°o° °o° °o° 9/11/09 DCL Announcement Discussion Thread °o° °o° °o°

[Pudo]

We were thinking of maybe doing this instead of Disney since its a point to point trip instead of roundtrip. I wanted to do Denali and some other things once in Alaska.
Jodie

We were very excited about Alaska until we realized the cruise would be a roundtrip instead of northbound and southbound. The train through Denali National Park before the cruise is a part of our Alaskan cruise plans so we will probably pass and hope DCL does it better next time.

 

[pillow]

We were very excited about Alaska until we realized the cruise would be a roundtrip instead of northbound and southbound. The train through Denali National Park before the cruise is a part of our Alaskan cruise plans so we will probably pass and hope DCL does it better next time.

I was thinking that we could possibly break it up into 2 trips - maybe do 1 in 2011 and the other in 2012 . . .

1. A roundtrip Anchorage land trip 10ish days.

2. Seattle/Vancouver + DCL Alaska cruise.

We've always wanted to visit Seattle/Vancouver anyway, so this might work. I think it will all depend on cruise pricing.

Jodie

 

[lbgraves]

I wouldn't assume that. I checked and the 2011 schedule for the Dream is not posted yet on the website - there are no 3, 4, or 5 night 2011 sailings listed. Karl definitely said on the webcast this morning that the Dream would be doing 3, 4, 5, and 7 night sailings in 2011. I think the 7-night Caribbean sailings that we see on the 2011 schedule right now are only the Magic sailings. So let's not jump to any conclusions at the moment about whether or not there will be 7-night Caribbean sailings the summer of 2011.

I just listened to the announcement again and at that point he had not mentioned the Dream. He was talking about the Disney Magic and was talking about the 10 & 11 Med cruises for the summer. Then he said

"During 2011 we'll offer 3, 4, 5 and 7 night sailings from PC in FL and we'll visit famous ports such as KW, ST, SM, GC and Cozumel and of course every sailing will include a stop at our own special island CC."

The only thing they said about the Dream after that statement was made was reviewing the keel laying ceremony and saying that the new ships would be bigger than the current ships and then of course they showed the new statue of Donald.

Now what is interesting is that he said that they would continue to cruise to the Bahamas and the Caribbean but he did not list Nassau with the ports. Of course that is where the ships are registered so they should have to go there, right? There was an image of the welcome sign at Nassau in the keel laying ceremony video...so who knows.

 

[mousemom11]

FYI regarding getting to Vancouver... I just read this on another board....

We just got back from our cruise on Tuesday. There is an Amtrak train that goes from Seattle to Vancouver. We flew to Seattle and took the train from one to the other and it took approximately 2-3 hours but was a beautiful ride. The train goes right up the coast and is only $30.00 per person. There is a train station in Bellingham as well so you could fly there and take the Amtrak the rest of the route. We took a cab from the station to the cruise terminal in Vancouver - approximately 7.00 cab ride and less than 15 minutes.

Amtrak was cheap, beautiful ride and very comfortable.

Just remember that you will need transportion from the airport to the train station in downtown Seattle. Depending on traffic, it can be a 20-45 minute ride. A taxi is about $40 from the airport to downtown. A shared van (Shuttle Express) is $27 for 2 adults and 2 children from the airport to the train station. So for 4 people the cost would be about $120 for the train, plus $30 - $40 to the train station. Keep in the mind that there will be much luggage schlepping. First from baggage claim to the taxi/shuttle van. Then from the taxi to the train check-in counter. Then from the train baggage claim to the taxi. Then from the taxi to the cruise ship. Whew.

Or, you can take the QuickShuttle directly from the airport to the cruise terminal. The cost for 4 people from the Seattle Airport to the Vancouver Cruise Terminal is $156. And you eliminate a bunch of luggage schlepping. All you have to do is go from baggage claim to the bus (think big Greyhound-type bus) and from the bus to the cruise ship. I've seen these buses driving down the freeway here and they look new, clean, and well-maintained.

