5/31/11 -- Chilling on the Wonder

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

That is the same thing I told my dd Friday (April 1st) that we can now officially say we will be cruising NEXT month

Did she think it was an April Fools joke at first???

 

[auntlynne]

So glad I found this thread. I signed up to the Cruise Critic roll call for this cruise but there was hardly anything happening ... because everyone is here!

We're a family of four from Sydney (Australia), children are aged 10 and 6. This is our first DCL cruise and first visit to Alaska! My daughter's first visit to Canada/US (she was in my tummy six years ago when we were in Anaheim ). We'll be spending two weeks in Alberta before flying to Vancouver on May 31.

Staying at Pan Pacific for 2 nights post-cruise, before flying back to Sydney. I haven't looked through all the posts yet but will definitely do that. Have I missed out on discussions on what to do in Vancouver?

Sue

The thread for one of the earlier sailings in May has a really good set of links for Vancouver. There's also a thread with Vancouver FAQ on the DCL forum.

I think most Disney Cruise threads are over here vs. Cruise Critic.

WELCOME to the North America and the Final Frontier - whoops Last Frontier.

 

[shwarren70]

So glad I found this thread. I signed up to the Cruise Critic roll call for this cruise but there was hardly anything happening ... because everyone is here!

We're a family of four from Sydney (Australia), children are aged 10 and 6. This is our first DCL cruise and first visit to Alaska! My daughter's first visit to Canada/US (she was in my tummy six years ago when we were in Anaheim ). We'll be spending two weeks in Alberta before flying to Vancouver on May 31.

Staying at Pan Pacific for 2 nights post-cruise, before flying back to Sydney. I haven't looked through all the posts yet but will definitely do that. Have I missed out on discussions on what to do in Vancouver?

Sue

Welcome to the cruise! Oh, and by the way, I LOVE your country. We just returned in February from a visit to Sydney and then out to Hayman Island. It was BEAUTIFUL!

Stephanie

 

[sydney_downunder]

Welcome to the cruise! Oh, and by the way, I LOVE your country. We just returned in February from a visit to Sydney and then out to Hayman Island. It was BEAUTIFUL!

Stephanie

Thank you for making me feel very welcome

@ Lynne, thanks for your suggestion of the Vancouver thread, it's a great resource.

@ Stephanie, yes Australia (our adopted country for 20 yrs now, originally from Hong Kong) is pretty neat. Hayman Island is absolutely beautiful - I haven't been but have seen enough pictures of the resort. I hope you missed the two nasty cyclones?

We're so looking forward to Alaska - there are too many beautiful places in the world!

My kids have always enjoyed kids' club (HAL and P&O), but it sounds like Oceaneer Lab is absolutely fantastic. I'm excited on their behalf! Can anyone tell me if they ever get "full" - can they always cater for all the kids who want to join the activities they have on?

Sue

 

[famviramontes]

It is getting so close but yet so far away. After having beautiful weather we are headed up north into some rain. Checking out our rain gear again. I have a check list of things that have to happen before we leave and just checked another one off. I have all my FE's planned but need to get it together. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week.

 

[shwarren70]

@ Stephanie, yes Australia (our adopted country for 20 yrs now, originally from Hong Kong) is pretty neat. Hayman Island is absolutely beautiful - I haven't been but have seen enough pictures of the resort. I hope you missed the two nasty cyclones?


Sue

We arrived after the cyclones, but the last day of that major heat wave. The first day we were there it was in the upper 90's, and then the rest of the week was in the low to mid 70s. Perfect!

 

[auntlynne]

...My kids have always enjoyed kids' club (HAL and P&O), but it sounds like Oceaneer Lab is absolutely fantastic. I'm excited on their behalf! Can anyone tell me if they ever get "full" - can they always cater for all the kids who want to join the activities they have on?

Sue

Based on:

(1) School is still in session in most places in the States during our cruise.

(2) We were not part of the Kids Sail Free offers, were we?

I would not expect the kids' clubs to be anywhere near capacity. I also believe they limit stateroom bookings based on kids' ages (forgive me if I am wrong on this one).

If anyone needs to correct any of this, I won't be offended.

 

[adnil530]

Based on:

(1) School is still in session in most places in the States during our cruise.

(2) We were not part of the Kids Sail Free offers, were we?

I would not expect the kids' clubs to be anywhere near capacity. I also believe they limit stateroom bookings based on kids' ages (forgive me if I am wrong on this one).

If anyone needs to correct any of this, I won't be offended.

