January 28, 2007, 4 nights on the WONDER

[Aunt Jo]

DH and I will be on the Jan. 28th cruise. We are Very Senior Citizens (84 and 77). It will be out first and most likely our last cruise.

 

[Castaway Kev]

Welcome HLAuburn and Aunt Jo!

One question....does anyone from the "cruise meets" ever get together to share transportation, or is that a little too "up close and personal" ? With just 2 of us (DD is "free") there's not a whole lot of choice other than DCL, and its so expensive! Just wondering...

I sure some DISers get together & share transportation. I think it just depends on price and when & where people are staying. Are you staying anywhere before the cruise? I wouldn't be opposed to looking into something. We are currently booked for DCL transportation, but if there was something cheaper and faster, I'd definately consider changing.

 

[HLAuburn]

Welcome HLAuburn and Aunt Jo!



I sure some DISers get together & share transportation. I think it just depends on price and when & where people are staying. Are you staying anywhere before the cruise? I wouldn't be opposed to looking into something. We are currently booked for DCL transportation, but if there was something cheaper and faster, I'd definately consider changing.

Hey CK-

We have a pretty short flight (from New Orleans) and we're hoping to catch the 7:35am, so we'd get into MCO around 10:30am. We're staying at DW after the cruise. Can you book the DCL bus one way?

It might be hard to work out times and such, but I just thought I'd throw out the idea. A mini bus for 14-20 people is really cheap when you split it up!

 

[stampinshauna]

We have a pretty short flight (from New Orleans) and we're hoping to catch the 7:35am, so we'd get into MCO around 10:30am. We're staying at DW after the cruise. Can you book the DCL bus one way?

It might be hard to work out times and such, but I just thought I'd throw out the idea. A mini bus for 14-20 people is really cheap when you split it up!

I'm going to answer you since I accidentally didn't log Cataway Kev out and posted as him. I have never heard of booking the DCL bus one way. I guess you could call them and see what they say. If you can do one way, maybe we could figure something out. Otherwise, we'll just stick with the transfers that we have. They are kind of expensive, but it is fun to just sit back & relax & not worry about the luggage. They also play Disney stuff on TVs on the bus which is fun.

 

[KS Prarie gal]

How old are all your DDs? I have 3 girls (2 teens). They are a little worried there won't be anything fun for them to do. It would be great to let them know of others in their age group that will be on the ship!

 

[KS Prarie gal]

Sorry! I was referring to logabbmom. Looks like you have 4 girls between you! Thanks

 

[logabbmom]

Sorry! I was referring to logabbmom. Looks like you have 4 girls between you! Thanks

We will have a 12, 9 and two 6 year olds with us!

 

[stampinshauna]

Hey everyone!!!

Guess where we will all be in 4 months from today.

I can't wait!!!

 

[logabbmom]

Shauna -
Being that you have done this before . . . I have been trying to find out what our dining rotation will be - I would like to do Palo on the night that we would be doubling up in one of the restaurants. Do you not know till you get your card at check in?? And if that is the case can you even still get into Palo easily enough?

 

[stampinshauna]

Being that you have done this before . . . I have been trying to find out what our dining rotation will be - I would like to do Palo on the night that we would be doubling up in one of the restaurants. Do you not know till you get your card at check in?? And if that is the case can you even still get into Palo easily enough?

You don't know your rotation until check in.

These are the possible rotations based on recent cruises:
TAAP 5:30 and 8:00
APPT 5:45 and 8:15
PTTA 6:00 and 8:30

So, the 3rd night you are repeating the dining room, but it is pirate night so you'd be missing that if you went to Palo. Some people try to guess their rotation based on age of kids, no kids, etc, but we've cruised twice with just the two of us and we've had 2 different rotations. You could check out the menus and see what you want to skip or you could just pick a night and see what happens. When we boarded our last cruise, we wanted to change our Palo night and we were able to as soon as we got on the ship. They save some reservations so that you can still book onboard. I've only sailed on the Magic where there are 7 nights available, so it may be a little tougher on the 4 night Wonder. I'd say just pick a night and then you could try to change once you find out your rotation when boarding. If you can't get what you want, they usually have a waiting list. You'll want to make sure you go to Animators Palette on the first night (if you get to go twice) because they only do the light show once. If you're really concerned about missing a meal, you could always plan Palo for a time either before or after your regular dinner time and you could go to both so you could be with your kids at dinner. Just plan about 2 hours for Palo and be hungry because they serve you a lot!!!

 

[HLAuburn]

Shauna -
Being that you have done this before . . . I have been trying to find out what our dining rotation will be - I would like to do Palo on the night that we would be doubling up in one of the restaurants. Do you not know till you get your card at check in?? And if that is the case can you even still get into Palo easily enough?

Not Shauna, but...

Our TA was able to request a certain dining rotation. Well, actually he requested a specific time (6pm) so from that we should be able to figure our rotation, I think. I know its just a request, but if we plan accordingly, I guess we can always ask to change if we don't get what we requested.

So maybe you can at least put in a request for a certain rotation.

 

[HLAuburn]

Anyone following the new passport legislation? It looks like Congress voted to extend the passport requirements for sea until 2009, but it still has to be signed.

Does everyone have their passports already? We're going to wait and see what happens in the next few weeks. If we can save $300 (and maybe get the passcards when they come available) that would be a big help for us.

