8/17/2008 Double Dip 4-day Wonder

[Ski-and-Sea]

Here's the photo....

 

[Coach Rick]

Wow - I like that as well.

There is a fantastic aeral shot of Castaway Cay that you can get off the DIS. It doesn't have the Flying Dutchman in it but its a great shot of the island.

BTW.....have you checked the prices of our cruise......I looked a few weeks ago and its already gone up. Talking with people on my cruise last month, lots were booking the double dip Wonder cruises for next summer. No one was interested in the California cruises.

cool beans...thanks....Yes I have. WOW...I am paying only $1K more for a cat 3 than a cat 4 for the 5 of us. I was trying to talk my sister into taking her family too, but my brother in law insists it will be too hot. Who cares how hot it is.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

cool beans...thanks....Yes I have. WOW...I am paying only $1K more for a cat 3 than a cat 4 for the 5 of us. I was trying to talk my sister into taking her family too, but my brother in law insists it will be too hot. Who cares how hot it is.

Yikes, I just looked at the prices and they are up even more than a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah, I think I'm less than $1k difference for our cat 3 vs. a cat 4.

 

[wisconsinmom]

We'll be on board for the 4 day Double Dip. It will be our first cruise. We'll be at WDW the week before. Our group will include me (31), DH(33), DS(6), DD(3).

 

[Dizzyworld]

WISCONSINMOM and family. You are in for a great time.


I noticed the prices had gone up when I thought about moving the cruise up a week. Saw the price for that cruise, and told DH no.

I like your ideas too Rick.

 

[Dizzyworld]

47 Weeks to go!!!!! (wow in the 40s now)

I have never been this busy, its just crazy. And its all unexpected stuff. My car was having problems so I take it to the dealer, it gets fixed and the next day something else went wrong so I had to take it back.

Our heater broke. Plumber comes over and fixes it and two days later it breaks again.

A family member had major surgery and was originally going to recuperate at home but last minute asks to stay with us. Its no biggie but I wasn't expecting it.

Both kids play rec soccer and both coaches scheduled a second practice during the week so that makes two more practices every week.

Our town decided very last minute to create a 12U fall softball team and DD was asked to join. Normally I insist the kids play one sport per season and DD had already signed up for soccer. But she loves softball and this was a trial thing for our league. DD loves it but softball has two practices a week.

Plus I volunteer a lot with Girl Scouts and we're camping on the beach in Wildwood, NJ, next weekend.

And I'm only halfway through writing my trip report on my Wonder cruise from last month. I'm determined to get that finished. Thank goodness it wasn't a 7-night cruise otherwise it would never get done.

I broke my foot at the beginning of the summer. I fractured my toe in multiple places. Walked right into the corner of an upright vacuum cleaner. It was at night and I didn't even see the vacuum cleaner at walked into it at a fast pace.

I've been seeing a podiatrist all summer and just saw him on Wednesday. The news isn't good. The fractures are all healing but there is a lot of joint damage so the toe still hurts. I got a cortisone shot to help ease the pain but if the pain doesn't go away in six weeks, I'm looking at surgery to repair the joint damage.

So just a whole lot going on right now. I am so glad I have this cruise to look forward to.

My goodness, you are having quite the time of it. I wish you well with your toes. Ouch.

I like you comment on the trip report. I wrote my report for my family and a few friends. I added some pictures, and it ened up being 18 pages long. It wouldn have never been done if it was a 7 day cruise.

I'm glad I got that out of the way before life got crazy here. I changed teaching jobs. (Did this in the cruise terminal just before getting on the ship.) And it has taken me a few weeks to figure out the best direction for these students. Even though I only teach 26 hours for 3 classes through the community college, there doesn't seem a lot of time left over after picking up the kids, feeding us, doing homework (at least my jobs come with little or no homework),running to scouts, and soccer practices too.

The weekends are filled with scout events and at least 2 soccer games each week. This has left me with little time to be on the DIS boards. And as you know, I was booed, but haven't had the time to install it. (Thanks. )

BTW....thanks for providing the countdown.

I do wish you well in all aspects of your life.

​

Wishing Everyone a WONDERful week.

 

[nluvwithmickey]

Hello guys!

Well, took some searching but I finally found this thread and decided to give it a bump.

I just booked the double dip for next August and so far, no one even knows at home. Not even DH! Care for a little background on us?

Well, there's me sahm mom to 2 DD's 12 and 16 at time of travel and DH happily supporting my Disney addiction. I am the disney freak of the family. We just returned from a WDW vacation a few weeks ago and I already have next year's vacation all planned out!

As you can see in my siggy, I have been on DCl twice but NEVER with my DD's!!! The first time was with DH alone and the second was a present from Dsis as a girls only vacation. Both times I've cruised, I kept telling myself ''the kids would soooo love this'' Unfortunately, the funds and the timing for a DCL vacation never seemed to work out for us. Kinda think I am jinxed, that's why I don't even dare put a ticker on YET. The reason is that we may change the dates once the 2009 rates come out. Would love to do a 7 day in March 2009. Just don't know if I can take not having a disney fix for over a year....

