November 26, 2005/ 7 day Eastern Magic

[DiaLady]

Hi Fellow Cruisers --

I'm so excited tonight. We booked our hotel for Orlando! I'm finally starting to look at the details of this trip Wonder if it has anything to do with watching the new DCL DVD . .. LOL

Okay, my question to you is .. .

Have you booked any excursions yet? If you have which ones? If you haven't what are you planning to do on St. Maartin, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay . . .
This is my next step to consider and was curious what others were thinking about as well.

Have a great day!

TEW

 

[thumpery]

DiaLady - The code for Budget at Cape Canaveral is CC5. I don't have the code for Avis or Hertz. Odd that the Budget worker didn't know. The discounts for November haven't really come out yet. I have reserved, but hope as the time gets closer that the price will go down. Last year when we went the price went up as the time gets closer. I guess it's a game and I just keep checking. How far in advance of the cruise are you planning on going? Congrats on booking the hotel! I booked a condo about a month ago and I was excited too! Makes it more of a reality!

Anyone getting any warmer weather? We might get into the 40's this weekend! My DS11 is sleeping in a tent for Boy Scouts this weekend; He's crazy! LOL! Hope Spring comes soon!

 

[TJGorman]

Thumpery- It feels like a heat wave, it's going to hit 42 this weekend! Spring needs to come a little faster.

DiaLady- Some of the people in our group are considering a scuba dive at both St. Thomas and St. Martin. I am looking at a scuba at St. Thomas and horseback ride in St. Martin. But no definate plans as of yet.

 

[DsnysGr8t]

I've got a mini-van reserved from National. We're picking it up at MCO and dropping it off at their Cocoa Beach location. With the Entertainment Book discount I got it for $304 for 8 days ($38/day isn't bad for a minivan!)

We will be Kara & Eric's "Limo" for them this trip, so she doesn't even have to worry about renting a car!

Lisa

 

[thumpery]

DsnysGr8t - Or anyone else - Do you know how far the National drop off is in Cocoa Beach from the port? I hadn't looked into their rates. I don't recall a line for them this past year when we were there after the cruise. Thanks!

TJGorman - Yes I agree, 40's will feel like a heatwave to us. At least it's been sunny this week. I'm so tempted to wash and put away the our snowpants. But as soon as I do, we'l have a snowstorm. March is so unpredictable!

We haven't looked into shore excursions yet. On our 2002 Eastern cruise we did the Atlantis submarine in St. Thomas and the island tour at St. Martin. I would like to go to St. John this year.

 

[april riddle]

Hi everyone - it is a beautiful day here in NC - yesterday it snowed all day and schools ended up being first delayed and then cancelled all together. Then both of my boys woke up with flu like symptoms this morning so I went to work for a couple of hours and then came home to let DH go to work. I don't know if anyone on this board knows this but apparently Disney has dropped the price of transport to the Port. For some reason I called them for the price and they dropped it somewhat - sorry can't remember what it is.(I think it is $59 round trip). I know that Carnival transfer to the port from Fort Lauderdale to Port of Miami is only $33 round trip and I think it is about the same distance from Orlando to Cape Canaveral. We ended up getting flights to Miami and the bus is only $22 round trip. (this is for our weekend cruise just mom and dad). I am still planning on renting the car as hopefully my DM will be with us and for five transfers it is still a little bit cheaper. I would highly recommend the Doubloon Sail in St Thomas - I don't know if we will go on it again but the kids loved it! There were also alot younger kids on it as well and they seemed to do fine with the snorkling. Not too sure what we will do in St. Marteen yet I think the boys would be too bored with the butterfly farm so I will have to do some research. Well everyone - hope you all have a great weekend!

 

[DiaLady]

Okay, I gotta share our weather . . .it was nearly 60 degrees and sunny with the same planned for tomorrow. Baseball practices here we come!

Thumpery - Did you think the Atlantis Submarine tour was worth the $$. Did your kids enjoy it? My son perked up on that one when he saw it on the DCL DVD.

