9/10/2012 ~ 6 WONDERful nights ~ VC to L.A.

[ByKnight]

FYI - we have a group on Facebook as well. The link is at the top of page 10.

Cheers,
Marsi

Thanks for the link to Facebook I will look forward to getting to know some of you before September. It is way to far away but before you know it we will be setting sail.

 

[GrumpyMom1]

I just sent a request to join the Facebook group.

We bought plane tickets the other day and I'm getting very excited for this cruise! We were originally going to fly into Seattle and take the train be we are now flying directly to Vancouver and spending a couple of days before the cruise.

Happy Easter!

 

[ByKnight]

I just sent a request to join the Facebook group.

We bought plane tickets the other day and I'm getting very excited for this cruise! We were originally going to fly into Seattle and take the train be we are now flying directly to Vancouver and spending a couple of days before the cruise.

Happy Easter!

What a great Easter Gift to have you plans secured. You will find that it will be nice to fly directly into Vancouver rather than having to drive or train part way.

We landed a seat sale on Alaska Air for our return trip to Victoria from SNA and for only $140 per ticket. I can rarely find tickets to canada from southern Cal for so cheap so we often end up driving home from Seattle. But not this time flights directly home following our Cruise and after 9 days at Disneyland of course.

 

[Tehanna]

I just sent a request to join the Facebook group.

We bought place tickets the other day and I'm getting very excited for this cruise! We were originally going to fly into Seattle and take the train be we are now flying directly to Vancouver and spending a couple of days before the cruise.

Happy Easter!

Welcome!

 

[msbiscuit]

I just sent a request to join the Facebook group.

We bought place tickets the other day and I'm getting very excited for this cruise! We were originally going to fly into Seattle and take the train be we are now flying directly to Vancouver and spending a couple of days before the cruise.

Happy Easter!

Welcome! And Happy Easter!

 

[GrumpyMom1]

I am MagicMommy33's mom and we are now officially also booked on this cruise. It will be me, DH, DD6, and also DD19 and her BF.

We are hoping to spend a few days in Seattle and Vancouver before the cruise but haven't worked out the details yet.

Looks like DD19 and her BF won't be going with us so it will just be 3 of us plus my oldest daugter's (MagicMommy33) family.

What a great Easter Gift to have you plans secured. You will find that it will be nice to fly directly into Vancouver rather than having to drive or train part way.

We landed a seat sale on Alaska Air for our return trip to Victoria from SNA and for only $140 per ticket. I can rarely find tickets to canada from southern Cal for so cheap so we often end up driving home from Seattle. But not this time flights directly home following our Cruise and after 9 days at Disneyland of course.

We're flying Alaska too and it's not any more to fly directly to Vancouver than it would have been to fly to Seattle and take the train.

 

[mickeyfan1]

Just a heads up for those of you who have booked this as a B2B cruise with the 9/3 cruise...I got excited and thought to myself what a great idea! So I started looking into it and also posted on another board about my plans. Well...it wasn't too long before I had quite a few people posting that that particular B2B schedule is not possible due to violations of the PVSA Laws (Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 (sometimes abbreviated to PVSA, Passenger Services Act, or PSA) it says:
No foreign vessels shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, under a penalty of $200 (now $300) for each passenger so transported and landed.

So I decided to check with a good friend of mine who happens to be the former chief counsel for the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD). She did in fact confirm that doing the B2B Sept. 3 and Sept. 10 would be a direct violation of the US Laws. She confirmed that if you go ahead and keep your booking and plan on the B2B that the chances are very good that you will get booted off in Vancouver and then you will loose out on your 2nd leg of your cruise. She personally knows people who this has happend to on other cruise lines.

If you booked the B2B with a TA it is very possible that he/she is not completely aware of the PVSA laws and that is why nothing was said. Same if you booked the cruise yourself directly with DCL.

At any rate...I think we're going to stay on the safe side and do just the Seattle/Alaska/Vancouver route on Sept. 3.

