Aug 23, 2007 - 3 Night Wonder

[wilma-bride]

Laura, so pleased the surgery went well. I hope your DS is feeling much better today

Meanwhile, I am dropping my daughters off at the train station this morning, to catch the train to their Grandma's - for 3 whole weeks! It will certainly be quiet round here

Can't wait for our cruise - 13 days to go

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Yes, that's what it has. It's strange though, because there was clearly another page in front of it, there's still a little part of it left. What could have been there?



Hmmm, there wasn't anything about a number to confirm a transfer from WDW to port. I can ask the TA about this. Would they have this info at the cruise desk at the resort?



Was this a land/sea package? We're just staying the night before at the CBR, so I don't think we can do the check-in at the resort, although that would be great.

Yes, we're doing the land-and-sea package and our resort has a DCL check in counter. Not sure how it works from CBR.

Our last cruise on the Wonder was before DCL had online registration so we got a lot more in the cruise document package then you do today. While its great to be able to pre-register online, I think it does make things a tad more confusing because DCL is now mailing out way less than they used to.

 

[krdisneybound]

Hope everyone has their cruise docs by now.

I got a dummy package with the luggage tags inside and the bahamas form.

That is all that is needed.

Two weeks today we'll be out to sea. YIPEE --------------------

Promenade Lounge at 3 pm the day we board - before the fire drill

 

[lauritagoddess]

Our last cruise on the Wonder was before DCL had online registration so we got a lot more in the cruise document package then you do today. While its great to be able to pre-register online, I think it does make things a tad more confusing because DCL is now mailing out way less than they used to.

I spoke to my TA today and she said that she spoke to another CM who did confirm that if you do the online check-in they just remove the parts of the cruise docs that you've already completed. Just wish they would tell you that.

I'm just so excited that we'll be onboard so soon!!!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Okay.....got my cruise docs in my hand......

First off, all the docs look a whole lot nicer than what I got last year on my Magic cruise. My docs last year looked like the printer ran out of paper and DCL found whatever paper they could find to print out everything and just stapled it all together. It looked really cheap and kind of was an indication of way too much cost cutting that we saw on that cruise.

So I'm extremely impressed with how everything looks this year - very professional.

Yes, the first page of the travel booklet is missing. I think the computer generates some kind of "dummy" page that somebody tears out.

We have just a single transfer coupon from Orlando to WDW.

The cruise checklist is completely new - never seen that and we've been cruising DCL since 2002. Really could have used that on our first cruise as we wandered around lost at the Orlando airport for about 45 minutes looking for DCL reps.

On the back page of the checklist is a phone number to call if you didn't book a land-and-sea cruise.

Thanks goodness the luggage "tags" are self sticking. Prior to 2006 the luggage tags really were paper tags and guess what happened.....DDs luggage tag fell off along the way after we checked in at the airport and somebody put DDs tag onto another person's luggage and that bag got delivered to our stateroom. And owner of the luggage was NOT sailing on the Magic. And for a while DDs luggage was nowhere to be found.

Great story about that that I'll tell you guys in person as it utlimately had a happy ending and explains why that ship is called the "Magic".

Man, its freezing today here in NJ.

 

[wilma-bride]

Okay.....got my cruise docs in my hand......

First off, all the docs look a whole lot nicer than what I got last year on my Magic cruise. My docs last year looked like the printer ran out of paper and DCL found whatever paper they could find to print out everything and just stapled it all together. It looked really cheap and kind of was an indication of way too much cost cutting that we saw on that cruise.

So I'm extremely impressed with how everything looks this year - very professional.

Yes, the first page of the travel booklet is missing. I think the computer generates some kind of "dummy" page that somebody tears out.

We have just a single transfer coupon from Orlando to WDW.

The cruise checklist is completely new - never seen that and we've been cruising DCL since 2002. Really could have used that on our first cruise as we wandered around lost at the Orlando airport for about 45 minutes looking for DCL reps.

On the back page of the checklist is a phone number to call if you didn't book a land-and-sea cruise.

Thanks goodness the luggage "tags" are self sticking. Prior to 2006 the luggage tags really were paper tags and guess what happened.....DDs luggage tag fell off along the way after we checked in at the airport and somebody put DDs tag onto another person's luggage and that bag got delivered to our stateroom. And owner of the luggage was NOT sailing on the Magic. And for a while DDs luggage was nowhere to be found.

Great story about that that I'll tell you guys in person as it utlimately had a happy ending and explains why that ship is called the "Magic".

Man, its freezing today here in NJ.

I thought the docs looked good too - of course, it's our first cruise so I've nothing to compare them too but still...

