8/17/08 Captain Jack's Repossession Repo Cruise to PC thru TPC Part 15

[Sarangel]

OK... I'd been meaning to send a letter since the booking, since I thought DCL handled it so badly. For anyone interested:

Dear Sirs:

My family and intend to sail on the August 2008 Panama Canal repositioning cruise. I am sorry to report that we are distressed by the way your company has handled both this cruise and our sister repositioning cruise.

There should have been no question in your minds (based on the 2005 experience) that these cruises would generate high demand, yet you released their reservations on the same day as you released the remainder of the west coast cruises and the holiday 2008 cruises – both of which are also high demand cruises. This resulted in many people on hold for quite literally hours to make their reservations. Why did you not think to stagger your release dates?

To add insult to injury, when I was finally able to get through after beginning my calling at 3:59AM, it was to find that the pricing had gone up considerably and that I would not be allowed to pick a room. To the best of my knowledge, our reservation is still a GTY 10. Had I been able to choose a room, I would have paid for a Category 9. Because of your system for transferring reservations (as I was doing, having booked onboard our September 2006 cruise), I was unable to even attempt to book my fare by logging on to the website. I feel now that had I done so at 3:59AM PDT, I would have received a better fare and been able to choose a cabin.

I don’t understand why you chose to treat your most loyal customers in this manner. Many of the Disney Fans I know, including myself, are heavily invested in the company - holding Annual Passes at one or both sets of parks, owning DVC, regularly purchasing the films on DVD. Do you really take us so completely for granted?

And now there appears to be double taxation for our passage through the Panama Canal.

Many of my fellow cruisers have spoken with the Panama Canal Authority and read information on their website explaining the new transit tax. The consensus seems to be that the $100 per berth charge "is in place of and not in addition to" the fee we already paid for canal transit when we first booked the cruise on January 31, 2007.

By imposing the new tax model and the old tax model you seem to be charging us twice for the transit tax. It is clear in my mind, and that of many of my fellow cruisers, that the fare quoted on January 31, 2007 included the Panama Canal transit and the new tax is in place of the old. I contend that we should be paying the difference between the two fees and not the entire $100 per berth as called for in the new tax structure.

There are hundreds of passengers on these two cruises that are upset at Disney Cruise Line and for the moment it appears you have chosen not to address this issue and continue to deflect any questions in regard to this issue. I have not bothered calling your call center because so many of my fellow cruisers have only to be met with scripted non-answers. Please let me know why you have really raised my fare by $300.00 and what you intend to do about it.

Feel free to pirate as needed. I took Jeff's & tweaked it to my concerns and language.

 

[PMDR59]

OK - this isn't DIS related, cruise related or even panama canal related!

Has anyone here built a deck in the last few years? If so, did you use wood (ie cedar) or composite (ie trex, ChoiceTec, etc) decking? We are about to build an all new deck and would love some first hand opinions. DH usually tends to the traditional and is leaning toward cedar, but the idea of not having to stain/sealcoat and all the other maintance also sounds good. Composite, of course, costs quite a bit more, but if it lasts longer with less effort it could be worth it. Anyone have any thoughts or opinions?

Pamela (pdarrah)

We had a deck installed last summer. Its none of the above. Well the frame is pressure treated of course. The decking itself is vinyl. They are about 1ft wide planks that interlock into each other. Molded into it is a grain design (like you would see in wood) this helps prevent slippage when wet.

If I get a chance I'll take pics and post them for you.

 

[captaincrash]

OK, I'm finally able to get ketched up again.

I talked to my mom this afternoon. She is doing OK, still shook up a bit and she said her knee is quite swollen and turning black and blue already. I told her to go to the hospital to get it looked at, but she is stubborn and won't go, she insists she is fine. I know she will be feeling different in the morning.

My mom already had a rental car and is waiting for the insurance adjuster to come out to look her car over. The man who towed the car said as far as he is concerned it is a total loss. My mom might a have another car already lined up to buy once she gets a check from the insurance company. At least she doesn't waste any time.

The fellow that hit my mom was issued two tickets, he started giving one of the officers some mouth, and the officer told him, "Young fellow, you better take your tickets and leave, or you will be going with me, in the back of my car." My mom said with that, the guy left.

Arlene-my mom is back in Florida, the accident happened on 44 between Tavares and Deland. My mom was on her way to see her new grandbaby when the accident happened.

Just passing through as I check over all kinds of things - I'm on my FILs' computer - and here in Waikiki they have a dozen plus wifi gateways - all secured (duh) and one huge public netwrok available for a fee. Of course, I can surf free while I'm here - so I'll go the free route.

