March 16, 2014 - 5-Night Western Caribbean Cruise on Disney Wonder

[MondaysChild]

Awesome! I am really excited to see if I can make it work. Hotels are super pricey so it could be a pipe dream, but it does get me excited. I have a few days until southwest releases their fares to figure out what to do. Getting excited for this trip!

 

[disneypoor]

Awesome! I am really excited to see if I can make it work. Hotels are super pricey so it could be a pipe dream, but it does get me excited. I have a few days until southwest releases their fares to figure out what to do. Getting excited for this trip!

Do you know when Southwest is opening their fares for spring break? I knew it was some time in August but don't know the exact date. Thanks!!!

Susan

 

[MondaysChild]

According to their website they will open up to April 6 on the 26th, but dates could change. I haven't always had good luck the day they open fares, but I have ad good luck a few days after. Fingers crossed the price is cheap enough that I can spend two extra nights in a keys hotel...otherwise it is straight home for us!

 

[Suger Mag]

I find southwest pricing so funny, they never seem to have any pattern, sometimes they open high and then drop later for a sale. I wait until I think they are low enough then book.... and then keep obsessively checking, and if they drop again I rebook at the lower fare

 

[MondaysChild]

We booked today! Southwest flights are out for our dates.

I booked SWA flying into FLL the day before and booked US Air flying home from Miami. Key West is not in the cards, but I am finally really excited for this cruise.

By the way, am I the only one who obsessively checks the cruise rate to make myself feel better as the price creeps upwards? Because somehow paying $2200 for this trip feels better when I know someone else is willing to pay 2800? What is wrong with me!

 

[disneypoor]

We also booked our air yesterday! I debated and debated because I wasn't sure what the price would do, but I couldn't stand it and went ahead and booked it. I'm just glad we have it and don't have to worry because since yesterday, Saturday the 15th has almost all sold out! We had our airfare credit from Southwest from our Disneyland trip the beginning of the month as well as some frequent flyer miles, so I booked for the four of us for $201, so we are happy, happy, happy!

Now, hubby and I are leaving next week for a 3 night on the Dream. I'm starting to feel a little guilty for leaving the kids behind (I'll miss my daughter's first volleyball game of the season as well as her first tournament, and I'll miss my son's first cross country meet). I've NEVER missed anything of theirs. They tell me it's fine, but I'm sure not feeling very fine about it. Take care!

Susan

 

[Suger Mag]

Wow, thanks for the Southwest warning, I was going to wait, but then after reading about the sellouts I decided to check... glad I did, many of the flights with connections were gone and the price had climbed $15 for the nonstops so I jumped in also... flying in and out a little later than I would like but I saw that there is a Miami city tour excursion for departure day that I think we will do... hop on-off bus, they store your luggage AND transport you to the airport... since we will be flying out FLL at 8pm I think this will be a nice option. I am traveling with my senior mother so I need something to fill the time that she can handle.

 

[disneypoor]

Wow, thanks for the Southwest warning, I was going to wait, but then after reading about the sellouts I decided to check... glad I did, many of the flights with connections were gone and the price had climbed $15 for the nonstops so I jumped in also... flying in and out a little later than I would like but I saw that there is a Miami city tour excursion for departure day that I think we will do... hop on-off bus, they store your luggage AND transport you to the airport... since we will be flying out FLL at 8pm I think this will be a nice option. I am traveling with my senior mother so I need something to fill the time that she can handle.

Glad you got your air! Did you find the Miami city tour on DCL's site? Our flight leaves FLL at 6:10 so we also need something to do and a place to store our luggage. Thanks!

Susan

 

[Suger Mag]

Glad you got your air! Did you find the Miami city tour on DCL's site? Our flight leaves FLL at 6:10 so we also need something to do and a place to store our luggage. Thanks!

Susan

Yes on the DCL site, under Port Adventrues. Just select Miami and it will come up as the only one... they have shuttles for both FLL and Miami. Says 'Onboard Bookings Only' so I think it has to be set up on the ship perhaps?

maybe this will work too:

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/c...hop-on-hop-off-miami-city-tour-with-transfer/

 

[disneypoor]

Yes on the DCL site, under Port Adventrues. Just select Miami and it will come up as the only one... they have shuttles for both FLL and Miami. Says 'Onboard Bookings Only' so I think it has to be set up on the ship perhaps?

maybe this will work too:

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/c...hop-on-hop-off-miami-city-tour-with-transfer/

Thank you!!!! I'm going to check it out now!

Also, when we did this cruise for last spring break, they let me book Disney transfers, but they didn't actually offer transfers to and from FLL. They may have changed that by now, but I thought it was worth mentioning. They told me it would depend on how many people needed transfers from FLL, but we had 44 in our group, and they still didn't offer it.

