First Time Cruiser

[FanofMaryPoppins]

Hello Everyone,

We just booked our first ever cruise on the Wonder for April 2015. We will be driving from Michigan to save money (unless I find a great deal before then). The cruise leaves out of Miami so I booked the night before at the Port of Miami Downtown so I would at least have a room. I have a couple of questions though..

Since we are driving I thought about leaving a few days early and spending a couple of days at WDW before. is the drive from WDW to the port too much to do the morning of?

Is there anyplace you can leave your car and they will take you to the port from the hotel?

I am a planner so I'm already working on this vacation, even though we are going to San Diego Zoo/LegoLand in July this year. My kids will be 15, 6 and 5. and I'm super excited. Any tips/help would be appreciated

[DizneyRox]

WDW to Mami is a good 4 hour drive I believe. It's a haul, we drove to Fort Lauderdale once and I probably wouldn't do that again day of.

We rented a car and dropped it off, I'm sure there is parking, however we did NY once and it was first come first served. Not sure the situation down there, I'd make sure to arrive the day before to straighten all that out.

The boat will not wait for late arrivals...

[mechanic]

Any car can break down, no matter how new or well maintained. I would be much more comfortable arriving the day before. Miami cruise port has plenty of parking.

[FanofMaryPoppins]

Okay.. because my 19 year old son wanted to go with us, we changed our cruise to the Dream March 2nd. Super excited to have all 6 of us going, a great lady at DCL was able to get him an inside stateroom right across from ours. 283 days and counting

[BrerGnat]

Just FYI, is your son booked into his own room? If so, he is paying 200% of the cruise fare for one person. You can save money by moving one of the kids into his room (just for booking purposes). Otherwise, you are paying extra for no reason.

They don't care where everyone sleeps, so he can still technically have his own room.

[FanofMaryPoppins]

WOW.. Yeah I did book him alone.. I can move my 15 year daughter in with him. can I do that online do you know?

[BrerGnat]

You might be able to do it online. At this point, you may have to cancel and rebook both cabins, and in that case, I'd call DCL directly. I am honestly surprised the DCL rep didn't suggest doing that to save you guys some money. We did that last year because my MIL came along. I booked myself into her room but then I stayed in the room with my husband and kids to save MIL some money.

You may be required to book yourself or your husband as the other person in your son's room since your 15 year old is a minor and I think there is a rule about minors needing to be with their parent or guardian. The DCL rep will know for sure. Just give them a call. Since you have only put down a deposit at this point you can make changes without penalty.

[DizneyRox]

I am honestly surprised the DCL rep didn't suggest doing that to save you guys some money.

My experience is that Disney won't offer info regarding possible savings unless asked.

Cruising solo is pretty expensive. Do whatever you can to put two people in each room. Typically the third person is a hair cheaper than the first two, a fourth is usually almost 1/2.

Moving a third or fourth person in a room for two will increase their fare. But you'll still save overall.

[BrerGnat]

My experience is that Disney won't offer info regarding possible savings unless asked.

Cruising solo is pretty expensive. Do whatever you can to put two people in each room. Typically the third person is a hair cheaper than the first two, a fourth is usually almost 1/2.

Moving a third or fourth person in a room for two will increase their fare. But you'll still save overall.

Disney's pricing is different. They have specific prices for different age brackets for kids. Adult 3, 4, and 5 passengers are typically 50% of the first two passengers fares.

[FanofMaryPoppins]

Thank you for pointing this out to me I did call Disney and moved my husband with my son and saved me over $400.00 very happy cruiser here!

[BrerGnat]

Thank you for pointing this out to me I did call Disney and moved my husband with my son and saved me over $400.00 very happy cruiser here!

Awesome! Glad I could help. When you board the ship, go to Guest Services and get your husband a "key only" card for him to use to access your room.