Magic Christmas Cruise 2010 (Dec 18th - 29th) - PART II

[CrusinLattas]

Here are the three deals that came out yesterday:

Room Only Discounts:

Stay dates: 10/3/10-11/23/10, 11/27/10-12/25/10 and 1/1/11-2/16/11. Get a 25%-40% discount off regular "Rack" rates for 2010 or 2011. Percent off varies by resort type.


Some dates will be blocked out. Rates not available for all dates and resorts.



Save 25% at Disney Value Resorts and Animal Kingdom Lodge
Save 30% at Disney Moderate Resorts and Grand Floridian Resort
Save 40% at the remaining Disney Deluxe Resorts
Save 40% at Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts

About Booking
You must book by 11/21/10. For bookings, you pay a deposit of one night's room rate plus tax. No change or cancellation fee will be charged if you make your modification more than 5 days before arrival. dates: 10/3/10-11/23/10, 11/27/10-12/25/10 and 1/1/11-2/16/11. Get a 25%-40% discount off regular "Rack" rates for 2010 or 2011. Percent off varies by resort type.

Free Dining


You can get FREE dining when you book a full price 4-night/5-day or longer 2010 or 2011 Magic Your Way vacation package for stays most nights 10/1/10 - 10/7/10, 10/22/10 - 10/28/10, 11/12/10 - 11/18/10, 11/27/10 -12/2/10, 12/10/10 - 12/21/10, 1/1/11 - 1/5/11, 1/9/11 - 1/13/11, 1/21/11 - 2/3/11, 2/11/11 - 2/17/11, 2/25/11 - 3/3/11, 5/27/11 - 6/2/11 and 8/19/11 - 9/29/11.

To qualify, you must purchase a vacation package that includes at least 4 consecutive hotel nights at an official Walt Disney World resort, plus at least a 5-day theme park ticket.

With this offer:

Stay in a Disney Value resort and and get the Magic Your Way Plus Quick Service Dining package (for 2010 or 2011) for the price of a regular Magic Your Way package. This deal saves a family of four (2 adults, two kids ages 3-9) $83.96 per day for 2010 or $93.96 per day for 2011 -- the cost of adding the Quick Service Dining Plan to a basic vacation package.
Stay in a Disney Moderate, Deluxe or Deluxe Villas resort and get the Magic Your Way Plus Dining package (for 2010 or 2011) for the price of a regular Magic Your Way package. This deal saves a family of four (2 adults, two kids ages 3-9) $107.96-$119.96 per day for 2010 or $115.96-$121.96 per day for 2011 -- the cost of adding the regular Dining Plan to a basic vacation package (which varies by date).
If you are staying in a Value resort, you can upgrade to the regular Dining Plan (for 2010 or 2011) by paying the usual price difference between the Quick Service Dining Plan and the regular Dining Plan. Or you can upgrade to the Deluxe Dining Plan (for 2010 or 2011) by paying the usual price difference between the Quick Service Dining Plan and the Deluxe Dining Plan.

If you are staying in a Moderate, Deluxe or Deluxe Villas resort, you can upgrade to the Deluxe Dining Plan (for 2010 or 2011) by paying the usual price difference between the regular Dining Plan and the Deluxe Dining Plan.

Some important advice if you book a "FREE Dining" package:

Be sure to set up Advance Dining Reservations as soon as possible. When "Free Dining" is offered, all of the table service restaurants tend to be completely full during the promotion periods. It is almost impossible to get a table for a full-service meal on a walk-up basis. To ensure that you will be able to enjoy all the benefits of the Dining Plan, you really need to pre-reserve every single table service meal during your stay.
You must book this offer by 12/20/10. The number of packages available is limited. Suites are excluded from this offer. No group rates or other discounts apply. Offers cannot be combined. Advance reservations required. With the Disney Dining Plans, children ages 3-9 must choose from children's menu if available. Excludes gratuities and alcoholic beverages. Some table service restaurants may have limited or no availability at time of package purchase.


Gift Card Offer:
You can get a FREE Disney Gift Card for up to $500 when you take advantage of an exclusive offer for stays most nights 10/3/10 - 11/23/10, 11/27/10 - 12/25/10 and 1/1/11 - 2/16/11. Purchase a full price 5-night/5-day or longer 2010 or 2011 Magic Your Way vacation package, including hotel room and theme park tickets and receive a gift card as indicated below. Disney Gift Cards are good at many locations throughout Walt Disney World, including most restaurants and shops.

Value resorts $200 Disney Gift Card
Moderate resorts $300 Disney Gift Card
Deluxe/Deluxe Villa resorts $500 Disney Gift Card
You must book this offer by 11/21/10. The number of packages available at this rate is limited. No group rates or other discounts apply. Offers cannot be combined. Advance reservations required.

