Illuminatiions Cruise

[zela02]

We just booked the Illuminations Cruise for our trip in Sept. Any thoughts on this experience (good or bad), tips, things to know, etc.?

 

[BalooPA]

We had a wonderful time last year on our honeymoon. We joined two other groups and split the price. The snacks and sodas were nice. The captain was very knowledgeable and I learned a lot on the trip through the waterways before we pulled into our spot for Illuminations. The viewing was perfect, and there was a marriage proposal two boats away from us. Truly magical. We are looking to do it again this year on our anniversary trip from Sept. 12 - 19th, but so far haven't found a cruise with two open spots.

 

[POLY1985]

What kind of snacks and sodas are provided? Could you bring wine if you wanted to?

 

[bigbabyblues]

Unless something has changed, you cannot bring your own snacks or alcohol. I think chips and water or soda was provided, but they charged more for cake/celebration things.

We have gone twice, and we love it! We haven't done a shared cruise, only the four of us.

 

[BalooPA]

Not sure about bringing your own beverages. We had the normal variety of sodas, different types of individual bags of chips (Plain, Doritos, etc), and granola bars. Can't remember if there was anything else.

 

[Wendybird55]

We went a few years back and loved it! We have another booked for our August trip. We were supposed to go on one last year, but weather prohibited it. That is one drawback..if it's bad or unsafe weather, the cruise will be cancelled.

I don't think you can bring your own food / beverages on board. The cooler contains bottles of water and can cans of coke, sprite, etc. We also had small bags of chips and such.

You can order additional food (at a cost of course) from in-room dining and the cake hotline. DH got chocolate covered strawberries and champagne for our anniversary cruise.

If you are celebrating a special occasion you can also order a banner and balloons - I think it's about a $25 charge.

I loved this cruise - a great way to see Illuminations close up...They do tell you that they are not responsible for visability...meaning depending upon if there is a wind / breeze when you go and which way it's blowing smoke from the fireworks may be blown in your direction.

 

[heidijanesmith]

We booked our first Illuminations cruise for our DD's 16th b-day. It was amazing! It will a new must for us every year.

Illuminations was at 10:00PM, so we met our captain at 8:45 at the Yatch Club Marina. We took off and explored the lake, over to DS area and then to Illuminations. We tied up under the bridge by the IG. We ordered cupcakes for DD's B-day from YC private dining and were told that we were not allowed to bring our own beer and food. YC private dining had great food options as well as beverages. The cupcakes were huge and wonderful.

We had soft drinks, water and snack bags of chips and popcorn provided. We had just ate at Cape May, so we did not eat any of the chips.

Our captian was amazing, fully of knowledge and fun facts. The view was the best I have ever seen. No worrying about crowds or getting back to your resort.

 

[cleophus12]

We have done this cruise once and loved it. We split it with a family that we hooked up with on these boards (can't remember what the thread title is, but I'm sure you could do an easy search for it). It's a great view, and since we were staying at the BC, it couldn't have been simpler. Snacks were chips, popcorn, maybe some cookies and nature valley-type bars and regular soda and water. I was drinking a glass of wine when we boarded and the captain did let me finish it onboard, but I was almost done anyway. It's not like I was carrying a bottle with me.