Decided today that I'm booking for April.

ahhh! Just kind of randomly decided on a whim that I am going to go through with my desire to take a cruise! April 28th, 2017 sailing out of Cape Canaveral to Bahamas, Castaway Cay for three night cruise. I am looking forward to doing a smaller trip and hopefully get to the parks for about 3-4 days after. I'm so excited to plan something new I've never done!! I have so many questions!

quick starter questions:
What are your thoughts on cruising in April?
Does Disney take you from the airport to the port?
Do they bring you back to the resorts??

Thanks!

I've never cruised in April so can't really answer your fist question. I know Disney offers a shuttle from the resorts and back to the resorts but don't know about from the airport. We booked a private limo service. We looked at the shuttle but thought it was rather pricey and could book private transport for not much more. (We were traveling from a Disney resort to the port; from the port to Univeral; and from Univeral back to the airport).

Yes, Disney sells transfers from the airport to Port Canaveral. It's pricey...

I agree with looking into a car service. That's to best way around, especially for a cruise as you want to have the cruise experience as long as possible. If you're flying in, I would flying the day BEFORE your cruise. If something happens, the ship will leave without you. We make sure we're in Central Florida the day before the cruise starts. Been getting on the ship at 11am ish and forget the outside world exists.

Pack a light carry on the first day, you won't get into your room before 1:30pm, so you pack it, you're carrying it around until then.

And for a three day, I wouldn't even unpack. Live out of the suitcase. The last night is a pain if you aren't expecting it. We are packed up ready to go a couple days before the final night. No surprises, no arguments over how to pack up, etc. It's a much easier transition back to reality.

That is what I was wondering, I hadn't quite looked at the prices for transportation from the resort. So, what are some companies you guys can recommend? and is it hard to find a company that can transport two small children that will need a car seat for 5-7 year olds?

The Disney transfers are $35 per person each way, so $70pp round trip. We have used them and like it even though its a bit more expensive. They do airport to port, resort to port, port to airport, and port to resort routes. No need to worry about carseats as they use the large buses (same as DME buses).

I highly recommend flying in the night before and staying at the Hyatt MCO. They have an agreement with DCL to take your baggage from the hotel room the morning of the cruise and deliver it to the ship when you use Disney transfers. It's an amazing service and IMO, worth the upcharge for Disney transfers alone. No need to wrangle bags at the port when you arrive. You simply leave them in the hotel room and head downstairs to catch the bus. You can leave as early as 9:30 to be at the port in about an hour so if you go this route, be sure to choose an early Port Arrival time.

Cruising in April can tend to have very windy days, and many cruises in that month miss docking at Castaway Cay due to high winds. Just be prepared that could happen. Castaway Cay is never a "guarantee" so just temper your expectations on that. You will end up with a "sea day" if that happens, and they will schedule extra activities on board. Also, at that time, the water will be pretty chilly in the bahamas, although the air temps should be very nice in the upper 70s to mid 80s

We loved cruising in April. It's nice and warm for swimming during the day, but bring a sweatshirt or fleece as it can be cold and windy when the ship is underway at night.

We also stayed at the airport hotel and would recommend it, but if you are going to leave your luggage in your room for them to send to the ship, make sure they know it. You need to be on some kind of list. I thought that they told us when we checked in that we could just leave it. We decided not to and I mentioned it as we checked out and the woman said good thing we didn't because we weren't on the list. Can you imagine getting on board and having none of your luggage with you?

We have cruised in April for the past 6 years, and never once had any major issue with weather aside form an occasional quick shower. Sea days air temps in the low 80's, cooler evenings but not heavy sweater worthy. The wind comes up at sea, but that seems to be when actually at cruising speeds and less noticeable during the day.
We used the transfers from MCO to the port and enjoy the ride and ease of it, plus its a long travel day for us, so we need the relaxation from the travel "stress" for us, definitely worth the $70 paid.
DME will move you from port to resort, we did that on one of our shorter cruises.
I say, April is great- and I can't wait til the 23rd when we go on the southern Caribbean trip.