Cruising on the Wonder Jan.29, 09

[guitardiva]

I hear ya. Its annoying.
I did the math and we still come out better with what we paid, as opposed to what the prices are now.
A little bone would be nice though. lol
Free dining on the land portion would Rock hardcore though .



On the bright side

Is everyone ready for the holidays? I have to start shopping Monday. Yes start, ugh. I had to wait this year. The cruise is part of their Christmas gift though, so I will basically be shopping for the inexpensive items on their list.

Cruisers with older kids,.....
The years that we go to WDW in Jan or Feb, we usually give the kids Disney dollars as a gift. This year I was thinking about a refillable debit card. Has anyone tried this with their own teens?

 

[guitardiva]

So where is everyone traveling from?

Downriver Detroit. About 5min away from the Metro Airport.

 

[natale1980]

refillable debit cards are a good idea until you have $3.28 left on them. You have to keep track of the money.
Then at your last purchase you can say "Use this for $3.28" thats the only down side I can see.

-nat

 

[guitardiva]

I was thinking that it might be a good learning tool for them. Also more convienent on the boat.

refillable debit cards are a good idea until you have $3.28 left on them. You have to keep track of the money.
Then at your last purchase you can say "Use this for $3.28" thats the only down side I can see.

-nat

 

[natale1980]

OMG!!! I just did the math and found out that if I booked the same room today I wouldn't save $200... I would save $417!!!!
Sorry for complaining but I need to get this out of my system so that it doesn't make me so upset that it messes up my cruise!

Ok - I guess I'm done.
-nat

 

[guitardiva]

Try not to let it bug you too much. You will have a wonderful time.

OMG!!! I just did the math and found out that if I booked the same room today I wouldn't save $200... I would save $417!!!!
Sorry for complaining but I need to get this out of my system so that it doesn't make me so upset that it messes up my cruise!

Ok - I guess I'm done.
-nat

 

[Pakey]

Morning all.

We are coming from California. Most of us are coming in from Central California, but oldest son/wife live in Los Angeles. Since I used corporate miles to book all 11 flights, we are not all flying together. Some of us are flying from Fresno through Salt Lake, some are flying Fresno through Los Angeles and some are driving to Los Angeles and then flying direct from there. It's very inconvenient but flights from here were about $700 each at the time I booked so getting 11 for NOTHING was huge.

Nat, I would contact DU and see about having them cancel and rebook you to get those savings. When the fuel surcharge was announced, I contacted my TA and she said that was an option I had; to cancel and rebook. They will tell you if they think it's a good idea or not. For the amount you are talking about saving, it's at least worth asking the question.

Guitardiva, I'm thinking I will get Disney gift cards for my group. They can be used on the ship, same as a debit card, but I can give them out at Christmas and not worry about them using them before we leave for something else.

My group is getting zilch for Christmas. They get their own cabin on the cruise, 5 days at the Beach Club with deluxe dining and dinner at Palo on the ship. I let them select if they wanted upgraded cabin or a cat 12 with excursions. They are each getting 3 t-shirts (which they will all hate I'm sure), door magnets, along with their park hoppers in a gift bag. Honestly, it doesn't feel like Christmas at all because of the "no shopping".

 

[guitardiva]

The problem with canceling this close to the travel dates is that she would probablly lose more then she would potential save with the new offers.

From what I've read, the fuel service charge could be refunded for our cruise by Dec 19th (I think that was the date. ) as long as oil is down under $70 per barrel. (It has been around $43 lately , so that looks likely)

Now having said that, individual Ta's may been willing to make adjustments . Some agencies will do it , some won't.



Pakey, Wow you footed the bill! I would say that was a great gift.

 

[natale1980]

Sounds like a great vacation Pakey!!!

guitardiva is right - I would lose $600 (my deposit) to save $417. I think I'll just be happy that I'm on the big mickey boat. And Hope for a magical upgrade

Althogh it does make me rethink booking on board for Jan 2010.

-nat

 

[samily]

Hi everyone, I'm just catching up on all the excitement today! I'm a little bummed that we can't take advantage of this promo, but what can you do...I'm just happy we'll be sailing! Hey Nat, maybe you could surprise your DH with another cruise in a few more months! He wouldn't see that coming! lol

This year has been hard trying to give everyone ideas on what to get for the kids, so I've been telling everyone to get them Disney gift cards too - they'll like picking out something special onboard.

