How did you learn about DCL?

[Rogillio]

Many years ago I was working on a NASA contract and went TDY down to FL to work at Kennedy Space Center. I stayed at a hotel on Cocoa Beach and drove past Port Canaveral every day. I remember the first time when I passed the port and one of the Disney ships was docked. I nearly ran off the road! It was so cool! It was at that moment that I siad to myself "We have GOT to sail on that ship!" We booked a cruise and have sailed that summer and next June we'll take our 6th Disney cruise.

So how did you find out Disney had a cruise ship?!

~Mike

 

[mmouse37]

Many years ago I was working on a NASA contract and went TDY down to FL to work at Kennedy Space Center. I stayed at a hotel on Cocoa Beach and drove past Port Canaveral every day. I remember the first time when I passed the port and one of the Disney ships was docked. I nearly ran off the road! It was so cool! It was at that moment that I siad to myself "We have GOT to sail on that ship!" We booked a cruise and have sailed that summer and next June we'll take our 6th Disney cruise.

So how did you find out Disney had a cruise ship?!

~Mike

Nice topic for a thread!!! Well, we have always been Disney fanatics (especially me!) and kept up to date with most everything Disney. When I first heard the rumblings of Disney building their own cruise ships I knew I had to be on them. As soon as they opened bookings up we booked, our ressie was pulled from a lottery and we sailed on the Maiden Voyage of the Magic on July 30, 1998....after two very long ship delays (originally supposed to sail in March, 1998).

We had never cruised before so we were jumping in cold turkey. We put our money down not even knowing the final itinerary or anything about cruising. I just knew if Disney was behind it, it had to be worthwhile!

We surprised our kids that Christmas of 1997 with DCL t-shirts we purchased from the DCL preview shop on Main Street in WDW that year. We put in certificates that I made up about being on the Maiden Voyage....

I honestly can't describe or convey the feeling I get being onboard. It really is one of my all time favorite vacation experiences.

Been hooked since with 17 DCL cruises and 3 more booked!!

Then.....

Recent......

MJ

 

[wcw57]

Old life: Disney afficianado to the max....many trips to WDW, etc.

New Life: was never interested in cruises. Then went to Poconos Cove Haven and thought it was like a cruise without water. Someday, we decided, we might cruise.

Meanwhile: many trips all over the place and many more on wish list...even went to WDW a couple of times.


Now: cutest granddaughter in the world gets older and we kick around idea of taking her on DCL since she's been to WDW at least once a year since 2 mos. old.....WE wanted to do something different with her. VIOLA! Our plan to DCL is hatched......

MANY DAYS IN THE FUTURE: check out my countdown below...we are talking about the cruise with her but don't want to build up excitement too fast....soooooo, we plan and read thanks to all you guys.

To be succinct, we first remember the "souvenir" commercial though I remember Big Red Boat, too.

 

[kcashner]

When Disney pulled it's characters off the Big Red Boat (premier cruise line), there was a rumor that Disney was building it's own boats.....

I wrote a letter to Michael Eisner's office expressing our love for all things Disney, telling them what I'd heard and asking how to get on the maiden voyage. I got a letter back from an assistant about how they couldn't confirm or deny such rumor, but if I would send them the name and address of my travel agent, I'd be placed in a file of people interested in a Disney cruise. They provided a special address for sending this information.

Later..a year or so...my TA called and gave me the information about the lottery. We paid $200 per person to enter a lottery for a cabin on the maiden voyage. The $200 guaranteed a spot in the first year if you didn't get the maiden voyage, and we had the assurance that if we didn't get something we wanted, the $200 per person would be refunded. We also had to tell them what category of cabin we wanted without having any idea what the ships, cabins, etc. would be like. I remember telling my TA "Oh, something in the middle range" so she put me in for a cat 6.

We did get the maiden voyage....yeah...that was totally um....interesting.....but the problems have been fixes, and we've loved DCL ever since!

 

[lbgraves]

I first heard about DCL on Christmas morning 2002 when DH...who is not known for gift giving...had me open his present and blew me away. It was a shirt box with a bunch of cruise brochures that were more like magazines. He said to pick one and we would go. I had never dreamed of going on a cruise before. I read over all of them and decided that DCL would be best for our family for our first cruise...and have been going back ever since.

 

[hgon76]

MJ: Awww! Those pics brought a tear to my eye. Made me think of the fact that someday my kids will be all grown up, and we'll be looking back at pics of our 1St DCL cruise. (and our 2nd, and hopefully our 3rd, and......). Makes you realize how "worth it" the whole thing is when you have memories like that to look back on when they're all grown up!

 

[KayR]

I have always been into Disney, but only found out about DCL recently (we were not into cruises so DCL had never been on our radar!)