By all means I'm not trying to cause an uproar...just passing on the information that I found out. I would hate for anything to happen at last minute to any of you that could dampen your cruise experience.

I would highly suggest, that if you do have this B2B booked that you contact DCL directly and discuss this issue with them.

Again...I'm just passing on information that I have learned.

This would be correct IF the cruise was a continuation of the original sailing. However, if you are booked on the last Alaska cruise, you will be getting off the ship in Vancouver, clearing customs and immigration and then reboarding the ship with a NEW reservation. Totally unrelated to the last Alaska sailing. B2B passengers may have to take thier luggage off and do the whole inspection deal for customs, but once that is done, there should be no reason why they can not return to the terminal as a new passenger. I believe the new reservation numner solves the issue. If it did not, DCL would NOT allow B2B to be sold. They are well aware of the rules and laws.

It certainly would not hurt to call DCL if anyone is booked on this cruise as a B2B with the last Alaska and confirm, but I don't see any issue.

 

[WAMUMOF4]

Hi all i just sent a facebook request i have finally stopped procrastinating and booked this cruise only have booked 1 cabin and still need to book 1 more just waiting to see if they offer more gty insides if the dont we will have to change to oceanview.
We are also on the Alaska cruise.

 

[msbiscuit]

Hi all i just sent a facebook request i have finally stopped procrastinating and booked this cruise only have booked 1 cabin and still need to book 1 more just waiting to see if they offer more gty insides if the dont we will have to change to oceanview.
We are also on the Alaska cruise.

Welcome to the group!

 

[Tehanna]

Hi all i just sent a facebook request i have finally stopped procrastinating and booked this cruise only have booked 1 cabin and still need to book 1 more just waiting to see if they offer more gty insides if the dont we will have to change to oceanview.
We are also on the Alaska cruise.

Welcome!

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

Hi everyone..
I'm so excited! This is our 1st cruise EVER! So any advice is welcome..
We have had this cruise book since it came up on the website... And yes it's been a long wait!!,
It was going to be just for DH DD(6) DD(5 mo.) and me

But after my DD was born my extended decided to join us! All 17 so far!
We live on the east coast and my family lives on the west coast, so it was a perfect way to meet up..


I would love so advice... 1st cruise ,1st trip with 2 kids in toe , 1st major family vacation...
I just know I'm messing something up

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

Btw what is FE?

 

[YenSid1222]

Btw what is FE?

Fish Extender....

Basically a gift exchange named because you hang a pocketed thing outside your stateroom on the little fish thing that is on the wall. There is a whole thread that talks about on here. Lots of fun!

 

[Tehanna]

Hi everyone..
I'm so excited! This is our 1st cruise EVER! So any advice is welcome..
We have had this cruise book since it came up on the website... And yes it's been a long wait!!,
It was going to be just for DH DD(6) DD(5 mo.) and me

But after my DD was born my extended decided to join us! All 17 so far!
We live on the east coast and my family lives on the west coast, so it was a perfect way to meet up..

How exciting! And Welcome!

Fish Extender....

Basically a gift exchange named because you hang a pocketed thing outside your stateroom on the little fish thing that is on the wall. There is a whole thread that talks about on here. Lots of fun!

Here's the thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1219607

 

[ByKnight]

Hi everyone..
I'm so excited! This is our 1st cruise EVER! So any advice is welcome..
We have had this cruise book since it came up on the website... And yes it's been a long wait!!,
It was going to be just for DH DD(6) DD(5 mo.) and me

But after my DD was born my extended decided to join us! All 17 so far!
We live on the east coast and my family lives on the west coast, so it was a perfect way to meet up..


I would love so advice... 1st cruise ,1st trip with 2 kids in toe , 1st major family vacation...
I just know I'm messing something up

Hey Great you found your way here even without the link. Welcome and I want to thank you for the Sheraton advice I will ask around and see what I can Find out. I am sure you whole family will have a great time joining you on this trip. We had a similar experience to you last November My wife and I had planned a trip to Disneyland and it ended up growing to the whole extended family. It was a great trip but this one we are selfishly keeping for just us and the kids. (However the kids don't know yet).

