July 26, 2011 – 7 Night Alaska ~ Bears, Whales, Eagles and Ducks. Oh My!

[brackjr]

I saw today from DCL that the return Transatlantic on September 10th had fares for as low as $799!! No way that we can go though.

 

[bbaltes]

Another question for the group -

I'm reading on the main forum about "photographer's tips" and ideas about where to scurry and reserve places for Tracy Arm, etc.

We have a balcony on deck 8, and while we realize that we're limited to one deck side, is there a huge reason we want to play the Disney "polite but firm" line game and reserve stuff hours in advance?

What does everyone think?

Ben, Jenny, Dorothy (DM), Lily (DD8)

 

[ariel39]

Hi all! One month from today we sail! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! I'm going to help pass the time by working on one of my fish extender gifts at the Best Western the next couple of days. My daughter has to go to freshman orientation for college and I'm staying there while she does her thing. I just need to figure out how to get me through the other 28 days until we sail! Any other ideas on how to make the time pass?

YAY!

 

[lbgraves]

Another question for the group -

I'm reading on the main forum about "photographer's tips" and ideas about where to scurry and reserve places for Tracy Arm, etc.

We have a balcony on deck 8, and while we realize that we're limited to one deck side, is there a huge reason we want to play the Disney "polite but firm" line game and reserve stuff hours in advance?

What does everyone think?

Ben, Jenny, Dorothy (DM), Lily (DD8)

If it is anything like the PC cruises you have to be out early in the morning and don't leave that spot. If you leave a towel, book, shoe, whatever in your place, don't expect that spot to be there when you return. If you have a balcony I would not worry about it.

 

[lbgraves]

I saw today from DCL that the return Transatlantic on September 10th had fares for as low as $799!! No way that we can go though.

That is because the airfare to get there is so high!

 

[MrsMork]

I saw today from DCL that the return Transatlantic on September 10th had fares for as low as $799!! No way that we can go though.

Would be fun to do that again!!

If it is anything like the PC cruises you have to be out early in the morning and don't leave that spot. If you leave a towel, book, shoe, whatever in your place, don't expect that spot to be there when you return. If you have a balcony I would not worry about it.

That is just insanity, IMHO. Just be patient, we will be sailing thru it the whole day and you will get a chance to see it. We bought into the insanity on the PC cruise, but after a few minutes we learned that we really did not have to be at the very front of the ship to see the canal...it was all around us. We started walking the deck and seeing it from lots of angles and staying away from the crowds. We even went and took a nap around 10 am and still have several thousand photos going thru the canal.

 

[brackjr]

That is just insanity, IMHO. Just be patient, we will be sailing thru it the whole day and you will get a chance to see it. We bought into the insanity on the PC cruise, but after a few minutes we learned that we really did not have to be at the very front of the ship to see the canal...it was all around us. We started walking the deck and seeing it from lots of angles and staying away from the crowds. We even went and took a nap around 10 am and still have several thousand photos going thru the canal.

I don't plan on "fighting" anyone for photos. I am sure that I will be able to get more than enough photos from this trip.

 

[3princessMommy]

En route home now!

Must cut back on luggage though - 11 suitcases, two cats, and a dog!

Hope to be able to make it to Alaska with only 4, but will be hard since we are traveling to San Antonio, Disneyland, and Seattle en route. Does anyone know if it's possible to ship a suitcase home for a reasonable fee? Would love to dump lots of the shorts, etc. after Disney.

No way kids are going to let us hang out on deck all day - so reserving a spot will not be an option for us. I'm sure we'll get awesome views regardless.

See y'all soon!!!!

 

[brackjr]

I know that we are 4 weeks and a wake-up from getting on the Wonder but ..... does anyone have plans to book their next cruise on board? If so, do you have any dates in mind?

 

[pjpoohbear]

Halloween Fantasy 2012!?!

Pj

 

[bbaltes]

I have a feeling that we will, but it will definitely be something that involves Castaway Cay. Lily is all about that place...

Ben, Jenny, and Lily (DD8)

 

[lbgraves]

I know that we are 4 weeks and a wake-up from getting on the Wonder but ..... does anyone have plans to book their next cruise on board? If so, do you have any dates in mind?

We already have our next cruise booked. Fantasy MV 3/31/12.

 

[plutojudy]

We are already booked on the Dream for Feb 5, 2012. We are trying to pick a date for the Fantasy, we would like to do another Western. Maybe Feb 2013? We are still working and have all our 2012 vacations days planned.

 

[brackjr]

Halloween Fantasy 2012!?!

Pj

Not bad! It's around our "black-out" dates for taking vacation but we might be able to swing it.

I was thinking about returning to an early January cruise date.

 

[brackjr]

We already have our next cruise booked. Fantasy MV 3/31/12.

Hummmmm

Our calendar is clear for a couple of weeks in either direction of that date could be a possibility if the numbers crunch just right.

 

[brackjr]

I have a feeling that we will, but it will definitely be something that involves Castaway Cay. Lily is all about that place...

Ben, Jenny, and Lily (DD8)

.... me too!

 

[MrsMork]

I know that we are 4 weeks and a wake-up from getting on the Wonder but ..... does anyone have plans to book their next cruise on board? If so, do you have any dates in mind?

We are already booked on the Hawaii cruise, but I'm thinking we need to add a dummy date if nothing else. We will want to try the Fantasy at least once at some point. Hoping the rates on the new ships will soften after the newness wears off. We checked into 3 and 4 night Dream in early Nov and the cost of a 4 day was almost what the 7 day on the Magic was in the Caribbean.

 

[brackjr]

We are already booked on the Hawaii cruise, but I'm thinking we need to add a dummy date if nothing else. We will want to try the Fantasy at least once at some point. Hoping the rates on the new ships will soften after the newness wears off. We checked into 3 and 4 night Dream in early Nov and the cost of a 4 day was almost what the 7 day on the Magic was in the Caribbean.

I too noticed that the new ships were substantially more expensive.

I'm looking at the first two weeks in January or middle February of 2012 on the Magic. Maybe if the price comes down we might check into a cruise on the Dream.

 

[pjpoohbear]

We were lucky to book the Dream before it Maiden voyage, right after that the pricing jumped way up!

I think our three day in an ocean view was $900 all in. An inside was $800 or so, but no HCP rooms for mom left.

Pj

 

[lbgraves]

Hummmmm

Our calendar is clear for a couple of weeks in either direction of that date could be a possibility if the numbers crunch just right.

You need to keep checking or have a TA look out for some inside rooms. All that is left right now are 4-5s. The prices have gone up quite a bit since we booked in January. Of course, the Magic is doing the same cruise basically so we could meet up in Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

Also, on our 1/8/11 cruise on the Magic there was an onboard offer for 20% off the price of the Dream's MV along with a nice room credit. You just need to find someone who will be onboard then and can book it for you if they are offering it for the Fantasy's MV.