How Many Of You Have Already Changed Your Minds?

[calypso*a*go-go]

Now that the dust has settled, just wondering how many people have already cancelled their ressies for any of the West Coast cruises now that you've had time to think about it.

 

[webray]

Nope..no cancelling here..we are doing back to back..repo and mexican. can't wait!

 

[Bmwdsny]

Same here....Still going on the CA to Fl!!
Funny thing, is i wasn't sure if i was really going to go when i first made the ressies last wed, but now i am pysched!!

I just made the deposit on the 2 staterooms yesterday. I am caneceling 1 other stateroom because i wasn't sure if my other family will be going and they are not.

Can't wait to go!!!

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

Haven't cancelled yet, but am giving it some serious thought, for two reasons. First, I found the same itinerary on Carnival Pride for over $2000 less for a comparable category (the lowest balcony category - $2099/pp on DCL vs. $1099 on CCL), sailing a day later than the cruise I've booked. I've never sailed Carnival, so the known entity in Disney is definitely worth more to me, but $2000 more? Second, I can do the Western in Fall 2005 for $1700 less, the Eastern for $2000 less on the Magic. Airfare for two from So. Cal, a night at the Hyatt, and transfers usually runs around $800, so it doesn't end up being cheaper to sail from the west coast.

So I don't know, is the novelty of sailing DCL from the west coast really worth that? I've sailed the same itinerary on Star Princess, and the ports are really nothing to shout about. Based on the ports alone, I'd much rather be in the Caribbean. Should I do 2 DCL cruises next year? I have one booked for the late winter, but will cancel it if we decide to go on the Mexican cruise.

 

[Mboothby]

I've known for months I was gonna take a shot at the repositioning. I'm going!

 

[HooKooDooKu]

I think we are going to eventually cancel (there's just so many other things we could do with that much money). But for now, we'veplaced a deposit so that we have more time to decide. It's not like it's really costing us any thing... if we decide to cancel prior to final payment due for our next cruise. We've got until July before final payment is due for a Sept cruise, so we could always just cancel then and (logically) use the refund to fund this year's cruise.

I would have already cancelled if it wasn't for the fact that THE room I requested was available when I made the reservation. Our 7 day this year is VERY close to the cabin I picked for a 14-day. Perhaps I'll wait until after this year's cruise and find out out much I really like a cabin in this particular area of the ship.

 

[invaderzim]

I cannot tell you how many of my friends try to talk me into taking Carnival, Holland America or Royal Caribbean because I can get the same itinerary for less money. HOWEVER, what I cannot get on those ships that we get on Disney is the relaxation of no casinos, no uppity attitude about how we look at dinner or at shuffleboard or in the bars, and a different restaurant every night rather than the same one with changing menus.

Also, I have many co-workers and friends who have sailed on Carnival and complained about the staff. Girls getting looked up and down and pinched, and crude comments made by the staff. One family was so uncomfortable on their ship, they almost got off at a port and flew back!

I've looked into it for years, but even my husband won't stray from Disney. You get what you paid for and you know you will be treated well! Plus, the rooms are a little bigger than most ships.

The only reason I would take another line is to go to Alaska. But now there are rumors that Disney may conquer that, too, in a few years!

 

[RickW]

Originally posted by Bmwdsny
Funny thing, is i wasn't sure if i was really going to go when i first made the ressies last wed, but now i am pysched!!

I'm with Bmwdsny. We were in the middle of planning a trip to Hawaii for next May, bought the travel books, but were waiting until May 5 before we made any final decisions. When my wife was able to reserve a Cat 7 for the FL-CA cruise, we talked about it and within 24 hours we had paid our deposit, and had completely changed our vacation plans for next year. Now, it's hard to believe that we hadn't been planning this the whole time.

 

[Ladyhawke10]

Originally posted by invaderzim
I cannot tell you how many of my friends try to talk me into taking Carnival, Holland America or Royal Caribbean because I can get the same itinerary for less money.

