6/13/2009 Western on Magic

[Paula13]

Wow, Fran.. your son doesn't know about the cruise! I would never be able to keep that from my DD. It is ALL I talk about!

 

[Morgey24]

Wow, Fran.. your son doesn't know about the cruise! I would never be able to keep that from my DD. It is ALL I talk about!

LOL. Me, too!!! I am WAY more excited than DD. Each time I book a cruise I promise myself that I'll keep it a secret and I never can. Heck, I can't even keep of this board.. keep checking it for updates and my ressie for cabin assignment!

 

[DisneyBaby2004]

Wow, Fran.. your son doesn't know about the cruise! I would never be able to keep that from my DD. It is ALL I talk about!

Fran - have you thought about when you are going to tell him? My kids don't know either They love surprises and always wants me to surprise them. I am trying to figure out when to tell them. I am thinking the morning we leave because the week before is DD's 10th birthday party and I want her to savor that excitement. This is her first party.

 

[Paula13]

LOL. Me, too!!! I am WAY more excited than DD. Each time I book a cruise I promise myself that I'll keep it a secret and I never can. Heck, I can't even keep of this board.. keep checking it for updates and my ressie for cabin assignment!

I know the feeling

 

[SUZCRUISE]

Wow, Fran.. your son doesn't know about the cruise! I would never be able to keep that from my DD. It is ALL I talk about!

I have you all know that I kept the cruise a secret from my children....

from the time I booked it all the way to the time they got home from school

 

[Paula13]

I have you all know that I kept the cruise a secret from my children....

from the time I booked it all the way to the time they got home from school

LOL..too funny. That is what I would have done

 

[Texas Disney Fan]

Wow, Fran.. your son doesn't know about the cruise! I would never be able to keep that from my DD. It is ALL I talk about!

Actually Ben is my DH. Ok here is the news. Just before lunch, I had an email from my TA. DCL offered us an upgrade from a CAT 6 to CAT 4 for a small fee. I took it. (If you look online the price difference would be about $2,700) (so now there is another CAT 6 up for grabs)

My TA said that DCL gave her 24 hours for us to make a decision. So, that is why I think the assignments will be coming out probably tomorrow.

 

[Paula13]

Actually Ben is my DH. Ok here is the news. Just before lunch, I had an email from my TA. DCL offered us an upgrade from a CAT 6 to CAT 4 for a small fee. I took it. (If you look online the price difference would be about $2,700) (so now there is another CAT 6 up for grabs)

My TA said that DCL gave her 24 hours for us to make a decision. So, that is why I think the assignments will be coming out probably tomorrow.

Wow! That is great! Sorry about that, I thought Ben was you DS I would NEVER be able to keep it from DH.

 

[Texas Disney Fan]

Wow! That is great! Sorry about that, I thought Ben was you DS I would NEVER be able to keep it from DH.

Yea. I just had not been able to talk to Ben about the upgrade. He had a minute a little bit ago and call me. He is excited. We are right next door to the Roy O Suite. Maybe we will be able to sneak a peek.

 

[Texas Disney Fan]

Fran - have you thought about when you are going to tell him? My kids don't know either They love surprises and always wants me to surprise them. I am trying to figure out when to tell them. I am thinking the morning we leave because the week before is DD's 10th birthday party and I want her to savor that excitement. This is her first party.

In December, we surprised Rob (DS) with a weekend trip to Disney for the Christmas lights and stuff.

What we did, we had all of our bags packed and in the car. When he got home from school we told him to get in the car because we had a few errands to run. He did not pay attention to the drive because he was playing his DS. Once we got to the airport he started figuring it out. We made him guess where we were going. He was very surprised and loved being surprised.

Good luck.

 

[nikkistevej]

Yea. I just had not been able to talk to Ben about the upgrade. He had a minute a little bit ago and call me. He is excited. We are right next door to the Roy O Suite. Maybe we will be able to sneak a peek.

That's awesome!!!! I hope they come out soon!! Will I find out from my TA or will it be on my cruise ressie on the DCL website?

 

[nikkistevej]

In December, we surprised Rob (DS) with a weekend trip to Disney for the Christmas lights and stuff.

What we did, we had all of our bags packed and in the car. When he got home from school we told him to get in the car because we had a few errands to run. He did not pay attention to the drive because he was playing his DS. Once we got to the airport he started figuring it out. We made him guess where we were going. He was very surprised and loved being surprised.

Good luck.

That sounds awesome!!! I wish we could surprise Jordan, but Steve cannot keep secrets!!!

 

[triplefigs]

I think they are coming. It maybe tomorrow. I just got an email from my TA about our room. I will post more later once it is confirmed. (Ben does not even know yet.)

That is just cruel to tease us! But I see you got a good upgrade!!! congrats!

