Never cruised .. need some help

[Next_disney_princess]

Hi everyone! My family and I (me hubby and dd6) have never been on a cruise before. We do go to Disney usually 2 times a year for short trips because we live in North Florida. We are really thinking about doing a longer trip in November on 2019 for our 15th wedding anniversary and dd''s 8th birthday. Here is what I was thinking drive down, spend one night at a Disney value resort, take the magical express to the cruise (if that's an option) then after a 3 or 4 day cruise come back to the Disney value resort and spend 4 or 5 days, then drive back home. Is it possible to leave our car at a Disney resort while on a cruise? Can we book the room and cruise as a package? We are annual pass holders so tickets aren't an issue. Can I get some advice from the pros here?

 

[apathetic]

Honestly, you are better off driving to the port and parking there. The bus is $35 per person per direction, or over $200. Parking is under $100 for 3/4 day cruises. Also, parking at Canaveral is so easy and when you get off the ship you can leave and be back to WDW about the time the bus leaves the port. I don't know if you can leave your car at a resort, but they likely charge you per day if you can. We've done the bus and it is ok. But driving is so much better and gives you so much more flexibility with time.

 

[Next_disney_princess]

That's good to know! Thank you I am excited that we may do this.

 

[dcassetta]

Hi everyone! My family and I (me hubby and dd6) have never been on a cruise before. We do go to Disney usually 2 times a year for short trips because we live in North Florida. We are really thinking about doing a longer trip in November on 2019 for our 15th wedding anniversary and dd''s 8th birthday. Here is what I was thinking drive down, spend one night at a Disney value resort, take the magical express to the cruise (if that's an option) then after a 3 or 4 day cruise come back to the Disney value resort and spend 4 or 5 days, then drive back home. Is it possible to leave our car at a Disney resort while on a cruise? Can we book the room and cruise as a package? We are annual pass holders so tickets aren't an issue. Can I get some advice from the pros here?

Before the resorts started implementing parking fees, I might've said to take Disney transfers just for the experience of it. But I agree with the previous poster now, take your own car and park at the port. It'll give you more flexibility, and it really is an easy drive from WDW.

 

[Sunshine2U]

A lot of people prefer to do the land portion of a vacation followed by the cruise because the cruise portion is so much more relaxing. Since y'all are frequent visitors your WDW trips are probably not as hectic as infrequent visitors. Also, most of us here would recommend the 4-day cruise over the 3-day. There's lots of opinions posted and you can do a search for that or ask a separate question.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I’ll 2nd driving yourself to/from the port. It’s so simple to do. It’s more economic. The Disney buses don’t leave the resorts headed to the port until around noon or later. You could already be on the ship having lunch before those buses ever even get on the highway headed to the port. In my experience driving ourselves is a better use of time & funds. How exciting, your first! We did a 3-night for our first and fell madly in love. It was over entirely too quickly and we spent the next week at WDW wishing we were back on the ship. LOL!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I would definitely do the land portion before cruise and also do the 4 night cruise. The 3 night cruise is over way too quick.

 

[Laughfreely]

We like to stay at all stars movies and then drive to the port. (We love the pool). Have a great time!

 

[bigAWL]

They do book land and sea packages, but I don't know the details on how they work, or how flexible they are.

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/featured/packages/land-sea/

Might be worth calling Disney about it, or calling a travel agent to get more info. They may have a solution for leaving your vehicle if you really don't want to do the drive yourself.

 

[Next_disney_princess]

Thank you all for the great responses! 8 looked at the dates for the 4 night cruises around the time we are wanting to go, the only issue is that my daughter would then have to miss even more school. The 3 night cruise works out to where she would miss a week and 2 days, the 4 night cruise would put her at 2 weeks (factor in the weekend to offset some of the school days on the 3 night cruise) I will do some more research and also look and the budget to see if we can make it happen. I will also check with the travel agent, I have an acquaintance who's girlfriends mom is a Disney travel agent but I've never used her. This may be the time lol! We are very excited and hopefully this areal pans out!

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Add me in as:

* at least 1 day of land before sea. Why ? You don't want to be arriving in the area on the day of your cruise. Since you are driving there is less risk, but one really bad traffic accident can ruin your entire vacation as you will be watching the ship leave without you. WDW to Port Can is a short drive; no real risk.

* 4 day cruise is better if you can arrange it. 3 days do not have a day at sea so they tend to feel more hectic. that sea day is really the best part of the ship.

* Drive to the port. As Sweetpea stated, the buses don't leave until noon and don't get you on the ship until 2:30 - 3pm. You can be on the ship hours before that if you drive yourself. This is especially useful in a very short cruise.

* Know that no matter what you do, there are things you could have done differently, but you will still be having a super awesome vacation and don't stress the would have / could have. Even if you end up doing a 3 day because of your daughters school and end up taking the bus, you will still have a great time.

 

[MomOTwins]

With the 3-day, we stay on the ship at Nassau and it becomes our "sea day." We have done the 3-day twice and never felt it was hectic. Do what works for our schedule!

 

[CamDisDay]

Just to throw in what I've learned from the Dreams Unlimited podcast... DCL has land and sea packages but they don't recommend them. They say to book separate as you have more choices and can use any promotions they have going on at WDW (the packages don't utilize those I guess). Heres a link to a video with good info... Cruising Questions & Answers 8/20/18