kitkat Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 Our family booked the very first cruise trip in February, and we have a few questions to ask people have done cruise for more than once: We need to travel from the Orlando airport to Port Canaveral, is baby under 2 sitting on a parent on the Royal Caribbean coach bus? Is there more than one shutter bus travelling between airport and the port? Beside Royal Caribbean coach bus, what transportation will you recommend us? On the Embarkation date, will we have any accommodation get on ship earlier than others given we travel with a baby? We ordered gift from the website, and they mistakenly charged us twice. How do we cancel the wrong order? If I order the drink package, is there really water bottles available or just bottled water dispersed at the water station? Many thanks in advance. We try to figure out as many details as possible with our 18-month old coming along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianAlt Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 2 minutes ago, kitkat said: Our family booked the very first cruise trip in February, and we have a few questions to ask people have done cruise for more than once: We need to travel from the Orlando airport to Port Canaveral, is baby under 2 sitting on a parent on the Royal Caribbean coach bus? I believe so. Is there more than one shutter bus travelling between airport and the port? Depends on the number that book it, but probably. Beside Royal Caribbean coach bus, what transportation will you recommend us? Rent a car/van and drive yourself and return the car after dropping off people and luggage at the port. There's a shuttle that will take the lone driver back. Book a car/limo/van to drive you to the port. Either of those can be cheaper. On the Embarkation date, will we have any accommodation get on ship earlier than others given we travel with a baby? No. It's not like a plane where you need to get settled quicker. We ordered gift from the website, and they mistakenly charged us twice. How do we cancel the wrong order? Call Royal Caribbean Gifts and Gear. If I order the drink package, is there really water bottles available or just bottled water dispersed at the water station? Yes, bottled water is part of all drink packages. No bottled water at water stations, only cups, ice and water. Many thanks in advance. We try to figure out as many details as possible with our 18-month old coming along. Answers inline and in BOLD AND RED. Matt and kitkat 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 BrianAlt (or any other expert cruiser) - do they offer still and sparking water options with the bottled water? Reason I ask is the Evian package on offer for Ovation appears to be still only so just wondered. We have booked the refreshment package not the Evian package so hoping sparkling is available for the wife! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 17 minutes ago, Bazza said: BrianAlt (or any other expert cruiser) - do they offer still and sparking water options with the bottled water? Yes they do Bazza 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 Wait a sec...so Evian water is included with the beverage package?? If so then I have been missing out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiny260 Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 Bottled water is, I can't be specific that it was Evian, though I think it was. Most people I saw ordered a drink and a bottle of water at the same time. My memory sucks, I just got off Allure a week ago and can't remember. Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianAlt Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 Evian was on the premium/deluxe package originally. But now they're all the same. Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjac Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 56 minutes ago, tiny260 said: My memory sucks, I just got off Allure a week ago and can't remember. Ahhh, sounds like a serious case of CRS....can't remember sh*t. twangster and RestingBird 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 15 minutes ago, BrianAlt said: Evian was on the premium/deluxe package originally. But now they're all the same. I will have to make use of that next cruise! I've always know that bottled water was included but thought the Evian was a separate package. Thank goodness for all of you and this site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 Just now, rjac said: Ahhh, sounds like a serious case of CRS....can't remember sh*t. That makes 3 of us but I assumed mine was due to "Mommy brain" lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiny260 Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 2 minutes ago, rjac said: Ahhh, sounds like a serious case of CRS....can't remember sh*t. Everyday, I have no excuse except being old... twangster and WAAAYTOOO 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjac Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 1 hour ago, tiny260 said: except being old... You're only as old as you feel and when you can't feel anymore, then you're old. Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 2 hours ago, rjac said: You're only as old as you feel and when you can't feel anymore, then you're old. Rut Roh. I'm starting to resemble that remark... Time for a cruise. That solves all. rjac, RestingBird and Floski 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbk999 Posted November 1, 2017 Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 20 hours ago, kitkat said: Our family booked the very first cruise trip in February, and we have a few questions to ask people have done cruise for more than once: We need to travel from the Orlando airport to Port Canaveral, is baby under 2 sitting on a parent on the Royal Caribbean coach bus? Is there more than one shutter bus travelling between airport and the port? Beside Royal Caribbean coach bus, what transportation will you recommend us? On the Embarkation date, will we have any accommodation get on ship earlier than others given we travel with a baby? We ordered gift from the website, and they mistakenly charged us twice. How do we cancel the wrong order? If I order the drink package, is there really water bottles available or just bottled water dispersed at the water station? Many thanks in advance. We try to figure out as many details as possible with our 18-month old coming along. As BrianAlt mentioned, there are multiple transportation options from MCO to Port Canaveral. We've done one way rental cars in the past, most of the major car co have small locations in Cocoa Beach. It's a pretty well honed process, drop the party and luggage off at the pier, drop your car off at the rental car location and hop on the shuttle back to the pier (continually running). Repeat when the ship gets back to port. It's one option that we've used. A lot of folks will just use Uber and Lyft. There's private transportation (limo, shuttles) as well which I'm sure work fine. You can get bottled water from any bar with the drink package. