Disney dream - 01-30-11

[andrewsmommy]

Hi
My husband and I and our two sons, 2 and 4, will be on our very first cruise!
We're from North Carolina and my older son has been literaly sleeping with the Disney cruise booklet ever since we brought it home.

We're big planners (I've been planning our kids' first trip to Disney ever since I found out I was having a baby) so it was very surprising when my husband said, out of the blue," let's take a cruise!" Three days later and we have reservations on the Dream.

There seems to be a lot of very nice and helpful people on these DIS forums...

Great! Welcome! This is our 3d cruise in as many years. We also have 2 sons, 3 and 7.

Do you have any interest in doing a Fish Extender exchange?

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Welcome Andrea. How exciting for you AND your family.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Welcome Andrea!!!! Look forward to meeting you all on the ship.

 

[ljm23]

Hi
My husband and I and our two sons, 2 and 4, will be on our very first cruise!
We're from North Carolina and my older son has been literaly sleeping with the Disney cruise booklet ever since we brought it home.

We're big planners (I've been planning our kids' first trip to Disney ever since I found out I was having a baby) so it was very surprising when my husband said, out of the blue," let's take a cruise!" Three days later and we have reservations on the Dream.

There seems to be a lot of very nice and helpful people on these DIS forums...

Welcome aboard! You'll never regret it that's for sure. How about a Picture Of The Day (POTD)
Can't imagine this view without the Flying Dutchman! Hope they bring another one of the POTC ships soon!

 

[andrea1978]

Hi!
We would be interested in an exchange!

 

[andrewsmommy]

Hi!
We would be interested in an exchange!

SUPER!! My kids love it. Anyone else interested? Anyone? Speak now or forever hold your peace

 

[wdwgoose]

HI FOLKS
Count us in !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
myself and DW (when the T A sends her an e mail ) hopfully soon so she can pack.
Thought about this one for awhile and just did it.
It was about time I did something for me
SO

MERRY CHRISTMAS TOO ME

SOUNDS LIKE A FUN GROUP ??????

any meets before ?????? anyone doing the parks ???

lets see we have late dinning. just a outside cabin

ok back to work for now

have a great day all


garRy

 

[wdwgoose]

WOW this is a quiet group!!!!!!!

I read all the post and wound UP

needing a brake from this MICHIGAN COLD already

well back to stall cleaning for now while its about 20 outside




garRy

 

[andrewsmommy]

WOW this is a quiet group!!!!!!!

I read all the post and wound UP

needing a brake from this MICHIGAN COLD already

well back to stall cleaning for now while its about 20 outside




garRy

My family used to have a horse farm in Niles, MI - I remember well cleaning stalls in freezing weather!

 

[mpetersen]

hey fellow cruisers
so the doc has advised against me doing the jetski excursion we booked even if im out of the cast by trip time
now im wondering-should i book the 2hr castaway seasonal boat tour? if not are there plenty of things to do on castaway without doing an excursion? we've already booked cabana massages so im wondering if we shoild have something for the afternoon

btw thanks for the xerosox recommendation- got it yesterday and it seems like it'll work..i look like i have a big blue shrunken lobster claw
yup you'll be able to spot me a mile away

 

[wdwgoose]

My family used to have a horse farm in Niles, MI - I remember well cleaning stalls in freezing weather!

I was in the marine corps with a guy from niles
you never know ????????????

So his name was greg scott he would be about 50 or so.???????

any chance you heard of him?

always a thought.

garRy

 

[wdwgoose]

GOOD MORNIN ALL


cold here we are at 6 right now.

This cruise is a suprise to DW. She doen't know its book and thats were I let the T A send her an e mail confurming it. I did something like this years ago with our first cruise. Guess I'm just not nice. So she should start posting beginning of the week. Just in case she is busy my D D tells me she will be packed in 5 minutes and ready. Shes getting married on the Sept 29th Dream cruise. Time to go feed my horses luv them but NOT on cold mornings so much.

have a good day all



garRy

 

[No1MouseFan]

Greetings Fellow Dream 2nd Sailing Sailors!