But for now, I am joining you and happily planning my days away.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Hi everyone,

Well things are slowing down a bit in October. Wow, what an action packed September. I have finally written a TR from my last cruise for my family and will finish the one I started for DIS.

And as a Mets fan, the past couple of weeks were just awful. It was painful to see a talented team just spiral out of control. I'm rooting for Philly to go all the way.

Just took my Girl Scout troop tent camping on the beach in Wildwood, NJ. What a great weekend - perfect antidote to all the stress in our lives. We had picture perfect weather and we all came home badly sunburned. There were 4,000 people camping in over 1,000 tents. We're already planning what we will do differently next time.

Life is still very busy but at least its a predictable busy and things should die down a LOT by the end of October.

Welcome to all the new people to this cruise. Whenever things get crazy in my life I think about this cruise. I've done two Wonder cruises now and I have to say there is something special about the Wonder's CMs. I still enjoy the 7-day cruises but when that is not available the Wonder seems to make up for it.

As far as our "slogan"......I'm voting for Coach Rick's "DIS cruise is Twice as Nice". Its unique and sweet.

This cruise is going to be so much fun!!!!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Hey All,

Still swamped here but its predictable.

Have any of you tried booking flights for this cruise? My TA emailed me and said 2008 is looking a lot more expensive than 2007. This was for Continental. Don't know about other airlines.

The leaves are taking their own sweet time to change color around here. And its still t-shirts/shorts weather. Weird.

 

[Coach Rick]

Hey All,

Still swamped here but its predictable.

Have any of you tried booking flights for this cruise? My TA emailed me and said 2008 is looking a lot more expensive than 2007. This was for Continental. Don't know about other airlines.

The leaves are taking their own sweet time to change color around here. And its still t-shirts/shorts weather. Weird.

We fly Southwest, and they are not even close to releasing their schedules and fares for August. They are only booking through March 7. Luckily, thanks to my trusty SWA credit card, I have two freebies coming my way.

Today, Mother Nature took a break. It's 72 at 5PM here in Rhode Island.

I got all the passports in for the kids who don't know they are going yet. Getting down to it now. I just got my travel agent license, so now I can deduct part of my cruise as a business expense.

 

[Lynda Silk]

Hi there!
Swamped here as well. And our weather is strange here too. On Thanksgiving Day (about 2 weeks ago), it was 86 degrees F and by the end of that week, it was down to 45 degrees F! But we're starting to get the colder temps now.

Haven't booked our flights yet but now that you've mentioned the increased costs, I might start looking a little more seriously. A lot of Canadians are flying out of Buffalo because it's much less expensive, but you normally have to be closer to the flyout date to get the best prices. Plus, I've always flown out of Toronto so I'm not sure if I just want to pay more for the convenience and familiarity. But thanks for giving us a headsup that the airfares may rise!

 

[disnutz]

Just giving us a little bump. Haven;t even started looking at air yet - Southwest here too.

We're getting a little closer every day!!

I keep thinking that by the time the holidays are over, it will seem closer.

My summer is going to be so crazy - my DD and I are going to Europe for 2 wks late June and then the cruise in August. Wow!! it's going to be a busy summer and I can;t wait!!

 

[Coach Rick]

Just giving us a little bump. Haven;t even started looking at air yet - Southwest here too.

We're getting a little closer every day!!

Did you see the new Southwest boarding procedure? They still have A,B,C, but now they have A1-A30, A31-A60, B1-B30 etc... So you don't have to wait in line anymore, unless you are totally obsessed with being A1. There are also different classifications. If you purchase your ticket as a "business" person ($$$), you automatically get an A boarding pass (lower numbered one). Looks interesting....What was more important to me was the fact for $50 you could use your Rapid Rewards award on any seat, but blackout dates apply. So for $50 they will give you what used to be free before they changed it to limited seats, but no blackout dates, which is total BS. I tried 10 minutes after booking started for our trip in two weeks, and couldn't use my award ticket. They said it was sold out... Right....

 

[Lynda Silk]

Disnutz, you sure have a lot to look forward to! Two weeks in Europe will be amazing, and then you get to cap it all off with the cruise. Lucky you!

I haven't done anything re air yet either; fares just haven't been that good. I'm thinking the same thing about the holidays though; once we're past that, the cruise will seem so much closer!

Coach Rick, too bad about the frustrations with Southwest! But only 2 weeks until your trip...you must be really getting excited!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Hey, you guys beat me to it....I was going to post today.....

I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and things are less hectic here. Now I just have to catch up on some things (like finishing my trip report on my summer cruise).

I got an email from my TA that said Continental has LOWERED the prices for August. So we are going to look into that and book our flight.

I think we might stay at the Radisson at the port the night before.

Thanksgiving is in two weeks!!!!

