March 15, 2015 MAGIC Cruise!! :)

[budamacdvcr]

Hope all are doing well. Just checking in and figured might as well say hey.

 

[5Dreamers]

Checking in and saying "Hello" too.

I am still waiting for the school calendar, but couldn't help but put a countdown ticker in my signature.

I am trying to book WDW for relatives and I'm going crazy waiting for the fall FD offers to be released. I heard it was released today to Disney Visa cardholders, and will be released to the general public next Wednesday. Unfortunately, from what I read, it isn't for the resort nor the week they want Stayed up last night to decide on back-up plans. Fingers crossed that they will release different dates and restrictions to the general public.

 

[Madzac]

Checking in too! Bought our airfare for our trip! Found a great price out of Chicago midway. I was going to wait for southwest to release prices later but this was lower than sw has been running so I jumped at it! Makes it feel a little more real!

5Dreamers, hope you can work something out for your relatives. I know a lot of people disappointed by the limited FD times, especially excluding most of October. I have to say I am not surprised. More and more schools are doing year round school with fall break. When we went to WDW in Oct 2012 I loved the fall and MNSSHP but it was pretty busy!

 

[papertraveller]

Yay for airfare! Who are you flying, Madzac?

I was stalking one airline site waiting for the schedule to open up, and the first day that it did all of the lowest fares were gone. I've tried to figure out who got them before everything was released to the public, but haven't found an answer yet. Very frustrating.

That means I'll be watching JetBlue in July to see if its next release captures March departures. Or we'll be waiting for Southwest to release in August.

My fear there, however, is that the flights will be released while we are on the DVC Members' Cruise. I know, cry me a river, right? But I'll have to find someone who I can trust -- not with my credit card so much, LOL -- but who will be able to get up at 6 a.m. to make the booking!! I don't think I can risk the ship's wi-fi.

5Dreamers -- I'm not sure what your board has historically done, but the Ministry of Education has this week as March Break on its calendar. The TDSB is following that.

 

[papertraveller]

Oh, and I just wanted to make an observation that it appears to me that the ship might not be filling up that quickly.

The price for our category hasn't budget a penny since opening day, and that is very unusual compared with the pattern we experienced on past cruises.

Has the price for your category changed at all since you booked?

 

[Madzac]

We are flying Delta. We have a stop both going and coming instead of direct, but the times are decent and layovers about an hour each so not bad. I love the free bags on SW but with some younger kids the open boarding makes me anxious! So if I pay early bird I negate the price difference, lol.

I just checked and we are booked in two 9A's and the price has gone up about $250 per cabin from our opening day price.

 

[budamacdvcr]

Oh, and I just wanted to make an observation that it appears to me that the ship might not be filling up that quickly.

The price for our category hasn't budget a penny since opening day, and that is very unusual compared with the pattern we experienced on past cruises.

Has the price for your category changed at all since you booked?

We have an 11A & 05A and prices are the same as when we booked - still early though.

 

[5Dreamers]

My DH showed me a link to the ships in Port Canaveral on March 15, 2015 and there are 6!
It says "Port Load" 17926, is that the number of people embarking?!
At no other time in March are there this many. There will be 4 the day we return (with a "Port Load" of 12474).
Does this impact check-in for the Disney cruise or do the other ships use a different terminal?
Would it be better to check in later instead of earlier, to let the crowds in first?
DH is thinking it may take longer than usual to return the car rental.
What you do all think? Any experience/wisdom?

 

[5Dreamers]

The prices for our 2 x 10B rooms are exactly the same as when we booked. We booked in November, did not book opening day, so not sure if it has changed since then.

 

[papertraveller]

My DH showed me a link to the ships in Port Canaveral on March 15, 2015 and there are 6!
It says "Port Load" 17926, is that the number of people embarking?!
At no other time in March are there this many. There will be 4 the day we return (with a "Port Load" of 12474).
Does this impact check-in for the Disney cruise or do the other ships use a different terminal?
Would it be better to check in later instead of earlier, to let the crowds in first?
DH is thinking it may take longer than usual to return the car rental.
What you do all think? Any experience/wisdom?

Hi,
I think the heavier load will have an impact on the availability of rooms near the port, as well as the shuttle times from the car rental operations. Certainly in our experience with Budget (3x) they were really efficient at getting all of the people checking in with cars through the process quickly -- they wanted to clean 'em up and turn 'em around for the people arriving off the ships.

I don't think it will have any impact on the DCL terminal, since we'll be the only ones checking in, plus the Magic is a smaller ship than the Dream and Fantasy. Our experience there has been that they are highly efficient at checking people in, and getting you through those Mouse Ears and onboard.

Hey -- I can hear them calling my name!

 

[5Dreamers]

Hi,
I think the heavier load will have an impact on the availability of rooms near the port, as well as the shuttle times from the car rental operations. Certainly in our experience with Budget (3x) they were really efficient at getting all of the people checking in with cars through the process quickly -- they wanted to clean 'em up and turn 'em around for the people arriving off the ships.

I don't think it will have any impact on the DCL terminal, since we'll be the only ones checking in, plus the Magic is a smaller ship than the Dream and Fantasy. Our experience there has been that they are highly efficient at checking people in, and getting you through those Mouse Ears and onboard.

Hey -- I can hear them calling my name!

