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View Full Version : Help! 1st cruise ever



shani1243
07-30-2007, 07:20 PM
Hi my name is Sharon, hubby David

Hi, just joined this group.

Hubby and I are planning a driving trip to Orlando in March of 2008.

We would like to do a 4/4 land and sea pkg. level 6 on ship, and
would like help in which luxury place to stay on disney.

Any other help appreciated also!

We are in early sixties, and have gone to disney 3 other times.
off site
all star music
all star music 2004

Never stayed in Luxury resort before tho.

We love the water, and were considering the beach club, but I see a
lot of people with negative reports on that place.

Any other reviews or advice on the trip?

Which place is cheapest to book from?


Is January, Febuary, or March, the best time to go?

thanks
shani

ElenitaB
07-30-2007, 08:29 PM
First of all, :welcome: to Intercot!

Sounds like you have a wonderful trip planned (can I come along as a stowaway? ;) )

I would recommend not booking a land/sea package as you have greater flexibility in chosing your resort by booking separately. Also, if interested, you would be able to include the Dining Plan as part of your WDW trip.

Since you asked about deluxe resorts and say you love the water (us too), I can tell you that our personal favorite is the Boardwalk. There's so much going on in the evening there and it has that "seaside" feel about it. We've never stayed at the Poly or the Grand Floridian though and many do have a passion for those resorts as well.

As for how to book the cheapest, the first step is to book the land and sea portions of your vacation separately; the second step is to book early (the earlier the better). I've used Magical Journeys (http://www.yourmagicaljourneys.com/) to handle my cruise reservations and have been very happy with their service. (I once made the mistake of attempting to use another travel agent for our cruises and got sorely burned! :blush: Never again!)

I look forward to chatting with you on these boards about your upcoming cruise as the time draws nearer for you to embark!

mook3y
07-30-2007, 09:00 PM
Welcome to Intercot!!!
:welcome:

I am going to just address cruising.

At meals, don't be afraid to ask for seconds of anything or to try more than one entree. If it sounds good, order it. We tend to order a few and share!

If there is something special you would like to eat, don't be afraid to ask. We went for a cruise which my wife's birthday was during. I asked the head waiter at the beginning if we could have Filet Mignon for dinner that night and he obliged. It was not even on the menu our entire 7 day cruise but ours was grilled to perfection on her birthday.

Go to walmart and get an over the door shoe holder. Hang it over the bathroom door and you have a handy place to convieniently store things like brushes, toiletries, basically anything small that might be lying around. Space is tight, even in suites and this helps keep things easy to reach.

We bring $2 bills for tipping. You can go to the bank and get them. Especially in Mexican ports, we found the locals LOVED them. We even had people come up to us and ask if we had more in Costa Maya.

Bon Voyage!

TammiMcMan
07-31-2007, 12:13 PM
We would like to do a 4/4 land and sea pkg. level 6 on ship, and
would like help in which luxury place to stay on disney.Hi Sharon, welcome to Intercot. Just a few things about booking a land/sea package. The first is that I wouldn't suggest doing anything less than the 4 night cruise. Typically, that's matched up with the 3 night land, but you can extend your land portion if you'd like another day.


We love the water, and were considering the beach club, but I see a
lot of people with negative reports on that place.If you enjoy visiting Epcot & MGM, then you can't beat the proximity of the Beach Club. A few drawbacks is that there aren't a lot of rooms with full balconies and the standard views are not that pretty. For some reason adults tend to book next door at the Yacht Club, but that resort isn't an option with the land/sea package. Personally, I love the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian is very romantic for a couple if you enjoy that theme.


Which place is cheapest to book from?The words "cheap" and "Disney cruise" aren't usually found in the same sentence. It's a pretty expensive vacation. If you don't mind sailing in the slow seasons, like the fall or between holidays, that's when you'll find the least expensive rates.


Is January, Febuary, or March, the best time to go?You may want to avoid Spring break and February school vacation as the prices do go up significantly. We sailed in early January, which was very nice, but even in the Bahamas, the water was cool to swim in.

shani1243
07-31-2007, 03:11 PM
Thanks for the answers, and taking the time to comment!

ELLEN:
Sure, come along and stow away!

Good idea on doing separate bookings! I will check out the cost difference.

What is the benefit of the dining plan? Is it cheaper?

Did you ever hear anything about the beach resort? We went there for dinner and saw all the water stuff there and were so impressed! lol I will check out the Boardwalk tho. thanks

How did you book the disney portion?

