Back from $99 cruise!

[pmgreene]

We were in the first wave of $99 Wonder cruisers (9/5 sailing) and had a great time. Thought I'd share some highlights.

We decided that since we would be on the ship so few days that we would maximize everything. Started by getting to the terminal at 10:40, first in line and then our kids were selected to be part of the "Countdown" to open the doors. They loved that! The ship wasn't too crowded. Apparently, there is a special for any Disney castmember to cruise between now and October so we noticed several of them. Got a Palo's ressie with no problem. Castaway Club gift was a very nice beach towel.

Before leaving I had asked several questions on the boards about getting a room at Atlantis.Well, here's what we did. We got a taxi in Nassau (confirmed the price before getting in - $4 a person and NO bridge toll). We had him take us to the hotel and walked right up to the counter and asked if there were any rooms available and explained that we only needed the room for the day to have access to the pools and slides. We got a room for $150. We thought that was pretty good. If you have kids, confirm and double confirm their height. Our daughter was about 2 inches too short for the slides at the Mayan Temple and, no, they would not let her go. Made for one grumpy kid and an older one that couldn't really enjoy doing the slides. We ventured to the pools and out to the beach where I got stung by a jellyfish - OUCH!! We had brought ham, cheese, rolls, fruit, cookies (in ziplocks we had packed) and water from the breakfast buffet and had a nice lunch in the hotel room. We showered and were ready to head back to Nassau for some shopping. The cab was again $4 per person. Personally, I only saw them checking hotel guest wrist bands once when a lady was trying to get on one of the big slides.

We got rained on in Nassau and Cataway Cay. It was funny to see people wearing raincoats going to the beach to get WET in the water. Note to the wise - if it starts pouring down rain, seek cover and wait it out a few minutes. It is a looong run from the beach to the ship. Probably 90% of the guests were back on the ship by 3:00 (all on-board was 4:30) and when I saw just a handful strangling back on about 4:15 I was very jealous to think they had the whole island to themselves!

This topic has been covered, recovered and covered again on these boards but I'll throw in my two cents about tipping. I understand on the 7 day cruise that if I miss a dinner or two that I'll still tip my server and asst. the recommended amount because we've established a relationship with them. But I have some heartburn with tipping the recommended amount for the three nighter when we went to Palos one night and tipped that server seperately; my DH and I dined one night without the kids because they were at the club; and the third night we all ate together. I know, I know they don't have anyone to walk up and fill our table and get that tip but I don't like feeling that I have to tip for service I never received. JMHO After really thinking about it, yes, we did tip lower than the recommended amount and got the rudest service at breakfast on the last day. I know this is an area that everyone will never agree on.

This was our third cruise in 11-months so I think we may be Disney-ed out for a while. Hope everyone enjoys their upcoming $99 cruises and all the others, too!!!!

 

[SC Minnie]

Glad to hear you had a good time! We are sailing in just over a month and are really looking foward to it.

Did your girls enjoy Atlantis-except for the slide issue? What is the height requirement again-48in? I think our DD will be fine on the height. She is not completely sure she wants to tackle the shark slide.

I understand your position on the tipping issue. We aren't planning to do Palo's this time so I don't think it will be a real problem with us.

 

[prymsu]

wow, my friend made reservations at the Atlantis, and I know she said it was more then that. I will have to check into this further, and it might be better off to cancel the room, and then go over and get what we can for the day.

 

[Pluto4President]

glad you had a good time Pam! Also glad to hear everyone is well...

 

[Tinkerbellfan]

Hi pmgreene, I enjoyed reading about your adventures. Thanks for sharing this with us. I often wondered what the deal was with booking Atlantis just for the day. And I too, would have been very jealous of the stragglers having Castaway Cay all to themselves for that extra hour.
I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise. And a $99 cruise at that!

