Help with our DCL VR

[*Nessa*]

Hi

I was hoping for some advice regarding DCL VR

We had wanted to book our VR on Castaway Cay on the DCL sailing 28th Nov 09. Due to some confusion it appears that it is an onboard booking not a Castaway Cay booking

We could switch to the cruise that departs a week before (and by some miracle all our other on land Disney bookings can change to fit this too) but it’s an Eastern Caribbean Cruise vs. a Western Caribbean cruise and while I would prefer eastern to western it’s almost $2K more for just our room!

So my first question is do you think it is worth spending the extra $2K, just so we can have our VR at Castaway Cay ?

Secondly, does anyone know if you have the onboard option does it happen on a day at sea or when you are at a port?

Any thoughts or suggestion welcome.

 

[BELLE16127]

Our daughter is getting married on the Wonder November 8, 2009 sailing. It is a 4 night and they are getting married on Deck 7. She has been told the Ceremony will be while they are in Port in Nassau. She has also been told the time will be either 4:30 or 5:30 I believe those are the times.

I am assuming you also know that you can choose to have the ceremony in one of the lounges on the ship, they chose the deck to be outside, and decided against Castaway so that while we are there all of the people attending the Wedding can just enjoy the island for the day instead of getting dressed for a wedding then going off to change for the beach.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[29apr00]

Will that be $2K more for the cruise, PLUS $1K more for the ceremony on CC as opposed to the ship? wow...that's quite an error. how did the confusion come about?

Anyway, that's a big jump in your budget! I guess if you can afford teh extra $$ i would switch the cruise. But you realize that it's more because the week before would be Thanksgiving, right?? Would you have guests travel over the holiday? What about the week AFTER the 28th sailing?

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Oh no, I'm so sorry about the mix-up. If you have your heart set on CC then I think you should change your sailing date. I know if it were me and I had my heart set on one thing and settled for something else it would bug me in the long run, kwim? Is the week prior the only week you can switch to? If you have flexibility maybe there's another sailing that isn't such a huge price jump. Good luck, I hope it all works out okay for you!

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

I prefer the Eastern..I like the days at sea but it is usually cheaper for Eastern..wonder why it is more on this trip?

If your heart is set on CC, do that..the On board is held on a sea day on the 7day I think

 

[*Nessa*]

Will that be $2K more for the cruise, PLUS $1K more for the ceremony on CC as opposed to the ship? wow...that's quite an error. how did the confusion come about?

Anyway, that's a big jump in your budget! I guess if you can afford teh extra $$ i would switch the cruise. But you realize that it's more because the week before would be Thanksgiving, right?? Would you have guests travel over the holiday? What about the week AFTER the 28th sailing?

Yes unfortunately our room price jumps from 3,434.80 to 5387.16 then it would be the extra $1K for CC opposed to the ship. The other big consideration I had overlooked was the guest accommodation also increases dramatically and as we are covering the cost of my SIL, her husband & child and I don’t think we can swing the extra now

The big price difference must be due to it being thanksgiving, which for us is not a big worry in terms of our guest’s commitments as we don’t celebrate thanksgiving, it’s more the big jump in cost that is a factor, esp as we have already organised quotes & bookings.

TBH I am not sure how the mix up has happened but I will concede that it must be difficult for our planner as we are in a different time zone and all our communication (except 2 phone calls) has been via email. That being said, I can’t say I am very pleased with the speed or accuracy of the information that has come through to date.

My planner is away for a few days but her colleague sent me the other dates around the 28th that are free and it’s only the 21 Nov or the 19th Dec (which is too late) for a 7 night cruise. There is one CC spot free on a 3 night sail but it’s a really long trip for us to come for only a 3 night sail even with extra time at WDW.

We have been given the weekend to think it over but it's a lot of $$ and I think we will might just stick with the 21st sail and have an onboard. It's will still be great

 

[29apr00]

Could you do a back to back, the 3 night where you could get married on CC then teh 4 nt to relax??

As for the mixup, i don't know when you started planning, but the original DCL coordinator was laid off a few weeks ago and the new girl is a replacement so she's pretty unfamiliar with how things work. I hope it wasn't caused during the "transition" from Kathy to Brie.

I'm so sorry this happened!! That's a very big jump in cost, espically if you have to pick up teh cost for another cabin! Plus you quoted the lower price to your guests.....such a difficult situatuion!

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

As much fun as we loved our B2B and the 3 days at CC, I would never willingly pick it over a 7 day cruise
It just doesn't compare! The Magic was in CA for the summer and our friends couldn't sail anytime but summer.

 

[spacerangerqueen]

Wow that's no fun at all. I'm sorry that happened to you guys!

I'm getting married on the Eastern that sails on October 10th. Our ceremony is going to be on Deck 7 on Thursday which is one of our many days at sea.

At this point if I were you I think I would just leave things as they are. It's really not worth the money to change it to the week before.

I picked deck 7 because DF and I aren't really beach people. We love cruising though and I am soo excited to be sailing along at sea during our ceremony. I really love the ship. Maybe it's because I majored in architecture and the ship is like a floating building. To me it is just gorgeous. And on the boat you don't have to worry about sand, I hate sand.... lol

 

[*Nessa*]

Could you do a back to back, the 3 night where you could get married on CC then teh 4 nt to relax??

