Sep. 7, 2015 on the Dream

[Jasesmom]

right!!! We havent been to Disney... Making that trip for his 5th birthday!!!

 

[joannjoe]

right!!! We havent been to Disney... Making that trip for his 5th birthday!!!

Cool I understand. That's a long drive it use to take me 15 hours but kids got older and the bickering got worse so we fly now. More expensive but a lot less stress.

 

[sillecruisers]

Cool I understand. That's a long drive it use to take me 15 hours but kids got older and the bickering got worse so we fly now. More expensive but a lot less stress.

LOL about the bickering. We used to drive cross country as a family, but now that they're older, it seems like a scary proposition. This trip will be my 2 younger kids' first time flying so the nerves and excitement of that should keep the battles at bay, I hope. They are just about as excited to fly as anything. We don't get out much, lol.

 

[Jasesmom]

Cool I understand. That's a long drive it use to take me 15 hours but kids got older and the bickering got worse so we fly now. More expensive but a lot less stress.

My dad lives not far from Port Canaveral... We just might stop and see him!!! (I havent seen him in years and he has never met Jase)... That was my deciding factor when I decided to drive

 

[CAyers]

Next question is about transportation to the port from the resort. I really don't feel much like doing the Disney transfer although the price is right. I don't want to go at a time they set for me, I want to choose my own time. I've priced out sedan service and it's more than double.

What are your thoughts? Anyone done anything really successful?

I miss a day and I am behind!! WELCOME to the best cruise group ever!!! We are driving ourselves to the port from Disney as we wanted to get there early and enjoy the ship as soon as we can

 

[CAyers]

LOL about the bickering. We used to drive cross country as a family, but now that they're older, it seems like a scary proposition. This trip will be my 2 younger kids' first time flying so the nerves and excitement of that should keep the battles at bay, I hope. They are just about as excited to fly as anything. We don't get out much, lol.

That's funny Marissa complains when we drive home (7.5 hours, which is how far we are from Port) she would prefer to fly any time! How is the water at Castaway Cay, clear blue I am hoping, she was not impressed with Myrtle Beach this summer!

 

[joannjoe]

I miss a day and I am behind!! WELCOME to the best cruise group ever!!! We are driving ourselves to the port from Disney as we wanted to get there early and enjoy the ship as soon as we can

I have read on other threads that now you can't just get there and get on when you want. When you register online at the 90 day mark or what ever day you can they will have different times to board the ship for you to pick from,. That sucks sorry we love getting there at noon and hit the buffet and just check out the ship.

 

[joannjoe]

That's funny Marissa complains when we drive home (7.5 hours, which is how far we are from Port) she would prefer to fly any time! How is the water at Castaway Cay, clear blue I am hoping, she was not impressed with Myrtle Beach this summer!

The water is Beautiful The east coast beaches are always murky. The water will be very warm in September. Yes it should be clear blue. I can only speak for when I have been there. I wish they would build a small resort there. They also have a club there where the kids can go too. Then you can go to the Adults only beach for a while.

 

[CAyers]

The water is Beautiful The east coast beaches are always murky. The water will be very warm in September. Yes it should be clear blue. I can only speak for when I have been there. I wish they would build a small resort there. They also have a club there where the kids can go too. Then you can go to the Adults only beach for a while.

We are so super excited! Yea I am aiming for one of the early checkins so that we can enjoy the boat and what it has to offer. I don't think we are going to explore Nassau, as we have been to many places relatively the same, and since we are on the boat so little I think we will hangout and enjoy a little less crowds.

 

[butsy113]

WOW! I've been busy with homework, and have missed a couple pages of comments here!!

Well this week we hit our 7 month mark, so I was able to book our bookends at WDW. Booked September 5-7 at Wilderness Lodge Villas and the 11-13 at Boardwalk Villas. In the past week I also switched us to the early dining time. I keep going back and forth about this though I would be fine with the late dining, but I know that will be too late for DH. He is early to bed, early to rise. The kids and I are night owls. Which dining time is everyone doing and why?