TGGordan - Horseback riding at St. Maartin's sounds wonderful. I'd love to see my DH riding a horse . . . he's the most urban guy you'll meet and he grew up on a dairy farm . . My kids have never ridden except when they were very young and my sister still had her horse. How sad is that. I was riding bareback by the time I was my youngest ages (8). Big difference between city folks and country folks . . .we're pretty citified . . .don't want to live too far from a Starbucks . .. LOL

Thanks for info on the car rentals . . .that's my next step . . .

Stay warm . . spring is coming! . . then summer .. then fall . . then THE CRUISE!!!

 

[DsnysGr8t]

The National Car rental office in Cocoa Beach is about 4 miles from the port. I'm not sure if they offer shuttle service, if they don't we'll just drop everyone off at the port, turn in the car then take a cab to the port.

Well it's raining here again, we had a lovely false spring for about 6 days. All the trees started blooming, gorgeous. It's hard to believe that DD will be out of the 7th grade in a mere 12 weeks.

 

[thumpery]

Dialady - I have heard mixed reviews on the Atlantis excursion, but we personally loved it. It is quite pricey, but the water was crystal clear and we saw sea turtles, sharks and these fishes that looked like they were kissing the window we were looking out of. My boys learned was sponges were and still talk about it. Any luck on the rental car?

TJGorman - Well our 1 day of spring was beautiful. However, we woke up to snow this morning - YUCK! Luckily, it's melting as we speak. That's March! Dreaming of Spring

 

[DiaLady]

Thanks for the feedback Thumbery . . . dh was just asking me last night what excursions we might consider. I was laughing when I told him I wanted to do horseback riding in St. Maartin. He was very concerned about the nudity on the beaches at St. Maartin. A friend at work just returned from a cruise there. Dad was shocked when his 10 yo boy's mouth dropped at the volupuous women rising nearly naked from the sea His friend thought it was a family beach (it was). Needless to say, I don't think we'll do anything on the beaches at St. Maartin (our boys are 8 and 10 yo). . ..LOL. The submarine would be a fun experience for the boys . .. we'll see . .

OH as far as the car rental .. .I'm cool for getting from the airport to the Sea World Hotel (we found a great rate for Comfort Suites .. .we love those hotels . . the rooms are huge and a great price . . .nothing fancy though unless you consider a fridge and microwave fancy) then to the ship. The pricey part is a trip back. We wanted to rent a car for a day to see Kennedy Space Center and then stay by MCO that night. It's almost double the price. I've got to call the limo places and get some feel for what it would cost to have a limo. DH would prefer someone else drive.

Hey, spring has finally sprung in SE Virginia!! It's been nearly 60 degreees for 3 days in a row!! Close to wanting to put away those darn winter coats! Our opening day of baseball is April 2 . . less than 2 weeks away!!

Have a fabulous day!

 

[thumpery]

I second your opinion regarding the nudity at the St. Martin beaches. My boys will be 12 and 9 years old then. Are there any safe (as in no nudity) beaches? My DH won't go horseback riding. LOL! I guess it's time to really research our shore excursions.

 

[april riddle]

Hi everyone! We did the See and Sea in St. Marteen last November - we really enjoyed the tour part of it but the Sea part of it was so-so. The tour guide on the bus was very informative and had a really good sense of humour. The boat ride was ok - the guide was really bossy and when you go down below on the boat it is very closed in so if you are at all phobic about enclosed areas I would not suggest you do this excursion. We didn't really see much of the fish until the diver went over the side of the boat and started feeding the fish from a can of sardines. Anyway just my 2cents

 

[Michelle2]

Hi everyone,
It's nice to see everyone making their cruise plans...Our rental car (minivan) I booked for us a bit ago through Budget, but am finding it cheaper through National now. I read on the dcltribute site that the National site is about 7 miles away from the DCL terminal. I am just trying to decide if it is worth the 22 bucks for a taxi (pre and post-cruise) to save 100 bucks. (National does not have a free shuttle like the other car places do.) I think that for the convenience of NOT having to take the Budget shuttle after and before the cruise would be a blessing from what I have heard it is like a zoo??
As for hotel, we are staying at the Radisson the night before, so I hope it is ok?? As for excursions, I have no idea what we are going to do...lol! But I like seeing all of your opinions, for we have kids and are concerned about the beaches, too. I am glad it is not the 30-90 day mark yet, because I am really unorganized at this point...Thanks for letting me ramble...LOL

 

[TJGorman]

I can't believe we will be leaving 8 months from today!!!!
I finally made the airline reservations with group travel at AirTran. I am a bit obsessive and would like to have as many details finished as soon as possible! All we are waiting for is another member of our group to confirm the hotel reservations. Now, all I have to do is pay off the cruise and save for extra's.

