5/30/2010-5 Night Disney Wonder Memorial Day Double Dip! Roster-Post 626 on page 42

[Stitch1313]

Welcome!! Who all is going with you? I cant believe how close we are to the 1 yr mark. I booked this cruise, my first Disney cruise, in January and havent been able to stop thinking about it since. There are some wonderful people on this thread, so full of information. Looking forward to chatting and meeting you.

Hi and thank you for the welcome. I am going with one of my best friends. My DF and I are both in our 40s, and have no children. Probably a good thing, since both of us are just big kids at heart!

I'm looking forward to chatting with and meeting all the great people on this thread.

 

[Stitch1313]

Welcome aboard.

You'r correct 3 nights is just not enough.

We always, or almost always, try to book a cruise while on the ships. Between the onboard discount and banked DVC pts. our current plan, if it holds together, is to do this 5-night DD, several nights at WDW and then back to the Wonder for the 5-night Key West.

We decided to add the 5-night Key West when we found out that some DIS friends we met on the Wonder several years ago where booked to go then.

In all our DCL trips, we have never been to the Rainforest Room so I can't help you.

Have fun planning and look forward to meeting everyone.

Thank you for the warm welcome. My Disney cruise friends had told me that I would probably book another cruise before I got off the Easter one. I laughed. Now, they are laughing! But, it's OK, cause I had such a good time.

We plan to go down the night before the cruise and stay at one of my home resorts (SSR or BLT). Then we plan to stay through the weekend at one of the other DVC resorts on our return from the cruise.

Wow, your plan sounds great. Wish I could get enough time off from work to do the same. Someday!

Looking forward to chatting with everyone here.

 

[Stitch1313]

Have fun in Disney World!!! If we were to have gone on our original schedule, I would be at the airport right now waiting to board the plane to Orlando. We now have to wait until August. I've also been debating about Fantasmic. We missed it on our last trip, so it's been three years since we've seen it. Not sure if we'll wait it out this trip or not. I thought about a Fantasmic dinner, but I've read those don't guarantee you much of a shorter wait or even a seat.

With the kid's baseball schedules we would have missed too much. We now have 10 baseball games scheduled for when we would have been gone. Between the regular schedule and make-up games, we'll be very busy the next ten days (the length of our originally scheduled trip). Oh well, it'll be fun when we get there in August.

Our kids also get out of school right before next year's cruise. I think they should carry snow days over as we haven't had one snow day for the past two years. With our luck they'll have 10 next year and they'll extend the year. Oh well, I guess they'll have to miss those last few days. When we were at school yesterday for the awards assembly, we joked that our kids would never qualify for the perfect attendance award anyway. The principal had everyone stand yesterday who had perfect attendance and who had obtained a 3.5 GPA or higher to try to show the correlation. We said she should ask who missed three weeks of school and still got a 4.0 for the entire year. We missed the first 9 days at the beginning of the year for our Panama Canal cruise and the kids were out for a week in March with the flu. Yet, their grades never suffered.





to both the DIS and this thread!!

We have friends who left yesterday on their first Disney cruise -- a 3 day Wonder cruise. We told them that they would be booking another cruise before they got off the ship. I'm worried about 5 days being too short. We love sea days and with only one, we may cut our day in Nassau very short. Anyone else planning to stay on-board at Nassau?

Again, welcome to the thread. I've added your DIS name to the first post on this thread. If you would like me to add more information, just let me know.

Thank you for the welcome and adding my name to the list.

I see that you are an evil influence what with trying to suggest 5 days may not be a long enough cruise. I have already started thinking that myself.

I am particularly looking forward to the sea day. I read that there is a champagne brunch at Palo's on the Wonder on sea days. We will SO be doing that!

I think we will probably do the Dolphin Swim in Nassau. You get not only the swim, but get to hang on the beach, swim, snorkel, and eat on the beautiful Blue Lagoon Island.

For the more experienced cruisers, can you tell me if there is a down side to transferring your onboard reservation to a travel company? The fact that they are giving me additional onboard credits for exactly what I've already agreed to pay does not make sense to me. What benefit do they get from my transferrring my reservation?