Keep all the comments coming ok?
I look forward to talking with you.
p.s.
Why did you pick the Wonder, vs the Magic?

Shani
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Mook3y:
Thanks for the reply!
I was trying to find out if you could do seconds on the food, lol
The portions look very small rofl

Good idea for the over the door shoe holder.

Who did you give the 2 dollar tips to?
Loved the stuff at the end about going to Disney before you were born! lol.
Any more ideas are greatly appreciated!

Shani
_____________________________
Tammi:
Thanks for all the great info!
I definity want full balcony, so will think about that. Good idea for the yaght club. I will also check out the Grand Floridian.

When is Spring Break?

thanks
shani
______________________
David is retiring Dec 21st this year, So we are pretty flexible.
We don't want to go when there is a chance of snow tho, because we are driving from Connecticut to Fla.
in a Lincoln with rear wheel drive.

So I was thinking early March, yet I want to go when it is cheaper, so don't know.

We have been in July...yuk to hot
also in May, and last time in November. November was kinda cool for the water.

This is his retirement trip, so want to go asap after his retirement.

We take a long time getting there and back, cause we stop and look around a lot. lol

We took 7 days to get home last time! rofl

Had a ball!

We also plan to go 2 days to Universal while in Fla. Probably after the cruise. and 1 day at Sea World.

That is another question I have....
Is it better to do Disney 1st, and Cruise 2nd? or vice versa?

These questions are for all of you. lol

again, thanks all for the great info, and keep it coming! lol

mook3y
07-31-2007, 04:00 PM
We used the $2 tips for bartenders, room service (food) and when we were on shore. The $2 bill just helps them to remember who you are. All though, often people that work cruises are really good at remembering names. But, the ones we tipped with $2 bills always smiled and greeted us by name whenever they saw us. Even on shore. :thumbsup:

If you like to have a :marg: or :marg::marg: or :marg::marg::marg: my suggestion is on the first day find a lounge on board you like and tip your waiter well and tell him/her you like your drinks strong. They will happily make them very strong. In our experience the same waiter is usually in the same lounge for the length of the cruise.

I will Private message you my favorite cruise website. Lots of great tips there. Almost (but not quite) as good as here! :D

shani1243
07-31-2007, 04:45 PM
thanks for the update. Looking forward to your email

mook3y
07-31-2007, 04:49 PM
thanks for the update. Looking forward to your email

Look towards the top of this page on the right side.

It will say Welcome shani1243
under that it will say you have at least 1 private message.

Click that and you will get my note.

:D

angedeaile
08-01-2007, 10:05 PM
I am a bit of a rambler, so let me try to group these.

As for when to go-
I myself picked January to go, but then again, we have a limited time frame to pick from.

If I had to pick, I might go with late February since it is a warmer than January and you don't run into spring break crowds or higher prices like March.
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As for the land and sea- ElenitaB brought up great points! Those are exactly the same reasons I choose to book my land and sea separately.
It is nice to have more choices than the land and sea package provides and to save a few bucks.

I also am using Magical Journeys and strongly suggest them to anyone booking a trip to WDW. Keep in mind, they are free to use and really help when it comes to planning and booking!
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As for the dining plan, info central provides some great info on the ddp.

Researching and finding out more about it will help you decide if it is right for you and if you will save money. It really all depends on how often you guys eat, where you choose to eat and what you choose to eat.
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As for luxury resorts- the majority of Intercotees prefer the Polynesian, which is an option under the land and sea package. I would stay there if I had the dough :thumbsup:. I also heard great things about Wilderness Lodge.

You might want to look a bit into those under the resort section of Intercot.
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Finally, I noticed you are a category 6. Good choice!

We went with a category 7, but there are four staterooms that have obstructed views with verandahs. So we got a category 6 for a 7 price. It sounds mighty nice and is worth the obstruction in my POV. There is a website that has different cruiser's reviews of almost every stateroom on both Magic and Wonder. It really helps if you are looking for a good stateroom with no noise, because from what I read...there are alot of noisy spots. You can PM me if you want to know the site.

Anywho, if saving money is your aim and you don’t mind obstructions, you might want to see if any of those four rooms are available on your cruise. If you are wondering which staterooms they are, send me a PM.

Actually, if you have ANY questions, PM me…and when you decide what to do, be sure to post. I am curious to see your decisions ☺
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BTW- mook3y-
Great Idea! I am going to have to try that on my trip. I love it!

shani1243
08-02-2007, 02:04 AM
check out the message that starts:

Anyone going to WDW Feb 5-11 or cruise

that is where I posted what I decided.

thanks
shani