2010 news from the Magic

[Justthe8ofus]

Not for me


It was great in 07 when I only had a 2 hour flight that cost £400 for the two of us.

Next year I think we are paying just under £3000 for the two of us

So you are paying over $5400 for airfare for 2 people?? Are you flying first class? I could fly my whole family to London for close to that much.

 

[pillow]

Well you know I pulled my dd from school. She's in private school though so it wasn't that big of a deal. Many people on the ship who had children in public school just worked out independant school contracts for the time they were missing. It wasn't such a big deal. I could do it again if the ship goes thru in 2010 as there are no finals for 6th grades so no big but anything after that and she'll have finals. Guess I'll just have to go w/o her and have a mommy vacation!

Yeah, I knew you did, but you work at the school, right (I'm assuming that makes things a bit easier - maybe not though)? Also, I think it would be easier in elementary. Middle, not so much. Our SOLs (state standardized tests) are in May, so the school system would throw a fit if we missed 2 weeks during that time. Plus, I'm not sure I could enjoy myslef knowing they were missing school. My dream would be for DCL to just go back and forth through the Canal for the entire summer - 2 week trips each way. Perfect!!

Jodie

 

[Mom2PrincessesLinSy]

Based on one of the PPs comments, it would appear that it is not a matter of whether or not Disney has plans to sail in Alaska, because if they didn't plan on it, they wouldn't have put in a proposal. The question would be WHEN?

DH and I sailed on HAL's Stadendam in 2000 from Vancouver BC to Anchorage. It was GORGEOUS!! Ketichan was an absolutely adorable little town, and we did the Inside Passage, so we also stopped in Juneau, toured Glacier Bay, stopped in Valdez and also Sitka. We ended in the port (I can't remember the name right now) that has the train into Anchorage. My parents took the same boat, but did it southbound, and instead of Sitka they stopped in Seward. I would say if a family were to do an Alaska cruise, it would be best to go on DCL, exactly because of the reasons people said. Kids may not be as excited about going to Alaska, but will be well entertained on DCL vs a HAL ship, for example.

Yes, airfare is costly, but its costly just to fly right now, period. Anyone who has ever wanted to cruise Alaksa wants to do Alaska, no matter what the ship (though some are definately rumored to be much better than others). If a person has no desire to cruise Alaska, they probably wouldn't cruise Alaska on DCL either. If they have always wanted to do Alaska, and love Disney, what a great opportunity!! My DH has no interest in the Med. Cruise, but that doesn't mean there aren't a billion other people who would love to do a Med DCL cruise. (including myself...its not cool to go without your DH is it?)

I'm totally excited about this, and I have already been on the Alaska trip. There are plenty of other excursions to try (ours weren't that expensive, BTW, but you could feasibly spend close to $1000 for one helicopter excursion in one port too!) Now I am trying to figure out how many DVC points I will need to bank and borrow to get on that boat!!

 

[pillow]

Based on one of the PPs comments, it would appear that it is not a matter of whether or not Disney has plans to sail in Alaska, because if they didn't plan on it, they wouldn't have put in a proposal. The question would be WHEN?

DH and I sailed on HAL's Stadendam in 2000 from Vancouver BC to Anchorage. It was GORGEOUS!! Ketichan was an absolutely adorable little town, and we did the Inside Passage, so we also stopped in Juneau, toured Glacier Bay, stopped in Valdez and also Sitka. We ended in the port (I can't remember the name right now) that has the train into Anchorage. My parents took the same boat, but did it southbound, and instead of Sitka they stopped in Seward. I would say if a family were to do an Alaska cruise, it would be best to go on DCL, exactly because of the reasons people said. Kids may not be as excited about going to Alaska, but will be well entertained on DCL vs a HAL ship, for example.

Yes, airfare is costly, but its costly just to fly right now, period. Anyone who has ever wanted to cruise Alaksa wants to do Alaska, no matter what the ship (though some are definately rumored to be much better than others). If a person has no desire to cruise Alaska, they probably wouldn't cruise Alaska on DCL either. If they have always wanted to do Alaska, and love Disney, what a great opportunity!! My DH has no interest in the Med. Cruise, but that doesn't mean there aren't a billion other people who would love to do a Med DCL cruise. (including myself...its not cool to go without your DH is it?)

