Combine theme park and cruise vacations with land and sea packages

A Royal Caribbean cruise ship docked in Mexico. Photo
by Michael Salerno

Orlando visitors can visit a theme park and take a cruise in the same vacation by booking a land and sea package.

Disney World and Disney Cruise Line offers a seven-night land and sea package that begins with a stay in Walt Disney World Resort and concludes with a cruise aboard the Disney Wonder that docks at Nassau and Disney's private island Castaway Cay. Guests can either stay four nights on land and three nights at sea, or three nights on land or four nights at sea.

Universal Orlando and Royal Caribbean recently joined forces to offer a similar package, but with more options, such as the option of beginning with the theme park or beginning with the cruise. The seven-night package is very similar to Disney's, including a stay in Universal Orlando Resort and a cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas that stops at Nassau and Royal Caribbean's private island CocoCay. Unlike Disney, Universal and Royal Caribbean's land and sea packages also have a 10-night option aboard Freedom of the Seas that stops at ports aboard the Western and Eastern Caribbean.

There are a number of benefits to booking a land and sea package. During your stay in the park, you and the rest of your party have unlimited park access. It also provides visitors new to the experience of a cruise the chance to try it out to see if it suits them well. It can also prove more affordable to combine the two vacation experiences rather than taking the trips separately.

For more detailed information on each option, click on the links below:

• Disney land and sea package
• Universal/Royal Caribbean land and sea package