10/22/11 Parley!! Will this get me on the ship any faster?

[abigaillynn]

We've seen the information on FE but still I still don't get it, is it only for kids?

 

[lewiskids004]

WOW-we're getting closer!!! Already shopping for the FE gifts. Anyone have any idea how many cabins we're shopping for??? Wondering how many extra suitcases this time-last time was 2 extra (ARRGGHHHH) but all in fun!!! Hope everyone is getting really excited!!!

 

[cntkg1]

Does anyone

 

[minnieandmickey]

We've seen the information on FE but still I still don't get it, is it only for kids?

No it's for everyone. You can give what you want. In the past I've received anything from a cruise care kit (bandaid, highlighter, etc) to a small homemade scrap book. Some give things that represent the area they live in. On our PC cruise we got canadian coffee.

 

[runskyhy]

Oooooh! I suggest a new thread topic: "Parley!!! Will this get me an upgrade?!?!"

Thanks! I'll email you shortly.

I love it!!! We're in a GTY, too. Although maybe they'll give us a stateroom number now that we've finally paid the cruise off!

And now for the 'paid-off-cruise' dance...

 

[melissa99]

I love it!!! We're in a GTY, too. Although maybe they'll give us a stateroom number now that we've finally paid the cruise off!

And now for the 'paid-off-cruise' dance...

Agree - another GTY here!!

And, looking forward to the FE Exchange....now I need to get creative

 

[njprincess]

Hey all. I haven't been on in a while, and as is obvious from my post count, I have posted much, either. That was intentional as my wife told me I'm not allowed to get all OCD about our Disney cruise too soon. She's afraid I'll get too excited and just zoom through Summer too fast hoping for the cruise to hurry up and get here. Can't say I blame her. I waited all Fall, Winter, and Spring for Summer to hurry up and get back. So, I need to slow down and enjoy it while it's here.

Now, I've heard of people doing that with their kids Sounds like you fit right in with this group

Also, I'm still interested in setting up a stargazing night during the cruise. I've been in email communications with DCL guest relations to get particulars on what is allowed on the ship and what, if anything, they can do to possibly enhance our stargazing activities. I asked about areas of the ship that might be best suited for stargazing and also if there was any potential for them to switch off lights in a designated area just for stargazing. I also asked if they would allow the use of a green laser pointer (GLP) for pointing out celestial objects during the stargazing.

Great! I thought I remembered someone agreeing to do this. I would certainly be interested and I think my brother would be as well.

Unfortunately, they didn't provide any recommendations for areas of the ship that would be best for stargazing. They did contact an officer on the Magic to ask about ship lighting. However, the only response I could get out of them was that ship lighting remains on all night for the safety of their guests and for other vessels to see them. The problem I'm having with DCL is that no matter how I phrase the question, they seem to think that I'm asking them to turn off all the ship lighting during the night. That's not what I meant at all. I was asking if there was any small, designated area of the ship where they could dim or turn off nonessential lighting just for the duration of the stargazing activity. But, like I said, they seem think that I want all the ship lights turned off all night long. So their only response is, "No!"

DCL has problems with their listening skills. My brother is a Catholic priest and he offered to say Mass on the ship during one of our cruises. They responded by asking him how many people were in his 'group' in order to determine the size of the 'meeting' room they would 'charge' us for . Eventually he got to someone who understood and of course they were thrilled to set it up. So I think it's just a matter of getting to the right officer who would understand the request. We should go ahead and set something up and try to connect with right crew member once we get on board the ship.

We've done some riverboat cruising on the Mississippi and American Queen steamboats. And just like in Mark Twain's time, the river pilots still navigate by sight, and so there are no bright lights in the bow of the boat that would disturb their night vision. So the bow was always a good place to view the stars . But I'm pretty sure they aren't navigating the Magic by sight

 

[njprincess]

Any other gold CC members staying up late tomorrow night to make ressies and do online checkin? I'm hoping the reservation system is in a good mood

 

[cntkg1]

Any other gold CC members staying up late tomorrow night to make ressies and do online checkin? I'm hoping the reservation system is in a good mood

Not Saturday night Kathy? I'm only Silver but I thought I read somewhere it was the 9th for Gold.

 

[cntkg1]

I love it!!! We're in a GTY, too. Although maybe they'll give us a stateroom number now that we've finally paid the cruise off!

And now for the 'paid-off-cruise' dance...

I'm hoping for another free upgrade this year. We got one on our last cruise from an SPH with obstructed view to a cabin with a regular porthole. I'm so glad I was home when that phone call came in. I wonder what would've happened if I wasn't.

 

[runskyhy]

Any other gold CC members staying up late tomorrow night to make ressies and do online checkin? I'm hoping the reservation system is in a good mood

I'm going to give it a try... but I read that excursion/Palo/spa reservations open at midnight EDT but on-line check-in opens at 3AM EDT?!?

I'll have to stock up on caffeinated beverages tomorrow to get me through the night. By 7AM, I'm sure I'll look like this though...

