First Time Disney Cruiser--Couple of Questions

To all you Disney Cruisers,

I have just booked my first cruise for The Magic in Feb. 2019. Thanks to all of you who helped me decide what to book! I will be traveling with my daughter and son-in-law (mid 30's) and my 4 year old grandson. We are booked on the Western Caribbean 5 day Marvel at Sea cruise out of Miami. Questions: I plan to stay on the boat on the Cozumel day with my grandson and let my daughter and son-in-law enjoy Cozumel. Is the kids club open when the ship is in port? Will he need a passport if the only place he is disembarking is Castaway Cay? We will probably fly in the day before just to be safe. Any recommendations for hotels/transfers to the port? We have booked Concierge so assume we will have a relatively early boarding time--is this correct? I assume we should just book a car service from the hotel to the port and then back to the airport at the end. Can anyone recommend a reliable company in Miami? Again, thanks to all of you--you guys are the best!

Andrea

Yes, the Oceaneer's Club is open while the ship is in port. During Castaway day, the programming is held on the island, but there is programming on that day as well.

A passport is not needed on a closed loop cruise departing from the US except in those cases where a foreign port requires one--so it is not needed on a cruise to the ports you have named. He will need a certified birth certificate and older people will need a government issued photo ID as well....or a passport which serves both as identification and proof of citizenship. IF an emergency were to happen in which case he did not return to the US on the ship, there would be emergency procedures to complete since he doesn't have a passport.

As concierge, you will not have a boarding time. You will board first.

There are hotels in Miami that offer complimentary transfers to the cruise port. Another alternative is Uber (which we have found to be great!)

congratulations on booking your cruise!!!

definitely fly in at least the day before your cruise...

flying in the same day is playing with fire..

i know you're going to have a magical time!!

When we cruised out of Miami, we stayed here https://miamiairporteast.place.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html

An UberXL to the port was $30 and took 20 min. We opted for a taxi back to the airport after the cruise. Taxi line moved fast (waited < 5 min) and is a flat $27.

We love Hyatt Place. The West Doral location used to have a complimentary shuttle to the cruise terminal. The Doubletree is very near the terminal and also has a complimentary shuttle. Please call the hotel directly to verify that these offers still exist as things do change.

To all you Disney Cruisers,

I have just booked my first cruise for The Magic in Feb. 2019. Thanks to all of you who helped me decide what to book! I will be traveling with my daughter and son-in-law (mid 30's) and my 4 year old grandson. We are booked on the Western Caribbean 5 day Marvel at Sea cruise out of Miami. Questions: I plan to stay on the boat on the Cozumel day with my grandson and let my daughter and son-in-law enjoy Cozumel. Is the kids club open when the ship is in port? Will he need a passport if the only place he is disembarking is Castaway Cay? We will probably fly in the day before just to be safe. Any recommendations for hotels/transfers to the port? We have booked Concierge so assume we will have a relatively early boarding time--is this correct? I assume we should just book a car service from the hotel to the port and then back to the airport at the end. Can anyone recommend a reliable company in Miami? Again, thanks to all of you--you guys are the best!

Andrea

There are things to do in Cozumel that the four year old would enjoy. There are plenty of beaches. There is also a chocolate making adventure we took our five year old on and he loved it. It's private generally. The kids club is closed at Castaway Cay, but I believe it is open the other days.

I’m late to this thread, but consider staying on the ship and enjoying the pool deck in Cozumel.

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There are things to do in Cozumel that the four year old would enjoy. There are plenty of beaches. There is also a chocolate making adventure we took our five year old on and he loved it. It's private generally. The kids club is closed at Castaway Cay, but I believe it is open the other days.

The Oceaneer's Club location on the ship is closed during the daytime hours on Castaway day, but the programming moves to "Scuttle's Cove" on the island--so there is still a location where you can drop off your child and have him/her looked after. There will be about an hour of transition time when both locations will be closed, and then the OC space will re-open on the ship at about 5pm.

THere are things that a child can enjoy in Cozumel, but I agree that remaining on the ship is also great. When we cruised, the ship docked right at the shopping center where there was a man with a burro posing for pictures...kids could sit on the burro. But it is great of you to send the parents off on their own and care for the child for the day. Nice grandma! One warning, not all kids love the Oceaneer's Club/Lab. My daughter thought it was great at some ages, particularly the younger ages. She ultimately got bored with the Lab and didn't enjoy that. You might find that a few hours of drop off works well and then decide to spend some time with the grandchild.

We stayed at intercontinental Miami on our last cruise out of there. Nice hotel but pricey.

We used Jiffy jeff as our transport service and was not disappointed! It was inexpensive, clean, and safe! Would use them again in a heartbeat!