Tom

Our family is taking the new Disney seven day cruise on August 19th and we will be arranging our own airfare. Does anyone know when the Disney ships leave/arrive at port? When should we arrive at Port Canaveral and when should we plan to arrive at Orlando's Intl airport on the 26th? How long of a drive is it from Orlando to Port Canaveral? Any recommendations as to whether we should just purchase the transfers from Disney, rent a car, or use a taxi/limo service?

Elizabeth

Tom: <BR> <BR>I just returned from the 3 day Disney cruise with my family. Disney leaves at 5 PM from Port Canaveral and arrived back at 6 AM on Sunday - everyone was off of the ship by 9 AM Sunday. It takes approximately 45 minutes - 1 hour to the Orlando airport by car. I would suggest the Disney transfers - the buses leave you right at the ship and pick you up at the same place. Transfers were $21 per way which seems rather reasonable (as compared to renting a car and then having it sit at the port the entire time incurring parking plus per day rental charges). Have a nice time on your cruise. BTW - you should check with your travel agent re: these times. These were the times for the 3 and 4-day cruises.

Gary T

Being new this summer I agree you should check with your TA. Most 7 day cruises leave at 5:00 (some earlier some later). On return they usually pull in early in the morning and once they pass customs they start to let you off. Usully this is based on your flight times or travel arangements. Anyway hopefully your TA will have the exact plan.

Leta

Hadn't heard that Disney expanded their cruises to a 7-day cruise. I would be interested in that? Where does it go?

idoc

The new 7-day Disney cruise goes to St. Maarten, St. Thomas/St. John (via excursions) and their own island Castaway Cay. Check out their website: www.disney.go.com/DisneyCruise/ <BR>

Chris

Tom, <BR>Let Disney do it. When you arrive in Orlando, there will be Disney representatives waiting. If you have tagged your luggage as instructed in the cruise package, it will be picked up, transported to the ship and delivered to your stateroom. The Disney people will escort you to a very comfortable bus which will take care of the tolls and transportation. When you leave, the process will be repeated. There are a couple of airlines to which Disney does not directly transport your luggage. We traveled Southwest Airlines for our trip last December and, at that time, we had to transport our luggage from the bus stop to the check-in desk. If we had traveled on most any other airline, the luggage would have been delivered for us. Please note, I am not complaining. There was a skycap awaiting us at the bus stop so this was no big deal. We plan on taking the seven day cruise sometime in the near future and would appreciate hearing your comments. By the way, we learned that if you need or want something, just ask. It has been our experience that Disney's personnel will take very good care of you.

Debbie

Hello Tom, <BR> <BR>Would you please let me know how you liked the seven day cruise and what you thought about the islands. We're planning on going ourselves, but aren't sure about which cruise we should take. <BR> <BR>I've never been on a cruise before so any info on Disney would be greatly appreciated. <BR> <BR>Thank you, <BR>Debbie

April

We are going on the 7 day cruise on the 26th of this month. Would ask you to let us know how it went but we'll be passing each other.

Sidney

Having just booked our third trip on the Disney cruise lines...if you are first seated dinner, you will be first seated for breakfast and first off the ship. We arranged our own airfare the two previous times and purchased transfers. both times we were back at the airport no later than 9:30. both times we were able to change to earlier flights with no additional charge. In both cases the afternoon flights were overbooked (as usual). We even got bumped to first class one time! We prefer the transfers for a couple of reasons...our son, now 9, loves the big buses. You get to meet folks, too. And of course you aren't stressed about making sure you get there. This is Disney! This year we are considering driving instead of flying...parking is $7 a day. I guess it depends on how many are in your party as to whether to rent a car or not. OH, last year the folks we ate with rode the bus to the ship and then rented a car on return. That could be a possibility. Previous posts are correct on the travel time. ENJOY!!!!!!

