9/24/09 3 Day Wonder - Cruise Meets, and FEs, and Goombays oh my!

[karentan]

i reset my tickers a few days back, but i dont think it worked as my ship is still flying! ad my first ticker still says free dining, (not quite so free anymore, i'm having to pay for it). then again how could i turn down the chance to rent points for SSR at $4.17 per point!! yay for the person before me pulling out of the deal!!

i have now officially finished making my FE gifts!!! i have to personalise one when cristina comes back to me with her family name, but that wont take me two minutes. i'd been putting off making the (much smaller but more labour intensive) second gift for months but finally got round to it today.
the fact that i got anything done at all today (given that at the most, i think i managed to get 3 hours of sleep last night -if that) is an absolute miracle!!)

 

[jenny105]

Jenny when did you send in your application? When I did mine at the Post Office they told me 6 - 8 weeks, I got it in two. Bob did his a week after mine at a different Post Office, and they told him 4 weeks...he got it in one week. We didn't pay any extra to rush them...it was just extremely fast.

I called AAA, they told me if I took my card to the gate I would save $12.95 off of a 7 day park hopper. The only tickets I could get from my branch would be 3 or 5 day tickets.

I applied yesterday. They told me 4-6 weeks. I'm hoping it comes in quickly! Joe got his renewed in May but can't remember how long it took for him to get his.

Our office sells 4, 5, and 6 day but they're all the no expiration plus water park and more option so they don't really save anybody money!

 

[karentan]

4-6 weeks?? thats long, i think our average over here is about 3 weeks. you can get it shorter but you have to use the post office check and send service.

forgot to add earlier that i've made a load (more) door magnets, we're going to recycle last years ones, but i've added some more too! i've kept a couple of sheets of the magnetic paper back for other designs, plus i'm trying to find a good one for you and joe!

just booked a round of golf for gary too, last year he went to the 9 hole walking course and gave up half way round, so i presumed he wouldnt be interested in an offer i saw earlier ($62 plus tax, includes green fees, cart hire, club hire, and balls). i mentioned it to him in passing and he's really excited that he gets to play one of the "proper" courses now. he's picked lake buena vista course, which works out well actually as its right next to saratoga spings, and some of the holes actually go right through the middle of old key west. so i've just booked a tee time of 9.06am (why 06??) on the thursday 17th. he wants me to go with him so i'm going to drive the cart round and try and pop a wheelie!!

 

[jenny105]

Yup, 4-6 weeks. If you pay $60 more to have it "expedited" it takes 2-3 weeks. It makes me feel better knowing Donna and Bob got theirs back so fast. I can track in online once 5 days have passed. It needs to get to my house by the 18th!

Thanks, Karen, for looking for a magnet to make for me!

You think Gary will get through the whole round?

 

[karentan]

probably not!! he gave up half way through last year because he wasnt playing well, and the 9 hole course is also a walking course, so carrying his golf clubs was hurting his back. he's got a gold buggy this time though so it should help.
he's talking about going to the driving range tomorrow and trying to get a few lessons in too. think the idea of playing a proper PGA course is spurring him on.
plus he NEEDS to get back into playing golf (he played a lot as a kid, but hasnt played much recently, and he gets annoyed when he's not playing well) since he works in the golf industry!!
i'm thinking of disappearing for a couple of holes in the middle of the round, the course passes right through the middle of old key west, so i might go for a wander and explore the resort a bit!

i'm trying to find a good design for you jenny! plus i think lainey is doing a couple for you too isnt she?
i've done a few really small ones that i'm thinking of just sticking on random people's doors! spreading the magic!

 

[jenny105]

I think Mary was talking about making me magnets. It seems to be becoming part of my FE from you guys!

Joe wants to go golfing but somehow...I can't picture that. He has a very short attention span so I can't imagine him lasting through an entire round of golf!! Good luck to Gary!

 

[karentan]

your door will probably end up being the most decorated one!!
gary used to play a lot of golf when he was younger, but recently he goes to the driving range, gets himself wound up because he's not playing well, then doesnt go back for ages. to be honest i cant even remember the last time he went to the driving range. but who knows, maybe he'll prove me wrong and make more of an effort given the calibre of the course he's playing.

my travel agent for the cruise (i transferred to the booking to allseas to get the extra on board credit) has been emailing me back and forth about the DCL transfers, i finally got to the stage of confirming the right transfers, when she emails me saying my CC has been declined and can i use another card. i emailed her to get her to call me as i dont want to put my CC info on an email, and the lightning storm over there at the mo has knocked their phones out!! so i've gotta call them tomorrow with the number.

i'm actually quite pleased today because i've managed to get quite a few small holiday things done, stuff i've been putting off for ages. so today i've managed to do my door magnets, changed the info on my online visa waiver to the new saratoga address, taken out the trip insurance, finished my other FE gifts, organised the car hire to get to the port, booked garys golf, sorted the DCL transfers, basically lots of little things that i just havent got around to doing yet.
i've written myself a list of things i still need to do, as well as things i need to buy to take over there, ie: washing powder, sweeties for the FEs and servers. i've also decided to buy 2 sets of those hard plastic picnic stuff (plates, bowls, cutlery). since we're staying in DVC resorts for the whole trip, we get a kitchenette. they provide paper plates, but i was thinking hard plastic ones would be more practical for brekkie cereal and munchies. plus we're thinking of taking advantage of the BBQ pits at SSR one night!

