Book it. Buy it. BELIEVE it! - TR is started! link posted 8/11

[eandesmom]

Happy Mother's Day

Thanks Rosie! I hope you had a wonderful one.

Happy Mother's Day Cynthia! I'm all caught up again... It's amazing how far behind you get when you go on your own trip!

I love all of your plans. Sorry you couldn't get the cabana - that would be a fun way to spend the beach day.

When do you find out if you got the dining rotation you requested? Do you know that already? The unknown would drive me crazy!

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day Amy!

On the rotation, I assume once we board and see our KTTW cards, it is printed on there. The CM made it sound like if you request it, you will get it but who knows!

[Sorry, I don't know anything about Vero so I don't have any suggestions for you there, but I agree an easy dinner is the best way to go on arrival day. I always prefer to get the grocery shopping done as early in the trip as possible.

Ideally we will shop before we check in and just get it over with, I know once I walk in the room I will NOT want to be heading back out to the store!

very cute dress.

thanks! I hope she likes it

How long does it take for her to do them !!!I am thinking about it for next year when I do the Free Cruise !!! Do you have a link to her site ??

Hi Rosie, I can't post links on here but if you just search it on Etsy or FB you should find it I'd think, that's how I found it. There are a number of sellers on ebay as welll. You might get quicker results by searching "fish extender" instead of pillowcase as there area heck of a lot of pillowcases for sale in the world. LOL!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I started to read all those menus, but had to stop because my stomach was growling! I CANNOT wait to eat on the cruise!

 

[englishrose47]

I am pretty sure it will be the Dream that I get my Free Cruise next year !!I checked the dates for this year and that's the ship that matches !!So hopefully I will get lots of tips from my Cruising Dis fans !!!

 

[eandesmom]

I started to read all those menus, but had to stop because my stomach was growling! I CANNOT wait to eat on the cruise!

LOL! Yours is SOOOO close!!!

I am pretty sure it will be the Dream that I get my Free Cruise next year !!I checked the dates for this year and that's the ship that matches !!So hopefully I will get lots of tips from my Cruising Dis fans !!!

 

[tinacaplan]

Wow...those dining rooms and those menus look incredible. I am going to have to get on a cruise one of these days.

 

[eandesmom]

Wow...those dining rooms and those menus look incredible. I am going to have to get on a cruise one of these days.

Yes you do!

 

[KatMark]

Cynthia, I love, love what the boys picked out...too darn cute! And I love what you got your niece.

Looking at your menus has made me realize it's past my lunch time and I better go and get something to eat.

Plans are coming along nicely.

 

[eandesmom]

As you guys know, we are traveling July/August and have some tight date constraints on both ends. With it being hurricane season and a seriously expensive trip, I'm seriously considering travel insurance. Often I'll buy flight only insurance but when I booked the flights, looking at wrap around options ended up being much more attractive cost wise.

IF something were to happen, without insurance we will end up with $150 change fees on flights, per person, per leg. OUCH!

Our trip is

Vero - DVC Cash rate 2 nights, Points 2011 UY
Dream
AKV - Points 2011 UY and 2012 UY

My options are, one or the other of the following...or both.

• DVC/travelex. Would need to get 2 use years worth as the trip spans 2 years of points.
• Travel Guard by Chartis.

What confuses me about the DVC coverage is...

1. Will the DVC coverage, cover the cost of the cruise? In reading the plan it implies that it covers flights, cruise connections, travel delays. However as the cruise wasn't booked with points I'm not sure if that is true, even though it is part of the same trip. I assume it does not but would love actual validation of that assumptions.
   
2. How are the actual points addressed? I believe that the DVC coverage would cover the dues cost for the points used, but what about the actual points themselves? Are you just out? I don't see that addressed.
   
3. Part of our DVC reservation is cash, with the member discount. Would that be covered? I'd assume so but....

Vero appears to have a hurricane plan already as part of any reservation so there is some additional coverage there I think if needed. It seems to me that the main advantage of the non DVC plan is to cover the cost of the cruise, it also has significantly higher emergency evacuation coverage.