Ken

Readers, <BR> <BR>We did a Disney three night cruise last year. We have also done a sailing on the Grand Princess and the Celebrity Millennium. My advice to people without children is to take a cruise line NOT geared towards children. Disney is wonderful for families, but lacking for adults. At least that is from our experience. <BR> <BR>Ken

Nikole

Went on the DCL 7 day cruise last Sept. It was excellent! Service, food, etc was all outstanding! <BR> <BR>The ship doesn't leave until around 5 pm. However, for the sake of getting any spa appointments Or seatings at Palos (the adult only restaurant) I would plan on arriving around 11 am. They will start letting people on around noon. Grab a bite to eat then head to the spa and Palo's (split up if possible). Don't miss Palo's for dinner AND for their new Brunch! Outstanding!!! <BR> <BR>For getting there, we opted to spend the first night at WDW therefore it was easiest for us to rent a car out and then on the return use the DCl transportation. If you are using DCL it is convenient and you will never touch your luggage. If you wish to rent a car use AVIS and drop it at the I believe it was Raddison there at Port Canaveral. (Raddison offers complimentary shuttles over to the Port.) We were actually looking for our least expensive option. Since we were going to the resort first, we would have either had to have paid for 2 private car trips OR used DCL's transportation. The main reason I didn't wish to do that is 1) it was actually more expensive than the car we rented and 2)the hotel we were staying at was one of the last pick-ups and I wanted to get to the port sooner. <BR> <BR>

Em

Went on the 7 Night Disney Cruise the Magic on January 20th through the 27th,2001 and the other replies are right, letting Disney do the driving is the way to go. The whole experience was great with the exception of most of our suppers. Breakfast and Lunch were great but most of the dinners were just "OK" to pretty terrible. We were four adults and usually we all ordered different things, hoping one of us would get something good so the rest of us could ask for a plate of it,but without much luck. Hope they improve the dinner menu and ingredients, we'd like to cruise with them again!

ellen

We took the 7 day Disney Cruise last August 19th, 2000. It was great!!! We had a 14 year old boy with us and he said it was the best week of his life. Encourage the kids to get involved with the activities for their age group immediately. He made friends from all over the U.S. that he still is in contact with over email. We traveled during hurricane season, and there was a hurricane near St. Maarten, so we never got there. The captain kept us informed constantly about the weather and changed our course daily. We had nothing but smooth water. We ended up in Cozumel one day, which we NEVER expected (kind of a treat to end up in Mexico one day when you never dreamed you'd ever be there, ever!)The best was we went to Castaway Key for 2 days in a row!! (THAT is the best island)Also visited Freeport, Bahamas (not much there). Anyway, it truly was a magical mystery tour, and the Disney people handled it professionally all the way through. It was a trip we'll never forget, I highly recommend it!

cheri

The Disney cruise was the best vacation my children have ever been on and they have been on many! They like it much more than Disneyworld and Universal if that gives you any idea of how enjoyable it was! We went 2 years ago when they were 8 and 11 and they are begging to go back, which I would like to do, especially now that the cruise is 7 days. That way we can just skip Disneyworld! They cried when we had to get off the ship (I'm not exaggerating) and asked why we just couldn't kive there! I also enjoyed it more than other cruises I have taken because there wasn't a casinos (I hate the whole smoky atmoshere associated with the casinos), The shows were outstanding and the ship is absolutely beautiful! The only reason we would go on a cruise is for the great childrens programs and because I think they make for a great family vacation. Disney's kids programs are awesome! Otherwise my husband and I would never do it. Have a great time, by the way, the ship left at 4:40 p.m.

Mel

My family of five just booked the 3-day cruise/4-day WDW vacation for November. A couple of thiings earlier posts have said are different than what we were told by our AAA agent: <BR>- We have the early dinner seating, but were told breakfast and lunch have no special seating--wonder down for breakfast from 6-10 am, for example. <BR>- An earlier post said the transfer pkg was $21, but we were quoted $63 PER PERSON (Orlando airport to WDW/WDW to Port Canaveral/Canaveral to Orlando airport. <BR>Can anyone who's taken this itinerary clear this up? Also, we're on the Wonder, any tips or advice? <BR>Thanks so much!

Mel

SORRY-I just re-read the posts and see that Elizabeth said the transfer price was $21 per way, which DOES work out to $63 (multiply that times five and it sure sounds steep, but...) <BR>Answers to my other questions would be very much appreciated! <BR>Thanks!

Cindy

Mel, <BR>Did the Disney cruise two years ago. We balked at the cost of the transfer package for our group of 5. We rented a car for our entire stay, and found it useful to have dinner away from WDW. Driving to the cruise departure point was easy, and we paid per day for parking there. <BR> <BR>Have fun!

Mel

Cindy: Thanks! I think I'll look into that. The other thing that concerned me was that, if I include airline tickets as part of my package (running about the same as if I booked my own), they won't advise the airline or time until September. My concern: What if they book us to arrive late on Sunday? That means we miss a day at WDW. The agent would only say that they "try" to book out during the day but, again, we'd have to commit now and not know until later if they did so.