As you can see, all three are good before we depart, if anyone is still on the fence about WDW before the cruise. If you have already booked and not paid in full you can probably get the discount! If you are not using a TA and want help, let me know!

I love deals!!!!

Renee

 

[3princessMommy]

I was wondering, will there be a 'Sign Up By' date for the FE so we will have solid numbers with which to work? How big do these groups usually get?

I think someone mentioned Thanksgiving.

I've seen them as small as 10 cabins and as large as 100+. I don't think we're in danger of being on the high end at this point. I am planning on 20-30 right now.

 

[BBQMommy]

Thank you, 3PM (hope you don't mind the abbreviation) That is workable.

My dear friend Bev (who at 41 has never been to Disney) is joining me and my daughter for a gal's trip -- just AFTER free dining. Ah, well. Can't move the trip due to 20th college reunion

 

[BBQMommy]

Just got off the phone with expedia.com and final payment is in! Agent checked to see if the price went down, but it has gone up a little over $100. She said to keep checking and if it does go down to call expedia and they will adjust. We got in on the last day of the expedia cruise OBC sale (8/2) -- $500 waiting for us onboard

 

[HFC1969]

I love deals!!!!

Renee

Ok... need some help..

We are going to WDW in Oct... thought of buying our annual passes then and stopping in the parks in Dec for a quickie before and after .

BUT

If you have annual passes and you dont buy park tickets with the package you do not get free dinning or stay discounts..

 

[3PrincessGrandma]

Hi Everyone!!

Wow! You all have been super busy posting - that's awesome!!
Ok!! Sent out some PMs to some of you that I need additional info from for the fish extender exchange. To date this is who I have signed up:

HFC1969
3princessMommy(bigAWL)
SwimMama
thegales
DisneyCamper
CrusinLattas
tinkmischief
IceSk8ersMom
Vminick
riggins
minneapolismickey
Bakerteam
BBQMommy

Please add us to the FE list. It will be myself and DH. Used to cruising about every other year and trying to get used to twice this year - both Disney!

 

[3PrincessGrandma]

Anyone know of any deep sea fishing at any of the ports? My DH isn't into "party boat" fishing but might be interested in a deep sea trip if it would be feasible.

 

[candmfox]

Anyone know of any deep sea fishing at any of the ports? My DH isn't into "party boat" fishing but might be interested in a deep sea trip if it would be feasible.

Here is a useful link for St. Maarten stuff to do... Can't vouch for all the links, but they can give you some good ideas...

www.st-martin-vacation.com/thingstodo.html

Cheers,
FoxFam

 

[ucancallmetink]

This will be only our 2nd cruise. The first was a Western in Oct. of last year. On that one, we did excursions on our own in both Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We didn't bother getting off the ship in Key West. I really enjoyed both of the activities we did in those ports. We didn't run into any trouble having planned/done them on our own. I'm planning on doing excursions on our own for this cruise too, but I'm slightly more hesitant when it comes to Martinique and Guadeloupe. I've had a very difficult time finding any info (in English) and what I do find cautions to "hire a guide". I've read that the locals can be somewhat unfriendly. I also have learned that using Euros is very important in both of these ports.

So...I'm looking for opinions.

-For those who've done the Disney excursions, are they worth the money? Are they overcrowded and do you end up feeling like one in a herd?

-For those who are planning on doing independent excursions in Martinique and Guadeloupe, have you found any helpful sites online? Any tips to pass along?

We actually have a car reserved for Martinique and had planned to drive to St. Pierre on our own. But I started fretting, what if our car breaks down in the middle of nowhere? I'd hate to miss the ship on Christmas Eve and not be able to meet up again until St. Thomas. Am I being too much of a worrywart?

 

[HFC1969]

So...I'm looking for opinions.

-For those who've done the Disney excursions, are they worth the money? Are they overcrowded and do you end up feeling like one in a herd?

We have done both types of excurisons... The only excursion we usually don't do thru DCL is the Dolphin Swim... we usually get alot more time with the dolphins by going on our own. Other than that.. DCL excursions are usually great.

-For those who are planning on doing independent excursions in Martinique and Guadeloupe, have you found any helpful sites online? Any tips to pass along?

Have not yet.


We actually have a car reserved for Martinique and had planned to drive to St. Pierre on our own. But I started fretting, what if our car breaks down in the middle of nowhere? I'd hate to miss the ship on Christmas Eve and not be able to meet up again until St. Thomas. Am I being too much of a worrywart?

That is a problem with going on your own...