 

[WDWCrazzyCunninghams]

Stitch, I have wondered that myself! We transferred our last cruise to Dreams, but did all the leg work ourselves. i guess that's just the control freak in me? They did nothing for me, but gave me more onboard credits. Who am I to argue with free money? I guess had I wanted, I could have had them to schedule our excursions, Palo, etc. But I didn't, I Just did them myself! I think Disney must pay them a commission for having the ressies though. Why else would they be able to pay out more? They aren't getting any money from me.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Received this email from my TA today:

I Want to be Stranded on Castaway Cay!

by Mary Jane Crawford
Member of the MouseEarVacations.com® Team​

If I am ever stranded on an island - let it to be on Castaway Cay! Castaway Cay is Disney's private island - owned and used only by Disney Cruise Line®.

Disney's ships dock at the island, and a map is provided as you disembark. A tram shuttles you off to the Castaway Family Beach. (If you prefer to walk, it would take about ten minutes.) The beach is so inviting with its crystal blue water and clean white sand. There are plenty of lounge chairs and sand chairs lined in rows, with an umbrella above every few chairs. If you're lucky, you may even find an available hammock. And what does Disney's private island have that no other island has? - An abundance of Disney characters! They even provide times and locations to meet the characters and take photos - although you also may spot them walking around the island.

Scuttle's Cove is part of the Oceaneer Club/Lab with supervised activities for the children. Depending on the age of the child, they can engage in such activities as excavating a whale skeleton, and finding hidden treasures. Although Scuttle's Cove has no beach, children can get soaked playing wacky water relay games.

Teens have their own private beach, located near the Sports Beach where anyone can engage in a game of tetherball, volleyball or soccer. Nearby is the Grouper Game Pavilion, offering complimentary billiards, ping-pong, football, shuffleboard, giant checkers, and basketballs. They even have an adventurous excursion - "The Wild Side" which is only for teens.

Serenity Bay Beach is the adults-only beach - with cabana massages available nearby. Yoga is held on the beach; and there is also the Castaway Air Bar serving frozen specialty drinks, cocktails and beer.

A great family or adult activity to check out is the Pirate Scavenger Hunt, a hunt package and map are available before leaving the ship. Rent a bike and follow the bike path; it offers many photo opportunities. Adults and teens may also wish to participate in the 5km Run. Others may enjoy the Island Tour Walk. You will find all of the Castaway Cay-vents on the back of the map.

The Snorkeling Lagoon is located to the left of the Castaway Family Beach. Everything you need may be rented along with a required flotation device, and catamarans are also available for the more adventurous vacationers. The Boating Harbor offers many activities. Our favorite was the WaveRunner Jet-Ski's, but you may also enjoy other water sports such as kayaking, parasailing, fishing, a stingray adventure, glass-bottom boat ride, or the banana boat ride - an inflatable yellow raft pulled by a jet-ski.

If all these activities make you hungry, head for Cookie's Bar-B-Q! We expected burgers and hotdogs... While they did have charcoal-broiled burgers and hot dogs, they had other appetizing entrees, like tasty tender BBQ ribs, BBQ chicken, fish, potato salad, corn-on-the-cob, sandwiches, pizza, chips, cookies, and more! A fruit cart offered a variety of fresh-cut tropical fruit, melons, bananas, apples, oranges, and grapes. A help-yourself beverage bar was set up with fountain sodas and ice tea (which was open all day long). Alcoholic beverages could be purchased at the Conched Out Bar. However, the kids' favorite was definitely the ice cream machine - offering cookies n' cream soft ice cream...YUM!

If Disney built a hotel (or let me pitch a tent) on Castaway Cay, I would definitely vacation there for a week or more. For now, the only way to spend a day (or two) at Castaway Cay is to book your Disney Cruise Line® Bahamas or Caribbean cruise.

Contact your MouseEarVacations.com Travel Specialist to find the Disney cruise that's right for you!

 

[KSDisneyDad]

When we first started booking cruises, the TA gave us a significant discount over what we could book it for ourselves directly from Disney. After that first cruise, we found that the prices were identical. I think they changed how they did it, but our TA still gives us on-board credits above and beyond Disney. This cruise is a result of an on-board booking, so we're getting the first day discount, plus an additional percent off of that price and we're getting the Disney and TA credits. I don't know why, but I've always had good luck with our TA at getting a better overall deal.

We book our own Palo reservations and excursions as well as arrange for our own transportation to and from the port.

