Colorado Cruisers

[abitjaded]

For those interested in the Dings, look at the threads on the transportation boards. Lots of folks post the Dings there, since they cannot follow them at work. There is a lot of advice about how to tell if your Ding is working. The most important thing is to check on the Southwest logo, pull up the window and make sure it says "READY". I have seen few posted for Denver, so far. I have been doing "dry runs". Checking available dates on Southwest. If you can buy a date before June 9, United and Frontier are cheaper than "normal". After June 9, when Southwest is not yet available, the cost goes up, and up and....

Carla

 

[DenverVal]

Carla, I have to ask...where is the Kalalua trail? Hawaii, for sure, but where specifically?

 

[abitjaded]

Just noticed I spelled it wrong! So I changed it. It is the farthest on Kauai you can get on the North Shore. We stayed at a great funky house in Ha'ena a block from the beach and a mile or so from the trailhead. The trail is 22 miles round-trip, we made it two in and two out. We knew we could not do an overnight, but did expect to do eight miles. It was grueling. Up and down a narrow red-mud-sick footpath gnarled with tree roots and streams, on the cliffs of the Na Pali coast. So narrow you had to plaster yourself up-mountain to pass traffic going the other way. Some friends of ours had done the whole thing years ago on their honeymoon. We bike and ski and hike, and think we are in pretty good shape. We made it to Hanakapi'ai Beach, which was spectacular. After a quarter mile, the younger DS lost his favorite hat to the Menehune (spirits) as we rounded a very windy point. Major melt-down on the trail, we had hikers backed up behind us. DH fell twice on slick rocks, damaged his wrist, and the kids, 11 and 8 at the time, were exhausted, as was I. But I would do it again, no question.

Carla

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Carla - Thanks for the tip about DING

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I have a question about trip insurance. Who uses Disney's travel insurance or who gets their own through a different company? I signed up for Disney but read that it will not cover airfare or the WDW stay before the cruise. So I went to tripinsurance.com and was overwhelmed and not sure what to choose and what I need. Can anyone help me?

 

[cristit14]

Heidi,
I went to insuremytrip.com. I clicked on quotes and then filled out the info. A different screen popped up with a bunch of quotes from many different companies. It was pretty overwhelming. I picked four or five to compare side by side. I just looked over the plans and decided what was important to me, trip cancellation, trip delay. I made sure that there was medical evacuation coverage (you never know what could happen) and then looked for the best amount of coverage for the least amount of money. I think we ended up with either Travelguard or Travelex. I was looking for my quote sheet from our December trip, but I don't know where it is right now. I went with one of the cheaper plans. I didn't buy it right away after we booked so I couldn't do the pre-existing condition part of it. Good luck with your search.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Heidi,
I went to insuremytrip.com. I clicked on quotes and then filled out the info. A different screen popped up with a bunch of quotes from many different companies. It was pretty overwhelming. I picked four or five to compare side by side. I just looked over the plans and decided what was important to me, trip cancellation, trip delay. I made sure that there was medical evacuation coverage (you never know what could happen) and then looked for the best amount of coverage for the least amount of money. I think we ended up with either Travelguard or Travelex. I was looking for my quote sheet from our December trip, but I don't know where it is right now. I went with one of the cheaper plans. I didn't buy it right away after we booked so I couldn't do the pre-existing condition part of it. Good luck with your search.

Thanks Cristi. What does trip delay cover? Does that mean if a hurricane hits and I have to extend my trip due to the hurricane, will the trip delay cover the expense of the extra nights? I also want to have coverage of being airlifted from the ship, I read this is an absolute must to have, where would that be included....medical, transportation?

 

[cristit14]

Thanks Cristi. What does trip delay cover? Does that mean if a hurricane hits and I have to extend my trip due to the hurricane, will the trip delay cover the expense of the extra nights? I also want to have coverage of being airlifted from the ship, I read this is an absolute must to have, where would that be included....medical, transportation?

I found my confirmation page that I took on our trip. We used Travelex Travel Plus. I would think that trip delay would cover extra expenses with a hurricane, but I didn't really look at that since we went in December. The airlifted part would be covered under Medical Evacuation. On my paper here it has Emergency Medical Benefits $500,000 and under that it says Medical Expense and also Medical Evacuation/Repatriation. On the trip delay part it says Trip Delay/Missed Connection. On my policy the trip delay is $1000, but I am sure that could be different depending on the policy.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Thank you so much Cristi, you have helped me a lot!!!

 

[jiminyC_fan]

And thanks from me too Cristi. Heidi is doing my research for me.

 

[Mickey02]

Hello Colorado Cruisers

Just stopping in to say

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Hi Barb. Good to see you here!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Wow Barb is so bored in her trainig class she actually made her way back over here again!!! C'mon Barb, don't be a stranger!!!!

 

[Mickey02]

Heehee I am out of training FINALLY Heidi. What a long long day. I have been surfing the boards a lot this week.

Anyone heard any rumors of Disney opening another store in Colorado Springs? I sure do miss our Disney stores

 

[abitjaded]

Mickey2, THE BEST rumor mill is the rumors board right here at the DIS. There always seems to be someone who can tell what is going on. Keep bumping it until you get someone in the know.

Been lurking about all the trip insurance companies. With all the personal bumps and weather bumps, we have bought it every time we cruised. Our TA (at Cruise Holidays), and a TA we used via Dreams Unlimited did manage to get us better rates.

Carla

 

[momsully]

I just found this thread and wanted to pop in. We live in Highlands Ranch and while we are frequent visitors to WDW we just finally booked our first cruise. We are starting small (3 nights) but hopefully will get to do the seven night one soon!

 

[Blackunicorn]

Barb, I quit the Disney Store before the holidays, but they told me before I quit that a new store would open in the Springs within a year. They seemed very positive of this--my manager was very confident when she said it. I haven't really talked to anyone since then, as they hired a whole bunch of new people and an assistant manager who drives me nuts, plus it's a 45 minute drive to visit anyone. I used to be sad that I left, but I'm very glad I don't have to deal with the new AM.

Momsully, I thought you were getting off the ship when I got on, but I see by our counters that this isn't true. Guess I leapt before I looked! Are you flying? If you are, have you bought your tickets yet?

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Welcome Momsully!!! When are you cruising?

 

[Mickey02]

Barb, I quit the Disney Store before the holidays, but they told me before I quit that a new store would open in the Springs within a year. They seemed very positive of this--my manager was very confident when she said it.

Woooooo Whoooooooooo!!! Thanks for the information!!! I sure hope it comes to pass. Wonder what mall they will open it in. We had one in both malls before.

 

[momsully]

Thanks for the welcome! We cruise on the 9/28 Wonder. I have not bought plane tickets yet as I am waiting to see what dates the Halloween Party is scheduled for as I want to try to hit that at the same time. We have done the Christmas party but never Halloween but if the timing is right we want to try it.

We prefer to fly Frontier but last year I got tickets on Delta for $125 Round Trip! I always watch for the fares and if something good comes along I will jump on them.