Help!! First cruise and so many questions

[hockey mom]

Hi all we are taking our first cruise and I am lost lol. Cast is 2 grandma s and 2 grandkids. Five night cruise out of miami.
1) Transportation- flying into fort lauderdale . Do we stay there then use a shuttle and why are hotel prices so high there.
2) Anyone recommend a good hotel
3) good shuttle service
4) do i have to pre register our kids for the kids clubs
5) Dining- if we are not doing any formal options do we have to reserve anything.

Sorry - Disney parks are a no brainer for me but I have lost now.

 

[minnie mum]

Can't answer your ship questions, since I don't know which cruise line you're sailing on. I'd recommend you head over to Cruise Critic. They've got sections that deal with each cruise line, as well as departure ports. Sign up for your sailings Roll Call as well. People there will be discussing pre sailing hotels and transportation.

 

[bcwife76]

Assuming you are sailing with Disney? I can't answer the Florida shuttle/hotel questions, but as for the cruise - you can register the kids in the kids club in the terminal before you board the ship or you can go to the kids club on the ship and do it there. There are several different clubs depending on their ages and the Disney is very strict about the ages (ie. if the club says you have to be 11 then you HAVE to be 11, you can't be one month away from your 11th birthday).
Unless you are doing adult only dining at Palo or Remy then you don't have to reserve any dining. When you booked your cruise you would have been able to choose between main and late dining for your main dining room rotations.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

I agree with Minnie mum. Head over to cruise critic and you will find all the answers you need and more. Cruising is a great vacation!!

And try Hotwire for hotels. They have a message board (better bidding I think it is) to help you figure out which hotel you are bidding on!

 

[isabellea]

We are also taking our first cruise on DCL out of Miami (early March). I assume your cruise is this winter? Hotels are expensive in Miami and Ft Lauderdale because it's HIGH season for them. In fact, Orlando is the anomaly in FL where you have low season in winter whereas it's high season on the coasts because of all the snowbirds going south in the winter. Just to give you an example, there's 800 000 Canadians visiting Broward county (Ft Lauderdale) in the winter, most of them from Quebec. As for specific hotels, I cannot help you since we will stay at my parents' condo before our departure from Miami. Check the cruise message board here on the DIS for some help on that, it a recurrent question.

 

[squirrel]

If the line isn't long at the terminal sign up the kids for the club. First time you drop off allow for extra drop off time if it's the first day since so many don't sign up until they use and it takes extra time.

Don't miss out on your dinners, they are the best. I ate at Palo once for brunch and for me it was not worth the extra cost.

I have not sailed out of Miami so I can't help with that. There is also a DCL board if you are sailing with Disney that could help with your trip.

 

[mkmommy]

We love sailing from Miami, Miami HEAT game and then DCL cruise makes a perfect vacation.

First time we flew into FLL and rented a car (did the drive to the Florida Keys first) from Alamo and dropped of at the Miami Airport. Alamo has a free shuttle to the port and it worked out well. For the flight home, we used JIffey Jeff from port to FLL and that worked out well too. We are flying into Miami this time.

Hotels in Miami are expensive, I find getting a membership for lastminuteclub (Google free membership) gets the best rates. We are staying at the Holiday inn Miami port, it is nothing special , clean older rooms but it is across the road from both the areana where the HEAT game is and the port so it is fine for 1 night. We have stayed at the Intercontinental too, lovely hotel which is the same area but way too expensive the day we need. Taxis to the port from these hotels is quick and about $12.00.

We prefer waking up in the morning and seeing the ship so Miami works for us, but hotels are probably a littles less expensive around FLL airport area.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Hi all we are taking our first cruise and I am lost lol. Cast is 2 grandma s and 2 grandkids. Five night cruise out of miami.
1) Transportation- flying into fort lauderdale . Do we stay there then use a shuttle and why are hotel prices so high there.
2) Anyone recommend a good hotel
3) good shuttle service
4) do i have to pre register our kids for the kids clubs
5) Dining- if we are not doing any formal options do we have to reserve anything.

Sorry - Disney parks are a no brainer for me but I have lost now.

We sailed with DCL out of Miami last February.

1) We flew into Ft. Lauderdale and stayed there. No hotel recommendation as we didn't like where we stayed.
2) See #1
3) SAS Transporation was the best!!! This is only available if you stay in Ft Lauderdale and need transportation to the port in Miami. We took them both ways and were very happy with their service
4) I registered my DD online prior to the cruise and then picked up her wristband inside the terminal.
5) We did a Palo brunch and loved it! Will do that again. Other than that no reservations were required.

Hope this helps.

 

[DnA2010]

Hi all we are taking our first cruise and I am lost lol. Cast is 2 grandma s and 2 grandkids. Five night cruise out of miami.
1) Transportation- flying into fort lauderdale . Do we stay there then use a shuttle and why are hotel prices so high there.
2) Anyone recommend a good hotel
3) good shuttle service
4) do i have to pre register our kids for the kids clubs
5) Dining- if we are not doing any formal options do we have to reserve anything.

Sorry - Disney parks are a no brainer for me but I have lost now.

We stayed at a Hampton Inn- they were excellent- it included transportation.
I believe I signed the waivers online but registered there. DD was 10 turning 11 the following ,onto and was allowed into the 11-13 club. Correct on dining, you will already have your seating.

 

[hockey mom]

Thanks so much everyone. We are doing the disney wonder for 5 nights in a few weeks. I have been reading the cruise section but just thought I would get some Canadian advice.