April 13, 2013 - Western Caribbean Fantasy Cruise

[pershing]

From MCO to PVD Southwest was $403 for the Saturday return - yep that was one way. That Wanna Get Away fair is now sold out and the next level is $436 right now.

New England school vacation week....they get ya in price.

Yes, they do! Until some of us get fed up and our children grow up and we can diabolically sit and wait for them to lower their prices when nobody books or take one of the traditional airlines and use only a carry-on bag cause it's only one or two of you or priceline it at the last moment cause the kids are grown and you can just wing it now or, God Forbid, DRIVE!......retribution is coming!!!!

 

[heidibilotti]

Great report!

Were you upgraded by Disney or did you do a port upgrade? If the latter, how much did it run you? (Inquiring minds want to know )

I was looking at other excursions than the ones you did, but it's nice to hear about them. I don't like haggling at beaches so I would pass on that one even if I wasn't thinking about something else.

Have you been on the Dream? Was their any differences between the two besides the little pool on the top deck of the Fantasy and the restaurant/bar theming?

Wow great report..just makes me anticipate it all the more. Glad you had such a great time.

 

[Dodieauglis]

Great report!

Were you upgraded by Disney or did you do a port upgrade? If the latter, how much did it run you? (Inquiring minds want to know )

I was looking at other excursions than the ones you did, but it's nice to hear about them. I don't like haggling at beaches so I would pass on that one even if I wasn't thinking about something else.

Have you been on the Dream? Was their any differences between the two besides the little pool on the top deck of the Fantasy and the restaurant/bar theming?

We were upgraded by DVC. The beach haggling really wasn't that bad. My wife got a nice silver necklace for $10. She offered $10 and he said no. After a while, he came back and accepted it so everyone was happy.

We have been on the Dream (3 day in Sept 2011). Same layout with minor differences that you mentioned. Word of caution, if you go to Oh La La and get champagne...don't. We paid $60 for 2 glasses of champagne. It was good but not exactly what I was expecting .

Sorry for the late reply, I didn't get a chance to get online until today due to work load. Like everyone else in New England, I am preparing for Sandy!

 

[mdurette]

How did all you New Englanders (and others) make out with Sandy. We are in SE Mass - strong winds, lots of trees down and some still without power. But in the end....just a bad storm for us to sit through. We were lucky.

 

[mdurette]

Does anyone know what night is formal night?

 

[Calfan]

Does anyone know what night is formal night?

I believe formal night is night #2 on 7-day cruises.

 

[pjacobi]

My wife, DD15 and I will be joining you on this cruise!

This is our 5th cruise, 3rd time on DCL.

We normally vacation during NH school vacation week, but my daughter now attends a private high school, just across the boarder in MA. Beginning this year, we are on the MA school vacation schedule.

My DD first cruise was 10 years ago on the Magic in 2003. I still have her Oceaneer Club badge! It will be a much different experience for her in the Vibe teen club. Hopefully, she will make a new friend.

Since we have already done the Western itinerary on the Magic, we’re going to relax more. The one thing we would like to do as a family is Xcaret. We hope for some adult time at Remy, Palo or both.

Tickets from MHT are ridiculously high, but went ahead and got direct flights on SWA. I’m hoping prices will come down at some point and be able to claim a credit for future ticket.

We’re not interested in FE exchange, but might attend DIS meet.


-Paul

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Welcome, Paul!

I'm starting to get excited now since I *finally* pulled the trigger on air. I live CA and fares have been horrible. I'd been watching Virgin and it went from over $800 to $360ish, so I jumped. I suspect if I'd waited I could have gotten it cheaper through Southwest, but I decided the direct flight (and peace of mind) was worth it

 

[gfolchick]

My wife, DD15 and I will be joining you on this cruise!

This is our 5th cruise, 3rd time on DCL.

We normally vacation during NH school vacation week, but my daughter now attends a private high school, just across the boarder in MA. Beginning this year, we are on the MA school vacation schedule.

My DD first cruise was 10 years ago on the Magic in 2003. I still have her Oceaneer Club badge! It will be a much different experience for her in the Vibe teen club. Hopefully, she will make a new friend.

