A trip to Florida cannot be complete without a visit to the Walt Disney World Resorts. The Disney World is the world's most popular entertainment destination covering an area of over 47 square miles and is located in Lake Buena Vista in Orange county. The Disney World is not too far away from Orlando and so while you are here, you should also check out the other attractions in places like Kissimmee and Orlando while you are here. There are a number of things you could do in Orlando including golfing, hot air ballooning and importantly going on cruises.
The most famous cruising destination in the vicinity is Port Canaveral. This is located hardly an hour's drive away from Kissimmee and handles close to 2.8 million passengers every year. There are six terminals at the port that cater exclusively to cruises. This should tell you how popular the port is among tourists to Florida. So while you are here, do not miss out on the four most popular cruises docked at Port Canaveral.
Carnival Cruise Lines
The Carnival cruise lines are popular for their shorter, relatively less expensive cruises. The 'Fun Ships' as these cruises are called have extremely grand Las-Vegas styled decor on the interiors with a lot of entertainment options available to the passengers. Depending on your budget, you could pick one of the various classes of cruises on offer like the Fantasy class and Dream class. According to Expedia, the cost of entry on the Fun ships should cost around $42/night for a 5-day round trip to Bahamas.
Disney Cruise Lines
The Disney cruise lines is operated by a subsidiary of the Walt Disney company named Magical Cruise. There are currently two cruises docked at Port Canaveral - the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy. Both these cruises have a capacity of around 4100 passengers and offer cruises that can take between 3 to 7 days. A 6-night Caribbean cruise on Disney Magic should cost you around $1500 per person.
Norwegian Cruise Line
This cruise line is well known for its freestly cruising concept which means there are no scheduled times for meals or seating arrangements. There are three cruises that are on offer from the NCL on the Port Canaveral route. In fact, if you are visiting Florida from New York, you could in fact pick one of the round trip cruises available from New York - the 7-day Bahamas-Port Canaveral round trip on Norwegian Jewel or Norwegian Gem. Alternately, you could also explore the 14-day round trip to the same destinations on Norwegian Breakaway. These cruises have a starting price of around $649 that can go as high as $5209 on the Suite class of the 14-day Norwegian Breakaway cruise.
Royal Caribbean International
This is one of the largest cruise companies in the world with a market share of 17%. While you are in Disney World, you should check out the 3-day, 4-day and 7-day cruises that ferry you to the Caribbean. There are around 3 cruises and the package on 'Freedom of the Seas' cruise should come at a starting price of $549 for their 7-day tour while the shorter 3-day packages on 'Enchantment of the seas' cruise should come cheaper at $249 per person. Of course, the Balcony and Suites should come at a premium, but the luxuries are worth every penny.
There are a number of other things that one should explore besides cruises while in Florida. But this is an experience of a lifetime that should not be missed. Have you experienced any of these cruises before? What's been your experience. Do tell us in the comments.
Freedom of the Seas