I'm totally excited about this, and I have already been on the Alaska trip. There are plenty of other excursions to try (ours weren't that expensive, BTW, but you could feasibly spend close to $1000 for one helicopter excursion in one port too!) Now I am trying to figure out how many DVC points I will need to bank and borrow to get on that boat!!

A moneysaving tip - rent/trade your DVC points for $10 per point (the current going rate) and then use the cash to book your trip. It usually works out better that way, and you end up saving LOTS of money and/or points. I've heard from others that its a piece of cake to sell your points since there are tons of people wanting DVC stays. There was someone on our Med cruise who booked using points (used a ton of them). Then when the cat 12 cheapie sales prices came out, she couldn't switch to the cat 12 room and take advantage of the savings. Good luck, and let me know if you have questions.

Jodie

P.S. Is Whittier the port you were trying to think of?

 

[Mom2PrincessesLinSy]

A moneysaving tip - rent/trade your DVC points for $10 per point (the current going rate) and then use the cash to book your trip. It usually works out better that way, and you end up saving LOTS of money and/or points. I've heard from others that its a piece of cake to sell your points since there are tons of people wanting DVC stays. There was someone on our Med cruise who booked using points (used a ton of them). Then when the cat 12 cheapie sales prices came out, she couldn't switch to the cat 12 room and take advantage of the savings. Good luck, and let me know if you have questions.

Jodie

P.S. Is Whittier the port you were trying to think of?

Cool, I'm trying to talk DH into trying to book a cruise when we are on the Boat in November, I'll have to do some research on the sale of the points thing, so I can approach him with the details. Otherwise he'll just say NO! Thanks so much for the tip! BTW, we have used DVC points on the last 3 cruises, and gotten a Cat. 4 the last 2 times, then paid cash for the youngest daughter. Are you saying it would have been better to sell the points and just bought the cruise outright?

And it definately wasn't Whittier. Maybe it was Seward (that is really on my brain) and actually the city my parents southbound saw was Skagway instead of Sitka. Too many sssssss to keep track of!!

 

[ibouncetoo]

A moneysaving tip - rent/trade your DVC points for $10 per point (the current going rate) and then use the cash to book your trip. It usually works out better that way, and you end up saving LOTS of money and/or points. I've heard from others that its a piece of cake to sell your points since there are tons of people wanting DVC stays.

As someone who has rented points from a DIS pal who has done just this thing, it was a win-win for both of us. I was able to join friends for a stay at SSR in a two bedroom villa (something I never could afforded on my own) and she spent the 'rent' on a cruise.

.

 

[pillow]

Mom2PrincessesLinSy,

Here is an example of why renting/trading points is a better value:

Points required for either the June 6 or July 4, 2009 Eastern cruise for a family of 4 in a category 9 stateroom: 926

Cash price for same family, same stateroom, July 4 = $6,797

So, you can sell 680 points (at $10 per point) to get the cash you'll need to book the cruise instead of using 926 points to book, a savings of 246 points!!

OR, looking at it a little differently, if you have the 926 points, you could sell all of them for $9,260. Then book the cruise and have $2,460 left over for shore excursions, margheritas, the spa, more margheritas, whatever. Heck, you could almost go on another cruise for that much!!

Jodie

 

[pillow]

Are you saying it would have been better to sell the points and just bought the cruise outright?

And it definately wasn't Whittier. Maybe it was Seward (that is really on my brain) and actually the city my parents southbound saw was Skagway instead of Sitka. Too many sssssss to keep track of!!

Yes, probably would have been better to sell the points (I think you and I were typing responses at the same time).

If it wasn't Whittier, then it was Seward. I think Royal Caribbean docks in Seward and Princess in Whittier. Those are the only 2 lines I know anything about.

Jodie

 

[pillow]

Cool, I'm trying to talk DH into trying to book a cruise when we are on the Boat in November

Sorry for so many posts from me - have done nothing all day long!

