April 1 2010 cruise meet

[Deb T.]

What part of CA? So. or No. ? We are about an hour from Disneyland. Raining right now, so much for sunny so. cal!

Just noticed in your signature that we cruised the Mexican Riviera together! Maybe you saw us... we had seven children with us on that cruise: a 5yo girl, 6yo twin girls, 6yo triplet boys, and a 7yo girl! We had a great time with the exception of Pirate Night being rained out.

 

[mmmears]

Welcome Aboard!

I'm thrilled to add you to our FE Exchange! Everyone has until March 26th to join in on the FE fun!

That's cutting it a bit close for those of us who plan to go to WDW for a while before the cruise! I won't panic, though, don't worry!

That's great! DD turns 13 on the 7th... so of course she already thinks of herself as a teenager! I know on past cruises she's always too shy to make friends, but we're hopeful she make new friends so I thought joining in the fun would be helpful.

What part of CA? So. or No. ? We are about an hour from Disneyland. Raining right now, so much for sunny so. cal!

We're in N. CA. About 5 1/2 hours from Disneyland (wonder how I know that so well...). My DD is a few days younger than yours, but not by much! She's really shy, too, so we're kind of expecting her to spend the cruise glued to us, but you never know... After a few days of togetherness at WDW before the cruise she may be running to get away!

 

[Deb T.]

That's cutting it a bit close for those of us who plan to go to WDW for a while before the cruise! I won't panic, though, don't worry!

You know, now that I think of it, I agree! Let's set the cut-off date as Saturday, March 20. I'll go back and change it in the previous posts.

 

[mmmears]

You know, now that I think of it, I agree! Let's set the cut-off date as Saturday, March 20. I'll go back and change it in the previous posts.

Oh yeah -- you'll leaving early too! Thanks for organizing all of this, by the way. I'm really enjoying your posts!

 

[Deb T.]

Oh yeah -- you'll leaving early too! Thanks for organizing all of this, by the way. I'm really enjoying your posts!

Thanks, and thanks!

I don't mind organizing the FE at all. I just need to do a better job at keeping my dates straight! I'm in the middle of planning for 3 Disney cruises (April, July, and April 2011), WDW before the cruise, a trip to Seattle at the end of April, a trip to Sacramento in the middle of May, and for keeping four kids (7yo girl & 8yo triplet boys) at our house for two weeks in June! And yes, I do work full-time, too! Some days, my brain is swimming in confusion! It's a good thing I have a LOT of energy!

Thanks for the kudos about my countdown posts! It won't be long before we're actually doing it all onboard!!!

 

[Deb T.]

If you enjoy reading trip reports, here is the link to a 3-night cruise TR that ended on Easter morning two years ago (2008). Actually, Isi and I were both on that cruise! Nzdisneymom started the TR, and I chimed in. She also posted quite a few photos! I still keep in touch with her, and we'll be sailing together again in the Baltics in July. I also still keep in touch with Ness, and we'll be sailing together again in 2011!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1782435

Enjoy!

 

[Deweysgirl]

Wow, Awesome trip report, really enjoyed it, thanks!!

 

[mmmears]

If you enjoy reading trip reports, here is the link to a 3-night cruise TR that ended on Easter morning two years ago (2008). Actually, Isi and I were both on that cruise! Nzdisneymom started the TR, and I chimed in. She also posted quite a few photos! I still keep in touch with her, and we'll be sailing together again in the Baltics in July. I also still keep in touch with Ness, and we'll be sailing together again in 2011!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1782435

Enjoy!

Thank you for posting the link! I just finished reading it -- great trip report! I love reading about the same trip from different perspectives, too!

 

[Deb T.]

Wow, Awesome trip report, really enjoyed it, thanks!!

Thank you for posting the link! I just finished reading it -- great trip report! I love reading about the same trip from different perspectives, too!

Thanks! I'd never attempted a TR before, but it was really easy to piggy-back on nzdisneymom's!

 

[Deweysgirl]

4 Weeks from today!!!

Can I get a whoop-whoop!!

 

[mmmears]

4 Weeks from today!!!

Can I get a whoop-whoop!!

WHOOP-WHOOP!!!!

Time is moving quickly now!!!

 

[Deb T.]

4 Weeks from today!!!

Can I get a whoop-whoop!!

And a great big WHOOP-WHOOP from me, too!

 

[Deb T.]

This is the final installment of Thursday onboard The Wonder in just four weeks! It’s late evening, and exhaustion is now beginning to take over. We had been anticipating this day - researching and planning and counting down - for a very long time (some of us for over a year!) and it did not disappoint! It’s hard to believe we just boarded this floating wonder (pun intended) at lunchtime today! Tomorrow, we’ll have a full day onboard! Exciting!