 

[karentan]

i have now officially finished ALL my FE gifts!!!!

and i've made 3 magnets for jenny and joe!

 

[jenny105]

Thanks, Karen!

The last time Joe was at a driving range...he broke the clubs. He still doesn't know how it happened but he broke two of them. Aren't golf clubs almost impossible to break in half?

It sounds like you've got a lot done! I have to buy a few things for the trip: sunblock, memory cards for my camera, batteries for the camera, and some munchies for the ride down. Nothing I need to get immediately. And I still have to do my online check-in if DCL will ever let me!

 

[jenny105]

I finally got through to online check-in. Got Joe signed in but have to wait until I get my passport to fill out my own stuff. We don't have to bring any of that with us except the cruise contract right?

And I said I'd be paying cash for my onboard credit and it said I'd have a $200 limit. What's that all about? I need more than that with all the Goombay Smashes I plan on drinking! LOL

 

[karentan]

yeah i think you'll need more!
if you put a card in, they'll ask you again at check in if its ok to use that card or if you want to change it.
yay for getting on to check in though!

i've just changed my car hire (2 days at start of holiday so i can get to seaworld) from budget to dollar. even adding the prepaid fuel on, it still comes out a bit cheaper with dollar, plus its closer to DTD than budget is, so yay for saving money!

 

[jenny105]

I don't know if they meant whatever I put down in cash plus a $200 credit limit. I know that when we sailed RCCL, I put down whatever amount I wanted in cash and then they extended a line of credit to me incase I ran out of cash that I had to settle before disembarkation. I'm thinking that's what it means. In any case, I don't need it.

Guess I'll find out in 5 weeks and 5 days!

 

[jenny105]

Ya know, I don't know how "free" the dining is in WDW. I just ran rates for room and ticket for POP and that came to $1218.96. For the free dining promo, it's $1417.80 for the same room and ticket options. I guess they charge you more for the room to make up for what they're losing in dining! Sneaky!

 

[karentan]

i think with the package you were pricing without the dining, the room would have had some form of discount on it. with the free dining, it has to be full rack rate to qualify. but hey, its worth it for all that food!

i'm really happy at the mo, i'd booked car hire through budget for the 2 days at the start of the holiday and for the one day to drive to the port. i priced up all the major companies and budget came up the cheapest at £69 for the 3 days. plus with budget i wasnt forced to pay for a full tank of fuel, i had the option of returning the car with a full tank of gas.
well today someone gave me a heads up that airline network had dropped their car hire prices. i had a look and found that i can now rent a car from dollar at DTD for a lot cheaper.
i even added the platinum package (additional drivers and full tank of fuel - ie: give it back empty), and it still came out cheaper than budget.
so i'm now paying £63 instead of £66, the gas is now included in the price so i dont need to worry about filling it back up, and its closer to SSR (across the road!!) than budget was!!
i'm saving money and i get the gas included now!!

 

[jenny105]

Yeah but didn't you used to get more out of the dining plan? An appetizer and gratuity were included right? It just seems they're making you pay rack rate to make up for the money they're losing out on. That $1417.80 was with QS free dining! So it'd be even more with the regular dining plan. It's not easy to explain that to clients when they think it's "free."

How many times have you switched rental car companies? Great that you found a better deal though!

 

[karentan]

i'm changing everything at the mo to try and get a better deal!!

i had a feeling that the values would swap to quick service dining, the UK free dining offer has been doing this last year and this year, i presumed the US free dining would follow eventually.

i've been playing with the settings on my new camera (well had it for 2/3 months but not really used it much, bought it for the holiday) and i think i'm kinda getting the hang of it. not properly, but i can adjust the settings now and i understand the difference in the photos!! i really should take a photography course!!

how's everyone's weekend going? we've been to the driving range both days to try and get gary back into the swing of his golf, we went out for dinner yesterday, and are just kinda chilling out today.

keeping a close eye on the hurricane situation right now, after thinking its been a realyl quiet season so far, we've now got 3 tropical storms all going at the same time hope the weather is good for when we go......

 

[jenny105]

Well, for the original free dining deal it was basic dining no matter where you stayed. For Oct-Dec, you get free QS dining if you're staying in a value and free basic dining anywhere else. It's crazy that they've extended it so much! I'm hoping for some good deals next year. I really want to go down for when Harry Potter opens at Universal but I wouldn't say no to a side trip to Disney World.

I said the same thing today, about how it's been so quiet with the tropical storm and hurricane warnings. Better now than a month from now!

 

[karentan]

is anyone else on a GTY room going slightly mad and obsessively checking the DCL website for a room assignment? or is it just me??!! lol

and about seeing that at present there are 2 tropical storms going at the mo, and we now have the first hurricane of the season.

 

[m_kasch]

Karen, you are NOT the only one obsessed with looking for the stateroom number!! I just want to know already!! Why must they keep us in suspense?!?

So, one month from tomorrow DSis and I will be in the World!! Yay for that!!

 

[karentan]

yeah we're at 38 days out now, dont they know we're impatient??!!

i'm not feeling too great today, my nose wont stop running and when i got up to go out to the bank earlier i felt really dizzy. but i did stop by the supermarket on the way back and bought the little sweetie bits for my FEs, so i am now officially done. no more!