March 16, 2013 - 5 Night Western Caribbean - Disney Wonder

[disneypoor]

29 is a lot of people, isn't it? We have such a good time though! We always do second dining but mostly because my husband is a dairy farmer, and we're used to eating later. Plus, my kids are older, so they stay up late anyhow when we're cruising. I guess we really don't have a preference. Either dining time would be fine for us.

I just started a thread asking for advice for transportation and hotel suggestions for Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. I'll let you know if I hear of anything that I think you might be interested in.

Susan

 

[Trep72]

It pained me to do so, but I just booked our airfare for the October trip. I just hope that the price drops a little bit so I can use the credits for the cruise.

 

[disneypoor]

Airfare is so high right now! I'm worried about our air for next spring break too!!!

 

[Trep72]

Indeed it is. Flying from OKC to FLL is cheaper than OKC to MCO. Not by much...but still cheaper.

Airfare is so high right now! I'm worried about our air for next spring break too!!!

 

[Trep72]

I saw on SWA's web site that airfare thru March 8, 2013 will be released on July 9th. So it might be a safe bet to say that we'll know in early August what Spring Break week will look like.

Airfare thru Jan. 4th is posted now.

Time's movin' fast!

 

[disneypoor]

I'm excited yet nervous to see what airfare will be. I do want them to hurry up and release it though! Keep me posted if you see what the actual date is that they plan to release it.

I'm still uncertain as to what we will do. I'm beginning to think we might fly in the night before just to make sure we're there in plenty of time. Figuring out transportation, hotel, etc., is a little more difficult for me in an area I'm unfamiliar with. If it was Port Canaveral, I'd know exactly what we were doing! We're excited to leave out of Miami for a change though.

Have a good week!

Susan

 

[disneypoor]

We were all the way back on page 5, so I figured I had better bump us up.

 

[Trep72]

Well, I got lucky this week and last week. SWA finally lowered the airfare on the flights we are taking in October. So now we have at least an $82 credit to be applied to our flights in March!

As for the March airfare, SWA's web site now says that only airfare thru Feb. 13th will be released on July 9th. At that rate, we might not know our spring break airfare until the first few weeks in September.

 

[disneypoor]

Glad to hear you have a little bit of credit toward your spring break flights! I figured we probably wouldn't be able to purchase flights with SWA for spring break until September or October. I'm nervous to see how much they will be! I've been doing a little bit of research on where to stay and transportation if we do end up flying in to Ft. Lauderdale. I still don't have it figured out. Hoping to get some info once this cruise starts sailing. Take care!

Susan

 

[Trep72]

Bump =)

 

[Trep72]

We're getting closer! SWA released airfare thru 02/13/13 today!

Next release will be on July 16th for airfare thru 03/08/13.

 

[Trep72]

SWA released their fares thru March 8th. They will release fares for our week of travel on August 27th, but we can now see the schedule of flights.

From Oklahoma City, the earliest flight arrives in FLL at 1:15p, which pretty much confirms that we will be arriving the day before, but that's something I had pretty already decided on anyway.

We also got our passports over the weekend! The kiddo and I are both getting excited!

 

[disneypoor]

Thank you for the heads up on the airfare! I wasn't expecting them to release it for our trip until September/October. I just checked, and it looks like the earliest flight we could get from KC would also get us there at 1:15. We won't be doing that either. It is EXPENSIVE! For us, it would be $188 each way. OUCH!

Our numbers for this cruise are up to 35 now. We had another family book last week. Hope the airfare doesn't scare them all away!

Congrats on the passports--that makes it seem more real! We head to Disney World next week for our first ever stay as DVC members. We're pretty excited about it. Take care!

Susan

 

[Trep72]

Thank you for the heads up on the airfare! I wasn't expecting them to release it for our trip until September/October. I just checked, and it looks like the earliest flight we could get from KC would also get us there at 1:15. We won't be doing that either. It is EXPENSIVE! For us, it would be $188 each way. OUCH!

Our numbers for this cruise are up to 35 now. We had another family book last week. Hope the airfare doesn't scare them all away!

Congrats on the passports--that makes it seem more real! We head to Disney World next week for our first ever stay as DVC members. We're pretty excited about it. Take care!

Susan

Yeah from OKC, the cheapest thus far is $199, but I will end up paying slightly more because I really don't have to travel for 7 hours. LOL

35!?!? That's crazy! You guys are going to dominate the boat.

 

[cheesemouse]

Hi everyone - My family is booked on this cruise! It is me (Carrie), my husband, and 3 boys (7, 4, and 1 at the time of the cruise). We have cruised a couple of times before just as adults but this is our first one with the kids. And it is our first with DCL. All of the others were on Princess (which we liked, but it's hard to find cruise lines that have cabins to accommodate a family of 5). We figured the 5 nights was a good starter length for the kids. If it works out, great, it's almost a week. If it doesn't go well, then it's only 5 nights. We live in Minneapolis and will be flying into Miami on the Thursday before the cruise. We're going to spend Friday doing a "big beach" day for the kids. They've never been to the ocean and would love playing in the sand and some waves.

Right now I've got two different hotels in Miami booked for our pre-cruise nights. One is at the Comfort Suites Miami Airport North and the other is the Homewood Suites Blue Lagoon. The Comfort Suites one is nice because the have free shuttle to/from airport and to the port. But the "suite" is really more of a large room and doesn't have a seperate bedroom so I'm not thrilled with that. I hate sharing a room with my 3 kids. The Homewood Suites is nice because it has real bedrooms, a complimentary dinner/drinks on Thursday evening, and an airport shuttle. But it doesn't have a port shuttle and the room rate is more. So, I'll have to ponder this a little more and then cancel one of them.

