9/27/14, Returning to the Southern Caribbean

[mom x4 grandma x4]

1) Number of adults / children in your group: 2 adults / 3 children
2) Names of adults in your group: Becky and David
3) Ages of children in your party (at your discretion): DD 14, DS 13, DS 10
4) General location of where you currently live: Suburb West of Phoenix, AZ
5) Castaway Club Level: Gold
6) Disney Vacation Club owner?: No

Looking forward to this itinerary!

WELCOME!!!

Nice to have another family aboard.
I am Kathy and DH is Greg. No family with us this time.

I am looking forward to chatting with you while waiting for this cruise.
All our info about the FE and FB page is on the first page of this thread. Have a look and if you have any questions, please ask.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Becky, saw your request and got you added to FB.

Kathy

 

[pmwweston]

We are sailing on the 9/27/14 Cruise out of Puerto Rico. Can you please add me to the facebook page? We are looking forward to it! Thanks

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

We are sailing on the 9/27/14 Cruise out of Puerto Rico. Can you please add me to the facebook page? We are looking forward to it! Thanks

Welcome aboard.

I have added you to FB page.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Hi everyone,

I am asking for your help again.

We have a few new families who have joined our group but they didn't list their names.

I have a request from a Sharon Bailey to join our FB page but I can't find Sharon here?

Sharon if your reading this or if someone here knows who Sharon is please let me know. I cant accept her until I know she is on this cruise.

Thanks for the help.

Kathy

 

[CCGMatt]

Hi everyone,

I am asking for your help again.

We have a few new families who have joined our group but they didn't list their names.

I have a request from a Sharon Bailey to join our FB page but I can't find Sharon here?

Sharon if your reading this or if someone here knows who Sharon is please let me know. I cant accept her until I know she is on this cruise.

Thanks for the help.

Kathy

She belongs to me!

1) Number of adults / children in your group: 2 adults
2) Names of adults in your group: Sharon & Matt (Mother & adult son)
3) Ages of children in your party (at your discretion): N/A
4) General location of where you currently live: Southwest Ohio
5) Castaway Club Level: Matt - Gold; Sharon - Silver
6) Disney Vacation Club owner?: No

So excited for this trip! Astounded to see that there are 50 some pages to read through. We just got back from a Western on the Fantasy 3 weeks ago, and it's time to join another group already!!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

She belongs to me!

1) Number of adults / children in your group: 2 adults
2) Names of adults in your group: Sharon & Matt (Mother & adult son)
3) Ages of children in your party (at your discretion): N/A
4) General location of where you currently live: Southwest Ohio
5) Castaway Club Level: Matt - Gold; Sharon - Silver
6) Disney Vacation Club owner?: No

So excited for this trip! Astounded to see that there are 50 some pages to read through. We just got back from a Western on the Fantasy 3 weeks ago, and it's time to join another group already!!

I am Happy she belongs to you!!
Thanks for letting me know.
Will get right to adding her to the FB page.

Love the Fantasy!! Glad you had a cruise so recently. We try to keep one booked at all times.

Kathy

 

[sdlong329]

Internet service is expected to be re-activated at our house sometime on Wednesday. I have a lot of catching up to do! In the past few months, we has spent upwards of $75,000 in repairs on our house, courtesy of Hurricane Sandy. At times, the place looked liked a war zone ... but is very close to being a HOME once again. Accordingly, please bear with me ... I will try to make additions to the role call page in a timely manner.

GROUP HOTEL: Earlier in the thread, I mentioned the possibility of putting together a group rate (pre/post cruise) in San Juan. I would like to ask for input on hotels from residents of PR, as well as those who have traveled to SJ recently. Which ones should we avoid? Which ones do you really like?

LOCATION: For those who MAY have a potential interest in a group rate hotel (pre/post cruise stay) ... would you prefer a hotel in close proximity to the cruise pier (potential views of water, likely easy walking distance to Old San Juan) ... or ... do you prefer a hotel near the airport? I am guessing most would prefer to be near the pier. If this is NOT the case, please post a note.

I saw a map of the pier area, which apparently suggests the following hotels are in close proximity to the pier:
1) Casa Blanca Hotel San Juan
2) SJ Suites Hotel Old San Juan
3) Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel & Casino
4) Gallery Inn Old San Juan
5) Hotel Plaza de Armas San Juan
6) Hotel El Convento Old San Juan
- If anyone has personal experience with any of these hotels (good, or bad) ... please let us know.

