[MMM939]

I am trying to plan a land and sea vacation in mid june. I was looking to stay 7 days first on land than take the cruise.
Does anyone have any sugestions. I have never been on the cruise.
I have me my wife and a 3 and 8 year old.

[evansfmly5]

We just did it in Sept. Had a blast. We did 5 on land then the three day cruise. We rented a car instead on using the Disney bus. They wanted $80 a person and the car was $276. Avis has a kiosk near DTD in the Hilton. They picked me up at SSR.

[bethishooked]

Originally Posted by evansfmly5

We rented a car instead on using the Disney bus. They wanted $80 a person and the car was $276.

You mean transportation to the ship is not included when you buy the land and sea package?

[llama]

Originally Posted by bethishooked

You mean transportation to the ship is not included when you buy the land and sea package?

That does seem very odd...

We've never done a Land and Sea, but have taken two Disney cruises. If this is your first cruise you are going to be very spoiled. They are amazing experiences. Do you have any specific questions? My best advice would be to relax and enjoy. Disney has every detail covered, from the second you step into the cruise terminal (which is an experience itself). Which ship are you on? The Wonder or The Magic?

As you enter the ship, your family will be announced (eg. "Disney welcomes the Smith Family from Chicago"). You'll be allowed to roam around the ship before you set sail, and lunch will be served both at the buffet or restaurants. Some people pack a bag with bathing suits and towels, because the pools are open. There will be a sail-away party with the characters. Listen for the horn whe you set sail. Disney had to get special permission to have their horn play "When You Wish Upon A Star" - and then you will be off.

There will be a life-boat drill which all members of your party must attend. After that there will usually be info meetings about ports of call, if you wish to attend.

Everything about a Disney cruise is just a little different. You will be assigned a restaurant rota and you will dine in a different unique restaurant each night - your wait staff will always be the same. Because so many families and children are on Disney cruises, Disney strictly separates the "adult" sections of the ship from the "family". Children are not allowed in the adult pool or at Serenity Cove on Castaway Cay. Families have two fantastic pools (one with a waterslide) and wading pools for toddlers. Top-rated current movies are shown in the theatre (because as Disney says - hey, we own most of them) and the live entertainment is Broadway worthy. As expected, the programs for children are amazing and kids are divided into programs suited to their age groups. Every evening the characters will be in the Atrium and that is a good opportunity to have pictures taken, both your own and professionally. Dress for dinner is not formal, although no jeans or shorts are allowed in the dining room. Many moms take the opportunity to dress their kids up for dinner. (they look so cute!). For adults, nice dress slacks, golf shirts for men or short-sleeved "dressier" shirts are all you need. For women, sun dresses, nice pants and tops, are the norm. If you want to get "dressier", that's ok too.

The cabins are roomy and comfortable. Do you have an inside, outside, balcony or family suite? Unlike most cruise ships, there is no casino.

Castaway Cay is fantastic. You can rent snorkeling equipment, or floats, banana boats, etc. A bbq is held on the island for lunch. The water is so clear there that you can just walk along in the ocean and spot all kinds of fish. You can rent cabanas - but if you want one, be sure to rent it the first day of your cruise - they go fast.

[Dopey]

Originally Posted by bethishooked

You mean transportation to the ship is not included when you buy the land and sea package?

no it isn't and it is quite expensive. so expensive that when we booked the Wonder, we also booked Quicksilver because it's a nicer way to travel and the prices didn't differ that much.

[gatour]

I also thought the ground transportation not being included was quite odd. First thought that transportation between ship and hotel was included but not the before trip from the airport or the after trip to the airport.

But no transportation is included except...

If you book air through the Disney site, then transportation is included.

In retrospect, as a semi local there are several times where I combined a disney cruise and a after cruise disney hotel stay. Each time we drove down from Jax to the port precruise and then post cruise drove to the hotel and obviously post hotel drove home.

[monrailrider]

The cruise is a blast. The kids program is great. We had to pull our DD7 and DS10 out or else we did not see them in the evenings.

