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

[Trep72]

Bump! =)

 

[disneypoor]

Since almost everyone has Facebook profile nowadays, I have created a closed group dedicate to our cruise!

It is listed as Disney Wonder - March 16, 2013 - Western Caribbean

Please stop by the group and ask to join. Since it's closed, I'll have to add people as they request.

This could be a great way to communicate to a larger group of people who are going to be on our cruise, but do not have a DISBoards account.

(You can also friend me on FB: http://www.facebook.com/intrepid72)

I'm going to try to get on Facebook at home tonight and request that you add me. Thanks for doing this! I've been so busy with my kids' sporting events that I haven't been thinking much about the cruise. I swear I'm lucky if I'm home one or two nights a week these days.

Susan

 

[Trep72]

I'm going to try to get on Facebook at home tonight and request that you add me. Thanks for doing this! I've been so busy with my kids' sporting events that I haven't been thinking much about the cruise. I swear I'm lucky if I'm home one or two nights a week these days.

Susan

Awesome! I'll be on the lookout for ya. Once you join, you can invite all 5000 people you're bringing on the cruise.

 

[disneypoor]

Awesome! I'll be on the lookout for ya. Once you join, you can invite all 5000 people you're bringing on the cruise.

Ok, so I'm trying to find this group on Facebook so I can add my 5000 friends to it, but I can't seem to locate it. I typed it in the search bar on FB exactly as you had it listed here on the DIS. Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[Trep72]

Ok, so I'm trying to find this group on Facebook so I can add my 5000 friends to it, but I can't seem to locate it. I typed it in the search bar on FB exactly as you had it listed here on the DIS. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Hmmmm....I just copied and pasted the name of the group and found it listed.

However, I've added you as a friend and have also added you as a member of the group.

 

[cheesemouse]

Haven't been on here in a while but really, I thought more people would have joined up by now?!? I wonder if the Miami cruises aren't selling as well. I'm thinking of totally reworking our pre-cruise portion. I think I'm going to scrap the airport hotel reservations I have, rent a car (I know, and bring 3 carseats, ugh), and go stay up near/at Hollywood Beach, and then just drive ourselves to the port. Finding good port transportation at a reasonable cost, at the time we wanted, and with car seats was just turning into a nightmare so I'm just starting over. Those 2 days shouldn't be this much work! Hope you are all having a nice fall. Our leaves are for sure turning here in Minnesota and will probably peak out in the next 2 weeks.

 

[disneypoor]

I'm telling you, I'm fairly certain we will have the entire ship to ourselves. I have found that airfare is ridiculous, and it's been kind of difficult to figure out where to stay and how to get from the airport to the port--especially if you fly in to FLL like we are. We have our trip all figured out, but I did a lot of research before I booked our pre-cruise stay. We do still have several people that are cruising with us who still have no idea how they're getting to Florida.

Let us know when you get all of your details figured out. This trip is sneaking up on us, and I'm so happy that it is! We have finally been getting rain here in Kansas (quite late but better late than never), so we've gone from hauling water to our cattle to having to drain some of the water out of our ponds. We're just never happy!

Have a great weekend!

Susan

 

[Trep72]

Haven't been on here in a while but really, I thought more people would have joined up by now?!? I wonder if the Miami cruises aren't selling as well. I'm thinking of totally reworking our pre-cruise portion. I think I'm going to scrap the airport hotel reservations I have, rent a car (I know, and bring 3 carseats, ugh), and go stay up near/at Hollywood Beach, and then just drive ourselves to the port. Finding good port transportation at a reasonable cost, at the time we wanted, and with car seats was just turning into a nightmare so I'm just starting over. Those 2 days shouldn't be this much work! Hope you are all having a nice fall. Our leaves are for sure turning here in Minnesota and will probably peak out in the next 2 weeks.

Cheesemouse, have you joined our facebook group yet? You should be able to find it by searching for "Disney Wonder - March 16, 2013 - Western Caribbean" (take off the quotes).

 

[cheesemouse]

I just went on facebook and submitted a request to join the group.

Carrie

 

[Trep72]

I just went on facebook and submitted a request to join the group.

Carrie

I added you just a little bit ago!

 

[disneypoor]

We were all the way back on page 5, and I couldn't stand that, so I posted. Our paid in full date is quickly approaching, so I keep thinking we'll add more people to this group. ?? We added one more family of four this week. They have two teenagers that are the same ages as my own kids. It should be fun!

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Susan

 

[Trep72]

We were all the way back on page 5, and I couldn't stand that, so I posted. Our paid in full date is quickly approaching, so I keep thinking we'll add more people to this group. ?? We added one more family of four this week. They have two teenagers that are the same ages as my own kids. It should be fun!

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Susan

Need more singles!

I can't believe that 12/28/12 will be here soon!

 

[disneypoor]

I can't help you out on the singles, Brian. Sorry! Yes, December will be here before we know it! I'm debating right now. I initially booked us two inside staterooms so the kids could have their own room. Then, I switched us to one oceanview stateroom. And finally, I switched us to a verandah. Now I'm second guessing myself and thinking maybe we should just all four stay in an inside because it would save us $640. Plus, if our cruise isn't full, we can likely pay to upgrade at the port. We've done that before, and it's much cheaper on the day of the cruise! Not sure what to do, but at the moment, I'm leaning with saving $640. However, my kids know that I booked a verandah, so I'll have to surprise them when we get there with the inside room. They'll love me for it.

