October 26, 2013 HalloWonder Cruise

[Jiminy'sGirl]

I had insomnia last night, and about 1am I noticed something on the Dis about cruisefish.com. I clicked the link. This site keeps track of ship capacity levels and also prices by category. Just messing around, I noticed the category I booked my parents into (Cat 7 - the navigator verandah) has dropped in price while others had risen or stayed the same. I hopped on the DIsney site and saw I could get my parents' room for $1900, while we had booked it at $2700. I put a room on hold and went to bed - planning to call in the morning and see about saving them $800. Because I am a good daughter like that.

Insomnia remained and I started thinking, hey, at that rate I bet my family of 5 could get two of those for cheaper than our cat 4 room. Back onto the DCL site. Oh yes... I could. For $700 less we could have two rooms, two bathrooms, two closets, and no one has to sleep on the scary bunk! But what about the great full verandah waiting for me on deck 8? I better sleep on this before deciding....

More insomnia... This time I realized I could get another $200 of OBC with another room - $400 for our family of 5 to use in all. Hmmm. But we probably wouldn't be able to have rooms close together. Deal breaker.

Oh yes. We could get rooms close together. Next door. What about my prents? They are up there on deck 7... can I bring them down on Deck 5 with us? Why yes - I can get three rooms all in a row.

Sold. Reservations changed, $1900 saved, grandparents on the same floor with grandkids, kids on same floor as clubs... Everyone is so happy it is almost ridiculous.

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

By the way, at the moment those cat 7 rooms are cheaper than oceanview porthole rooms. Just FYI.

 

[kjack89048]

I had insomnia last night, and about 1am I noticed something on the Dis about cruisefish.com. I clicked the link. This site keeps track of ship capacity levels and also prices by category. Just messing around, I noticed the category I booked my parents into (Cat 7 - the navigator verandah) has dropped in price while others had risen or stayed the same. I hopped on the DIsney site and saw I could get my parents' room for $1900, while we had booked it at $2700. I put a room on hold and went to bed - planning to call in the morning and see about saving them $800. Because I am a good daughter like that.

Insomnia remained and I started thinking, hey, at that rate I bet my family of 5 could get two of those for cheaper than our cat 4 room. Back onto the DCL site. Oh yes... I could. For $700 less we could have two rooms, two bathrooms, two closets, and no one has to sleep on the scary bunk! But what about the great full verandah waiting for me on deck 8? I better sleep on this before deciding....

More insomnia... This time I realized I could get another $200 of OBC with another room - $400 for our family of 5 to use in all. Hmmm. But we probably wouldn't be able to have rooms close together. Deal breaker.

Oh yes. We could get rooms close together. Next door. What about my prents? They are up there on deck 7... can I bring them down on Deck 5 with us? Why yes - I can get three rooms all in a row.

Sold. Reservations changed, $1900 saved, grandparents on the same floor with grandkids, kids on same floor as clubs... Everyone is so happy it is almost ridiculous.

I love the step by step! Sounds like you were up all night! Glad you got a good savings though that is awesome!

 

[Rozzy]

I had insomnia last night, and about 1am I noticed something on the Dis about cruisefish.com. I clicked the link. This site keeps track of ship capacity levels and also prices by category. Just messing around, I noticed the category I booked my parents into (Cat 7 - the navigator verandah) has dropped in price while others had risen or stayed the same. I hopped on the DIsney site and saw I could get my parents' room for $1900, while we had booked it at $2700. I put a room on hold and went to bed - planning to call in the morning and see about saving them $800. Because I am a good daughter like that.

Insomnia remained and I started thinking, hey, at that rate I bet my family of 5 could get two of those for cheaper than our cat 4 room. Back onto the DCL site. Oh yes... I could. For $700 less we could have two rooms, two bathrooms, two closets, and no one has to sleep on the scary bunk! But what about the great full verandah waiting for me on deck 8? I better sleep on this before deciding....

More insomnia... This time I realized I could get another $200 of OBC with another room - $400 for our family of 5 to use in all. Hmmm. But we probably wouldn't be able to have rooms close together. Deal breaker.

Oh yes. We could get rooms close together. Next door. What about my prents? They are up there on deck 7... can I bring them down on Deck 5 with us? Why yes - I can get three rooms all in a row.

Sold. Reservations changed, $1900 saved, grandparents on the same floor with grandkids, kids on same floor as clubs... Everyone is so happy it is almost ridiculous.

I absolutely LOVE your play by play on your thought process! I am going to cruisefish.com right now to see what's what! GO YOU!!!!! THat $1900 is going to come in super handy on the trip!

