April 19, 2008 - Western - VERY Early Roll Call - Anyone??!!

[justhat]

I just got tears in my eyes. You sound like me when my son went to preschool. Now he just started kindergarten this year and I felt the same way again. They just grow up too fast! Is this your last one? That's even worse!

He misses you, he's just a big boy now mommy!

-Joan

Well, I'm hoping to have a 3rd, but I think my son needs to be about 3yo first. Before I start trying that is. He's, hmm, quite the little fireball so I think I need to give him some time to calm down a bit so my life is not complete chaos.

He is very much a big boy, you're right. He thinks he can do everything his sister can and refuses help with everything. Now, if only he'll take that motivation to potty training we'll be all set!

 

[justhat]

It's an extra $3500. Part of me is all over the idea, cause the thought of being able to put my kids to bed and still stay awake is awesome. But then I think, we could save $3500 by staying in the room we have. We've never stayed in a 4, so it might feel big to us compartively.

My mom, kids, and I sailed in a Cat 3 this summer on one of the Mediterranean cruises and I loved it. But she paid for it, so no worries there. It was just a lot easier to throw my son in the pack n play in the bedroom and then hang out in the living room. He goes to bed so early (6:30 at home) so on our last cruises in a regular cabin it was like "Hmm, now what?"

 

[justhat]

So here's my concern. What if they're offering me this upgrade because all the Cat 4s are now paid in full? I'm a Cat 4 gty, so what if all the people who booked actual Cat 4 cabins have now paid and they dont' have a room for me so they're trying to sell me the upgrade? Like when you go to a rental car agency and they try to sell you an upgrade only to find out they are out of the car type you booked so they have to give you the upgrade free anyway, ya know?

ETA: I don't think they'd just give me the room free, as I'm sure another Cat 4 family would pay to upgrade, but I just kinda feel like that's the reason why.

 

[Hypermommy]

Whoa! $3500 sounds like a lot to me but then again, it might not be considering what you've already paid. My first thought was "what more souvenirs could I get with that money", but then again, I don't have a baby that I'd have to stay in the room with and/or put to sleep without being able to do something in the next room.

Something else to consider, though.... doesn't cat 3 put you at conceierge level? Isn't that cats 1, 2, and 3? What else would you get at concierge level that might be worth it?

Tough choice to make. I'm sending pixie dust your way in the helps that it will help make the choice. (hey, pixie dust is good for a lot of things)

 

[justhat]

We paid $5900 for the Cat 4, that includes the discount for rebooking onboard. I'm going to call back and see what the room number is. I know that sounds stupid, but if it's under the Mickey pool, I can guarantee you I would not pay extra to stay there.

 

[justhat]

Well we decided against it. We talked with the Dreams Unlimited agent more and she said she asked Disney and the price they gave us is the price as though we booked today, not based on the price when we booked, so we didn't really like that much. They had 3 rooms available, 8034, which we stayed in on the Wonder for our honeymoon and didn't like cause it's under the Goofy pool. 8102, which has an open balcony, no cover. That's okay, except were were in 8100 on the Med and often had people peering over the top. Not a big deal cause I otherwise loved 8100, but 8102 was smaller so not as appealing. And the last one was 8080, which we considered cause it's below the drink station/bathrooms so probably not too loud, but then we kept coming back to the price. It was actually almost $4000 (somehow it went up?) and that's almost the price of our current cabin.

Of course, it would have been great to have the extra space and the concierge team, but $4000 is great too!

 

[anty30]

Well we decided against it. We talked with the Dreams Unlimited agent more and she said she asked Disney and the price they gave us is the price as though we booked today, not based on the price when we booked, so we didn't really like that much. They had 3 rooms available, 8034, which we stayed in on the Wonder for our honeymoon and didn't like cause it's under the Goofy pool. 8102, which has an open balcony, no cover. That's okay, except were were in 8100 on the Med and often had people peering over the top. Not a big deal cause I otherwise loved 8100, but 8102 was smaller so not as appealing. And the last one was 8080, which we considered cause it's below the drink station/bathrooms so probably not too loud, but then we kept coming back to the price. It was actually almost $4000 (somehow it went up?) and that's almost the price of our current cabin.

Of course, it would have been great to have the extra space and the concierge team, but $4000 is great too!

I think you made the right decision. $4000 was way overpriced.
It doesnt matter which cabin you are in, your cruise is still going to be awesome. Plus, you are already in a great cabin, so no worries.
Now if it were a FREE upgrade, that would be a different story.

 

[wdhinn89]

I alway thought it meant "Disney".
I know what you mean about demented son, mine is driving me insane lately and my 10 year old DD always acts like she has PMS. I can't even think about her at 13 and actually with PMS Put me in the looney bin now

 

[wdhinn89]

Well we decided against it. We talked with the Dreams Unlimited agent more and she said she asked Disney and the price they gave us is the price as though we booked today, not based on the price when we booked, so we didn't really like that much. They had 3 rooms available, 8034, which we stayed in on the Wonder for our honeymoon and didn't like cause it's under the Goofy pool. 8102, which has an open balcony, no cover. That's okay, except were were in 8100 on the Med and often had people peering over the top. Not a big deal cause I otherwise loved 8100, but 8102 was smaller so not as appealing. And the last one was 8080, which we considered cause it's below the drink station/bathrooms so probably not too loud, but then we kept coming back to the price. It was actually almost $4000 (somehow it went up?) and that's almost the price of our current cabin.

Of course, it would have been great to have the extra space and the concierge team, but $4000 is great too!

