5/24/03

[newhampshire4]

We don't get in Friday night until midnight, so didn't want to spend a lot on a hotel room, but wanted the convenience of a nice hotel near the airport. So, after reading the Bidding for Travel boards, saw that many people were getting MCO 3 star rooms (the highest star rating for MCO rooms on priceline is 3 star) for their minimum bid of $28. Me, too!! Got the Marriott on first try for $28

 

[digitalmom]

Changed my countdown clock to add our fourth. It was not easy but it's done.

 

[digitalmom]

Had to take a break from proofing recipes for a cookbook our high school band is going to do as a fundraiser. I called Disney to add our 4th person on, luckily they still had room in that age group but then the guy at Disney said that the early seating for dinner was full and that is the seating that I want. He put me on hold, after a couple of minutes he got back on and said that they opened up a spot for our 4th and we still have the early dinner seating. I would have lived with late seating but we really, really prefer early. I also asked about switching down to a cat 6, to save some money and he said there were no cat 6 available that sleep 4 or much of anything else that will sleep 4 so I guess that I will stick with what I have. It seems that our cruise must be getting popular. I know that the price has gone up almost $2000.00 since I booked it.

 

[inkkognito]

Hey Chuck, it will be great to see you guys again! We'll definitely take you up on that drink offer It will be fun to get a good look at the Roy Suite. We snuck in there between cruises when we did three in a row for some photos and it was so beautiful. We will be easy to find, in my favorite 5650.

newhampshire4, isn't Priceline great?! We just love it...we can usually manage to get the Marriott for $28 too, and once we really lucked out and got the Renaissance for that price. The only complaint that I've ever had is that once they stuck us in a smoking room, but it really wasn't too smelly...and for the price I can't complain! It was less smoky than the supposed non-smoking room we got at the Evil LaQuinta. As a matter of fact, I think that we might be at the Marriott too. I'll have to doublecheck and if so, maybe we can say "hi."
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[newhampshire4]

After our Disneyland/California trip last year, I'm a huge Priceline fan We got a gorgeous resort in Indian Wells (Palm Springs) ($300 rooms) for $37/night and got the Marriott convention center hotel across from Disneyland for $34/night. Will probably do Priceline for our one night post-cruise, but ?? Dolphin & Swan HAD been coming up for $69 night, but according to another board (on Dis boards), Dolphin and Swan are not coming up lately and everyone seems to be getting the Hilton when bidding on Disney resorts. Does anyone know anything about the Hilton? We wouldn't be spending much time there other than sleeping, but like a room where we can actually sleep (funny you mention La Quinta- worst hotel experience in my life was a LaQuinta in Tampa... the room next to us was "open for business" allllll night. Of course the rest of my family was fast asleep and oblivious to it.... )

 

[inkkognito]

We've bid on WDW resort level hotels three times now...once we got the Marriott, once the Gaylord Palms, and once either the Hyatt or Hilton...I don't remember which one it was, but it was within walking distance of Downtown Disney and also offered a free bus to the parks. The Gaylord also socks you with a big resort fee that is mandatory and is charged per night (I think it was around $10...what a rip). The one we stayed at near Downtown Disney had an optional fee, but we didn't do it...it was for stuff like drinks and a newspaper, which we didn't need. All of the hotels were very nice, but the Marriott doesn't have free transportation to Disney (you have to pay via Mears if you don't have a car)...the Gaylord's transportation was "included" in the resort fee.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[dizneykids]

We don't get in until 11pm the night before. We're driving on out to the Radisson when we get in (will only be 10pm our time) so we can sleep in Saturday morning. DH is a frequent flyer, so we're just cashing in his points.

 

[digitalmom]

We can't let this get on page 2. Need to go to work, yuck! Oh well it helps to pay for the cruise and the kids trips and high school band.

 

[NYdiscuisers]

How many of you are booked through Dreams? We are at the minimum limit for a gift basket and were wondering what the chances were that someone might cancel. (We are payed in full as of Monday.)

Things are starting to get finalized. Booked our airfare, reserved rental cars, and made plans for an apres cruise stop at Universal Islands of Adventure this past weekend.

 

[dizneykids]

the best chance for cancellations is 60 days out when everyone must pay off their balances. for us, that is march 24. if you haven't already, ask your TA to look for you on that day or call in that day and ask.

your odds depend on what category you are seeking to bump up to. good luck!