Stitch1313 -- Make sure to make that Palo brunch reservation at midnight EST on the 90 day mark exactly. The suites will have already taken some of the reservations, so there may not be as many left for the CC members. If you're not a CC member, I'm not sure that there will be much luck at securing a brunch reservation on the at-sea day, but there should be opportunity for an evening Palo meal. I don't think we'll be doing Palo on the 5-night cruise. It's a great meal, but we enjoy eating as a family in the main dining rooms.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Here are the check-in desks at the terminal:

 

[Stitch1313]

Hi Christopher,

I forgot to ask you to add my name, "Lisa" and "DF" following the Stitch1313 entry on the first post.

Thank you.

Lisa

 

[Stitch1313]

When we first started booking cruises, the TA gave us a significant discount over what we could book it for ourselves directly from Disney. After that first cruise, we found that the prices were identical. I think they changed how they did it, but our TA still gives us on-board credits above and beyond Disney. This cruise is a result of an on-board booking, so we're getting the first day discount, plus an additional percent off of that price and we're getting the Disney and TA credits. I don't know why, but I've always had good luck with our TA at getting a better overall deal.

We book our own Palo reservations and excursions as well as arrange for our own transportation to and from the port.

Stitch1313 -- Make sure to make that Palo brunch reservation at midnight EST on the 90 day mark exactly. The suites will have already taken some of the reservations, so there may not be as many left for the CC members. If you're not a CC member, I'm not sure that there will be much luck at securing a brunch reservation on the at-sea day, but there should be opportunity for an evening Palo meal. I don't think we'll be doing Palo on the 5-night cruise. It's a great meal, but we enjoy eating as a family in the main dining rooms.

Hi Christopher,

Would you please explain what is a "first day discount"?

I expect to book our Palo reservations and excursions myself as well. There is no doubt I am a control freak because I would worry if the TA was going to make the reservations on time. I think it will be easier on everyone if I just do it myself!

Thank you for the tip on making the Palo brunch reservation at midnight on the 90 day mark. I was planning to do it sometime during the day. I appreciate the heads up and have already added it to my cruise planning schedule.

I am looking forward to having a meal at Palo's this cruise in addition to the champagne brunch. We had one reserved for our April cruise, but cancelled it as it was the same night as our rotation at Animator's Palette.

You mentioned in a previous post that you generally stay on property and rent a car one-way to the port. Would you please tell me if you rent at the airport and keep overnight, or do you rent on property the day of the drive to the port?

I hope everyone is OK with me asking so many questions. Since this is only our second cruise, there is lots for me to learn yet. Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

[Stitch1313]

And for another question.... would someone tell me how to insert a photo in a post? I've tried to find the information without success. Thanks!

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Hi Christopher,

Would you please explain what is a "first day discount"?

I expect to book our Palo reservations and excursions myself as well. There is no doubt I am a control freak because I would worry if the TA was going to make the reservations on time. I think it will be easier on everyone if I just do it myself!

Thank you for the tip on making the Palo brunch reservation at midnight on the 90 day mark. I was planning to do it sometime during the day. I appreciate the heads up and have already added it to my cruise planning schedule.

I am looking forward to having a meal at Palo's this cruise in addition to the champagne brunch. We had one reserved for our April cruise, but cancelled it as it was the same night as our rotation at Animator's Palette.

You mentioned in a previous post that you generally stay on property and rent a car one-way to the port. Would you please tell me if you rent at the airport and keep overnight, or do you rent on property the day of the drive to the port?

I hope everyone is OK with me asking so many questions. Since this is only our second cruise, there is lots for me to learn yet. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Ask as many questions as you like. If no one here knows the answer, try asking on the main cruise boards. Just a warning -- don't ask about wearing shorts to the main dining rooms on the main boards!

When I said "first day discount", I was actually referring to the Tier I pricing that's generally available on the first day you can book. It is my understanding that Disney prices in Tiers. As they sell out of rooms, they raise the pricing Tiers. If you book a room early on the first day they become available, you generally pay the lowest price, especially for the more popular cruises. For example, I went on-line today and assuming we would get a 10% discount for transferring our on-board booking, the cost of our trip for the same exact category of staterooms has increased by over $700 since we booked it on the first day they became available!

