Magical Oct 4, 2014 Southern Caribbean

[hedgerow]

Greetings fellow travelers. At the urging of Marylou1962, I decided to jump aboard and book this cruise. Booking was a little tricky because we are in the process of adopting a little girl from China and we don't have any info like birthday for booking. We hope to travel to China by Christmas to bring her home. But I went ahead and booked a family veranda room so we can add her with no trouble
Our group will also include myself, hubby, Matt, and dd, Serenity,who will be 11 by then and in 6th grade. Wow that sounded scary.
It will be our 3rd Disney Cruise and we have yet to set foot on Castaway Cay. We sailed out of NYC to Canada last June and thru the Panama Canal in Dec.
We are totally hooked! I don't know why we wasted so much time on other cruiselines.
I look forward to getting to know you all.

 

[IndigoMickey]

Greetings fellow travelers. At the urging of Marylou1962, I decided to jump aboard and book this cruise. Booking was a little tricky because we are in the process of adopting a little girl from China and we don't have any info like birthday for booking. We hope to travel to China by Christmas to bring her home. But I went ahead and booked a family veranda room so we can add her with no trouble
Our group will also include myself, hubby, Matt, and dd, Serenity,who will be 11 by then and in 6th grade. Wow that sounded scary.
It will be our 3rd Disney Cruise and we have yet to set foot on Castaway Cay. We sailed out of NYC to Canada last June and thru the Panama Canal in Dec.
We are totally hooked! I don't know why we wasted so much time on other cruiselines.
I look forward to getting to know you all.

to you & your family!!


I've heard a lot about how these southern cruises will sell well & quickly. So, if there is anyone else who will be the same kids club age as your daughter who could be 'a place holder' ...
I've seen a few posts about how kid's club has reached capacity or lifeboats are full though the room can sleep the person they want to add and they can't.
If there's a cousin or a friend who is about your daughter's age and would be in the same club, I'd recommend adding him or her to your room for the short term.


Anni

 

[disneydiva16]

Welcome Jamie Glad to have you join us!!!

 

[castoff]

I'm here sorry so quiet. I'm actively planning my Aulani/North Shore Hawaii trip which is less then a month away now, and also a July Disneyland trip

It was also just my DD 8th bday, my anniversary coming up, Easter and also my DS bday all before Hawaii!

too much going on!! Lol
-Jess

Enjoy your trip to Hawaii ! Feel free to post some pictures when you return. I went to Hawaii on DCL last year and would love to go back !!

Just stopping in to say hi! My DH and I just completed our first Disney cruise and needless to say we were HOOKED! We quickly realized that 4 days on the boat was not nearly enough. So we ran home to look for sailings in 2014. After discovering that it is cheaper for us to fly to San Juan than Orlando the decision was a no brainer! So here I am, joining you all on the 10/4 sailing! Why must it be so far away!!

Welome Aboard ! Southwest is offering direct flights from Orlando and the prices seem affordable.

Greetings fellow travelers. At the urging of Marylou1962, I decided to jump aboard and book this cruise. Booking was a little tricky because we are in the process of adopting a little girl from China and we don't have any info like birthday for booking. We hope to travel to China by Christmas to bring her home. But I went ahead and booked a family veranda room so we can add her with no trouble
Our group will also include myself, hubby, Matt, and dd, Serenity,who will be 11 by then and in 6th grade. Wow that sounded scary.
It will be our 3rd Disney Cruise and we have yet to set foot on Castaway Cay. We sailed out of NYC to Canada last June and thru the Panama Canal in Dec.
We are totally hooked! I don't know why we wasted so much time on other cruiselines.
I look forward to getting to know you all.

Welcome Aboard ! How exciting for your family ! Congrats on your new addition to your family. Anni gave you good advice, I would add someone just so you don't have any problems ater on and DCL has her counted.

 

[MaryLou1962]

Woohoo Jamie!

 

[AquaDame]

Anyone have any tips or tricks to finding good fares to San Juan? I was unhappy with my options into MCO for end of May, and Jan isn't looking much cheaper for us either. Even flying to DL is going to be spendier than we have paid in recent years and that is only a couple hours with MANY departures daily. Starting to get nervous...

 

[castoff]

Anyone have any tips or tricks to finding good fares to San Juan? I was unhappy with my options into MCO for end of May, and Jan isn't looking much cheaper for us either. Even flying to DL is going to be spendier than we have paid in recent years and that is only a couple hours with MANY departures daily. Starting to get nervous...