[jk8]

You have more flexibility in room type and resort type if you book them separately and don't do the official Land and Sea. Just play around with the DCL and WDW sites with what you would want and then you can compare with the structured version.

Doing WDW first is my preference as well, because the cruise is a great way to relax after the pace of WDW.

[evansfmly5]

Originally Posted by jk8

Doing WDW first is my preference as well, because the cruise is a great way to relax after the pace of WDW.

I agree. It was really annoying having to get on the plane the same day we got back from the ship, so we were thinking of a land-sea-land vacation...lol

[gatour]

I like sea and then land. It helps to ease us back to reality. Then again we are not commando mode type Disney visitors.

[tecdavidt]

You can always have your TA book your own land and sea, we have done that several times. It is through DCL but not on their rack rate chart of 3/4 day/land cruise. We do a precruise stay then the 7 day cruise then another after cruise stay. The benefit, you check in at your precruise resort! no checking in at the port. We started this back in 2004. Don't ask me the exact cost, I have no idea. Kathy

*Been cruising with the mouse since 1999. No. 11 is this March with several WDW vacations also under our belt. Headed down Nov. 6th, '09 can't wait for some Florida sunshine! I lurk more on this board than I post.

[rlcarmichael]

The kids will absolutely love it. The kids activity programs are great and they won't want to spend ANY time with you.

May I suggest a couples massage?

Make sure you catch all of the shows!

[gatour]

Richard, hmm, you are back and no trip report? ;)

[dixie]

Originally Posted by llama

That does seem very odd...

We've never done a Land and Sea, but have taken two Disney cruises. If this is your first cruise you are going to be very spoiled. They are amazing experiences. Do you have any specific questions? My best advice would be to relax and enjoy. Disney has every detail covered, from the second you step into the cruise terminal (which is an experience itself). Which ship are you on? The Wonder or The Magic?

As you enter the ship, your family will be announced (eg. "Disney welcomes the Smith Family from Chicago"). You'll be allowed to roam around the ship before you set sail, and lunch will be served both at the buffet or restaurants. Some people pack a bag with bathing suits and towels, because the pools are open. There will be a sail-away party with the characters. Listen for the horn whe you set sail. Disney had to get special permission to have their horn play "When You Wish Upon A Star" - and then you will be off.

There will be a life-boat drill which all members of your party must attend. After that there will usually be info meetings about ports of call, if you wish to attend.

Everything about a Disney cruise is just a little different. You will be assigned a restaurant rota and you will dine in a different unique restaurant each night - your wait staff will always be the same. Because so many families and children are on Disney cruises, Disney strictly separates the "adult" sections of the ship from the "family". Children are not allowed in the adult pool or at Serenity Cove on Castaway Cay. Families have two fantastic pools (one with a waterslide) and wading pools for toddlers. Top-rated current movies are shown in the theatre (because as Disney says - hey, we own most of them) and the live entertainment is Broadway worthy. As expected, the programs for children are amazing and kids are divided into programs suited to their age groups. Every evening the characters will be in the Atrium and that is a good opportunity to have pictures taken, both your own and professionally. Dress for dinner is not formal, although no jeans or shorts are allowed in the dining room. Many moms take the opportunity to dress their kids up for dinner. (they look so cute!). For adults, nice dress slacks, golf shirts for men or short-sleeved "dressier" shirts are all you need. For women, sun dresses, nice pants and tops, are the norm. If you want to get "dressier", that's ok too.

The cabins are roomy and comfortable. Do you have an inside, outside, balcony or family suite? Unlike most cruise ships, there is no casino.

Castaway Cay is fantastic. You can rent snorkeling equipment, or floats, banana boats, etc. A bbq is held on the island for lunch. The water is so clear there that you can just walk along in the ocean and spot all kinds of fish. You can rent cabanas - but if you want one, be sure to rent it the first day of your cruise - they go fast.

Janice they should pay you! The review above is fabulous, I spent a few minutes reading it to Paul and you certainly sold it to us- how about Disney giving you some commision
Its only 20 days now to our first cruise but thats not Disney!!!