Magic Christmas Cruise 2010 (Dec 18th - 29th) - ***UPDATED - post #411 ***

[tinkmischief]

Hi All!

F/E responses are coming in - Yay! Had a question, and figured I would just answer it here for anyone else that might be wondering. Yes, I will be providing a list (oh how I love my excel spreadsheets lol) to all those participating when the time gets closer. We also need to decide on a cutoff date for signing up so everyone has enough time to get their stuff together. I will also give periodic updates as to how many people have signed up so far! Look for the first one in the next couple of days!

 

[CarolynElizabeth]

It's my first post-I hope I'm doing this right. We are new dvc members and just booked the 11-night holiday cruise with our points! It felt SO good to not have to whip out the credit card this time!

My name is Carolyn, and my family is my husband, son-17, daughter-11 and son-8. Although the kids are super excited about the cruise, my teenager isn't thrilled about giving up 11 days of his senior year Christmas vacation. He had SUCH a good time on our last cruise and met alot of other teens (who he still communicates with on Facebook!). I hope he perks up and gets excited with us as the date draws near.

We've never done the FE or a holiday cruise before. Looking forward to meeting other people on here and learning from the veterans.

 

[tinkmischief]

Carolyn!!

 

[3princessMommy]

Where did you get our cruise logo? How did you personalize it? I am thinking that they would make fabulous door magnets.

DH did the design. He'll post it on here again so everyone can get it.

Anyone interested in t-shirts or anything? We can set up something at cafepress if there's interest.

 

[CarolynElizabeth]

Thank you!

So we are booked in 2 connecting rooms right now but we put a large "deposit" down on a wait list for the concierge 1BR suite. We reeeeaaally hope one of them opens up, and I'm not getting much help or info from DCL. I get the impression that we will know pretty much if we got one or not after the final payment due date has passed. But I've been told 3 different dates for that..July 21, August 20, and September 18. I'm confused!

Does anyone know when the last day for payment is for this cruise??

 

[thegales]

I just checked our reservation on-line. Payment in full is due August 20. Excursions, on-board reservations, and on-line check in begin Sept 4. Because the cruise is '10 days or more', the cancellations/refund fee begin day 89 (meaning payment in full is at 90 days).

We also have a 3 day cruise in October booked, which we will probably cancel. That deadline is the end of July.

 

[CarolynElizabeth]

OK, thank you for that info. I'm not sure why they are so secretive and/or not forthcoming on info like that when people are wait-listing stuff. But hopefully we will get good news on August 21st!

 

[HFC1969]

144 days...

We have a DS.. turning 11 second day of the cruise...

He has his own email... plays football, baseball, basketball and loves DCL..


he is looking to make a friend for the 11 days of cruising.....


PM me for his email or txt #...


Gosh why does this sound like an ad on E-Harmony...

 

[VMinick]

Hello!

We're in a Category 3, and our payment was due in full on July 20th. The suites have a different due date from categories 4-12, which means we didn't get an extra month to save!!! Oh well, that money will just go right to our onboard/offboard activities! Can't wait!!!

 

[CrusinLattas]

Thank you!

So we are booked in 2 connecting rooms right now but we put a large "deposit" down on a wait list for the concierge 1BR suite. We reeeeaaally hope one of them opens up, and I'm not getting much help or info from DCL. I get the impression that we will know pretty much if we got one or not after the final payment due date has passed. But I've been told 3 different dates for that..July 21, August 20, and September 18. I'm confused!

Does anyone know when the last day for payment is for this cruise??

We have traveled in both a one bedroom suite and connecting rooms - honestly, the space feels about the same. Now staying at the concierge level has some great perks and if you have the $$$ it is a great way to go, we loved the meals in our stateroom from the all the dining rooms vs. going to dinner - since our kids attention span does not do well with the long dinners, and they do many things to make your stay special. But with the economy so slow one may open up - but also, the people who booked them have already had to pay a large non-refundable deposit, so I would guess fewer people cancel the suites.

Hope you get one! It would be wonderful with so many days at sea!!!!!!

 

[CrusinLattas]

Hey everyone! I am really looking forward to this trip! We were planning on flying and staying one night at WDW before the cruise, but I think we may drive now - I was really wanting to hit the Very Merry Christmas Party on Friday, but we can save so much more money driving, we would not have to deal with all the extra luggage costs, and the kids are getting better at hours of driving, so as much fun as it would be I will be happy with 11 nights at sea...smile!

Anyway, now I am starting to think about ports and what we will do. We normally like to spend as much time on ship as possible, but we are going to a few places I have not visited before and wanted to see what people are going to do on port days!

We did the Eastern trip a couple years ago at Christmas and hit I think St. Thomas on Christmas day and everything was closed. I am happy to see we will be at sea on Christmas this year - it is so much more fun that way - Santa has always been on board and gives the kids a treat (Santa Goofy is there as well) tAnhe line is usually very long on Christmas Day, but they have characters going through the line of waiting kids to make it seem shorter!

We should have some great chances for meets as well! Our first couple days are sea days. I have always done the meet on the first day, which was very hectic - would anyone be up for doing it on the first sea day? On other Christmas cruises we have done secret Santa's and ornament exchanges as well, which were fun! Since we have so many days together, would anyone be interested in doing that too? Another thing a DIS group did on one cruise that I really enjoyed was stateroom tours . It could be fun if people want to show off decorations or if anyone is interested to see what other category rooms look like.- .

Anyway, just some ideas of what has been fun in the past! This is the longest cruise we have been on so I’m sure we will all really get to know each other by the end of our trip!

