Transatlantic - Tell Me All the Things!

[ruadisneyfan2]

I will look into that! If I get the Capital One card, I probably won't because I know the SUB can pay for my flight back if Delta's price goes down on the travel portal compared to their website or if I transfer them to Turkish Airlines. Also, I want to stay at the Hyatt in MCO and then take the DCL transport from the airport to Port Canaveral. I have never done that before, and it would get us an early boarding time since I'm the only Castaway Club member (sliver status) on the trip for two staterooms.

I say that because now I have four people going, two being a couple together. They want a separate room, and I believe they are booking everything apart from us, which does help me because I was booking and planning everything, but there are downsides. It drives up the individual cost of my stateroom, makes them get a later online check-in time, and makes us wait until the 75-day mark to book things as a group (like Palo and Remy brunch and dinner). Is it worth the $45 per person to use DCL transport to board the ship early?

Hyatt MCO is very nice but it's expensive. You pay more the convenient location. Do you want to save $ or pay extra for convenience? We have stayed offsite from MCO at Fairfield Inn by Marriott and used private transportation when it was 6 of us because DCL charges per person whereas transportation companies usually charge the same price whether there's 2 passengers or 6 in their van. The Fairfield provides free breakfast too which is nice, as does Hyatt Place which pp mentioned.

They're not luxurious but if you're on a tight budget and want to be selective about where to splurge, I would be splurging on the tours in Europe, not the pre-cruise hotel where you spent 12 hours. JMHO. In 10 years you will barely remember the place. Either hotel is a clean place to sleep, shower and eat.
Do the math for both ways and see if DCL transportation is the better deal. With 2 people, it definitely is, but as the passenger # increases, it becomes more expensive.

We have used this transportation many times out of PC. It's a husband/wife team that is not expensive but very prompt & reliable.
https://orlandosuntransportation.com/index.html

I would not pay extra in order to be able to book things like Palo. You have 14 days of cruising with plenty of slots for them to fill. Even if you don't get a res pre-cruise, ask when you first board.

ETA: On second thought, I would choose the transfers that charge per person. You sound very organized and mature for your age but not all HS age kids can handle such a commitment as this. I don’t intend to be a wet blanket but you would be wise to have a “Plan B” on how to handle it if your travel party should change again before the date of your cruise. It’s a very real possibility that this couple might no longer still be a couple by then. With Per person rates, others dropping will have no effect on your costs.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Booked the 2025 EBTA yesterday!! We are very excited for this trip, and we are hopeful we can get all the money for flights, hotels, Ubers, and food/attractions in Barcelona. Deposit has been withdrawn, and rest of the cruise cost should be covered by the money we have now, but I'm gonna wait and hopefully my wish of being an authorized user on the Capital One Venture X will come true in a few months, so I can pay the rest of it off and transfer the SUB to myself.

What is the SUB?

 

[LandonM170]

What is the SUB?

Sign-up bonus.

 

[LandonM170]

Yeah, oneway plane tickets can be almost as expensive as a round trip. Do you have frequent flyer points? They are often a better deal on one way tickets, especially on long distance flights.

I don't unfortunately, as I just turned 18 in April. The one time I have flown in the past my mom booked them. They were Delta's Basic Economy, so she didn't get any miles or points through them.

Depending on what time you get in to MCO, I would check hotel prices across the interstate. There are lots of options. Look for free airport shuttle. The cost difference can be significant. Someone has mentioned a Hyatt south of MCO.

And check to see minimum age for reservation. For many hotels, it is 21.

And you should be able to find a group transfer that is less than $45 x 4 to cover all of you. GoPort is $30 pp; it picks up at MCO.

While the Hyatt is nice, we have only stayed there once, when our flight landed after midnight. That was too late for hotel shuttle. And would have left us with little sleep time.