Southwest is a good option. First no luggage fees ! They just started offering direct flights to San Juan from Orlando and Tampa. I put in a dummy date for Oct. this year and found rates for 139.00 per person. I never can find good flights/ rates from Myrtle beach. I think we will probaly drive from here to Orlando and catch the direct flight. Even with the driving it will be cheaper then getting a flight from Myrtle beach to San Juan. The difference for us is instead of 7 plus hours flying will be a 3 hour direct flight from Orlando. Am I crazy in that thinking ? We have time on our side, doesnt hurt to try and do some research now to figure out the cost for next year.

 

[castoff]

I have seen this done on other cruises I have been on and thought we would try it on this thread. It's a way to pass time and get to know each other while planning for this great cruise !

Every Monday we could ' ask a question ' and spend that week discussing it. We can take turns asking the questions every week. I will start and somebody else can come up with a question for next Monday.


This weeks question..........
Which ships have you been on and do you have a favorite one ?

My answer........We have been on the Wonder, Magic, Fantasy. We are partial to the Wonder. We were married on Castaway in 2004. We liked the Fantasy but felt it was too big.

 

[jeanigor]

This weeks question..........
Which ships have you been on and do you have a favorite one ?

I've been on the Wonder, Dream & Fantasy. DBF & I will be sailing on the Magic this October.

So far my favorite ship is the Fantasy, followed closely by the Wonder.

 

[AquaDame]

Southwest is a good option. First no luggage fees ! They just started offering direct flights to San Juan from Orlando and Tampa. I put in a dummy date for Oct. this year and found rates for 139.00 per person. I never can find good flights/ rates from Myrtle beach. I think we will probaly drive from here to Orlando and catch the direct flight. Even with the driving it will be cheaper then getting a flight from Myrtle beach to San Juan. The difference for us is instead of 7 plus hours flying will be a 3 hour direct flight from Orlando. Am I crazy in that thinking ? We have time on our side, doesnt hurt to try and do some research now to figure out the cost for next year.

I do like that Southwest has free luggage for sure! Usually they have less non stops for us compared to pretty much every other airline though, so this June will be my first flight with them (stars aligned!). Non stop from MCO is meaningless for us since we will be coming from Portland, Oregon... looks like they connect through BWI and NOT on the day of the week we will need. 13 hour flights, $500 apiece!

I have seen this done on other cruises I have been on and thought we would try it on this thread. It's a way to pass time and get to know each other while planning for this great cruise !

Every Monday we could ' ask a question ' and spend that week discussing it. We can take turns asking the questions every week. I will start and somebody else can come up with a question for next Monday.


This weeks question..........
Which ships have you been on and do you have a favorite one ?

My answer........We have been on the Wonder, Magic, Fantasy. We are partial to the Wonder. We were married on Castaway in 2004. We liked the Fantasy but felt it was too big.

We have only been on the Dream & the Fantasy - between the two we would say the Fantasy hands down! Satellite Falls was such a treat that we never even set foot in the adult pool and even though it looked cheasy online to me, we really enjoyed Europa more than the area on the Fantasy. Awesome bartenders, more friendly room steward and a better trained waitstaff to boot. I might change my tune after this cruise & our two on the Wonder though... time will tell!

 

[castoff]

I've been on the Wonder, Dream & Fantasy. DBF & I will be sailing on the Magic this October.

So far my favorite ship is the Fantasy, followed closely by the Wonder.

What didn't you like about the Dream ? I think the only reason why I havent been on the Dream is that its a short cruise. A b2b just doesn't seem cost effective. I have done 2 15 nighters and was spoiled. I am really interested in checking out the pink lounge. The pictures look amazing.

I do like that Southwest has free luggage for sure! Usually they have less non stops for us compared to pretty much every other airline though, so this June will be my first flight with them (stars aligned!). Non stop from MCO is meaningless for us since we will be coming from Portland, Oregon... looks like they connect through BWI and NOT on the day of the week we will need. 13 hour flights, $500 apiece!



We have only been on the Dream & the Fantasy - between the two we would say the Fantasy hands down! Satellite Falls was such a treat that we never even set foot in the adult pool and even though it looked cheasy online to me, we really enjoyed Europa more than the area on the Fantasy. Awesome bartenders, more friendly room steward and a better trained waitstaff to boot. I might change my tune after this cruise & our two on the Wonder though... time will tell!

I know what you mean ! The dummy prices I checked from Myrtle to San Juan were almost 600.00 per person. That's why I think we are going to drive Orlando. it's about a 8 hour drive for us. The other thing is most flights from here go up north first which I think is just crazy. I understand they have to fly to hub first. We did like satellite falls, everytime we went though it was packed ! It was just so much more walking and boy did we feel it delivering those FE gifts.

 

[jeanigor]

What didn't you like about the Dream ? I think the only reason why I havent been on the Dream is that its a short cruise. A b2b just doesn't seem cost effective. I have done 2 15 nighters and was spoiled. I am really interested in checking out the pink lounge. The pictures look amazing.

