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

[Verandah Man]

to

"Issac"

​

sorry it's a day late pal.

 

[Verandah Man]

to

"BIP"

​

sorry to be a little late.

 

[Verandah Man]

Hazel was on her way home from her Ladies Night Out at the church last night and she called to let me know she saw gas at 2.459 a gallon. I told her to fill the car up, she said we still had half a tank, I said I don't care, fill the car up....... The gas station around the corner from was still selling gas at 2.659 yesterday.

That's the best price I've heard about in I don't know how long.

 

[radioclash2]

But, that's what the dog is for!
(If you haven't got one, maybe it's a message.)

hmmmm, I'm beginning to feel the planets align...

 

[radioclash2]

Miranda (7 YODD) and I were wayching the news about her friend dying. It said that the Mother had recently received medical news, implying she was sick.
My DD looked at me and said "Are you going to kill me if you get sick?"
Fortunately she is very mature and wil lbe fine.

OMG How frightening for your DD

 

[captaincrash]

hmmmm, I'm beginning to feel the planets align...

​

 

[Verandah Man]

​

Crash, looks like you got busted this time............

 

[captaincrash]

Tom, Have a great time in Hawaii!!! Now I am jealous of you!!!!I think Hawaii will always be the most beautiful place in the world!!!

I love going to Aloha Stadium. Just found it the first time around by accicident. The the second time I planned my travels around when the swap takes place!!!

!!!

Thanks Cheryl!

Allow me to offer mellow Alohas your way.... hang loose!

I gotta load the van and kids now... Aloha ...

 

[goofyforlife]

When our daughter drops food on the floor, she says, "Lucky Dog." Our golden comes over and hoovers up whatever she's dropped.

That would be "jackpot" in our house....

With 2 dogs..we have no crumbs....plenty of furballs...but no crumbs...

 

[captaincrash]

Crash, looks like you got busted this time............

Who me?

What did I do???

I'm INNOCENT ... remember?​

 

[Verandah Man]

Who me?

What did I do???

I'm INNOCENT ... remember?​

Have a great trip.................Aloha

 

[arlenesp]

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. )

Me too

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.

Monica I can understand what you are going thru. My youngest DGS kept telling us he had a good ear and a bad ear so after consulting with the Dr and an MRI later, turned out he was deaf in his left ear. He was just going into kindergarten that year and the ironic part was the prek he was attending taught all the kids sign language and he was the one leading the class in the Pledge. Turns out his cochlear bone never quite finished developing. It appeared to us after the fact that there were so many clues. He always tilted his head towards the tv and the funniest thing we used to joke with him about was his mouth was crooked when he spoke. Ssorta like the rugrats on tv. He would talk out of the side of his mouth .Of course the side he could hear with. Speech was never an issue with him .Of course the usual mumbling every so often. DD didn't want to status him on his school records at first but when he didn't pass the first gifted screening she relented. He now sists in the room so the teacher can be heard and and testing is done so he can see and hear the teacher.And when he just finished his last evaluation, he came thru with flying colors at a 132 testing. Now of course we worry about the good ear. They are a very noisy family and I'm sure later on he may start to experience a loss.

Anyone know why 7 y/o boys cannot see the peas that they spilled on the floor at dinner time?

That's what I ask DH everynight when I come home. That is of course if the dog doesn't get it first.

I swear I have never dealt with death so much as lately.
First DH's Uncle being killed by the train a couple of weeks ago and today.
I got an email from a close friend that a mutual friend of ours killed her entire family and then herself today. I can't begin to tell you how out of character this was. She was just so sweet. She was such a good Mom, always up at school being room mom. PTA etc. You always saw her smiling and laughing- but not creepy/manic like. I cannot even imagine what must have happened in her mind to do something like this. We are not remotely talking about an Andrea Yates type person. I am still completely in shock.
It was not fun telling my DD that her classmate was dead and his Mom did it. They had a 7 year old DS and an 11 yo DD. Both my kids were friends with each of their kids.
This has hit way too close.
This is especially so sad when great people are looking for kids to love and make a wonderful home for and another Mom. kills hers. Just does not make sense.

It's hard for an adult, but much harder on the kids.My dgks have a friend going thru chemo and they speak often of death. Their dad died from cancer when they were little and they went to a grieving center. I think they were too young to really understand.The news here in Orlando is filled with sad stories all the time and I know it does take a toll on the kids. But when a parent is involved Hopefully there is some counseling offered? Check with your school district. Sometimes it really helps to release the grief with friends.