Thanks for the info.
We just put holds on car rentals and noticed the prices have gone up since we checked in early April.
Today Enterprise was cheaper from WDW to the port, and Budget was cheaper after the cruise back to WDW.

We have always travelled off season, so we are not used to how things work during popular times.
With DD going into Grade 8, we've decided to stop taking the kids out of school for vacations, at least not more than a day or 2, because there can be a lot of work to 'catch-up' on.

 

[Madzac]

I have a reservation for both Budget and Avis after the cruise and I plan to keep watching them and then will decide based on price which one to keep. Hoping the prices will drop closer to as usual. Good to hear papertraveler that you have had good luck with Budget in the past. I am a little nervous about it being crazy when we get off the ship!

5Dreamers, we are in the same boat. DD will be in 7th grade and I am no longer comfortable pulling her more than a day. The kids will miss one day after spring break but that is all I am comfortable doing anymore. She is a good student but even the four days she missed in 2012 for WDW in 5th grade was tough to catch back up! Wish I had discovered how much we love to cruise BEFORE this point!!! I am also nervous that our next WDW trip will likely be summer. Not crazy about the crowd and heat idea!

 

[5Dreamers]

... I am a little nervous about it being crazy when we get off the ship!

5Dreamers, we are in the same boat. DD will be in 7th grade and I am no longer comfortable pulling her more than a day. The kids will miss one day after spring break but that is all I am comfortable doing anymore. She is a good student but even the four days she missed in 2012 for WDW in 5th grade was tough to catch back up! Wish I had discovered how much we love to cruise BEFORE this point!!! I am also nervous that our next WDW trip will likely be summer. Not crazy about the crowd and heat idea!

DH is thinking there might be a long line to drop the kids and I off at the port before he goes to return the rental car.
I'm also a little nervous about getting the rental afterwards.
I think our next WDW trip (where we go into the parks) will probably have to be either during March Break or the month of July, and I'm not crazy about the idea of crowds and possible extreme heat either!
However, I will be happy to be on vacation, and will make the best of it.

 

[mirandaperez10]

I am sorry guys I am not going to be able to go on cruise this year I hope u guys have an awesome time!!

Faith, Trust, and..PIXIE DUST.

 

[budamacdvcr]

My DH showed me a link to the ships in Port Canaveral on March 15, 2015 and there are 6!
It says "Port Load" 17926, is that the number of people embarking?!
At no other time in March are there this many. There will be 4 the day we return (with a "Port Load" of 12474).
Does this impact check-in for the Disney cruise or do the other ships use a different terminal?
Would it be better to check in later instead of earlier, to let the crowds in first?
DH is thinking it may take longer than usual to return the car rental.
What you do all think? Any experience/wisdom?

We have not seen 6 ships at PC at any time and we normally sail in the summer during busy season. DCL has it's own terminal so other than possible traffic should not be an impact and we are always believers to get there as early as possible to enjoy the ship as soon as possible and to beat the hoards when the DCL buses start arriving.

To those of you now travelling during "peak" times due to kids school we have been doing the same thing since the kids got older, especially with a HS and college age kids. You get used to it, and learn how to deal with it. Cruises we have never felt over crowded and for the parks you start doing some different things as your visit count goes up.

 

[SplashMom]

We just booked this cruise last night and I'm so excited! We have done two shorter cruises (3 night/4 night) both on the Dream so I'm looking forward to trying the Magic. We are flying in on the Wednesday before and are staying at AKL...flying home the day after we disembark. The discussion regarding port adventures is great. We have lots to decide. It will be me, DH and DS (27) so we are all adults (no FE). Can't wait to do more planning!

 

[papertraveller]

Welcome SplashMom!
Nice to see another member of the Canadian contingent.
I'm sure you will love the seven-day cruise -- it's so relaxing!

 

[SplashMom]

Thanks papertraveller. We are so excited! I noticed that you have stayed at the Beach Club Villas. We were planning to stay at AKL before the cruise but are now thinking about BCV. We aren't going to the parks for those days and we are big pool people. Stormalong Bay looks fabulous. Any advice?

 

[3Goofy's]

Hi Splashmom and welcome! I agree, you will absolutely love a 7 day cruise and likely never go back! There is so much to enjoy on the ship that 7 days allows.

If I may offer my opinion on the resort, we have stayed at both. I much preferred the feel of the resort of AKL. It is beautiful, with lots to do and see, great atmosphere and unique restaurants that adults especially would appreciate. It is a bit far from the parks. The pool is massive, but not special in any way. The Beach Club Villas were not quite as lovely as I was expecting, and while no other pool beats Stormalong Bay, after the first day or so, we hung out at the smaller pool. The hours of Stormalong weren't as extensive as we needed. However, we certainly enjoyed being close to Epcot and the boardwalk! The location of BVC is perfect.

You can't go wrong with either choice. Where will you stay post-cruise?

 

[SplashMom]

Thanks 3Goofy's!! We have stayed at AKL before and I really loved it but we are thinking we want to try somewhere else. Since we aren't planning on getting park tickets, we thought BCV would be a good choice because we can walk around the Boardwalk and watch the Epcot fireworks. Still haven't decided for sure, lol.

We only have one night after the cruise and I am thinking I want to try The Art of Animation. It looks so cute and since we are DVC members, we won't likely stay there on regular trips. Since it is only one night, we'll pay for the night and try it out. That is today's play but it could change many times, lol!!

Now to think about cruise excursions...