Which cruise are you doing in November? We are on the Nov 23rd 3 nighter. I'm planning to book a "dummy" date so that I can transfer the reservation (along with the 10% savings) over to the Alaska cruise when it becomes available to book.

. . . and thanks Steph for teaching me how to do this stuff.

Jodie

 

[Justthe8ofus]

My DH has no interest in the Med. Cruise, but that doesn't mean there aren't a billion other people who would love to do a Med DCL cruise. (including myself...its not cool to go without your DH is it?)

Actually it is. I travel a lot with my sister while DH stays home with the kids. My sis and I did a Med cruise last year. If it's something you want to see then go for it.

 

[Mom2PrincessesLinSy]

Jodie, no problem! I'm glad I am getting the responses. Any ammo to convince DH!!!!!

Yep, I just checked the scrapbook, too. It was Seward and the glass top train ride 3 hours up to Anchorage was breathtaking!!!

Thanks guys, you are the best!!

 

[taysmom]

A moneysaving tip - rent/trade your DVC points for $10 per point (the current going rate) and then use the cash to book your trip. It usually works out better that way, and you end up saving LOTS of money and/or points. I've heard from others that its a piece of cake to sell your points since there are tons of people wanting DVC stays. There was someone on our Med cruise who booked using points (used a ton of them). Then when the cat 12 cheapie sales prices came out, she couldn't switch to the cat 12 room and take advantage of the savings. Good luck, and let me know if you have questions.

Jodie



P.S. Is Whittier the port you were trying to think of?

I remember that person too...she was P****ed~!

 

[pillow]

I remember that person too...she was P****ed~!

Was that you, Steph??? I truly can't remember - am getting old!

J

 

[calmom]

Lisa, how have you been? Will you do another repo in 2010?

I've been good! What about you? Kids started school this week.

I would love to do another repo in 2010. Kids will be a little older, so school might be an issues this time.

Yes, you're right. I'm getting my trips confused. On the May Panama Canal cruise, what did everyone do about school for those 2 weeks? Just take the kids out? Or maybe the ship fills up with home schoolers? Or was their just a higher percentage of adults for that trip? I just can't imagine taking a middle schooler out for 2 entire weeks!

Jodie

Our kids (in public school) were in 4th, 2nd, and preschool. And then we also have a toddler. We were going to miss STAR testing, which the school was fine with, but then they switched the dates. It worked out fine. Our oldest would be in middle school for 2010, so not quite sure what we will do.
Lisa

 

[taysmom]

Was that you, Steph??? I truly can't remember - am getting old!

J

Yep! I would recommend selling over using for any cruise. Unless you have a ton of points and don't care. It's less trouble just to use them. BUT next time I would sell over using points for sure. It was a real bummer to lose out on the use of 500 points!

 

[gssmks]

I am waiting for news on the 2010 cruises as well. Just posting so that I can get updates.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

I see alot of repo'ers on this thread. I am in the process of moving two reservations that I made on board on two different cruises to dreams in order to get ready for the special cruises. If the last two years have taught me anything, it is that I cannot miss any opportunity to make special memories with the people I love. If there are special cruises, repos, transatlantics and so forth, I am going to try to get in on it.

 

[taysmom]

I see alot of repo'ers on this thread. I am in the process of moving two reservations that I made on board on two different cruises to dreams in order to get ready for the special cruises. If the last two years have taught me anything, it is that I cannot miss any opportunity to make special memories with the people I love. If there are special cruises, repos, transatlantics and so forth, I am going to try to get in on it.

I agree tammy. I feel that they are the best bang for your buck on disney!

 

[granmaz]

I see alot of repo'ers on this thread. I am in the process of moving two reservations that I made on board on two different cruises to dreams in order to get ready for the special cruises. If the last two years have taught me anything, it is that I cannot miss any opportunity to make special memories with the people I love. If there are special cruises, repos, transatlantics and so forth, I am going to try to get in on it.

Woohoo Tammy!!!

How are you?

 

[aan1701]

Well if they get it, then there will have to be a repo by 2011. I know what I am doing.