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

[tink too]

I heard that prices are being posted tomorrow. They can't keep from posting the prices until 9/28 since a lot of us will be booking on 9/21.

Here's hoping that's right. It would be nice to know the costs in advance so we can decide whether to book (or not) and to save time when calling DCL.

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

I heard that prices are being posted tomorrow. They can't keep from posting the prices until 9/28 since a lot of us will be booking on 9/21.

I was told by my TA to submit my date and stateroom requests first thing tomorrow morning and they will be able to get the quotes for me same day

That would be fabulous... it's really hard to plan when you have no clue what something is going to cost... LOL.

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

Wow, no pricing until you can actually book? Seems like that would tie up the phones quite a bit longer with people having to ask about prices to even know if they'd like to book or what category they'd like to book. Having that info ahead of time would allow the phone calls to just be actual calls to book cruises.

I totally agree... Seems crazy, doesn't it? From what I understand, that's how it has been in the past, though.... But hopefully they will release the rates sooner as a PP has suggested....

 

[gydell]

I was told today by DCL that pricing will be given when you book. Just hope that the ones that get to book early let the rest of us know the prices!

 

[jilljill]

I saw the info about the Dream being "unveiled" on the 29th of October but I hadn't thought this meant the booking dates would be released. I guess now that I think about it - what the heck are they "unveiling" on the 29th of October?

Thanks for taking the time (to all) for answering my question. I think it is safe to day for now that the Dream is not open for booking on Sept 28th and it likely will be sometime after this "unveiling" on my birthday in October.

I would say the unvieling would be deck plans, cabin configurations, restaurant info and other things on the inside of the ship that we don't know.

 

[jilljill]

I'm thrilled to read that we will be in Vancouver to see all the new changes and upgrades they are doing for next year's Olympics!

TRIP PLANNING QUESTIONS: All those with Vancouver experience and/or Alaskan cruise knowledge, I have some questions:

1. Is it possible to go to either Anchorage or Denali pre-cruise -- and if so, how would you get back to Vancouver to catch the ship?

2. If we fly into Seattle, how far a drive is it to Vancouver?

3. How many days would you recommend we give Vancouver to see everything?

THANK YOU!

This would be a good thread for you to read and subscribe to: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2283011

It's been posted the trip from Seattle to Vancouver is about 3 hours. There's also the option of taking Amtrak or a bus if you don't want to drive.

 

[mousemom11]

I heard that prices are being posted tomorrow. They can't keep from posting the prices until 9/28 since a lot of us will be booking on 9/21.

I was told by my TA to submit my date and stateroom requests first thing tomorrow morning and they will be able to get the quotes for me same day

In searching through my creaky old brain here, didn't they release the med prices last year about a week before they opened booking? It just make sense to me to give everyone knowledge ahead of time. How many of us are going to want to run prices for different dates and different cabin configurations before we book? I mean, the phone lines are jammed and the servers pushed beyond their limits that first day. Disney is just making it even worse if we all have to tie up resources doing our research on that day, too.

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

Cool, so it is Alaska and back to the Med for 2011.
I have a couple of dummy bookings, I'm all ready to transfer.

:

Me to! I was hoping they would be heading back to the Med as I can't go in 2010! Do you know if we can email on the 28th to get the date changed - the thought of a two hour phone call from the UK is quite scary! Will the prices really change and increase in the first few hours?

Thanks!

 

[Inkmahm]

Thank you, Inkmahm.

One question I forgot to include that I'd really like to know -- for all those who have done Alaska before, what month do you recommend for optimal ice flow, calving and wildlife? We were thinking August but thought it might be too late to see a lot of ice. And I thought I read the wildlife is more visible in early summer (like May and June).

Really appreciate any help on this as it affects not only when to book Alaska, but also trying to add the Med cruise same year and which month to switch it up to. Thanks tons.

I have gone at the end of May and the end of August. Early May is way too early if you're doing the land portion first because the road in Denali park isn't open all the way yet. At the end of May, we saw Spring colors but LESS wildlife. The moose were in hiding with their young and the bear were just coming out of hibernation. I was disappointed that I coudn't see bear catching salmon.

Last year we went at the end of August. Completely different than May. The fall colors were starting in Denali and the bear were everywhere trying to eat enough to get fat for winter. We took a float plane to a remote island from Ketchikan and watched the bear feeding in the salmon stream. I loved the end of August! IF we go again in 2011, it will be in August.

As for ice, the glaciers are always calving. I'd say there's no difference at all there in going May, June, July or August. Walking on a glacier is something everyone should try at least once. We did it on a helicopter flight out of Juneau. Dog sledding on a glacier is a bit more tricky as for timing. The earlier in the season, the better. End of August is too late for some of the vendors.

