August 20, 2005 - L.A. to Port Canaveral - Eastbound Repo Cruise - The SHIP OF FOOLS Part 2

[mississaugamom]

Sorry, meant to post this last night but work got in the way ...

Welcome Home Janet!!!!

Glad you had a good trip to The "World"! Please tell us all about it when you've had a chance to catch your breath and get organized at home again!

Arlene

 

[kmiles]

Marsha!

I thought about making a New Year's resolution to exercise better but decided against it. Too much work and all, you know?

Ah, well, I'll probably at least attempt to exercise at least some in 2005.

So, we're all very excited about our upcoming Ship of Fools Live Chat! Any details yet???

 

[mississaugamom]

Hi everyone!! Got back 1/2 hour ago...Whew...too much work!! Just kidding!!
I like these hours and am home by 11:45. Good enough for me!!

Arlene, You and i have to meet others wearing a disguise!! While you may have my picture but you won't reconize me!! I will be thinner!! i hope!!

Hi Melinda! Glad your first day of work was a success!!!

I'm hoping to be thinner too! (But fair is fair - I can e-mail you a picture too once I figure out how to reduce the size for a jpeg file!)

Arlene

 

[kmiles]

Ohhh... Ohhhh... I can help with that!

Download this wonderful little program called IrfanView. It makes re-sizing and changing image formats very easy. Download it here!

Once downloaded open your image in the program. Then select File > Save As

Select JPEG and then use the little slider bar to change the "Save Quality" of the file. The lower the setting the smaller the file size will be. Of course, you'll loose some image quality but you'll loose file size at a much greater rate thus shrinking your file!

Edited to add: The program is very clean! No shareware or spyware or anything. Just a nice, free, little graphics program!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Can someone tell me what a "repositioning" cruise is??

 

[kmiles]

Can someone tell me what a "repositioning" cruise is??

DCL has two "repositioning" cruises scheduled right now. Our cruise (AKA: The Ship of Fools) which is August 20th through Sep. 3 and another cruise in May.

They're termed "repositioning" cruises because the main purpose is to reposition the Disney Magic from one coast to the other. In May of this year it will be repositioned from Florida to California and will sail out of CA until it returns to Florida in August.

 

[mickeyfan1]

Can someone tell me what a "repositioning" cruise is??

This term is used to describe a cruise where the sole purpose is to get a ship from one "home port" to another. NCL will "repo" from Alaska to Hawaii, HAL repos from Alaska to the southern Atlantic, various other ships may winter in the carribbean and summer in the Mediteranean. There are often times really good values to be had on a "repo" cruise, as there are not always ports of call included. Some of them sell out early, as the 2 DCL ones did, others are often less than full due to time of years, old home port location, etc.

 

[jweiss]

Andrew....thanks for all the info on the PC. Now I am really totally confused and overwelmed!!!!! I have lots to learn, but we'll also have time on the ship to figure it all out before we get there. Anyone want to rent space on their verandah for a few minutes here and there??? Just kidding.

 

[kmiles]

Anyone want to rent space on their verandah for a few minutes here and there??? Just kidding.

That could turn into a very lucrative business.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Andrew....thanks for all the info on the PC. Now I am really totally confused and overwelmed!!!!! I have lots to learn, but we'll also have time on the ship to figure it all out before we get there. Anyone want to rent space on their verandah for a few minutes here and there??? Just kidding.

Last DCL cruise I had a Cat 4, but we didn't use it that much we were always out and about, So when this cruise came about and we didn't know the cost I opted for a CAT 8.

Then remembering my Panama Cruise before, the top decks were very crowded on the PC sailing and it was very uncomfortable in the hot sunshine, but you were worried if you moved you would loose your place to film or take photos.

So I decided to upgrade and DU assisted.

Now it is possible that some action might be on the other side to us, but most of the transit you can see a lot on both sides, so people with a verandah will do well, a possible exchange system could be offered with people on port or starboard side verandahs however!

For those without verandahs do not worry however, the transit is a long day, and most people watch at the start and then give up during the long day, so if you do not get a good view first time you might the second or third lock.

Also you have a lot of space on the DM, Deck 4 promenade will be best as it is unobstructed and closer to the action at ground level, plus some shade from the decks above. But Deck seven aft deck, Deck ten all around will be very good, however I presume people will make their way to the Sports deck area at the start to see us coming up on the locks.

Deck 9 is also OK, but Plexiglass would be a problem to film through, but Topsiders best for the people who want to eat and cruise! Palo for daytime brunch might be OK, but is very high and the visibility line direct to the ground action is not direct.

Last PC cruise the daytime activities were cut, however the deck coffee and fast food outlets had extended hours, From a usual start time of 7.30 for Breakfast, it opened at 6am, for early viewers!

PS not joking about the lip balm, yes it looks silly chaps, but so does burnt lips and sunburn on the following days, and that hurts as well! Remember how close you are to the equator in the month of August!

