August 25 2012

[i12go2wdw]

This is my family's 1st Disney cruise and we are so excited. May we join the FE group?

my room will be 10047 with a party of 5

Evie
Gil
Justin- 8yrs
Ryan- 6yrs
Claire - 3yrs

TIA!

Of course you can join, I will add you right now, and welcome!!

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

It's 14 weeks until the cruise

 

[Disneyholic]

We're down to double-digits now!!!!!!!!!

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

We're down to double-digits now!!!!!!!!!

Yes!!! Next weekend will be time for Silver members to book online

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

Did anyone see that ugly banner hanging on the Magic when it left yesterday

I think that it was in reference to the Magic in New York for the summer.

 

[cjnix29]

Booked our flights today! Also, applied for passports yesterday. I hate to wish the summer away, but I can't wait for this cruise!!!!

Anyone going to do the CC5K?

 

[Lynne G]

Booked our flights today! Also, applied for passports yesterday. I hate to wish the summer away, but I can't wait for this cruise!!!!

Anyone going to do the CC5K?

The kids passports only took about 2weeks, it took a month to get the old ones and BCs back in a separate mailing.

Flights were booked months ago, so we are set there.

We too are excited, this is our first DCL cruise and my kids very first cruise. I was kinda waiting until my youngest was old enough that I would not worry about her having some independence.

With the last few days in the 80's, it is getting us in the summer spirit.

 

[cjnix29]

The kids passports only took about 2weeks, it took a month to get the old ones and BCs back in a separate mailing.

Flights were booked months ago, so we are set there.

We too are excited, this is our first DCL cruise and my kids very first cruise. I was kinda waiting until my youngest was old enough that I would not worry about her having some independence.

With the last few days in the 80's, it is getting us in the summer spirit.

How old are your kids? We just booked the cruise a couple of weeks ago, kind of on a whim, but not really. DH and I combined have lost over 110 pounds, so we figured it was time to celebrate! So we werent' really planning on taking a cruise, but found the GTY for this sailing, and couldn't pass it up! I got a new SW visa with the free 50K points, so I had to wait til those hit our account before I could book flights. Hoping we have quick turnaround on the passports, although as long as they are in my hand before I board the plane, I'm Ok!

We have a trip to Daytona planned in three weeks, that we booked almost a year ago! Now...it seems like just a filler til we get on the ship!

 

[Pudo]

Well, we are already paid up, but patiently waiting for the 75 day. 3AM EDT is not my ideal of fun sitting at the computer.

DCL changed the booking window a few years back. It used to be 12 AM Pacific time, but it is now 12 AM Eastern time so you don't have to wait until 3 AM anymore. I remember those days well and I am glad they are over.

On a side note: I promised a walk-through tutorial of the online booking process with screen shots. I have completed the screen shots in Photoshop and should have the tutorial posted on Sunday.

Jeff

 

[Lynne G]

DCL changed the booking window a few years back. It used to be 12 AM Pacific time, but it is now 12 AM Eastern time so you don't have to wait until 3 AM anymore. I remember those days well and I am glad they are over.

On a side note: I promised a walk-through tutorial of the online booking process with screen shots. I have completed the screen shots in Photoshop and should have the tutorial posted on Sunday.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff. Thought I read that some on this board were waiting to 3am instead of midnight. Well, gotta tell ya, as we are in the EDT, midnight isn't my idea of fun either. I am a very early riser and try to be in bed long before the clock kits 12.

I am also waiting for our room number, as we booked VGT. Seem some have gotten great rooms, some were not very thrilled with theirs, and some don't like the aft cabins. I think we will be thrilled with just being on the ship. Kids are very excited to be sailing. I can't wait to see their faces when we see the ship on the horizon. We are getting our virtual bearings, but I can see me getting lost at least once.

It is kinda embarrassing that I haven't stepped foot in a large ship in almost 20 years. DH and I went on the Sovereign of the Seas for a New Year's sail from San Juan. That was BC. Before kids. Funny though, the places we went to on that cruise were St. Thomas, St. Maartin, and Barbados. It will be interesting to see what has changed and was has not. Was sort of hoping to see some new islands or ports, but this cruise dates are the best time for us.

 

[Pudo]

As promised I have posted some screen shots which walk you through booking an excursion and Palo dinner. The process is pretty much the same for all activities. Please let me know if you have any questions.

DCL Online Booking Tutorial

 

[JKSWonder]

As promised I have posted some screen shots which walk you through booking an excursion and Palo dinner. The process is pretty much the same for all activities. Please let me know if you have any questions.

DCL Online Booking Tutorial

Thanks Jeff. This is really helpful. Although the basic process is the same, the set up and screens are much different than the last time I did this for our MNSSH cruise.

I do wish it was set up so that you could see all brunch times that were available on all sea days rather than having to select each sea day to try to find an open time. Oh well. Maybe that will be the next incarnation of the website.

 

[krisgils33]

wow, that is really helpful. thanks so much for taking the time to do that!

As promised I have posted some screen shots which walk you through booking an excursion and Palo dinner. The process is pretty much the same for all activities. Please let me know if you have any questions.

