the time.

Penny, you seem to know a lot about this. Are there any plans to add a Wishes Cruise to the Project X Dis Meet?

DJ

 

[bethbuchall]

We scheduled a Wishes cruise last May. I called 90 days out and asked for a Wishes cruise on the date I wanted. They set it up and gave me a tentative time to meet at the Contemporary Marina. They also told me to call back once hours were posted for MK and again just before the date to make sure that I was there at the correct time. MK closing and Wishes time changed three times between then time I made the reservation and the date we actually went. I even called the morning of the cruise just to make sure that we were going to be there at the right time.

So, you don't need to book multiple cruises. They will make sure that yours changes along with Wishes times. If it makes you feel better (like me), just keep calling to check on it when you see the hours.

Beth

 

[apcall]

Oct 04 I reserved the MK cruise (actually birthday cruise) and it was tremendous not only did we see the MK fireworks but we were up close to see the parade of lights (not sure what its called but its the parade of barges with lights in the shape of the flag, a whale, a dragon, etc that are pulled out onto the lake)...it was diffinitely a highlight...anyways my TA told me to start calling 10 minutes before the phone lines open and exactly 90 days (the earliest you could book that cruise) before the start of my trip as they fill up quick. My TA also told me to go for the very first full day of the trip (I wanted their birthday which was the 2nd to the last day of the trip) and then every day after until I secured a reservation. That way if I missed the reservation for the birthday I would still have the first cruise date in my 'back pocket'. Our first reservation was the 3rd day of the trip and luckily I got the reservation for their birthday, so we canceled the first without any problem......although alittle pricey, we will try to get a cruise for either MK or illuminations on every WDW we take from now on....good luck and have fun