That’s a really good idea as I was a little disappointed when I realised we would have our ceremony almost at the end of the cruise as I know I won’t be able to fully relax in the lead up

As for the mixup, i don't know when you started planning, but the original DCL coordinator was laid off a few weeks ago and the new girl is a replacement so she's pretty unfamiliar with how things work. I hope it wasn't caused during the "transition" from Kathy to Brie.

Wow that's interesting as we initially had been planning an escape VR at WDW with Brie as our coordinator, then we changed our mind (a little to do with cost I must admit) and decided to go with the DCL VR instead and still carried Brie as our coordinator/planner. I just assumed that she was helping us out and might not know all about the DCL options as she was a WDW coordinator and everyone talks about "Kathy" as the DCL coordinator.

Wow that's no fun at all. I'm sorry that happened to you guys!
I'm getting married on the Eastern that sails on October 10th. Our ceremony is going to be on Deck 7 on Thursday which is one of our many days at sea.
At this point if I were you I think I would just leave things as they are. It's really not worth the money to change it to the week before.
I picked deck 7 because DF and I aren't really beach people. We love cruising though and I am soo excited to be sailing along at sea during our ceremony. I really love the ship. Maybe it's because I majored in architecture and the ship is like a floating building. To me it is just gorgeous. And on the boat you don't have to worry about sand, I hate sand.... lol

I too think an on deck ceremony would be really nice and I am now just hoping that with only “one spot left” it’s deck 7 and not the lounge (i'm sure the lounge is great but the deck would be my choice is we get one )

for all the great ideas, I'll let you know what we decide

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

I am now just hoping that with only “one spot left” it’s deck 7 and not the lounge (i'm sure the lounge is great but the deck would be my choice is we get one )

I hope you get what you want!

And I have a question--I know there is only one CC ceremony per sailing and two on-board, but out of the two on-board is only one on deck 7?

 

[29apr00]

That’s a really good idea as I was a little disappointed when I realised we would have our ceremony almost at the end of the cruise as I know I won’t be able to fully relax in the lead up

I know, that does kind of suck! And i wasn't paying enought attention when we booked ours, so we have 5 days at WDW, then the 3 day cruise, with the VR on the last day, then we fly home!! totally no time to relax and enjoy the moment!

 

[BELLE16127]

I don't think that they limit the onboard ceremonies to only one on deck 7. Actually I think that is why there are 2 possible times it can take place DD was told hers would be either 4:30 or 5:30 I believe. Maybe that is because they will have 2 onboard ceremonies, and if both are on Deck 7 they have time to finish one and be ready for the second????

Hope this helps you out and let us know how your call turns out

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

I think they have one Deck 7 and on Lounge wedding per cruise. There was a wedding at 4:30 on ours and Rufaro (the onboard coordinator) was running around trying to get scissors and rubberbands for me while trying to get the 4:30 started

The can't clear a deck in 30 minutes...Our guests were told to be on Deck at 5:10..I know we ran into the other bridal couple when we were walking on deck at 6:00pm and they were still having pictures taken

 

[spacerangerqueen]

I was also told that there was only one spot left onboard when I called the first time. I have since confirmed that I am definitely down for being on Deck 7. I was wondering that same thing about if they could both be deck 7 so that was was why I confirmed. I guess the first people who booked like the lounge best!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

I think they have one Deck 7 and on Lounge wedding per cruise. There was a wedding at 4:30 on ours and Rufaro (the onboard coordinator) was running around trying to get scissors and rubberbands for me while trying to get the 4:30 started

The can't clear a deck in 30 minutes...Our guests were told to be on Deck at 5:10..I know we ran into the other bridal couple when we were walking on deck at 6:00pm and they were still having pictures taken

Thanks for the info! That makes sense about the timing.

 

[CinderelliT]

I've spent several days doing homework, and I have missed a lot! I think that deck 7 is perfect for a ceremony, since you can add more floral and decor to it, and it is a little more private. I would love a beach ceremony, but I don't know about all that sand blowing everywhere!!!

Plus for me personally - I am such a panicky person - I don't know that I would be able to handle getting off the boat and doing the ceremony elsewhere. I would probably freak out in the process!!

Good luck on your decision.

 

[*Nessa*]

thanks for all the ideas & support, I was worried I had been a total bridezilla about the whole thing

I have been thinking and I am a bit confused about why when our cruise stops twice at CC, we couldn’t have the 2nd or 1st day?

I may just be over simplifying it but two stops at CC - two ceremonies at CC? I don't understand why that is a no I have sent a few emails asking the question but I’m still waiting to her back and just wondered if anyone else had ever asked and got an answer?

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

you are booked on a Double Dip?

We were on a 4 day double dip and then a 3 day so we had a total of 3 CC stops

 

[*Nessa*]

you are booked on a Double Dip?

We were on a 4 day double dip and then a 3 day so we had a total of 3 CC stops

I my goodness now I really am confused, I really though we did (have 2 stops) as the first itinerary I was sent has two days at CC, but now I have a 2nd email saying the ship is the Magic not the Wonder and we have 2 days at sea?

Is anyone else sailing on the 7 night Western Caribbean 28th Nov 09 cruise? I think I am going insane