At any rate, ANDY - I am so glad to hear your Mom appears OK. ANd I am glad they cited the other driver. When I was hit (while on a bike) the guy who hit me had struck another car a couple weeks earlier. And the police let the guy go - no ticket and he had no insurance. I guess my rights on a bicycle are not as great as if I were in a car. I had been riding in a charitable fund raiser for MS and for my trouble I ended up with a broken hip and wrist + a nice bike was mostly scrap.

At any rate - I hope things turn out OK.

Here in Honolulu it's beautiful. The news around here appears to be ... looking up and GOOD. Or at least so far so good. So we're all pretty happy to be here right now. I'm waiting to wander back to my hotel and check in. It's cheaper looking then I feared but still nice enough to be a value. It is technically ocean front in a pretty good location.

So - we'll all pretty relaxed here - the weather is beautiful if not a touch humid - and I am totally exhausted. The flight attendant was excessively pithy and I could not understand why? We ha done nothing to earn her pity attitude... and I noted her treating others the same way. Mosty we have uniformly good service and I am really not the complaining sort - but after continuing conduct from her and a spilled beerage on me which I could have sworn was ... intentional - I called the purser over. I explained I was NOT complaining - but I like UAL and fly them all the time - and that I felt OTHER passengers might be noticing the pithy flight attendants' conduct. At that point the purser said this flight attendant showed up LATE for work and in thier business that was a serious fault - and as a result had already been somber and pithy with THEM. But to let it carry over with passengers was not to be tolerated.

I went on to say I was NOT complaining - but felt they should know. And at that point the purser aasked if I would fill out a complaint form - and that it would entitle me to a flight voucher of some sort. So I agreed to fill a form out but asked if it would harm the pithy flight attendant - cuz if it did I would NOT sign it. She insisten it would be left as a courtesy correction to benefit me - and that the pithy person would be handled quietly and it would not directly bring ham or professional damage to her. That satisfied me.

So my flight was otherwise a nice flight. We packed on tons of food. We had sauteed shrimps and veggies from a restuarant, plus I had garlic seasoned ground turkey with spaghetto-Os (my special experiment of the day), and the kids had roast beef sandwiches (home made). The lady next to Alicia brought aboard some take out breakfast fare - but commented she would like to offer a trade. <chuckles>

So... anyways - tomorrow we might go catch Shrek 3 at the $1 theater over by Ward Center - and then in the late afternoon we'll possibly hook up with cousins who are coaching a HYSO Soccor team. Alicia is a volunteer AYSO soccor coach and she wants some tips and ideas on how to be a good coach - and this particular cousin is one of our closest ones.

Anyways - so much for the short "drive by" posting. I gotta go now as we're gonna go back to ur hotel to check in and REST some before we hook upagain for dinner and maybe hit the beach. Not in that particular order though.

All I kno though is I'm very HAPPY to be here since things are going so well...

Hope everyone is well... Adios ...!

 

[micmse2003]

OK, I'm finally able to get ketched up again.

I talked to my mom this afternoon. She is doing OK, still shook up a bit and she said her knee is quite swollen and turning black and blue already. I told her to go to the hospital to get it looked at, but she is stubborn and won't go, she insists she is fine. I know she will be feeling different in the morning.

My mom already had a rental car and is waiting for the insurance adjuster to come out to look her car over. The man who towed the car said as far as he is concerned it is a total loss. My mom might a have another car already lined up to buy once she gets a check from the insurance company. At least she doesn't waste any time.

The fellow that hit my mom was issued two tickets, he started giving one of the officers some mouth, and the officer told him, "Young fellow, you better take your tickets and leave, or you will be going with me, in the back of my car." My mom said with that, the guy left.

Arlene-my mom is back in Florida, the accident happened on 44 between Tavares and Deland. My mom was on her way to see her new grandbaby when the accident happened.

I am glad to hear your mom just has suffered bruises. I guess mothers can have a stubborn streak just like there sons. She sounds like a no nonsense person!!!!!

How are you feeling?????? Does the heat make it worse??? We are having the next 7 days in the 90's. I think it is coming your way.

 

[pdarrah]

We had a deck installed last summer. Its none of the above. Well the frame is pressure treated of course. The decking itself is vinyl. They are about 1ft wide planks that interlock into each other. Molded into it is a grain design (like you would see in wood) this helps prevent slippage when wet.

If I get a chance I'll take pics and post them for you.

Thank you to all who have commented on the deck ideas! DH looked at vinyl, but he liked the look of composite better - so he has narrowed it down to cedar or composite.

