Dream: May 22, 2011

[Johnny Quest]

Thanks MTmomma,
I will add your new cabins to the FE list. Looks like you have a nice group coming.
Hippie, you're way too young to worry about that. I'm sure it will be his loss anyway. You guys will have a great time!
We will miss Princess and Disneyluver4. Your missing the best cruise ever!

DON'T FORGET! Dream floats out this Saturday at 11:00am, EST. Don't miss it!

Jim

 

[Husurdady]

IDON'T FORGET! Dream floats out this Saturday at 11:00am, EST. Don't miss it!

Jim

JIM, Where do you turn to to see it?

 

[Johnny Quest]

JIM, Where do you turn to to see it?

MEYERWERFT has a webcam on their site.
http://www.meyerwerft.de
Not sure if it will be streamed live or not. You can also check the cruise line forum in the "countdown to disney dream float out" thread.
I will check out the webcam on Sat. morning and hopefully see it live. We are leaving for our Disney Halloween weekend in about 7 hours. Staying at BWV and BLT. Can't wait!

Have a great weekend!
Johnny and Poison

 

[mylittleprincess]

Paulene , you know what JIM [J Q ] would have said; the "affair" was great while it lasted. FROM ALL OF US, TAKE CARE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

Thanks, same to all of u & your families!!

 

[MTmomma]

Missed the float out because of work. BOOOOO! Watched the videos on youtube, TOTALLY have the "itch" now to get onboard!

 

[Henlady]

awwww, Pauline,, sorry to hear you won't be going along with us, but a Double Dip would be fun. Have a great time.

DisneyLuvrs4 - I would pass on a 4 day to do a B2B!!! Lucky you.

MTMomma,
I didn't see the float out either. We are in Gettysburg this weekend, so just caught up on the pictures posted here. In fact I brought the laptop just to be able to see what was posted. Couldn't wait till I got home. The ship looks beautiful, AND I can see our stateroom!! That really makes me excited.

 

[Henlady]

Made our reservations for Country Inn & Suites in Cape Canaveral for the night of May 21. Anyone else staying there??

 

[MTmomma]

We have our reservation for the five of us at buena vista suites, but may be changing it if we can get the hyatt. all of us seem to be wanting to stay in orlando the night before, and drive in the morning.

 

[Husurdady]

Made our reservations for Country Inn & Suites in Cape Canaveral for the night of May 21. Anyone else staying there??

KRIS , we are planing on staying there the 21st ,how much they charging this year?

 

[Henlady]

MTmomma,
staying at the Buena Vista Suites will give you time to spend in Downtown Disney - one of my favorites. We're going to tack Disney World on to our November trip, so just decided to stay at Port and get some good seafood at DH's favorite restaurant there the night before.

Husurdady:

We did the "Park and Cruise" package and it is $119 plus tax, so about $132 total, I used a credit card "hold" on the reservation. That includes room, leaving the car at the hotel, shuttle to and from the ship and, of course the breakfast.
I know we booked early, but it's my understanding that the Country Inn books quickly and I didn't want to be "left out", considering that there will be many more there for the Dream than there are for the Wonder or Magic.

 

[Husurdady]

MTmomma,
staying at the Buena Vista Suites will give you time to spend in Downtown Disney - one of my favorites. We're going to tack Disney World on to our November trip, so just decided to stay at Port and get some good seafood at DH's favorite restaurant there the night before.

Husurdady:

We did the "Park and Cruise" package and it is $119 plus tax, so about $132 total, I used a credit card "hold" on the reservation. That includes room, leaving the car at the hotel, shuttle to and from the ship and, of course the breakfast.
I know we booked early, but it's my understanding that the Country Inn books quickly and I didn't want to be "left out", considering that there will be many more there for the Dream than there are for the Wonder or Magic.

KRIS , thanks for the info. Also where is your DH favorite seafood restaurant located?

 

[MTmomma]

The only thing I am seeing as a benefit of staying at port is being able to drop the rental car off the night we arrive in PC, and then taking the hotel shuttle..... correct me if I am wrong, but would this be easier than dropping passengers and luggage off at the terminal, run the car back, taxi to either the terminal or to the hotel (to shuttle from there.) I am so confused.....

 

[Henlady]

Husurdady - Don's favorite restaurant is Florida's Seafood Bar and Grill it is located in Cocoa Beach on the road that leads to the causeway. He (and I)
love their rock shrimp. If rock shrimp isn't available, They have plenty other entrees that are delicious also. There is usually a bit of a wait to be seated as it is popular with the locals.

MTmomma - Where you stay the night before is just personal preference.
We go to Florida via the AutoTrain most of the time, so we have our own car. For us it is just easier to leave the Sanford terminal and head straight to Cocoa Beach. Otherwise we would need to drive to Disney (about an hour) and then the next morning drive another hour to Port. This way it's just a 1 hour drive to port. It also gives us a leasurely morning before boarding. I can get up, go to church and then head to the terminal on the hotel provided shuttle.