We had been visiting WDW for two weeks in Easter 2007 - it was a once in a lifetime dream trip for my family in honor of my mother (She was diagnosed with cancer and wanted to take all her grandkids to WDW, but fate didn't allow that to happen before she passed) So we made that once in a lifetime trip for the grandkids happen. On the airplane our way home, I happened to sit next to someone who had just got off of a DCL cruise and was excited to show me her photos from shutters.

A few months later I was looking for something special to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary in 2008. We looked at various options but knew we had to have something that included the kids, but gave DH and I time for ourselves. In the end that choice was DCL our first ever cruise!

-Kay

 

[calmpets]

I was a Disney kid, and I always dreamed of working for Disney when I grew up. In 1998 I moved to central Florida and applied at casting, where they ignored me for six months. I reapplied, did some name dropping of cast members I knew, and was offered a job in reservations for DCL. First time I knew about the cruise line was when I accepted a job with them, and part of the training included a three night cruise (not nearly as glamorous as it sounds). Even though the job itself turned out to be horrible (things were not well-managed at that time), I fell head over heels in love with the Magic, and later the Wonder, which came into the water during my time with DCL. Years later I brought my husband & father on the Magic, and now my whole family is hooked.

 

[rkwier]

Great thread!

Right now it seems like we have always known about DCL. Thinking back, I really think that we learned about it while watching a show on the Travel Channel about its construction and touring the inside of it. I remember DH and I saying to eachother "someday we have got to try that." This year we finally did!

 

[dsneygirl]

I was a Cm at WDW in 97-98 so they were really promoting the new ships. My Dh saw the Magic the first day it came into port. One of our best friends was also on opening crew of the Wonder he sailed over from the shipyard in Italy for his first contract.

 

[tvguy]

Disney was actually our second choice. The previous year we cruised to Alaska on HAL with our kids...the kids first cruise. We (especially the kids) loved HAL so much we immediately booked a HAL New Years Eve cruise out of Orlando. The route was the same as Disney's Eastern. A few months later we get notification from HAL that they are doing a "special" route that week for New years.....basically the Disney Western. We had no interest in those ports, and HAL was allowing everyone 30 days to cancel their reservations without penalty because of the change. Our TA checked, and based on the route, and the service level Disney offers, felt the Disney Eastern would be a good substitute. The fare was $2,500 higher for 4 on Disney.....but we bit the bullet and loved it.

 

[pam775]

We surprised our kids that Christmas of 1997 with DCL t-shirts we purchased from the DCL preview shop on Main Street in WDW that year. We put in certificates that I made up about being on the Maiden Voyage....

MJ

MJ - I love the pictures of your kids. We are surprising our kids, 6 and 8, for the 7 day western Oct/Nov of this year. It's the first Disney cruise for all of us and I can't wait!!! Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[mmouse37]

MJ: Awww! Those pics brought a tear to my eye. Made me think of the fact that someday my kids will be all grown up, and we'll be looking back at pics of our 1St DCL cruise. (and our 2nd, and hopefully our 3rd, and......). Makes you realize how "worth it" the whole thing is when you have memories like that to look back on when they're all grown up!

They certainly grow up fast. The oldest two are working and the baby is a senior in college....they always talk fondly of their DCL cruises which they have not been on together since 2005.

MJ - I love the pictures of your kids. We are surprising our kids, 6 and 8, for the 7 day western Oct/Nov of this year. It's the first Disney cruise for all of us and I can't wait!!! Thanks for sharing your story.

My pleasure!!

MJ

 

[jns]

On the Dis

read a few trip reports and I was hooked
DH didn't want to go cruising when i mention it so booked a 3 day one as a surprize for our 20th wedding annivaerry
we are now looking forward to our 4th cruise this Sept

 

[pppiglet]

I'm an Annual Pass holder for Disneyland and they sent me an email newsletter every month and one month it had some small print saying DCL was coming to California. I had never been on a cruise before, hadn't even thought of it, but my Dad had just passed away a few months earlier and left us some money. I asked my DH if he wanted me to book it and we did. We love cruising. Have done 4 cruises since 2005 and two were DCL on the Magic. They hooked us on cruising. Hopefully when the Wonder comes to Calif. we will be able to afford to go on her.

 

[natale1980]

I've been going to Disney since I was 4 so when my DH proposed to me (on the beach of Fort Wilderness) I started planning our honeymoon ASAP! In my research I found out about DCL. Our first cruise was in September 1999. Silly hurricanes put a damper on our cruise. But we have been on 2 more Disney Cruise's since then. Still have never cruised without weather issues.
I really want to do a 7 night in 2010! Hoping the forth time is the charm!

