04/27/11 DCL's WONDERful LA-VANCOUVER REPO ON THE WAY TO ALAKSA

[MJGirl]

Hey all ... I too am one of the Silver's that hope to be joining you on Monday for the B2B. Nice to see so many familiar names from the 08 EB repo and the Baltic cruise.

We live just outside Hamilton.....you pass right by our exit on your way to Toronto!!!!!

Hey neighbour! I grew up in Oakville! Now in KW!

Didn't want this to get buried in my last post. So for all the uber planners out there....

Easter for 2011 will be Sunday, 4/24/2011. That will be the Sunday before we board in LA on Wednesday.

Question for you Southern Californians. Is DL as busy as WDW on Easter. I was thinkiing of flying in on the Sunday and spending 3 nights at DL, but this may change? Is it just Sunday that is busy, or would Monday and Tuesday be nuts too?

Question: Since we'll be sailing early in the growing season, do you think the gardens will be in bloom? Maybe with bulbs?

I love seeing flower gardens, but was curious if Canada's growing season would be "up and running" when we get there?

The daffodils and tulips should be out by the first week in May. Be sure to check out Butchart Gardens while in Vancouver!

That would be neighbours Jackie.

And don't forget ... up here it is zed, not zee! And loonies and twonies are real, no $1 bills for us. The rest of our bills are really colourful though!

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

okay....after 2 VERY LONG days of driving...we are home from WDW.....

Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend....

and...Georgie...could you please add Mom and I to the list of those visiting DL before the cruise.

 

[MouseFaninQueue]

The daffodils and tulips should be out by the first week in May. Be sure to check out Butchart Gardens while in Vancouver!

Just a little correction so as not confuse the visitors. Butchart Gardens are on the Island and thus accessible when in Victoria, not Vancouver. If you try and get there while docked in Vancouver, you might not get back in time to get on the ship as you would have to take a 1hr ferry ride each way.

 

[MJGirl]

Ooops ... Sorry about that, my mistake. I'm from Ontario .. what do you expect

I went to Vicoria and Vancouver in 1980. That was so long ago, and the memory is starting to go a little.

 

[cquick]

Just a little correction so as not confuse the visitors. Butchart Gardens are on the Island and thus accessible when in Victoria, not Vancouver. If you try and get there while docked in Vancouver, you might not get back in time to get on the ship as you would have to take a 1hr ferry ride each way.

Thank you.....I thought it was near Victoria. I hope some flowers will be in bloom when we are there. I looked at the April list,and it seems pretty extensive.

 

[MouseFaninQueue]

Just to give you some idea, here are some pics of when Shannon and I were there (Butchart Gardens) with Shaelyn in May of 2002. Granted its the end of May but it will give you an idea. And yes, that is Shaelyn - she is now turning 8 - but this doesn't seem THAT long ago....

Doesn't do the place justice but you get the idea.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Wasn't Victor GREAT!: We so wanted to bring him home with us...and he had an honourable (well, honorable here in the U.S.) mention on our comment card too!


OK....caught me lurking on your thread. I'm SO SAD that the 'reverse' of this B2B is not an option! What were they thinking not bringing the ship back to LA for dry dock there? (I know,probably $$) I mean, do you think people are going to do the Vancouver to LA then the next MR cruise? Well, perhaps, but it just feels WRONG. Although our northern neighbors may do it at as a lead-in to a DLR trip, I suppose.

.

Yeah I know, right?
I was going to look into doing Alaska then the repo on the way back- until I found out there was a 2wk gap there for drydock. personally for us I was just thinking of the trip back (instead of the trip there) simply because A) we're cruising in Sept of 2010 and it would give us a bit more time in between the cruises... for saving money and whatnot. LOL and B) later in the year and maybe not so cool? (I'm not particularly experienced with the weather- so I may have been incorrect about that anyway. But that's what I was thinking).

But alas, not meant to be. Soon as I found out there wasn't going to be an Alaska 7nt with a repo back directly after it.. but a 2wk gap there for drydock... I knew we had to do it the other way around (the repo on the way there.)

I'm guessing that means they are doing drydock somewhere closer to Vancouver? IDK

Checked my reservations online yesterday on the Castaway Club future reservations portions just to see what kind of new and different things you could do with it and saw that the Alaskan portion of the B2B was showing a dollar amount due.