This will be my first Disney Cruise so I am sorry but I can't offer much advice but many people here sound like they have traveled a fair bit with Disney and I am sure they will offer answers to your questions if you have any.

From what I have read The FE gift exchange is a lot of fun for kids of all ages and you can read a lot about it by just typing "Fish Extender Disney cruise" into Google and you can read lots of peoples experiences with it. Sounds Fun.

Looking forward to September!

 

[msbiscuit]

Hi everyone..
I'm so excited! This is our 1st cruise EVER! So any advice is welcome..
We have had this cruise book since it came up on the website... And yes it's been a long wait!!,
It was going to be just for DH DD(6) DD(5 mo.) and me

But after my DD was born my extended decided to join us! All 17 so far!
We live on the east coast and my family lives on the west coast, so it was a perfect way to meet up..


I would love so advice... 1st cruise ,1st trip with 2 kids in toe , 1st major family vacation...
I just know I'm messing something up

Welcome to the group! Everyone here seems very friendly and willing to share advice and travel tips - ask away!

 

[Tehanna]

So on memorial day weekend, we're going to drive up to Vancouver for a day, then on our way back to Portland we're going to stop in Seattle to take a look at the Wonder at the Seattle port on Monday.

Kind of a pre-cruise test run of sorts.

We're excited!

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

Thank you everyone for your warm welcomes....
I've been looking into the FE, and it looks like so much fun!!!
All the people that have kids in our group want to join the list...
I'll have to get stateroom numbers and names together first..

To tell truth I had been dreading this trip since my DD was born b/c I'm the "Disney planner" in the family..
My family always calls me for best prices and a quick touring plan...
But since I've never been on a cruise, I don't know what to plan..

But after finding this thread I'm feeling a little better..

What kind of actives are on board?
I know they have kids zone, but are there anything we can do has a family ( small or large group) besides hang by the pool

My daughter saw in the video kids planing shuffle board with goofy.. Possible?

 

[YenSid1222]

Thank you everyone for your warm welcomes....
I've been looking into the FE, and it looks like so much fun!!!
All the people that have kids in our group want to join the list...
I'll have to get stateroom numbers and names together first..

To tell truth I had been dreading this trip since my DD was born b/c I'm the "Disney planner" in the family..
My family always calls me for best prices and a quick touring plan...
But since I've never been on a cruise, I don't know what to plan..

But after finding this thread I'm feeling a little better..

What kind of actives are on board?
I know they have kids zone, but are there anything we can do has a family ( small or large group) besides hang by the pool

My daughter saw in the video kids planing shuffle board with goofy.. Possible?

Oh my gosh....TONS to do. Although I have never witnessed goofy playing shuffleboard, I suppose it can happen. There are lots of random character interactions that happen throughout the day. What I would do (and what I wish I had done before my first Disney cruise) is do a google search for some scans of recent Navigators. That is the pamphlet you will get in your room every night for the next days activities. It will give you an idea of the kinds of things to expect. The Navigator is essential to planning each days activities if you want to make the most of your cruise.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

Oh my gosh....TONS to do. Although I have never witnessed goofy playing shuffleboard, I suppose it can happen. There are lots of random character interactions that happen throughout the day. What I would do (and what I wish I had done before my first Disney cruise) is do a google search for some scans of recent Navigators. That is the pamphlet you will get in your room every night for the next days activities. It will give you an idea of the kinds of things to expect. The Navigator is essential to planning each days activities if you want to make the most of your cruise.

Thank you! There were some great things I found...
I saw they will be showing movies! My daughter would just die if they were showing BRAVE when got on...
Thanks again they have tons of stuff.. I hope they will be doing it even if it is a discount cruise