That said, I must disagree with you about the tipping issue. Whether a family makes it to dinner or not should not affect the amount of the tip in my opinion. The servers are ready and willing to serve you every night. They count on that. That is their job. When a family does not show up, it is by their choice, not the server's choice. I guess I view it like any other job. When I decide to stay home from work and I do not need my day care provider that day, I still pay her. I wouldn't think of not paying her. She counts on the same amount every week in order to pay her bills. Same at work. When things are slow at work, the boss doesn't say, "Hey, guess what? Things are slow, you are all just sitting around at your desks, so you will not be paid today." I realize servers get a salary, but I bet it is minimal and like many in the service field, they rely on their tips.

I'm not trying to start a debate here, but if a server is there on the job, ready, willing, and able to serve, I wouldn't think twice about whether or not to tip him/her the suggested amount (or more depending on service) even if we choose to eat elsewhere. Just my opinion. Thanks for hearing me out.

*.:~*Tinkerbellfan*~:..*

 

[mom2grace]

Hi!

What category did they give you? What was your original category in January? Are there upgrade opportunities for the $99 folks? We are guaranteed a verandah, that's all we know so far for 10/24!

Thanks,
Susan

 

[JODIELYN]

What's up with the $99 cruise??? How do i get one????

Jodie

 

[SC Minnie]

The $99 cruise was an incentive to get people cruising again after 9/11. DCL had a deal that if you went on a 4 or 7 day in January 01 they gave you a coupon for a 3 day cruise in the fall of 02 with some black out dates. It was probably a once in a lifetime thing- lets hope the reason is anyway.

 

[pmgreene]

We had a cat. 6 in January and when we first got our tickets we were assigned room 1000-something -- that's right, deck 1, inside stateroom. I could not send off an e-mail fast enough to DU and ask what was up with that. My agent got everything fixed and we had our cat 6 as I had expected when we planned it.

 

[julie junebug]

Our dining server on our 7-day Magic cruise in January told us he does NOT get a salary - his only income is from tips! He is provided room, board, and costumes only. Many servers were having a hard time because the cruises weren't full after Sept. 11th last year, so their income very much relies on tips. I just thought it was interesting - I would have thought they got a minimal salary as well!

 

[MBD1215]

We have a reservation at Comfort Suites, so we can go to Atlantis for the day. We are paying $250. Wondering if we should cancel and try Atlantis like you did. We are going 10/27, don't know if this is high or low season.Where did you get taxi?

 

[pmgreene]

MBD1215 -- As soon as you step off the dock there are cab drivers all over calling to you to take their taxi. Be sure to agree on the price before you get in the cab. As I mentioned, we paid $4 per person and when I specifically asked him about the bridge toll he said, no extra. I figured we would have to pay $10 or something per person to get back but it was $4 as well. I don't want to say cancel your reservation and try to walk up because I would hate for you to try that and not get a room. We had just decided that if it worked out fine and if not that was fine too. Someone mentioned on another posting that what happens if you make a reservation at Atlantis or Comfort Suites and then the ship has to change course due to weather? The suggestion that was made was for someone stateside to call the hotel about half-hour before you would have to check in and if you hadn't arrived to cancel.

Maybe we missed or couldn't need a lot of the offerings at Atlantis but I would think strongly before spending $250 (plus cab fare each way plus room taxes)-- just my opinion, of course. Good luck with the decision.

m

 

[tweidner]

Mom2Grace,
We just got back from the first $99 cruise. We had a category 5 stateroom in January and a category 4 for this cruise. I have no idea how we were picked for an upgrade but it was a really nice surprise. One day out of the blue DCL called and left a message on our answering machine. The funny thing was they never told us to call back and confirm that we wanted to be upgraded. They automatically assumed that we would want it, and of course we did. I will say one thing, the extra space in a category 4 is very nice, but the best thing was getting a chance to peek in the Roy Disney suite. On the last day, after breakfast we went back to our room to get our stuff. All of the doors were open for cleaning, so we went in. It was beautiful. I do have to wonder why anyone would need a baby grand ipiano in their room though.