Not sure if such discussion is taboo or not, but I seek advice from anyone who has been in the following situation before. This will be my 4th Disney cruise and I am booked for #5 on the Fantasy, so I am no stranger to all things Disney Cruise pricing and reservations. I am at DisneyCruise.com regularly and was very surprised the other day to see that Disney has dropped (I feel, significantly), the fares for our sailing. I'm in a Cat 9B, and the fare is now $1589.76, while I paid $1790.34. This is apples for apples (including tax), as I did not purchase airfare, transfers or insurance. Also something to keep in mind when looking at the $1790.34 I paid, is that this fair includes 10% off the standard rates as I booked my Dream reservation while onboard the Magic 15 months ago!

This is obviously hard to swallow as "last-minuter's" will get an advantage here by paying less for being last minute, while those of us who bought months in advance will get, well, over-charged for the same cruise. Other than a miniscule ($20 or so) fuel surcharge credit or debit on past cruises, this is the first time I have known Disney to budge from its original posted rates. With our cruise only a month away and availability in room categories 11C, 11B, 11A, 10A, 09B, 09A, 06A, 05C, 05B, 05A, 04B, 04A & 00T it seems obvious as to why this happened, but why should those of us who booked in advance pay a higher fare because of Disney's inability to fill a ship?

I contacted my travel agent who then contacted Disney Cruise on my behalf and after speaking to several supervisors, they (Disney) would not budge on refunding the difference. Why? Well, instead taking ownership, they "blamed" it on me by stating that "I disqualified myself from making any changes due to making the final payment already". Well, of course I made the final payment already, we're a month away! I followed the rules and made the final payment when it was due. My final payment had nothing to do with it. It's more the like the rates went down after the 75 day mark so that no one would be eligible to re-book at the lower rate!

Anybody out there with a similar experience? Is the only option to just "suck it up"? If you booked prior to November 16th, 2010 and are staying in one of the above listed cabin categories, this price drop affects you too!

Thanks for any feedback / info you might have! Regards, No1MouseFan

 

[jiminyC_fan]

WOW, I'm sorry to hear how you are being treated, No1MouseFan. Our TA called us back in Aug and we were able to get a credit. I agree with you that it isn't being handled properly.

mpetersen, sorry to hear about the jet ski excursion.

 

[wdwgoose]

HELP ???????
is it true ??????????????????


The Flying Dutchman is GONE ?????????????????



garRy

 

[wdwgoose]

WELL as long as I'm here



MY FIRST TOP



on this thread




garRy

 

[andrewsmommy]

HELP ???????
is it true ??????????????????


The Flying Dutchman is GONE ?????????????????



garRy

Yep. They tore it down - guess it was in bad shape and listing badly. Rumor has it perhaps another ship (Black Pearl?) being brought in - but don't know if it will be in time for us.

 

[kyla]

Greetings Fellow Dream 2nd Sailing Sailors!

Not sure if such discussion is taboo or not, but I seek advice from anyone who has been in the following situation before. This will be my 4th Disney cruise and I am booked for #5 on the Fantasy, so I am no stranger to all things Disney Cruise pricing and reservations. I am at DisneyCruise.com regularly and was very surprised the other day to see that Disney has dropped (I feel, significantly), the fares for our sailing. I'm in a Cat 9B, and the fare is now $1589.76, while I paid $1790.34. This is apples for apples (including tax), as I did not purchase airfare, transfers or insurance. Also something to keep in mind when looking at the $1790.34 I paid, is that this fair includes 10% off the standard rates as I booked my Dream reservation while onboard the Magic 15 months ago!

This is obviously hard to swallow as "last-minuter's" will get an advantage here by paying less for being last minute, while those of us who bought months in advance will get, well, over-charged for the same cruise. Other than a miniscule ($20 or so) fuel surcharge credit or debit on past cruises, this is the first time I have known Disney to budge from its original posted rates. With our cruise only a month away and availability in room categories 11C, 11B, 11A, 10A, 09B, 09A, 06A, 05C, 05B, 05A, 04B, 04A & 00T it seems obvious as to why this happened, but why should those of us who booked in advance pay a higher fare because of Disney's inability to fill a ship?