 

[JLDSMD]

oh no!
I just read the website and aside from not being able to book a week early (only 3 cruises so far but 28 nights... next year's cruise will add 14 more night and we STILL won't be gold member!) there are other benefits we'll lose out on. Instead of ADDING benefits for gold they took some away from us! We won't be able to go to the castaway club reception!!!!!
(and it also mentioned merchandise special offers- we'll miss out on that too).

I guess basically you're not much of a castaway club member unless you've cruised OFTEN, regardless of the length of cruises. wahhhhhhhhhh

I posted this on another thread. A fairer system would be to give you a certain level of points based on the type of room you booked (not upgrated to). Then multiply it by the number of nights in that class.

You could level it as follows:

Cat 10-12: 1 pt / night
Cat 8 - 9: 2 pt / night
Cat 4 - 7: 3 pt / night
Cat 1 -3: 4 pt / night

This way, people who sailed longer or in higher classes would "earn" more points.

I could even live with a straight 1 pt/night as to not penalize the people who book the lower Cat's (we are usually Cat 9 or Cat 10 - SPH, so we would actually get less points under the above method).

I agree with you, it doesn't seem fair that 15 nights on 5 3-night Wonder cruises would get you more than say 3 or 4 two week cruises.

 

[pillow]

So, I just looked at airfare - was curious about the fares either to Seattle or Vancouver. Seattle from here (Richmond, VA) is dirt cheap - less than $250 per person in July. That NEVER happens. We usually have to fly out of Dulles or BWI to get the good fares. The BWI price was $220!!!!

I'm thinking it would be fun to spend some time in Seattle and Vancouver pre-cruise. Hope that airfare pricing hangs around another year.

Jodie

 

[Donald_Quackers]

I saw that the lobby character for the Dream is Admiral Donald Duck!!! Yaaay!! I'm definitely going to book at least one cruise on the new ship now!

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Not for nothing, but seemingly self important statements like this might well be just the sort of thing that's causing those reactions. Just a little food for thought.....

Rob

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Victoria is beautiful. The Butchart Gardens are incredible and there is a history museum (can't remember the name of it now) that I just loved. And, of course, tea at the Empress Hotel. There is also a lot of stuff to do in Vancouver. Stanley Park is huge and has a great aquarium. I love the Capilano Suspension Bridge and the Grouse Mountain Skyway. Chinatown is a wonderful place to explore.

The Museum in Victoria is the Royal BC Museum

 

[mrsmoore]

Ugh... the airfare from Chicago to Vancouver vs. Chicago to Seattle is $400 higher!

I guess if we go through with this, we will fly into Seattle & take a train/bus to Vancouver. Amtrak Cascades sounds like fun. But then we will have to figure out how to get from the airport to the Amtrak station. I wish DCL was leaving from Seattle, or LA!!!

By 2011 the Sea-Tac to Downtown Seattle light rail will be completed. There is a stop probably right near the Amtrak station, should be easy!

 

[jilljill]

So, I just looked at airfare - was curious about the fares either to Seattle or Vancouver. Seattle from here (Richmond, VA) is dirt cheap - less than $250 per person in July. That NEVER happens. We usually have to fly out of Dulles or BWI to get the good fares. The BWI price was $220!!!!

I'm thinking it would be fun to spend some time in Seattle and Vancouver pre-cruise. Hope that airfare pricing hangs around another year.

Jodie

That's a great price out of BWI. Which airline was that on?

 

[mrsmoore]

FYI regarding getting to Vancouver... I just read this on another board....

We just got back from our cruise on Tuesday. There is an Amtrak train that goes from Seattle to Vancouver. We flew to Seattle and took the train from one to the other and it took approximately 2-3 hours but was a beautiful ride. The train goes right up the coast and is only $30.00 per person. There is a train station in Bellingham as well so you could fly there and take the Amtrak the rest of the route. We took a cab from the station to the cruise terminal in Vancouver - approximately 7.00 cab ride and less than 15 minutes.

