4/7/2012 Fantasy

[itutorfortravel]

Just wondered when everyone's last Disney cruise was? I recognize so many of your screen names, and I'm not sure if it's just from seeing them on the main boards or because we may have cruised together before...

Our family has cruised 3 times with Disney -

April 2009 - Spring Break on the Magic (the week of Easter)

December 2009 - Christmas on the Magic

December 2010 - Christmas on the Magic

We have sailed the past two Christmases and have loved it, but we are excited to stay home this year. Our first DCL at spring break we enjoyed perfect weather! We were on the Eastern itinerary, but hopefully the Western will be just as nice. We are looking forward to going at this time of year again.

When have others sailed? Anyone here been on the Dream? We were supposed to go on the Dream for spring break 2011, but we had friends going on the 11 night holiday cruise in 2010 and we got a great cat 12 deal so we decided to do that. It was soooo nice being on the Magic that long!

Has anyone seen the new NCL ship coming out in 2013? It will be sailing out of NYC starting in the summer of 2013 and sailing to Bermuda. We are looking at that as our next cruise option. I love DCL, but I want to go to some new places.

 

[sunburnin]

Wow! 157 days away from cruising!

I haven't been on here in a while so good to catch up. We didn't get the upgrade bump that some others did, but that's fine - we are in 5A so happy with that to begin with.

I'd periodically go reprice the cruise just to see how much prices have gone up over time. We booked onboard this past March and the price had gone up over $3500 since then. Yowza. Well.... I just looked again today and there were no rooms available for 2Adults 2Children. I did see some for 2 Adults and the rates were sky high!

We sailed the Magic in April 2009 and March 2011 and excited for our 3rd trip this spring!!!

 

[Had2disneycruz]

Hi Everyone!
We received our "discount" for our re-categorized staterooms. We are now in category 9D and we got a credit for $529 total for both rooms. Not too bad since we weren't expecting it! We also booked this trip last March and yes, the prices are ridiculous now. I am so glad we didn't wait! At the time, category 9 was much cheaper than category 12, 11 or 10. We got lucky!

We last sailed in April 2009 on the Magic. It was during Easter and we loved it!! A few of you were on that cruise as well.

My bff is leaving for Disney World tomorrow. I am so jealous! She and her family will be joining us for this cruise. They have never sailed Disney before but are huge Disney fans. I am so excited to be sharing spring break with them! Once she gets back from Disney World, we are going to start doing some serious planning for the cruise. Our kids are finding out on Christmas and we are figuring out a really cool way to tell them. They will be so excited to cruise again and with our best friends. We are a party of 12, but don't let us intimidate you! We both have 4 kids but I swear, some days it doesn't feel like that many. Most of our kids have had birthdays recently so we have my DD, 18, her DS, 16, my DD, 15, her DS, 13, my DD, 12, her DD, 10, her DD, 7, and my DD, 7. We cannot wait to let them in on our surprise!

I hope everyone is doing well and I look forward to chatting more frequently on this board! By January, I am sure we will all be checking back more often!

Have a great weekend!

 

[gmark2000]

Just paid for the cruise now. I can start booking for Palo/Remy on Friday after midnight.

 

[itutorfortravel]

Just paid for the cruise now. I can start booking for Palo/Remy on Friday after midnight.

What Castaway Club status are you? I don't think I'm able to book that stuff until early January (we're Silver)...

I am hoping to get Remy when we can start booking, but I am not holding my breath...

 

[Nana G]

We have made final payment and were told January 8th for reservations. Of course we are newbies to Disney, only 1 cruise so that might be the reason. Happy Holidays to all!
Melody

 

[gmark2000]

What Castaway Club status are you? I don't think I'm able to book that stuff until early January (we're Silver)...

We were Silver last cruise and didn't get any Palo bookings on the Dream. Now were are Gold since that last cruise was number five.

 

[gmark2000]

We got our bookings for Palo brunch, Remy and Palo Dinner. Also got bookings for the Mayan ruins in Costa Maya (rated the most jungley, Indiana Jones-like) and the Dolphin swim in Cozumel.

All the private Cabanas at Castaway Cay, except for a couple in Serenity Bay all sold out.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[itutorfortravel]

Congratulations gmark on getting all the things booked you wanted...how did Remy availability look when you booked it? I am sooo hoping we are able to get it when it's our turn to book. But we're silver cc members, so I am not holding my breath.

I sure hope this thread gets more active! I don't think I have ever been on a thread this quiet, especially 3 months out Anyone have any clue as to why there's not more activity here?

 

[gmark2000]

Thanks! You're right. It seems pretty dead here. My previous cruise [threads] had at least a half dozen die-hards chatting the year through.

I have to admit that I don't visit this often but it only came to my mind when the reservations could be made.

