Cruise and Stay- help needed

[Guest]

Hi,
I am trying to book a week in disney area followed by a weeks cruise around carribean (Aug 2009), has anyone done this and do you have any suggestions, prices, places to stay etc (have never been on a cruise)

[jaci]

Originally Posted by JML

Hi,
I am trying to book a week in disney area followed by a weeks cruise around carribean (Aug 2009), has anyone done this and do you have any suggestions, prices, places to stay etc (have never been on a cruise)

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hi have you tried virgin? they can give you a price for a cruise and stay, however you could do it yourself! try vacations to go for your cruise you can check out prices online its easy enough, we have been cruising twice and plan another one this july we always book with vacations to go, they have a 90 day ticker which shows all discounted cruises, or contact charter travel here on the dibb for cruise and stay advice they could tailor make your own itinerary for you! , cruising is brill!

[Guest]

I would definately DIY as it can work out a lot cheaper. We are going again in November and I am planning to get transport from Orlando MCO to Port Canaeveral to avoid car hire and parking for one week and then hire a car for the 2nd week, picking up from Port Canaeveral and dropping off at the airport. We use DVC points now although I have used Dreams Unlimited Travel in the past and they are really good and cheaper than booking directly with Disney or using a Travel Package. You pay for cabin only and extra people at a reduced cost from a maxiumum of 2 per cabin although most will accommodate 3 or 4 people. You can get some good deals at hotels too booking with Expedia or BA Holidays or Octopus Travel. The 2nd time we went to Florida we booked a package but left our hotel for one night and independently booked a room at Tampa to visit Busch Gardens and now I wouldnt do it any other way. Of course I am not disputing there are some bargain last minute packages out there but for us the fun of trying different places is much more fun.

Good luck with your planning.

[Guest]

Thanks Jules,
Would like to do Carribean cruise on 2nd Aug 2009 port canaveral, with a week before in disney area, preferably in a villa. Virgin site is not much help, lets you cost cruise and hotel but not other options. Also as travelling with two children aged 15 11 would quite like two cabins but can't price this over the internet.
Any help, hints suggestions welcome

[debs1505]

Take a look at vacationstogo

[jdybnsn]

Definitely go DIY (book flight/fly drive, car hire or transfers, if necessary & villa/hotel separately)... and definitely book through a reputable US cruise agent YOU WILL SAVE A FORTUNE !

[*source*]

Once you have decide which cruise you want to go on try Cruise Compete - very competitive prices but make sure you research the company you book with! Some of them will only accept US addresses.

[tonymc]

We've just booked our first cruise with Royal Caribbean from Tampa to Cozumel over the Easter weekend, and I found a wealth of information for first timers and each cruise line on cruisecritic.com (note - don't get redirected to the UK site - you need the US site with the discussion boards).

As an example, we discovered that most cruise lines will honour a price drop if the cost of your cruise for the same category of cabin is reduced (excluding sale offers! ). Another point was that although cruises tend to depart early evening, you can board from around midday, and have lunch on board. Well worth signing up to.

Given the exchange rate at the moment, it may well be better booking in the UK, but do check with the Travel Agent if they DO honour price drops without charging any fees - we booked direct with RCL in the UK (with 5% discount) so should not have too many problems if this situation arises.

[tonymc]

Forgot to mention that prices can increase as well (and in our case, substantially). We were originally considering a 3 night Bahamas cruise from Port Canaveral, but in the space of a week, the price jumped from £700 to £890. Conversley, the 4 night cruise we booked did not change price at all, and ended up costing only £100 more!

[winnie]

Originally Posted by jules_c

I would definately DIY as it can work out a lot cheaper. We are going again in November and I am planning to get transport from Orlando MCO to Port Canaeveral to avoid car hire and parking for one week and then hire a car for the 2nd week, picking up from Port Canaeveral and dropping off at the airport. We use DVC points now although I have used Dreams Unlimited Travel in the past and they are really good and cheaper than booking directly with Disney or using a Travel Package. You pay for cabin only and extra people at a reduced cost from a maxiumum of 2 per cabin although most will accommodate 3 or 4 people. You can get some good deals at hotels too booking with Expedia or BA Holidays or Octopus Travel. The 2nd time we went to Florida we booked a package but left our hotel for one night and independently booked a room at Tampa to visit Busch Gardens and now I wouldnt do it any other way. Of course I am not disputing there are some bargain last minute packages out there but for us the fun of trying different places is much more fun.

Good luck with your planning.

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We have gone from port canaveral a couple of times and hire the car from the airport and drop at the port and collect another after the cruise and drop back at the airport. We are going in 12 days and have done this again with hire at TAMPA for one week (about £180) going to cape coral and then drop the car at the hire place( its about 5/10 mins from the boat and i think they all do shuttle bus to the port) and then collect car after cruise and drive straight over to tampa and drop at airport (1 day about £21), so mau work out cheaper than transport? but leaves you in control!