 

[wilma-bride]

I'm hoping for another free upgrade this year. We got one on our last cruise from an SPH with obstructed view to a cabin with a regular porthole. I'm so glad I was home when that phone call came in. I wonder what would've happened if I wasn't.

We got an upgrade on our cruise in October 2009, from Cat 12 to Cat 9 . We didn't get a phone call, though - just found out when we logged onto our booking

Good luck to all the Gold members trying to get Palo and complete online check-in on Saturday. Can't do ours till the 24th and I haven't even worked out yet what time I will need to either stay up till or get up at

 

[cntkg1]

We got an upgrade on our cruise in October 2009, from Cat 12 to Cat 9 . We didn't get a phone call, though - just found out when we logged onto our booking

Good luck to all the Gold members trying to get Palo and complete online check-in on Saturday. Can't do ours till the 24th and I haven't even worked out yet what time I will need to either stay up till or get up at

Good to know Joh. So, I probably would've gotten the upgrade whether I was home to get the call or not. I was planning on having my cell phone attached at the hip this September just in case they call me again.

 

[cntkg1]

I'm going to give it a try... but I read that excursion/Palo/spa reservations open at midnight EDT but on-line check-in opens at 3AM EDT?!?

I'll have to stock up on caffeinated beverages tomorrow to get me through the night. By 7AM, I'm sure I'll look like this though...

We get to book in a couple weeks too but from what I read, all the Palo brunch ressies are being scarfed up by the Platinums and Golds anyway. That's a debate I don't care to participate in though. I see both sides of that one.

Also read on the DIS that 1/2 the palo ressies are NO LONGER held for folks trying to get them once on the ship either.

 

[runskyhy]

Also read on the DIS that 1/2 the palo ressies are NO LONGER held for folks trying to get them once on the ship either.

What?!? That's really odd. We booked our 4-night cruise 74 days out and of course there were no on-line Brunch reservations available at that time. When we boarded the ship last Friday, we stopped by the Palo reservation desk just before 1PM and we were able to make them there. (We were even given a choice of 10AM or 10:30AM brunch times.) Furthermore, while we were having dinner at Palo the second night, our server told us he could secure brunch reservations for us on sea day if we didn't already have them.

We are actually both kinda scary looking, so maybe they were afraid of us...?

 

[jmjousley]

My brother is a Catholic priest and he offered to say Mass on the ship during one of our cruises.

That is great! Any chance he is traveling with you again this time? On that topic, I am guessing that we will be out of luck as far as finding a Mass for the first weekend. Does DCL offer any kind of religious services on Sundays?

 

[njprincess]

Not Saturday night Kathy? I'm only Silver but I thought I read somewhere it was the 9th for Gold.

It is the 9th for gold. And the 9th starts at midnight on Friday when the 8th ends

I'm going to give it a try... but I read that excursion/Palo/spa reservations open at midnight EDT but on-line check-in opens at 3AM EDT?!?

I'll have to stock up on caffeinated beverages tomorrow to get me through the night. By 7AM, I'm sure I'll look like this though...

Wow, interesting about the online check in at 3 AM Thanks for the heads up

We get to book in a couple weeks too but from what I read, all the Palo brunch ressies are being scarfed up by the Platinums and Golds anyway. That's a debate I don't care to participate in though. I see both sides of that one.

Also read on the DIS that 1/2 the palo ressies are NO LONGER held for folks trying to get them once on the ship either.

Palo brunches were scarfed up by the Platinums on the West Coast Repo. We only got to go because our table mate was Platinum, so she made the res.

The more annoying part was that the people with the 10 AM brunch reservations thought it was OK for them to stay in Palo for the ENTIRE MORNING! We were seated at 12:30 for our 11 AM res, although they did end up comping us.

That is great! Any chance he is traveling with you again this time? On that topic, I am guessing that we will be out of luck as far as finding a Mass for the first weekend. Does DCL offer any kind of religious services on Sundays?

Why, yes he is! He will be contacting DCL to set it up for this cruise as well. The last 2 cruises we've taken, he has said Mass in the Buena Vista theater at 9 AM on Sunday morning. The best part is that his vacation Masses have no homily and no collection!

 

[runskyhy]

Wow, interesting about the online check in at 3 AM Thanks for the heads up

Well, I read that on the Disboards in this thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2752997
I would still try to check-in at midnight though.

Why, yes he is! He will be contacting DCL to set it up for this cruise as well. The last 2 cruises we've taken, he has said Mass in the Buena Vista theater at 9 AM on Sunday morning. The best part is that his vacation Masses have no homily and no collection!

I like the homily.

 

[njprincess]

Well, I read that on the Disboards in this thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2752997
I would still try to check-in at midnight though.



I like the homily.

Actually, Frank is a rather entertaining homilist, so it's a shame he doesn't include one. I always tell people to watch what they say to him or they might end up in one of his homilies. It's happened to me a few times

Sometime, after I've had a few Konk Koolers, remind me to tell you about the Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh Father from the SSMC08 cruise

 

[runskyhy]

Sometime, after I've had a few Konk Koolers, remind me to tell you about the Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh Father from the SSMC08 cruise

Remind me to get you a Konk Kooler and I'll remind you to tell the story... deal?