For May 3 rates
Hyatt MCO $320 + tax
Hyatt Place $204 + tax

I am looking at different hotels near Port Canaveral and near MCO. I plan on booking through the Capital One Travel portal, as I get 5x back on hotels through my SavorOne card (and if I get the Venture X it's 10x miles), but whatever the best deal is located is where I will book. I'm thinking about just taking an Uber to the airport. I did that in April/May 2022 with four people and all of us fit. I have lots of time to plan thankfully, so I will update you guys on everything in the thread I created!

Hyatt MCO is very nice but it's expensive. You pay more the convenient location. Do you want to save $ or pay extra for convenience? We have stayed offsite from MCO at Fairfield Inn by Marriott and used private transportation when it was 6 of us because DCL charges per person whereas transportation companies usually charge the same price whether there's 2 passengers or 6 in their van. The Fairfield provides free breakfast too which is nice, as does Hyatt Place which pp mentioned.

They're not luxurious but if you're on a tight budget and want to be selective about where to splurge, I would be splurging on the tours in Europe, not the pre-cruise hotel where you spent 12 hours. JMHO. In 10 years you will barely remember the place. Either hotel is a clean place to sleep, shower and eat.
Do the math for both ways and see if DCL transportation is the better deal. With 2 people, it definitely is, but as the passenger # increases, it becomes more expensive.

We have used this transportation many times out of PC. It's a husband/wife team that is not expensive but very prompt & reliable.
https://orlandosuntransportation.com/index.html

I would not pay extra in order to be able to book things like Palo. You have 14 days of cruising with plenty of slots for them to fill. Even if you don't get a res pre-cruise, ask when you first board.

ETA: On second thought, I would choose the transfers that charge per person. You sound very organized and mature for your age but not all HS age kids can handle such a commitment as this. I don’t intend to be a wet blanket but you would be wise to have a “Plan B” on how to handle it if your travel party should change again before the date of your cruise. It’s a very real possibility that this couple might no longer still be a couple by then. With Per person rates, others dropping will have no effect on your costs.

The only reason I thought of staying at the Hyatt MCO is to get to the port early. Learning it doesn't really matter, it's not worth it. I have looked into the Ramada by Wyndham Cocoa which is giving me $70.92 per person after taxes. I would prefer to have Palo and Remy dinner on sea days and conclude the trip with brunch at either Palo or Remy on the final day, but that's me just being nit-picky.

I have a full document with the prices for the original 3 people and for the 4 people, breaking it down per person and per night, so I am very organized, as I want this to be as smooth as possible for everyone without any surprises. Thank you for the compliment! The couple has been together for two and a half years, so I think they will still be together, but never say never.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I asked my TA to book us on the Oct 2025 WBTA but now having 2nd thoughts. Looking at weather monthly planners, all of the days in Europe will have average high temps in the 60s with lows in the 50s. It doesn't even stop at CC on the way back to PC. I wish they'd do the dry dock in the spring so the WBTA could be in Sept and still have bathing suit weather. I'm sure if they did, people wanting to sail in warm weather for the EBTA would complain.

 

[Flossbolna]

I asked my TA to book us on the Oct 2025 WBTA but now having 2nd thoughts. Looking at weather monthly planners, all of the days in Europe will have average high temps in the 60s with lows in the 50s. It doesn't even stop at CC on the way back to PC. I wish they'd do the dry dock in the spring so the WBTA could be in Sept and still have bathing suit weather. I'm sure if they did, people wanting to sail in warm weather for the EBTA would complain.

It’s also costs considerably more to sail westbound for whatever reason.

I think in spring there is not enough time for dry dock. Between Easter and the beginning of summer season in Europe there isn’t a good enough lag in time. October is a slow travel month, too cold for Europe and hurricane season in the Caribbean. Makes a lot of sense to put ship into dry dock then.

 

[auntlynne]

Again, minimum age 21 is very common.

However, you could check at WDW resorts. They allow 18 yo check-in. Not a lot of availability for May 3 as of today. There are offering free Water park admission on check-in day for 2025. Could be it.

