First time cruise

[claven123]

We are considering booking a Disney cruise maybe sometime in December or January. Not sure where to begin.

1. Is the eastern 'rough' vs the western in winter time?
2. Do you have to book early? Are there things to book ahead of time that are time dependent like at WDW?
3. How is the transportation if we are to leave from say, Galveston vs Orlando to Port Canaveral? I know you can get bused from the airport to the sea port from Orlando.
4. Can we stay overnight in Port Canaveral the day before the cruise? Or at WDW one day?


Just some questions,

Dennis

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are considering booking a Disney cruise maybe sometime in December or January. Not sure where to begin.

1. Is the eastern 'rough' vs the western in winter time?
2. Do you have to book early? Are there things to book ahead of time that are time dependent like at WDW?
3. How is the transportation if we are to leave from say, Galveston vs Orlando to Port Canaveral? I know you can get bused from the airport to the sea port from Orlando.
4. Can we stay overnight in Port Canaveral the day before the cruise? Or at WDW one day?


Just some questions,

Dennis

1. We didn't find the Eastern any rougher than the Western on our back-to-back cruises. It's hard to say, it all depends on the weather.
2. The earlier you book, the lower the price will be. You can't book excursions, or adult dining, nursery or spa time until your booking window opens (first time DCL cruiser that would be 75 days out from the cruise).
3. There are (or have been in the past) transfers available from George Bush International (Houston) to Galveston. Transfers have a cost. Not sure what the Galveston ones were, but from Orlando (MCO) to the port are $35.00 per person.
4. You can certainly stay wherever you'd like the night before. However, DCL transfers only operate from MCO to the port (or WDW resorts to the port) on the embarkation day. Getting from MCO to other hotels would be on you. Many Port Canaveral hotels offer shuttles from them to the port on embarkation morning.

 

[Misty V]

DCL shuttle from IAH airport in Houston to Galveston RT is $90 per person ($270 for my group of 3) or $45 per person each way... I'm going on 7 night Bahama January 2017. Not sure what they are from the other airport.

 

[aggiedog]

FYI, the drive is easily 75 minutes from IAH in Houston to Galveston, without traffic, which is almost never. You arrive north of Houston, have to go thru the entire city, then take a very congested corridor down to Galveston. The other airport, Hobby, is closer to Galveston, but has limited airline usage. It is predominantly Southwest. Due to the time of year DCL uses Galveston, they frequently have fog delays, leaving and returning. If you leave out of Galveston, I strongly recommend you come in the day before and leave the day after.

 

[Misty V]

FYI, the drive is easily 75 minutes from IAH in Houston to Galveston, without traffic, which is almost never. You arrive north of Houston, have to go thru the entire city, then take a very congested corridor down to Galveston. The other airport, Hobby, is closer to Galveston, but has limited airline usage. It is predominantly Southwest. Due to the time of year DCL uses Galveston, they frequently have fog delays, leaving and returning. If you leave out of Galveston, I strongly recommend you come in the day before and leave the day after.

i arrive in houston at 830 am the day of my cruise in Jan 2017, i sure hope the plane isn't delayed, we plan on taking the dcl shuttle to the port...

 

[bovioask1]

1. Not much of a difference.
2. Earlier is always better, you get the best deals and have more options when choosing the rooms.
3. Over an hour for for Houston to Galveston. http://galvestonexpress.com/galveston-taxi-rates-schedule/ $60 RT PP
About an 45 minutes to an hour for Orlando to Port Canaveral. https://www.goportcanaveral.com/airport-shuttle/day-of-cruise.php $29 RT PP
4. This is an advantage for Port Canaveral cruisers. You can get a night or two before sailing and enjoy the theme parks, Kennedy Space Center, everything on Intl Drive, etc. So many attractions. https://www.goportcanaveral.com/services/fly-snooze-cruise.php Check them out for a Hotel and transportation services they can customize a LOT and have about 30 hotels to choose from in Orlando or by the beaches. Don't know if they have transportation to the parks but maybe a rental would be best!

 

[Misty V]

1. Not much of a difference.
2. Earlier is always better, you get the best deals and have more options when choosing the rooms.
3. Over an hour for for Houston to Galveston. http://galvestonexpress.com/galveston-taxi-rates-schedule/ $60 RT PP
About an 45 minutes to an hour for Orlando to Port Canaveral. https://www.goportcanaveral.com/airport-shuttle/day-of-cruise.php $29 RT PP
4. This is an advantage for Port Canaveral cruisers. You can get a night or two before sailing and enjoy the theme parks, Kennedy Space Center, everything on Intl Drive, etc. So many attractions. https://www.goportcanaveral.com/services/fly-snooze-cruise.php Check them out for a Hotel and transportation services they can customize a LOT and have about 30 hotels to choose from in Orlando or by the beaches. Don't know if they have transportation to the parks but maybe a rental would be best!

Have you (or anyone else) used the company in Houston from the link above? I've done some research and a lot of what I see is negative reviews on other shuttle services... that is why I was going to bite the bullet and pay for dcl shuttle TO the port.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Eastern has to go out into the Atlantic on its first two sea days. The Western stays close to the Florida coast then goes into the true Caribbean Sea.

So the Western is normally better in winter than the Eastern.

The later parts from mid week are simular.

 

[bovioask1]

Have you (or anyone else) used the company in Houston from the link above? I've done some research and a lot of what I see is negative reviews on other shuttle services... that is why I was going to bite the bullet and pay for dcl shuttle TO the port.

I used them nearly a year ago, and yeah it looks like theyve picked up a chunk of bad reviews since. But in my years of cruising, there are always bad reviews on transportation companies. The thing with driving that most people forget while waiting inpatiently is that car accidents do happen, traffic jams still exist on vacation, and things do go wrong. So, anytime this does happen, it generally leads to bad reviews. We had no complaints when we use galveston express, saved a buck to spend a buck on the cruise. Only thing that mattered was making it to the ship

 

[Misty V]

I used them nearly a year ago, and yeah it looks like theyve picked up a chunk of bad reviews since. But in my years of cruising, there are always bad reviews on transportation companies. The thing with driving that most people forget while waiting inpatiently is that car accidents do happen, traffic jams still exist on vacation, and things do go wrong. So, anytime this does happen, it generally leads to bad reviews. We had no complaints when we use galveston express, saved a buck to spend a buck on the cruise. Only thing that mattered was making it to the ship

haha it is getting to the ship that worries me... murphy and all that lol TY though, I will prob use them going back to houston