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

[msbiscuit]

Fat bald camera guy here! I really can't wait to go on the cruise, so I changed my calendar to September. I feel better already!

Just wanted to say hello.

Phew, that was a quick summer!

 

[chessnsnuff]

Sorry to spam the board, but I just found a new TR for last year's September repo cruise!


Thanks I love to read about what to expect on this cruise

We are a family of four and I booked this cruise a few months ago but have just stumbled onto the DISboards and I am enjoying the information I am gathering. My Wife and I are planning on surprising our two kids 9 and 11 years old with this trip. they have been to Disneyland 4 times and have always wanted to do a Disney cruise but I have always given them a huge list of why we could not go.

Well now they are not so excited about our trip as we live in Victoria BC Canada and I have told them for our holidays this year we are going to Vancouver (which for us we have been to hundreds of times) I am trying to describe all of the most boring things to do like hanging out in the Park, or Hiking a mountain, I am doing this with great enthusiasm and they are trying to be excited. But they are so disappointed with what they think is our plans.

On the 10th of September we will get them up early and take the 1 and a half ferry ride to Vancouver and they when we arrive at the terminal we were going to tell them about the trip.

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to surprise our kids or some creative ways to reveal the truth. I am open to suggestions.

Looking forward to meeting many of you on the cruise

BK

You can have Mickey or goofy call your kids on the morning of departure and tell them by phone! When you look up your cruise reservation online, there will be a link on the summary page after you log in that says "have our characters call your characters." You get 2 free calls with each cruise. I had Mickey call my son on his birthday to tell him.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

okay I am going to move the FE list to here so that it is easier to find

***FE list - if I missed anyone and/or if you want to be included let me know,
I need the following information from all participants:
The people traveling in your party, I shall add on the names and ages (if you wish, for the kids this can be helpful for people doing individual gifts)
and the stateroom number(s) if/when you have that info***

1. *Tinker*Bell* - Lorena 22, Jason (DBF) 22 Stateroom: 2015
2. Sillysox - Ruth 31, Heath 36 (DH), Maya (DD) 10, Ashton (DS) 8 Stateroom: 5020
3. Imangineer2Be - Emily, David (DH) Stateroom: 6315
4. giftcard - Marsi (celebrating turning 35 on the cruise), BFF Keri (slightly older than 35). Stateroom #7623
5. captainmattsparrow - Matt 24, Hillary 24
6. Tehanna - Mary Ann, Jay (DH) 40 Stateroom: 6130
7. Hollywood Glitter -
8. bklawyer - Dave, Jess (DW), Allen (DS) 13, Alex (DD) 11 Stateroom:
9. YenSid1222 - , DM Stateroom:
10. Mickey's Jedi - Suzanne, Steve(DH), Samantha (DD) 11, Sabrina (DD) 6. Staterm: 7065
11. Shirk- Patti, Charles (DH) Stateroom 5137
12. Suzanneaz - Suzanne, Jim (DH), Catherine (6) and Elizabeth (4)
13. Squirrel - Virginia, Kathy (DM) Stateroom:
14. ByKnight - Byron, Bev (DW), Rebecca (9) and Emily (11) Stateroom 6606
15. drrutherford - Doug 37, Mandy 35 (DW), Jennifer 11 (DD), Sara 9 (DD), Anna 6 (DD) Stateroom 8076

***We shall divide the group into a smaller group for anyone who wishes to not participate in the large group, that way everyone wins (PM me or post here or send me a link on FB to let me know if you want to be in the smaller group*** (idea may need to be revisited as the group changes and grows )

**group will be closed Aug 15**

If you are planning on trying for an upgrade at the port I will take a white board along to put on my door and any changes can be listed here as well while we are still in Vancouver I can update both this list and the FB list

Can you add us..
We have
Room 6101: Liu family Me(Julie) , DH (Paul) , DD( lorilai 6 ) , DD ( London 10 months)
Room 6103: Grandma, papa ( yes that's what they want to be called)
Room ?: Black family : aunt Jen ( 29) uncle brain (?)
I'll get back to you on the room... I can't remember it right now..

My family it sooooo excited to be apart of the FE..
Each room it planning there own theme for there door, and FE gifts..

 

[ByKnight]

You can have Mickey or goofy call your kids on the morning of departure and tell them by phone! When you look up your cruise reservation online, there will be a link on the summary page after you log in that says "have our characters call your characters." You get 2 free calls with each cruise. I had Mickey call my son on his birthday to tell him.

