How soon to book night before cruise hotel??

[geffric]

We are sailing on the 7 day Magic on March 20th. We arrive at MCO about 10pm Friday night, will pick up our rental car and then are looking for somewhere to sleep. Since we are going to check in at the hotel possibly around 11:00 or 11:30, our needs are simple. Just clean.. in the morning we will be looking for breakfast, check out , drive to port and the have Dh return rental car..

How soon do I need to book a hotel, my thought has been to wait and then get a hotwire deal, since we won't be at the hotel for any length of time... but reading some of the threads here.. is making me a bit nervous... should I book something now??

What is your advice??

Thanks
Geffric

 

[Verandah Man]

We book our cruise, then book our hotel right afterward. My DW wants to make sure she has a place to sleep the night before our cruise, and we don't cruise again until next August.

 

[ElaineMc]

If I were you I'd go ahead and book. If you get a better deal on Hotwire or elsewhere, you can always cancel without a charge as long as you do it within the time frame of the hotel's cancellation policy. I'm already booking for Las Vegas in April 2004 because I know it's going to be hard to get a reservation due to spring break and I want to get the best deal now.

 

[Hygiene99]

Seems like your needs r simple ...

Alot of places dont actually charge your card so u have noothing to loose picking a place now .....

We where going to stay right at the airport Hyatt ,
cause we have a late arrival also ......................

Peter

 

[geffric]

Thanks... i will look around and see what i can book. Good advice as long as the hotel doesn't charge my cc, won't cost me anything.

Thanks... now where shall we stay???

 

[tecdavidt]

Hello geffric we are also on the March 20th Magic 7day for '04. I will be making a list of fellow Dis members going on that cruise in Jan.

I would get the hotel room booked now. The room should be reserved on your credit card but not charged. Remember that is Spring Break week somewhere here in the US so the hotels could fill up quick. It is our Spring Break week for our schools here In Des Moines IA and I do know several families from our suburb heading towards Florida.

Have you considered the Airport Hyatt? One cruise we arrived at 11:30 PM and it was nice that the Hyatt was so close, we walked to it and the kids were in bed by midnight. The rental car companies are also close by. In the morning you could get up, take the rental car suttle over to what ever company you are using and go get breakfast and head to the port. Just a thought.

Kathy

 

[geffric]

Thanks Kathy, that is a good idea.. then the kids will be in better shape when we arrive.

Yes, it is Srping Break in suburban Chicago at that time. and it is crowded at Spring Break.. we went to WDW last year and the line of cars driving from Chicago was amazing... it was almost rush hour type traffic all the way down to WDW. So I guess i need to get a room so we don't have to sleep in the rental car?!! Thanks see you in March..

 

[mobetsy]

It's coincidental you should post this; I'm on the same cruise, and just in the last week or two I've been wondering exactly the same thing. We get into MCO at 9 PM and will be staying near the airport too. The kids will be on PST time and theoretically might sleep in a little the next morning, but I'm not counting on it, so I'm thinking of a place with a pool they could play in for a bit. We will be meeting up with Cara and her family and plan to take a limo/van together to the port.