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted November 1, 2017 Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 Not sure where you are flying in from to MCO, but sounds like its the day of the cruise which I would never recommend! Between weather, flight issues as well as really only one way to Port Canaveral from MCO its defn a little risky. I would have recommended flying in the night before and staying at a hotel that has a "free" shuttle to the port and back to the airport type thing. It's been11 mths since my last cruise...but I don't remember it being Evian water they would give at the bars.....was pretty sure it seemed like some generic name brand.....and I have had the package on all 10 cruises I have done, but I don't recall it being Evian. hmmm.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted November 1, 2017 Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 Wonder if my post confused things. Sorry if it did!! There is a standalone Evian package which seems to be still water only hence my question!! Not sure if the refreshments package will be Evian or RCI's own branded bottled water! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeK Posted November 1, 2017 Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 2 hours ago, monctonguy said: Not sure where you are flying in from to MCO, but sounds like its the day of the cruise which I would never recommend! Between weather, flight issues as well as really only one way to Port Canaveral from MCO its defn a little risky. I would have recommended flying in the night before and staying at a hotel that has a "free" shuttle to the port and back to the airport type thing. It's been11 mths since my last cruise...but I don't remember it being Evian water they would give at the bars.....was pretty sure it seemed like some generic name brand.....and I have had the package on all 10 cruises I have done, but I don't recall it being Evian. hmmm.... I agree with monctonguy, if its not too late I would try to fly in the day before and get a room. I live in Florida and I still go to the port a day early so I dont take a chance on missing the ship. If your are late the ship will not wait for you. monctonguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat Posted November 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 Thank you for all the great advice. We will fly from Toronto at 6am in the morning and arrive by 9. For the rental car, we are not sure if it comes with a car seat upon request given we aren't bring any car seat from home. It's only 3 of us, so I guess shutter bus will be our best option. Does anyone else have experience with travelling with a toddler in a rental car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat Posted November 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 Another quick question for you all experts: In the room arrangement, for this question, "How would you like the beds in your stateroom arranged? ", what are the differences between the following options? One set together Together/Both together We stay in a interior stateroom and prefer to put two beds together so the toddler can sleep between us. Which option should we choose> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted November 1, 2017 Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 38 minutes ago, kitkat said: In the room arrangement, for this question, "How would you like the beds in your stateroom arranged? ", what are the differences between the following options? One set together Together/Both together We stay in a interior stateroom and prefer to put two beds together so the toddler can sleep between us. Which option should we choose> So you want both beds together to form a Queen size bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbk999 Posted November 1, 2017 Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 48 minutes ago, kitkat said: Thank you for all the great advice. We will fly from Toronto at 6am in the morning and arrive by 9. For the rental car, we are not sure if it comes with a car seat upon request given we aren't bring any car seat from home. It's only 3 of us, so I guess shutter bus will be our best option. Does anyone else have experience with travelling with a toddler in a rental car? There's usually an option to add a car seat (though it would be a "community" car seat of questionable cleanliness!). If you needed a mini-van, they would almost for sure have an integrated car seat. It's been a very long time since we traveled with a toddler but we were always the ones lugging the car seat around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cez Posted November 1, 2017 Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 1 hour ago, kitkat said: Another quick question for you all experts: In the room arrangement, for this question, "How would you like the beds in your stateroom arranged? ", what are the differences between the following options? One set together Together/Both together We stay in a interior stateroom and prefer to put two beds together so the toddler can sleep between us. Which option should we choose> You should put beds together and use them! Your toddler could be sleeping in playpen - you are on vacations for crying out load ! 