Hi Lynne,

Correct, a lot of the schools will still be in session with most starting after the Labor Day Holiday. We are lucky that our schools start mid-August and we are out by May 26! We will be on the road before sunrise on the 27th!

Our cruise was included in the KSF offer. The offer was good on sailings through June 7. I think there were a few of us up here who transferred our bookings just for the KSF offer. I know it worked out very well for us time wise and saved us some big $$$'s. But like you, I don't think the clubs will be overcrowded.

I do think that Disney does limit the kids on their sailings. A few weeks ago, there was not availability on our December cruise for 2 Adults/2 kids but there was availability for 4 adults When I went to book the October 2010 Halloween Cruise, there watr no rooms at all. I ended up calling Disney and they had to clear their cache and release rooms. Apparently, when a room gets selected online, it goes into some sort of a cache and some get stuck in there sometimes. Well a supervisor cleared that cache out and that's the only way we got a room on that cruise. Just a tidbit of info in case you ever try to book a cruise and it appears full, Disney may be able to find a room for you

 

[smb6]

Did she think it was an April Fools joke at first???

No, she knew I was serious since we have been counting down the days

Based on:

(1) School is still in session in most places in the States during our cruise.

(2) We were not part of the Kids Sail Free offers, were we?

I would not expect the kids' clubs to be anywhere near capacity. I also believe they limit stateroom bookings based on kids' ages (forgive me if I am wrong on this one).

If anyone needs to correct any of this, I won't be offended.

Like another poster mentioned, we WERE part of the KSF offer (DCL refunded me a good chunk of change as a result). But I'm still hoping it is early enough in the season that the kids clubs won't be too filled with kids since you are definately right that most schools will not be out yet, we get out on the 20th- I had originally considered the 5/24 sailing but decided a week to get ready would be nice since I work in the schools also

 

[rebeccak971]

So glad I found this thread. I signed up to the Cruise Critic roll call for this cruise but there was hardly anything happening ... because everyone is here!

We're a family of four from Sydney (Australia), children are aged 10 and 6. This is our first DCL cruise and first visit to Alaska! My daughter's first visit to Canada/US (she was in my tummy six years ago when we were in Anaheim ). We'll be spending two weeks in Alberta before flying to Vancouver on May 31.

Staying at Pan Pacific for 2 nights post-cruise, before flying back to Sydney. I haven't looked through all the posts yet but will definitely do that. Have I missed out on discussions on what to do in Vancouver?

Sue

Yay! Another Aussie family - welcome Sue! Myself, hubby and dd4 will be jetting over from our hometown of Adelaide for our first Disney Cruise also! Is it just me, or is Disney Cruise Line somewhat of an unknown phenomenon here in Australia? Everyone that I mention our upcoming cruise to have never heard of DCL!

 

[rebeccak971]

So glad I found this thread. I signed up to the Cruise Critic roll call for this cruise but there was hardly anything happening ... because everyone is here!

We're a family of four from Sydney (Australia), children are aged 10 and 6. This is our first DCL cruise and first visit to Alaska! My daughter's first visit to Canada/US (she was in my tummy six years ago when we were in Anaheim ). We'll be spending two weeks in Alberta before flying to Vancouver on May 31.

Staying at Pan Pacific for 2 nights post-cruise, before flying back to Sydney. I haven't looked through all the posts yet but will definitely do that. Have I missed out on discussions on what to do in Vancouver?

Sue

Ooops - double post

 

[sydney_downunder]

Yay! Another Aussie family - welcome Sue! Myself, hubby and dd4 will be jetting over from our hometown of Adelaide for our first Disney Cruise also! Is it just me, or is Disney Cruise Line somewhat of an unknown phenomenon here in Australia? Everyone that I mention our upcoming cruise to have never heard of DCL!

Hi there! We just had a holiday in Kangaroo Island and Adelaide - we had a great time and we really loved Adelaide! Can you bring some coffee beans, German sausages, and mushrooms from the Central Market???

You're right, not many people here have heard of DCL, probably because Princess, Holland American, Royal Carribean have a presence in the Asia-Pacific market but not DCL? I'm sure your DD4 will love it - Disney is absolutely magical for that age group isn't it? My kids are a bit older but they are still very very excited.

Tipping is something I'll have to get used to. I have tried to educate myself by reading lots of posts on this subject - it's so different in North America!

Sue

 

[auntlynne]

I have a feeling a lot of people here in the States are not aware, but restaurants do not fall under the same rules for minimum wage. Waiters are supposed to get the minimum $7.25/hour, but the employer only has to contribute $2.13. However, if the employee does not receive tips to reach minimum wage, the employer is supposed to make up the difference.