Can you give a price comparison? I'm just interested to know what a two week Panama Canal cruise would be on Holland,
Carnival or Royal Caribbean. I got my 2 week Disney cruise for me and my son for 3100, and I was thinking that was a really good price for 2 weeks on any line. Am I mistaken?
Thanks for info

 

[CynthiaC415]

My friends and I booked reservations the first day and no way we will change our minds. We sailed on the Magic for the Milennium as well as last year and both experiences were incredible. We have also sailed on Carnival (yuch!) Disney is definitely worth the additional cost--

I love the countdown clock!

 

[NancyIL]

I'm not actually doing anything, but the result is the same....the reservation will cancel because I'm not giving them a deposit.

I'll go on a family cruise to Scandinavia in July 2005 instead of a solo Ca-FL cruise.

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

My hesitation isn't with DCL. I've been on 12 DCL cruises now, compared with 3 HAL and 2 RCCL. I like the product, I have other cruises booked with them. My only question is, is a west coast cruise on DCL better than two Caribbean cruises on DCL, which is really how it will work out. If I really have to go to these Mexican ports (I don't), I can do it a lot less expensively on another line. Do I really need to say I sailed on the Magic when it was in California?

 

[jmatias]

No canceling for us!

I have to admit that we did hesitate a bit when we got our quote.

But...we always wanted to take our kids on a Disney cruise and the lure of a West Coast cruise is too much to ignore Also, family from California will be joining us so that should be a lot of fun.

Hopefully, this will be the start of our DCl experiences

The only sad part is this means we won't be able to visit our "home" at BWV next year....I'll probably try to rent out some of the points to help pay for cruise.

 

[Grumbo]

Actually we did change our mind. Twice.....
We booked onboard to take advantage of the Onboard Credit PLUS the 10% savings. The date was just one out of the air to get the credits. It was bought specifically with the West - East repositioning cruise in mind. We talked about it and decided with a March 2005 cruise we couldn't do it and I called All Seasons a week or two before to cancel it.

We then talked more and realized we had made a mistake. We still wanted to go. I called All Seasons the weekend before and Chuck Maida emailed me back. He said he knew we weren't sure so just held on to the ressie for a week. THAT saved us a fortune. I owe him for that inciteful decision. Needless to say I got $200 obc PLUS about $450.00 deduction and we got the $200 obc from All Seasons. We are very much looking forward to this cruise.

So yep we changed our mind AND are going

Cheers,
Grumbo

 

[cats mom]

Originally posted by Lloyd Dobler
My hesitation isn't with DCL. I've been on 12 DCL cruises now, compared with 3 HAL and 2 RCCL. I like the product, I have other cruises booked with them. My only question is, is a west coast cruise on DCL better than two Caribbean cruises on DCL, which is really how it will work out. If I really have to go to these Mexican ports (I don't), I can do it a lot less expensively on another line. Do I really need to say I sailed on the Magic when it was in California?

Sounds like you have a better idea on pricing than I do - since we are just starting to look at doing a Disney cruise.
I've seen several other posts suggesting the west coast pricing is really high as well.

Unfortunately we can't do off-season right now, so my comparisons are all either Christmas, spring break, or summer. High prices for sure - but then the CA. sailings are all summer too.

I compared a 7 day Eastern DCL over spring break (3/21/05) and the cost was higher than the quote I got for a 7 day CA.

A 4 night (3/20/05) was only about $1,000 less than a 7 night CA cruise.

A 3 night Christmas (12/23/04) was about $2,000 less than the CA - but that's 3 nights versus 7 nights.

I looked at back to back 3 and 4 day out of FL for the same summer time period as the CA cruise - still more $$

All my comparisons are on DCL. I'm sure we could do another line for less - but are the CA cruises really that high in comparison to other DCL cruises if you can't do off-season?

For the most part I think I would prefer the Caribbean ports as well - although a back to back 3 and 4 night would put you in Nassau twice - that was my least favorite stop on a previous cruise.