 

[riggins]

-For those who've done the Disney excursions, are they worth the money? Are they overcrowded and do you end up feeling like one in a herd?
We have also done both. Generally speaking, we've enjoyed DCL's excusions. They tend to be pricier than going alone, but often its not that much more and its worth it for the convenience.

-For those who are planning on doing independent excursions in Martinique and Guadeloupe, have you found any helpful sites online? Any tips to pass along?
We are planning to do a DCL excursion in Guadeloupe, but going on our own in Martinique. Since Martinique is Christmas Eve and it will be our 4th port day in a row, we're planning to keep it low key. We'll probably head into Fort-de-France and do a little shopping and enjoy some lunch. Je parle un peu de francais, so I'm not terribly concerned about being on our own, but based on my research, I think you're right about the "culture" on both islands. Neither relies solely on tourism for their economic well-being and therefore, they aren't as "tourist-friendly" as other islands in the Caribbean. They speak French and use the Euro and are insulted by visitors who show up and expect otherwise. So, I suspect if you have Euros in hand and attempt a little French, it will get you a long way.

The only tip I have for looking for a tour group is to search using Google and pay attention to what is right after the "name" of the site on the Google search results. Very often, you'll find the words "translate this site" for the sites that are in French. It will help with your research, but it may not help you find an English speaking tour company!

We actually have a car reserved for Martinique and had planned to drive to St. Pierre on our own. But I started fretting, what if our car breaks down in the middle of nowhere? I'd hate to miss the ship on Christmas Eve and not be able to meet up again until St. Thomas. Am I being too much of a worrywart?
Just like HFC1969 said, its a risk. I'd check out CruiseCritic and some other sites and see if you can find experiences of others who've rented a car in Martinique.

Good Luck!
Leslie

 

[BBQMommy]

Don't hve anything to add that can answer your questions but just wanted to say I am happy to read the information posted and appreciate all the questions everyone is asking.

Caryn

 

[CrusinLattas]

Ok... need some help..

We are going to WDW in Oct... thought of buying our annual passes then and stopping in the parks in Dec for a quickie before and after .

BUT

If you have annual passes and you dont buy park tickets with the package you do not get free dinning or stay discounts..

The free dining does require Magic Your Way, which includes tickets...BUT, the Room Only Discount would apply.

 

[bigAWL]

Ok... need some help..

We are going to WDW in Oct... thought of buying our annual passes then and stopping in the parks in Dec for a quickie before and after .

BUT

If you have annual passes and you dont buy park tickets with the package you do not get free dinning or stay discounts..

I agree with Crusinlattas. Here's what I see:

If you're going for free dining in Oct, then I think you can do that and upgrade the tickets on that package to an AP. This is a great thread about all the ins and outs of upgrading tickets: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1452684. Carefully read posts #7 and #12, especially the last two paragraphs of #12 which warn about how to best handle upgrading a DDP package ticket to AP.

But for your Dec trip, I don't think you can get free dining without purchasing new length-of-stay MYW tickets, and full-rate hotel package. But you can get the room-only discounts now being offered (up to 40% off), at least before the cruise. After the cruise the room discount (and free dining, for that matter) only applies to nights after the new year.

So it looks like there are a couple choices, but you'll want to run the numbers and compare. Either buy a full-cost room and ticket package and get free dining, or upgrade to APs and get a room discount and pay for your DDP or meals out of pocket. Either way, for a stay after the cruise, there are no deals available for the nights of 12/29 - 12/31. They start back up again for the night of 1/1/11.

 

[ucancallmetink]

Thanks, HFC1969 & riggins, for the helpful information!

I'm thinking that we'll probably forego the rental car in Martinique. My husband (the rocket scientist, literally ) pointed out that though the risk of something going wrong is low, the consequence is probably too high for our comfort zone.

I have been regularly checking the cruise critic thread with regard to Guadeloupe and Martinique, but the activity there (on that thread in particular) is next to nill. The editorial overview (found under the Ports> Southern Caribbean cruises> Martinique tab) was fairly informative, though.

 

[thegales]

Final Payment due today (if you have not done so already).

 

[HFC1969]

Carefully read posts #7 and #12, especially the last two paragraphs of #12 which warn about how to best handle upgrading a DDP package ticket to AP.

I was told to purchase your AP on the last day, but thats a good reminder in post #12.

Looks like we are leaning that way for our last day of the Halloween trip.

Final Payment due today (if you have not done so already).

 

[3princessMommy]

Yes, we are considerably poorer today than we were yesterday...

The upside is...WE ARE GOIN' ON A CRUISE!!!!!!

 

[BBQMommy]

 

[candmfox]

For those of us looking for an upgrade on our/your GTY cabin, Disney just let me know that the ship is about 85% full as of today.... soooo.....not sure what that could/should/would mean, but it is info. Extrapolate as you wish!