Turkey Day Gang 2009

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

Hi Shari,

As you are doing your research, look at the "price per day" rather than the total price. I'm reasonably confident that you will find the 7 day to be a better "value" (i.e., price per day) than doing a 3 day and then the parks.

Also, I will tell you that we have only done 7 day cruises and we've never found time to be board or wonder what to do. Granted, you are not "hopping" from ride to ride...but you are "hopping" from activity to activity on sea days. On the port days...well you can be as adventuresome as you desire...maybe a zip line tour...or snorkling or scub....how about racing a yacht or taking a pirates tour. There are tons of shore excursions to choose from (particularly when you look at the ones available on the internet rather than just through the boat ).

If you do decide to come along, you're in luck! You've picked the best (and friendliest) group to come along with!

Have fun deciding,

Karen

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

Hmm - I'm thinking we could do the MVMCP the Friday night before the cruise. That might work.

J

Hmmmm....hadn't thought of that. Are they doing it then?

K

 

[pillow]

Hmmmm....hadn't thought of that. Are they doing it then?

K

They did it that Friday night this year so I'm assuming so.

J

 

[ICEMANPAD]

Happy New Year!! http://www.wdwinfo.com/images/smilies/dogdance.gifhttp://www.disboards.com/images/smilies/jester.gif

We wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!!

Just think....we will all be cruising together this year!!!


Lisa

 

[shari2shop]

What do most people do the night before the cuise?

Do people chance flying in the day the cruise sails?

Do people spend the night at a WDW resort and use the shuttle to the port?

Do people somehow get to a hotel near the port? How? rental car, Taxi, shuttle?

I'm thinking.... fly in the night before, stay at a WDW resort and depending on the time the (paid) shuttle leaves for the port either swim or maybe a few minutes at Downtown Disney (lego land for my DS!)

Yes... I'm leaning more toward the 7 day cruise! Also...is there a place to see an exapmle of the onboard activities?

Thanks a million!
Shari

 

[bfosbenner]

Thanks for the welcome! I'm going to sit down today and do some major research. I'm going to see the difference in the price of the 2 trips. I really want to do the 7 day cruise just because I think it will be easier on me to not have to worry with the packing and moving. I'm just not sure if my kids will see the cruise as a great vacation like going to the parks. They are sorta like me in the fact we go on vacation for the adventure, not to relax. I'm not sure what they will do on sea days.

Your view of "sea days" will be different after a Disney 7 day!

 

[pillow]

What do most people do the night before the cuise?

Do people chance flying in the day the cruise sails?

Do people spend the night at a WDW resort and use the shuttle to the port?

Do people somehow get to a hotel near the port? How? rental car, Taxi, shuttle?

I'm thinking.... fly in the night before, stay at a WDW resort and depending on the time the (paid) shuttle leaves for the port either swim or maybe a few minutes at Downtown Disney (lego land for my DS!)

Yes... I'm leaning more toward the 7 day cruise! Also...is there a place to see an exapmle of the onboard activities?

Thanks a million!
Shari

Normally, they start letting people onto the ship around noonish. We like to get onboard asap so that we can eat lunch and start our vacation. Having said that, if you are flying in the night before, I don't think you'd get a whole lot out of staying at WDW. You won't have a lot of time the next morning before leaving for the port. We actually might arrive Friday morning and are thinking about staying at WDW so that we can go to Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party on Friday night.

A lot of folks who fly in the night before stay at the airport Hyatt (you can download a stay certificate from their website to stay cheaper). Its very convenient since it is located right inside the airport. Then the next morning, you can take a leisurely shuttle to the port (think the terminal opens at 10:30). Another option (esp if you arrive earlier on Friday) would be to stay at Port Canaveral. They have some fairly reasonably priced hotels near the port (some are on the beach). We ate at a fantastic restaurant their as well - Fish Lips. Honestly, it was better than any of the cruise food we had (and I like the DCL food).

Oh, and we have used cbshuttle.com. Its cheaper than the Disney transportation. The larger your group, the more you save. Good luck planning.

Jodie

 

[pillow]

Yes... I'm leaning more toward the 7 day cruise! Also...is there a place to see an exapmle of the onboard activities?

Thanks a million!
Shari

I found this. You can look at old Personal Navigators to view activity samples -

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/cr-stateroom-navigator.htm

Jodie

 

[shari2shop]

I found this. You can look at old Personal Navigators to view activity samples -

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/cr-stateroom-navigator.htm

Jodie

Thanks Jodie for the great information.


I think I have hit a major road block.... I was looking on the one of the navigator pages in your link and it said the kid club ages. My kids will be 10 and 12 at our travel time. For some reason I though they would be in the same kid club. I'm not sure I'm comfortable letting them go somewhere without me and without each other.

Shari

 

[The LK 4]

Shari - I know how you feel about the kids clubs, but I wouldn't let it discourage you. Do they do well at making new friends? The key is to have them go on the first night when they play the ice breaker type games so they get to meet lots of the other kids in their age group.