I've decided I don't really care as long as the darn deck just gets built! He has been planning and prepping for it for nearly 2 years. Last year he bought the gazebo that will be attached to it and the pieces for that have been in the garage ever since. I really want an outdoor space where we can relax!

Pamela (pdarrah)

 

[Grandma4ever]

I've been watching the NEWS and hope that anyone from or who have family in Minneapolis Minn are OK. For those who don't know there has been a major bidge collape over the Mississippi River. There are at least 50 cars in the water and at least 3 dead. I was alerted to this because my partner's Aunt and Uncle live in the city and use that route to travel. Her Uncle went over at 4PM and her aunt was on the bridge about 5 min before it went down.

Everyone has my prayers. Lois

 

[Sarah's Dad]

Thank you to all who have commented on the deck ideas! DH looked at vinyl, but he liked the look of composite better - so he has narrowed it down to cedar or composite.

I've decided I don't really care as long as the darn deck just gets built! He has been planning and prepping for it for nearly 2 years. Last year he bought the gazebo that will be attached to it and the pieces for that have been in the garage ever since. I really want an outdoor space where we can relax!

Pamela (pdarrah)

That is funny; I must have missed the other posts on this subject, I am about to do the same. We just had an in-the-ground pool installed and I am "researching" decking options. We want to build a ground-level boardwalk type deck within the fenced in area 60' x 40' around a 32' kind of oval pool.

I am learning towards composite mostly because I will spend the extra money now to reduce maintenance costs and "elbow grease" far down the road.

Although I will probably go composite there are a couple of things I have noticed that can be problems.

1. Composites don't absorb water so depending on the pattern they can be slippery after a rain.
2. A composite deck with a lot of exposure to the sun can retain heat and burn your feet. Lighter colors can help, but long sun exposure will heat up any plastic, vinyl, or composite deck so be aware of the amount of sun the deck will be exposed to. You can pick up samples and leave them outside to test the temperature before building an entire deck.

Good luck.

P.S. I hope to start this fall.

 

[Verandah Man]

I am glad to hear your mom just has suffered bruises. I guess mothers can have a stubborn streak just like there sons. She sounds like a no nonsense person!!!!!

How are you feeling?????? Does the heat make it worse??? We are having the next 7 days in the 90's. I think it is coming your way.

I'm doing OK, and yes, the 90's are already here and will be for many more days, the forecast for the next two days are 95* and 96* with the index in the 100's. Still beats the -20* though..........

I don't really care what the temps get into over the weekend, because I will be indoors.........

Yea, I guess you can see where I get my stubborness from..........

 

[kaceyisme]

Hi all! I've only posted once on this very long thread - - I really can't keep up! I wanted to let anyone who might be interested in knowing that you can now make reservations for the hotels at the Disneyland Resort for pre-cruise. They just started taking reservations this evening! I just booked two rooms at the Disneyland Hotel. Wow - super expensive, but what else is new with this whole vacation!

 

[MrsScooby]

I'm in shock right now and could use your prayers, pixie dust, or whatever you believe in. My son was just diagnosed with moderate to severe hearing loss. It seems to be progressive and they are not sure when or if he will lose his hearing completely. We've got an appointment later this week to begin getting him hearing aids, an appointment next week with the ENT doc to try to determine the cause, and trying to get an appointment for genetic testing. We're trying to get all this done before I leave in 2 weeks.

It's all so overwhelming. I flucuate between being concerned about the cost since my medical doesn't cover hearing aids, the timing of trying to get things in place before I leave so that he can be ready to start school while I'm going, to the quality of life impacts for him.

I've noticed over the last few years that he would have the TV up rather loudly and that I would have to repeat things to him. But I passed it off and ST behavior, more of a listening issue than a hearing issue. But last month he asked to get a hearing test done. They started us out with his pediatrian and when they noticed some abnormalities in his test, they referred us to an audiologist. His hearing is about the same in both ears, but way below the average.

I have to give the audiologist credit though. When explaining that he needed hearing aids, she made it sound so cool with all the gadgets he'd be able to get. Such as special plugs for TV and iPods. And there's a device that the school has to provide that is a microphone that the teacher wears and it feeds directly into the hearing aid. My son hasn't complained at all yet about having to wear them. Especially after she told him he could get special designs on them.....get this, her example.....a skull and crossbones


I'm slipping into the 'why me' mode this afternoon and that is not a place I want to be. I haven't had a chance yet to have a good cry, pour into the research or do anything productive. I had to get back to work after the appointment. I just feel that I'm going to crash and burn tonight but I need to stay positive for my son.

