1/15/2005

[mark & sandra]

I'll do my part to keep the thread alive. We just booked the Ca. to Fla. cruise for August 20th 2005. I knew this cruising thing was gonna get out of hand. Mark

 

[karebear1]

Mark & Sandra- Are you still sailing on the 1/15 ?

 

[mark & sandra]

Yes we are. When we rebooked last Jan., I reserved 2 staterooms instead of 1. When I saw that the Ca. to Fla. cruise looked so good I called AllSeasons and switched my extra room from Jan. 15th 2004, to Aug. 20th 2005. Now we're going both in Jan. and the following Aug. I was able to keep my stateroom credit of 200.00 and keep my 10% disc. when I switched the extra room. It certainly helped. I waited until 5:30 eastern time to book, and by then the price had spiked over 1000.00 more. Mark

 

[big jack 2002]

We were able to book the CA to FL trip, too. Almost all of our vacation time next year will be with Disney!!

 

[karebear1]

Does anyone have the phone number for Ron Jon's? I think I'm gonna call and make a ressie for Friday night.

 

[mark & sandra]

O.K. for all those on our 1/15/05 Western Cruise. We're just 8 months away today. Anyone start thinking of excursions yet? Has anyone decided on a place for the night before? We have a ressie for Ron Jon's. Mark

 

[karebear1]

8 months!!!! HOLY COW! It'll be here before we know it!

I'm thinking we're gonna stay at Ron Jon's - at least that's what I think for now! As for excursions.... we really want to do the sting ray thing and maybe some snorkeling- but I don't know anything about the snorkeling- do you??

 

[Houzer]

Hi everyone we are booked for the January 15, 2005 cruise and there are eight of us. Four adults, two 12 year olds 1M/1F and 2 six year olds both M's. This is our first cruise and we are soooooo excited about it. Just wondering when people booked and if there were any deals. We booked though DCL since we are from Canada and found that the travel agents couldn't get us anything better then the DCL. We found when we called DCL's prices were better then the travel agents. I also have been reading that the Wonder is not accepting pillow cases anymore for signing is this the same for The Magic? Hope we can run into each other some time. Houzer


PS Can't figure out how to get the counter on here sorry



.

 

[mark & sandra]

Hello Houzer, and Welcome Aboard, pardon the pun. The best deals are had by rebooking onboard. Last year we received a 10% discount and a 200.00 on board credit. We booked with AllSeasons. They post the rates right on their web site for you to compare. It's www.allseastravel.com . If you find better rates there is no penalty to cancel and rebook until 60 days out. Since you booked through DCL you can transfer your ressie to another TA without any problems. Some like this boards sponsor, DreamsUnlimited or AllSeasons will give you a rebate for switching over. Are you arriving before the cruise? Some people are staying at the new resort Ron Jon's the night before the cruise. Being January, we aren't taking any chances by waiting until the last minute to fly into Florida...Mark

 

[kellimomo3]

Hi Houzer!
Welcome to our thread! I also have a six year old son who will be cruising with us along with my husband and our other children DS (4) and DS (8). We booked through Dreams Unlimited, at the time they were the best price quote we received.

As to the other question about where we are staying the night before, we are actually flying in on the 9th and spending the week at the HI Family Suites. We are doing Disney and Universal before the cruise.

I'm going to dance a jig when our counters get under 200 days!!
Kelli

 

[Phyllisi]

We are also booked on the Aug 05 Ca to FL repo cruise. We will only be able to spend 2 days in CA and no extra days in Fl or the Jan 15 cruise. My husband only gets 18 days off a year. Anyway, we already booked our Grand Cayman excursion with Caption Bryon's sting ray excursion, 9-11:30. We used this company in 2003 and were pleased. My husband likes the fact that the boat is a big catamaran. Last time my daughter was 5 and unable to snorkel. This summer she said she will practice snorkeling in our pool so she can snorkel on vacation. In Cozumel we decided to go to Paradise beach. Our daughter will be in first grade, please PM me if you have a girl around my daughters age so they can meet. We already booked our plane reservations, the price was only $500.00 for 3 r/t our of Chicago.

 

[Houzer]

Thanks everyone! I am so excited to be going on this cruise you wouldn't believe it, or would you!! LOL Any suggestions for the new gal on the block? I have been looking at excursions but haven't even though about where to start. Are you starting to book them now? If so I need help people! I emailed this site to our friend who are also going on the cruise with us with their children. I am a little nervous about motion sickness and getting reservations for Palo I think its called. From what I keep hearing it is not too easy to get in there. I also am a little worried about the room we have....lets just put it this way I am so excited but a nervous reck about all of it! Any advise is very much appreciated. Houzer



:thewave:

 

[kellimomo3]

Houzer,
You can't book the excursions until 60 days out so get yourself a DCL Passporter and you'll be prepared!
Why are you worried about your room?? What deck is it on and what cat? I'm sure it's fine!!
What are the ages of your friends children? As I said before , I have three boys ages 8, 6 & 4.

Kelli

 

[Houzer]

Ok here is my first question where do you get a DLC Passporter and remember we live in Ontario Canada so we don't get everything you do. Can I order one from somewhere??? We put in for Category 9 since we had to deal with exchange and that took us up quite a notch for prices. So what you pay multiply it by 1.36 or so. I guess I will start with that question for you. Her kids are the same as mine we both have two I have the boys and she has girl and boy. We should have a blast I am sure.

 

[kellimomo3]

You can get the DCL Passporter from amazon.com or directly from the Passporter website. I believe that any bookstore can also order one for you if they do not stock it. Be sure to get the new 2nd edition. It is FULL of info and had a lot of information regarding the excursions. I guarantee that you will feel more prepared once you read one and hang out on DIS boards!!
Kelli

 

[pershing]

There were a bunch of cabins sold this week for our cruise. I have a 'Standard Inside Guarentee' so I've been watching the bookings on Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz.

Cat. 12 was GTY for awhile now, but now Cat. 11 and Cat. 10 went GTY this week. All the other Cat.'s are fine except Cat. 6 which has 1 Cabin (6122).

Not sure why I'm babbling on about this just thought it was interesting to note.

I'm still trying to figure out which excusions to take my kids on and how many total.

I was thinking that I had plenty of time to decide except now I'm thinking I should at least pick some that I know we want to do.

 

[Houzer]

Thanks everyone for all your information! I love reading about all the little tidbits that you have sent along. I am getting very excited about this trip! It just doesn't seem possible that my husband and I are actually taking time off together.

I received my Passporter on Friday in the mail and I haven't been able to put it down since. That book is wonderful and full of great ideas. I definetly won't leave home without it!

Well I have to go and get some things done around the house. Houzer



:thewave: :thewave: :thewave:

 

[Houzer]

Bump!

This post is getting left behind everyone. I think this is how to get it back. Houzer




:thewave: :thewave: :thewave:

 

[FlynnStone]

Welcome Houzer, We are travelling with a 12yo, too - (son) and he would love to meet others his age on board. We are from NC, but he has been to Canada many times for hockey.

I also need to hook up my 4yo son with kellimomo3's son!

Can't wait for the trip - its hard to believe its only 8 months away...

If anyone wants to arrange a "meet" later for our kids, feel free to PM me.

 

[big jack 2002]

Has anyone booked their excursions yet for the Jan 15 Magic cruise? We have been reading the trip reports and are having our family meeting next week to try to narrow down what we want to do.
Our granddaughters definitely want to do the dolphin swim for the older one and the dolphin excursion for the younger ones.
We should have more decided next week!!!