We don't have service charges on our bills/checks, either.

It is standard and customary to tip 15%, more for better service, and supposedly less for lackluster/inattentive.

On the cruise, if you order a drink from a bar or wine with your meal, you will have an automatic 15% included. This includes canned soda if delivered with room service or from the bar. I think most cruisers tip a few dollars to those delivering the free food from room service.

The suggested tips for servers and stateroom hosts/housekeeping on DCL works out to $12 pp per day, so $84 pp for the cruise.

They also work under different rules for wages. An article in the Honolulu paper last year explained how they earn about $50/month. Everything else is earned from tips.

 

[sydney_downunder]

It is standard and customary to tip 15%, more for better service, and supposedly less for lackluster/inattentive.

Yes that's what I gathered. Don't get me wrong, Australians do tip at restaurants too, but perhaps not as a "standard" practice, and 10% seems the usual amount. Tour guides etc do not get a tip. But, like you said, the two countries must have different regulations about minimum wages in the hospitality/travel industry. I don't have a problem with it - just want to be informed and prepared so I don't offend anyone!

On a different note, when I logged on to my reservation on the Disney site today I was told that I had an outstanding payment to make (when in fact I had paid in full, was sent a confirmation, and was able to book Palo and everything else). I thought I'd give them a couple of days to sort out their accounting system before contacting them. Has this happened to anyone else?

Sue

 

[docbrown]

On a different note, when I logged on to my reservation on the Disney site today I was told that I had an outstanding payment to make (when in fact I had paid in full, was sent a confirmation, and was able to book Palo and everything else). I thought I'd give them a couple of days to sort out their accounting system before contacting them. Has this happened to anyone else?

Sue

I actually found a credit of $ 187 on my credit card bill from DCL for this cruise. not sure for what but I won't argue with them.

 

[auntlynne]

I got a phone call from DCL about 2 days ago - saying they had refunded money but that they had refunded too much and would be charging me for the difference. So I'll see both a credit on my card and then another charge.

It was an automated call and didn't say what it was for - could be either fuel or an increased port charge they are passing on.

 

[smb6]

I was just refunded $150 from DCL a few days a go... I wasn't sure what it was for; but I hope they are not going to call asking for it back like they did you? Mine was 3 seperate credits totalling $150

 

[4boons]

I got a phone call from DCL about 2 days ago - saying they had refunded money but that they had refunded too much and would be charging me for the difference. So I'll see both a credit on my card and then another charge.

It was an automated call and didn't say what it was for - could be either fuel or an increased port charge they are passing on.

We received the same call

 

[rebeccak971]

Yes that's what I gathered. Don't get me wrong, Australians do tip at restaurants too, but perhaps not as a "standard" practice, and 10% seems the usual amount. Tour guides etc do not get a tip. But, like you said, the two countries must have different regulations about minimum wages in the hospitality/travel industry. I don't have a problem with it - just want to be informed and prepared so I don't offend anyone!

On a different note, when I logged on to my reservation on the Disney site today I was told that I had an outstanding payment to make (when in fact I had paid in full, was sent a confirmation, and was able to book Palo and everything else). I thought I'd give them a couple of days to sort out their accounting system before contacting them. Has this happened to anyone else?

Sue

You're right Sue, the whole etiquette around tipping takes some getting used to! I don't have a problem with it all either considering how low the wages are, but like you say, it can be a bit confusing about who to tip, how much and when...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has an outstanding payment that has suddenly popped up...my online reservation now says that I owe $118.41. I sent Disney an email a few days ago questioning this, but haven't heard back yet.

 

[auntlynne]

You're right Sue, the whole etiquette around tipping takes some getting used to! I don't have a problem with it all either considering how low the wages are, but like you say, it can be a bit confusing about who to tip, how much and when...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has an outstanding payment that has suddenly popped up...my online reservation now says that I owe $118.41. I sent Disney an email a few days ago questioning this, but haven't heard back yet.

Oh, I gave you information why we needed to tip, not whom. I am never quite sure, either. Tour guides, bell hops, etc... the question for me is always what is an appropriate amount? I don't want to be stingy - obviously this is how they make a living and here I am on vacation, having spent a chunk of money for fun (even if I am trying to do it cheaply), and some of them would never get this type of opportunity. But some of them make WAY more than I ever have on an hourly basis (I have worked as an RN, making a better-than-decent living). I know some of the guys who do tree cutting, etc., charge multiple hundreds of dollars and work for only an hour or two.
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My reservation information is in the hands of my TA, so I probably owe money to DCL and don't know it yet.