I love that Idea I think I will work that into our plans Thank you

 

[chessnsnuff]

I love that Idea I think I will work that into our plans Thank you

Yay! I hope they are as excited as my DS was. When he found out he literally rolled on the floor screaming "oh my gosh!" I was laughing and crying at the same time.

 

[BEAV]

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.

The info by WoodsyMIL is 100% correct as per our own experience a few years ago. We were booked on a Holland America B2B with the same type circumstances with regard to U.S. Maritime laws and boarding in Seattle and disembarking in LA. 10 days before departure (we had tickets/documents in hand) we were notified that U.S.
Customs/Border Protection officials were comparing the passenger manifests of both voyages of which our names were listed on each. They contacted Holland America advising our itinerary was in violation of the maritime law. Holland America offered to pay the $300 per per fine on our behalf, but the Agency wouldn't allow that since they were giving the cruise line 10 days advance notice. So in the end we didn't take either cruise, and Holland America refunded our money.

The Maritime law, as crazy as it is, doesn't allow cruise travel between one U.S. port (Seattle) and a different U.S. port (LA) without first visiting a distant foreign port. Vancouver is not considered distant foreign. The officials explained the only way a B2B would be possible would be to stay a minimum of 24 hours in Vancouver between sailings.

 

[bklawyer]

Hi all! Just updating our FE info for the list:

The Pomeranz family (bklawyer), stateroom 7012; Dave, Jessica, Allen (DS-13) and Alex (DD-11).

The Thomas family, stateroom 7014; Stacy, Judy, Anthony (DS-12), J'Nard (DS-7).

Thank you very much!

 

[*tinker*bell*]

Can you add us..
We have
Room 6101: Liu family Me(Julie) , DH (Paul) , DD( lorilai 6 ) , DD ( London 10 months)
Room 6103: Grandma, papa ( yes that's what they want to be called)
Room ?: Black family : aunt Jen ( 29) uncle brain (?)
I'll get back to you on the room... I can't remember it right now..

My family it sooooo excited to be apart of the FE..
Each room it planning there own theme for there door, and FE gifts..

I've added you onto the list Welcome!

 

[*tinker*bell*]

Hi all! Just updating our FE info for the list:

The Pomeranz family (bklawyer), stateroom 7012; Dave, Jessica, Allen (DS-13) and Alex (DD-11).

The Thomas family, stateroom 7014; Stacy, Judy, Anthony (DS-12), J'Nard (DS-7).

Thank you very much!

I've updated this list and the one on the Disboards with all the new info I've been given if anyone has anymore or I've missed something please just let me know

 

[cyclenut]

The info by WoodsyMIL is 100% correct as per our own experience a few years ago. We were booked on a Holland America B2B with the same type circumstances with regard to U.S. Maritime laws and boarding in Seattle and disembarking in LA. 10 days before departure (we had tickets/documents in hand) we were notified that U.S.
Customs/Border Protection officials were comparing the passenger manifests of both voyages of which our names were listed on each. They contacted Holland America advising our itinerary was in violation of the maritime law. Holland America offered to pay the $300 per per fine on our behalf, but the Agency wouldn't allow that since they were giving the cruise line 10 days advance notice. So in the end we didn't take either cruise, and Holland America refunded our money.

The Maritime law, as crazy as it is, doesn't allow cruise travel between one U.S. port (Seattle) and a different U.S. port (LA) without first visiting a distant foreign port. Vancouver is not considered distant foreign. The officials explained the only way a B2B would be possible would be to stay a minimum of 24 hours in Vancouver between sailings.

There is a thread over on CC that talks about the recent experience off the Wonder. PAX were told to pack up and disembark. They were escorted by DCL to a holding area. Ship was cleared and they re-boarded to a different stateroom and it was all good. They continued on the Alaska voyage, stopping in Seattle after having boarded the NB b2b in LA.

In other words, it worked.

I am just passing information along from CC. You can read it there in the Disney Cruise forum. This came directly from a PAX on the second leg of the B2B.

 

[GoofyThomas]

Hello All

This will be our first cruise ever and we are truly looking forward to it.

Family members:

Myself - Judy
DH - Hubby/Bernard
DS - Anthony 12
DS - J'Nard 7

We will see you in September!

 

[Tehanna]

Welcome Judy and family!

Am I correct in guessing that you are the family travelling with bklawyer (Dave & Jessica and family)?

In any case, it's great that you're here!

 

[bklawyer]

Yes, only we call Bernard "Stacy" for some reason I never quite understood. I'm pretty sure he'll answer to anything if you give him a steak.