Since we have already done the Western itinerary on the Magic, we’re going to relax more. The one thing we would like to do as a family is Xcaret. We hope for some adult time at Remy, Palo or both.

Tickets from MHT are ridiculously high, but went ahead and got direct flights on SWA. I’m hoping prices will come down at some point and be able to claim a credit for future ticket.

We’re not interested in FE exchange, but might attend DIS meet.


-Paul

Hi Paul,
We have a DD15 too (she'll turn 16 in January), but she's a sophomore. She'll be spending some time in VIBE. LMK if your daughter would want to connect via Facebook.

 

[jtkboston]

My wife, DD15 and I will be joining you on this cruise!

...

got direct flights on SWA.

We're flying nonstop on SWA too, Friday at 4:30 down to MCO, Saturday at 1:30 or so back to MHT.

 

[pjacobi]

We're flying nonstop on SWA too, Friday at 4:30 down to MCO, Saturday at 1:30 or so back to MHT.

That's our flights, too!

I paid about $2500 for 3 tickets about a month ago. I checked back last night and price had dropped by $200. I rebooked to claim refund to credit card.

Yea, but it is still way over priced by at least $1000. I'm hoping for another price drop.


-Paul

 

[TheHarpClan]

Hi Everyone.

I'll begin with apologies from a forum Newbie for any faux pas I may make.

Anyway, we are a family of 3 (Mum, Dad and 7 y.o. Son) from England.

We've just booked this April 13, 2013 Cruise on the Disney Fantasy.
We've been to DisneyWorld Florida a few times but this is our first cruise (of any kind).

Very excited and looking forward immensely to this cruise. We will be staying at Universal, Orlando for the week prior. (all part of celebrations for my 50th birthday).

Hope to pick up a few tips from you guys between now and April.

Here's to April !!!!

Dad.

 

[pershing]

TheHarpClan!!

No apologies needed. We are open to you making any newbie mistakes here you want.

Ask any questions you want. We've been to Universal and Walt Disney World many times but are doing something different this year.

I think you are the only poster for this cruise from England so far, however you will be sailing with alot of people from New England as the third week of April is always vacation week for Massachusetts. (That Monday is the Boston Marathon and ...ah, Patriot's Day, enough said)

I turned 40 on our first Disney Western Caribbean Cruise in 2000. The waiters on the cruise did it up big! It was fun.

This thread is a great reference for a Newbie to Disney Cruises!

Dis FAQ Thread for DCL

Kind of a 'Anything you ever wanted to know about Disney Cruises and posting on the disboards Disney Cruise forum' thread!

We also have a facebook page for this cruise:

Disney Fantasy April 13, 2013

I don't facebook much but every now and then I post there. That moves faster then this thread. I think everybody is busy with Thanksgiving preparations this week so it might be slow.

 

[heidibilotti]

Hi Everyone.

I'll begin with apologies from a forum Newbie for any faux pas I may make.

Anyway, we are a family of 3 (Mum, Dad and 7 y.o. Son) from England.

We've just booked this April 13, 2013 Cruise on the Disney Fantasy.
We've been to DisneyWorld Florida a few times but this is our first cruise (of any kind).

Very excited and looking forward immensely to this cruise. We will be staying at Universal, Orlando for the week prior. (all part of celebrations for my 50th birthday).

Hope to pick up a few tips from you guys between now and April.

Here's to April !!!!

Dad.

Yeah so glad you are joining us. If you have any questions just ask. Also please consider joint our fe group for the cruise it is joint to be a blast

 

[dragonflymom]

I was browsing the cruise forum and found out all about cruise meet threads and discovered this one. I was also curious about Fish Extenders and thanks to all the links posted, I now have another activity to look forward to! I will sign up on FE list #2.

For this 4/13 cruise, it will be just me (47) and my son (will be 10 by April). DD (14) is in her third year of club volleyball and is pretty hard core about not missing any practice or tournament from January through June, so DH will be her chauffeur and her cheeleader while DS and I soak in all the Disney fun! We've been on the Wonder twice but never on the Dream or Fantasy, so we're definitely very excited.