Just want to make sure I'm not missing something.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I've done exactly the opposite. I didn't think we'd do a cruise coming out of LA since we haven't even done our first cruise out of FL yet... but now that I hear it's definite- I've put in my request for a quote from allseastravel already! I think I'm probably going to have 2 booked cruises before even taking my first one- and had planned on rebooking on the cruise also... now I don't know what I'll do. If we're already going to be booked for another cruise when we take the first one- will I want to rebook for the discount while on the first cruise?
But there's no WAY I'd wait till our Feb 2005 cruise to try to rebook while on the cruise FOR summer 2005- for sure those are already going to be taken or way sky high in price by then.
I just like the idea of booking a "different" cruise- we can do the Western caribbean anytime- this is not something we can for sure do later on! Plus the kids and hubby have never been to Disneyland.. compared flight prices and if they stay the same by then- they are the same as flying us all to FL as to LA.
(just not sure how the hotels, Disneyland costs, and transportation to/from airport and all that compares- anyone have any ideas on that to share with me? I will be researching this in more depth before making the final pymt on the summer 2005 cruise- that's for sure LOL)

oh and btw- we'd LOVE to do one of the repositioning cruises but it's impossible for us. BOTH of them are right when school is still going on! Why would they do that? LOL What a bummer....

 

[Grumbo]

Guess it depends what part of the world/country you're in. I know N.E. USA and here in Ontario kids don't go back til after Labour Day so the August repositioning cruise is perfect

Cheers,
Grumbo

 

[trishy]

I looked at back to back 3 and 4 day out of FL for the same summer time period as the CA cruise - still more $$

Back to back 3 and 4 day Wonder cruises are rarely a bargain compared to the 7 day. In addition, you're repeating ports.

The main complaint I've read and heard isn't regarding DCL - the ship - it's with the price compared to other lines doing that exact itinerary. Even the highest class ship out here doing the Mexican Riviera is well over $2,500 cheaper than what DCL wants. I know DCL is routinely higher than other lines, but this is a huge difference. After 3 DCL cruises, it's just time for us to say "No more".

I put in a request for quote on the FL to CA repo and yes, it will go back to inventory today as I will certainly not be placing a deposit down on the stateroom. However, I was able to secure a Xmas (and bonus New Year's) Panama Canal 15 day cruise (FL to CA) for considerably less than either the DCL Panama or DCL Xmas - so I'm getting the best of both in one cruise. Works for us.

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

are the CA cruises really that high in comparison to other DCL cruises if you can't do off-season?

No, they aren't. Well, I think they're slightly higher, but not much so. I can't really compare what a June 2004 cruise would have cost in May 2003 anymore, but my sense is that the prices aren't that out of whack with what DCL gets for the high season in the Caribbean (a cat 7 for this June is currently about $2400). My whole rationale is that I can do it cheaper in the off-season, and that's what's giving me pause about hanging on to this reservation.

I initially thought it would be great to be able to drive to the port, rather than fly all the way across the country. That even if the prices were higher, due to the it being summer, and the CA cruises being a novelty, it would still be about the same as having to pay for airfare, a hotel and ground transportation in FL. If, theoretically, there were a ship in FL doing 7-night cruises next June, then yes, it would be better to drive an hour to the ship than to fly across the country. BUT...if I wanted to cruise in October 2005 (and we usually do cruise in the fall), I could actually have DCL book our air, including charging our 2 year-old a full $560 for air, and have the same room, for the same number of nights on the same ship for about the same price (with the air, the October cruise is $300 more). But, assuming I can get us across the country for less than $1700, and I'm guessing it will cost half that, it's still about $1000 cheaper to fly to Florida and cruise in October than to drive to San Pedro and cruise in June.

Again, I am comparing apples to oranges in a sense, since you can't really compare prices in June to prices in October, but since a cruise in June and a cruise in October is really no different to me, it's a fair comparison. For you, cats mom, it isn't, since you would have to compare high-season prices with high-season prices.

 

[Gupsmom]

We're not changing our mind. We paid our deposit today.

Actually, I had no intention of booking the repositioning cruise, until I found out what a great deal it was. Now, we're psyched!!

Jess