There are more hotels in Orlando that allow 18 yo check in than there are near MCO or Port Canaveral

Springhill Suites SeaWorld.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

It’s also costs considerably more to sail westbound for whatever reason.

I think in spring there is not enough time for dry dock. Between Easter and the beginning of summer season in Europe there isn’t a good enough lag in time. October is a slow travel month, too cold for Europe and hurricane season in the Caribbean. Makes a lot of sense to put ship into dry dock then.

Or perform the dry dock in North America but they probably save money by doing it in Europe.

 

[Girl of the South]

Depending on your city pair, one way flights from Europe aren't horrible? I checked a Madrid - MCO flight for this September and on Delta it was $700. Norse airways has very few routes but CAN get you from Europe back to NY or LA for $400. Check next year to see where they have expanded to. You'd have to do one flight to where they leave from (like Paris) and then another domestic flight from NY to your home city. Which may or may not cost more than a major airline.

 

[Flossbolna]

Depending on your city pair, one way flights from Europe aren't horrible? I checked a Madrid - MCO flight for this September and on Delta it was $700. Norse airways has very few routes but CAN get you from Europe back to NY or LA for $400. Check next year to see where they have expanded to. You'd have to do one flight to where they leave from (like Paris) and then another domestic flight from NY to your home city. Which may or may not cost more than a major airline.

Actually 700$ one way from Europe to USA in September is expensive. We usually pay that for a return flight from Germany to Florida.

 

[Girl of the South]

I guess it's all relative . . I've seen one way domestic fares on Southwest that were over $500. International flights can have a ton of taxes. A couple of years ago a friend flew SAS RT Chicago to Zurich and the fare was $1. With almost $469 in taxes and fees.

 

[nolagranola]

We were on the EBTA last month, followed by three nights in Barcelona and five nights in Lisbon. We took advantage of TAP’s deal where you spend at least 48 hours in Lisbon - our flight home to Dulles was roughly $500 per person.

The cruise was amazing, phenomenal, fantastic. The weather was near perfect 70’s to low 80’s and seas were calm. I think we had a total of 4 hours of drizzle/cloudy skies during our entire trip!

Activities were plenty onboard! In fact, we weren’t able to do everything we wanted because there was always so much going on! Trivia, cooking demonstrations, guest lecturer (Kevin Kern, Disney Archivist), Facebook group meet and greets, eating ice cream (lol), boat building contest, officer hide and seek, lounging by the pool, watching movies, and much more. There was a different form of entertainment each night (family and adult) from the Disney shows to a ventriloquist, physical comedian, magician, mentalist and many music acts.

You and your friends are going to have such an awesome trip!

 

[NAB]

We were on the EBTA last month, followed by three nights in Barcelona and five nights in Lisbon. We took advantage of TAP’s deal where you spend at least 48 hours in Lisbon - our flight home to Dulles was roughly $500 per person.

The cruise was amazing, phenomenal, fantastic. The weather was near perfect 70’s to low 80’s and seas were calm. I think we had a total of 4 hours of drizzle/cloudy skies during our entire trip!

Activities were plenty onboard! In fact, we weren’t able to do everything we wanted because there was always so much going on! Trivia, cooking demonstrations, guest lecturer (Kevin Kern, Disney Archivist), Facebook group meet and greets, eating ice cream (lol), boat building contest, officer hide and seek, lounging by the pool, watching movies, and much more. There was a different form of entertainment each night (family and adult) from the Disney shows to a ventriloquist, physical comedian, magician, mentalist and many music acts.

You and your friends are going to have such an awesome trip!

Where did you stay in Barcelona and how did you get there?

 

[nolagranola]

Where did you stay in Barcelona and how did you get there?

We stayed at the Hotel Catalonia Magdalenes, very centrally located. Wonderful breakfast spread and friendly staff. We would 100% stay here again!

We took a private day tour that day with Barcelona Day Tours. When we disembarked the ship, our guide and driver were waiting for us. They dropped us off at the hotel at the end of our tour later that day.