April 26 - May 3, 2008 Caribbean Crazy Cruisers

[ibouncetoo]

Seems like there aren't that many staterooms on our cruise available, esp. considering the dates have only been out for less than a month, so I am thinking that a lot of people rebooked for the last possible date (which just happens to be our cruise!) and will transfer their dates once the rest of 2008 becomes available!

Bingo! I know on our 11/11 double dip a lot of the folks who re-booked while on board picked this date while waiting to see where the Magic will be going the summer of '08. And even though I am one of them, somehow this system just doesn't seem fair to the folks who actually intend to sail on THIS cruise. Isn't the 'fake booking' inflating the cost of this cruise? I know the DCL booking agent had all of us book our rooms as a GTY for whatever catagory we were interested in, so at least we are not 'holding' specific staterooms that someone may really want. I imagine it will only get worse as each new cruise sets sail between now and whenver they release the rest of 2008 (current rumor is January).

I guess DCL does this every time there is an 'end' cruise for their booking window. I wonder if someone who really wants this date should wait until the rest of 2008 is announced and us 'placeholder' people wander off to our later cruises. Would DCL even lower rates at that time? You'd also think the on ship booking agents would encourage people to pick assorted/different cruises as their 'placeholder' spot and encourage them to not just all pick the last cruise.

I fretted about this the whole flight home on Saturday.

 

[dreamcometrue]

Bingo! I know on our 11/11 double dip a lot of the folks who re-booked while on board picked this date while waiting to see where the Magic will be going the summer of '08. And even though I am one of them, somehow this system just doesn't seem fair to the folks who actually intend to sail on THIS cruise. Isn't the 'fake booking' inflating the cost of this cruise? I know the DCL booking agent had all of us book our rooms as a GTY for whatever catagory we were interested in, so at least we are not 'holding' specific staterooms that someone may really want. I imagine it will only get worse as each new cruise sets sail between now and whenver they release the rest of 2008 (current rumor is January).

I guess DCL does this every time there is an 'end' cruise for their booking window. I wonder if someone who really wants this date should wait until the rest of 2008 is announced and us 'placeholder' people wander off to our later cruises. Would DCL even lower rates at that time? You'd also think the on ship booking agents would encourage people to pick assorted/different cruises as their 'placeholder' spot and encourage them to not just all pick the last cruise.

I fretted about this the whole flight home on Saturday.

I just looked the other day to see how many rooms are available on this cruise and I was shocked to see how little. I mean, it's not like it's almost fully booked, but considering it's 17 months away, it might as well be Then I got to thinking that it's the last 7 day cruise you can book for 2008 right now and I kind of had a feeling it's a "placeholder" for lots of people!

You are right...it doesn't seem fair to people who actually want this cruise! But I guess as long as the people waiting for the rest of 2008 only book a GTY and don't take away a potential room from someone that they may have had their heart set on, it's ok. Not that many people book a year and half out and if the rest of 2008 will be available to book this spring, it should be ok!

I check every few days to see if the price has gone up yet but so far it hasn't. Maybe DCL knows that a lot of people booked on this cruise right now will change their dates later!

 

[wdwluvrs]

Happy Thanksgiving fellow cruisers. Before you know it we will also be making final preparations for our cruise. From what we were told by Disney reservations when we made our reservation was that in all likeliness our cruise may just be the last 7 night caribbean cruise out of port Canaveral. They are hearing what everyone else is that there will probably be a repositioning cruise to somewhere else for the summer of 08. Sense this is a eastern cruise it was a easy decision for us as we wanted a eastern cruise. How were you able to see how many rooms are still available on this cruise is there a site to check. Weather is cool here this morning 31 outside right now.

 

[ibouncetoo]

Not that many people book a year and half out and if the rest of 2008 will be available to book this spring, it should be ok!

I check every few days to see if the price has gone up yet but so far it hasn't. Maybe DCL knows that a lot of people booked on this cruise right now will change their dates later!

Rumer on the ship was that 2008 will be announced earlier than anticipated, more like Jan/Feb than spring. The folks on the Med cruises are thinking that DCL won't announce 2008 till the first Med cruise pay off dates (as if DCL is thinking folks may cancel Med cruises in favor of wherever they are going in '08).

There is a possibility that I will be joining you all on THIS cruise if 2008 destinations aren't viable/desirable for me. I initially was considering them moving to Nov of '08, but I know I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG! Eighteen months is hard enough to fatham! Plus another 18 months after THAT, would be my 60th birthday....another good reason to cruise again in Nov '09!

