FEBRUARY 14, 2009 (very early roll-call!)

[PURTYPAT1]

Hi Everyone,

We're back. We had a great time. My family was picked by the "Disney Dream Team" and we were treated to VIP passes in AK.

Welcome CelticPrncss. Try to order a Disney Cruise passporter, or reserve one from your local libary. Lot's of helpful info.

I am proud to say, we are totally booked with our airfare
Now, I can sit back and enjoy the rest of the planning.

Jodi, I happend to know for a fact that SW does have one way fares (I just booked my DS for next month SW one way)

 

[Jodi]

Welcome back, Patty!

Glad you had fun That's so cool that you were picked for VIP passes, nice And of course, congrats on booking your airfare, I'm still waiting.... I see a rental car/minivan in my future

 

[PURTYPAT1]

Hi Everyone,

Do any of you have a Disney Visa? I called the 800# last eve & received the 5x Disney points for gas groceries, & airline tickets for the month of April.

I signed up, & received a $100.00 Disney dollars (which is the limit for the month) for charging airline tickets.

For those of you that have a Disney Visa call.

 

[disnutt]

Patty-That's too cool about the VIP passes! Congratulations! I have the Disney Visa but didn't get that offer for April. I've had it before and done pretty well with rewards and paying it back.

Jodi-I'm going down for the Minnie in May and Tower of Terror in October. I had wanted to do Everest but my old roomie wanted to do ToT so I'll 'suffer' and do that one. I'm doing the Chicago Distance Classic in Aug. I'd LOVE to do NYC maybe next year!We'll have to try to meet during the Disney Marathon weekend!

I'm up for power walking on the cruise. I may jog around the deck and to try to get hammocks on CC!

 

[rubbergypsy]

disney visa here, so i can purchase air in april and get 5x the points? how does that work?

 

[PURTYPAT1]

disnutt & rubbergypsy, I called the 800# on the back of my card, & asked the operator to please sign me up for the 5x reward.

He had me on hold a few times, & told me it was a get go.

FYI, I never received any offers, I read about it, & figured I had nothing to lose by calling. I didn't know about the airfares, the operator told me.

Give them a call Good luck

 

[disnutt]

I'll give the Disney Visa thing a shot. I've got to buy a ticket from Pittsburgh to LAX for work so I can put that on and get it paid off right away. I could just bump up our purchase of our tickets for our summer trip to Chicago by a couple weeks... See this is how they get you!

 

[PURTYPAT1]

Hi Everybody,

I am totally finished with most of the cruise details, keep in mind that we are a 12 GT and we are on a tight budget.

I booked our flights round trip nonstop airline tickets. 3 day rent a car. 2 nights at the Hyatt, insurance for the whole package, cruise staff tips & park tickets. I came up with a grand total of:

$1,880.85 per person

Please note, I have not included any tours, Palo or Brunch. We will also need 2 night dinners (before & after the cruise) & one breakfast.

I think I did good

Now I pray for good weather before our cruise

 

[disnutt]

Patty- Your budget sounds great! What's a 12 GT? We're trying to keep the cost of the 'extras' to a minimum, too. I'm planning on maximizing the ship activities. DH and I want to do a 'date' dinner at Palo and the brunch w/ the in-laws. Other than that I'm not sure what excursions or other activities I want to do. Well, I'd love to kayak/bike at CC w/ the kids.

Has anyone picked any excursions or tours they are going to do? Anyone know how to go about getting those scheduled cheaply? This is all so new!

 

[Jodi]

Patty - Wow, you are a planning FOOL! You make me look like a slouch... well, I am, actually... I've still gotta get airfare, rental car AND room for the night ...I'll do it all this week

DisNutt - I haven't booked anything yet for the cruise...I'd love to do Palo w/ hubby, though. We've only done 2 exursions b4 (3 & 4 night DCLS in past)...renting snorkeling stuff @ Castaway Cay & parasailing @ the same. Both are worth it if you've never done it b4, snorkeling's real fun.

This time around I think we'll do snorkeling @ one of the islands, not sure which one or what's the best bet...now that all the kids are teens , we'll make them go try the teen beach, as I'veheard the buffet on CC is better @ the adult sided beach...

We found that we just had so much fun on the ship eating & stuff , that we didn't need much more entertainment!! But now this is 7 days, so...

OK, I realize i haven't helped you one bit...sorry How old are the kiddies, again?

 

[PURTYPAT1]

Patty- Your budget sounds great! What's a 12 GT? We're trying to keep the cost of the 'extras' to a minimum, too!

When you book a GTY "Guarantee" rate you are agreeing to accept any cabin assigned at the given category or better. In other words, you are "filler." The GTY rates (usually lower than standard rates) are offered to fill the ship while maintaining flexibility in assigning cabins. You typically receive your room assignments just a few months ahead of sailing date.