As far as transportation, I priced out a car service, Disney, and car rentals. Car rentals as of now were insane. Then I would have to pay for parking or shuttle to port and afterwards back to get another car Too much trouble for me! Car service for us 4 from WDW>PC>WDW was looking like $295 without a tip. Suggested tip $30 each way That makes the car service much more expensive than Disney at $280. I would have to tip bus driver for loading bags on ride back. Baggage handling I tip $2-5 per bag rounding to the nearest multiple of 5, so about $15-20. They pick bags up in your room at 8am and you see them in your stateroom later. The only down side to this is that I've read you get picked up between 10:30-12:30. That puts you at port by 1:30. So I loose a couple hours on the boat, but don't have to deal with bags on the way there and it's pretty stress free for me. For myself, I am on vacation and try to have no stress. The bus is the option we have decided to take.

 

[Jasesmom]

WOW! I've been busy with homework, and have missed a couple pages of comments here!!

Well this week we hit our 7 month mark, so I was able to book our bookends at WDW. Booked September 5-7 at Wilderness Lodge Villas and the 11-13 at Boardwalk Villas. In the past week I also switched us to the early dining time. I keep going back and forth about this though I would be fine with the late dining, but I know that will be too late for DH. He is early to bed, early to rise. The kids and I are night owls. Which dining time is everyone doing and why?

As far as transportation, I priced out a car service, Disney, and car rentals. Car rentals as of now were insane. Then I would have to pay for parking or shuttle to port and afterwards back to get another car Too much trouble for me! Car service for us 4 from WDW>PC>WDW was looking like $295 without a tip. Suggested tip $30 each way That makes the car service much more expensive than Disney at $280. I would have to tip bus driver for loading bags on ride back. Baggage handling I tip $2-5 per bag rounding to the nearest multiple of 5, so about $15-20. They pick bags up in your room at 8am and you see them in your stateroom later. The only down side to this is that I've read you get picked up between 10:30-12:30. That puts you at port by 1:30. So I loose a couple hours on the boat, but don't have to deal with bags on the way there and it's pretty stress free for me. For myself, I am on vacation and try to have no stress. The bus is the option we have decided to take.

We will be going to first dining!!! I'm not sure that Jase would make it through 2nd dining without a breakdown!!!

 

[butsy113]

We will be going to first dining!!! I'm not sure that Jase would make it through 2nd dining without a breakdown!!!

We live in Central time zone so 8pm is really only 7 for us. The kids and I are used to eating about then or even later because of school activities. DH is up at 4am every morning so that's about his bedtime, lol! I heard it was nicer to have late dining because on days in port you don't have to get back early to change. Specifically on Castaway Cay day. I keep tossing it back and forth. I figure it's probably easier to switch to the later dining than vice versa, so I'll stick with what I have for now.

 

[Jasesmom]

We live in Central time zone so 8pm is really only 7 for us. The kids and I are used to eating about then or even later because of school activities. DH is up at 4am every morning so that's about his bedtime, lol! I heard it was nicer to have late dining because on days in port you don't have to get back early to change. Specifically on Castaway Cay day. I keep tossing it back and forth. I figure it's probably easier to switch to the later dining than vice versa, so I'll stick with what I have for now.

We are in central time zone also... He is ready to eat at 6 so I'm afraid that little bit of time
would throw him off!!! We may change our mind later but for now we are first dining

 

[Jasesmom]

Just a random question... do all of your children know about the upcoming cruise? I've told Jase but not sure he quite grasps the concept... Cant wait to see his eyes light up when we see the "big boat"

 

[joannjoe]

WOW! I've been busy with homework, and have missed a couple pages of comments here!!

Well this week we hit our 7 month mark, so I was able to book our bookends at WDW. Booked September 5-7 at Wilderness Lodge Villas and the 11-13 at Boardwalk Villas. In the past week I also switched us to the early dining time. I keep going back and forth about this though I would be fine with the late dining, but I know that will be too late for DH. He is early to bed, early to rise. The kids and I are night owls. Which dining time is everyone doing and why?

