Ever stayed in Cat. 1?

[justmestace]

Boggydoll..you must be one of my long-lost relatives. My friends made fun of me last year when we went on our first trip to WDW and the cruise! I had laminated itinerary cards that I had made! Sadly, I was so busy checking my cards and watching the clock for our next reservation, that I didn't just kick back and enjoy.Once you decide on early or late dinner, you don't have much control over rotation, and you'll love it all. The verandahs are great no matter what. Pick whatever shore excursions sound great for you and your family, but don't try to do too much, especially on Castaway Cay. Save some time to just soak it all in. One night, my son fell asleep before the show, and at first I was disappointed (we let him sleep)..then my daughter and I grabbed the video camera and "toured" the ship. It was nearly empty, with everyone either at a show or dinner and it was magical! I'm so glad we "missed" the show! Enjoy, you'll love it.

 

[boggydoll]

Thanks Justmestace I know that to be true. We have now had a bunch of trips to WDW and I'd say it was trip three that I was really able to just enjoy. Not so much because I was glued to my spreadsheet, but it just takes a while to know all the choices and do what you really like. Your advise to me is exactly what I tell WDW newbies, so thank you for reminding me.

I will still obsess in the planning. I like to have all the available info. somewhere in my brain so I can choose well. I was actually a little disappointed when I realized how much there is to do because I just want to kick back and have someone feed me and tuck me in at night

With so much to do I am wondering how much time we would actually spend in our cabin. When I plan a WDW trip or try to help a friend plan theirs I think location is more important than anything. We are hardly in our room but we want it to be convenient to the parks we are visiting.

On a seven day cruise are we going to be in our cabin a lot? AND What is the "best" deck? My guess is the deck with cat 1,2,3, & 4...right?

 

[dizneykids]

the "best" deck is the one you are on! seriously, deck 8 is the highest of the guest decks and where the cats 1-4 are. but, personally, i wouldn't call them the best because you are right below the most used deck...9. on deck 9 are the three pools, lots of people during the day and evening, ping pong tables (yes, you can hear the ping pong balls bouncing!), and a whole crew setting up breakfast first thing in the morning (lots of noise, chairs being dragged, carts being pushed forward or aft, etc.). You can also hear the crew running at 2:00 in the morning when there is a fire in the stacks, but that's another story altogether!

we've stayed on deck 6 and found that to be quite nice without the volume of noise experienced on 8.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by dizneykids
crsndsny....no one answered your question....the cost for the suite is the same as with any other stateroom. you pay a per person price with the first two people costing more and the remaining people cost based on their age. for the 5 of us in may (2 adults, 3 boys...10, 9 and 4), our cost (without insurance, airfare or transfers) is just under $10,000. and that is with the early booking discount!

dizneykids: thanks so much for answering my question. One more...do you tip the concierge staff?

 

[justmestace]

Crsndsny...no, you do not tip the concierge staff. They aren't allowed to take tips. I felt bad about that, because we got such really great service (and actually made friends with) our concierge staff. I was told that they are compensated in their pay for what they don't get in tips. In other words, I'm guessing that their pay is somewhat better than the servers, etc.

 

[BeanoC]

diszneykids:

We are definitely on the waiting list for the cat. 1. I made sure my TA had that in bold letters on our ressie! I just don't have high hopes, since they don't seem to get cancelled often. We were on the wait list last year for either cat 1 or 2, but still ended up with cat 3, as there were no openings. But I won't complain too loud! #8102 was wonderful, and the verandah is HUGE! We thoroughly enjoyed that suite. So, we'll see what happens for our future bookings, and hopefully someday we'll get to try out the cat 1's!
If we have to settle for cat 2, I suppose we'll just have to live with it!



'Beano'

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by BeanoC
If we have to settle for cat 2, I suppose we'll just have to live with it!

beanoC -- I'm sure there are worse things in life!! LOL
For instance, I have to wait until NEXT MAY to cruise again. I wish I were leaving this weekend!

 

[penguins_fan]

House of Princess - We had the Roy suite Jan 02. Our trip before was also camping - we drove our trailer down from Pennsylvania. I thought we were the only ones to do camping followed by a suite! We enjoyed both trips. We have 5 kids and the space of the suite was great. We enjoyed the extras and were treated well. I agree with a previous post that the best deck is the one you're on. My wife and I did a later cruise in a category 12, spur of the moment special. It was a great rate and we had a wonderful trip. I would go back anytime at any cabin level!