If you are at all picky about which cabin you end up in, you would do better to book a standard rate in which case you can usually select a cabin from those still available at booking time.

In the last 4 cruises, I booked GTY cabins. 2 times we were upgraded to a 9 at a 12 cost.

In all honesty, I really don't care where our rooms are, since we are hardly in it.

Hope this helps

 

[disnutt]

Jodi- My kids will be 13, 8, and 5 at the time of the cruise. I'd love to try parasailing! That would be so cool! I think the recreational eating on the ship may be my favorite activity!!

 

[Jodi]

Patty - I'd love to try the GTY12 thingie, but we've got 2 parties that need to be next to eachother, so...perhaps one day.

Disnutt - Oooh - Oooh, you've got a 13 year old, too? Boy, girl? Do tell? I'll have 2 13 y/o boys with me (DS & DstepS). Do you plan on letting your teen do the teen hangout? I've heard some un-Disney-like things go on there . My son's such a weenie he'd run out of there the minute something went down (very naieve...at least I THINK he is ).

The parasailing was great, albeit very short. They'll even let you strap the little ones on with you so they can go too, not sure about weight/age limit, though. Power eating, yes...my DH's entire reason for going on the cruise !

 

[PURTYPAT1]

Hay Jodi,

Each time I have cruised with Disney, it is usually always with another family. GTY. Each time Disney, has linked our reservations together, & we have always been next door together. (never been apart) Hope this helps.

My DD is 13, & I am a bit worried about the teen club. I sure hope they make the clubs fun for the kids.

 

[disnutt]

Jodi- Well, there will be one 13 yo boy for Patty's and my 13 yo DDs! I guess that works out! My DD is very worried about the teen room. She will have just turned 13 and she's enjoying being a kid. She isn't ready for the more 'advanced' teen activities. However, my 8 yo DD would be happy to take her place in the Stack!

Maybe we can all take over the younger kid areas. I don't feel good about letting my DD hang out w/ kids much older than her.

 

[rubbergypsy]

Hi there Jodi and PurityPat
my ds16 was very reluctant about aloft on the wonder. He had an invitation when we arrived in our stateroom to check out the "411" at 10:30 that evening. He basically told me he was not interested in going but when the time came he said he was going to check it out. He returned around 1:30. He said he had a great time. Keep in mind he is 16 not 13. I never saw him again after dinner for the rest of the cruise. He said a lot of the things they do with the counselors was "girly" but he did a lot of sports things and he confessed to having sung karioke as the counselors kind of prodded you along. He had fun, he just would not be the first to admit it. He did however meet a 16 year old girl from Argentina (found out after we returned home), they now email everyday, oh and I saw her photo-yikes sure glad I did not know onboard because I would have been wondering if you know what I mean. So I would say his experience was great, he had no idea he would embark upon a"shipboard romance". He also said that there were a lot of age groups in the club and basically the older ones hung with their age group. He is also a very good kid and I trust him. So I am glad he had the experience.

 

[Jodi]

Patty - Wish I had known about that GTY thing earlier...oh well, maybe next time. I fear we're that much closer to the cruise & it'd prolly cost more to book this way now. So you've got a 13 y/o daughter, eh?

Disnutt - You, too, with the 13 y/o daughter...

Well, like I said, my DS is shy, dorky & naieve...especially when it comes to girls!! He just turned 13 last month & has NO interest in going to the teen club. He's more content to stay down in the other club (Oceaneer's something?) where you can play video games & such. I believe you can go until you're 14. My stepson though, is a different story . He's much more, shall we say, educated? than my son. Not that he's a troublemaker or "active" in any way, he's just been exposed to a lot more. He'll get certain jokes in movies that'll go right over my son's head. I hope DS ventures up to the Stack @ least once, but the only thing that'd keep him there is video games, not girls. Who knows, maybe all that'll change in a year, but I just don't think that's his style.

RubberG - Your DS had a LOVE BOAT encounter...wow, that's cool. I mean, I'd've loved that as a kid, right? That's neat that they email eachother now.

 

[disnutt]

RubberG- I was hearing the Love Boat theme in my head when reading your post! I used to love that show!

Jodi-Your son sounds like my daughter! She's not 'educated' about all that boy/girl stuff. She knows about the birds and bees but would much prefer that she didn't!

 

[rubbergypsy]

oh let me mention that my ds16 asked me yesterday if I could pay to have the girl come for a visit
cute love story but I'm not paying

 

[PURTYPAT1]

oh let me mention that my ds16 asked me yesterday if I could pay to have the girl come for a visit
cute love story but I'm not paying

LOL

I read an interesting thread yesterday about airfare rates for Feb

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1786337