 

[kmiles]

Found this interesting bit of info on the Westbound cruise:

Unlimited Internet on the 10 day was $129. Unlimited Rainforest room was $120.

If memory serves me right, on a regular seven night cruise the internet package runs $89.99 and the Rainforest Room runs $75.00. That means it breaks down to $12.86 (internet) and $10.71 (Rainforest) per day.

The 10 night prices would break down to $12.90 (internet) and $10.00 (Rainforest) per day.

So, it looks like they're keeping the prices at pretty much the same per-day rate. If that holds true, the internet package will probably run us $180 for the repo cruise and the Rainforest probably around $140.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

What do you think they will do for the wine package? one 14 day package, or two sevens, or say allow you to purchase a seven day one for the whole cruise to pace yourself?

If I had a guess there might be discounts on Spa treatments, and advertising for Palo on the later part of the cruise, as with more time, and more availability, and more sea days, there will be a lot more capacity than usual.

Tips will of course be double the seven day cruise, but I wonder if they will ask you to pay these twice at the end of seven days and 14 days? Whilst the servers cannot spend it as such, they might be worried after a long cruise they might receive a lot less than usual.

 

[mississaugamom]

Good questions, Andrew!

I'm hoping there will still be a 7-bottle wine package rather than just a 14. Contrary to imagined reputations here Martin and I tend to have a bottle over two dinners. The 7 package will work perfectly for us this time!

You may be right about the Spa. Since their prices have increased quite a bit since our last cruise (and weren't inexpensive then ) I was planning to just skip it this time. If there's a good discount later in the cruise, I may reconsider though. A daypass for the Rainforest is always an option I could enjoy!

I'd hate to think anyone could be planning to give their servers any less tips than the suggested recommendation, but I don't think Disney would ask people to tip twice during the cruise. It could be a thought though, especially if there are any problems like this during the Westbound cruise.

Arlene

 

[kmiles]

What do you think they will do for the wine package? one 14 day package, or two sevens, or say allow you to purchase a seven day one for the whole cruise to pace yourself?

I think they'll probably put together a different 14-night package for the cruise. They will probably add a few more selections but basically keep the seven-night package as it is. Not sure what they would end up charging although, as you said, they may also offer a package with fewer wines. Perhaps the 10-night holiday cruisers could shed some light on this for us.

If I had a guess there might be discounts on Spa treatments, and advertising for Palo on the later part of the cruise, as with more time, and more availability, and more sea days, there will be a lot more capacity than usual.

I agree. Even on the seven-night cruises I've seen the spa offer "special" rates as the cruise progresses. They also offer discounts on port days since a lot of people don't stay on the ship and they want to attract business.

Tips will of course be double the seven day cruise, but I wonder if they will ask you to pay these twice at the end of seven days and 14 days? Whilst the servers cannot spend it as such, they might be worried after a long cruise they might receive a lot less than usual.

Never thought of that. I'm guessing that they'll still wait until the end of the cruise to put the tip envelopes in the staterooms. I really hope that people honor (at least) the suggested amounts unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Edited to add: Yes! I agree with Arlene, great questions!!!

 

[kpgclark]

Andrew DEREK, when did you upgrade? I would really love to upgrade our room.

 

[kpgclark]

kmiles I sure hope that castmembers aren't skunked on tips. Everyone knows in advance how much the tips will be.

Regarding the wine packages, I hope they will offer a 7 bottle package. One bottle per day is just too much for us but one every other day would work out well.

 

[ivanova]

Now it is possible that some action might be on the other side to us, but most of the transit you can see a lot on both sides, so people with a verandah will do well, a possible exchange system could be offered with people on port or starboard side verandahs however!

Great idea!!!

We'll be in stateroom 5132 ... if anyone is on the opposite of deck 5 I'd love to set up an "exchange system" for PC day

 

[kpgclark]

Boo hoo. Wish we had a verandah. Wish I asked for a quote for one to begin with. I accidentally only requested a Cat. 10. I am such a dummy. Dummy, dummy, dummy. Perhaps someone will cancel...

 

[kmiles]

kmiles I sure hope that castmembers aren't skunked on tips. Everyone knows in advance how much the tips will be.

Regarding the wine packages, I hope they will offer a 7 bottle package. One bottle per day is just too much for us but one every other day would work out well.

I agree Kathy. With all of the food and drink on the Magic it would probably be hard to go through 14 bottles of wine! Especially after the first seven days!

Hopefully they'll offer a selection of packages. Maybe a seven, ten, and fourteen bottle package.

 

[mississaugamom]

Boo hoo. Wish we had a verandah. Wish I asked for a quote for one to begin with. I accidentally only requested a Cat. 10. I am such a dummy. Dummy, dummy, dummy. Perhaps someone will cancel...

It's OK, Kathy We're in a Cat 10 as well, so we can keep each other company up on deck in case you don't get an upgrade.

I'm just happy to be on the ship and going on this fabulous cruise! They could put me anywhere and I'd still be happy!

Arlene