From WDW to DL With Love - January 06, 2011 part 2

[ACDSNY]

For those who were interested..the photo album of the Disney Hotel -Dream Tower. This is one of the new 1 bedroom units.

http://s284.photobucket.com/albums/ll19/dgbeyea/New Dream Tower - Disneyland Hotel/

Great pictures of the DL 1 bedroom. Very nice.

Nice, very nice. Tomorrow I am down at Disneyland with my friends from DCL. I have been told, and this is really super cool, That we are going to have a very special dinner at Club 33, but I am not allowed to post anything more than that. Sorry. It will be my second time there. I can't wait.

Have a great time Alan!

I have always dreamt of being able to go to Club 33. If anyone has any connections that will be going when we disembark after the cruise, I would love to be be able to go with you!!

Like you I'm still waiting for a pixie dusted fairy to wisk me away to Club 33. At least in my dreams

 

[JenKatt]

On the PC cruise we took, we had the sommelier for Club 33 on board as a DIS'er (I think he was the manager then). When we went to DL afterwards he took us into Club 33 to look around. If you are a woman, you HAVE to check out the toliet in the ladies' room. No seriously. Check it out.

 

[MommaluvsDis]

Just a quick drive by to say hello! Hope everyone has been enjoying the Spring weather. Ours has been really nice. Paid another chunk on the cruise today and sent request to dvc for the Grand Cal until the 25th. ----but now I am thinking I mave have been outside my 7 month booking window. Oh well-they'll let me know.

Yes, the booking window date is June 21st. However, let me know if you get it by some strange chance as I need to book too.

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

On the PC cruise we took, we had the sommelier for Club 33 on board as a DIS'er (I think he was the manager then). When we went to DL afterwards he took us into Club 33 to look around. If you are a woman, you HAVE to check out the toliet in the ladies' room. No seriously. Check it out.

I loved the ladies room!I even took a picture...that was quite a feat

I will have to see if I can find the picture somewhere.

 

[clungstrum]

Just a quick drive by to say hello! Hope everyone has been enjoying the Spring weather. Ours has been really nice. Paid another chunk on the cruise today and sent request to dvc for the Grand Cal until the 25th. ----but now I am thinking I mave have been outside my 7 month booking window. Oh well-they'll let me know.

This is when I'm thankful we own at GCV. I was on the phone with DVC on Feb. 21 just so I wouldn't forget and know that we had what we needed.
I just wish we could own a little at all of the DVC resorts. I'm sure you'll have no problems with the 7 month booking window as long as you're on top of it.

 

[CruznLexi]

Have had a good time in North Alabama with my Mom saw some movies and just enjoying any time I get with her. Going back to Florida on Thursday. Next Wednesday will be booking our WDW stay through DVC hoping for BCV.

 

[cardidog]

Can someone please enlighten me as to what Club 33 is?

Thanks

 

[KayR]

Can someone please enlighten me as to what Club 33 is?

Thanks

Its a private members only club/restaurant in Disneyland. The waitlist is something silly like 14 years. Suppose if I waitlist now, in 14 years, I might be able to afford the membership fees!

Take a look at http://www.disneylandclub33.com/

-Kay

 

[cardidog]

I have a feeling that our cruise will not be close to full---time of year is certainly a factor for those with kids and our world economy still isn't as robust as it should be. Also, I think that some people who would have booked a Disney Panama Canal cruise in the past are booking Disney Alaska or the new ship instead. Sigh. Fewer people means less lines, more deck-chairs, better chance to eat at Palo, better odds of winning BINGO, greater availability of port excursions, un-crowded laundry rooms and probably other things that make a less-crowded ship a pleasure to sail on One down-side is that I beleive that the prices will drop after the paid-in-full date to attract more people. At least they won't cancel this cruise like they did one of the holiday cruises! The ship needs to get to the left coast in order to cruise to Alaska I am really looking forward to this special cruise and I look forward to meeting all of you nice people

 

[ACDSNY]

When you look at what's available on Travelocity's website there are several categories that are GTY only so I don't think it's selling too bad.

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

I do not believe it is selling out at this point - I think that the cabins are not at 3 or 4 guests necessarily (meaning children) but I think it is going okay.

I am not sure if they will lower the prices or not after final payment but I'm not willing to take the chance and will stay put where I am.

 

[danfromca]

So what does everyone think? how is the cruise selling? Will there be discounts offered in September? CAT 12s (actually CAT 11C) for 4 passengers? Kids sail free?

I'm curious what people think about this cruise. To me it does not seem to be selling as well as past PC cruises. I wish DCL would offer those of us already booked an incentive to keep our reservations, I am debating cancelling before PIF and seeing what happens.

Even the most crowed cruises (like the eastbound PC cruise) had spots open up after the paid in full date - so I think it really is a safe bet that something will be available then. Given the time of year, general economy, and competition for canal cruises, I think it's very likely there will be lower cost cabins available as well.

As to what kind of deal they'll offer, that's hard to say. If they are just trying to fill cabins, I'd expect category 12 offers. If they have lots of kid spots they might go for the kids sail free deals. Who knows?

But I'll be quite surprised if they don't have availability in September, and won't be surprised at all if the ship does not sell out.

 

[danfromca]

You need to be careful about this. On the TA and Med. we booked them when they first came out and paid full price for Cat 9.After we made our final payment they came out with the $699 and $799 cat 12 deal. We tried to switch but we were told we would have to pay a $1900 penalty on EACH cruise, lose the OBC and the !0%. I did not mind losing the OBC or the 10 % but to pay almost $4000 penalty was redicious. I went round and round with Disney about this and the only thing I got was a cabin upgrade which I really wasn't thrilled about. I like the Deck 2 Cat 9 rooms with the big porthole. So I paid more than $5000 than i should have. There are only a certain number of Cat 12 rooms so you know that people would be upgraded. I am not happy to know that someone next to be was paying $699 and I was paying in the thousands.

