Any suggestions for a Flordia cruise?

Question

I am planning a trip to Florida. I know that we (myself, my daughter who is 6 yrs. old and my fiance) want to take a cruise and stay in Disney World. We will be leaving from Philadelphia Int. Airport. Any suggestions on a hotel or cruise line. We went to Fl. 3 years ago but not on a cruise. Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

You will want to take a cruise that leaves from Port Canaveral.  It is a huge cruise ship port in Florida that is near the Orlando area.  As of January 2008, it serves Carnival, Disney, and Royal Caribbean.

I searched for cruises leaving from Port Canaveral in March.  You didn't specify a date, but I am guessing maybe you want it for your daughter's spring break.

Carnival:

http://www.carnival.com/searchResults.as...

Disney:

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en...

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en...

Royal Caribbean:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruis...

(Suggested) Hotels in/near Disney World:

Hilton

http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/OR...

Hyatt:

http://grandcypress.hyatt.com/hyatt/hote...

Marriott:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mc...

Ritz Carlton:

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties...

I'd suggest staying at the Hilton as it allows you to have "Extra Magic Hours," meaning for hotel guests only, one of the Disney theme parks opens an hour early or stays open up 3 hours later.

Normally, I would suggest a Carnival or Royal Caribbean cruise, however, I see that you a traveling with a 6 year old, so I will suggest making it just a whole Disney-themed trip.  There are still things for adults to do on them, they are just more for kids, but honestly a cruise is a cruise and you'll have fun.  Every so often the Travel Channel runs an hour segment on Disney Cruises and I would suggest you watch it.  Check their website to see if it is on soon!  I hope I could help and have fun!

:)Ayelle

Answer 2

I would definitely recommend the Carnival Glory out of Port Canaveral.  We were on it last September, and It was amazing.  New ship, great food and entertainment.  Awesome cruise director.  We are still getting e-mails from him.  We are planning this ship again this year, only the Eastern instead of the Western.  And the value is better than any other vacation we have looked at.

Answer 3

If you don't do Disney , then I would suggest Carnival, they cruise out of Port Canaveral, which is about an hour drive. We've done it twice that way and its worked well both times. You can either rent a car one way and then be dropped off at the dock, and picked up for your return drive. Or you can get a shuttle, I used this company last time and they were really great    http://www.abusytraveler.com/abt_reserva... If you stay on site at Disney you don't need a car and they provide transportation from the Orlando airport, also you can utilize the extended hours for resort guests which is a fantastic way to go. At Animal Kingdom, we got in an hour early and had ridden Everest 3 times before the park even opened. Have fun

Answer 4

Go to http://www.thingbot.com/ do a search on " Disney cruise " it will give some great deals.

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

Well, if you are staying at Disney World the obvious cruise line is Disney.  The port is Port Canaveral.  Here is a picture of the port ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

At the bottom of the photo is the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas.  On the left side of the photo is the Disney Wonder.  At the top of the photo is a Carnival ship, though I am not sure which one.

Disney offers a three night cruise that leaves on Thursday and returns on Sunday.  Disney also offers a four night cruise that leaves on Sunday and returns on Thursday.  Both of those cruises are on the Disney Wonder.  Disney also offers one week cruises to the Caribbean that leave on Saturday aboard the Disney Magic.  

Here is Goofy touching up the paint on the back of the Disney Magic ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

Disney cruises are expensive.  Other choices are Royal Caribbean and Carnival.  All three lines are family friendly.  All three lines offer short cruises and one week cruises.  All the Carnival ships have a water slide.  All the ships on all three cruise lines have pools (at least two per ship).

Here is the pool deck and water slide on the Carnival Glory (which docks where the Mariner is in the photo, except on Saturday - the photo was taken on a Sunday) ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

The ship also has a pool in the back with movable top in case the weather is bad.  Here is the pool with the top closed ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

And there is the same pool with the top open ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

All the Royal Caribbean ships have a rock climbing wall.  In addition, the Mariner, being a very large ship, has a few extras, such as a miniature golf course, an inline skating tract and an ice skating rink.  Use of all these facilities (pool, rock climbing wall, water slide, skating tract and skating rink) are free (well, actually included in the cruise fare).

This is the central Royal Promenade on the Navigator of the Seas (as sister ship to the Mariner of the Seas) ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

Here is the ice skating rink ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/Z...

All three cruise lines have excellent children's programs.  Disney does not have a casino.  Carnival and Royal Caribbean do.  You will generally find that Royal Caribbean is much less expensive than Disney and that Carnival is a little less expensive than Royal Caribbean.

All three cruise lines offer a great cruising experience and I believe the three of you would have a wonderful time on any of the cruise ships.

FYI, there is are also cruises that leave out of Tampa.

Again, if you are staying in Disney World, I would recommend one of the Disney hotels.