I don't think we are going to really do any excursions this time around (which is hard for me to even type!). Usually we are pack-in-as-much-as-possible type travelers, but with the kids, and especially the baby, who will have just turned one, we are going to go for a more low key vacation. We'll just stay on the ship in Cozumel and enjoy what the ship has to offer and probably rent some things on Castaway Cay. I'm contemplating doing a cabana on Castaway Cay but have to really think about it some more as it's pricey.

I'm watching airfares too, like you guys. Flying out of MSP is always sooo expensive. The best I'm seeing right now is 475pp so that's a tough one to swallow. Maybe they will go down but I'm not entirely optimistic.

It's nice to see some other DISers on this cruise! Look forward to chatting with both of you!

Carrie

 

[Trep72]

Welcome to the "club"!!! Glad to hear from another group that's gonna be on the same boat.

Airfare for SWA is only 9 days away! I'm afraid we're gonna have to book as soon as they come out as there are flights between March 1-8, 2013 that are already sold out.

I've been trying to figure out where we are going to stay pre/post cruise, but haven't really settled on anything yet. We'll be flying into/out of FLL, so I'm trying to decide if we wanna stay in Miami or not. I guess I better decide something soon. With it being spring break MONTH, I'm sure rooms are going to fill fast.

Hi everyone - My family is booked on this cruise! It is me (Carrie), my husband, and 3 boys (7, 4, and 1 at the time of the cruise). We have cruised a couple of times before just as adults but this is our first one with the kids. And it is our first with DCL. All of the others were on Princess (which we liked, but it's hard to find cruise lines that have cabins to accommodate a family of 5). We figured the 5 nights was a good starter length for the kids. If it works out, great, it's almost a week. If it doesn't go well, then it's only 5 nights. We live in Minneapolis and will be flying into Miami on the Thursday before the cruise. We're going to spend Friday doing a "big beach" day for the kids. They've never been to the ocean and would love playing in the sand and some waves.

Right now I've got two different hotels in Miami booked for our pre-cruise nights. One is at the Comfort Suites Miami Airport North and the other is the Homewood Suites Blue Lagoon. The Comfort Suites one is nice because the have free shuttle to/from airport and to the port. But the "suite" is really more of a large room and doesn't have a seperate bedroom so I'm not thrilled with that. I hate sharing a room with my 3 kids. The Homewood Suites is nice because it has real bedrooms, a complimentary dinner/drinks on Thursday evening, and an airport shuttle. But it doesn't have a port shuttle and the room rate is more. So, I'll have to ponder this a little more and then cancel one of them.

I don't think we are going to really do any excursions this time around (which is hard for me to even type!). Usually we are pack-in-as-much-as-possible type travelers, but with the kids, and especially the baby, who will have just turned one, we are going to go for a more low key vacation. We'll just stay on the ship in Cozumel and enjoy what the ship has to offer and probably rent some things on Castaway Cay. I'm contemplating doing a cabana on Castaway Cay but have to really think about it some more as it's pricey.

I'm watching airfares too, like you guys. Flying out of MSP is always sooo expensive. The best I'm seeing right now is 475pp so that's a tough one to swallow. Maybe they will go down but I'm not entirely optimistic.

It's nice to see some other DISers on this cruise! Look forward to chatting with both of you!

Carrie

 

[disneypoor]

Welcome, Carrie! We are still trying to decide when we are flying in. I'm a teacher and have been for 19 years. Well, for the first time ever, we have school on the Friday before spring break! My plan was to fly in on Friday, the 15th, but now the whole school thing has to be considered. Ugh! We will fly in to FLL cause we have free flights on Southwest. I've been watching close, and air is HIGH! Thank goodness we have some free flights!

Glad to hear someone else is joining us. We can't wait! No matter where we go, we always love our Disney cruises more than anything! take care!

Susan

 

[Trep72]

Well, our hotel is set! I have a friend who is getting us a sweet deal on a room pre- and post-cruise at the Hampton Airport North in Ft. Lauderdale!

They have free transport to/fro FLL so now all I have to do is get transportation to/fro the PoM and we'll probably use SAS for that. Unless of course Disney ends up offering it's DME service from FLL to the PoM. Then we'll use the hotel's free transport back to the airport on cruise day and then load up on the DME and vice versa on the way back!

Also, it's less than a week away until we know the SWA airfares for our cruise week!

 

[disneypoor]

I'm getting anxious and nervous about SW releasing their airfare. I just don't want to pay $400 round trip, but I'm guessing that's about what it will be. I'm also a little concerned about telling my boss I need off on the Friday before spring break. They frown on teachers for taking the day before a holiday off--especially a day with students. They changed the calendar after 18 years of teaching though, so it's really their fault.

Congrats on the hotel. I still have no clue what we're doing. I want to get my air booked first to see what times we get. I'm contemplating flying out late Friday night. We wouldn't get in to FLL until 12:20 though, so I can't decide if I want to do that or just take my chances at making work mad and leaving early.

So far, it doesn't sound like the ship will be too full--just all of my people and two other families. We're gonna have a blast on that empty ship!

Take care and let me know what air you get on Monday.

Susan

 

[cheesemouse]

Hey there - I have a question for you guys about Southwest. Are their fares usually the cheapest when they first come out or does it flucuate a lot like other airlines? We usually fly Delta out of Minneapolis because it's ALMOST always the cheapest and we can get direct flights. But, flights are just soooo expensive for Florida for March that if Southwest is a fair bit cheaper then I'm really tempted to go with them on Monday when fares come out. But I wasn't sure if I should be prepared to grab something on Monday or if I could expect them to stay like that for a little while. I would have the added transportation cost from FLL to POM so they'd have to be quite a bit cheaper to make it worth it. Thanks!