BTW....I meant to post this at Halloween, but for all of you that have pirate outfits for our cruise.....be careful how you are storing them. I unpacked my DCL pirate outfit to wear for Halloween and discovered that the pirate hat was squashed in the bag and was misshapen. Fortunately, not too bad and I was able to fold it back into shape but I'm going to be more careful how I'm storing the costume from now on. (I think its part of the pirate code that you can't disrepect your hat).

Yes, the remainder of the year is going to fly by and we'll be in 2008 before we know it.

Gosh, I hope DCL does longer cruises in the Caribbean for the summer of 2009. I really liked that rumor that the Wonder would alternate between 3/4 & 7 day cruises but now people are saying the Magic might be "closer to home" as well. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Lynda Silk]

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to say to all my American friends that I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving! Sorry I didn't send this earlier but thought it was better late than never. Hopefully all of you enjoyed delicious turkey dinners and are now chowing down on the requisite turkey sandwiches, turkey soup and all those other turkey leftovers! At least you can work off all that great food when you're doing your shopping! I hear "Black Friday" is the biggest shopping time of the year.

Now, only about 4 and a bit more weeks until Christmas! Has everyone started their shopping?

And has anyone booked their flights yet?

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to say to all my American friends that I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving! Sorry I didn't send this earlier but thought it was better late than never. Hopefully all of you enjoyed delicious turkey dinners and are now chowing down on the requisite turkey sandwiches, turkey soup and all those other turkey leftovers! At least you can work off all that great food when you're doing your shopping! I hear "Black Friday" is the biggest shopping time of the year.

Now, only about 4 and a bit more weeks until Christmas! Has everyone started their shopping?

And has anyone booked their flights yet?

Thanks for the wishes!! Our Thanksgiving was fantastic. We had more people over this year so I ordered a bigger turkey. Except when I got it home I realized it wouldn't fit in my roasting pan so I had to rush out the following day and buy a bigger one. Finally did find one that just fit the bird.

And my kids simply devoured the stuffing. I had to make more on Friday and it was all gone by Sunday.

We will be booking our flights next week. DH is out of the country this week and he books the flights since he's picky about the seat assignments.

I did make reservations at the Radisson at the port for the night before.

 

[Lynda Silk]

Hey there, Ski-and-Sea!

Glad to hear you had a great Thanksgiving! Sounds like you had a yummy dinner and lots of good company!

I haven't booked our flights yet either but I'm tempted to do so soon. I was thinking of flying out of Buffalo, but now that our dollar is so good, the lineups at the border are so long so I'm thinking of just biting the bullet and flying out from Toronto. We want to get there early the day before the cruise and spend some time at Blizzard Beach so we're not very flexible with times. I'm planning to stay at Pop Century that night and then I think I'll book a town car to go the port the next morning..we could take the Disney bus but I'd rather be there just before boarding starts so we have a bit more time on the ship. I want to start finalizing things because once we're into 2008, as it's been said before, that trip will seem a lot closer to happening and that's very exciting!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Hey there, Ski-and-Sea!

Glad to hear you had a great Thanksgiving! Sounds like you had a yummy dinner and lots of good company!

I haven't booked our flights yet either but I'm tempted to do so soon. I was thinking of flying out of Buffalo, but now that our dollar is so good, the lineups at the border are so long so I'm thinking of just biting the bullet and flying out from Toronto. We want to get there early the day before the cruise and spend some time at Blizzard Beach so we're not very flexible with times. I'm planning to stay at Pop Century that night and then I think I'll book a town car to go the port the next morning..we could take the Disney bus but I'd rather be there just before boarding starts so we have a bit more time on the ship. I want to start finalizing things because once we're into 2008, as it's been said before, that trip will seem a lot closer to happening and that's very exciting!

I agree with not taking the DCL bus from WDW to the port. We did that back in August and by the time we got to the port it was empty because everyone had already boarded!!! No characters, either.

What towncar company are thinking of booking? We need to book one to get us from us from Orlando to the port.

I have heard the border lines from Canada are extremely long. Take advantage of your strong currency and fly from Toronto.

Scary how weak the U.S. dollar is right now. We have relatives in England and we used to order gifts for them over the internet and pay in pounds but its just too expensive now. Its cheaper to buy the items here and pay the cost of shipping them.

 

[Lynda Silk]

Our dollar is down a bit today, but as long as it's higher than the US$, that's a bonus for us Canadian Disney fans! I think I'll probably book the flights as you recommended and avoid those long lines at the border. It's funny because it wasn't too long ago that your dollar was worth $1.50 compared to ours. I remember the kids' dad kept yelling 'and how much in Canadian?' when we were shopping in WDW a few years ago!

Not sure what towncar I'm going to book. I've used Southern Elegance (was happy with them) and Mears (had a bad experience with them last year so I'll probably avoid using them). I know that people have liked Happy Limo. Of course, FLtours is a sponsor of the DISboards and I've heard a lot of good things about them so I just might go with them. I did a quick search of prices with various companies and there weren't any significant differences. Did you have any ideas?