Now I need to sit down and comupte exactly how many hours of overtime I need to work to start saving up for all these cruises.

Oh.....I did the Royal Dolphin Swim in Cozumel, and though it's not the same company (I don't think), I can tell you it was AMAZING. It truly is "the experience of a lifetime" and to me was worth every penny (though I was only paying for ONE person). It's a pretty heavy hit to the wallet if you are paying for a whole family. Perhaps this excursion can be Christmas or Birthday gifts for family members as the next eighteen months unfold?

 

[camom3]

Oh.....I did the Royal Dolphin Swim in Cozumel, and though it's not the same company (I don't think), I can tell you it was AMAZING. It truly is "the experience of a lifetime" and to me was worth every penny (though I was only paying for ONE person). It's a pretty heavy hit to the wallet if you are paying for a whole family. Perhaps this excursion can be Christmas or Birthday gifts for family members as the next eighteen months unfold?

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

I'm going to look into doing the Royal Swim in Anguilla. I want to do it on our own as it looks like the Disney version is when you just stand on the platform and are only waist deep in the water.

I can use some help figuring out to get from the ship to the attraction. It looks like the first available Royal Swim is at 1:30.

At least I have 17 months to plan.

Jen

 

[dreamcometrue]

wdwluvr, if they will reposition the Magic for the summer of 2008 and ours is indeed the last cruise before repositioning, I bet the prices on our cruise will skyrocket because everyone is going to want to squeeze in on that last cruise. At least those who don't want to wait until fall when the Magic comes back!

ibouncetoo, hope you will join us after all We originally wanted to go in August 2008 since the kids are out of school still (we don't go back until the end of August here) and mine and DH's anniversary is August 10th! However, with all this talk of the Magic not being in the caribbean at all, we booked April, because I at least wanted to lock us into the cheap prices. IF they do the 7 day Eastern/Western in August 2008, I MIGHT transfer, but I am already so set on April now, I don't know anymore... But it looks like the Magic won't be in the caribbean at all that summer, and I most definitely want to do a 7 day caribbean with a stop at Castaway Cay. Even if they do 10 or 12 day cruises in the caribbean, we most likely won't be able to go. My DH owns his own business and he's already moaning and groaning about being away for 8 days! When did you guys want to go in 2008?

camom3, maybe we'll join you for the royal dolphin swim. I really want to do it...either the encounter or swim! We'll see what our budget is like as it gets closer. Did you guys request the early or late seating? 1:30 seems a bit late, and we'll most likely won't make it back for early seating. We booked the early seating, however, I am still a bit torn over it. We eat late at home, due to my DH's schedule and worst case, eating at 5pm is WAY too early for us! I might switch us to late seating, but for now, I am keeping early, because it will be hard to switch back to early later, if I change my mind yet again!

 

[wdwluvrs]

Hope everyone ejoyed the day. Being there is no school i was off today Eileen worked as hospitals never close .Spent the day doing the christmas decorations with my son, the Santa claus parade is going on now as im typing where they turn on the cities christmas lighting. we are early dinning then over to watch the show in the Walt Disney thearter. we are cat.5 deck 7 looking forward to the regata excursion in St. Martin and we are leaning toward the eco jet ski tour in castaway cay. we will be signing up for the beer tasting and the wine tasting on board they hold these on days at sea we are also thinking of the tequla tasting and martini tasting. the gally tour is nice and we hear the chiefs hold a cooking class too... Mike

 

[dreamcometrue]

I spent the day putting up Christmas decorations too! We moved into a much bigger house in July, and at the old house, we only had one living room. This one has a formal living room with the fireplace for Santa, and the family room! We hardly ever use the formal living room, but I am going to put up our big tree in there (since it has the fireplace). I felt a bit sad today that we won't get to look at a tree in our family room (where the TV is and we spend much more time), so I went out and bought a 6ft artificial tree. It's not as beautiful as the one in the living room, but at least we get to enjoy a tree in the family room. My DH thinks I have lost my mind! I bought mistletoe to do some damage control!

 

[woody73]

. . . There is a possibility that I will be joining you all on THIS cruise if 2008 destinations aren't viable/desirable for me. . .

Me too.

Woody

 

[wdwluvrs]

Hello thought we would give this a bump and see if any others are joining us

 

[Footnotegirl]

Our little travel group has decided on this date for our third Disney cruise!
Hubby and I will be calling Costco tomorrow to reserve. Our friends are waiting until they can use their DVC points.
On previous trips, it has been the 5/6 of us (hubby and me, friend and friends 1 and then 2 kids). This time we're hoping to bring a whole load of people with us, at least one other couple with child and hopefully some family members.
Squeeee!

