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

[tom31b]

Has anyone received correspondence from DCL regarding an additional $100 per person and a revised balance due?

Per letter from DCL:



I have been keeping up with this thread as best I can but don't recall anyone discussing this. That is an additional $500 for our family

Michelle

This was on some of the other boards too......

It just stinks! I have read and re-read the fine print and can't see anything about who bears the risk of increased fees.

I would strongly encourage everyone to call DCL when you get this letter and hem and haw (nice way of saying witch and complain?) and when the regular phone answerer can't help you, ask to talk to a manager and demand that they show you exactly where it says in clear plain English that they can do this. Maybe if enough call, they might do something about it....

 

[micmse2003]

I just wanted to say are mini meet was great!!!!!

We got to meet with castoff (Tina, DD... Brooke, and DH... Chuck),geffric (Susan and her DH.... Scott), and pdarrah(Pamela and DS... Darrah)Pammela's DH... Dan put in retaining wall this morning and was exhausted !!! What a great bunch of people from the Chicago area.

We all laughed,ate, and talked alot!!!! We are all hoping to plan something again before the cruise.

 

[castoff]

I just wanted to say are mini meet was great!!!!!

We got to meet with castoff (Tina, DD... Brooke, and DH... Chuck),geffric (Susan and her DH.... Scott), and pdarrah(Pamela and DS... Darrah)Pammela's DH... Dan put in retaining wall this morning and was exhausted !!! What a great bunch of people from the Chicago area.

We all laughed,ate, and talked alot!!!! We are all hoping to plan something again before the cruise.

I had a feeling you would beat me on here before I could.
Ditto to everything Cheryl said !

Oh I am posting some pics from yesterday, some I know you will enjoy and the rest are for the

 

[tom31b]

Anybody know what the PC/UMS net ton of the magic is?

 

[castoff]

One of my now favorite castles...............

This is from the show CSI, actually the miniture they used, quite cool.

 

[castoff]

hmmm....march 2008.....seems like something is going on in march 2008. oh yeah...that's right...
we just found out we are expecting wheelerkidz #4 then!!!!!!!

Congratulations !

On our last cruise it was easy to recognize one of the DIS Cabins by the way the doors were decorated.


Nice door signs

My DW just bought one with the Disney cartridge.

I don't even think I want to know more about Disney Scrapbooking stuff.

 

[micmse2003]

These are pictures of the Chicago mini meet thanks to Tina!!!

This picture is of Pamela and her DS darrah

This picture is of Tina on the left and her DH Chuck and of course John and myself.

Susan and her DH Scott were hidden!!! Tina's daughter Brooke was a little camera shy!!!

And of course the ballons were Pirates of the Caribbean!!!!

 

[micmse2003]

I don't even think I want to know more about Disney Scrapbooking stuff.

Thanks Tina I did not waste any time posting the pictures

 

[castoff]

Cool , looks like we could have a pretty big Mini Meet ...That would be AWEsome ...

Wish I could be there. Have a Great time.

Has anyone received correspondence from DCL regarding an additional $100 per person and a revised balance due?

Per letter from DCL:



I have been keeping up with this thread as best I can but don't recall anyone discussing this. That is an additional $500 for our family

Michelle

I just paid off cruise last week. ( By Check ) I haven't heard anything about this. Anyone through dreams? Have you been contacted?

Belated Birthday Wishes Tina
Hope it was a nice one.

 

[captaincrash]

We were wandering around the web looking at cruises - one my Dad wanted to do in February and while doing it we noticed a deal with Costa. They're doing Eastern sailings on the Fortuna with kids sailing FREE... and the 7 nite sailings start around $399 for the first two. Thats' a Eastern circuit R/t from FLL with San Juan, St Thomas, Catalina Island, Casa de Campo/la Romana and Nassau. The lowest price starts on the date we selected totals $1068 for the four of us in a catagory 5! Our cabin location looks good with the beauty salon above and sleeping rooms below... and a position slightly forward of center.

Air fare from LA to FLL with no extra time there runs us just under $300 pp... however we prefer to fly United and that's gonna cost us almost $330 for the privilage of accumulating qualifying miles with them.

At any rate - we've never sailed Costa - and I think I'll be fishing through Cruise C R I T I C boards a bit as I evaluate whether this ship, line and port rotation is the bargain I think it is. I figure air is slightly high - but the cruise is pretty cheap for a week - especially for ports which are of sharp interest to us... San Juan, St Thomas and Nassau. The other ports I have not hesrd of before - so there will be an element of discovery in those places.

Anyone have any opinion on this or Costa in particular? The "Fortuna" is a behemouth at 105,000 tons and not too old as a 2002 launched ship. PAX loading seems to be 2720 with an Italian/International crew of 1068 which - coincidentially is the price we're paying in dollars. The bottom level cabin we've reserved is only 160 feet - but tomorrow when I talk to thier reservationists maybe we'll consider other digs.

I figure that sailin' a non-Disney line periodically refreshes our sense of perspective in appreciating DCL. I already know this will not be anything like a Disney cruise - but it is less then half the cost and covers several ports we would not otherwise see.