The Palo brunch reservations for our last cruise were very difficult to get. Granted, there were more repeat guests on that cruise than any other Disney cruise to date! (I think around 2,100 CC members). We had no problem booking Palo brunches for prior cruises and we didn't call exactly at 90 days. These were on 7 night cruises in late September. I'm not sure how popular it will be on our cruise. To be safe, you can log-in to Disneycruise.com and make your reservation at midnight EST on the 90 day mark.

When we booked the rental car and stayed on-site, we just booked it at the airport through budget or dollar. They both have drop-off sites near the port. We kept the car overnight while at Disney but it was still less expensive for us. Granted, we have 5 of us and the Disney transfers are $69 roundtrip or $345 for our family. We can generally find two one-way minivan rentals for about $65 each way (or $130 roundtrip) using discount codes found at the mousesavers website. It is slightly more for keeping it overnight, but not much more. It saves us about $200 vs Disney transfers. For two of you, you can probably rent a mid-size for under $50 one-way. Not a lot of savings over Disney, but we like the flexibility of being able to arrive early at the port. If you use Disney transfers, you usually arrive after lunch.

 

[Tami0220]

And for another question.... would someone tell me how to insert a photo in a post? I've tried to find the information without success. Thanks!

You have to have 10 posts before you can insert a photo. So just send a few more and you will be able to post pics. If you still cant figure it out after 10 posts Christopher is a WEALTH of information and very helpful. He's helped me with many things.

PS Chris, I fax'd a wish request for the repo cruise....cant hurt right??

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Next June 2nd is our at-sea day!! It's got to be better than today's weather in Denver. We are at 50 degrees and rainy. We have warmer days in January! At least it's supposed to be back in the 80's in a couple of days.

Here's a good sea day picture. I hope that the ocean is as placid as this next year.

 

[4boons]

For the more experienced cruisers, can you tell me if there is a down side to transferring your onboard reservation to a travel company? The fact that they are giving me additional onboard credits for exactly what I've already agreed to pay does not make sense to me. What benefit do they get from my transferrring my reservation?

The travel agency gets a commission from Disney Cruise Line when they take over the reservation, so that's their motivation. To compensate you for giving them the business, they give you the onboard credit. We've done this successfully several times, but the downside is that once you transfer the reservation to a travel agent, you cannot use Disney Vacation Club points to pay for all/part of the cost of the cruise. You need to be sure you'll pay for the cruise with cash (vs. points) before transferring the reservation to a travel agent in order to get the additional onboard credit they're offering.

- Laura

 

[Stitch1313]

The travel agency gets a commission from Disney Cruise Line when they take over the reservation, so that's their motivation. To compensate you for giving them the business, they give you the onboard credit. We've done this successfully several times, but the downside is that once you transfer the reservation to a travel agent, you cannot use Disney Vacation Club points to pay for all/part of the cost of the cruise. You need to be sure you'll pay for the cruise with cash (vs. points) before transferring the reservation to a travel agent in order to get the additional onboard credit they're offering.

- Laura

Hi Laura,

Thank you for the information. That explains a lot. And especially thank you for the tip about using DVC for the cruise. Luckily, our next cruise is going to be paid in cash, so no worries. Which is good, cause I transferrred it yesterday to a DU to get the additional OBC. Hey, a little extra money means more souvenirs. In my case, that translates to more pins!

Are there any pin collectors (read as "fanatics") on this cruise?

Lisa

 

[Stitch1313]

Christopher,

Thank you for the explanation regarding the first day discount. Were you just lucky in being in the right place at the right time? Or did you plan it?

I think we may rent a car this time. On the April cruise, we used the DCL bus on the way to the port and got to the port around 1:30. I would like to be there earlier next time. Can you tell me what is the earliest you can board? I think it would be better to board as early as possible to get settled in, have some lunch, wander around, etc.

That reminds me, has anyone ever taken the ship walking tour? It sounds interesting. But, we didn't make it on the April cruise, so I'm planning for it again on this cruise.

Lisa

 

[KSDisneyDad]

The travel agency gets a commission from Disney Cruise Line when they take over the reservation, so that's their motivation. To compensate you for giving them the business, they give you the onboard credit. We've done this successfully several times, but the downside is that once you transfer the reservation to a travel agent, you cannot use Disney Vacation Club points to pay for all/part of the cost of the cruise. You need to be sure you'll pay for the cruise with cash (vs. points) before transferring the reservation to a travel agent in order to get the additional onboard credit they're offering.