 

[ljt064]

Hi All,

First time cruiser, and I booked our 11/26 Cruise. Can't wait until the big day. I t will be my wife and I, two children 8 and 4, and my 12 year old niece (can you say baby sitter) .

I love these forums, you get the best tips.

We are flying in on Friday, staying at the Radisson. Looking foward to seeing all of you for 7 days of fun.

 

[TJGorman]

Welcome ljt064! I think you will enjoy your time here. This is our third cruise, second with Disney. IMHO, cruising is such a relaxing way to have a vacation. Unlike our other vacation this year where we are hiking up two mountains.

 

[Boo Mc]

Hi gang - just checking in. I finally booked our airfare - a little annoyed with myself because I waited a few weeks and the prices went up. But, I decided to go ahead and get them now in case they go up again. With my luck they'll probably come down! I also booked a room at the Radisson at the Port for $109 - I hope that's a good price. Has anyone done better? Haven't gotten a rental car yet. I need your help on this one. Budget seems to have a better reputation than Avis but Avis has a drop off at the Radisson. Any opinions on which to use? Also, does anyone know of any good mini golf places near the Radisson? Our kids would be thrilled if we spent Friday afternoon swimming and playing putt putt. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[dthogue]

Hey everyone - boy you guys have been busy. We just returned late last night from our 11 day trip to WDW. The weather was wonderful - low-mid 80's, although we had a threat for rain everyday - it sure beats the 40's and rain we have here in PA. It is so depressing being home. We had a fantastic trip, but the parks were so full. The only thing making coming home better is that we know in less that 8 months we'll be cruising

For those looking for excursions we did the Golden Eagle Catamaran through Disney last year and I highly recommend it. I am looking into doing a sail/snorkel trip through www.lordsheffield.com. There is lots of talk about this company on the Cruise Critic board. If we don't do that, we will just take the ferry to Great Bay for a day of swimming and shopping. In St. Thomas we are considering the Doubloon Sail (if we don't do Lord Sheffield the day before)

We have been considering doing Discovery Cove on Friday. Has anyone done this before? Is it worth the cost? If we don't do Discovery Cove, we'll probably spend the day at Cocoa Beach. So many decisions to make. Right now I have a rental car booked through Avis for both our trip to the port and back again. We are also looking into doing Universal on Saturday after the cruise.

My girls are so excited for this cruise - if anyone has a child who would like to correspond, please email us. My DD's are 15, 13 (birthday girls at WDW last week) and 5.

 

[DiaLady]

Welcome home, Thegohe Glad you had a wonderful trip. Sounds like you had a great time .. now into recovery mode . . .LOL

Spring break just commenced here so kids are everywhere (since we homeschool, we took our break a few weeks ago and are doing school). The parks here become insanely busy, too.

I like the idea of the sailing excursions. Really liked to see my boys learn to sail and I'd like to get better . . .not sure if dh has ever sailed . .ummm . . gotta ask him about that one . . .Anyway, thought I saw an age limit . . mine will be 8 & 11 YO when we sail. Let me know about the off-Disney tour your mentioned, too.

Honestly, I'm just excited dh is considering excursions at all. He usually is a would rather stay in instead of go out We've still got time.

Oh and I'm considering adding the REAS to our package so we can pick our dinner rotation, get PALO reservation, couple massage (dh liked that idea), and other things. I wonder if that gives us early excursion reservations, too.

Have a great day!

 

[thumpery]

This is a question for TJGorman - I see that you booked your air on Airtran. That is the airline we also want to fly with (we have free tickets due to being bumped last year). Anyways, when checking rates on the internet they only go out through November. We need to fly home in December. Did you call to get your tickets? I don't want to wait too long and miss the boat or should I say plane. Thanks in advance for your input!

Dthogue - Welcome back! What a great year you are having: WDW & the cruise! I'm going to look into the Golden Eagle Catamaran, but would also like to know more about the other you mentioned.