Anyone check their ressie lately to see if GTY converted to room #?

I was thinking the same. Wonder how many cancelled over this. Started listening to the podcast last night but after a long frustrating time finally got it on my shuffle to take with me.Will try to finish it today. (really need the dgks to show me how to work the itunes thing. ugh!!!)Have to take DH to knee Dr again.Have a feeling I already know what he will say.

Hazel was on her way home from her Ladies Night Out at the church last night and she called to let me know she saw gas at 2.459 a gallon. I told her to fill the car up, she said we still had half a tank, I said I don't care, fill the car up....... The gas station around the corner from was still selling gas at 2.659 yesterday.

That's the best price I've heard about in I don't know how long.

You got me beat Andy. Onthe way to the Dr today, I'm filling up at Sams. 2.75 best price around here.

 

[Downrivermama]

Hi all! Been MIA lately. Have a great time at WDW and than last week got a sinsus infection. Went to the doctor to head it off, but it didn't work! I hate it when my equilibrium gets knocked off. Life is an adventure when your walking on the bias!

Hope everyone is doing well. Stay cool it is going to be a hot one today.

 

[Ginamarie]

Hi eastbound cruisers! I know you guys have been following the Panama tax situation, and I thought you might be interested in this post I made on the westbound thread, so I'm posting it here too.

Hey guys, I had a thought in the middle of the night! I did a lot of reading about the Panama Canal's changes to the toll/tax structure, and was looking at the timeline, and came up with a new idea as to how DCL may have been playing with us with this increase. What if this were the scenario:


2006: DCL finalizes its decision to go back to the west coast in 2008 and starts to work on a price structure for the cruises. The accounting team is working on putting together the fee structure for port fees/taxes, etc. When they look into the fees for the Panama Canal crossing, they're stumped..

At this point Panama had announced it was going to do an increase in fees, but nothing had been approved or even presented for objections yet. The Panama Canal Authority just said they were going to make significant changes to the system, increasing the tolls for all passages in order to pay for canal expansion. However, no one was sure how much the toll increase would be. Additionally, there were rumblings about passenger vessels (like cruise ships) being charged on a "per berth" basis, but again, nothing was assured.

THe Panama Canal Authority wasn't scheduled to make a decision on the process until March/April, and DCL wants/needs to get its 2008 schedule out in January. So, a (not so brilliant) decision is made to leave the Panama Canal fees OFF of the fares for the eastbound and westbound passages, figuring that their cruise contract allows them to add on tax fees any time before passengers make final payments. The changes in Panama are made official in April, and DCL extrapolates the fee among passengers (unable to assess the fee only to those passengers who have already paid their entire passage in full and have no reason to make changes to their reservation-- which clearly is a VERY small percentage, if anyone at all, at this point).




If something like this happened, DCL may have been planning to sneak one by us from the very beginning! It would explain the line we keep getting from DCL that the tax wasn't included in our original fare though.

Honestly, I don't know which scenario makes me feel more upset! Just food for thought.

 

[mkygrl]

When our daughter drops food on the floor, she says, "Lucky Dog." Our golden comes over and hoovers up whatever she's dropped.

One of the many reasons I miss my Sami dog .
He would sit vry close by while anyone ate for any droppage or if he wasn't around we would yell "Sam clean-up!" and he would come waddling as fast as he could!

Chrissie

(Ps Good morning everyone!)

 

[tom31b]

Hi eastbound cruisers! I know you guys have been following the Panama tax situation, and I thought you might be interested in this post I made on the westbound thread, so I'm posting it here too.

Hey guys, I had a thought in the middle of the night! I did a lot of reading about the Panama Canal's changes to the toll/tax structure, and was looking at the timeline, and came up with a new idea as to how DCL may have been playing with us with this increase. What if this were the scenario:


2006: DCL finalizes its decision to go back to the west coast in 2008 and starts to work on a price structure for the cruises. The accounting team is working on putting together the fee structure for port fees/taxes, etc. When they look into the fees for the Panama Canal crossing, they're stumped..

At this point Panama had announced it was going to do an increase in fees, but nothing had been approved or even presented for objections yet. The Panama Canal Authority just said they were going to make significant changes to the system, increasing the tolls for all passages in order to pay for canal expansion. However, no one was sure how much the toll increase would be. Additionally, there were rumblings about passenger vessels (like cruise ships) being charged on a "per berth" basis, but again, nothing was assured.