While I've done a few Disneyland trips with my son, I've never done a cross-country cruise with the just the two of us, so I'm a bit apprehensive and hope everything goes smoothly. DS is a bit of a video game geek and reserved, but warms up with other kids once he gets more acquainted. I hope he'll be able to enjoy either the Oceaneer Lab or the Edge with some new friends. Has anyone cruised when their son was 10 and whether they ended spending more time at the Lab or the Edge? DS actually gets along great with kids a bit younger than him as he's not as articulate as some of the other boys his age.

We have not booked flights yet but I need to start some serious research. CaliforniaGirl09's Virgin Atlantic fare sounds great, so that will be a good benchmark for me as my route is also SFO-MCO.

I look forward to getting to know you all. I don't have a Facebook account but will check back here frequently. Hope everyone has a great December!

 

[heidibilotti]

I was browsing the cruise forum and found out all about cruise meet threads and discovered this one. I was also curious about Fish Extenders and thanks to all the links posted, I now have another activity to look forward to! I will sign up on FE list #2.

For this 4/13 cruise, it will be just me (47) and my son (will be 10 by April). DD (14) is in her third year of club volleyball and is pretty hard core about not missing any practice or tournament from January through June, so DH will be her chauffeur and her cheeleader while DS and I soak in all the Disney fun! We've been on the Wonder twice but never on the Dream or Fantasy, so we're definitely very excited.

While I've done a few Disneyland trips with my son, I've never done a cross-country cruise with the just the two of us, so I'm a bit apprehensive and hope everything goes smoothly. DS is a bit of a video game geek and reserved, but warms up with other kids once he gets more acquainted. I hope he'll be able to enjoy either the Oceaneer Lab or the Edge with some new friends. Has anyone cruised when their son was 10 and whether they ended spending more time at the Lab or the Edge? DS actually gets along great with kids a bit younger than him as he's not as articulate as some of the other boys his age.

We have not booked flights yet but I need to start some serious research. CaliforniaGirl09's Virgin Atlantic fare sounds great, so that will be a good benchmark for me as my route is also SFO-MCO.

I look forward to getting to know you all. I don't have a Facebook account but will check back here frequently. Hope everyone has a great December!

I have a 9 year old time who loves spending time in the lab. I am sure they will be having a great time together. Can't wait till April to meet you guys. Welcome aboard.

 

[heidibilotti]

Hi everyone...We have just closed Fish extender list #2 as we have 15 cabins on it. Later today we will be posting a #3 list. As always if you are on list 1 or 2 and wish to join list 3 welcome. We are going to have so much fun with all of the wonderful folks on this cruise. I hope everyone has a happy and healthy holiday season. December 14 is rolling around quickly which will be the platinum castaway and conciege on board activity sign ups. We have lots of great times to look forward too. Thanks everyone for making our FE lists full of fun.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

While I've done a few Disneyland trips with my son, I've never done a cross-country cruise with the just the two of us, so I'm a bit apprehensive and hope everything goes smoothly.

We have not booked flights yet but I need to start some serious research. CaliforniaGirl09's Virgin Atlantic fare sounds great, so that will be a good benchmark for me as my route is also SFO-MCO.

I look forward to getting to know you all. I don't have a Facebook account but will check back here frequently. Hope everyone has a great December!

Welcome, Dragonfly mom. Last summer I took a last minute DVC special rate cruise with just my son (15) and my mom, as my daughter was traveling to Ireland DH for sports. We had a great time, as I'm sure you will.

I was thrilled when the Virgin Atlantic flights popped up. You'll also want to keep an eye on Southwest. They don't have non-stops but the free bags are nice and I've seen some SFO-MCO flights for as low as $274 RT. I set fare alerts through farewatchdog and they were really helpful.

 

[JohnBilotti]

Fish Extender #3 to come

 

[heidibilotti]

Hi All,

Here is Fish Extender List #3......Enjoy!!!!


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuGs2S1pwQ3DdGNCNVgtMl9PWk05d3ZHUTQwbXJDNVE