I had called DCL early on Thursday to place a courtesy hold (hold for 3 days, no deposit due) on a room for the Alaskan so that I could change the repo to have the same room. I thought it would be easier to talk to DCL directly to do that rather than have to communicate with DVC as an intermediary. (and besides DVC wasn't open yet!)

I then called DVC to transfer that courtesy hold to DVC points. No problem.

I did check my DVC member account on late Thursday night because I was checking to see if the waitlist had come thru for one day at AKL for Dec and it showed the cruise under future vacation plans. No problem.

Friday AM found that DCL had a dollar amount due under the reservation for Alaska. DVC reservations should show on the new website the same as any other "Travel Agent" reservations. Under the Payment information, it should only show the purchase date.

So what happened in my case is that someone didn't save the DVC payment into the DCL system. DCL was only showing the courtesy hold that I had.

Meaning that that hold would have expired and released my room into the pool for Monday bookings.

Not normally a huge deal, but by the time I had figured out that I didn't have a room for the Alaskan there may not have been a way to get the same room number for both cruises.

holy macaroni.... I guess it's a good thing you were looking and noticed that! that could have been bad.......

 

[nskjerven]

Hey Ken, regarding the deposits on the kiddos, just an FYI, I was adding some peeps to my ressies for repo and alaska and was told that I could add them at any point along the way and just pay the prevailing price for that person. I recall that it was mentioned here that you might not be able to do that and that you ran the risk of increase on your whole groups prices. That just seemed odd to me, so I asked and was told not true. I'll need to add one more for Alaska, but I'm not sure if we will all cram in one room or not at this point, so I'm not paying that extra $300 today and risking the cost increase latter. Of course the ship could fill up with peeps and I *might* not be able to add at all, but the chances of that are too slim in my mind to worry about.

I'm still bummed that Alaska is asking so much for deposit but oh well, what ya gonna do???

I'm so glad you guys are coming along

Oops just saw this is on the repo rather than Alaska thread....why don't we just make this one thread, this is sooooo silly.

 

[MouseFaninQueue]

Thnx Nan. Ian had confirmed tht for us earlier as well. We are definitely going to do that come Monday so we can book both cruises.

 

[iankh]

Hey Ken, regarding the deposits on the kiddos, just an FYI, I was adding some peeps to my ressies for repo and alaska and was told that I could add them at any point along the way and just pay the prevailing price for that person. I recall that it was mentioned here that you might not be able to do that and that you ran the risk of increase on your whole groups prices. That just seemed odd to me, so I asked and was told not true. I'll need to add one more for Alaska, but I'm not sure if we will all cram in one room or not at this point, so I'm not paying that extra $300 today and risking the cost increase latter. Of course the ship could fill up with peeps and I *might* not be able to add at all, but the chances of that are too slim in my mind to worry about.

I'm still bummed that Alaska is asking so much for deposit but oh well, what ya gonna do???

I'm so glad you guys are coming along

Oops just saw this is on the repo rather than Alaska thread....why don't we just make this one thread, this is sooooo silly.

Thnx Nan. Ian had confirmed tht for us earlier as well. We are definitely going to do that come Monday so we can book both cruises.

Yes, I take care of my peeps.

Ken and I had been chatting about it.

There was a lot of chatter and noise, and as the folks who know me know, I hate supposition. My work-life is all about cutting through supposition and drilling down to facts.

You can't manage with supposition. You can have fantasies, dreams, confusion and angst with supposition.

Now sometimes, if let's say, you are analyzing exactly what DH Lawrence meant in a particular paragraph, you have to use supposition and inference because, unless it has been documented elsewhere, you can't call up DH Lawrence and ask him. He's dead.

After chatting with Ken I called DCL and asked. I am always surprised why people speculate rather than just asking, when the source of information is so readily available.

I deal with this at work on nearly an hourly basis. It amazes me even more when someone starts spinning and all they need to do is walk 3 cubes over and ask.

So, ne net Nan, my little fact-based gal, is (as she so often is) correct.

 

[Hygiene99]

If we do the b2b (fingers crossed) I'm going to plan for DL. It only makes sense since we will be in LA and the cruise leaves in the middle of the week. Might as well leave on Sat. or Sun. and spend the first part of the week seeing DL, especially since we've never been before. Here's a good excuse to go.

Fingers crossed 4 ya...