THe Panama Canal Authority wasn't scheduled to make a decision on the process until March/April, and DCL wants/needs to get its 2008 schedule out in January. So, a (not so brilliant) decision is made to leave the Panama Canal fees OFF of the fares for the eastbound and westbound passages, figuring that their cruise contract allows them to add on tax fees any time before passengers make final payments. The changes in Panama are made official in April, and DCL extrapolates the fee among passengers (unable to assess the fee only to those passengers who have already paid their entire passage in full and have no reason to make changes to their reservation-- which clearly is a VERY small percentage, if anyone at all, at this point).




If something like this happened, DCL may have been planning to sneak one by us from the very beginning! It would explain the line we keep getting from DCL that the tax wasn't included in our original fare though.

Honestly, I don't know which scenario makes me feel more upset! Just food for thought.

That scenario would be the legal definition of fraud........

I sincerely hope that this would not prove to be true.

 

[Ginamarie]

That scenario would be the legal definition of fraud........

I sincerely hope that this would not prove to be true.

They're lying to us one way or the other though. Either 1) the cost was incorporated into our original cruise fare OR 2) it was delibrately left off of our original fare.

 

[tom31b]

They're lying to us one way or the other though. Either 1) the cost was incorporated into our original cruise fare OR 2) it was delibrately left off of our original fare.

Third possibility is that someone (no longer a DCL employee) #*($&*ed up royally....

 

[Joel110]

Hi eastbound cruisers! I know you guys have been following the Panama tax situation, and I thought you might be interested in this post I made on the westbound thread, so I'm posting it here too.

Hey guys, I had a thought in the middle of the night! I did a lot of reading about the Panama Canal's changes to the toll/tax structure, and was looking at the timeline, and came up with a new idea as to how DCL may have been playing with us with this increase. What if this were the scenario:


2006: DCL finalizes its decision to go back to the west coast in 2008 and starts to work on a price structure for the cruises. The accounting team is working on putting together the fee structure for port fees/taxes, etc. When they look into the fees for the Panama Canal crossing, they're stumped..

At this point Panama had announced it was going to do an increase in fees, but nothing had been approved or even presented for objections yet. The Panama Canal Authority just said they were going to make significant changes to the system, increasing the tolls for all passages in order to pay for canal expansion. However, no one was sure how much the toll increase would be. Additionally, there were rumblings about passenger vessels (like cruise ships) being charged on a "per berth" basis, but again, nothing was assured.

THe Panama Canal Authority wasn't scheduled to make a decision on the process until March/April, and DCL wants/needs to get its 2008 schedule out in January. So, a (not so brilliant) decision is made to leave the Panama Canal fees OFF of the fares for the eastbound and westbound passages, figuring that their cruise contract allows them to add on tax fees any time before passengers make final payments. The changes in Panama are made official in April, and DCL extrapolates the fee among passengers (unable to assess the fee only to those passengers who have already paid their entire passage in full and have no reason to make changes to their reservation-- which clearly is a VERY small percentage, if anyone at all, at this point).




If something like this happened, DCL may have been planning to sneak one by us from the very beginning! It would explain the line we keep getting from DCL that the tax wasn't included in our original fare though.

Honestly, I don't know which scenario makes me feel more upset! Just food for thought.

IMO...I can't imagine they would have done that. They knew there would be some kind of transition fee. I talked to Disney when I made my reservations on the DCL website about the taxes/port fees because I was using it to negotiate with my TA some onboard credits. I was told our taxes/port fees were $1,412 and commissionable fare was $4,200 for a total of $5,612 for 2A and 2C.

I still haven't seen this charge show up on my TA ressie, so I hesitate to contact DCL to complain about a fee that I haven't really been charged yet. I have not received any letters or notices from Disney either, but assume the charge is going to show up eventually. The extra $400 takes the total of our taxes/fees to $1,812, or $453/person. I tried pricing a couple of other cruise lines on their Panama taxes/fees and their's were around $300/person with more ports of call.

 

[tom31b]

Funny mine just says:

Sorry, there's been an error. Please review and correct the information indicated below.
Sorry, the Confirmation Number you've entered does not match a valid Confirmation Numbers in our system. Please check your information and try again. (-20044)

Is that what happens when you complain on the DIS?