Considering 4 day wonder, tons of ?'s

[star65]

Love reading this board. I think I have my husband convinced to do the 4 day cruise next year. As we have never cruised, I have lots of questions any help is appreciated!!!

Time of year
We would really like to go in May, but a family obligation may not allow it, so if not May, how is it to cruise at the end of Augus/ beginning of Sept?? I am worried about it being hurrican season and that we may not be able to get to castaway cay. Anyone who has gone these times I would love your thoughts!

Arrival
If we do go when we prefer in May, we would have to arrive in Orlando the morning the cruise sails. We would try to get a 7am, flight that should get us to Orlando for 9:30, but it seems cutting it awfully close for me and I am worried about it. Ideally I would love to get in the night before. Has anyone ever had a problem arriving same day???

Cabin
We were looking at a category 8 cabin with the porthole, but after reading all the great posts about sitting out on your verandahs' I am wondering is the $300 extra, worth the verandah or is the porthole room just as good. What do you think???

Nassau
We would love to visit Atlantis. My girls have watched the mary kate and ashley movie that takes place there over and over and would love to explore the resort. Is the best way to do this to rent a room at the comfort inn? What price do they usually go for? Would we have to take a taxi, and are they safe???

I know I will have lots more questions to come. Thanks for all of your help in advance. We usually do not spend this much on a 4 day vacation so I really want this to be the best vacation my daughters have ever had !

 

[MarkRG]

Wow you have big questions. Let's see if I can give big answers to match!

Time of Year: Yes, you're gambling a little bit, but not too badly. On a 4 day you have two shots at Castaway Cay, and they do check the conditions there ahead of time if they need to rearrange they will. CC is not far from Nassau so it won't disturb any other part of the cruise.

Arrival: 9:30 arrival is fine, anything after about 12 noon is really pushing the luck. Will take you about 1 1/2 to 2 hours with no hangups from the point of arrival to get to the port.

Cabin: The ability to go outside without leaving your cabin is definitely woth the extra cost over the cat 8. Look at the cat 7's the 'obstruction' in the obstructed view cabins is not that bad. And the navigator verandahas are special in their own way.

Nassau: Atlantis is very cool! here's a link to a discussion in this forum on the subject: CLICK ME!!

Feel free to ask! One tip, there are a lot of answers hidden in here already, at the bottom of the list of messages is a box titled 'search this forum', put a word or two on the subject you're looking for ex: 'atlantis' and click the button and you'll be amazed

 

[Scratch42]

Barb and Tony's Site at www.castawayclub.com

Dave's site www.dcltribute.com

As far as arriving the day of, if you can avoid it, do so.

The last thing you want is the added stress if something does go wrong. Case in fact, for our Easter Trip, had considered doing a three day but thought we will wait until January. Good thing, just two weeks to our leaving the Airline changed our A.M. fligth to a P.M. Flight! We would have missed the whole trip! Plus arriving the night before, you will be well rested and able to fully enjoy your first full day!

Happy Sailing!

Scratch

 

[Wishing on a star]

We have not cruised YET, but here are a couple comments for you on planning a 4-day cruise.

1.) Be aware that many airlines chronicly delay and reschedule flights... Seems worse lately! If you do plan on flying that morning, you will want to stay on top of that situation. If booking your air thru DCL, then I am thinking that then DCL is actually responsible for getting you on the ship! Otherwise, of course, you will be on your own.

2. For the last two years, DCL has indeed renewed their contract with Freeport, which will make every other week a Freeport stop, instead of a day at sea. ( I was not really happy when this happened to us, and wished I had known ahead of time...)

3. The cheapest way to get full access to Atlantis is indeed to rent a room at the Comfort. Internet users rate shown online is $175.50, as opposed to at the Atlantis, $210.00, plus fees and extra charges for older children being charged as an 'extra adult'... Recently, we found out about a special rate. This was found listed on Placestostay.com, only by proceeding as if you are renting a room thru them, but this is actually a special, unlisted, rate offered by the Comfort suites... We called the Comfort 1-800 number directly, and asked for the LGOLD rate. Thought you may want to look for rates like this if you plan to enjoy Atlantis.

4. If you are remotely interested in insurance, then check out insuremytrip.com... Way better coverage for way less premium than DCL. There is probably no benefit to booking thru the DCL coverage. The DCL insurance is underwritten by AccessAmerica. We booked a policy thru AccessAmerica directly, which provides coverage for the entire trip, from the time you book, until you return home... (not just the cruise...) And payed less money. If you book your insurance right away when you book your cruise, then there will be NO exclusions for pre-existing conditions.

5. JMHO - If you can come up with the $$$ go for the Verandah!!!!

Happy Planning!

 

[Needs Motivation]

We were fortunate enough to go on the Wonder's maiden voyage a few years ago for our anniversary; third week in August. The weather wasn't bad; in fact I can't even remember the sudden, but short, downpours associated with that time of year.
We flew into Orlando that morning and had no problems hooking up with the DCL guide and transportation on-hand awaiting arrivals. Everyone else apparently made it too because we had a full bus heading to Port Canaveral. I can't remember how long the ride was, but we were so absorbed in the cruise video they were showing, we didn't even notice. By the time the video was over, the terminal and Wonder was just coming into view. What an awesome feeling.
I guess I can't help on the Atlantis question. We opted for walking/shopping around Nassau in the morning and snorkeling for a few hours in the afternoon.
However, BIG YES to the verandah!! Since it was our anniversary, we had some romantic sunsets with champagne on ours. It's also a great place to sit out on after you wake up. We stepped out onto ours as we were arriving Nassau and were greeted by a military calypso band playing. We also watched our arrival into Castaway Cay from our verandah. Beautiful.

 

[star65]

Thank you so much for all the great tips. I think we will definately go for the verandah.

I will know in October if I can forgo the family obligation and cruise in May vs. August. If it isn't possible, I'm not sure what to do because even if our flight gets in on time, I am concerned about feeling rushed and stressed, so we may just opt for the August cruise to avoid the rush.

I think I will get the comfort inn room, so that we can explore Atlantis at our leisure. Is it a hassle getting a cab to the comfort Inn, do you have to haggle for the price?

Thanks again, and you will be hearing from I'm sure with plenty more questionS!

 

[floridaminnie]

You have 2 different options on transportation to Atlantis. You can either go by the traditional car cab or you can go by water taxi.

Also, Atlantis offers day rooms. I'm not sure how much they cost, but I know others on the boards that have used them that may be able to let you know how much they cost.

Have fun! Your kids are going to love it!