2 hours ago, kitkat said: Thank you for all the great advice. We will fly from Toronto at 6am in the morning and arrive by 9. For the rental car, we are not sure if it comes with a car seat upon request given we aren't bring any car seat from home. It's only 3 of us, so I guess shutter bus will be our best option. Does anyone else have experience with travelling with a toddler in a rental car? If it's not too late consider changing your plans, I would strongly recommend flying-in one day before sailing. You are traveling from Toronto in February. YYZ is infamous for flights delays and cancellations especially this time of the year. Plus one more day in Orlando :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted November 1, 2017 Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 If the flight is delayed by even a few hours, it could cause you not to make the cruise. No way in heck I would fly in from Canada the same day in the winter for sure. Take it from someone that has done it over 10x, you don't want to take that chance. As for car seat if you rent a car you can add it on with most companies...as for the shuttle, probably not that I have noticed anyways. Orange Crush and twangster 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted November 1, 2017 Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 Seconded. I'm a million miler with elite status. I can bump people off the standby list and jump to the front of the queue but you won't catch me flying in the day of a cruise. Flying a million miles I've experienced lots of delays and misconnects over the years for a variety of reasons. I'm not risking my vacation investment in that way. RestingBird and monctonguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat Posted November 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2017 Thank you for the amazing advice. Flying a day earlier never occurred to us because we never travelled in the winter. I called Air Canada, they said I would better to purchase new tickets because the cost of changing flight is $200 per person plus the difference. >_< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted November 17, 2017 Report Share Posted November 17, 2017 hard way to learn for sure.....the airlines kill us on those change fees...really seems not fair as they are still making their money and selling the seats but.... But its worth the peace of mind for this trip and future cruises to come I am sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbk999 Posted November 17, 2017 Report Share Posted November 17, 2017 1 hour ago, kitkat said: Thank you for the amazing advice. Flying a day earlier never occurred to us because we never travelled in the winter. I called Air Canada, they said I would better to purchase new tickets because the cost of changing flight is $200 per person plus the difference. >_< I guess this would impact the other thread about transportation to and from the port. If you fly in early enough the day before, do the car rental and explore Orlando (City Walk at Universal, Disney Springs at Disney) or head over to Port Canaveral and stay over there. If you fly in later in the afternoon/early evening, there's a Hyatt Regency in the Orlando airport is actually a nice hotel. If you arrive at a time where you would be simply driving to a hotel to sleep anyway, staying directly at the airport is an option. That puts the Royal Caribbean shuttle back into play the next morning. Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted November 17, 2017 Report Share Posted November 17, 2017 1 hour ago, mbk999 said: If you fly in later in the afternoon/early evening, there's a Hyatt Regency in the Orlando airport is actually a nice hotel. If you arrive at a time where you would be simply driving to a hotel to sleep anyway, staying directly at the airport is an option. That puts the Royal Caribbean shuttle back into play the next morning. Every time we sail out of Port Canaveral this is exactly what we do. It is such a seamless way to start the vacation. You basically get off the plane. Head down to baggage claim and grab your luggage and up the escalators and the Hyatt is right there. So convenient. No taxi, Uber, etc. And it is not much more expensive than a regular hotel elsewhere. There's a really good restaurant right in the Hyatt (McCoy's) for a nice dinner and drinks or you can eat in back in the terminal if you want something fast. Then the next morning, you head down to baggage claim/transportation area and hop on the shuttles. So easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbk999 Posted November 17, 2017 Report Share Posted November 17, 2017 33 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said: Every time we sail out of Port Canaveral this is exactly what we do. It is such a seamless way to start the vacation. You basically get off the plane. Head down to baggage claim and grab your luggage and up the escalators and the Hyatt is right there. So convenient. No taxi, Uber, etc. And it is not much more expensive than a regular hotel elsewhere. There's a really good restaurant right in the Hyatt (McCoy's) for a nice dinner and drinks or you can eat in back in the terminal if you want something fast. Then the next morning, you head down to baggage claim/transportation area and hop on the shuttles. So easy. we've done this at least 3x for Disney trips. Either due to work schedule/airfare $/frequent flyer availability, we'd find ourselves landing at MCO around midnight and it was just very convenient. The hotel rate usually included breakfast the next morning and you're right, the room rate isn't ridiculous, the extra $ is cheaper than the additional day for the rental car. And the hotel itself is quiet and very comfortable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestingBird Posted November 18, 2017 Report Share Posted November 18, 2017 21 hours ago, kitkat said: Thank you for the amazing advice. Flying a day earlier never occurred to us because we never travelled in the winter. I called Air Canada, they said I would better to purchase new tickets because the cost of changing flight is $200 per person plus the difference. >_< We never thought of it either, and flew into Boston on embarkation day with no issues. However, we were delayed flying home, American Airlines put us up in a hotel in Philly, and we ended up making it home the next day. After that we decided we're flying in the day before from now on, in case that delay happens on embarkation day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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