When I last talked to the cruise Rep at DVC (We booked this one on DVC points we got when we bought in a couple years ago – they had a triple point thing for one year – DVC is great, but better value at resorts unless there is another great deal like that one.) this cruise was looking pretty well booked. The other cruise they had over NYE got split into two trips due to lack of booking and I think the rates on this one went down, but I think even though it is not very well publicized, it has booked up well.

OK, I feel like have been rambling and covered too much…but to sum up:

1. Ideas for port adventures
2. Ideas for meet and any other Christmas related activities
3. I am open for any questions about past Christmas Cruises, WDW at Christmas/NYE, DVC, or anything else…smile

 

[HFC1969]

one may open up - !!!

We have our fingers crossed!!!

 

[CrusinLattas]

OK, so we decided to drive to the port from Fort Worth! We had already booked a night at the Bay Lake Towers that we couldn't cancel since we borrowed DVC points from next year and had to use them this year - not a big deal since we wanted to get in a night early anyway. I don't know if we will have the energy for Very Merry Christmas Party after the drive, but worst case - we watch the fireworks from our balcony on Friday- so not a bad deal.

I wanted to let anyone driving know about parking options at the port! Since this is an 11 nighter, daily rates can add up so here is what we are doing! We are parking our RV at the Raddison in Cape Canaveral for free and getting a free shuttle to the ship. Raddison will do this if you book one night there. Since we already are staying at WDW we are adding a night when we get off the ship on Wednesday. I was able to get a shuttle and two tickets to Kennedy Space Center with a two room suite for less than the cost of parking for the 11 days! Kennedy Space Tickets are $41/adult and $31/child.

Anyway, we stayed and parked at the Raddison in the past and it was a good experience and you can't beat the price with parking and shuttle included. You do not have to book a cruise special to get the parking and shuttle either. If there is a package you like better - we have never been to the Space Center and thought that would be fun - they will still let you park and ride for free!

Just to let you know price comparrisons:

Disney Transportation - would not work since they will not take you back to Disney unless you have reservations on both sides of your cruise - but even if they would work with you on that and let you keep your car/RV there - which they will not - that would cost $280 for a family of four for the ground transfers.

Parking at the Port - $15/night for car and $26/night RV. So for 11 days a car costs $165 and an RV is $286.

Raddison Room Rates: Right now they have rooms starting at $107. $139 cruise rate includes hot breakfast buffet for two, so if you are planning on driving to the port, this is a great way to go!

I think Country Inn offers a similar deal. From what I understand the rooms are cheaper, but they charge per person for the shuttle and it is not as nice a hotel.

Hope that helps someone else!

 

[thegales]

We are still trying to figure out our transportation. We have always stayed at the Radisson the night before, and used their shuttle. We have done that whether we drove, or flew in the night before.

For this cruise, the girls have a regular school day on Friday, so we would prefer to not leave until they are done, and it is about a 9 hour drive. I think flying is out of the question due to cost, and trying to make connections, etc. So one thought is Amtrak. We could drive about 1.5 hours to a station, get on the train at 2:00 in the morning, and arrive at Orlando about 10. I am not sure how we will do at doing the overnight ride, and how we will be at the start of the cruise.

And to add to the fun of it all, we have tickets to concert on Thursday night before we leave. As much as I hate it, we might just skip school on Friday and get an earlier start driving. But we still have time to think about it.

But if we have a car, we will definitely do the Radisson shuttle, and not pay for 11 nights parking at the port.

 

[bigAWL]

We have our biggest Disney trip yet planned for Dec. First we'll be in WDW for 8 nights (staying at SSR unless the waitlist for BLT comes through...probably not), then one night at CI&S before boarding the 11-night Christmas cruise. I hope we're not exhausted before we even get on board. I think we're planning to rent a car and drive to the port.

I just checked our reservation on-line. Payment in full is due August 20. Excursions, on-board reservations, and on-line check in begin Sept 4. Because the cruise is '10 days or more', the cancellations/refund fee begin day 89 (meaning payment in full is at 90 days).

We also have a 3 day cruise in October booked, which we will probably cancel. That deadline is the end of July.

I'm not sure I follow... wouldn't 90 days out be Sep 20? Aug 20 is 120 days out, I think. My reservation through DreamsUnlimited has payment due on Aug 19 (guess that gives them a day to pass payment on to Disney).

 

[HFC1969]

I so wish we were close enough to drive....

Although for our family to be close enough to drive we would have to be just down the street..

We fly in Friday... and stay at the Hyatt..

 

[VMinick]

Because it's a 10+ day cruise, the final payment deadline is 120 days out rather than the standard 90. We had to do 150 days out for the suite payment

I hope time flies because I can't wait to be onboard for Christmas!!! My children don't know about the cruise yet, so that will be a holiday surprise

 

[3PrincessGrandma]

Still new at this. We (DH and myself) are hoping to join the cruise. Our cabin # is 6136. We currently plan a week at WDW (non-dvc timeshare)just before the cruise with Fri night at CI&S, leaving our car there for the cruise. We will be driving from San Antonio.
This will be our second Disney cruise. The first being a surprise for our daughter (3princessmommy) and family (BigAWL and granddaughters) for the inaugural Baltic cruise in June. WONDERFUL TRIP!!! Please add us to the FE list.

3princessgrandma

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

World of Color at DCA was amazing

 

[CrusinLattas]

I so wish we were close enough to drive....

Although for our family to be close enough to drive we would have to be just down the street..

We fly in Friday... and stay at the Hyatt..

We have stayed at the Hyatt a few times and really enjoyed it! Last year we had a day room there due to a really late flight home! I will miss using Disney Transportation and having to deal with luggage this year!