It’s time to pick the children up from the Kids’ Clubs and make our way back to our cabins for the night. As we near our cabin door we notice little bulges in our Fish Extender pockets! Can it be? Have goodies already been delivered in our FE’s?!? Woohoo, they have! Exciting! As we enter the cabin, we are greeted by our first towel animal on the big bed! Awwwww, cute! The few chocolate coins scattered nearby from the turn-down service are quickly gobbled up. We’re tempted to sit down and read through tomorrow’s Navigator, but we’re so tired that we know if we do, we’ll just fall asleep sitting up! While the kids are in the tub, we call room service and order milk and cookies as one last surprise of the day – after all, the kids are on vacation, too! And, while we’re at it, we go ahead and put in a standing order for milk and cookies to be delivered Friday and Saturday nights, too! (We are awesome parents!)

After a short discussion over who gets the top bunk, the kids are eventually tucked into their beds. We turn the TV on to one of the Disney music channels and set the volume down low to lull the kids to sleep. Within minutes, they’re out for the night. Now for some quiet adult time! Those with a verandah slip out on the deck, some with a glass of wine brought onboard just for this special time. Others pull the curtains together to close off the kids’ side of the cabin, and snuggle into the big comfy bed as the gentle motion of the ship rocks us to sleep. Before long, we’re dreaming about the rest of the fun to come!

 

[Deb T.]

It’s Friday night onboard the Wonder just four short weeks from today, and time for PIRATE NIGHT! Arrrrrrrrrrrgh! Everyone has begun to migrate from dinner and the Walt Disney Theatre to outside on decks 9 and 10. Banners around deck 9 proclaim the theme of the evening: Pirates IN the Caribbean! Let’s get this party started!

Once again, the family Goofy pool has been magically turned into a dance stage. The pre-show begins at 9:45pm with the very energetic entertainment staff dressed in pirate gear and dancing to upbeat music from the same stage they hosted our Sail Away party yesterday afternoon. If you want to be in the middle of the action, this is the place to be!

The actual show begins at 10pm, but no one really notices the shift from the pre-show because it all blends together into one really fun adventure. The two best parts of the show occur approximately 20 minutes later! Then, there’s more dancing… and more eating! Did we leave enough room in our bellies for the dessert buffet??? Sure… why not… we’re on vacation!

The Pirate Dessert Buffet is only set up for 45 minutes (10:30-11:15pm), so don’t forget to check it out even if you’re too full to eat anything. We’ll definitely want to see all of the spectacular food sculptures on display! Not only is there a very long table full of tempting desserts, there’s usually also smoked turkey legs and other regular food choices. To wash it all down, we make a quick pass through the 24-hour drink station. So convenient! Now it’s time to find a deck chair and experience watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl on the Ariel View big screen outside on deck 9. How many people can say they have watched one of the Pirates’ movies with the built-in special effect of actually being onboard a real live moving ship?!?

Soon, the sugar high begins to wear off, and we realize we’re weary from a full-day of adventure. Time to head back to our cabins for a good night’s sleep before docking at paradise in the morning! Another check in our FEs yields more bounty! We’re so glad we signed up for this! And, another towel animal patiently awaits our arrival inside our cabin, along with the Castaway Cay Navigator! We are so happy we brought our families on this cruise!

 

[Deweysgirl]

Deb I love your updates! Awesome!

 

[Deb T.]

Deb I love your updates! Awesome!

Thanks! It's been fun writing them. I guess tomorrow (for Saturday night) will be the last installment... unless anyone wants to throw out another theme for me to expand on.

I do have a correction, though... seems that the Treasure Hunt on Castaway Cay has been discontinued due to the new construction on the island. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2404152&highlight=treasure+hunt I'm considering trying to recreate it for anyone on our cruise who's interested. I have the original set of clues and answers, and think I can probably alter the final solution so that there could still be a little "treasure" to find at the end. I can't guarantee all the clues are still visible on the island, so I'd either make myself available for questions or include an answer key. Let me know soon if you're interested. Also, if you'd like to know what the original "treasure" was, let me know and I'll send the answer to you in a PM so as not to spoil it for possible future treasure hunts.

 

[Mouseskis]

Any advice for rebooking onboard? This our first DCL cruise, but we are quite certain that we will love it.

We are considering a 2011 Alaskan cruise. Is it best to come onboard with a quote from a travel agent or does it not matter?

Thanks!!

Kristi

 

[Deb T.]

Any advice for rebooking onboard? This our first DCL cruise, but we are quite certain that we will love it.

We are considering a 2011 Alaskan cruise. Is it best to come onboard with a quote from a travel agent or does it not matter?

Thanks!!

Kristi

We've rebooked onboard every chance we've had!