Also, as a side note: I read last evening that parking at the port parking lots is going up to $20 per day in January. It is currently $15 per day.

 

[MTmomma]

I'm still a bit green around the gills. I just bought our share of the airfare, 2 adults, 1 kid, on southwest airlines out of spokane washington (goody, we get to drive 200 miles to fly!) because the savings per ticket was over 100, AND there is a checked bag allowance of two free suitcases.... this makes it a much better deal than flying united or delta from MSO, and paying baggage charges on top of it! We decided to stay in FL the night after our cruise, and fly home the 27th because we are doing the Kennedy space center thing, and didnt feel that we could make the 6pm flight home, and actually ENJOY the center.... plus we didnt want to have that long of a day! Oy. Now I am trying to actually re-book our hotel the night before through priceline (keeping the one we have just in case) so that I can get it paid in advance, making it much easier on the pocketbook while down there...... GAH! expensive!

 

[Johnny Quest]

Hi Guys,
We haven't decided yet where to stay, so we made ressies at both the Country Inn at the port and the Hyatt at MCO. The Hyatt is about $135 with a stay certificate. My son stayed here this past April and it worked out well. He was able to check in to the cruise at 6am which made the terminal check in faster. They even take your bags from your room for you. We are leaning towards this option.

We have stayed at the Country Inn and had lunch at Grills at the port. Good seafood at Grills and decent breakfast at the hotel.

Can't wait,
Jim

 

[Husurdady]

Husurdady - Don's favorite restaurant is Florida's Seafood Bar and Grill it is located in Cocoa Beach on the road that leads to the causeway. He (and I)
love their rock shrimp. If rock shrimp isn't available, They have plenty other entrees that are delicious also. There is usually a bit of a wait to be seated as it is popular with the locals.

Also, as a side note: I read last evening that parking at the port parking lots is going up to $20 per day in January. It is currently $15 per day.

WOW! now that is a "BUMMER"....every thing is going up.KRIS , you are not going to believe this , but that is our favorite fish place also.Last May we stayed at OKW for 2weeks and DW,Kathy wanted to go to the beach for a day so we came over to COCOA and after words we went over there for supper. Ijust love their fried oysters, broiled shrimp and hush-puppies. WOW!...lets go, supper at 7 PM.

 

[Husurdady]

Welcome back JIM & P I. And how was your trip? Tell us about it.We love any & all info from home.

 

[MTmomma]

May be changing hotel plans! Our flight does not arrive into MCO until 10:55p(Eastern time) after leaving Spokane Washington at 10:05a (pacific time)
I am starting to think that just biting the bullet, and staying at the Hyatt might be the better option. We have to drive from Missoula, MT to Spokane, WA before the flight, (contemplating staying O/N) and just not feeling the whole renting a car, piling everyone in, and driving to the hotel offsite from the airport. Any tips on getting a discount on the Hyatt on priceline or hotwire? I cant seem to find anything that is specific to the Hyatt. Would I just be better off finding a voucher for a stay (the 135-ish one?) GRRRR!

Question Johnny, about the luggage, did your son take DCL transport or private car or rental? Curious.....

 

[Johnny Quest]

MTmomma,
The process at the airport is fairly simple. They start check in at approx. 6am. You just go down to the Cruise Line desk near the Magical Express area on 1st floor B side. There you will check in to the cruise, get your picture taken and receive your key cards(all guests must be present). At this time, if your using a credit card, you can attach it to your rsvp for spending and excursions. They also give you luggage tags to put on your bags which they pick up at your room if you wish. This process took approx. 30min. Once this is done your ready to catch a cruise line bus from the same pick up area as M.E. Not sure, but I think they start running at 10am. The ride to the port is about 40min.

You get the stay certificates on the Hyatt website and they mail you a card for check in. You can book the room first by calling directly and telling them that you will be paying with a stay certificate. This gives you the $135 flat rate. My son and daughter had no problems with it.

Jim

 

[Johnny Quest]

Welcome back JIM & P I. And how was your trip? Tell us about it.We love any & all info from home.

Halloween in Disney is a great time. If you haven't tried it, I recommend that you do. We had beautiful weather and the crowds weren't bad. I tried to eat my way around the world at the Food & Wine Festival, but hit a wall in Germany. Then we saw "Starship" at the Eat To The Beat concert and they were actually pretty good.
On Halloween we attended MNSSHP. It started with dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern, then trick or treating and rides til midnight. We had a great time.
I really like staying at BWV & BLT as we were able to walk and ride the monorail to parks. The Top of The World Lounge at BLT is a great spot to party and watch fireworks. This trip was a nice fix to get us through to our Double Deuce Cruise.

Jim