Was that this summer or 3 years ago? If this summer, this would reflect a change in policy. If 3 years ago, my guess is that you were actually caught by the on-board credit deal - switching would require cancelling your existing reservation and rebooking a new one (which triggers the cancellation penalty).
Three years ago we downgraded a med cruise from category 11 to 12 after we were paid in full, and were refunded the difference (which was about 3K/cabin). We ended up getting upgraded to a category 9

I'll be somewhat surprised if the category 12 discounts are that large on this one. Since I'm on an on-board booking, it's good to know that while downgrading is not an option, I might be able to snag an upgrade if cat 12 pricing is offered.

 

[DCLtravler]

What is a cat 12 and how do you get a better upgrade? I'm in a cat 11 gty so does that mean I'll have a better chance at an upgrade?

 

[orlandothebeagle]

Nice, very nice. Tomorrow I am down at Disneyland with my friends from DCL. I have been told, and this is really super cool, That we are going to have a very special dinner at Club 33, but I am not allowed to post anything more than that. Sorry. It will be my second time there. I can't wait.

Hvae fun

I get real tired of hearing that Disney is for kids.

me too

but it IS for kids! I mean, I'm Bernie and Addie's kid! Just because i'm 57 (tomorrow! :-( ) doesnt mean i'm not a kid!

Happy Birthday

I have a feeling that our cruise will not be close to full---time of year is certainly a factor for those with kids and our world economy still isn't as robust as it should be. Also, I think that some people who would have booked a Disney Panama Canal cruise in the past are booking Disney Alaska or the new ship instead. Sigh. Fewer people means less lines, more deck-chairs, better chance to eat at Palo, better odds of winning BINGO, greater availability of port excursions, un-crowded laundry rooms and probably other things that make a less-crowded ship a pleasure to sail on One down-side is that I beleive that the prices will drop after the paid-in-full date to attract more people. At least they won't cancel this cruise like they did one of the holiday cruises! The ship needs to get to the left coast in order to cruise to Alaska I am really looking forward to this special cruise and I look forward to meeting all of you nice people

Me too, cant wait to meet new peeps.

What is a cat 12 and how do you get a better upgrade? I'm in a cat 11 gty so does that mean I'll have a better chance at an upgrade?

I dont think cat 12s were ever available for this cruise, they are no cat11c, thats what I have, I dont think anybody has worked out who/why upgrades are given.

 

[granmaz]

but it IS for kids! I mean, I'm Bernie and Addie's kid! Just because i'm 57 (tomorrow! :-( ) doesnt mean i'm not a kid!

Happy Birthday. Have a lovely day and enjoy being a kid!!! I'm a slightly older kid than you!!!

 

[aan1701]

I Also, I think that some people who would have booked a Disney Panama Canal cruise in the past are booking Disney Alaska or the new ship instead.

I told DW that we were doing this again for the Third time with Disney. I told her I am not doing Alaska because I don't do cold. We will do the Dream when it does a longer cruise. I told here I wanted to be 3 for 3 on Westbound DCL Panama Canal Sailings. I also mentioned that we Were on the Magics first ever transit, so it would be overly cool to be on the Wonders first ever transit. FOr once I won a vacation fight with her.

 

[granmaz]

On our '08 WBPC, all the cabins were booked and any cancellations that happened had the rooms rebooked within hours. But, many of the rooms had just one person or a couple in, not many children at all. So, the actual numbers onboard were down and the dining rooms looked empty at times. It never seemed too busy anywhere. I'm hoping for something similar this time.

 

[danfromca]

What is a cat 12 and how do you get a better upgrade? I'm in a cat 11 gty so does that mean I'll have a better chance at an upgrade?

Category 12 refers to about 13 inside cabins on deck 2 forward. They are the lowest cost cabins on the ship and are going to be renumbered as 11C for 2011 (including our cruise).

In practice, category 12 is a "magic" category that DCL uses when they want to fill the ship by offering discounts. When a cruise isn't filling up, you'll see category 12 at a discount off the lowest category 11 price - the discount can be very small, or quite large, depending on how desperate they are to fill the ship. These cabins (I'm told) only hold 3 passengers, so if you book 4 to a cabin you are guaranteed an upgrade to category 11 at least. Generally, when they are discounting, they sell considerably more than 13 cabins, so if you have category 12, your chances of an upgrade are quite high. But it may only be to a category 11 - which doesn't mean much.

I have yet to hear any reliable information as to how DCL allocates upgrades in general. My personal belief is that there are two departments. A very large department of revenue management that does everything possible to maximize revenue by trying to sell upgrades. And a small but powerful Fairy Godmother department that occasionally grants remarkable upgrades for reasons that presumably can be understood only by other fairy godmothers.

 

[danfromca]

On our '08 WBPC, all the cabins were booked and any cancellations that happened had the rooms rebooked within hours. But, many of the rooms had just one person or a couple in, not many children at all. So, the actual numbers onboard were down and the dining rooms looked empty at times. It never seemed too busy anywhere. I'm hoping for something similar this time.

Amen. The '08 EBPC was... well, it was pretty intense. I think the entire ship was sold out in a matter of hours from the time they started taking reservation - I was up at some insanely early time in the morning and was glad to get in. Had a category 11 and was glad to have it - no upgrades, no category 12 discounts, and very limited availability even at the paid in full date.

I'm quite confident our ship will sail with most or all cabins full - if only because they will discount if necessary to fill the ship. But given the time of year and school schedules, I would expect a repeat of what you describe from the WBPC - and am looking forward to that very much.