Dodie
<font color=green>Survived the big crash<br><font
- Joined
- Nov 10, 1999
Recap:
DH and I are 40-years-old with no children. We have been to WDW multiple times in the past 9 years and were ready for something different. We decided on the 7-night Disney cruise and were not disappointed. However, I will try to be honest in my report sharing the good and the bad.
Part 9 (Final Installment): Disembarkment, whirlwind Magic Kingdom visit, and final thoughts
Disembarkment:
We met our tablemates at Lumieres for our final meal together at 8:00 a.m. Everyone has to be off of the ship by 9:00 a.m., so this goes pretty quickly. We had a nice breakfast, bid fond farewell to our servers, and decided to complete our trip with our new dining friends from England, as they were going to Avis to pick up a car just like us.
Disembarkment is quick. You show your ID and passport or birth certificate one last time and make your way off of the ship to the luggage area. Luggage is organized according to where your stateroom was, and is color coded by the tags that you put on your luggage on the last night. It was a very simple system. Porters are waiting to help you with your luggage. We made our way across the street to the Avis shuttle. Although the 4 of us didnt make it on the first shuttle, we did make it on the next one. No problems. We said goodbye to our new friends and were in our rental car by 9:30, headed back to Orlando.
Whirlwind Magic Kingdom Visit:
We were able to spend about 6 hours at the MK on Saturday following our cruise, as our flight didn't leave MCO until late evening. It was unseasonably hot and crowded (as we knew it would be) - and we had considered not even trying it since it was a Saturday and we couldn't get there until about 11:00 a.m. - but we had a great day BECAUSE WE USED FAST PASS! Why don't people get it? Why are there so many people who don't use it?
Although we had a limited amount of time, we were able to see all of our favorites: Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Thunder Mountain RR, Space Mountain, Alien Encounter and Buzz Lightyear with no problem. We also managed to see most of the 100 Years of Magic parade, do a little shopping, and eat a couple of relaxing meals during our time at the park.
Final Thoughts:
What a wonderful vacation! We will definitely do this again in a couple of years probably the new Western itinerary.
Buy or bring a lanyard with something to hold your Key to the World Card and picture ID around your neck. Having it all right there made disembarking and embarking so much easier!
Use a backpack as one of your pieces of carry-on luggage, or stow one away in your big suitcase. We used the backpack every time we went off of the ship to hold sunscreen, books and magazines, bottles of water, etc. It was very helpful.
Youll spend more than you think on the ship. If you dont want to be shocked when you see the breakdown that they slip under your door, check your balance every other day or so. Things just add up. Remember that this happens on regular vacations too. You always spend more than you think you will. You just dont necessarily see it all spelled out on one piece of paper at the end, LOL.
Tip the ships staff at least the recommended amount! Budget for it up front. It seems like a lot, but think it through reasonably. If you were going to eat in a fancy restaurant every night for 7 nights in a row, what would that probably cost you? Total that up. Then figure out what 15-20 percent of that would be (standard tip). Our stateroom host cleaned our room twice a day, changed our linens, gave us fresh towels, continually filled our ice bucket (even though I didnt realize it until 2 days into the cruise when I finally looked in the ice bucket, LOL), made towel animals for our entertainment every night, and turned down our bed and got our room ready for the night. All of these folks work VERY hard during the entire cruise. I have never been more impressed, even at Disney World.
Take Bonine or non-drowsy Dramamine along with you, even if you dont think youll need it. Maybe you wont, but Id at least take it for the first day or so, until you know.
Dont obsess about clothes. Youll see people dressed in every way imaginable. I was surprised at the number of people who wore shorts to the dining room, since the Navigator specifically asks for you not to do so, but it didnt disrupt my cruise any. Take along something nice to wear on formal and semi-formal nights. No matter how youre dressed, theyll be people dressed less formally and people dressed more formally than you. Pack reasonably.
I would recommend the Avis one-way rental from MCO to the port and then from the port to MCO. It worked well for us, as it allowed us to take our time AND gave us somewhere to store our luggage during our WDW visit on the final day.
Plan to have the time of your life. We sure did! Ill bet you will too.
Thanks for patiently reading my ramblings! I hope they help someone plan!