Options for this peace of mind are....

1. DVC Travelex only $158
2. Travel Guard by Chartis only $194
3. Combo DVC and Cruise only Chartis plan $268
   OR
4. DVC Travelex 2011 UY only for the front end of the trip since they are all the same UY and Cruise only Chartis Plan $189 (just a lower non dvc $
   coverage amount assuming inbound flights could be covered by the DVC plan)

Thoughts?

 

[dizneeat]

Sorry, Cynthia, but I can't give you any advise on any of the insurance companies.
We always have travel insurance, but we buy it from our local AAA and pay off any travel componants by CC, so we are kind of double insured.
And even if you do not need it .... it gives you peace of mind.

 

[KatMark]

We used to get the travel insurance all the time when we booked the package since we go in September which is considered hurricane season, but we stopped doing it about three years ago. Sorry...I can't be any help.

 

[Poolrat]

Finally all caught up.
Dining plans look great and I had no idea you could request a rotation.

The Pillowcases look great but I can't give any advice on travel insurance. Used it once for a Sept trip when I had a feeling but I did not need it.

Considering my honeymoon was moved because of hurricane Hugo you would think I would be more paranoid.

Perhaps I should have taken that as a hint about the marriage.

 

[MEK]

Hmmmmmm - I don't know. I do have the travelex on my 2012 DVC points and will probably get it for the 2013 points when I use them, but I have no idea how the cruise would factor into all that. When I book my cruise I am doing it through AAA so I will probably take their insurance and do the travelex separate for my points. I really don't know how cash reservations can be protected. Good question!

 

[Flossbolna]

Hi Cynthia! I really enjoyed your latest updates about your trip planning!

On the travel insurance: I am someone who usually gets insurance for everything, I have an insurance with an annual fee that covers all my travels. But I think it would not work for DVC and I did not get the DVC insurance for my last trip either, I found it too expensive. But then a studio certainly is less points than the number of points you are most likely using for this trip. I am not sure how helpful this is - just that another person who is a planner decided to let some part of her trip uninsured.

I loved the outfit for your goddaughter - is she the one living close to me?

 

[englishrose47]

Sorry Cynthia no ideas for insurance either !!Lately most of my trips jave been FREE so I don't need to worry about insurance !!!

 

[winkers]

I'm going to echo the....I have no advice.

I do always buy it because of the trip I had to go to the dentist. The insurance covered the dental bill, meds, taxi to and from the dentist and 2 days of my park ticket. So it was totally worth it.

I don't remember the company name, but it's what is offered through disney.

 

[englishrose47]

I'm going to echo the....I have no advice.

I do always buy it because of the trip I had to go to the dentist. The insurance covered the dental bill, meds, taxi to and from the dentist and 2 days of my park ticket. So it was totally worth it.

I don't remember the company name, but it's what is offered through disney.

I think you have apix that would promote the buying of Insurance !!!

 

[natebenma]

No idea on the trip insurance for the DVC part of your trip.

We usually insure our trips, especially the winter ones, with Allianz Travel- they used to be Access America, and are the insurance company offered by AAA. We used to get it through AAA, but for the last few trips I have been booking it online:

www dot allianztravelinsurance dot com

I believe the way they figure the price is to take the total cost of the trip you need insured, to see what the insurance price level is, then divide by the number of travelers. Kids are free (not sure what age), so you pay the price they have come up with for each adult.

There are a few different coverage levels, we always get the basic.

You can do a quote.

I believe there is also a website called Insure My Trip, that will give you a bunch of different trip insurers.

We have never had to use the insurance for anything, but for about $150, it has been worth it for peace of mind.

 

[eandesmom]

Cynthia, I love, love what the boys picked out...too darn cute! And I love what you got your niece.

I can't wait to see her in it!

Looking at your menus has made me realize it's past my lunch time and I better go and get something to eat.

Plans are coming along nicely.

Food is such a fun part of the trip!

