ILLUMINATIONS CRUISES-What they are--How to book--FIND ONE TO SHARE

[1lear]

We are a family of 5 staying 8/24-8/29 and would love to share a cruise with another family. Please email us at lrfamily at verizon.net if interested.

Lisa

 

[kristinlynn]

My DH and I will be in WDW Oct. 30 - Nov. 7 and would love to share a cruise with someone. The only date that won't work for us right now is Nov. 2. If anyone is interested, please PM me. Thanks!

 

[diabolico]

We are a family of 4, two adults and two children; who will be in Epcot on July 17th. Two questions; first is that we have a reservation for Coral Reef restaurant at 5:20PM would that give us enough time to get to the 8PM cruise? Second, if it does; does anyone have room for 4 to share the experience on that night? PM or email me with your suggestions; thanks.

 

[disneywifey]

My DH & I would love to find someone to share a cruise anytime during the week of Jan 25-30. My parents and sister may join us so a possible party of 5 bur definitely 2. We would love to meet some DISers and share a cruise!

 

[Crazy Hakim]

We are a family of 4, two adults and two children; who will be in Epcot on July 17th. Two questions; first is that we have a reservation for Coral Reef restaurant at 5:20PM would that give us enough time to get to the 8PM cruise? Second, if it does; does anyone have room for 4 to share the experience on that night? PM or email me with your suggestions; thanks.

1. Yes, but arrive about 20 minutes before your ADR, just to be sure your seated promptly. I always allow at least 2 hours for a casual dinner. Then, walk from Coral Reef to Bayside Marina, don't be tempted to take a Friendship Boat. As long as you check in at Bayside Marina by 8pm, your A-OK.

2. Keep looking. And, if you are so bold, if nothing pans out by 7/17, still walk over to Bayside Marina, talk to any of the Cruise Drivers (Blue Shirt) at the Marina and ask if there are any small groups. Don't be shy, it's Disney, you would be surprised to hear that some people who get the boats are not on the DisBoards and do not know of the common practice to share boats.

Good Luck.

 

[leannm]

Hi!

I have space available for 6 more on the Illuminations Cruise for Thursday, May 29 if anyone would like to share! Please PM or Email babaloowee@comcast.net - we are a party of 4; 2 teenagers celebrating their high school graduation & 2 adults!

 

[jen_uk]

My hubbie and I are looking to join an Illuminations cruise in August between the 6th-20, if you have any space please PM me.

 

[mimi71078]

Looking to share a cruise with someone on Halloween night. We are a party of 5.

 

[ncdisneydad]

does anybody have a wishes or illumnatins cruise for 8-11-8-16 for my wife and i and a 6 y/o daughter we are staying at poly

 

[twinscandc]

I just sent you an email.

Becki

Hi!

I have space available for 6 more on the Illuminations Cruise for Thursday, May 29 if anyone would like to share! Please PM or Email babaloowee@comcast.net - we are a party of 4; 2 teenagers celebrating their high school graduation & 2 adults!

 

[Mom2twinboys]

We are considering an Illumination cruise in October on an EMH night at Epcot. How do we get to the dock from Epcot and how long does it take? What time is illuminations on EMH night? Would we have time to get back to Epcot after the cruise. Sorry if these are stupid questions, but I don't know much about the cruises but I think it is something my family would enjoy. TIA!!

 

[Crazy Hakim]

We are considering an Illumination cruise in October on an EMH night at Epcot. How do we get to the dock from Epcot and how long does it take? What time is illuminations on EMH night? Would we have time to get back to Epcot after the cruise. Sorry if these are stupid questions, but I don't know much about the cruises but I think it is something my family would enjoy. TIA!!

How to get to Bayside Marina from Epcot. Exit thru the International Gateway (between UK and France). Walk with Crescent Lake on your left, past the Beach Club, past the Lighthouse, when you see the gazebo on the right, turn left and you will be facing the Bayside Marina Building. Look for parked boats in the water and the dock.

IllumiNations is ALWAYS at 9pm, except for between Thanksgiving and NYE when it is moved to 9:30pm. EMH does NOT affect IllumiNations.

Yes, if you want to exit back thru Epcot, you can ask your pontoon driver to drop you off at the Epcot Friendship Dock at the International Gateway Entrance. There is no need to go all the way back to Bayside marina after the cruise.


FYI, the pontoon boats will hold a total of 10ppl (adults including children and infants). There are Chips, pretzels, soda and water provided on the boat. Arrive at Bayside Marina by 8pm (8:30pm between Thanksgiving and NYE). Blankets are on the boat, if desired.

That should cover it.......................