 

[newhampshire4]

We are booked directly through DCL ... guess AAA has a deal now that if you book with them, everyone in your group gets free soda mug deal, and 10% off gift shop or something like that... I don't think it's worth switching the reservation over at this point for that... I know how long it took DCL to finally straighten out the 50% off bit, and I don't want to risk dealing with that again should the discount go astray

 

[dizneykids]

...without a hitch, but then we've done this before with our AAA TA and our DCL reservationist (we have used the same woman at DCL for each of our cruises....we just call in and asked to be transferred to her). before we switched, we double checked with Debbie (at DCL) to ensure she wouldn't lose anything (they make no commission, she assured me) by our switching. in fact, she told me that she would make the switch if she were us just for the mug savings. now, we're in one of the cat 1s where our soda is replenished free of charge (BELIEVE ME, though, we pay for it!), but not having to duck downstairs to grab a soda when on deck at the pools or whatever is wonderful, especially with 3 boys who love to drink soda. now, if they'd only carry Dr. Pepper, my life would be complete!

Beth...what's the deal with 50%? were you on the cancelled cruise?

 

[dizneykids]

we've slipped to page 2 again! the boards are certainly busy today.

has anyone done any of the adult "back stage" tours on the ship? we haven't, except for the wine tasting, but am going to try some in may. would love to hear recommendations.

 

[sara]

We booked through Dreams. It seemed to be 7 rooms booked for a long time. But, when Barb and Tony joined us, the number went to 8. So, maybe we'll get lucky and get a stateroom gift!!! That would be so neat.
Newhampshire4, good job on Priceline. I have never tried it. But, the price is sure right. We'll be at the Radisson the night before, too, Dizneykids. We stayed there last time we cruised. It worked out fine.

Sara

 

[dizneykids]

sara....what is the deal with the gift basket? you are the second one to mention it.

 

[sara]

Dizneykids, if Dreams Unlimited has 8 clients (rooms) on a cruise, they give each room a "basket" of something. Kind of like a thank you. When we check our reservations on line, they tell us how many are currently booked. For those obsessed, like me, it's easy to keep track how many are currently booked!

Sara

 

[dizneykids]

okay....not having booked through them before, i had no idea what you were talking about! thanks for enlightening me!

 

[newhampshire4]

Originally posted by dizneykids
...

Beth...what's the deal with 50%? were you on the cancelled cruise?

No, we were on the cruise two years ago that broke down and stuck in port with an electrical problem(St Thomas, but everyone had already boarded, and not knowing how long it would be delayed & another ship needing to get in, they manually moved us away from the docks). We were delayed 9 hours (more or less), so our day at Castaway got cancelled. They ended up flying in one of the original engineers of the ship who happened to be on vacation in Antigua. Of course they don't guarantee you'll make it to any island, but because it was a technical problem versus a weather related problem, they gave everyone on board 50% off a future cruise (not including taxes, insurance, transportation) to use within 3 years. Yes, we missed Castaway and it did get hot with no AC, but Disney did a great job of keeping everyone informed, throwing together a last minute deck party, lots of free conk (?) coolers flowing for the remainder of the cruise, last minute activities, etc...

 

[dizneykids]

that's amazing! we were on a cruise (fortunately, just me and dh) where the winds were so still and we were cruising so slowly that the exhaust system backed up into the main stacks and spread diesel fumes throughout midships. many (including me) were seriously ill. it started the night we left Freeport, and the smell was there (despite their trying to air the ship out) throughout the remainder of the cruise. i was absolutely miserable on castaway cay. the most we ever got was a lot of run-around and a "gosh, we're sorry that happened to you" letter afterwards.

disney is so incredibly inconsistent with their approach to problems on board.

 

[newhampshire4]

Well, the 50% off wasn't just handed out all that easily... there was a very vocal group on board who went to what was supposed to be the regularly scheduled Captains Q&A session... I wasn't there, but heard thare was a lot of yelling and crying going on The crew said they would talk to Disney. They made an announcement that it was 30% off future sailing. Well, that group called another meeting, one of them started a website (darn, wish I could remember the name of it) onboard using Disney's computers to make a Disney bashing site, blah, blah... they wanted a full refund (which was rediculous... ) the crew was going back and forth with Celebration and Disney made a final offer of 50% off for everyone. Sounded like a fair deal to me