 

[Tehanna]

Yes, only we call Bernard "Stacy" for some reason I never quite understood. I'm pretty sure he'll answer to anything if you give him a steak.

Heh. Good to know. I have a different gift for men than for women.

 

[chessnsnuff]

<crickets chirping> where is everyone? Am I the only one that incredibly excited!!!!!!!! We leave for vancouver in 3 months!!!

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

<crickets chirping> where is everyone? Am I the only one that incredibly excited!!!!!!!! We leave for vancouver in 3 months!!!

we are tryin to get the cruise paid off!!
I just got done paying off my mom's and sister's..
now it mine share to finsh..however the AAA person never answers her phone
you'd think they want my money as fast as they could get it..

(little rant) PS. if you live in MA, ALWAYS book your disney trips IN PERSON through AAA! somehow a lady in Rode island is handeling our trip, so walking into the AAA office (two blocks down) to make a payemnt..is impossible

i was told b/c i booked with her over the phone that i had to stay with her and they can not transfer the account..
Calling over the phone will get you transfered to the main branch in rode island ( end of rant)

 

[cyclenut]

we are tryin to get the cruise paid off!!
I just got done paying off my mom's and sister's..
now it mine share to finsh..however the AAA person never answers her phone
you'd think they want my money as fast as they could get it..

(little rant) PS. if you live in MA, ALWAYS book your disney trips IN PERSON through AAA! somehow a lady in Rode island is handeling our trip, so walking into the AAA office (two blocks down) to make a payemnt..is impossible

i was told b/c i booked with her over the phone that i had to stay with her and they can not transfer the account..
Calling over the phone will get you transfered to the main branch in rode island ( end of rant)

Good to know ... we booked ours through our local AAA office. Well ... we actually booked it on board and then transferred it.

She has made a few mistakes but it has been nice to sit down and go over things in person, especially since we have more than one trip planned.

As for other plans ... we are amped up and ready for Cars Land and BVS openings at DCA! DW and I are doing the Sunday preview. DD did the CM preview yesterday.

We visited the parks on Wednesday and stopped in an Ghiradelli for an ice cream and chocolate treat. Loved it! ... but who wouldn't right? We've been to the one in San Fran and intend to visit it again when we are there in September. The two shops are different with the DCA looking much newer (of course) and built for much higher volumes. It was very crowded at DCA, not so much in San Fran ... but that was a few years back.

We've also decided to NOT book any excursions through DCA. We have done a little research and find that there is plenty of opportunity to book exactly the same experience at almost half the price. It is such a popular tourist destination that they have everything available on-line, including Alcatraz tours and Disney museum tours.

In the mean time, our RCL cruise leaves in about two weeks!

 

[msbiscuit]

<crickets chirping> where is everyone? Am I the only one that incredibly excited!!!!!!!! We leave for vancouver in 3 months!!!

You know, I've always wanted to find that crickets chirping sound byte to link to an emoticon.
You're right! I leave for Vancouver 3 months from today!! Woo-hoo!!!

 

[msbiscuit]

we are tryin to get the cruise paid off!!
I just got done paying off my mom's and sister's..
now it mine share to finsh..however the AAA person never answers her phone
you'd think they want my money as fast as they could get it..

(little rant) PS. if you live in MA, ALWAYS book your disney trips IN PERSON through AAA! somehow a lady in Rode island is handeling our trip, so walking into the AAA office (two blocks down) to make a payemnt..is impossible

i was told b/c i booked with her over the phone that i had to stay with her and they can not transfer the account..
Calling over the phone will get you transfered to the main branch in rode island ( end of rant)

Sounds sort of like trying to call the front desk at a WDW hotel - it gets you a generic sort of help desk. Made me crazy (or is it too late for that?) when they'd given me the wrong room number on my key card sleeve and I couldn't get in the room. I stood there (in the courtyard of a building at OKW and in the freakin' rain) for an hour trying to get it resolved.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

Sounds sort of like trying to call the front desk at a WDW hotel - it gets you a generic sort of help desk. Made me crazy (or is it too late for that?) when they'd given me the wrong room number on my key card sleeve and I couldn't get in the room. I stood there (in the courtyard of a building at OKW and in the freakin' rain) for an hour trying to get it resolved.

Yes! It's very much like that.....
Getting ahold of her is crazy! I finally got it all paid off!!!

Now can someone tell me about getting on the Disney website to fill put info for our cruise... I have no idea what the AAA agent ment by this?
She said I can log on and book excisions and other fun things..
Also I can print our tickets for the cruise?

Please help I'm sooo confused