Interested now to hear your story about the bag mix-up - I hope I can persuade DH to pop down to promenade lounge so I can meet you all

It's a beautiful day here today in SW UK - we have some friends coming over this afternoon (fellow DISers_ so a few drinkies out in the garden is called for, I think

 

[JoiseyMom]

FInally!@! I got my docs in the mail today!! YEA!!!!

Yes Ski, it was 60 degrees on my deck last nite. BRRRRRRR, the dog days of August?? With weather like this, Orlando is gonna seem so much hotter in a few weeks!

 

[TinkerBe11]

Hi guys-

A few quick questions for all you veteran cruisers...

I am flying in the day before the cruise and staying at the Hyatt at the Orlando airport. When do I put my luggage tags on the suitcase? Also, do I need to let Disney know that I am not flying in the day of? Will not flying in the same day effect my bus transportation to the port?

I thought I could just head to the bus terminal in the morning but I am concerned there is much more to it than that. Please help! I am nervous that I am missing something here

 

[lauritagoddess]

Hi guys-

A few quick questions for all you veteran cruisers...

I am flying in the day before the cruise and staying at the Hyatt at the Orlando airport. When do I put my luggage tags on the suitcase? Also, do I need to let Disney know that I am not flying in the day of? Will not flying in the same day effect my bus transportation to the port?

I thought I could just head to the bus terminal in the morning but I am concerned there is much more to it than that. Please help! I am nervous that I am missing something here

Before I decided to stay at CBR the night before, I had a reservation at the Hyatt. I was told that they do a pick-up there and there's a pick-up place at the hotel, that you just need to let them know when you check-in.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Hi guys-

A few quick questions for all you veteran cruisers...

I am flying in the day before the cruise and staying at the Hyatt at the Orlando airport. When do I put my luggage tags on the suitcase? Also, do I need to let Disney know that I am not flying in the day of? Will not flying in the same day effect my bus transportation to the port?

I thought I could just head to the bus terminal in the morning but I am concerned there is much more to it than that. Please help! I am nervous that I am missing something here

Did you book the Hyatt stay through DCL?

Don't put the luggage tags on your bags before your flight. Pick up your bags at the airport and take them yourselves to the Hyatt and check in. Then in your room put the luggage tags onto your luggage.

You put your luggage outside your room the next morning (I think by 8:00am). The Hyatt knows you are cruising and will send a porter to come pick them up.

You should get a letter from DCL when you check in at the Hyatt with all the info. There is a gathering place right in the lobby of the Hyatt where you all meet to catch the DCL bus on Thursday. Then you go as a group down to the bus.

We did it a few years ago and it worked very, very smoothly.

 

[TinkerBe11]

Did you book the Hyatt stay through DCL?

Don't put the luggage tags on your bags before your flight. Pick up your bags at the airport and take them yourselves to the Hyatt and check in. Then in your room put the luggage tags onto your luggage.

You put your luggage outside your room the next morning (I think by 8:00am). The Hyatt knows you are cruising and will send a porter to come pick them up.

You should get a letter from DCL when you check in at the Hyatt with all the info. There is a gathering place right in the lobby of the Hyatt where you all meet to catch the DCL bus on Thursday. Then you go as a group down to the bus.

We did it a few years ago and it worked very, very smoothly.

I booked the Hyatt myself. I haven't given Disney any info yet regarding when I am flying in. I should probably call and let them know my arrangements.

My AAA agent told me that I should pretend I am flying in the day of, but I don't feel comfortable doing that. To me that is leaving a loop hole for a bad start to a vacation. I just wanted to make sure that someone has actually stayed at the Hyatt before and knows what the drill is. Thanks for your help. I will call Disney and let them know what is going on.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Well, we might have a hurricane to contend with next week.

Hopefully the storm will track south of Cuba and stay away from the Bahamas.

If not, DCL will do everything they can to get us onboard on Aug 23 even if it means bussing us to a different port. Our cruise will not be canceled. If the storm is hitting the Bahamas when we are supposed to be there then the Captain will sail the ship away from the storm. Then we get a bunch of sea days or a different port stop.

I've seen the DCL web site give hurricane updates but they have done them as pop-ups and your pop-up controls can block you from seeing the updates. So be careful of that if you're using the internet to check the DCL web site.

Hopefully by this weekend we'll know the track of the storm as I don't want to be in WDW worrying about the cruise.

I'm sure the Aug 19th cruisers aren't happy about this, either.

 

[lauritagoddess]

Well, we might have a hurricane to contend with next week.

Hopefully the storm will track south of Cuba and stay away from the Bahamas.

If not, DCL will do everything they can to get us onboard on Aug 23 even if it means bussing us to a different port. Our cruise will not be canceled. If the storm is hitting the Bahamas when we are supposed to be there then the Captain will sail the ship away from the storm. Then we get a bunch of sea days or a different port stop.