Just wondering if anyone knows any more about the situation. CLIA has some new info on its website in case anyone's interested.

 

[stampinshauna]

Does everyone have their passports already? We're going to wait and see what happens in the next few weeks. If we can save $300 (and maybe get the passcards when they come available) that would be a big help for us.

HLAuburn--your daughter's picture in your signature is darling!

Regarding passports:
DH already had one and I just got mine. It came 4 weeks after I ordered it in August. I didn't want to wait until the last minute, but maybe I jumped the gun. Oh well, at least I have one and won't have to worry about it for 10 years. It is also easier to have it than to carry my birth certificate and drivers license.

DCL still has this info on their website, so I'd check with DCL before decided whether or not to get passports: "All Guests — including children — booked on cruises that sail on or after January 6, 2007 must carry valid passports. Start planning ahead now. Visit My Passport Page for the information you need to apply for a passport, including how much time is required to receive your passport and submit it to Disney Cruise Line®."

 

[HLAuburn]

HLAuburn--your daughter's picture in your signature is darling!

Regarding passports:
DH already had one and I just got mine. It came 4 weeks after I ordered it in August. I didn't want to wait until the last minute, but maybe I jumped the gun. Oh well, at least I have one and won't have to worry about it for 10 years. It is also easier to have it than to carry my birth certificate and drivers license.

DCL still has this info on their website, so I'd check with DCL before decided whether or not to get passports: "All Guests — including children — booked on cruises that sail on or after January 6, 2007 must carry valid passports. Start planning ahead now. Visit My Passport Page for the information you need to apply for a passport, including how much time is required to receive your passport and submit it to Disney Cruise Line®."

Thanks Shauna, we think she's pretty cute, too, but we're a little biased!

I defnitely agree that having a passport is a good idea, required or not. I like the idea of this new "passcard" which is supposed to be smaller and less expensive. DH is being a pain about the whole trip though, so telling him that we can save $300 might make him a little less grumpy! How someone can be so unhappy about a Disney cruise/trip to DW, I will never know! Thank goodness he always gets more excited closer to the trip.

I saw that DCL (and Carnival and RCCL) still had the same info on their websites. I'm sure no one is going to say anything until its official. I was surprised to see CLIA had 2009 on their website. I even called the Passport Info Line to just ask if they knew info on the possible extension, and they just said "not yet".

I think we're going to wait and see what happens. If we need to get them, then we've factored it into the budget, and if not, then great, we save $300.

 

[logabbmom]

Our TA was able to request a certain dining rotation. Well, actually he requested a specific time (6pm) so from that we should be able to figure our rotation, I think. I know its just a request, but if we plan accordingly, I guess we can always ask to change if we don't get what we requested.

So maybe you can at least put in a request for a certain rotation.

We did request the 6:00 seating with our TA so we will just wing out - maybe we will try a brunch at Palo and if we miss Palo this time - oh well good excuse to book onboard for next time!

 

[GirlieGirl]

Hi Everyone! My husband and I are going on this cruise too! We are going on the cruise and then we are following it up with a few days in WDW. I can't wait! I've been reading a lot of trip reports and I am so looking forward to the whole trip! Now if I could just lose 20 pounds by then...

 

[KS Prarie gal]

Hi Girliegirl,
I am trying to lose weight before the Cruise, also! Good luck!

 

[stampinshauna]

Welcome to the group Girliegirl and congrats on your first post!

I'd like to loose some weight before the cruise too. We'll see if it actually happens. I'd better loose at least 5 pounds to make up for the 5 I'll gain on the cruise. Yum, I get hungry just thinking of the DCL food & desserts!!!

Is it just you and DH? Are you interested in going to Atlantis? If I can find a good day room rate, DH and I would like to go and I hear that you get 4 wristbands for the room and thought we could split the cost with another couple as we really won't use the room, just the pools, beach, and aquarium.

 

[GirlieGirl]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

It is just DH and I going. We are leaving the kids home and this is our early anniversary trip. It just so happens that the Superbowl is in Miami this year and we are hoping our Seahawks will make it back and we can do the cruise, WDW and the Superbowl all in one trip.

I am still researching what there is to do in Nassau. I know there is some shopping (yea!), but I don't really know very much about excursions or the Atlantis Resort. Have you done that before? Are there a lot of things to do in Nassau? Since we are new to this whole cruise thing, we are kind of going into this cold. We figure our first trip as a family to WDW we hadn't done any research and it truly was one of our best vacations, so we may wing it. If you have more info, I would love to "hear" about it!

 

[Castaway Kev]

(this is really stampinshauna talking, I just forgot to log DH (Castaway Kev) out of the DISboards before typing)

GirlieGirl,

We've never been to Nassau before, but it didn't look like the excursions were that great (either that or they were pricey). There are usually a lot of shops by the dock that you can just walk to, we usually do that at most ports. However, I've found that it is more fun (at least for us) if we have one thing planned for each port. DH looked up Atlantis on the internet and he is very interested in going. I've heard that sometimes they have specials and you can get a room for $120-200. If that is the case, you figure $50 per person and that isn't too bad. You get full use of their facilities, including pools, their private beach, their aquarium, etc. We're not positive that we will do that, it really depends on the price. I'll let you know what I find out as we get closer.