Any rumor when 2014 dates come out?

[Jane1967]

Wow I didn't know you could transfer to Costco after it was paid for.

Can you please explain to me what you get out of transfering to Costco? We don't have one around, but my mother does.

 

[luv2sleep]

From what I understand people get Costco gift cards. The amount you get depends on the price of the cruise and what they are offering at the time. I priced a cruise on their site once and a 7 day would have meant a $375 GC. There didn't seem to be other perks.

 

[DesertGal]

Just my personal opinion, but Ensenada is not a family friendly port of call. Wish we stayed on the ship during the recent Hawaiian cruise that stopped in Ensenada.

Totally agree. We were on the California coast cruise in October and wish we hadn't even gotten off the ship in Endanada. It was not family friendly at all and we ended up going straight back to the ship (after a bus ride)

 

[loricdietzel]

I really hope Disney is taking notes about all these places we consider to not be family friendly. They seem to have a lot of these ports which surprises me. There are many ports where the common advice is to not get off the ship. I think their choice of ports is what is making it hard to fill the ships sometimes. A family focused cruise ship with non- family friendly ports makes no sense to me. Why would I want to go to a port that isn't even worth getting off the boat for?

 

[luv2sleep]

I really hope Disney is taking notes about all these places we consider to not be family friendly. They seem to have a lot of these ports which surprises me. There are many ports where the common advice is to not get off the ship. I think their choice of ports is what is making it hard to fill the ships sometimes. A family focused cruise ship with non- family friendly ports makes no sense to me. Why would I want to go to a port that isn't even worth getting off the boat for?

Ensenada was our foreign port stop for the Hawaii cruise. It was nice that it was close to LA and frankly I'm glad it was there because otherwise there because an even longer cruise to Hawaii might not have been doable for many people.. Going to Cabo or PV would have added more days. People chose to get off or stay on the ship much like they do when the ship stops in Nassau.

Also if we want more west coast cruises we are going to have to accept Ensenada as a potential port stop. I didn't get off in Ensenada on the Hawaii trip. I've been there before and didn't feel like I was missing out on anything. I loved the extra day to just stay on the ship anyway.

 

[peterpan47]

Totally agree. We were on the California coast cruise in October and wish we hadn't even gotten off the ship in Endanada. It was not family friendly at all and we ended up going straight back to the ship (after a bus ride)

We were supposed to be on that cruise, but alas, we weren't able to make it. So sad :-(

 

[peterpan47]

From what I understand people get Costco gift cards. The amount you get depends on the price of the cruise and what they are offering at the time. I priced a cruise on their site once and a 7 day would have meant a $375 GC. There didn't seem to be other perks.

Do you mean if you book through Costco they give you Costco giftcards? And you can transfer your cruise originally booked through Disney to Costco like you can do with a travel agent? If this is the case, will they transfer it at the price originally paid to Disney, or do they have their own prices?

 

[luv2sleep]

Do you mean if you book through Costco they give you Costco giftcards? And you can transfer your cruise originally booked through Disney to Costco like you can do with a travel agent? If this is the case, will they transfer it at the price originally paid to Disney, or do they have their own prices?

The ultimate price of the cruise itself is the same (whats paid to Disney). The difference is in the perks. A cat 9B on the DCL website will be the same price as a cat 9B with Costco. The difference will be in what the travel agent offers. Costco seems to offer gift cards. Others offer on board credit, etc. I imagine some TAs could say their trips are less but that's just them offering to fund part of the trip. Either way you usually get money from the TA in some way. From what I've seen with Costco the cruise price is the same.

 

[peterpan47]

The ultimate price of the cruise itself is the same (whats paid to Disney). The difference is in the perks. A cat 9B on the DCL website will be the same price as a cat 9B with Costco. The difference will be in what the travel agent offers. Costco seems to offer gift cards. Others offer on board credit, etc. I imagine some TAs could say their trips are less but that's just them offering to fund part of the trip. Either way you usually get money from the TA in some way. From what I've seen with Costco the cruise price is the same.

Thanks. I should have realized it was just Costco acting as a TA. Duh!

 

[luv2sleep]

Thanks. I should have realized it was just Costco acting as a TA. Duh!

Yes, Costco has a Costco travel site.

 

[mmouse37]

PLEASE....this thread is getting off topic again. Please keep discussion on this thread to possible release dates of the 2014 itineraries.

Please start other threads for other topics like Costco Travel and other port discussions, etc.

Thank you.

MJ

 

[Jane1967]

When DCL does FINALLY post their new dates, what time of day does that usually happen? Don't want to miss my chance!

 

[cats mom]

Edited to add:

Oops, I promise I didn't see the stay on topic message until AFTER I typed all this out and posted it.

If anyone knows of a thread talking about Ensenada I'd be glad to move the info there and delete here. I just hate seeing Ensenada getting universally slammed in this thread when our experience was so different.

Just my personal opinion, but Ensenada is not a family friendly port of call. Wish we stayed on the ship during the recent Hawaiian cruise that stopped in Ensenada.

Totally agree. We did the Pixar Cruise and there was a stop in Ensenada. We didn't feel safe. We went or a port adventure for Taste of Mexico. We took a brief walk around town. We were approached by multiple people asking for handouts, selling or trying to push us into a store. We couldn't wait to get on the bus to get back to the ship.