DCL Online Booking Tutorial

 

[mrsdn5]

Hi everyone I just wanted to say Hi again. I haven't been on the board for a long time. I am just starting to get excited again for this trip. My dad passed away on March 2, and still having a tough time with it all. He was supposed to be going on this trip with us.So it is making it harder to get excited. I have some room adjustments to inform you of. Me-Laura DH-Shad DD-Molly 5, DD-Emmalynn-6 Room 8058. My mom will be in 8056 which is connected to ours. She will end up having some of my sisters kids in her room. My Dsis has room 8060, with her DH, she has 4 kids DD-10, DD-9,DS-6, DS-17months at time of sailing. We have been discussing doing the FE. When is your cut off date?. I love this board because you all make me feel magical again...Thanks

 

[dvcdisney]

As promised I have posted some screen shots which walk you through booking an excursion and Palo dinner. The process is pretty much the same for all activities. Please let me know if you have any questions.

DCL Online Booking Tutorial

Thanks so much for posting this. It's very helpful.

 

[cjnix29]

Hi everyone I just wanted to say Hi again. I haven't been on the board for a long time. I am just starting to get excited again for this trip. My dad passed away on March 2, and still having a tough time with it all. He was supposed to be going on this trip with us.So it is making it harder to get excited. I have some room adjustments to inform you of. Me-Laura DH-Shad DD-Molly 5, DD-Emmalynn-6 Room 8058. My mom will be in 8056 which is connected to ours. She will end up having some of my sisters kids in her room. My Dsis has room 8060, with her DH, she has 4 kids DD-10, DD-9,DS-6, DS-17months at time of sailing. We have been discussing doing the FE. When is your cut off date?. I love this board because you all make me feel magical again...Thanks

So sorry for your loss, and I can only imagine how difficult it must be to get excited about this trip. Hopefully you can find some pixie dust, and still have a good time.

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

Hello Everyone,

I am in Chicago this week. NATO hasn't been too bad but there is a Police Officer on every corner

While on the plane I overhead two ladies raving about Disney Cruises. Since I was supposed to be minding my business, I had to bite my lip not to join in their conversation

 

[DisneyGirlTinkerbell]

I am also waiting for our room number, as we booked VGT. Seem some have gotten great rooms, some were not very thrilled with theirs, and some don't like the aft cabins. I think we will be thrilled with just being on the ship. Kids are very excited to be sailing. I can't wait to see their faces when we see the ship on the horizon. We are getting our virtual bearings, but I can see me getting lost at least once.

It is kinda embarrassing that I haven't stepped foot in a large ship in almost 20 years. DH and I went on the Sovereign of the Seas for a New Year's sail from San Juan. That was BC. Before kids. Funny though, the places we went to on that cruise were St. Thomas, St. Maartin, and Barbados. It will be interesting to see what has changed and was has not. Was sort of hoping to see some new islands or ports, but this cruise dates are the best time for us.

I booked VGT with my DBF, so we won't have our cabin assigned for awhile either. It makes me a bit nervous, but I'm sure it will be fine. As many DCL as I have sailed, I never booked a verandah with the kids. We were never in the room long enough for it to be a priority. I have a feeling I'll be spending a bit more cabin time on this one!
I wouldn't be embarrassed about not being on a large ship...remember this will be the first time on the Fantasy for almost everyone. Don't worry about visiting the same ports. If you haven't been there in several years...it'll be new again! I did the Eastern a few years ago, but friends that have sailed more recently are telling me about how much has changed. I know we went to Coki Beach in St. Thomas on the last one. My oldest is a SCUBA diver, so the youngest and I snorkeled while he went diving. This time we are planning to go to St. John-Trunk Bay. I've been there on my second Eastern sailing, but it was so beautiful I can't wait to get back there. In St. Martin, we took a cab an ate at a lolo on Grand Case, then went to the beach. I will likely repeat that then head for Orient Bay.

This is DBF's first cruise, so I can't wait to see the excitement in his eyes. It will be fun to meet everyone. Is a meet being planned for the Sail Away party?

 

[Trinity524]

As promised I have posted some screen shots which walk you through booking an excursion and Palo dinner. The process is pretty much the same for all activities. Please let me know if you have any questions.

DCL Online Booking Tutorial

This is awesome for a first timer like me Thank you for taking the time to do this!

 

[Lynne G]

Thanks Tinkergirl!

In St. Thomas, I think we may have not docked at Havensight as I thought we took a taxi to Morningstar Beach and it was just up the hill. It was really nice, and we loved the Fisherman's Resort so much, that I told my sister about how beautiful it was. Well, years later, she got remarried there. Not sure what I am going to do this time. Maybe one of the ship tours.

On St. Martin, we went to the beach closest to the dock, but I don't remember the name of it. I never knew of Maho, so for this time, I booked a tour that will take us around the island and to Maho in the afternoon to see the planes come in over the beach.

I only jumped on the VGT as I was so torn about whether to sail or not, the OGT was sold out. I am not worried about not knowing my room right now. The only reason we sailed so long ago was that we got a run of ship cabin at a very cheap rate, paying much more for airfare than the cruise. Well, we got a big window cabin in the middle of the ship. Great location. Crossing my fingers for this cruise.