It just didn't feel welcoming. The crew were on par with every other DCL sailing I've been on, but the ship itself just was a miss for me.

 

[castoff]

It just didn't feel welcoming. The crew were on par with every other DCL sailing I've been on, but the ship itself just was a miss for me.

Your not alone in that feeling, I have alot of people saying the same thing. I don't feel like I have missed anything.

 

[AquaDame]

I know what you mean ! The dummy prices I checked from Myrtle to San Juan were almost 600.00 per person. That's why I think we are going to drive Orlando. it's about a 8 hour drive for us. The other thing is most flights from here go up north first which I think is just crazy. I understand they have to fly to hub first. We did like satellite falls, everytime we went though it was packed ! It was just so much more walking and boy did we feel it delivering those FE gifts.

Could be worse really... DCL quotes $962 pp! Effectively double? No thank you!

 

[castoff]

Could be worse really... DCL quotes $962 pp! Effectively double? No thank you!

So true ! We took our first Disney cruise in 2003 and had Disney book our air. Lesson learned. We won't make that mistake again.

 

[MrsMork]

I do like that Southwest has free luggage for sure! Usually they have less non stops for us compared to pretty much every other airline though, so this June will be my first flight with them (stars aligned!). Non stop from MCO is meaningless for us since we will be coming from Portland, Oregon... looks like they connect through BWI and NOT on the day of the week we will need. 13 hour flights, $500 apiece!

We will have to fly from either Missoula, MT or Spokane, WA (3 hour drive from Missoula). So, to solve this problem, we will plan on a few days at WDW prior to and after the cruise, allowing us to fly to San Juan from Orlando. I cannot even imagine trying to get to San Juan from Missoula. It is a 12 hr flight with 2 stops to Orlando...thus, the flights on Southwest out of Spokane make sense for us.

IThis weeks question..........
Which ships have you been on and do you have a favorite one ?

We have only sailed on the Magic and the Wonder - 13 cruises and none on the new ships. We love the longer cruises. The Magic is our ship. It was our first love and we are faithful.

 

[disneybride96]

This weeks question..........
Which ships have you been on and do you have a favorite one ? .

I love this idea!

We have been on the Wonder, Magic and Dream. We will be on the Fantasy in January. Lots of things I like about the new ships, but I will be glad to be back on a classic. We like Palos and the Tropical Rain Forest better on the classics. It will be interesting to see what the Magic gets in dry dock. I have heard that Topsiders will be changed to be more like Cabanas. That would be awesome.

 

[castoff]

We will have to fly from either Missoula, MT or Spokane, WA (3 hour drive from Missoula). So, to solve this problem, we will plan on a few days at WDW prior to and after the cruise, allowing us to fly to San Juan from Orlando. I cannot even imagine trying to get to San Juan from Missoula. It is a 12 hr flight with 2 stops to Orlando...thus, the flights on Southwest out of Spokane make sense for us.



We have only sailed on the Magic and the Wonder - 13 cruises and none on the new ships. We love the longer cruises. The Magic is our ship. It was our first love and we are faithful.

That sounds like a good plan Angela. I wish we could be in Orlando a couple of days before but sadly we will split it. One day before in Orlando and one day in San Juan.

I love this idea!

We have been on the Wonder, Magic and Dream. We will be on the Fantasy in January. Lots of things I like about the new ships, but I will be glad to be back on a classic. We like Palos and the Tropical Rain Forest better on the classics. It will be interesting to see what the Magic gets in dry dock. I have heard that Topsiders will be changed to be more like Cabanas. That would be awesome.

Oh I forgot about the Magic going through dry dock. I want them to update the bedding that's on the new ships.Improvement to Topsiders would be nice if they did it like Cabanas.

 

[jeanigor]

I love this idea!

We have been on the Wonder, Magic and Dream. We will be on the Fantasy in January. Lots of things I like about the new ships, but I will be glad to be back on a classic. We like Palos and the Tropical Rain Forest better on the classics. It will be interesting to see what the Magic gets in dry dock. I have heard that Topsiders will be changed to be more like Cabanas. That would be awesome.

I completely agree with your opinion of Palo.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Hi fellow Southern cruisers.....my DH John and I have decided to book this cruise. We did the 11 night southern with DCL in 2006 and LOVED all the ports. We couldn't resist doing this one again. Although Grenada and San Juan will be new ports for us. We're both very excited.

I love seeing some familiar faces on here....PJ and Angie and MJ and Tina and Lisa and Jen....it will be great to sail with all of you again. I'm looking forward to making friends with some new faces too.