As far as transportation, I priced out a car service, Disney, and car rentals. Car rentals as of now were insane. Then I would have to pay for parking or shuttle to port and afterwards back to get another car Too much trouble for me! Car service for us 4 from WDW>PC>WDW was looking like $295 without a tip. Suggested tip $30 each way That makes the car service much more expensive than Disney at $280. I would have to tip bus driver for loading bags on ride back. Baggage handling I tip $2-5 per bag rounding to the nearest multiple of 5, so about $15-20. They pick bags up in your room at 8am and you see them in your stateroom later. The only down side to this is that I've read you get picked up between 10:30-12:30. That puts you at port by 1:30. So I loose a couple hours on the boat, but don't have to deal with bags on the way there and it's pretty stress free for me. For myself, I am on vacation and try to have no stress. The bus is the option we have decided to take.

We are staying at Boardwalk Villa's from September 4-7 for the first time. The DW and her DS just wants to hang at the pool Me and my kids want to go to the parks. I have done both dinning times before with kids. This time we are doing first dinning because on pirate night you have time to get ready after dinner if your not dressing up for dinner and can find room on the deck before second dinning gets done eating. Last time we ate second dinning and the lower deck was packed. It does come down to when your use to eating but don't forget there is always food available. Transportation I haven't decided yet only because we are ending our trip after a few days on the gulf coast so we'll be flying in to Tampa not Orlando. Well I'm waiting until the 26th that's when southwest tickets for that date range go on sale. Also I have found if you buy any tickets for the parks on one web site you get rental cars a lot cheaper.

 

[sillecruisers]

We are on early dining right now but I'm seriously thinking of switching to late because we are on Mountain time, so 8:00pm is only 6pm for us, and I like the idea of not rushing to get ready for dinner on port days. Our kids are older so I'm pretty sure they can handle the later dining time. As for pirate night- we'll just do room service or eat at cabanas or something perhaps, so we are not late. Or just dress for pirate night for dinner. And Joe's family can save us a spot on deck

 

[sillecruisers]

Just a random question... do all of your children know about the upcoming cruise? I've told Jase but not sure he quite grasps the concept... Cant wait to see his eyes light up when we see the "big boat"

They know. Truth be told, we are TERRIBLE at keeping big fun secrets. There are a few details that we are keeping as a surprise, like our awesome concierge room, the blue lagoon day, and the cabana that we hope we get at CC. Also any plans that we make for before and after the cruise (we can't decide yet what those will be, but they will be fun and awesome.) All they know is we are going on a cruise. That's it.

 

[Jasesmom]

They know. Truth be told, we are TERRIBLE at keeping big fun secrets. There are a few details that we are keeping as a surprise, like our awesome concierge room, the blue lagoon day, and the cabana that we hope we get at CC. Also any plans that we make for before and after the cruise (we can't decide yet what those will be, but they will be fun and awesome.) All they know is we are going on a cruise. That's it.

THATS AWESOME Im HORRIBLE at secrets too

 

[Vegasnine]

I'm thinking that we will do the Disney bus and just deal with whatever time we arrive. They say they send an email a couple days before with your assigned time of pickup / dropoff. It's $70 one way for both of us vs. $125 plus tip one way for private car. Yes, we get to control our arrival time but it's going to be more than double...rather spend that on fruity frozen drinks on board!

Thanks again for all the advice and ideas so far!

 

[CAyers]

Just a random question... do all of your children know about the upcoming cruise? I've told Jase but not sure he quite grasps the concept... Cant wait to see his eyes light up when we see the "big boat"

We are doing the late dining we are use to eating late but it will also be nice to be able to see the early show and then do dinner and then have some adult time when they come to retrieve the kids during the meal.

We have not told ours that we are doing Disney or a cruise she is under the impression since we recently moved we will be spending vacation in Ohio.