NYC CRUISES PLANNING/INFO ThREAD!

[Suz D]

My husband and I booked the August 5th Canadian cruise. We will be driving from CT. We were thinking of also booking the July 28 cruise to Nassau with my daughter and her three children. She has a 9 ( will be 10) 6, who will be 7 and and a 5 year old. My husband and I have been on several DCL cruises but really know nothing about the kids programs. Any sugguestion? Do you sign up at the terminal as you do at Port Canaveral?

As JillJill said, nobody knows how the registration will work, but if kids are sailing with you, they are automatically (signed up-meaning counted) for the kids club. You still have to register them, get the armband, etc. but even if you don't do that until 1/2 way through the cruise, there will be room for them in the club.

Your grandkids are the perfect ages for the kids club. It's loosly structured. They have lots of scheduled activities but if kids are in the club but don't want to participate in the scheduled activities they can just have free time in the club.

The scheduled activities are listed right on your navigator. When we cruise we bring along a specific colored highlighter for each person in our group. Everyone goes through the navigator when we receive it and we mark what activities everyone is interested in attending.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to PM me okay?

 

[LuvsBlueDiamonds]

I've stayed at plenty of NYC hotels all in the Midtown/Times Square/Rockefeller Center area, nice, clean, safe and great prices for a woman traveling alone on business.

The Roosevelt Hotel, Pod, Amsterdam Court, Stay Hotel (in Times Square/Rock Center) and The Time Hotel (great location off Broadway).

Avoid... Hotel Penn!!! Yuck

 

[ksloane]

Southwest releases their dates through Aug 10 sometime today...anxiously watching and then my airfare will be booked for our summer NY cruises!!

 

[LuvsBlueDiamonds]

How will the transportation to and from WDW be arranged? Will they have a certain number of buses scheduled to leave at various time intervals? I would assume it would be first come first serve and be dropped off and picked up at the transportation and ticket center.

I know that the park hopper pass is included for the price of the cruise, but I'm hoping that they may consider including a dining plan also. I think its fair due to cost savings for not eating on the Magic. Maybe if everyone will e-mail DCL, they may think about including this option. If not, I wonder if they will allow us to pack a lunch and take it with us.

We were on a DCL hurricane cruise and had to return to PC in the middle of the night to abandon ship. DCL brought in 40ish WDW ME/DCL buses. Lined up outside the terminal and everyone boarded orderly at the same time. The buses took us to WDW hotels for the night. I think they'll handle getting us to WDW the same way.

We're hoping for dining coupouns too. Why not? We're paying for a meal 45 minutes away back on the boat, the could at least give us CS.

 

[ksloane]

Airfare booked...ended up lying into out and of New Jersey...savings = $150. We are arriving a day early so I now need to decide on the hotel for the night before the cruise...

 

[peachygreen]

Me too - all booked on Southwest to Newward for our July Cruise! I'm very excited to have airfare booked. I'll book the hotel later this week probably. We are going to stay by the airport. The hotel we are going to book has a park and cruise rate so my parents can stay there and leave their car for the week and we can get a shuttle to the city together.

 

[ksloane]

Me too - all booked on Southwest to Newward for our July Cruise! I'm very excited to have airfare booked. I'll book the hotel later this week probably. We are going to stay by the airport. The hotel we are going to book has a park and cruise rate so my parents can stay there and leave their car for the week and we can get a shuttle to the city together.

I'm going to start doing heavy hotel research this week as well. I had a few booked, but after airfare was released today it was cheaper to only come in a day before the cruise and then do our NYC sightseeing after the cruise so I have to develop a new plan, and I need a hotel close to the airport for just the one night before the cruise.

 

[NJGirl]

Depends on what you plan on doing while staying there. If you want to be near Broadway or Times Square, there are tons of hotels. We go every year for the weekend and hardly ever take cabs. Lots within walking distance of those area. Blocks are long, but there are tons of people 24/7 -- the streets never close We walked back from Lincoln Center at 64th one night after a play at 11 pm all the way to Times Square. It was a great walk, beautiful night, plenty of people around and we never felt unsafe.

Just wanted to comment on safety:

I am a female in my 30's. My best friend (male) and I walked back from a restaurant in Times Square to our hotel on 8th ave and 50th St at about 4:30am this morning. Usually we are never out that late, not even close, but we attended an event and felt silly taking a cab for just a few blocks since there were enough people still milling about even at that hour. Felt completely safe.

It's still a mob scene in Times Square through midnight-1am.

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Over on the Eastern Canadian Cruise board, a great discussion has started on symbols of Canada to use on magnets. One idea is lighthouses. This got me thinking of the lighthouses that the Magic will pass on leaving NY. Can anyone who has cruised out of NY before tell us what lighthouses we might see? I "googled" it and it seems that we might see the Robbins Reef Lighthouse, the Fort Wadsworth Lighthouse, the Coney Island Lighthouse, and/or the Fire Island Lighthouse. Are any of these really seen by the cruiseboats leaving NY? THANKS!!

 

[ksloane]

Just wanted to comment on safety:

I am a female in my 30's. My best friend (male) and I walked back from a restaurant in Times Square to our hotel on 8th ave and 50th St at about 4:30am this morning. Usually we are never out that late, not even close, but we attended an event and felt silly taking a cab for just a few blocks since there were enough people still milling about even at that hour. Felt completely safe.