 

[house_of_princesses]

penquins_fan, Was it the first time you took your trailer to FW? We took ours from Chicago area last October, had a wonderful time! Funny, isn't it? Trailer and then the same suite. May I ask, what did you do with your trailer while on the cruise? I've called a few places on WDW property and am getting conflicting information. Thanks!

 

[boggydoll]

Thanks everyone for so many responses. I like to hear that the cabin doesn't determine the enjoyment of the cruise. And in particular that you weren't so tainted that you couldn't enjoy a cruise in a cat.12 as much as in a cat. 1.

Since we can't get the cat 1 for our upcoming vacation, I am working on getting 2 cat.6 cabins. I would love to have more space but I can't see buying 2 rooms which combined would cost the same as a cat. 1 but not getting the services or as much space. So I'm sure we can be very happy saving some money and having 2 smaller rooms.

Thanks all.

 

[penguins_fan]

boggydoll - After our cat. 1 cruise, we knew we'd want to cruise again and with our family size would need 2 cabins. We also knew we'd be visiting WDW in the future so we ended up joining the Disney Vacation Club. The cost of a two-cabin cruise is a decent portion of the cost of joining and joining gets you points you can use for trips for 40 years. Of course, you need a fair amount of points and there are annual due payments but it seemed like a better "investment" than a one-time large ticket cruise. We've planned a fall 03 cruise using points and are also going to be in adjoining cat 6's.


House of princess - It was our first FW trip and we really loved it. Even though we've since joined DVC, we'd love to go back to FW. Our FW trip was a seperate trip, a year before the cruise so I don't know about storage during cruise. I would think it depends on the time of year. Our camping trip was in June and when we visited my sister in West Palm, a nearby campground was practically empty and storage was no problem. I'm sure its harder if its even possible, to store at WDW.

 

[house_of_princesses]

Thanks for the info. I've been told I can keep the trailer in the parking lot of FW for the duration of the cruise. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about the difference between cat 1 and cat 6! Enjoy your DVC membership! And happy cruising!

 

[boggydoll]

I'll have to look into DVC. I've never really paid any attention to it so I don't really understand the implications of all that you said. But it seems like something i should investigate. Thanks

 

[Grumbo]

Ah this is great. NOW I know that there is a huge waiting list for Category 1 suites I'll just tell my wife "I really tried dear but I wanted to get you the Disney suite but it is booked from now to eternity, and as I can't see you in one of those Category 2 slums we'll just stick to our Category 9 or 11 until the Category 1 becomes available."
I'm sure she'll be thrilled and believe me?
Cheers,
Grumbo

 

[dizneykids]

NOT!

 

[*Flower*]

Did you have a lot of screw vibration in #8102?
I agree that the verandah looks HUGE, but I'm concerned that the vibration would keep me awake (then again, maybe it would feel the same as those vibrating beds in the hotels when I was a kid- you put the quarter in and the bed vibrates for 10 minutes or so).

TIA

 

[thedisneymom]

I'm not sure if anyone knows this but 8102 has a larger verandah because it is for wheelchairs only! It requires medical proof etc. for handicapped people to reserve any of those back rooms. Watch for those little wheelchair pictures because if you are not physically challenged then there not for you. Sorry!

 

[*Flower*]

Thanks for the information........
The ship chart that I'm using doesn't blow up or magnify enough to see if the wheelchair logo is on it.
I'm just looking for the best location for a memorable first cruise...

 

[thedisneymom]

My Disney book is huge. Let's see if I can help. Handicapped rooms are 8100, 8102, 8600, 8602, 7136, 7138, 7131, 7631, 7636, 7638, 6000, 6500, 6147, 6647, 6154, 6654. I hope I saw them all! Enjoy your planning.

 

[lbgraves]

Grumbo, I have to ask about your picture since DS will turn 5 the day before we sail & after I mentioned that the reservation person made a note for him to celebrate his birthday at dinner the night we sail. Do you have to ask for a special cake for that or is it included? TIA!

Lisa