Sorry, Cynthia, but I can't give you any advise on any of the insurance companies.
We always have travel insurance, but we buy it from our local AAA and pay off any travel componants by CC, so we are kind of double insured.
And even if you do not need it .... it gives you peace of mind.

We do the same thing with CC although we got burned on that once, hopefully we learned our lesson. I don't believe I can get travel insurance through AAA unless the trip was booked through them, which it isn't.

We used to get the travel insurance all the time when we booked the package since we go in September which is considered hurricane season, but we stopped doing it about three years ago. Sorry...I can't be any help.

We typically don't bother with it, have done it a couple of time just on flight portions so this would be new. Thought about it for Alaska and the DCL was so pricey we didn't but am really thinking I'll feel better this trip if we do.

Finally all caught up.
Dining plans look great and I had no idea you could request a rotation.

The Pillowcases look great but I can't give any advice on travel insurance. Used it once for a Sept trip when I had a feeling but it did not need it.

Considering my honeymoon was moved because of hurricane Hugo you would think I woul dbe more paranoid.

Perhaps I should have taken that as a hint about the marriage.

LOL Pat about the hurricane! I don't know, I think we can see all kinds of hints in life and never really "see" them until we look back. We typically don't bother with it but this trip just feels riskier...especially with some news/drama that occurred this weekend.

 

[eandesmom]

Hmmmmmm - I don't know. I do have the travelex on my 2012 DVC points and will probably get it for the 2013 points when I use them, but I have no idea how the cruise would factor into all that. When I book my cruise I am doing it through AAA so I will probably take their insurance and do the travelex separate for my points. I really don't know how cash reservations can be protected. Good question!

I'm leaning towards at least travelex on the 2011 points and then covering the cruise and cash reservation separately, just need to decide if I want to cover the 2012 points or not. I have a feeling the travelex would cover the cash portion since it is based on a dvc discount but the cruise coverage would cover that as well so I'm not going to worry about it I guess, just need to book it.

Hi Cynthia! I really enjoyed your latest updates about your trip planning!

On the travel insurance: I am someone who usually gets insurance for everything, I have an insurance with an annual fee that covers all my travels. But I think it would not work for DVC and I did not get the DVC insurance for my last trip either, I found it too expensive. But then a studio certainly is less points than the number of points you are most likely using for this trip. I am not sure how helpful this is - just that another person who is a planner decided to let some part of her trip uninsured.

I loved the outfit for your goddaughter - is she the one living close to me?

It is for the one living close to you! I only have one goddaughter (one godson too though but he's here) I can't wait to see a picture of her in it, I will post it for sure. My folks are in Amsterdam right now, staying on a houseboat for 4 nights, then a river cruise and then will be visiting my brother and his family for 2 weeks so I sent a pack of goodies with them! Cars2 Placemats and Empire Strikes back tees for the boys.

We typically haven't bothered on insurance, I really kind of wanted it for Alaska but it was SO expensive we opted out but for this one, with so many moving pieces and new drama this weekend, I think we need to for my own piece of mind.

We are already looking at at least one change fee I think!

Sorry Cynthia no ideas for insurance either !!Lately most of my trips jave been FREE so I don't need to worry about insurance !!!

free is good!

I'm going to echo the....I have no advice.

I do always buy it because of the trip I had to go to the dentist. The insurance covered the dental bill, meds, taxi to and from the dentist and 2 days of my park ticket. So it was totally worth it.

I don't remember the company name, but it's what is offered through disney.

Yeah, the Disney Cruise insurance would just cover the cruise and it was crazy expensive! Ideally though I'd have purchased it when we made the deposit but as we knew we'd be moving it, is simply wasn't practical. Between AAA, our car insurance and our medical we've always felt pretty covered on trips, only had an issue once in Hawaii with a rental car. But if something medical did happen on the cruise that could be an issue and certainly with hurricane season it makes me feel better knowing we are protected. If it were just a land trip I probably wouldn't bother with anything beyond the DVC portion though.

 

[tinacaplan]

Absolutely no clue about the insurance. Ugh. Sorry, wish I could be more helpful.