 

[Stitchintime75]

We are booked on this cruise and are so excited! There are 3 of us sailing. Me-Lynn, DH - Steve and DD7 Jordyn. I believe we are already on the lists and have started working on our FE gifts. This is our 2nd cruise and the first one was too short! We did a 4 day bahama cruise so we might be able to answer any questions someone might have about Nassau and Castaway Cay. We topped that cruise off with a few days a WDW and it was fun, but I almost wish we'd done a longer cruise instead. I have lurked on the DIS boards for a long time but finally decided to join in for the FE this trip and the Halloween fun! Wanted to stop in and say hi and look forward to getting to know a few of our fellow cruisers! Would also be nice if DD7 had a few friends already before getting on the ship. She makes friends easily but knowing a few ahead of time is always better.

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

I absolutely LOVE your play by play on your thought process! I am going to cruisefish.com right now to see what's what! GO YOU!!!!! THat $1900 is going to come in super handy on the trip!

Roz, I already have the bug in hubs' ear that $1900 would be great towards our NEXT cruise.

 

[MrBean]

I had insomnia last night, and about 1am I noticed something on the Dis about cruisefish.com. I clicked the link. This site keeps track of ship capacity levels and also prices by category. Just messing around, I noticed the category I booked my parents into (Cat 7 - the navigator verandah) has dropped in price while others had risen or stayed the same. I hopped on the DIsney site and saw I could get my parents' room for $1900, while we had booked it at $2700. I put a room on hold and went to bed - planning to call in the morning and see about saving them $800. Because I am a good daughter like that.

Insomnia remained and I started thinking, hey, at that rate I bet my family of 5 could get two of those for cheaper than our cat 4 room. Back onto the DCL site. Oh yes... I could. For $700 less we could have two rooms, two bathrooms, two closets, and no one has to sleep on the scary bunk! But what about the great full verandah waiting for me on deck 8? I better sleep on this before deciding....

More insomnia... This time I realized I could get another $200 of OBC with another room - $400 for our family of 5 to use in all. Hmmm. But we probably wouldn't be able to have rooms close together. Deal breaker.

Oh yes. We could get rooms close together. Next door. What about my prents? They are up there on deck 7... can I bring them down on Deck 5 with us? Why yes - I can get three rooms all in a row.

Sold. Reservations changed, $1900 saved, grandparents on the same floor with grandkids, kids on same floor as clubs... Everyone is so happy it is almost ridiculous.

Haha, same thing happened to me. Read the CruiseFish topic and went to check it out last night and noticed they were finally discounting the 7A's for our cruise. Woke the DW up to gauge her level of interest. We're still debating whether or not to upgrade

 

[Rozzy]

So currently we are booked in 3 cabins in Category 9D...only way we can afford to do a Disney Cruise this year and we don't want to wait another year (can ya blame us? LOL)!! One cabin has my parents plus one of our sons since you can only book 4 people in one cabin in this category, one has my sister, BIL and their 2 kids, and the last one has me, my husband, our other son and our baby.

So I have a question and would love opinions:

If both Category 9D and Category 11C are $699/pp, does it make sense to change 3 Category 9D's (deck 1) into 4 Category 11C's (Deck 2 forward under the lounges)?? My thinking is that if we get at least 2 cabins that are adjoining, the kids can all sleep in the "extra" one, and all of the adults would have their "own" (well, we would still have the baby with us) cabins. The 11C's wouldn't have any portholes though.

I'm just musing out loud, I guess!!

Thanks!

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

So currently we are booked in 3 cabins in Category 9D...only way we can afford to do a Disney Cruise this year and we don't want to wait another year (can ya blame us? LOL)!! One cabin has my parents plus one of our sons since you can only book 4 people in one cabin in this category, one has my sister, BIL and their 2 kids, and the last one has me, my husband, our other son and our baby.

So I have a question and would love opinions:

If both Category 9D and Category 11C are $699/pp, does it make sense to change 3 Category 9D's (deck 1) into 4 Category 11C's (Deck 2 forward under the lounges)?? My thinking is that if we get at least 2 cabins that are adjoining, the kids can all sleep in the "extra" one, and all of the adults would have their "own" (well, we would still have the baby with us) cabins. The 11C's wouldn't have any portholes though.


I'm just musing out loud, I guess!!

Thanks!

I think it really depends how important the ability to look out is for you. I have cruised numerous times without a window of any kind and have been perfectly content. Others really need to be able to see out. For me, with that many people, my biggest consideration would be space and bathrooms. Four showers vs three might be really really nice for you all. Totally just my opinion though!!!

 

[nerick8]

My fellow Colorado travelers, I just booked half of my airfare. For Saturday October 26th I booked a 7:20am flight to Houston Hobby for $119 pp. I just have to wait for Southwest to extend their booking window to book our return flight. Monday this flight was $143, so a good deal!

 

[Mekamax]

So currently we are booked in 3 cabins in Category 9D...only way we can afford to do a Disney Cruise this year and we don't want to wait another year (can ya blame us? LOL)!! One cabin has my parents plus one of our sons since you can only book 4 people in one cabin in this category, one has my sister, BIL and their 2 kids, and the last one has me, my husband, our other son and our baby.