It's best to do as much research as possible beforehand to help speed up the process while onboard. The "Future Cruise Desk" has very limited hours, and there's always a line of people waiting to rebook, especially on Saturday evening! In fact, here's what the latest 3-night Navigators list for Future Cruise Desk Hours:
Thursday 7pm-8:30pm
Friday 9am-10am; 4pm-6pm; 7:30pm-8:30pm
Saturday 8:30am-9:30am; 3:30pm-6pm; 7:30pm-11pm

They also have large "price quote" cards near the desk that you can fill out and put in a slot if you don't want to wait in line. They will fill it out and put it on your "silver fish clip" outside your cabin door. They also sometimes follow up with a phone message in your cabin.

You are able to book as many cabins as you have people sailing onboard for the discount and OBC. This was an issue for us once as we were planning a big cruise gathering a couple of years ago - we needed to book 6 cabins, but only DH and I were sailing over spring break that year, so we could only book 2 cabins with the discount and OBC and the other 4 cabins at full price. However, we were also sailing again three months later, this time with our two kids, so we were finally able to book the 4 cabins with the discount and OBC. This cruise, DH and I are planning to book two cabins, but on two different sailing dates: next spring break and a dummy date for a future sailing yet to be determined.

Here's what I've already done:
*Chosen my cruise dates
*Chosen cabin category, preferred deck level, and preferred cabin locations
*Researched prices for those dates and cabin categories
*Determined which dining we want (Main or Late)
*Typed up all of our information so we can just hand it over to the agent. Here's what they need: full names, addresses, and birthdates. You can add passport numbers later. If you're planning to book more than one cabin, separate the info by who's staying in which cabin.

I think the current discount is 10%, and here are the Castaway Club level OBC credits for rebooking onboard:
Silver $100 for 3-6nt cruises; $200 for 7nt or longer cruises
Gold $150 for 3-6nt cruises; $275 for 7nt or longer cruises
Platinum $250 for 3-6nt cruises; $350 for 7nt or longer cruises

Some OBCs can be combined, but some cannot, and that can be very confusing. From what I've experienced, the rule of thumb seems to be that "Disney" only grants one OBC per cabin, and "Disney" includes the Disney VISA credit card. Outside travel agency OBCs seem to be able to be added to anything. Here's my best OBC understanding (and I definitely could still have this all confused, so be sure to check when booking):
DCL OBC cannot be combined with Disney VISA OBC
DCL OBC can be combined with outside travel agency OBC

For our last three cruises, we've booked onboard, made sure everything was just the way we wanted it, and then turned our reservations over to Dreams Unlimited 2-3 weeks before the final payments were due to take advantage of their fantastic OBC offers.

I hope this info helps. Gee, I just realized I never have "short answers" to anyone's questions.
Advice? Oh boy do I have some advice!
Hopefully I'm not confusing anyone! Maybe I need to be challenged... such as "Please answer the following question in 20 words or less."

 

[Deb T.]

It’s Saturday and four weeks from today onboard the Wonder, the Main diners have just watched Disney Dreams while the late diners are just finishing our last delicious dinner of the cruise. The rest of the evening will be very busy - trying to fit in every last moment of this magical vacation.

Shutters is crowded and we all find it very difficult to narrow down which photographs to purchase – they’re all so good! We definitely want to make one more trip to Scoops for an ice cream treat. If we’re feeling lucky, we’ll go play Jackpot Bingo!

The shops onboard are open again (they’re always closed while in port), so it’s our last chance for a souvenir shopping spree. Want an extra special souvenir?? The Captain is sitting at a table in Treasure Ketch, ready to autograph our treasures!

Children are retrieved from the Kids’ Clubs and beepers are turned back in. Then, we all head to the atrium for a final farewell from all the characters at 10pm! They have gathered together in the atrium for a little show called 'Til We Meet Again.

Then, we head back to our cabins to get our luggage out in the hallway before 11pm. We peek in our FE’s one last time. We check out our last towel animal. We set up an early wake-up call. And then we crawl into bed, a little bit sad that our cruise is coming to an end. And finally, after a very full day, the gentle rocking motion lulls us to sleep again.

 

[Bullseyebaby]

Just noticed in your signature that we cruised the Mexican Riviera together! Maybe you saw us... we had seven children with us on that cruise: a 5yo girl, 6yo twin girls, 6yo triplet boys, and a 7yo girl! We had a great time with the exception of Pirate Night being rained out.

We enjoyed the cruise to Mexico... each of us had a 24 hour "bug" while being on there...I think it was going around. Cabo was our favorite port. I loved when the ship would pull out of the port & there would be hundreds of people standing waving goodbye as the ship sounded its horn (when you wish upon a star!). I'll have to look back at my photos and see if we might have crossed paths. Looking forward to Spring Break (and Bingo)!

Are we on the same Northern Europe cruise (July 18)? That thread is sooo long, I can't keep up with it. I'd better get started on making a FE!