September Cruise Help/Opinions

[kevgret]

Hi:

I am taking my first Disney Cruise in September of 2003. The cruise was booked through travelocity. They have a sale where you get $100 in ship board credit and $75 cash back if you book through their web site and with a mastercard. I checked disneys web site and their price was $300 more for the same sailing and that did not include the $100 shipboard credit or $75 cash back. The price seems really nice ($799 cheap cabin) so my girlfriend and I decided to book it.

I do have some questions I hope you can answer for me.

We are planning to do a 4 night stay at WDW and then go to the cruise. Does anyone know how much transportation from WDW to the cruise is? Should I book the transportation through Disney or some other transportation company?

Are excursions booked 60 days prior to sailing or can we book anytime?

Does anyone know how far it is from the dock to the airport? I have not booked airfare yet because I am not sure how far it is to get from the dock to the airport. I do not want to cut i too close with time.

I have been reading about palo. Is this a reservations only place to eat? When can these reservations be made?

Does anyone know when the codes for WDW for september will be released? last year and the year previous I booked a room for around $49 for value and 89 for moderate. I would like to book something close to this for our 4 night WDW stay.

I am very excited about this trip and this forum has only made be even more excited. Thank you very much for your help.

Kevin

 

[TimonTracy]

Congratulations on your first cruise, I will try to answer some of your questions... According to the Magical Cruise Guide, Transportation provided by Disney
One Way (airport to WDW).....$19
One Way (all other)...............$24
Cruise Only (2 legs)...............$46
Land/Sea (3 legs).................$63

My Husband and I did exactly what you and your girlfriend are planning, couple days at Disney before hand on our own and then going to the Cruise. Since there are only 2 of you (Private towncars can save money for 4 or more) and this is your first cruise, I suggest using the Disney Transportation. It really adds to the excitement of it, you get to watch the video, they pick up your bags at the resort and you don't see them again until your stateroom. It's *magic*

You can have your travel agent add the transfers and you give them the details of where you're going to stay, etc. Flight info.

The time it takes to get from the Port to the Airport is something around an hour, but I wouldn't schedule a flight before 12 or maybe 11:30 at the earliest... On the other hand, if there is a GREAT deal for something like a 10:30 flight, I would just skip breakfast and dash to the airport....

Excursions are booked 60 days out....

You must make reservations for Palo. They generally start taking reservations in one of the restaurants between 1 and 2. This is the first place you would have to go once getting on the boat. You should try and be flexible and if you can't get a table, you can be put on a waiting list.

Not sure about codes

 

[tstobb]

I can help with some of those . . .

DCL is $46 round trip via their shuttle bus. You may want to check into a towncar service & have them quote your whole trip (airport to WDW to port to airport) as it may actually be more economical.

Palo is reservation only. When you check in at the port, they will let you know when & where those reservations are being taken. You may want to also reserve spa treatments ahead of time.

Make sure to visit Barb's site and Dave's site for great tips, pictures, etc.