 

[Mom2twinboys]

How to get to Bayside Marina from Epcot. Exit thru the International Gateway (between UK and France). Walk with Crescent Lake on your left, past the Beach Club, past the Lighthouse, when you see the gazebo on the right, turn left and you will be facing the Bayside Marina Building. Look for parked boats in the water and the dock.

IllumiNations is ALWAYS at 9pm, except for between Thanksgiving and NYE when it is moved to 9:30pm. EMH does NOT affect IllumiNations.

Yes, if you want to exit back thru Epcot, you can ask your pontoon driver to drop you off at the Epcot Friendship Dock at the International Gateway Entrance. There is no need to go all the way back to Bayside marina after the cruise.


FYI, the pontoon boats will hold a total of 10ppl (adults including children and infants). There are Chips, pretzels, soda and water provided on the boat. Arrive at Bayside Marina by 8pm (8:30pm between Thanksgiving and NYE). Blankets are on the boat, if desired.

That should cover it.......................

Thanks for the info! I thinks we will try to do it!

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

Sorry if I am posting in the wrong place but I am looking for information on the Wishes cruises. I've tried to search with no luck. Is there a thread out there dedicated to the Wishes cruises?

 

[nala1128]

Sorry if I am posting in the wrong place but I am looking for information on the Wishes cruises. I've tried to search with no luck. Is there a thread out there dedicated to the Wishes cruises?

I am not sure if there is a separate thread for the Wishes Cruise. But we just returned from WDW on Friday night, and did a Wishes Cruise during our stay. It was nice. We departed from the WL. I was only able to get the 8 seater pontoon that did not have the music.

I did add the Celebration package for my DH birthday. The boat had a cooler with water and sodas for us, as well as snacks including Doritos, Cheetos and potato chips.

We got a tour of the lake first including the hotels and a bit of history/info about each of them. Then we docked near the MK, and watched the fireworks. It was a bit windy so we were moving around alot. Our driver tried to stay close to one of the boats that had the music so we could hear it. It was a bit hard to hear anyway, and I wish I would have been able to get one with music, but it was not available when I booked. The view was good, and the fireworks were beautiful.

If there are any questions I can help with, feel free to post or PM me.

 

[Laurabearz]

going to need this tomorrow.. woot woot

 

[diabolico]

1. Yes, but arrive about 20 minutes before your ADR, just to be sure your seated promptly. I always allow at least 2 hours for a casual dinner. Then, walk from Coral Reef to Bayside Marina, don't be tempted to take a Friendship Boat. As long as you check in at Bayside Marina by 8pm, your A-OK.

2. Keep looking. And, if you are so bold, if nothing pans out by 7/17, still walk over to Bayside Marina, talk to any of the Cruise Drivers (Blue Shirt) at the Marina and ask if there are any small groups. Don't be shy, it's Disney, you would be surprised to hear that some people who get the boats are not on the DisBoards and do not know of the common practice to share boats.

Good Luck.

I appreciate the response. I am going to try that during the whole week that we go if we decide to do it. We have just added two additional days to the trip so we may have the time but the funds may be allotted for other entertainment. Thanks though!

 

[Angela Bricker]

Hi all, I was supremely lucky and scored an Illuminations Cruise for Sunday 8/17. There are only 4 of us, so I'm looking for 6 folks to share with me. This is how I met one of my best friends ever, last time I booked a cruise! No pressure, though

PM me or email abricker@alum.mit.edu

 

[Laurabearz]

You need to call 407-939-7529 exactly 90 days before the date you want to reserve. You can determine when to call by using the DIS's priority seating calculator if you CLICK HEREhttp://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/pscalc/dispscalc.html

Since these cruises are so much in demand, start calling about 6:55 am est. If you get a recording that they are not open yet, disconnect and immediately hit redial. If you get the recording thanking you for calling hit #3 right away, as soon as the second recording begins press #2, when the third recording begins press either your reservation number or phone number and finish with the pound sign. Then press #1, then #2. This will take you to a reservationist, if you have to hold do not disconnect or you go to the bottom of the queue.

When the reservationist answers do not make small talk, immediately tell him/her that you want to reserve the 8PM specialty cruise for such and such date.Do not ask to reserve an Illuminations cruise or you will waste time hearing that there is no such thing. After you get your reservation you can talk all you want, but these cruises are very difficult to reserve and seconds count when thousands of people are competing for only 5 boats.

When the reservationist indicates that you have obtained the reservation, tell him/her that you want to see Illuminations. He/she will then make arrangements for your cruise to depart the marina about 1/2 hour before Illuminations begins.

Ok I just booked the cruise and you DO NOT press #3 first, you press #1
and that's it...

This really should be updated

 

[Anc96]

Just trying again...

Looking for a Wishes, or Illuminations cruise for any night between June 16th and July 2nd, splitting the cost per person.
We are one adult and one disney adult (11 yrs).

TIA
Anc96