- Laura

I've always wondered why Disney would pay a commission to a TA on the exact price they sell something to the general public through their website. It effectively encourages the use of TA's and maybe this is the intent. Don't get me wrong, our TA has been absolutely fantastic and I'm glad we use her, but it just seems odd that there are not price differences.

Christopher,

Thank you for the explanation regarding the first day discount. Were you just lucky in being in the right place at the right time? Or did you plan it?

I think we may rent a car this time. On the April cruise, we used the DCL bus on the way to the port and got to the port around 1:30. I would like to be there earlier next time. Can you tell me what is the earliest you can board? I think it would be better to board as early as possible to get settled in, have some lunch, wander around, etc.

That reminds me, has anyone ever taken the ship walking tour? It sounds interesting. But, we didn't make it on the April cruise, so I'm planning for it again on this cruise.

Lisa

For the first day, generally, Disney will announce about two weeks prior to opening up more dates the new itineraries. We knew about two weeks prior that on a certain date that the 2010 cruises would be eligible to be booked. I think most people wanted the Transatlantic, Med or Baltic cruises, so there wasn't as much activity on the 5-day Wonder cruises. Now for the Panama Canal cruise, the story was different as it sold out the first day. Others were able to book later due to cancellations.

The official boarding time is 1:00 p.m., but we've been able to board between 11:30 and noon. We try to show up at the terminal between 10 and 10:30 a.m. They hand out cards with a boarding number on it. Group #1 is for the Suites, so #2 is the first boarding group. Unfortunately, if you arrive early you can't settle into your stateroom early. If you have a carryon and board early, you will have to lug it around with you until they open up the staterooms (around 1:30, but sometimes earlier).

We haven't done the walking tour, but I thought about it on our last trip. We did do a galley tour and enjoyed it. We generally like to take it easy on sea days without any plans, so don't do a lot of the organized events including a Palo brunch.





TAMI -- You mentioned a fax for the Wonder's Panama Canal cruise in 2011. I don't know if it will do you any good unless you're trying to waitlist for a suite. They will announce the 2011 booking dates sometime later this year or early 2010 and once they do, be prepared to call in as soon as the lines open up on booking day. If you don't get a room, ask to be waitlisted. I know that's how several people got onto the Panama Canal cruise we were on. Unfortunately, some people hold more than one category of room on Day 1 as they decide what to do. Once deposits roll in a couple of days later, there is the first wave of cancellations. The next big wave is at the 90 day mark. On our meet thread for the EBPC cruise, someone would announce a new room being available every so often at random. We even spoke to a couple who had booked the cruise just two weeks prior to sailing. If you're persistent, I think you have a good chance at getting a room.

As a sidenote, when we booked the PC cruise, we were clueless. Our TA emailed us with the information about the Mexican Riveria and PC repo cruises. We talked about it and asked her to book two connecting rooms on the PC repo cruise. She did this for us on the day of booking. I never called in myself (evidently a lot of people called themseves just in case their TA couldn't book their room). It wasn't until months later that I realized how frustrating that day of booking was for everyone, and how fortunate we were to have connecting staterooms. We now use our TA for all of our Disney vacations.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Here's the cross section of the ship model in the terminal:

 

[Tami0220]

Hi Laura,

Thank you for the information. That explains a lot. And especially thank you for the tip about using DVC for the cruise. Luckily, our next cruise is going to be paid in cash, so no worries. Which is good, cause I transferrred it yesterday to a DU to get the additional OBC. Hey, a little extra money means more souvenirs. In my case, that translates to more pins!

Are there any pin collectors (read as "fanatics") on this cruise?

Lisa

If it's Chip n Dale, I'll probably be buying it!

 

[Stitch1313]

Laura,

Do you collect only Chip and Dale pins, or do you sometimes get special event pins, etc? I tend to buy mostly Stitch and special event pins (MVMCP, MNSSHP, PaP, FaW, year pins, etc.), but now that I've cruised, I'm branching out to include cruise pins. Woudl you go so far as to call yourself fanatic about pin trading and collecting? How many bags/albums do you think you have?

Lisa