That being said, the thread was a bit messed up with it first being the inaugural cruise then a whole bunch bolted from here. Lots of other attrition too. I'm not sure of the status of any exchanges (fish extenders, magnets). I'm not sure if this sailing has even named itself so I was presumptuous and named us the "Fantasy Fans".

 

[itutorfortravel]

I just posted something on the main boards to see if we can get more people to join us. I remember someone saying awhile back that there may be some confusion over this sailing since it was originally the Maiden Voyage, but I still thought we'd have a number of folks chatting by now.

We've been on 3 Disney cruises and the last two especially had very active threads. We did the 11 night Christmas cruise on the Magic in 2010 and we had all kinds of organized activities with our group. From Palo brunches, to wine tastings, DISmeets, and an FE exchange. The FE exchange on that trip was almost 70 cabins, which was a bit overwhelming to me given the previous Christmas I think it was about 20. But it was still a great time, and my DD loved coming back to the cabin to find little surprises left for her!

If enough people show an interest in an FE exchange, I'd love to do it if the group doesn't get too big. Since it's a new ship and a much bigger one to boot, I promised DH I'd only do the FE if the group remained small so I'm not spending a lot of time searching for cabins and delivering gifts. So if a group gets organized, I'm definitely interested!

Thanks for naming us! Someone had to do it...and I like the one you chose

 

[jmcdonnell04]

I have been remiss to posting but have been checking regularly. I guess I have been too busy working to pay for the cruise. Long story short, we were originally booked for the maiden voyage paid by DMIL when DCL changed the dates DMIL backed out of the trip but DW and I did not want to disappoint our DD (16) & DD (12). Good news is that we had a year to save and looking forward to the cruise.

 

[Had2disneycruz]

It has been quiet here but I wonder if it will be a bunch of new cruisers on this ship, or maybe it will pick up after the holidays.

Our girls found out about the cruise on Christmas morning. It couldn't have gone any better! My DBFF made pictures to put in our DCL lanyards. The pictures had our itinerary, a map and the 12 of us pictured on Castaway Cay with the ship behind us. (Can you say "Photo shop"?) It was perfect. We wrapped each lanyard separately and put them in one big box. On Christmas morning, we Skyed with the DBFF's and the kids opened the boxes at the same time. My girls screamed with excitement! I should send the video in to Disney...it was the perfect reaction!! They are so excited and ready to plan this trip! We have been doing our research on what excursions we should do. We are a big group and our youngest are a bit young, so we are limited. Luckily, DCL has a lot to offer at each port. This is our third DCL cruise so we can't book until 1/8, as well.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year! 99 days to go!!! And yes, we would like to participate in the FE if it is not too big, as well!!

 

[itutorfortravel]

It has been quiet here but I wonder if it will be a bunch of new cruisers on this ship, or maybe it will pick up after the holidays.

Our girls found out about the cruise on Christmas morning. It couldn't have gone any better! My DBFF made pictures to put in our DCL lanyards. The pictures had our itinerary, a map and the 12 of us pictured on Castaway Cay with the ship behind us. (Can you say "Photo shop"?) It was perfect. We wrapped each lanyard separately and put them in one big box. On Christmas morning, we Skyed with the DBFF's and the kids opened the boxes at the same time. My girls screamed with excitement! I should send the video in to Disney...it was the perfect reaction!! They are so excited and ready to plan this trip! We have been doing our research on what excursions we should do. We are a big group and our youngest are a bit young, so we are limited. Luckily, DCL has a lot to offer at each port. This is our third DCL cruise so we can't book until 1/8, as well.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year! 99 days to go!!! And yes, we would like to participate in the FE if it is not too big, as well!!

Surprises are the BEST! I'm so happy it went well. I agree, you should send your video to Disney!

It looks like we were on the same cruise in 2009...we surprised our DD with that one. It was our first cruise and fell shortly after DD's birthday. We had a luau theme bday party and afterwards sent her on a scavenger hunt to discover our plans. We have it on video...SO adorable.

We think we're going to wait until the last minute, as in the day of the cruise, to tell our DD this time. If we told her now, she wouldn't think or talk about anything but the cruise for the next 3 months! She has always been a good student and is having a particularly good school year that I seriously worry knowing about the cruise would distract her - LOL! Oh well, it will be fun to surprise her again. Maybe I can think of a cute way to do it. Any suggestions?

Happy New Year everyone! I can't believe we're down to double digits now

 

[Nana G]

It has been quiet here but I wonder if it will be a bunch of new cruisers on this ship, or maybe it will pick up after the holidays.

Our girls found out about the cruise on Christmas morning. It couldn't have gone any better! My DBFF made pictures to put in our DCL lanyards. The pictures had our itinerary, a map and the 12 of us pictured on Castaway Cay with the ship behind us. (Can you say "Photo shop"?) It was perfect. We wrapped each lanyard separately and put them in one big box. On Christmas morning, we Skyed with the DBFF's and the kids opened the boxes at the same time. My girls screamed with excitement! I should send the video in to Disney...it was the perfect reaction!! They are so excited and ready to plan this trip! We have been doing our research on what excursions we should do. We are a big group and our youngest are a bit young, so we are limited. Luckily, DCL has a lot to offer at each port. This is our third DCL cruise so we can't book until 1/8, as well.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year! 99 days to go!!! And yes, we would like to participate in the FE if it is not too big, as well!!