DH and I are 40-years-old with no children. We have been to WDW multiple times in the past 9 years and were ready for something different. We decided on the 7-night Disney cruise and were not disappointed. However, I will try to be honest in my report sharing the good and the bad.
Part 9 (Final Installment): Disembarkment, whirlwind Magic Kingdom visit, and final thoughts
Disembarkment:
We met our tablemates at Lumieres for our final meal together at 8:00 a.m. Everyone has to be off of the ship by 9:00 a.m., so this goes pretty quickly. We had a nice breakfast, bid fond farewell to our servers, and decided to complete our trip with our new dining friends from England, as they were going to Avis to pick up a car just like us.
Disembarkment is quick. You show your ID and passport or birth certificate one last time and make your way off of the ship to the luggage area. Luggage is organized according to where your stateroom was, and is color coded by the tags that you put on your luggage on the last night. It was a very simple system. Porters are waiting to help you with your luggage. We made our way across the street to the Avis shuttle. Although the 4 of us didnt make it on the first shuttle, we did make it on the next one. No problems. We said goodbye to our new friends and were in our rental car by 9:30, headed back to Orlando.
Whirlwind Magic Kingdom Visit:
We were able to spend about 6 hours at the MK on Saturday following our cruise, as our flight didn't leave MCO until late evening. It was unseasonably hot and crowded (as we knew it would be) - and we had considered not even trying it since it was a Saturday and we couldn't get there until about 11:00 a.m. - but we had a great day BECAUSE WE USED FAST PASS! Why don't people get it? Why are there so many people who don't use it?
Although we had a limited amount of time, we were able to see all of our favorites: Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Thunder Mountain RR, Space Mountain, Alien Encounter and Buzz Lightyear with no problem. We also managed to see most of the 100 Years of Magic parade, do a little shopping, and eat a couple of relaxing meals during our time at the park.
Final Thoughts:
What a wonderful vacation! We will definitely do this again in a couple of years probably the new Western itinerary.
Buy or bring a lanyard with something to hold your Key to the World Card and picture ID around your neck. Having it all right there made disembarking and embarking so much easier!
Use a backpack as one of your pieces of carry-on luggage, or stow one away in your big suitcase. We used the backpack every time we went off of the ship to hold sunscreen, books and magazines, bottles of water, etc. It was very helpful.
Youll spend more than you think on the ship. If you dont want to be shocked when you see the breakdown that they slip under your door, check your balance every other day or so. Things just add up. Remember that this happens on regular vacations too. You always spend more than you think you will. You just dont necessarily see it all spelled out on one piece of paper at the end, LOL.
Tip the ships staff at least the recommended amount! Budget for it up front. It seems like a lot, but think it through reasonably. If you were going to eat in a fancy restaurant every night for 7 nights in a row, what would that probably cost you? Total that up. Then figure out what 15-20 percent of that would be (standard tip). Our stateroom host cleaned our room twice a day, changed our linens, gave us fresh towels, continually filled our ice bucket (even though I didnt realize it until 2 days into the cruise when I finally looked in the ice bucket, LOL), made towel animals for our entertainment every night, and turned down our bed and got our room ready for the night. All of these folks work VERY hard during the entire cruise. I have never been more impressed, even at Disney World.
Take Bonine or non-drowsy Dramamine along with you, even if you dont think youll need it. Maybe you wont, but Id at least take it for the first day or so, until you know.
Dont obsess about clothes. Youll see people dressed in every way imaginable. I was surprised at the number of people who wore shorts to the dining room, since the Navigator specifically asks for you not to do so, but it didnt disrupt my cruise any. Take along something nice to wear on formal and semi-formal nights. No matter how youre dressed, theyll be people dressed less formally and people dressed more formally than you. Pack reasonably.
I would recommend the Avis one-way rental from MCO to the port and then from the port to MCO. It worked well for us, as it allowed us to take our time AND gave us somewhere to store our luggage during our WDW visit on the final day.
Plan to have the time of your life. We sure did! Ill bet you will too.
Thanks for patiently reading my ramblings! I hope they help someone plan!
Thanks SO much for taking the time to write these and get them up so quickly!