 

[triplefigs]

We surprised the kids with our trip last April. They knew we were going, but thought we were leaving on a Sunday. So the packing made sense, suitcases, etc (hard to hide from them). We went to their school on Friday and checked them out early (school new we were going). When we got to the van and they saw all the stuff, we told them we were leaving right then to go to WDW and would be at the CR that night watching the fireworks from our balcony! Talk about 3 freaked out, excited kids (and 1 darn happy mom and dad!). It was great!!!

I would love to completely surprise them, but I can't figure out how I would pack all those suitcases without them seeing.

 

[Texas Disney Fan]

That's awesome!!!! I hope they come out soon!! Will I find out from my TA or will it be on my cruise ressie on the DCL website?

I guess it depends on the TA. It should show on the website. I have not been able to pull up my account, I think because it is being updated. When I get home, I am going to try again.

 

[nikkistevej]

I guess it depends on the TA. It should show on the website. I have not been able to pull up my account, I think because it is being updated. When I get home, I am going to try again.

I just called her and left a VM- and just said I was wondering when I would find out all of the info- because I had never booked a Cat12 before.

I also went out on my lunch break and got some clothes for the cruise!!

 

[triplefigs]

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3196

Cruise Lines Cancel Mexico Calls Due to Swine Flu

Update, 12:25 p.m. EDT: Sapphire Princess and Coral Princess also avoided Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas today, respectively, according to a company spokeswoman. Sapphire Princess' Mexico ports will be replaced with calls on San Diego and Catalina.

(11:10 a.m. EDT) -- As people around the world become increasingly concerned about the swine flu outbreak in Mexico, the first round of port call cancellations has begun.

This morning, a U.K.-based spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Lines confirmed that three Carnival ships will skip Mexico port calls today. Carnival Inspiration and Carnival's Holiday were due in Cozumel while Carnival Elation was scheduled to visit Ensenada today. Carnival Paradise will also skip a call in Ensenada tomorrow. We're still awaiting further details on swine flu-related itinerary changes, which we're told will be issued at 5 p.m. EDT.

Also, Holland America has posted on its Web site that Ryndam will skip a scheduled call at Mazatlan today. The announcement says, "We hope to have clarification from the CDC during the day Tuesday, April 27, at which time we will advise regarding the remaining port calls on ships cruising Mexico." And in the U.K., Fred. Olsen has said that Balmoral will skip a call on Acapulco next week (the ship will have an extended stay in San Diego and an extra port -- Costa Rica's Puntarenas -- has been added).

At press time, we have not received new information from other cruise lines in the area, which include Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, NCL and Princess Cruises.

As we reported yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S. and the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office have issued travel warnings advising citizens against nonessential travel to Mexico. The U.S. Department of State issued a similar travel alert, urging citizens to follow the guidelines put forth by the CDC.

We do not know at this time whether cruise lines will relax cancelation policies for those who may be ill or fear becoming ill. Also, there have been no reports thus far of compensation due to the missed port calls.

There are 26 laboratory confirmed cases of swine flu in Mexico, according to the World Health Organization, though the number of suspected cases is much higher. There are 40 laboratory confirmed cases in the U.S., according to the CDC's Web site, and two in the U.K., according to various media outlets. To date, there have been no swine flu-related deaths outside of Mexico, where the suspected death toll is nearly 150.

We'll keep you posted.

--by Melissa Baldwin Paloti, Managing Editor

 

[DisneyBaby2004]

Another thing is they offer free tickets to the Turtle Farm. That seems like an added bonus. I am thinking that those reservations may book up quickly with the worry about Mexico.

 

[nikkistevej]

Another thing is they offer free tickets to the Turtle Farm. That seems like an added bonus. I am thinking that those reservations may book up quickly with the worry about Mexico.

I'm a little concerned about booking that too, because I'm wondering if they will change the itinerary altogether- and we might even go on a different day. We may not go to either port, if I cancel I may cancel the whole thing and not rebook. I also may book through DCL- just in case. It also may be a good idea for us to look at other ports and see what excursions we might want to do- just in case they change itineraries at the last minute. Then we wouldn't have to figure it out along with everyone else on the ship.

 

[triplefigs]

I'm a little concerned about booking that too, because I'm wondering if they will change the itinerary altogether- and we might even go on a different day. We may not go to either port, if I cancel I may cancel the whole thing and not rebook. I also may book through DCL- just in case. It also may be a good idea for us to look at other ports and see what excursions we might want to do- just in case they change itineraries at the last minute. Then we wouldn't have to figure it out along with everyone else on the ship.

I mentioned changing it to DH. He said the 10% would only be $24, so he wants to just wait until 5 days and see how the flu is going, etc. We will just cancel outright if need be and stay on ship if we go to Cozumel. I agree that who knows what ports and when we'll go, so I'm leaving everything else as is (booked thru DCL).