I didn't see anything withing walking distance.

Totally agree. We were on the California coast cruise in October and wish we hadn't even gotten off the ship in Endanada. It was not family friendly at all and we ended up going straight back to the ship (after a bus ride)

I feel like a lone voice in the wilderness, but we had a great time in Ensenada!

We hired a cab to take us to Las Canadas to do the canopy tour. We've done several similar tours, both through DCL and on our own, and we thought Las Canadas was one of the better courses we've been on, and it was by far the most affordable. ~ $12 per person.

Our cab driver waited for us while we were at Las Canadas and then was more than willing to take us anywhere else we wanted to go. He said most tourists head straight to La Bufadora, but we had no interest in that, so we just had him drop us off in the shopping district.

DS was all about getting a taste of some local food so we hit La Guerrerense on the corner of 1st & Alvarado and I highly recommend it.

As far as the shopping area in general... Yes, there were street vendors and shop keepers trying to get people to buy, but I didn't feel it was any worse than many other touristy port areas we've visited. And yes, if you're near Hussongs or Papas & Beer or the like you'll see and hear the party crowd, but again no different than other ports.

We walked back to the ship from the shopping area, so taking the bus there and/or back isn't really necessary unless you want to.

I don't know that I'd book a stand alone vacation in Ensenada, but I'd love to go back for a port stop again, and I'd definitely be getting off the ship!

Anyway, just wanted to provide a different perspective.

 

[dittymau]

Just off the Disney Magic and booked a placeholder cruise, was told the 2014 dates should be available "early December"... Have my TA and the record and she will contact me ASAP when 2014 dates are out...

 

[luv2sleep]

Edited to add:

Oops, I promise I didn't see the stay on topic message until AFTER I typed all this out and posted it.

If anyone knows of a thread talking about Ensenada I'd be glad to move the info there and delete here. I just hate seeing Ensenada getting universally slammed in this thread when our experience was so different.

I feel like a lone voice in the wilderness, but we had a great time in Ensenada!

We hired a cab to take us to Las Canadas to do the canopy tour. We've done several similar tours, both through DCL and on our own, and we thought Las Canadas was one of the better courses we've been on, and it was by far the most affordable. ~ $12 per person.

Our cab driver waited for us while we were at Las Canadas and then was more than willing to take us anywhere else we wanted to go. He said most tourists head straight to La Bufadora, but we had no interest in that, so we just had him drop us off in the shopping district.

DS was all about getting a taste of some local food so we hit La Guerrerense on the corner of 1st & Alvarado and I highly recommend it.

As far as the shopping area in general... Yes, there were street vendors and shop keepers trying to get people to buy, but I didn't feel it was any worse than many other touristy port areas we've visited. And yes, if you're near Hussongs or Papas & Beer or the like you'll see and hear the party crowd, but again no different than other ports.

We walked back to the ship from the shopping area, so taking the bus there and/or back isn't really necessary unless you want to.

I don't know that I'd book a stand alone vacation in Ensenada, but I'd love to go back for a port stop again, and I'd definitely be getting off the ship!

Anyway, just wanted to provide a different perspective.

You should start an Ensenada thread and move your post in case anyone ever wonders what to do there. It's great you had such a good experience there. People need to know. I had no idea.

On the topic, I'm hoping for something, anything round trip out of the Port of Los Angeles when kids are out of school. Realistically my only close local hope will be Alaska. I hope they offer that in 2014. I'm saving my on board booking for it.

 

[cats mom]

You should start an Ensenada thread and move your post in case anyone ever wonders what to do there. It's great you had such a good experience there. People need to know. I had no idea.

On the topic, I'm hoping for something, anything round trip out of the Port of Los Angeles when kids are out of school. Realistically my only close local hope will be Alaska. I hope they offer that in 2014. I'm saving my on board booking for it.

Just found one and moved my entire post over there. I was going to delete it here and just leave a smiley face or something, but I guess that makes no sense now. It's all good though.


So rumor from the Magic is early December for 2014 dates huh? Better start getting that deposit $$$ together folks!

How's that for staying on topic?

 

[pillow]

PLEASE....this thread is getting off topic again. Please keep discussion on this thread to possible release dates of the 2014 itineraries.

Please start other threads for other topics like Costco Travel and other port discussions, etc.

Thank you.

MJ

Agree - sorry, easy to get off topic! Here is the Costco thread if anyone is interested:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2930293&page=9

Jodie

 

[Husurdady]

Just off the Disney Magic cruise, was told the 2014 dates should be available "early December"... ...

Last week , the bus driver going to DTD said the samething. ...............so this has to be correct.

 

[ScottakaMickey]

I haven't been through the whole thread, but am curious how does DCL handle the Gold/Platinum booking advantage? We just turned Gold and was wondering if they send out emails, or how has it worked in the past. Also, what happens if you are using a TA?

Scott

 

[m1ckeym0use1]

Last week , the bus driver going to DTD said the samething. ...............so this has to be correct.

Agreed, they always know the inside scoop... and a bus driver told me the new ports would include Las Vegas and a stop at the Grand Canyon.