It's still a mob scene in Times Square through midnight-1am.

Thanks for posting this!

 

[Happy Goofy]

Well we booked the whole family last night. There will be DW and DH who are senior citizens. DD 40, DD 38 with three children 10,7,6. They grandchildren do not know about it yet. Hope to keep it a Christmas surprise.Any other children around their ages?

 

[ksloane]

Well we booked the whole family last night. There will be DW and DH who are senior citizens. DD 40, DD 38 with three children 10,7,6. They grandchildren do not know about it yet. Hope to keep it a Christmas surprise.Any other children around their ages?

Which cruise did you book?

 

[ksloane]

If anyone is flying into Newark the day before and wants to stay close to the hotel....

I just booked The Hampton Inn,Newark Airport for (I think) $89. Hampton (Hilton) offers a price guarantee. If you you can find a cheaper price, you get the hotel for that price PLUS a $50 American Express Gift Cheque.

Expedia has this hotel (or did yesterday) for $67.15.

You must book at the $87 rate (prepaid rate b/c Expedia is prepaid) and then fill out the form.

I have already gotten back confirmation that I will be receiving the $22 credit upon checkin to the hotel and the gift cheque will be mailed upon checkout. So this room is actually costing me $17.15!!!

Thought I'd share in case this would for anyone else!!!

 

[Happy Goofy]

We booked the July 28 cruise to Nassau for us and the family and then my husband and I are continuing on to the August 6 Canadian cruise.

 

[ksloane]

We booked the July 28 cruise to Nassau for us and the family and then my husband and I are continuing on to the August 6 Canadian cruise.

This is your "Meet" threads...here you can find out who will be on your cruises and interact with them....

July 28 http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=41003339
Aug 5 http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=40752725

 

[brookelizabeth]

If anyone is flying into Newark the day before and wants to stay close to the hotel....

I just booked The Hampton Inn,Newark Airport for (I think) $89. Hampton (Hilton) offers a price guarantee. If you you can find a cheaper price, you get the hotel for that price PLUS a $50 American Express Gift Cheque.

Expedia has this hotel (or did yesterday) for $67.15.

You must book at the $87 rate (prepaid rate b/c Expedia is prepaid) and then fill out the form.

I have already gotten back confirmation that I will be receiving the $22 credit upon checkin to the hotel and the gift cheque will be mailed upon checkout. So this room is actually costing me $17.15!!!

Thought I'd share in case this would for anyone else!!!

NICE!!!!!!!

 

[ksloane]

NICE!!!!!!!

Thanks. I was excited!!

 

[Onkel Hans]

We'll be cruising with my in-laws, and my FIL has mobility issues. He can walk short distances, very slowly, or he uses a wheelchair. Generally he walks, so he doesn't own a wheelchair, but for travel he will want to have a chair.

My question is when should I rent a wheelchair for him? We will be taking a bus or driving to Boston, then taking Amtrak to NYC. Do you think he will need one from start to finish? Or just while in NYC and onboard? Or just while onboard?

Thanks in adavance.

 

[Minnie Monellen]

I recommend buying a transport chair (lighter and more compact than a wheelchair) for the trip. That's what I did for my mother who can only walk short distances and has problems with her balance. I'm sending you a PM with a link.

 

[SeaSpray]

Below are old posts of mine from when I first booked the hotel for our cruise in May. However, just today I decided to check the rates online on the Marriott Marquis web site, just for the heck of it. The rate has DROPPED by $200!!!! So I quickly booked a new room, and will cancel the original one that I booked.

So this means that the 4 of us can be in 1 room at the Marriott Marquis for only $18.00 more than the DCL "discounted" rate, but which would only allow 2 of us in the room (since we are booked in 2 cabins on the ship), and would've meant that we'd have to book 2 rooms ($433 X 2).

(All rates include taxes and fees)

DCL "Discounted" rate for Marriott Marquis: $433.00 X 2 rooms = $866.00
Marriott Marquis "Best Rate" back on August 10th: $691.00 (4 of us in 1 room)
Marriott Marquis "Best Rate" today: $461.00 (4 of us in 1 room)

I thought that $691 was a good deal as compared to $866, but now that the rate is $461 I am thrilled!!!
Also, the two rooms that I booked online were "Times Square View" rooms; DCL room did not specify a particular type or view.

Anyway, if you have already booked your room yourself at the Marriott, check the rate to see if it has changed!

Sort of an update on the hotel prices:

The price I was quoted was for 2 people only. The TA said she can't put all 4 of us in 1 room because we have 2 separate DCL reservations. I'm kind of disappointed about this.

Bummer! Booking the hotel directly through the Marriott will come out cheaper than paying for 2 rooms, which we will not do!

EDITED TO ADD:
I just went back to the Marriott's web site and clicked on only 2 people, to see if they'd quote a lower price, but no... the same room is the same cost, whether 2 or 4 people. So I'll have to see whether there's anything our TA can do to help us.

I think the date of the cruise may play in to whether the DCL price is a better deal or not. I'll give you my example:

We're cruising on the May 25th NYC-Bahamas cruise. It's the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. We'd need the night before, our reservation is for Thursday, May 24th, 2012.

Marriott Marquis Web Site:
$549.00 + taxes & fees (approx $600 total)

DCL:
$433.00 TOTAL (includes taxes & fees)