I think you made the right decision. Another couple of thousand, you could go on another cruise in a beautiful room like you have already. I did a little checking and as of now there are no rooms left in cat 4 and down that accomodates 4 people and only a cat 5 for a room that holds 3 people. It is a pretty packed ship. Surprised that they have so many cat 3's available or they only have one and they could move a few gtys around. Wouldn't mind a free upgrade though from my cat 5

 

[justhat]

I think you made the right decision. $4000 was way overpriced.
It doesnt matter which cabin you are in, your cruise is still going to be awesome. Plus, you are already in a great cabin, so no worries.
Now if it were a FREE upgrade, that would be a different story.

Yes, and if it's free, they can put me in the noisiest suite there is!

And you're right, the cruise will be great in any cabin. I really feel a lot better about it now - at first it seemed kinda like they were offering us something great. Which they are in a sense, but we'd lose the onboard booking discount, plus have to pay full fare as though we booked now, so that took away any deal.

And I should add that the fact that they have 3 of them available for upgrades, but none available if you call to book (which we tried) has me a little suspicious that they overbooked the Cat 4s. The DU agent said DCL was really trying to sell us the room, telling her all these great things to tell us and even waiting on hold while she called us. She asked them if there were any Cat 4s left to assign but they wouldn't tell her and she asked if they'd be upgrading when they assign the rooms or at the port and she said "I wouldn't count on it."

 

[justhat]

I think you made the right decision. Another couple of thousand, you could go on another cruise in a beautiful room like you have already. I did a little checking and as of now there are no rooms left in cat 4 and down that accomodates 4 people and only a cat 5 for a room that holds 3 people. It is a pretty packed ship. Surprised that they have so many cat 3's available or they only have one and they could move a few gtys around. Wouldn't mind a free upgrade though from my cat 5

Ya know, that was our thought, that we could cruise again with that money. And fwiw, we're going on the 5 night double dip in September and splitting a Cat 2 with my SIL and it's costing less than this Cat 4 for just the 4 of us! We're paying $5200 for that one, with 7 people, and this one is $5900 for 4 people. And there was no onboard booking discount on the Cat 2 cause they don't discount Cats 1-3. So the $5900 is with 10% off and it's still $700 more than a Cat 2! Amazing.

Oh, and the Cat 3 I was in with my mom on the Med cruise, which was 10 nights, was $13K, so only $3 more than what this one would have been. I realize that's a big difference, but seeing as how it was longer and in Europe, not a standard like the Western, seems smaller.

Why is this cruise so crowded and expensive? Are there spring breaks that week? My kids are off in late March, the week after Easter, and that seems to be the norm in this area.

 

[Hypermommy]

She asked them if there were any Cat 4s left to assign but they wouldn't tell her and she asked if they'd be upgrading when they assign the rooms or at the port and she said "I wouldn't count on it."

Well, there go my hopes of being upgraded at the port! Oh, well... like I keep telling myself and now I'm telling you... the whole ship goes to the same place.

Except Joan... she's somehow going to be in Grand Cayman when the rest of us are in Cozumel. Just keep swimming......

 

[justhat]

Well I think the DCL woman was just bitter that we were declining to pay $4K, so she probably meant that we would not be getting upgraded! Probably wrote a note in our file to give us a room under the Mickey pool. And this is why we don't like deck 8....

I do feel better about the price of our room a bit now, cause I just checked rates for other Westerns, and the March 8th is $8300 for the Cat 4! Now that's crazy!

 

[Mass-cateer]

Hi Justhat. This cruise is during school vacation week for us in Massachusetts. We went the same time last year as well and the ship seemed to be filled with a lot of Red Sox hats!

 

[weluvdisney5]

We are first time cruisers - family of five - DH, DD(12), DS(11), DS(7). We are DVC members - two rooms - one inside cabin-other outside. DD is blind- any experience with teen club and disabilities??? Planning all-inclusive excursion in Cozumel and stingray city in Grand Cayman - any info? Can't wait!!!!!!!!

 

[pwgs]

Wow! I had to get a new computer and 3 weeks later the thread size has doubled! I had checked in from my work computer a few times but I dare not post from there but anyway I am trying to catch up so HELLO to everyone that has joined.

Joan- For the spread sheet- We are coming in on the 18th and staying at the Radisson with the rest of our group. We won't be there until around 8 pm so no grills meet for us. This being our first cruise, "officially" I don't think we want to try to participate in the fish extender or Yankee swap.
We have the late dinner seating which could be interesting with my girls but we usually eat late anyway.

Next September will be our 20th wedding anniversary but because of schedules and school we decided to celebrate our anniversary now

 

[pwgs]

I forgot to add, I’ll be the one wearing my championship Red Sox cap… or will it be my championship Patriots cap. These decisions just keep getting harder for us Boston sports fans

 

[wdhinn89]

Hi Justhat. This cruise is during school vacation week for us in Massachusetts. We went the same time last year as well and the ship seemed to be filled with a lot of Red Sox hats!

It is also our spring break in Long Island, NY. I was so happy because we could finally do a 7 day in the caribean.

Welcome weluvdisney5 I would definitely call DCL and ask about special accomodations for your DD. I know on the other thread they did provide a sign language interperter for a hearing impaired guest. DCL is very accomodating. My son is a type 1 Diabetic and they have been very accomodating to us for his special needs.

 

[wdhinn89]

I forgot to add, I’ll be the one wearing my championship Red Sox cap… or will it be my championship Patriots cap. These decisions just keep getting harder for us Boston sports fans

Don't bother with the Patriots cap, the GIANTS are going to win

 

[MassDisLovers]

Just been thinking.... Hypermommy is your DH called Hyperdaddy? Or is all that energy confined in one person? I can't wait until April 19th at 2PM !