 

[kritter]

Does anyone know where in NYC they are going to unveil the info. about the Dream? Is it open to the public. I may take the kids and head down there for the afternon to be a part of it!!!

 

[terramei]

I heard that prices are being posted tomorrow. They can't keep from posting the prices until 9/28 since a lot of us will be booking on 9/21.

I was told by my TA to submit my date and stateroom requests first thing tomorrow morning and they will be able to get the quotes for me same day

I don't know how they are dealing with the folks booking on the 21st but in an email from DCL received today they said

"At this time, we are diligently finalizing the pricing of the cruises
for the Disney Wonder and Disney Magic for 2011. The final prices will
become available on September 28, 2009."

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

I e-mailed Dreams Unlimited because we are thinking of using them this time, and they said they have not received any information at all on pricing. She did not seem to think they would get any info. tomorrow.... But I guess you never know. It doesn't really sound like the TAs know anything more than we do at this point.

 

[Rat-a-too-ee]

I'll answer #1. IMHO a round trip out of Vancouver is definitely not the way to go if you want to spend any time on land in Alaska in Anchorage or Denali either post or pre cruise. Other cruise lines have one week cruises that start or end in Vancouver so you do the land portion after or before, in those cases.

We've done southbound Princess twice with land tours precruise. If you've never seen Alaska before, I wouldn't recommend skipping Denali Park, Anchorage, etc. Actually, I wouldn't recommend skipping Glacier Bay, either. And DCL won't have access to Glacier Bay on the cruise.

For those of us who have been to Alaska before and will go again, this one week out of Vancouver could be a "fix" just until the next real Alaskan trip. I'd consider it, but would likely combine with some days at Disneyland in California before or after since I'd be on the west coast anyway.

Thank you so much for posting this info. I think with our financial situation, we will only go to Alaska once in our lifetimes, and we really want to do it the right way. For that reason, we will skip this Disney itinerary and wait to see if Disney will do one-way cruises once they have 4 ships.

 

[RedSox68]

I don't know how they are dealing with the folks booking on the 21st but in an email from DCL received today they said

"At this time, we are diligently finalizing the pricing of the cruises
for the Disney Wonder and Disney Magic for 2011. The final prices will
become available on September 28, 2009."

Well, they didn't seem to plan for the new CC tier booking then How do they expect us to get our "benefit" of early booking if we don't have prices? I certainly don't want to throw a deposit down just to "hold" a place in line and then have to cancel if the prices are outrageous

 

[dato63]

So, even if you aren't at a level that can book on the 21st - if you are working with a travel agent, will they have access to the prices on the 21st?

 

[DisneyCP2002]

According to what I understand from my TA no but I could be wrong.

 

[lbgraves]

Wow, no pricing until you can actually book? Seems like that would tie up the phones quite a bit longer with people having to ask about prices to even know if they'd like to book or what category they'd like to book. Having that info ahead of time would allow the phone calls to just be actual calls to book cruises.

I don't know how they are dealing with the folks booking on the 21st but in an email from DCL received today they said

"At this time, we are diligently finalizing the pricing of the cruises
for the Disney Wonder and Disney Magic for 2011. The final prices will
become available on September 28, 2009."

That is how it was on 1/31/07 for the 2008 PC repo and MR cruises and last October for the Med, Baltic & TA cruises. They will have the prices on the 21st but they won't be posted on their website until at or just before 8 am ET on 9/28.

There will be a thread on the board for people to post what they were able to book and at what price on the 21st. We have done this the past few opening booking days. Hopefully the prices won't go up as quickly as they did on the PC repos on 1/31/07.

Well, they didn't seem to plan for the new CC tier booking then How do they expect us to get our "benefit" of early booking if we don't have prices? I certainly don't want to throw a deposit down just to "hold" a place in line and then have to cancel if the prices are outrageous

Maybe DCL doesn't want to point out that there is any difference in booking dates to those who do not already know of the change with the CC?

 

[mousemom11]

I don't know how they are dealing with the folks booking on the 21st but in an email from DCL received today they said

"At this time, we are diligently finalizing the pricing of the cruises
for the Disney Wonder and Disney Magic for 2011. The final prices will
become available on September 28, 2009."

Ugh. So being on the West Coast I'm going to have to make quick decisions at 5 am on a Monday morning. I think I'd better insert my caffeine IV the night before.

 

[kritter]

Does anyone know where in NYC they are going to unveil the info. about the Dream? Is it open to the public. I may take the kids and head down there for the afternon to be a part of it!!!

Anyone know??????????????

 

[RedSox68]

According to what I understand from my TA no but I could be wrong.

Actually, my TA said that they can and will be booking those of us with gold and platinum on the 21st. However, from the email I just received a little while ago, it looks like we will not know the pricing until the 21st. The request forms they sent me to fill out are to get us in line for them to book us when the reservations open on the 21st (at 8 a.m. BTW).