I can't imagine the scene at your house Christmas morning! Must have been a great surprise and what a gift. Aren't our children lucky? In my case it is a lucky granddaughter, age 13, and she is so excited. I am a bit leary about the Tween program since she has been in a bit safer more restricted program on Princess. Anyone have experience or tips to put my mind at ease?
Also, only having 1 Disney cruise about 5 yrs ago, not at all sure what FE is(or are). Care to explain. Sounds like fun.Happy New Year to all!

 

[gmark2000]

Happy new year everyone!

 

[itutorfortravel]

Happy New Year to you as well, gmark, and to everyone on this thread. Now we can finally say that we are going on our cruise THIS YEAR!!!

NanaG, you are so right, our children are very fortunate to be able to have these experiences. DH and I are extremely thankful to be able to do these trips with our DD. We do not have an unlimited budget to book a cruise at any price, but with a little hard work and smart saving, we get there often enough!

I was at a small party with friends last night to ring in the New Year, and one of my friends was lamenting on the fact that they would love to go on another Disney cruise but can't find any in their budget. I try to keep my Disney enthusiasm in check because I know none of them are not as into it as me, but when someone says that I do try to help with some tips that have made it affordable for us...we always book at least 2 cruises while onboard so that we have a couple reservations to move around. Getting that discount on the cruise and on the deposit is great, not to mention the OBC! I also maximize travel points on my cc that I use for EVERYTHING and then pay off monthly. (Right now I have several hundred dollars to use for this trip - all free through my cc rewards program.)

The most recent tip I got from the Budget board (I love that board!!!) but have not used yet is buying the Disney gift cards at Target with your Target cc or debit card...I don't have either but I may have to get one. Anyhow, with the Target cc you get 5% off of everything you buy, apparently including non-Target gift cards! So, some folks were stocking up on gift cards to use to pay off their trips to get an additional 5% off. A friend of mine who is sailing in the summer tried it with just one card and it worked! I may have to get the Target gift card and buy a few of those for my onboard account.

Well, enough rambling...again, Happy New Year to everyone!

 

[amoybaci]

We are so excited to be going on the Easter cruise! My kids love love love Disney Cruises; this will be our 4th and they just keep getting better!

We would be very interested in doing an FE. We did one for the first time last cruise and the kids loved coming back to the room and seeing a suprise trinket in their pocket. A nice idea someone came up with was to spread out the gifts buy assigning the different cabins days. They were merely suggestions but it was nice to know that something would be there each day (with the exception of the first day onboard and the last due to lack of time).

Anyone insterested in organizing?!

 

[itutorfortravel]

We are so excited to be going on the Easter cruise! My kids love love love Disney Cruises; this will be our 4th and they just keep getting better!

We would be very interested in doing an FE. We did one for the first time last cruise and the kids loved coming back to the room and seeing a suprise trinket in their pocket. A nice idea someone came up with was to spread out the gifts buy assigning the different cabins days. They were merely suggestions but it was nice to know that something would be there each day (with the exception of the first day onboard and the last due to lack of time).

Anyone insterested in organizing?!

Hello! Nice to meet someone new on the thread!

This will be our 4th Disney cruise as well. We have only been on the Magic, though, so we are looking forward to trying out a new ship. Have you been on the Dream?

I just paid off the cruise yesterday and cannot wait until we can book our excursions and dining. You know the cruise is getting close when it's time to do that!

I've started buying a few things here and there for the trip...extra toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc. that I can pack so we don't have to bother with packing up the ones at the house. I normally try to get that stuff on clearance and with coupons so it comes out so cheap that I consider it to be disposable at the end of the trip.

My DD loves Aeropastle and they are having a good sale on their clearance stuff right now...30% off. So I picked up four t-shirts for the trip and with tax and shipping paid less than $27! I'm going to try to make packing simpler this time with tops and shorts that easily mix and match. And I'm really going to try NOT to overpack. That is a huge problem for me.

I would love to participate in the FE exchange if the group stays manageable...I'm thinking it probably will since we are a pretty small group at this point, but who knows what will happen to this thread in the next 90 days.
So if anyone decides to coordinate it, please let me know!

 

[Fan 4ever]

Hi everyone! I am new to this thread. We just finished paying off our cruise and are so excited for going on the Fantasy. This will be our sixth with Disney. We are a party of 13 and are interested in FE. We participated in the FE on our last cruise and would love to do it again! I don't know if anyone is coordinating yet but we definately want to get on the list. Look forward to hearing back from you all!