-nat

 

[tjbaggott]

What wonderful stories to hear about! Here's mine.

I first heard about DCL, in the Parents Lounge on the Oncology Floor at our Children's Hospital. I have always been a Disney Fan, but had never been to Disney World. Never investigated costs as I just assumed we could never afford that with our bit larger than average family (4 children). My oldest, my DD, then 13 had just been diagnosed with cancer and the Wish Foundation had been in touch, Willing to grant her a Wish. She could not decide but knew she had plenty of time (even under the circumstances). In the Parents Lounge that day, I was speaking with another mom about the Wish Foundation and she began to tell me about her Son's Wish Trip which they had just come back from. He had chosen a Disney Land and Sea vacation, the best of both worlds wrapped up in one wish! I never even knew at that time that DCL existed! She told me about their trip with SO much excitement in her voice and face, I knew this might interest my daughter. So I had her repeat the whole adventure to my DD. A few months later, she set her mind to a WISH of a Disney Land and Sea Vacation and our whole family of 6 was sent in April 2006. My daughter is about to turn 18 this week, and she has been OFF Cancer treatment for just 2 years now and is doing wonderfully well so we thought it was time to celebrate her Good Health by taking her and her siblings back for another Land and Sea Vacation!
Wish though I had known about these Dis Boards before our First Trip! BUT very glad to have found them before our 2nd!

 

[dolphingirl47]

We had our honeymoon in Orlando in February 1998 and there was quite a bit of publicity for the upcoming launch of DCL. Ever since then I had been dreaming of going on a Disney Cruise. DH was not having any of it.

We then ended up buying DVC in November 2007 and ended up with two years' worth of points. So our guide suggested that we might want to consider using them to cruise. We was really promoting the 5 night special cruise that they would do on the Magic in September 2008. DH agreed that this was a good idea. When I rang Member Services on the day we flew home, there was nothing available for that cruise so we booked a four night cruise on the Wonder instead. My wish had finally come true. In May last year, I then read on here that people were considering booking the 5 nights special cruise on the Magic. I went to the DCL website and sure enough, staterooms had become available again. As I just got a nice bonus at work, I booked it. We both loved it and rebooked for this year before we got off the Wonder. At the moment we have 2 DCL cruises booked and two planned.

Corinna

 

[Butterx3]

I vaguely knew DCL existed, but it wasn't until I saw the Travel Channel special that my interest was really peaked. My DH never grew up traveling so it was hard to convince him to take a trip. In his mind for the price of a cruise we could have a ski boat. A cruise is done in week, the ski boat we will have for years of fun. We ended up getting A lot more back for a tax refund than we were used to in 2005. I kept mentioning a cruise, and DH still didn't seem to interested. One weekend in October he took us all to a pet store in the hopes of getting one of those little Taco Bell dogs. They didn't have any of that breed there, but I saw a pug that was the cutest thing on earth. The kids and DH were begging me to get the pug, and this was my chance to swoop in and say "I'll let you get the dog if I can book a cruise". The deal was made and that Monday I booked a cruise on DCL for 2006. I felt like I got the good part of the deal, as I got the dog I wanted and the cruise. I remember sitting in heaven (or I mean Castaway Cay), and my DH looking at me and saying "Oh yeah, this is why I love you"... and we were hooked. The day we got back from our cruise I started a trip fund. Some love stories come to an end though, we are now in the process of divorcing, DH has the dog, and I took our kids on our second DCL last October. We are going to Disney World in Decemeber, thanks to being blessed with wonderful grandparents, and still have a trip fund going for a 2010 cruise. I think we will try a different line until the new ships come out though!

This is a great thread.

 

[5lilfish]

I went on a Carnival Cruise with my parents when I was 19. I loved it. A few years later, my DH and I went on another Carnival Cruise for our honeymoon. Both of us loved it.

Then we had 3 kids. When the kids were 2, 3 and 5, we decided to take them on a cruise. We were those people that just could not understand why anyone would pay more to go on a Disney Cruise (and we LOVE Disney)....esp without a Casino (which we enjoy going to in the evening). So, since we'd had such good experiences with Carnival, we booked another Carnival Cruise. It was not a great experience. The following year, we decided to give a 3-day Disney cruise a try. We had an amazing cruise experience. The kids loved it. We loved it. We spent the entire last day wishing we had at least 1 more day on the ship...3 days was definately too short. So, we rebooked onboard (a 4-day for one year later). We've been rebooking ever-since. Even with our oldest 3 kids (we have 5 now) being 12, 10 and 9, we all still prefer Disney. We've done a couple Royal Caribbean Cruises and they are very nice. We enjoy the opportunity to do different itineraries on RCI, but DCL is still our favorite.

Jess