disney then a cruise or vice versa

[cruzobsessed]

if you were planning a cruise out of ft. lauderdale AND some time at disneyworld.....and you're coming from nj which would you do 1st AND how would you travel from point A to point B?

[klfrodo]

My opinion only.

 

Our very first cruise was a short Bahama cruise out of Port Canaveral. We flew into Orlando, spent the night, then the next day took the cruise transfer to Port Canaveral.

After the cruise, we took the cruise transfer back to MCO, picked up a rental car and headed to Disney World for 4 days.

 

1. The cruise just flat wore us out. Almost too tired to enjoy Disney

2. Paying for a rental car to be parked for 4 days at Disney was a waste of money. Disney's internal transportation system is the greatest. We didn't use our car for anything.

[CruisePrincess51]

Two years ago, we flew from Pa into Orlando and stayed inside the park at one of the Disney hotels (it was more reasonable than I thought it would be)...used Disney transportation to get us from airport to hotel and then spent 3 days in Disney before leaving out of Port Canaveral for a cruise. To get from the hotel in Disney World we used a car service to pick us up at the hotel and then drove us to the port and then met us again at the port after the cruise to take us back to the airport. We were tired after doing 3 days in Disney, so the cruise was a nice way to re-group afterwards. We're doing the same thing this Sept, but only visiting Disney for 1 day and will be renting a car with my daughter and her husband to visit some other places.

 

Kathy :)

[wisteria1019]

If it were me, I would fly into Orlando, then take Disney's comp Magical Express to my Disney Resort. Play hard for however many days you choose. There is a service called Cruise Connection that you can reserve on your own (or maybe with a little discount through your cruiseline) that will pick up at a McDonald's on International Drive and take you straight to the cruiseport in Fort Lauderdale. You can also fly from MCO to FLL for about $50 per person. Of course, you can always rent a car (the drive is around 5 hours). A cruise can be as active or relaxing as you choose. I would always opt to run myself ragged at WDW (one of my favorite places), then enjoy the slower pace of the cruise.

Enjoy!

Dawn

[keishashadow]

if you were planning a cruise out of ft. lauderdale AND some time at disneyworld.....and you're coming from nj which would you do 1st AND how would you travel from point A to point B?

 

*disneyparks 1st!

 

*skip FLL & cruise from Port Canaveral or even Tampa (slightly longer drive)

[JSR]

We have gone to DW several times prior to our cruises. Go first not second. We drove but you can fly or take the transportation someone else suggested. But I would do Disney first.

[gometros]

My opinion only.

 

Our very first cruise was a short Bahama cruise out of Port Canaveral. We flew into Orlando, spent the night, then the next day took the cruise transfer to Port Canaveral.

After the cruise, we took the cruise transfer back to MCO, picked up a rental car and headed to Disney World for 4 days.

 

1. The cruise just flat wore us out. Almost too tired to enjoy Disney

2. Paying for a rental car to be parked for 4 days at Disney was a waste of money. Disney's internal transportation system is the greatest. We didn't use our car for anything.

 

I found this viewpoint interesting, since I agree with the others that say Disney first. Talk about being worn out. I always thought of the cruise portion of our vacation as the relaxing part.

[asylum575]

Tampa is about a 1 1/2 hours drive to disney. I would fly into tpa, rent a car and go to disney, then drive back to tpa drop off the car and a cab to the port is about $25. Transfers from Tampa port to TPA is $10/adultsm $5/children

 

I love cruising to Cozumel. So that would work for me. Carnival does 4,5 and 7 nights, RCCL does 5 nights and HAL does 7 nights

[RuthlessBunny]

I'm with those who say, Disney first. Also, make sure you have good, supportive shoes. If you go with flip-flops or any, other comfy, unsupported shoe, your feet will be VERY sore!

 

Stay on the Disney property and get the all inclusive package, including meals. They have some great deals now.

 

You can use a shuttle service from Orlando to FLL, but a car might be less expensive if you have a family, price it out and check around. If you return the car to FLL, you can drop your luggage and folks at the ship, one person can return the car. Even better, see if they'll let you drop the car at the rental place at the port (probably not, but it never hurts to ask.)

 

You'll use Florida's Turnpike to travel from Orlando to FLL, and tolls will be around $15.00. The toll plazas are excellent, so you won't need to get off at all between Orlando and FLL.

[melk71]

Next year we are flying down to Ft. Lauderdale for a 4 night cruise, then we will rent a car and drive up the coast (thinking we will spend one night at Vero Beach), then drive to WDW for the last 4 nights. We originally booked a 4 night out of Tampa but RCCL chartered it and we lost out :mad:.