Pakey, I want to be a part of your family!

 

[hm21999]

We are coming from Albany, NY - We usually fly southwest too as they have a direct flight right to Orlando - but I am still watching the prices before i book the tikets - the flights I want dont seem to be fluctuating much - and all the other flights that same day seem to drop - oh well I will book probably in the next week or too and just get it over with! The disney cruise was our xmas gift as well so i only needed to get filler items - My DD who is 9 has already been prepared for not as much this year - but since i have never gone overboard as Santa (one or 2 really cool gifts - last year the Wii) and the rest of the gifts from us - she is easy to please - i have found that a lot of the stuff i have been getting is cruise related - i can see the questions on christmas morning now - really mom/sweetie - i am going to use the snorkle set now? in the snow? and why did santa put sunscreen and a disposable waterproof camera in my stocking?

 

[hm21999]

Well guys! We are covered in ice and Albany, NY made the Today show this morning! At least we still have power where I live but many around us dont - So we are hunkering down and I am going to tackle all those closets around the house that I have been meaning to clean out and dream of the cruise

 

[natale1980]

Looks like Disney's new promo really helped fill up our ship! No more Cat 12s or 11s. And Cat 10 is only GTY!
I guess they had the right idea.

Now the question is.. do I rebook on board for 2010 OR do I wait until late next year for a really good promo?

Here in Chicago it is only 8! I am really looking forward for weather above freezing!

-nat

 

[samily]

I was just thinking the same thing about their promo- I tried calling DCL earlier for a quick question and spent 25 minutes on hold before I gave up and hung up - they must be busy booking free kids! Hopefully if they fill up quickly they'll start assigning cabin #'s.

Is Dexter excited for the holidays? Jacob wants a fishing pole and a garbage truck for Christmas.

 

[guitardiva]

Looks like Disney's new promo really helped fill up our ship! No more Cat 12s or 11s. And Cat 10 is only GTY!
I guess they had the right idea.

Now the question is.. do I rebook on board for 2010 OR do I wait until late next year for a really good promo?

Here in Chicago it is only 8! I am really looking forward for weather above freezing!

-nat

Thats always a tough one. I know I have already been thinking of next trip also. lol.... Well maybe we'll see what kind off Bounceback they offer. It may be really good . The plus is if we book after the trip , we have time to cancel and rebook for a long period.

 

[natale1980]

Dexter always gets excited when it snows. So he's been a happy little guy the last few weeks.
I can't belive it's already the middle of December!! It won't be too long before we all start running home to see if the UPS man brought us anything good!!!
You guys have to let me know when you start getting your travel docs, so I can be on the lookout! Or else I'll have some explaining to do!!

-nat

 

[Pakey]

Did all of my cruise buddies get buried in snow???????

I was hoping if we keep this bumped up we might pick up some new friends who recently took advantage of the kids cruise free deal.

I've been busy working on my fish extender exchange gifts. Sometimes I bite off more than I can handle. I'm so glad Christmas is not at my house this year because I have a huge mess going with this craft project.

Hope all of you are okay.

 

[guitardiva]

No snow, just buried in chores and such.
We had my DD a birthday dinner on Sunday. She turned 17. It was fun. I made her a huge TinkerBell cake.

 

[hm21999]

Wow Guitardiva! That is an amazing cake!!! We are still experiencing difficulties here from the ice storm that occured last thurs - fri. High winds on sunday just added to the damage snapping off trees already weakened by the ice. I was lucky and did not lose power for long - but the flip side of that is i still have houseguests! Not everyone has their power restored yet so it has been an adventure to say the least. But the great thing about these times is that people bond together and really help each other out. Nat - did you get your room assignment yet? I see all Cat 4's are sold out. Just got off with Disney and they told me that after 12/18 as long as oil is still below $70 than they will automatically credit us our fuel charge - i dont need to call back
Pakey - i havent even started my FE gifts yet - i am soooo jealous

 

[natale1980]

guitardiva - that cake looks so good!

hm21999 - stil havn't gotten our room # yet. I think everyone says that room #'s start showing up at 35 days. Can you belive we are almost there???

The snow and ice has been really bad here too. Shawn got into a little fender bender on Monday because of the ice (they are really cutting back on useing salt... Shawn said that he slid 80-100 feet... and he was only going 5-10mph when he started to slide!). And then it took him almost 4hours to get home from work yesterday!!!

I'm soooooo ready for this vacation!

-nat