Amtrak was cheap, beautiful ride and very comfortable.

We live in the Edmonds/Everett area north of Seattle. We took Amtrak to Vancouver, and it is absolutely beautiful. It runs along the water a lot of the way and is a great way to see the Pacific NW on the way to Vancouver! Seattle will have a better light rail by then and Vancouver has light rail station across the street from the Amtrak station that can take you into downtown hotels.

 

[Subi WRX]

Anyone else rethinking the Wonder Panama Canal due to the date?

January 6 is sort of a sucky date for that, right after the holidays; early in the year to burn through so much vacation.

 

[AQW]

I am hoping LOTS of people are rethinking the repo due to the dates... more availability and lower pricing for me.

 

[Macavity]

Just checked Expedia for Dallas to Seattle for 2 people for late July 2010. $700 round trip....

Is there a post somewhere that someone can point me to that has possible prices for staterooms for the Alaska cruises?

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

Question for you experts.... We have a group wanting to book Alaska... We'll probably book 4 staterooms. It seems like it would be easiest to go through a TA so that they can process them all at once with everyone's different forms of payment and help us link our ressies, etc. Do TAs get an opportunity to "pre order" some staterooms at the tier 1 price, or are we only going to be able to get the "best deal" if we book directly through DCL on Sept 28th?

 

[smeecanada]

We just got back from Alaska. We stayed at the Hyatt in Vancouver. It was very nice. Parking at the Pier is really strange. You park in this dirt lot that has a fence around the lot. At first we were a little worried about leaving the car. But, it was ok. The port is not very nice. We went on Royal Caribeen and did not like it. We missed Disney.

We did Royal Caribbean on the August 8th sailing. The ship was beautiful, the service okay, but the teen area and activities were awful for the kids. Plus, the cabin configuration was awful after having been on Disney. Quite a few bars and alot of pay for extras. We went with family for a special occasion, so went with the presumption that Disney would be going in the future, so treated it like a getting the lay of the land trip. It was a nice trip, but we're sticking with Disney as well.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

You want a prize? Giant stuffed animal? Framed certificate? Special forum tag?

I'd give him a prize if I could. I've appreciated all his posts all this time and his predictions WERE almost all completely accurate. Be nice!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

FYI regarding getting to Vancouver... I just read this on another board....

We just got back from our cruise on Tuesday. There is an Amtrak train that goes from Seattle to Vancouver. We flew to Seattle and took the train from one to the other and it took approximately 2-3 hours but was a beautiful ride. The train goes right up the coast and is only $30.00 per person. There is a train station in Bellingham as well so you could fly there and take the Amtrak the rest of the route. We took a cab from the station to the cruise terminal in Vancouver - approximately 7.00 cab ride and less than 15 minutes.

Amtrak was cheap, beautiful ride and very comfortable.

Wow.... thanks for that info! I never would have thought of that -and this option seems to be not only a lot less expensive but sounds enjoyable as well. Atleast I think we'd enjoy that train ride better than a more expensive flight! Thanks for the info... I'll have to make note of that nad look into it further!
(ps. is the cab ride cost per person? Can we cram 5 ppl in the cab? LOL Oh wait we can't all cram into one cab with our luggage too! LOL)

 

[UK-Simon]

and the Grouse Mountain Skyway.

Welcome to my working world! Until recently I had worked my entire 3 years in Canada working @ Grouse. Now I am just there 1 day a week. They also do something very special for people in the tourism industry, and allow you plus a guest into virtually any tourist attraction for free. (http://www.vancouverattractions.com/tourismchallenge/privpass.html)

With that in mind I have done almost every attraction Vancouver has to offer, so if anyone needs any assistance regarding what to do in Vancouver I am more than willing to help!