There are many Royal Caribbean cruises that stop in Port Canaveral and offer shore excursions to Walt Disney World. Often, guests wonder if it is worth it to take these trips and how much they can really do in the time they have.  The super-talented Laurel Stewart from TouringPlans.com wrote this guest post about visiting Walt Disney World for those on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

If you’re cruising between a US East Coast port like New York City or Baltimore and the Caribbean, you may have noticed that Port Canaveral is a stop on your journey. Two of the many port excursions offered here are PC11 - Disney World Express Service (Disney World Express Service - PC11) and PC50 - A Day at Walt Disney World (A Day at Disney World - PC50). We’ll take a look at the differences between PC11 and PC50 and try to help you decide if they are worth your time and money.

Photo by Richard Macko

First the basics. Walt Disney World is not in Port Canaveral. The trip from your ship to the Walt Disney World resort is around an hour (more with traffic) along FL-528. At least two hours of your port excursion will be spent on a bus traveling to and from Walt Disney World.

Walt Disney World is four theme parks, two water parks, and the Disney Springs shopping area. There is no admission cost to visit Disney Springs. Guests who choose the Royal Caribbean Walt Disney World port excursions will be dropped off at Disney’s Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC). The TTC is a monorail or ferry ride to the Magic Kingdom, a monorail trip to EPCOT, and the bus transportation hub to all other resort areas. If you plan to visit a park other than Magic Kingdom, you’ll need to factor transportation time (and money, if you choose to take a cab or Uber instead of a Disney bus) into your plans.

Admission prices vary at the parks from day to day, and single day admission to Magic Kingdom is higher than to the other three theme parks. Water park admission costs less than theme park admission. If your excursion does not include park admission, check out https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/tickets/ for pricing.

If you’re interested in visiting Walt Disney World during your cruise, you might wonder how much you and your family can see and do in one day. TouringPlans.com offers tools for planning trips from a one day visit to any length of vacation to help you make the most of your time. A tool that is particularly useful to guests on an excursion is a customized touring plan. As part of the TouringPlans app, Lines, and online at TouringPlans.com, subscribers can enter the dates and times of their visits, schedule time for meals, breaks, and shows, and add the attractions they want to see, and TouringPlans will arrange them in the best order to save the most time in line. Doing this ahead of time, before booking a Walt Disney World excursion, will let you see how much you’ll be able to do during your day in the park.

Let’s look at the differences between the two excursions:

So what can you do in 6 hours at Magic Kingdom? Check out a sample day at http://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=2020916. This plan was optimized for a particular day at Magic Kingdom, with moderate walking speed, and no FastPass+ reservations. This includes the three “Disney Mountains,” three more attractions, and a break for lunch.

Recommendations

Photo by Richard Macko

If this is your only chance to visit Walt Disney World for awhile, these opportunities are a decent way to get a taste of the vast resort. But be aware, 6-7 hours is not much time to spend in the park. The cost of transportation is reasonable given the distance traveled, but paying for entire day’s admission (and single day admission is the most expensive admission on a per day basis) is somewhat expensive, not to mention that you’ll need to budget for meals during the day.

If you do decide to visit, we recommend PC11 and purchasing your park admission before your cruise. Why? Because you’ll be able to make FastPass+ reservations ahead of time, which will definitely save you time in line during your short trip. You should also create a MyDisneyExperience account, download Disney’s app, and link your park admission to your accounts before your cruise.

Other options

Book PC11 and visit a water park instead. This is less expensive. Allow one additional hour for transportation between the TTC and water parks, and pack a dry change of clothes.

Book PC11 and visit Disney Springs instead. Disney Springs offers dining and shopping in a themed environment without an admission cost. Again, allow time for transportation.

Visit Kennedy Space Center instead. KSC is much closer to Port Canaveral and can easily be experienced in a day.

For all Port Canaveral/Orlando Shore Excursions, check out these Royal Caribbean options.

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Our newest podcast episode is out to help give you a quick "audio escape" to a Royal Caribbean cruise!

Episode 154 is available for downloading where I will be reading more of your questions this week all about Royal Caribbean.

Matt is diving into the email bag this week to answer your emails all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise, including where to be romantic on a cruise, where the best steak is, Cozumel excursion ideas, how to book a cruise that is not available yet and a whole lot more.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 154. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Stitcher or on iTunes!

Take a listen and as always, let us know what you think! Please rate and review the podcast on iTunes and leave your comments below!

Royal Caribbean’s latest ice skating show, 1887, takes guests on a magical journey inspired by Jules Verne, legendary author of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. This exhilarating, time-traveling journey blends fantasy with reality with an incredible combination of projection, lighting, video and theatrics in Harmony of the Seas’ high-tech entertainment venue, Studio B.

Royal Caribbean has released new sailings for Empress of the Seas that extends the booking window through September 2016.

The new sailings are for destinations in the Caribbean and Bahamas.

• 5-night Key West and Cozumel
  • Ports of Call: Miami, Florida; Cruising; Key West, Florida; Cruising; Cozumel, Mexico; Cruising; Miami, Florida
  • September 3, 12, 17, 26, 2016
• 4-night Key West and Nassau
  • Ports of Call: Miami, Florida; Key West, Florida; Cruising; Nassau, Bahamas; Miami, Florida

The new sailings are available for booking immediately.

The weekend is here and that means we have finished up another week with plenty of Royal Caribbean news to share.  If you missed any of it, here is your neatly tied wrap-up of it all!

The Miami-Dade County Commission approved Royal Caribbean's proposal to build a new cruise terminal at PortMiami earlier this week.

The $247 million terminal was unanimously approved by the Board of County Commissioners. 

The new terminal, Terminal A, will be able to handle even Oasis-class cruise ships and open in Late 2018.

Terminal A would house an angular glass center and a parking garage with about 1,000 parking spaces at the northeastern side of the port, designed by England-based global architecture firm Broadway Malyan.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean rewarded a cab driver that returned $187K in cash with a free cruise.
• New video of the 11,000-piece art collection on Ovation of the Seas.
• A new main dining room menu was spotted on Oasis of the Seas.
• Celebrating something special on a cruise? Our top tips for celebrating onboard.
• Our list of the top 5 quintessential Royal Caribbean foods.
• 5 Royal Caribbean drink recipes perfect for any summer party.
• Check out this photo tour of Empress of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

This week's podcast episode is all about what it is like to cruise on Explorer of the Seas to Alaska.

Our good friend, Beci Mahnken, joins us to discuss her recent cruise on Explorer of the Seas and shares how a Voyager-class ship fares with an intimate experience like an Alaska cruise.

You can listen to the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast for free and hear all our tips, advice and suggestions for a better Royal Caribbean cruise experience.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Cruise Critic has a virtual tour of Harmony of the Seas' Royal Promenade.

Royal Caribbean UK has a list of 10 things you will love about the Boardwalk.

Moms of the Seas answers the question of does her husband have to wear a suit on formal night.