So I have a question and would love opinions:

If both Category 9D and Category 11C are $699/pp, does it make sense to change 3 Category 9D's (deck 1) into 4 Category 11C's (Deck 2 forward under the lounges)?? My thinking is that if we get at least 2 cabins that are adjoining, the kids can all sleep in the "extra" one, and all of the adults would have their "own" (well, we would still have the baby with us) cabins. The 11C's wouldn't have any portholes though.

I'm just musing out loud, I guess!!

Thanks!

The 11Cs on Deck 2 forward I think are the regular inside ones that I had last cruise. It so they are smaller than the outsides. One bathroom (not split). That said they were great for us! Just two adults and all the adult only stuff was one floor up and the pool an elevator ride up. For kids not so much as all kid stuff is mid ship to aft... And you would have to walk through the adult pool to get to the kid pool.....

 

[sherilynn]

I'm sorry I can't remember who is in charge of the FE list and I'm too lazy to look it up, but I now have a stateroom number. I was thrilled to upgrade to a cat 7A yesterday and so we will be in 5140.

The last time we were in Nassau we just stayed on the Dream. We have also done the Blue Lagoon tour IIRC (double decker boat out to island) and we have walked around on our own more than I care to. I'm thinking about doing an organized tour this time. Any suggestions? It will be me, dh and dd 11.

 

[kjack89048]

I'm sorry I can't remember who is in charge of the FE list and I'm too lazy to look it up, but I now have a stateroom number. I was thrilled to upgrade to a cat 7A yesterday and so we will be in 5140.

The last time we were in Nassau we just stayed on the Dream. We have also done the Blue Lagoon tour IIRC (double decker boat out to island) and we have walked around on our own more than I care to. I'm thinking about doing an organized tour this time. Any suggestions? It will be me, dh and dd 11.

I updated it thanks!

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

I'm sorry I can't remember who is in charge of the FE list and I'm too lazy to look it up, but I now have a stateroom number. I was thrilled to upgrade to a cat 7A yesterday and so we will be in 5140.

The last time we were in Nassau we just stayed on the Dream. We have also done the Blue Lagoon tour IIRC (double decker boat out to island) and we have walked around on our own more than I care to. I'm thinking about doing an organized tour this time. Any suggestions? It will be me, dh and dd 11.

We have rooms 5132, 5134, and 5136 - howdy neighbor!!

I think I would have preferred the starboard side, but I am quite excited about deck 5 -- great location for us! I am probably more excited than anyone has ever been to downgrade! ha!

 

[CatDenver]

We have rooms 5132, 5134, and 5136 - howdy neighbor!!

I think I would have preferred the starboard side, but I am quite excited about deck 5 -- great location for us! I am probably more excited than anyone has ever been to downgrade! ha!

Congratulations on scoring such a great deal!!! Question....why would you prefer starboard? I checked and we're starboard. I'm curious as to what you get to see starboard that you don't see port.

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

For me personally, it was only due to the layout of deck 5. There are not many staterooms on that floor, but the port hallway leads straight into the long hallway with entrances for the theater and kids' clubs. The starboard side can only be entered if you leave the theater/club area and turn left at the aft elevators. Even more private.

Now some will say they like port because it most often does face the pier at the ports, some say they don't like it for that same reason. Others say the fireworks can be seen on the starboard side so they like that, but for us I know we will be on deck 9 or 10 to watch the fireworks, so that is not a concern.

When we had our rom up on deck 8 we were starboard and it did not matter to me either way, as deck 8 is all long long rows of staterooms.

Hope that helped!

 

[CatDenver]

My fellow Colorado travelers, I just booked half of my airfare. For Saturday October 26th I booked a 7:20am flight to Houston Hobby for $119 pp. I just have to wait for Southwest to extend their booking window to book our return flight. Monday this flight was $143, so a good deal!

I got impatient (there's a stunner! ) with Southwest not extending the booking window. I found $238/person with Frontier and paid $954 for the four of us. That was much better than the $1311 total that kept coming up when I searched American and United!

 

[nerick8]

We just might end up flying frontier home, I was just looking at that today. Will keep you posted!

 

[CatDenver]

For me personally, it was only due to the layout of deck 5. There are not many staterooms on that floor, but the port hallway leads straight into the long hallway with entrances for the theater and kids' clubs. The starboard side can only be entered if you leave the theater/club area and turn left at the aft elevators. Even more private.

Now some will say they like port because it most often does face the pier at the ports, some say they don't like it for that same reason. Others say the fireworks can be seen on the starboard side so they like that, but for us I know we will be on deck 9 or 10 to watch the fireworks, so that is not a concern.

When we had our rom up on deck 8 we were starboard and it did not matter to me either way, as deck 8 is all long long rows of staterooms.

Hope that helped!

Very helpful! It's nice to pick the brains of those of you who have experienced DCL!

 

[Mekamax]

When we pull out of Galveston the Starboard side will face the dock and they workers wave us on with big white Mickey Mouse hands. Of course it is fun to be up top for sailaway.