 

[dreamcometrue]

Our little travel group has decided on this date for our third Disney cruise!
Hubby and I will be calling Costco tomorrow to reserve. Our friends are waiting until they can use their DVC points.
On previous trips, it has been the 5/6 of us (hubby and me, friend and friends 1 and then 2 kids). This time we're hoping to bring a whole load of people with us, at least one other couple with child and hopefully some family members.
Squeeee!

welcome aboard! Looking forward to getting to know you!!

How is everyone doing? I am getting ready for Christmas. I am 90% done with my shopping. I already spent so much money, it's disgusting! The kids seem to want all these expensive toys this year, and I just ordered the Bitty Twins with the stroller package from American Girl for my DD7, but now it says the dolls are backordered until Dec. 13th. I am totally panicking, I am worried they won't be here by Christmas. The stroller and one of the extra outfits has been shipped, and the other outfit is backordered until Dec. 8th! I was out for 4 1/2 hours shopping yesterday, and people out there are crazy!!

camom3, is it really windy over there too? It's terrible here!! We have a brand new house and it creaked all over the place last night from the wind, it was scary! I couldn't fall asleep until 2am because of it!

 

[wdwluvrs]

It was really windy here the other evening too lots of limbs down in our yard. The power went out in the whole city west of us. We are getting ready for christmas one weekend at a time. Just recieved the bills for both our sons next semesters tuition nice christmas present for us, our oldest graduates in May with his mba accounting. we see our group is growing. how do you check to see how full the Magic is... Mike

 

[dreamcometrue]

It was really windy here the other evening too lots of limbs down in our yard. The power went out in the whole city west of us. We are getting ready for christmas one weekend at a time. Just recieved the bills for both our sons next semesters tuition nice christmas present for us, our oldest graduates in May with his mba accounting. we see our group is growing. how do you check to see how full the Magic is... Mike

I just go and check certain categories, do a "fake" booking and then click on "choose a specific stateroom". You can see the cabin # that are still available and for a cruise 16 months out, there don't seem to be all that many. However, I am sure it has something to do with people using our cruise as a placeholder until the rest of 2008 is released as mentioned before on this thread!

 

[Footnotegirl]

I'm doing stressy and cold.
This is my last semester in Grad school, I graduate on the 14th and so we haven't even really thought about christmas at all. I'm not planning on doing any shopping until my mother gets into town on the 12th as I still have assignments to finish for my last class (including a research paper I am avoiding even as I type).

 

[dreamcometrue]

just got a new job!! whoohooo!!!! I'll have the cruise paid off in no time now!! Just got the call today! The only problem is...it's with the school district (office) and they don't usually let you take off when school's not out for break, however, they *might* if you are willing to take off without pay (so they can get a substitute). I am totally willing to do that, and I just hope the principal will let me! I won't be bringing it up to her for a while, it just seems weird to spring it on her right away! But I am sure it will all work out!

I am so excited!!

 

[wdwluvrs]

congradulations Jen on the new Job, I also work for a school district. befor we know it we will be counting down less than a year until it is us going out on the cruise saturday evening. Hope everyone is enjoying getting ready for the holiday season.

 

[dreamcometrue]

just stopping in to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!! So glad the Dis is back up. My whole family is coming over for Christmas dinner tonight and with the Dis down, I actually got my whole entire house cleaned, I baked some more, and dinner is cooking!

Only 16 more months until our cruise, people!! Just think...in a little more than a week we can say "next year we'll go on the Disney cruise"

 

[Footnotegirl]

Squee!
We bought our tickets. And we splurged! We were going to get a Cat 7, but since with Costco's pricing it was really only $150 more.. we've gone with a Cat 6!
We've only ever cruised in an 11, so this will be super special, and over our 6th anniversary!

 

[dreamcometrue]

Squee!
We bought our tickets. And we splurged! We were going to get a Cat 7, but since with Costco's pricing it was really only $150 more.. we've gone with a Cat 6!
We've only ever cruised in an 11, so this will be super special, and over our 6th anniversary!

awesome! We are in a cat. 9! I was orignally booked on the April 19th, SPH room, but then switched to the 26th and none of the SPH were available. I am on a waitlist for one of them, but even if it becomes available, I think we'll stick with deck 2. We have never cruised before and I think if one of us got sea sick, deck 2 would be better than deck 5!