January 4, 2007 Wonder

[dallastxcpa]

Hello Dougherty's. We are also DVC members, but have not finalized our plans yet. We have two girls 13 and 10, but they will not be joining us for this cruise.

 

[TreesyB]

We are Vacation club members and will be staying at the BCV before the cruise.

No Kidding! DS and I will be doing the same thing. We are arriving the day before, and then resting before we go to port. Maybe we'll see you at the Wednesday Member's meet!

 

[TreesyB]

I'd take your Missouri in January over my Northern Indiana anytime though!

And I trump you with the cornfields of Ontario, Canada!

 

[TreesyB]

I just booked my airfare this week. now i have to book the time off. I just started a new job, so i'm hoping that I will prove myself so worthy that they won't mind that I take a vacation after only starting work 3 months previous. We'll see how it goes.

 

[awaldo]

Good luck getting days off Treesy. Hopefully your boss will be more understanding than most about that.

 

[dallastxcpa]

Okay, quick question. when the 75 day reservation period opens up online. Do you go out at 12:01 EST and make your reservations? How does it work? I know that for the most part I am being paranoid and that my husband and I will have a wonderful vacation no matter what. Some of the things we want to do are the Rasul, Spa Taster, Palo, and the Catamaran Snorkeling on CC.

 

[TreesyB]

Good luck getting days off Treesy. Hopefully your boss will be more understanding than most about that.

The sad thing is that if they don't give me the time off, I will have to quit. But I came from a world of freelance, so I will get a job again in the spring if I have to quit. I hope it doesn't come to that.

 

[awaldo]

As far as the reservations go, I admit, I don't know. We've never done it before. I wouldn't think things would fill up so fast that you need to be on the phone at 12:01, I would think you could sleep in and call in the morning!

 

[FinsUp!]

I will be on the Wonder along with my husband, daughter (20) and son (13). This is our first cruise ever. We have been DVC members since 1999.

 

[awaldo]

It seems we're developing quite a group now. Welcome, FINS!

 

[FinsUp!]

Does everyone have their passports already. Late planner here. I haven't even applied yet.

I am just curious about the supposed January 8th extension and has it been finalized and is it applicable to sea travel. Does anyone have any information from an official source?

We received confirmation that we should have our passports on or before Nov. 6 only to find out yesterday that the sea travel deadline has been extended to June 2009! That's $400 I could have used on my trip.

 

[awaldo]

We received confirmation that we should have our passports on or before Nov. 6 only to find out yesterday that the sea travel deadline has been extended to June 2009! That's $400 I could have used on my trip.

Believe me, I never thought of my Passports as an expense, rather an investment that will come in handy. It will make it easier for you to convince yourself to go on more cruises, as hard as that is!

 

[TreesyB]

It seems we're developing quite a group now. Welcome, FINS!

And I learned today that the company shuts down the first week of January!

 

[awaldo]

So you don't have to worry about taking vacation time! Does it get any better than that?

We had snow on the ground here yesterday in N. Indiana. Makes me want to be on CC all the more!

 

[dallastxcpa]

Welcome FinsUp! The one good thing about the passports is that they are good for 10 years so hopefully you will get alot of use out of them.

TreesyB that's great to hear. Now you won't have to worry about getting vacation approved.

Okay. I need everyone's opinion again. I have the opportunity to buy airfare today from AirTran for $69 one way, which is a very good rate out of DFW.

The problem is the only flights they have at that rate are for January 4th. The earliest time I could arrive in Orlando would be 10:25. What do you think? Of course I will buy trip insurance but do you feel that is cutting it too close in January? Should I fly in the night before? It would be about $100 difference for both my husband and myself.

 

[TreesyB]

I think it's cutting it close, but isn't it true that the ship doesn't leave port til 4pm?

 

[awaldo]

Dallas, in my opinion, I would always prefer to fly in the night before. It allows you to leisurely get to the ship before the crowds and take in the ship at embarkation before a lot of people show up. That being said, if you can't justify the the extra $100 (which doesn't seem like a lot when you figure the whole vacation cost), you SHOULD be able to get to the ship around 1 I would hope, which would give you about 2-3 hours, depending on the cutoff, to get through embarkation. My vote, take an earlier flight.

 

[CastleCreations]

We arrived at the port first. I didn't like the wait before I got on the ship, but I was thankful afterwards. We had a nice lunch, and totally explored the ship from top to bottom before it got busy. Then I unpacked before the lifejacket drill. It was nice and not rushed. I wouldn't know what to do, if I didn't have all of that time. It was like an extra day, before we left port Canaveral.
Elisa

 

[4boons]

We've been so busy with school, volleyball, youth symphony, etc, etc, etc, I haven't had a chance to catch up on who is in.

It looks like a great group.

Big D, aka dallastxcpa, we use to tell our oldest daughter that we where going on a survey trip to see if it was something she might want to do. She bought this because she knew that was a sign we would all be going soon.

We arrive on Sunday 12-31-06 and will be staying at SSR on DVC pts. until we board the Wonder.

DD(12)s school has a SCUBA club so she and I have been working towards our open water diver cert. and have already booked the dive trip at Nassau. We are also looking into the dive at EPCOT. DW doesn't think this is something she wants to do so she will be looking for something else to occupy her time.

We are looking forward to meeting everyone and having a Wonder-ful time.

 

[TreesyB]

How are you all getting to port?

I'm still contemplating Magical Express from airport to BCV, and then DCL transport to port. It's just ds and myself, so i'm thinking that will be the easiest way. AND we are staying at SSR after, for another 3 days. So we could still get to the airport after via ME. Then I don't have to worry about a car.