We still have not decided what we will do! Definetly AK .. this trip is the one in question.. Depending on the Oct 24th press release?

I guess? and a few other factors...

I'm in for both (right now anyway). It will be good to see familiar faces.

Nice!

 

[bonzie1]

Good Morning All!

A rainy night, and now morning. Woke up to water traveling down our livingroom columns! We are beside ourselves... have called emergency roofers for a tarp and our insurance company! SIGH!


On the plus side... Wii has dropped in price to $199! Now we have a console to go with our Toy Story Mania!

I will get back to the roster tomorrow... Will need to deal with the water situation today.

GOOD LUCK to those booking tomorrow morning!

 

[figment52]

Fingers crossed 4 ya...


We still have not decided what we will do! Definetly AK .. this trip is the one in question.. Depending on the Oct 24th press release?

I guess? and a few other factors...




Nice!

Hi Peter -It would be nice to see you and Jenn again.

What is happening Oct 24 (press release)?

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

Good Morning All!

A rainy night, and now morning. Woke up to water traveling down our livingroom columns! We are beside ourselves... have called emergency roofers for a tarp and our insurance company! SIGH!


On the plus side... Wii has dropped in price to $199! Now we have a console to go with our Toy Story Mania!

I will get back to the roster tomorrow... Will need to deal with the water situation today.

GOOD LUCK to those booking tomorrow morning!

OMG Georgie....you guys have been through so much lately....we'll be thinking about you and hopefully you will get this repaired quickly....

 

[fourfoxesinpa]

Good Morning All!

A rainy night, and now morning. Woke up to water traveling down our livingroom columns! We are beside ourselves... have called emergency roofers for a tarp and our insurance company! SIGH!


On the plus side... Wii has dropped in price to $199! Now we have a console to go with our Toy Story Mania!

I will get back to the roster tomorrow... Will need to deal with the water situation today.

GOOD LUCK to those booking tomorrow morning!

Oh Yikes! So sorry to hear about your roof. Hope they can get out there quickly and get an emergency fix done for you.

We are planning on visiting DL prior to this cruise. DH has a gazillion points accrued through Priority Club so we're hoping to stay free at the Holiday Inn. Not sure if that will work, considering it's Easter weekend - they might have a blackout. But, we'll wait and see - sadly, we have a long time...

 

[rotary2808]

Hi Peter -It would be nice to see you and Jenn again.

What is happening Oct 24 (press release)?

There's a live webcast from NYC that afternoon regarding the Dream. We were on the Magic a couple of weeks ago and they weren't sure if the itinerary would be released at that time or not, but they're anticipating it. There will be a lot of details about the ship released at that time.

 

[BobandLee]

Good Morning Kiddies.....
nice, but crisp fall morning here.
After walk snack consists of fresh baked snickerdoodles and hot chocolate.

Good luck to all those booking tomorrow.
I have found that if you just work with the DCL reps, they will do whatever they can to accommodate. You just gotta say what you want. Ask the right questions.
This was especially true for this cruise. We had already booked the Alaska cruise, but not this one. By the end of the week, we decided that we wanted to add this cruise. When I called, I explained what we wanted. No problem.
We got the same cabin on both cruises.

Hope everyone has a great day!

 

[BobandLee]

Good Morning All!

A rainy night, and now morning. Woke up to water traveling down our livingroom columns! We are beside ourselves... have called emergency roofers for a tarp and our insurance company! SIGH!


On the plus side... Wii has dropped in price to $199! Now we have a console to go with our Toy Story Mania!

Oh Georgie. So sorry to hear about the water.

(that's the big hug I couldn't send on Facebook)

Great news on the Wii.
I don't use it as much when the weather is nice.
Love the Sports Resort. Looking forward to the Beatles Rock Band...maybe
Maybe would bring the TSM. It definitely has games I would like.

 

[gydell]

Georgie - Sorry about the water! We're in the Atlanta area so we know all about water lately!!!At least we are outside of town where the foothills of the mountains start so we were ok. Hope you get the problem solved fast!

 

[figment52]

There's a live webcast from NYC that afternoon regarding the Dream. We were on the Magic a couple of weeks ago and they weren't sure if the itinerary would be released at that time or not, but they're anticipating it. There will be a lot of details about the ship released at that time.

Thank you. I thought that might be what Peter was referring too but I wanted to be sure.