 

[dahuffy]

Has anyone received correspondence from DCL regarding an additional $100 per person and a revised balance due?

Per letter from DCL:



I have been keeping up with this thread as best I can but don't recall anyone discussing this. That is an additional $500 for our family

Michelle

Nothing here!

 

[castoff]

Thanks Tina I did not waster any time posting the pictures

Your Welcome. Brooke better get over her camera shy by next Aug. Oh are there going to be some pictures.



Tom: Sent you a PM


Need to go for now, feel like I can say I have friends in Chicago. It's a good feeling.

 

[geffric]

I just wanted to say are mini meet was great!!!!!

We got to meet with castoff (Tina, DD... Brooke, and DH... Chuck),geffric (Susan and her DH.... Scott), and pdarrah(Pamela and DS... Darrah)Pammela's DH... Dan put in retaining wall this morning and was exhausted !!! What a great bunch of people from the Chicago area.

We all laughed,ate, and talked alot!!!! We are all hoping to plan something again before the cruise.

It was great fum.. thanks for organizing this Cheryl..

 

[dahuffy]

Shoot!

The Panamanians just tagged my party for another $3000! And on the Magic with a registry capacity of 1,754 passengers this will ding us ALL for a collective $175,400! Maybe Disney will do something nice for us to offset this developement? I say they offer free RUM and Shirley Temples for all 15 nites on the sailing?! I'll take a Shirley Temple with an extra cherry please.

How 'bout OBC!

 

[geffric]

Your Welcome. Brooke better get over her camera shy by next Aug. Oh are there going to be some pictures.

I am sure she will be more in the mood once we get on the ship.. and she has more kids her age around.. It is a shame that I couldn't convince Eric to come, he would have flirted with her..

Need to go for now, feel like I can say I have friends in Chicago. It's a good feeling.

Doesn't it make ya feel like singing the song from Toy Story.. You've got a freind in me..

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
If you've got troubles, I've got 'em too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together and can see it through
Cause you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me

Some other folks might be
A little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too
Maybe
But none of them will ever love you
The way I do, it's me and you

Boy, and as the years go by
Our friendship will never die
You're gonna see it's our destiny
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me

 

[micmse2003]

We received it in the mail yesterday, 7/21 directly from DCL. It came with the letter I quoted and a revised confirmation.

It seemed steep to us as well considering we didn't have to pay it on the 2005 repo.

Michelle

Wish I could be there. Have a Great time.

I just paid off cruise last week. ( By Check ) I haven't heard anything about this. Anyone through dreams? Have you been contacted?

Has anyone received correspondence from DCL regarding an additional $100 per person and a revised balance due?

Per letter from DCL:

I have been keeping up with this thread as best I can but don't recall anyone discussing this. That is an additional $500 for our family

Michelle

Thanks Michelle, no one has mentioned this. When did you get this? This would definitely be a downer especially for larger families. That sound like a lot for a port tax/canal tax.

You have the right idea!!!

haven't gotten anything here

This was on some of the other boards too......

It just stinks! I have read and re-read the fine print and can't see anything about who bears the risk of increased fees.

I would strongly encourage everyone to call DCL when you get this letter and hem and haw (nice way of saying witch and complain?) and when the regular phone answerer can't help you, ask to talk to a manager and demand that they show you exactly where it says in clear plain English that they can do this. Maybe if enough call, they might do something about it....

I just called DCL when I got home from mini meet. I was told that if cruise was not paid in full, additional taxes would be charged. She did not give me an exact amount because I was told my TA(Dreams) would be contacting me!! I figure I made more than that in interest if I let DCL have my money early. I just said I would be spending $200 less on pictures, gifts, and excursions!!!

 

[geffric]

I just called DCL when I got home from mini meet. I was told that if cruise was not paid in full, additional taxes would be charged. She did not give me an exact amount because I was told my TA(Dreams) would be contacting me!! I figure I made more than that in interest if I let DCL have my money early. I just said I would not be spending $200 less on pictures, gifts, and excursions!!!

I would think that not many people have paid in full a year in advance..so... I guess I'll call the TA tomorrow and see what is up..

 

[Stepht5]

We all laughed,ate, and talked alot!!!! We are all hoping to plan something again before the cruise.

What a surprise!

I'm so glad y'all had fun today!!!

 

[tiggrbaby]

Hey, I may actually be able to help you for a change! We went on Costa Mediterranea in April (Easter week). We went because we were looking for something last minute and inexpensive. We got obstructed view (cat 6) staterooms. With insurance and fees it was just over $1500 a cabin for two. We felt the cabin was a decent size and had ample storage space. We were thrilled with the one cabin that was on the end nearest the elevator as it had a triple length balcony! The balcony actually went past the length of the cabin and behind the service area. We were on deck 5, which made an easy walk down to deck 2 for the dining room and up to deck 9 for the buffet/pool.