Please remember, any hotel wishing to provide a group hotel rate will provide a better rate when we are able to commit to booking well in advance of our sailing date. If we wait to book 60, 90, 120 days prior to sailing ... we will not get a decent price. When a hotel sets up a group discount program, they block off a certain numbers of rooms for the group. There is generally a chance to book direct with a hotel to obtain a discount (closer to sailing), but USUALLY an advance group discount tends to provide a better rate ... as well as guaranteeing availability, and usually booking rooms near each other.

If you THINK you may have interest in a group hotel, please post a note indicating how many rooms you MIGHT want, and for how many days (please also indicate pre-cruise, or post cruise) ... as an example:

- 1 room, 2 days, pre-cruise
- 2 rooms, 2 days, post-cruise
- 1 room, 3 days, post-cruise

Obviously, no hotel has been selected ... and no pricing is available. The thought process is that we would PREFER to have guests book directly with a specific agent at a local hotel (through the use of a code word), or, the guest would contact a designated Travel Agent (there is no need for anyone to give our credit card or other personal information online, or to any other guest).

If you have any other input, suggestions or advice ... feel free to add to the conversation.

Steven

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Hi Steven,

Great to hear from you. I was beginning to wonder about you. Glad your doing ok.

Greg and I are still debating about spending a night prior to the cruise. If we did I know we would prefer closer to the pier and Old San Juan.
Once we get through all this moving business I will talk with him about it in more detail.

Good to hear your house is almost done. Its been along year for you folks.

I hope Donna is doing much better now.


Kathy

 

[goofy370]

My husband and I would like to stay one night before the cruise. Traveling the day of makes us too nervous.

 

[sdlong329]

So excited for this trip! Astounded to see that there are 50 some pages to read through. We just got back from a Western on the Fantasy 3 weeks ago, and it's time to join another group already!!

It REALLY gets fun when someone has 3 or more DCL cruises booked at any given time. We try to sail two weeks on DCL every year ... sometimes that is two separate cruises ... sometimes it's a TransAtlantic or Panama Canal cruise. Cruising (or waiting for upcoming cruises) can get overwhelming sometimes ... but it's something we DIS'ers can handle!


Steven

 

[sdlong329]

Hi Steven,

Great to hear from you. I was beginning to wonder about you. Glad your doing ok.

Greg and I are still debating about spending a night prior to the cruise. If we did I know we would prefer closer to the pier and Old San Juan.
Once we get through all this moving business I will talk with him about it in more detail.

Good to hear your house is almost done. Its been along year for you folks.

I hope Donna is doing much better now.


Kathy

People WONDER about me much of the time (if you know what I mean)!

Donna recently started getting applications of collagen to her leg, to accelerate the growth of skin. She is using motorized scooter/carts in grocery stores (etc). We will likely have to get one of those when we visit WDW in January.

 

[sdlong329]

FWIW, the Travel Agent I use is already planning to stay at Sheraton Old San Juan prior to her DCL Southern Caribbean cruise. From what I can see, that looks like it may be our best overall option (again - chime in if you have personal experience).

I took the liberty of checking rates for a room at Sheraton OSJ about 6+ months out from now ... looks like rack rates start at about $169+/- for a traditional room. Based upon past experience, we should be able to get a 10% (+/-) discount ... perhaps more. Remember, as we get closer to our hotel arrival date, hotels raise their rates (also, based upon occupancy rates). Accordingly, if someone waits to book a room 90-120 days prior to staying at the hotel, the rack rate will likely be MUCH higher, with no guarantee of availability.

We sailed the Magic on the E/B TransAtlantic earlier this year (out of Galveston). We booked a very nice hotel ... got a great rate. There were people who were waiting to book on their own ... then another group booked a large slot of rooms for a separate (local) event ... so many DISers were not able to book the hotel, while others paid almost 50% more than our group rate. Booking a room in a group rate is much more favorable, because you are less likely to get bumped if the facility overbooks.

DISCLAIMER: I will not benefit financially (or in any other manner) from the booking of group rate(s). It's just something I do to make the cruise more enjoyable. In 2011, when we sailed the Magic on her Inaugural sailing to Alaska, I organized a bus to pick up DISers from a Disneyland hotel, to take us directly to the port/pier, instead of having to go back to the airport, only to catch another transfer. We saved lots of time, and some extra money.