There are still several other family events scheduled that all of you could do together. If they find they want to do an activity in the kids clubs, you could always meet them at their club when it's over. All of the kids in our group (last cruise we had boys 18, 16, 16, and 14; and girls 12 and 8) had the time of their lives!

 

[The LK 4]

Oh, and we have used cbshuttle.com. Its cheaper than the Disney transportation. The larger your group, the more you save. Good luck planning.

Jodie

Jodie - thanks for the tip on the shuttle company. I hadn't heard of them before. We typically arrive Friday evening, get a rental car, and then drive to a hotel on Cocoa Beach. I'm going to check into the Hyatt and the shuttle.

 

[The LK 4]

Hmmm.....cbshuttle could be a great option! I will have 14-15 in my group. If we end up staying at the Hyatt, maybe a bunch of us who like to get to the port as soon as it opens could look into renting one of the larger vehicles and save some $ for all of us!

 

[pillow]

I think I have hit a major road block.... I was looking on the one of the navigator pages in your link and it said the kid club ages. My kids will be 10 and 12 at our travel time. For some reason I though they would be in the same kid club. I'm not sure I'm comfortable letting them go somewhere without me and without each other.

Shari

My kids are the same age as yours (dd9, ds12). Disney's record is excellent in terms of child care issues, and I feel very comfortable leaving them in the kids program (and I'm pretty conservative when it comes to this stuff). It will also help if your kids meet some other kids from the Disboards beforehand. Then they'll have a buddy to pal around with at the kids club.

Jodie

 

[alwayslisad]

Does anyone know how Southwest works? Right now it shows that you can book up till 6/25/09 - does anyone know when they will open up November? I need to figure out when it will open to book a flight from MHT to MCO from 11/15/2009 to 11/28/2009...

 

[pillow]

Does anyone know how Southwest works? Right now it shows that you can book up till 6/25/09 - does anyone know when they will open up November? I need to figure out when it will open to book a flight from MHT to MCO from 11/15/2009 to 11/28/2009...

Seems like Southwest is the last airline to open up ticketing. Based on how far out they're booking now, they probably won't book Thanksgiving for another 5 months. I wouldn't sweat it though. I think booking flights 6 months out is plenty of time. AirTran flights should be out by then as well (not sure if they're in your area or not), so you can compare pricing.

Jodie

 

[alwayslisad]

OK that is what I thought too - about May - we are waiting to see if we are going to fly out of Boston or Manchester NH - for ease I love Manchester - for non stop it is Boston (the only one that flies non stop out of manchester is Southwest)

Yes plenty of time for sure - I am crazeeeeeeeeed when it comes to booking things!

 

[shari2shop]

Okay.... I have spent the last several hours looking at the different types of rooms, decks, categories, what is above and below and deck plans. My head is spinning. I was thinking of getting a Cat 8 on deck 7 but I would really like to be closer to the aft. I think getting snacks and food will be a favorite activity of my son. Then I read about the 'secret portholes'. Now that is right up my alley... a cat 8 for the price of a 10! I saw 5020, 5022, 5024 & 5520, 5522, 5524 but they are all on deck five forward (which I read was noisy from the theater) Are there any secret portholes anywhere else on the ship? I'm calling Disney tomorrow to get some prices because I'm using DVC points for part of the trip and I'd like to have an idea of what rooms I want in case I decide to go ahead and book.

Also, if I book a specific room number does that reduce the chance of getting an upgrade? What about using DVC points, will that reduce my chance of an upgrade?

 

[The LK 4]

Shari - those are the only secret porthole rooms on the ship, and I believe that all six of those rooms are already taken by people in this group. I know I have 4 of those 6 rooms already reserved. Since there are only three of you, you should check into the secret verandah rooms to see if any of those are available. 6134, 6634, 7120, 7620 have partially obstructed views so they have been reclassed to the lower category.

There is no rhyme or reason for people getting upgrades, and chances are that upgrades could be hard to get on a more crowded cruise like Thanksgiving. You never know, though, but it's best to book what you'll be happy with for the week.

 

[pillow]

What about using DVC points, will that reduce my chance of an upgrade?

Something for you to think about . . . We own DVC also, and I have found it to be much more economical to rent/trade your points for cash, and then use cash to book your cruise. You'll save LOTS of points/money that way. I just rented some points on the DVC thread, and it was super easy. Points go for about $10 per point. I'm guessing you would have to rent far fewer points to raise the cash than to actually book with points. Just one more thing to overwhelm you!!

Snowing here - beautiful!!

Jodie

 

[shari2shop]

We have decided to do the 3 day wdw and 4 day cruise instead of the week long one. My kids both kept saying they wanted to do the parks and I wasn't sure about the sea days and them being in different kids clubs. So, we are going to do the parks and 'try out' a cruise this year. Hopefully everyone will love the cruise and be willing to do the week long cruise in 2010.

Everone on here has been so nice and helpful. I really appreciate all the help and Ideas. THANK YOU!!!!!

There is one good thing to happen and that is my Hubby agreed to go. I really prefer to drive the 17 hours so with him going to can drive instead of flying.

Thanks so much!
Shari