Wow, I wish I knew what to say. I'm in the process of losing my hearing as well so I don't want to belittle the process. It really is painful to miss out on things, but the new technology is really cool
Have that cry when your son won't know (that release feels good ) and you'll be fine from there

 

[darthrugby]

I'm doing OK, and yes, the 90's are already here and will be for many more days, the forecast for the next two days are 95* and 96* with the index in the 100's. Still beats the -20* though..........

I don't really care what the temps get into over the weekend, because I will be indoors.........

Yea, I guess you can see where I get my stubborness from..........

Andy,

I hope your Mom is doing OK. I know she has the sense to go to have her injuries checked.

Please say hello from us and please give our regards to Hazel and Angelina.

Peter and Johnna

 

[darthrugby]

Yankees DIS mini-meet

Hope everyone is as excited as we are. We can't wait to see you all. Maybe Alex Rodriguez will hold out and hit his 500th home run this Saturday.

Paula, Lorri, Sil, see you guys this Saturday. We will be there early to see monument park in the stadium.

Paula hope you have a good flight. Let me know if you need anything.

 

[arlenesp]

Yankees DIS mini-meet

Hope everyone is as excited as we are. We can't wait to see you all. Maybe Alex Rodriguez will hold out and hit his 500th home run this Saturday.

Paula, Lorri, Sil, see you guys this Saturday. We will be there early to see monument park in the stadium.

Paula hope you have a good flight. Let me know if you need anything.

I'm sure Rich will be watching the game as well. Maybe we will see ya'll

 

[darthrugby]

I'm sure Rich will be watching the game as well. Maybe we will see ya'll

Hi Arlene,

We'll be making a lot of noise on the upper deck over right field!

 

[Grandma x3]

Yankees DIS mini-meet

Hope everyone is as excited as we are. We can't wait to see you all. Maybe Alex Rodriguez will hold out and hit his 500th home run this Saturday.

Paula, Lorri, Sil, see you guys this Saturday. We will be there early to see monument park in the stadium.

Paula hope you have a good flight. Let me know if you need anything.

Hey - say hi to Lorri for me - I (& I'm sure I'm not alone) miss her!

 

[darthrugby]

Hey - say hi to Lorri for me - I (& I'm sure I'm not alone) miss her!

Will do!

 

[PBader]

Yankees DIS mini-meet

Hope everyone is as excited as we are. We can't wait to see you all. Maybe Alex Rodriguez will hold out and hit his 500th home run this Saturday.

Paula, Lorri, Sil, see you guys this Saturday. We will be there early to see monument park in the stadium.

Paula hope you have a good flight. Let me know if you need anything.

Well wouldn't that be great to see! Adam says that is what he is hoping for!! See you all Saturday

 

[PBader]

Thank you to all who have commented on the deck ideas! DH looked at vinyl, but he liked the look of composite better - so he has narrowed it down to cedar or composite.

I've decided I don't really care as long as the darn deck just gets built! He has been planning and prepping for it for nearly 2 years. Last year he bought the gazebo that will be attached to it and the pieces for that have been in the garage ever since. I really want an outdoor space where we can relax!

Pamela (pdarrah)

Our deck is composite, been up for about 4 years now. You really have to watch keeping leaves and such off it--they will stain it. We still pressure wash ours twice a year. We have a lot of trees in our backyard and we get a lot of marks on it from the leaves. I haven't ever noticed it getting hot from the sun--there is a section that gets alot. It is great as far as not splintering--but I don't honestly know if I would use it again on another project. We used Choice Deck for the main runs and there is a border done with Trex in a redwood color. I like the Trex much better than the CD.

 

[PBader]

It's a good thing I don't have any stress in my life. My brother Pete called me around 11am asking if I had heard from my mom. I told him no, then asked why. Pete told me that my mom had just had a car accident and totaled her car. My mom got a little banged up and shaken up but no serious injuries were reported. I got to talk to my mom a few minutes ago and she said that left knee went into the dashboard. She was still at the scene of the accident when I called and the police were still there getting their report, so I couldn't talk to her for very long. Once I know more, I'll let everyone know. In the meantime, please send prayers, good thoughts and her way. Thanks so much, you guys are the best!!!

Andy, hope your Mom has a speedy recovery.

 

[lbgraves]

LALALALALA

i'm not listening.....

(i'm perfectly content with my secret porthole and less credit because i didn't book with DU. At least that's what i'm telling myself or i'm going to have to cry. )

If I had secured a reservation before bookings opened on 1/31/07 even though I hadn't had my name on a waitlist prior to a few days before so that I got tier one pricing and an assigned room number instead of a pricing tier higher up with the wait times many had on the 31st, I would be extremely greatful that my TA did this for me and in the long run saved me considerably more than the $300 for this fee increase.