Steven

 

[MAJPLO]

Definitely interested in a group rate room. Not sure yet for number of days before/after but we would only need one room as long as it can sleep four.

 

[Cindyrellablue]

I looked up that Sheraton you mentioned and it looks like a great option. We would definitely be interested in staying there.

 

[rngrblu9]

1) Number of adults / children in your group: 2 adults & 2 kids
2) Names of adults in your group: ray & denise
3) Ages of children in your party (at your discretion): 8 & 4
4) General location of where you currently live: upstate ny
5) Castaway Club Level: platinum
6) Disney Vacation Club owner?: since 2001-ish?

oh…our last name is perry…on Facebook it would be denise tesoriero perry…thanks!!!

 

[rngrblu9]

Internet service is expected to be re-activated at our house sometime on Wednesday. I have a lot of catching up to do! In the past few months, we has spent upwards of $75,000 in repairs on our house, courtesy of Hurricane Sandy. At times, the place looked liked a war zone ... but is very close to being a HOME once again. Accordingly, please bear with me ... I will try to make additions to the role call page in a timely manner.

GROUP HOTEL: Earlier in the thread, I mentioned the possibility of putting together a group rate (pre/post cruise) in San Juan. I would like to ask for input on hotels from residents of PR, as well as those who have traveled to SJ recently. Which ones should we avoid? Which ones do you really like?

LOCATION: For those who MAY have a potential interest in a group rate hotel (pre/post cruise stay) ... would you prefer a hotel in close proximity to the cruise pier (potential views of water, likely easy walking distance to Old San Juan) ... or ... do you prefer a hotel near the airport? I am guessing most would prefer to be near the pier. If this is NOT the case, please post a note.

I saw a map of the pier area, which apparently suggests the following hotels are in close proximity to the pier:
1) Casa Blanca Hotel San Juan
2) SJ Suites Hotel Old San Juan
3) Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel & Casino
4) Gallery Inn Old San Juan
5) Hotel Plaza de Armas San Juan
6) Hotel El Convento Old San Juan
- If anyone has personal experience with any of these hotels (good, or bad) ... please let us know.

Please remember, any hotel wishing to provide a group hotel rate will provide a better rate when we are able to commit to booking well in advance of our sailing date. If we wait to book 60, 90, 120 days prior to sailing ... we will not get a decent price. When a hotel sets up a group discount program, they block off a certain numbers of rooms for the group. There is generally a chance to book direct with a hotel to obtain a discount (closer to sailing), but USUALLY an advance group discount tends to provide a better rate ... as well as guaranteeing availability, and usually booking rooms near each other.

If you THINK you may have interest in a group hotel, please post a note indicating how many rooms you MIGHT want, and for how many days (please also indicate pre-cruise, or post cruise) ... as an example:

- 1 room, 2 days, pre-cruise
- 2 rooms, 2 days, post-cruise
- 1 room, 3 days, post-cruise

Obviously, no hotel has been selected ... and no pricing is available. The thought process is that we would PREFER to have guests book directly with a specific agent at a local hotel (through the use of a code word), or, the guest would contact a designated Travel Agent (there is no need for anyone to give our credit card or other personal information online, or to any other guest).

If you have any other input, suggestions or advice ... feel free to add to the conversation.

Steven

we would definitely be interested in a group rate in a nice hotel…preferably 4+ stars but 3 would work too…

3 rooms…4 days (arrive wednesday before)…pre-cruise

thanks!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

1) Number of adults / children in your group: 2 adults & 2 kids
2) Names of adults in your group: ray & denise
3) Ages of children in your party (at your discretion): 8 & 4
4) General location of where you currently live: upstate ny
5) Castaway Club Level: platinum
6) Disney Vacation Club owner?: since 2001-ish?

oh…our last name is perry…on Facebook it would be denise tesoriero perry…thanks!!!

WELCOME!!

Happy to have you aboard!

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Good morning everyone,

Due to our move the next few days I won't have internet.
So if anyone new joins in and wants to join FB or the FE list please be patient and I will get to you by no later than next Wednesday.

I will have internet before then but unless I get way ahead of schedule I won't have the time to get on line until Wednesday.

Have a great weekend and I'll be checking back as soon as I can.

Kathy

 

[rngrblu9]

WELCOME!!

Happy to have you aboard!

Kathy

thank u!