Susan

 

[Suger Mag]

I still might do the tour, mainly for the luggage storage and ease, but it looks like they only offer two shuttles to FLL with the latest leaving at 2 which is way earlier than I want to go (8pm flight) so I think I will look into another way to get to FLL. The Metrotrain and Tri-rail looks like it goes right there, if I didn't have my 80 year old mother with me I would definately just use that

 

[MondaysChild]

I still might do the tour, mainly for the luggage storage and ease, but it looks like they only offer two shuttles to FLL with the latest leaving at 2 which is way earlier than I want to go (8pm flight) so I think I will look into another way to get to FLL. The Metrotrain and Tri-rail looks like it goes right there, if I didn't have my 80 year old mother with me I would definately just use that

Ours is at 8 to! Are you flying to Philly? I think I am going to check out that tour! It sounds perfect!! A day out, no car rental, no luggage issues, and drop us at the airport! Sounds good to me!

 

[jacquieone]

Yay!! glad to see there are more DISers, on this cruise!! Looking forward to hopefully having a FE and maybe a meetup.

The countdown is on!!

 

[Suger Mag]

Yay!! glad to see there are more DISers, on this cruise!! Looking forward to hopefully having a FE and maybe a meetup.

The countdown is on!!

Howdy!! We are up for a FE and I would be willing to organize it.

Here is the link to the new FE sign up thread. It will take a couple of days before it shows up linked to our actual meet. It also has a link to a shared google spreadsheet doc which will make keeping data much easier

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3165949

Stephanie

 

[Suger Mag]

Ours is at 8 to! Are you flying to Philly? I think I am going to check out that tour! It sounds perfect!! A day out, no car rental, no luggage issues, and drop us at the airport! Sounds good to me!

We are flying from Ft. Lauderdale to Bradley (Hartford, CT) on Southwest at 8pm. I think I will do the tour, it is almost perfect for us, but I think I will take a shuttle on my own to the airport. If the last FLL shuttle is at 2... that would leave us with 5 hours at the airport which would drive me batty.

 

[MondaysChild]

I bet my daughter would like the FE.

I don't know where my brain is. We are flying home from miami...we are flying in to FLL. I can't decide on the day's activities yet...

I am actually strongly considering just doing a day pass to a nice hotel in the area and relaxing all day before the flight. Tere is something dreamy about that! But I will keep looking at the Everglades, key biscayne, or a sightseer tour.

Good luck!

 

[Suger Mag]

I bet my daughter would like the FE.

FEs are a lot of fun, especially for the kids, my daughter (12) loved checking for stuff. We just did our first one on the last cruise (I also organized that one too) and... just like with the cruise.... we are ready for another one

I am actually strongly considering just doing a day pass to a nice hotel in the area and relaxing all day before the flight. Tere is something dreamy about that! But I will keep looking at the Everglades, key biscayne, or a sightseer tour.

Good luck!

The idea of a day room is also appealing to us too, my Mom (81) will get tired and having a place for her and us to be able to unwind and take a swim after some shopping would be great... and it would solve the luggage issue. Although I think you can store luggage at the port without doing a specific DCL tour like the Miami City tour. The price of a day room will likely be similar to the price of the tour for the three of us. There are easy (and free) downtown public transportation options like the Metromover:

http://www.miamidade.gov/transit/metromover.asp

and the trolley (only the part of downtown route that stops at the port is free)

http://www.miamigov.com/trolley/

Great minds must think alike... I was also checking out the airboat rides... a little worried about how far away from the city they are and I am not sure of the transfer into the boat... again my Mom. She is ok with walking, but things like ladders into pools/water/boats are a no go.

 

[MondaysChild]

I just checked cruise fares and our booking would be $600 more now than it was when we locked in! That makes me somehow feel like I am getting a deal even though I am paying over $1000 per person with air for our trip!

Hope it goes up more!!

I keep looking at excursions for the day we get back and keep thinking it will be a day at the beach for us. Keep it simple! My mind will change in two more weeks!

 

[Suger Mag]

I also love watching the fares creep up. Helps me justify booking when I did.

We have booked the Doubletree-Hilton Biscayne Bay for our pre-cruise Miami night. We get in at 8pm at FLL, so I don't think we will be doing much that night besides getting to the hotel and checking in and checking out the pool and the sights from the balcony, but we shall see what develops... as I have family and friends that live in the Miami area (so bad... still have not told them yet we will be in town pre-post cruise... don't know yet if I want to 'open' that can of worms lol). Still have not had any luck finding a dayrate room for the return day... any tips or leads would be appreciated. Want something with a nice pool or on the beach, but I fear with Spring Break they have no incentive to rent a dayroom.

 

[MondaysChild]

We just booked the W in FLL for our preday. We get to fll at 9am! I don't want to think about what time the flight leaves... So early. I went back and forth between staying in Miami or FLL and ended on FLL. I rented a one day car rental from FLL to the port, used points for the room, and hoping everything goes smoothly! I still haven't planned what we will do when the cruise gets back. That's next!

I am not sure when cruises typically book but there seems like plenty of availability on this one still.