I contacted my travel agent who then contacted Disney Cruise on my behalf and after speaking to several supervisors, they (Disney) would not budge on refunding the difference. Why? Well, instead taking ownership, they "blamed" it on me by stating that "I disqualified myself from making any changes due to making the final payment already". Well, of course I made the final payment already, we're a month away! I followed the rules and made the final payment when it was due. My final payment had nothing to do with it. It's more the like the rates went down after the 75 day mark so that no one would be eligible to re-book at the lower rate!

Anybody out there with a similar experience? Is the only option to just "suck it up"? If you booked prior to November 16th, 2010 and are staying in one of the above listed cabin categories, this price drop affects you too!

Thanks for any feedback / info you might have! Regards, No1MouseFan

The category for my room also dropped by about $100. I was told by Disney Cruise line that I can cancel and rebook if I wanted but since I'm in the cancellation period now, I would incur fees. Obviously, it was not worth it to me. I have seen Disney drop their prices before on other cruises (to fill the ship) I have been on and have been able to take advantage of that. I believe, I did have to cancel and rebook but was outside the cancellation period. I think some cruisers have TAs that work with Disney often and know to watch for these drop in prices. You are right, it has nothing to do with your final payment. Its the cancellation period. Those last minute bookings can result in great savings but you won't have your choice of room if thats important. I've only sailed on the Magic before (4x) and I'm not sure it was ever completely full but then again, I tend to go on the special cruises (Med, Panama canal, etc). Sorry, not much help.

 

[mmouse37]

Greetings Fellow Dream 2nd Sailing Sailors!

Not sure if such discussion is taboo or not, but I seek advice from anyone who has been in the following situation before. This will be my 4th Disney cruise and I am booked for #5 on the Fantasy, so I am no stranger to all things Disney Cruise pricing and reservations. I am at DisneyCruise.com regularly and was very surprised the other day to see that Disney has dropped (I feel, significantly), the fares for our sailing. I'm in a Cat 9B, and the fare is now $1589.76, while I paid $1790.34. This is apples for apples (including tax), as I did not purchase airfare, transfers or insurance. Also something to keep in mind when looking at the $1790.34 I paid, is that this fair includes 10% off the standard rates as I booked my Dream reservation while onboard the Magic 15 months ago!

This is obviously hard to swallow as "last-minuter's" will get an advantage here by paying less for being last minute, while those of us who bought months in advance will get, well, over-charged for the same cruise. Other than a miniscule ($20 or so) fuel surcharge credit or debit on past cruises, this is the first time I have known Disney to budge from its original posted rates. With our cruise only a month away and availability in room categories 11C, 11B, 11A, 10A, 09B, 09A, 06A, 05C, 05B, 05A, 04B, 04A & 00T it seems obvious as to why this happened, but why should those of us who booked in advance pay a higher fare because of Disney's inability to fill a ship?

I contacted my travel agent who then contacted Disney Cruise on my behalf and after speaking to several supervisors, they (Disney) would not budge on refunding the difference. Why? Well, instead taking ownership, they "blamed" it on me by stating that "I disqualified myself from making any changes due to making the final payment already". Well, of course I made the final payment already, we're a month away! I followed the rules and made the final payment when it was due. My final payment had nothing to do with it. It's more the like the rates went down after the 75 day mark so that no one would be eligible to re-book at the lower rate!

Anybody out there with a similar experience? Is the only option to just "suck it up"? If you booked prior to November 16th, 2010 and are staying in one of the above listed cabin categories, this price drop affects you too!

Thanks for any feedback / info you might have! Regards, No1MouseFan

The price dropped on this cruise a few months ago (there are a few posts about it further back in the thread). We were contacted by our TA that the price had dropped for our Cat 9A cabin. We did receive the refund of close to $300.00 but I think it was before the cancellation period began.

I believe DCL used to refund you even after the cancellation began if the price dropped but within the last few months they had changed their policy to not refund after the cancellation date began. I am sorry that you were not able to take advantage of the price reduction. I know it can be very frustrating, especially when you think of the other things you can be doing with that money.

MJ

 

[mmouse37]

Ok, I just checked.....I posted on 8/30/10 that our price went down by about $350. The reduced price was on cabin categories 6, 8 & 9.

MJ