I felt it was a very casual cruise; they really were not too strict on their dress code. Even formal night seemed to be a suggestion. They did a few cute things in the dining room, but where we were sitting made it difficult to see. We did need to get our table reassigned as they split our two cabins up, but that could have been due to the fact we booked so late. I thought they could have handled that better, but it didn't spoil the week!

One really nice thing I learned about on the CC website was this option for your keycard. You pay a fee (it was about $11.50 a day per person who wanted it) to get unlimited house wine, tap beer, bottled water, and soda at meals only. My sister and I decided to do it, and even though we did not have too many lunches on board (we did not find too many bar tenders willing to serve outside the hours after the first day!) we thought it was worth it. After showing the card the first night, the waiter brought bottled water right away, and always gave us the full bottle of wine, not just the glass. We usually went through two bottles of water and at least a bottle of wine each night just the two of us! I believe this is something you must buy before the cruise, you cannot get it onboard, so if you have wine or beer with your meals and you ar not fussy about the lable, I would suggest this option.

I can't really tell you about the kids program as I have teen boys and they really just like to eat; their idea of a good time is to order room service! We did not go to any shows as we were doing 4 ports and we wanted to be up and ready. We did use our balcony, and we did use the fitness center, which was nice. Oh, we did use the slide once. It was fun, but the water was cold!

I guess we were most impressed with how clean everything was. And they have a toga night, which was a lot of fun! They leave white sheets in the cabins with directions on how to wrap it. Some people bring their own, and bring accessories. I would say about half the people dress in the togas for dinner. We brought ivy and coin trim from the craft department at Walmart and lots of safety pins!

PM me if you want more info; hope this helps!

We were wandering around the web looking at cruises - one my Dad wanted to do in February and while doing it we noticed a deal with Costa. They're doing Eastern sailings on the Fortuna with kids sailing FREE... and the 7 nite sailings start around $399 for the first two. Thats' a Eastern circuit R/t from FLL with San Juan, St Thomas, Catalina Island, Casa de Campo/la Romana and Nassau. The lowest price starts on the date we selected totals $1068 for the four of us in a catagory 5! Our cabin location looks good with the beauty salon above and sleeping rooms below... and a position slightly forward of center.

Air fare from LA to FLL with no extra time there runs us just under $300 pp... however we prefer to fly United and that's gonna cost us almost $330 for the privilage of accumulating qualifying miles with them.

At any rate - we've never sailed Costa - and I think I'll be fishing through Cruise C R I T I C boards a bit as I evaluate whether this ship, line and port rotation is the bargain I think it is. I figure air is slightly high - but the cruise is pretty cheap for a week - especially for ports which are of sharp interest to us... San Juan, St Thomas and Nassau. The other ports I have not hesrd of before - so there will be an element of discovery in those places.

Anyone have any opinion on this or Costa in particular? The "Fortuna" is a behemouth at 105,000 tons and not too old as a 2002 launched ship. PAX loading seems to be 2720 with an Italian/International crew of 1068 which - coincidentially is the price we're paying in dollars. The bottom level cabin we've reserved is only 160 feet - but tomorrow when I talk to thier reservationists maybe we'll consider other digs.

I figure that sailin' a non-Disney line periodically refreshes our sense of perspective in appreciating DCL. I already know this will not be anything like a Disney cruise - but it is less then half the cost and covers several ports we would not otherwise see.

 

[dahuffy]

We were wandering around the web looking at cruises - one my Dad wanted to do in February and while doing it we noticed a deal with Costa. They're doing Eastern sailings on the Fortuna with kids sailing FREE... and the 7 nite sailings start around $399 for the first two. Thats' a Eastern circuit R/t from FLL with San Juan, St Thomas, Catalina Island, Casa de Campo/la Romana and Nassau. The lowest price starts on the date we selected totals $1068 for the four of us in a catagory 5! Our cabin location looks good with the beauty salon above and sleeping rooms below... and a position slightly forward of center.

Air fare from LA to FLL with no extra time there runs us just under $300 pp... however we prefer to fly United and that's gonna cost us almost $330 for the privilage of accumulating qualifying miles with them.

At any rate - we've never sailed Costa - and I think I'll be fishing through Cruise C R I T I C boards a bit as I evaluate whether this ship, line and port rotation is the bargain I think it is. I figure air is slightly high - but the cruise is pretty cheap for a week - especially for ports which are of sharp interest to us... San Juan, St Thomas and Nassau. The other ports I have not hesrd of before - so there will be an element of discovery in those places.

Anyone have any opinion on this or Costa in particular? The "Fortuna" is a behemouth at 105,000 tons and not too old as a 2002 launched ship. PAX loading seems to be 2720 with an Italian/International crew of 1068 which - coincidentially is the price we're paying in dollars. The bottom level cabin we've reserved is only 160 feet - but tomorrow when I talk to thier reservationists maybe we'll consider other digs.

I figure that sailin' a non-Disney line periodically refreshes our sense of perspective in appreciating DCL. I already know this will not be anything like a Disney cruise - but it is less then half the cost and covers several ports we would not otherwise see.

FLL?