Looking for some information

[okkie]

Hi, I'm not so long with this site, but I really like it. It has a lot of info. One night I found a great thread on how to go to the disney cruise/spend the night nearby etc. But I can't find it anymore. Can any one help me??
Thanks so much.:wearenumb :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[carolina_yankee]

Welcome to the forums. You'll find plenty of information on DVC here, and plenty of people who can answer almost any question about Disney.

I'm not sure of the specific thread you reference, but the cruise page at Allearsnet.com is here: http://www.allearsnet.com/cruise/cruise.htm It's a good starting point. The link on the top left to the 80 page .pdf guide will have information on spending the night in Port Canaveral (Cocoa Beach, actually). At the bottom left, there are links to other cruise information sites. Some of them have recommendations and reviews of places to stay.

Basically, though, it works like this. Many people prefer to spend the night before a cruise in Cocoa Beach, the town closest to Port Canaveral. The Radisson (http://www.radisson.com/capecanaveralfl) there is the most convenient. They have good rates, a free shuttle to the Port, and allow parking for the length of the cruise. Ron Jon is another popular resort, but it's a little pricier.

It's easy to stay almost anywhere there if you have your own car. If you fly into Orlando, you need to rent a car. That gets a little more complicated since the car rental places aren't always convenient. Budget is the best - close to Radisson (walking distance) and they have a shuttle to the Port as well. Some agencies are pretty far out, and you'll need to take a cab.

The details can be find in the links from Allearsnet.

Which cruise are you planning to take? We just finished a 7 day Eastern Itenerary and had a great time.

Dirk

[carolina_yankee]

Oh, I meant to add: The Passporter Guide to the Disney Cruise Line is probably the best cruise resource in print. They cover the details of staying in the area very well, too.

Dirk

[Stimpy]

I always find http://www.castawayclub.com/ helpful too. :)

[okkie]

Thanks for the info that surely helped. We are also going on the 7 day eastern trip on april 14,2007. What kind of cabin did you ( dirk) had. Right now we have a cat 10 on deck two and I'm just wondering if we should get a cabin with a view and if that would be worth the money., because we have 4 kids( 6,4,and 2x2) we need two cabins. I really don't know if we would be in the cabins other then sleeping?? Any other great hints for that cruise.?? Maybe I should post this on the cruise forum as well.
Thanks

[Stimpy]

We have kids around your children's age, 6 & 2. We've done the 7 day Western with a category 6 last year and loved it. (We've done about 4 DCL cruises and have 1 Eastern coming up in November 07)

Is it worth the money for a bigger stateroom? It really depends on you and your family and your budget. If the younger kids are still napping, you might be spending some time in the room. We liked sitting on the veranda after the kids went to sleep or when DD was taking a nap (DS was in the clubs).

Since you are booked pretty far in advance, there is a slight chance you could still be upgraded before the sailing.

Did you use a travel agent or make the arrangements your self? I've done it both ways. Since I'm a control freak when it comes to making travel arrangements, I liked doing it myself. But I've found TA's can get a better deal and sometimes offer extra incentives, ie shipboard credit on top of what DCL offers.

[okkie]

I did the planning myself and have learned a lot since then. Yes you can get better deals by travelagencies. This is the first time we are going on the disney cruise or any cruise for that matter. I have cabins on deck two and when I saw the website about the cruise I called disneycruise and put in a request for deck 5,hopefully we can get it changed. My twins are still naping but I don't think they will do that for much longer. They will be three years old by the time that we go and I already started potty training so they can go to the club. How does that work ? Do they make groups with kids of the same age?? I ope they like it and we finally get some time to relax. We are really looking forward to going.

[carolina_yankee]

You always have to go with what you can afford, regarding staterooms; but I would try to get an outside stateroom (cat 9 is the least expensive) for a 7 day cruise. We were in cabin 2064 (cat 9) on Deck 2 - it's a great deck, and I'd choose it over Deck 1 because of the porthole size. Deck one has 2 small holes instead of one large porthole.

I wouldn't count on an upgrade. We booked 13 months in advance, paid off early, and got nothing. Friends of ours booked 4 weeks before the cruise and got a major upgrade. It's a total mystery how it works.

The inside staterooms are nice, but there are some problems - no natural light for one. If anyone gets up in the middle of the night, the room is pitch black. If someone once to nap during the day, the room is ptich black and no one else can hang out in the room.

If the kids wake up early (don't they always?), they can't entertain themselves by looking out the window while waiting for others to get up.

As an adult on a short cruise (like 3 days), that wouldn't bother me - but I don't think I'd do it for a longer cruise. There are plenty of reasons to be in the room. Perhaps a nap, someone doesn't feel well (motion sickness can happen to anyone), it's early and you don't want the younger kids out on their own, etc.

Obviously, the ship has great spaces all over so you can find your own places to relax, but those are considerations I would think about. I didn't think it was that much more expensive between a cat 10 and a cat 9, and you don't have to pay off until 60 days before sail. However, you generally want to pay off by 75 days before sail so you can book excursions and Palo online.

Hope this helps! The 7 day cruises are great. Alas, we can't afford until 2008 to go again.

Dirk

[carolina_yankee]

I did the planning myself and have learned a lot since then. Yes you can get better deals by travelagencies. This is the first time we are going on the disney cruise or any cruise for that matter. I have cabins on deck two and when I saw the website about the cruise I called disneycruise and put in a request for deck 5,hopefully we can get it changed. My twins are still naping but I don't think they will do that for much longer. They will be three years old by the time that we go and I already started potty training so they can go to the club. How does that work ? Do they make groups with kids of the same age?? I ope they like it and we finally get some time to relax. We are really looking forward to going.
I think the kids are grouped fairly close to age. All the kids seem to love it, and the adults rarely see them!! Most of deck 5 (where the kids activities are) is deisgned to keep kids from crossing paths with adults - and the whole deck is designed from their perspesctive!!

I agree - good Disney cruise specialist travel agent will easy all your burden on the cruise. I recommend Joy with MouseEars Vacations.

Dirk

[Stimpy]

The kids groups are divided into 3-4, 5-7 in the Oceaneer Club, 8-9, 10-12(?) in the Oceaneer Lab (which is directly across the hall) and the older kids have the teen club. The children definately have to be potty trained. If they have accidents ( I think 2?), they can be barred from the clubs. If your starting now, I wouldn't worry about it :) The kids get wristbands for the duration of the cruise and you get a pager the first day to hold onto for the entire time.

The kids clubs are great! Heck I wish I could go into them! We wanted to go on the cruise again sooner but decided to wait until our DD is old enough for the clubs this time.

You can still transfer your reservation to a travel agent, if you want to. As you've seen, it's easy to work directly with DCL too. I've used Dreams Unlimited, service was so-so (Others have had great experiences with them), Small World, again my experience was so-so. This time I am also using MouseEars Vacations (my TA is Pam) and so far she has far exceded the other two. I don't want it to seem like I'm an advocate for travel agencies! Working with DCL is great too.