I've seen the DCL web site give hurricane updates but they have done them as pop-ups and your pop-up controls can block you from seeing the updates. So be careful of that if you're using the internet to check the DCL web site.

Hopefully by this weekend we'll know the track of the storm as I don't want to be in WDW worrying about the cruise.

I'm sure the Aug 19th cruisers aren't happy about this, either.

It's still 9 days away so I'm going to keep my fx that even if Dean does come our way, and I hope it doesn't, that it will have already gone past and done no damage. It figures that something is brewing. Ernesto blew by last year when we were at WDW and I spent days worrying about it.

 

[krdisneybound]

If anyone hears anything about the Hurricane, please post it so all of us can be kept up to date.

A little over a year ago the Captain had to take the ship to Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale and then everyone was bused back up to Pt. Canaveral.

At the same time they were bringing the next cruisers down to Ft. Lauderdale for the next cruise.

The funny thing was that we live about 5 minutes from Pt. Everglades and our car was at Pt. Canaveral and we had to go up and get our car and then come back to Ft. Lauderdale.

We had family come to the Port and get our luggage so we didn't have to take that up with us to get the car.

Disney made arrangements with the airlines so that people could change their ticket to fly home from Ft. Lauderdale rather than Orlando airport.

Everything went very smoothly.

So we just have to be in the know until the last minute actually.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

If anyone hears anything about the Hurricane, please post it so all of us can be kept up to date.

A little over a year ago the Captain had to take the ship to Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale and then everyone was bused back up to Pt. Canaveral.

At the same time they were bringing the next cruisers down to Ft. Lauderdale for the next cruise.

The funny thing was that we live about 5 minutes from Pt. Everglades and our car was at Pt. Canaveral and we had to go up and get our car and then come back to Ft. Lauderdale.

We had family come to the Port and get our luggage so we didn't have to take that up with us to get the car.

Disney made arrangements with the airlines so that people could change their ticket to fly home from Ft. Lauderdale rather than Orlando airport.

Everything went very smoothly.

So we just have to be in the know until the last minute actually.

That gave me a good chuckle tonight.

I'm focusing on the image of 11 days from now we're sitting on a hot sunny beach in Castaway Cay with a cold drink our hands admiring those cute Australian lifeguards. Hmmmm.....g'day mate.

I'm a weather junkie....I'll post updates until Sunday morning when we leave.

 

[lauritagoddess]

I wasn't at all concerned about this earlier today, but now I'm starting to freak out a little, not so much about the cruise but I wonder if it would affect the flight on the 22nd. I wish we could know more where the storm was headed. If I knew it could possibly affect the flight I would try and change the flight and come down to Disney a couple of days early. Which would probably prevent the hurricane from coming at all. I say that since the couple of times I changed flights to avoid bad snowstorms they never materialized the way they were supposed to so I assume the same thing works for hurricanes, lol I really am tempted actually to come down to WDW early, but I wonder how much it would cost to change the flight at this point, plus the hotel and then tickets because if we'd be in WDW for a few days, we definitely would have to hit the parks (and cause we just won't get enough park time in our 7 days after the cruise ).

Okay, pull me out of the freak out now, pull me out of the freak out.

 

[krdisneybound]

don't freak out, my friend - all will be OK.

I am lucky enough to be close by that I can drive to the Port and not fly in. But if I lived further away, I wouln't come in the day before or the day of on any cruise.

It wouldn't hurt to see if your flights can be changed. If they would let you do it, that would be great. Even coming in on the 21st would be of some peace of mind to you.

There are always hotels/motels on I-92 that have rooms available.

If the storm comes thru now, it will be gone by next Thursday also.

How long would it take for you to come from NY to the Port?? Is the ride too long?? I've never taken a road trip that far before, so I don't know.

I wasn't at all concerned about this earlier today, but now I'm starting to freak out a little, not so much about the cruise but I wonder if it would affect the flight on the 22nd. I wish we could know more where the storm was headed. If I knew it could possibly affect the flight I would try and change the flight and come down to Disney a couple of days early. Which would probably prevent the hurricane from coming at all. I say that since the couple of times I changed flights to avoid bad snowstorms they never materialized the way they were supposed to so I assume the same thing works for hurricanes, lol I really am tempted actually to come down to WDW early, but I wonder how much it would cost to change the flight at this point, plus the hotel and then tickets because if we'd be in WDW for a few days, we definitely would have to hit the parks (and cause we just won't get enough park time in our 7 days after the cruise ).

Okay, pull me out of the freak out now, pull me out of the freak out.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Good news everyone....

I think we can exhale now. We're not out of the woods, yet. But at least the forecast models show the storm staying south of Cuba.

We should know definitively by Friday.

 

[lauritagoddess]

That track is definitely looking better.

 

[wilma-bride]

Looking much better - still hoping it heads off back out to sea where it can do no damage