What would you do? Save the money and stay inside, or splurge and get the verandah. It's going to be one or the other because the price difference from oceanview to verandah was a little over $300, so I don't feel like that's a big enough savings even though I love oceanview rooms. $640 speaks to me though. Disney will be sick of me making changes by the time this cruise gets here.

Susan

 

[Trep72]

I can't help you out on the singles, Brian. Sorry! Yes, December will be here before we know it! I'm debating right now. I initially booked us two inside staterooms so the kids could have their own room. Then, I switched us to one oceanview stateroom. And finally, I switched us to a verandah. Now I'm second guessing myself and thinking maybe we should just all four stay in an inside because it would save us $640. Plus, if our cruise isn't full, we can likely pay to upgrade at the port. We've done that before, and it's much cheaper on the day of the cruise! Not sure what to do, but at the moment, I'm leaning with saving $640. However, my kids know that I booked a verandah, so I'll have to surprise them when we get there with the inside room. They'll love me for it.

What would you do? Save the money and stay inside, or splurge and get the verandah. It's going to be one or the other because the price difference from oceanview to verandah was a little over $300, so I don't feel like that's a big enough savings even though I love oceanview rooms. $640 speaks to me though. Disney will be sick of me making changes by the time this cruise gets here.

Susan

It's funny that you mention this because I've been thinking about it too.

I initially booked an inside room and then started doing some number crunching and realized that for only $30 more per paycheck (I've broken down my payments to coincide with my paydays) I could afford to get us a verandah. Now that I'm getting closer to the due date, I'm wondering if I should go back to the inside room and save that $$$. But, I'm leaning towards keeping it because I want to make our first cruise as awesome as possible, and this would be just the icing on an already incredible cake and it might be awhile before we cruise again.

BUT...there's whole getting spoiled on the verandah and never wanting to stay in anything less. LOL

 

[disneypoor]

We stayed in a room with a verandah on our very first Disney cruise, and it was amazing. After that, we booked oceanview and have been able to upgrade at the port several times. However, we've also had times when we couldn't upgrade, so you definitely have to book what you know you'll be okay with. We've never had an inside stateroom, and I worry about not being able to see out, but I think since we're hardly ever in our room, it would probably be fine. Many of the people we've sailed with in the past have had inside staterooms and were totally fine with them. I just definitely want a split bathroom. I know that for sure! I need to talk to my DH. Of course, he is going to say to save the money, but then I'll second guess myself from now until we leave on our cruise. Not sure what we'll do......

 

[cheesemouse]

Cabin choices are definitely hard. It's so easy to second guess yourself. I look at it as what will I NOT be doing by upgrading to a better cabin. So in your case, if you go with the inside and have the extra $640, what will you do with that money? Does it allow for a shore excursion or two? Maybe a trip to the spa? Will it cover your onboard expenses?

We usually don't spend much time in the room when it is just my DH and I cruising. But with the little kids, we do spend time in rooms due to naps and early bedtimes, etc. So for us, a better cabin is worth not doing other things. And like you said, port upgrades are never guaranteed so book what you'll be happy with, even without a port upgrade.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[disneypoor]

We have older kids, so we aren't always in the room much, but when we are, we do like to at least be able to see out. The way I'm looking at it now is that changing from a verandah to an ocean view would save us $340, and I think I want to stick with my verandah for that price. We've never had an inside stateroom. Maybe my DH and I need to cruise without the kids some time and try out an inside stateroom. My kids would love that!

I noticed that many of the Galveston cruises are being discounted now. I'm hoping that as ours gets closer, maybe there will be a discount offered since it doesn't appear to be a real popular cruise at this point. It would be so great to find out that we can keep the same room AND save some money! A girl can dream, right?

Susan

 

[cheesemouse]

Hi gang - Havent' been on here in ages. Life has been crazy. But my trusty calendar popped up today telling me I need to pay off the cruise tomorrow which made me think of you all. I hope everyone is doing well and that plans are coming along. I'm paying off the cruise tomorrow and our booking window opens on Friday so I guess I had better decide on a few things. Every time I ask my DH, he just says he's not sure. Well, time is ticking. It's hard to know WHEN to book nursery time for my little one. I do want to try and book one adult dinner, just not sure what day we want to do it. Oh, and I did get the boys some pirate costumes back at Halloween while they were out. So at least that's set. Our pre-cruise is still up in the air. My DH now wants to consider going to a conference at WDW at the Contemporary Resort right before the cruise. I'm iffy about the whole thing. I'm not keen on taking 3 kids to MK by myself for 3 days while he's at a conference. But, lodging and my DH airfare would be covered so the extra cost is minimal. So who knows. One of the reasons I picked the Miami cruise is so that I WOULDN'T be tempted to squeeze in a trip to WDW. Go figure. Anyhow, have a lovely Thanksgiving everyone!

 

[disneypoor]

It's hard to believe our payoff dates are coming up so quickly! I still have no idea what excursions we are looking at booking, but I guess I better consider it soon. We can't book until 90 days out (I think). Cheesemouse, I'm guessing you must be platinum, right? You'll have to let us know if there appears to be much availability for excursions and Palo.

If you can go to DW for three days without much cost, I say GO FOR IT! I know what you mean about booking a cruise out of Miami so you wouldn't be tempted to go to WDW (cause that's exactly why I did it too), but I've found myself wondering if we should tack on a few days and head to Orlando. It's so hard to be that close and not go!

I came home to a nice surprise today! The FedEx man was delivering a package, and it was a $200 Disney gift card from DVC. I bet I know where I'll spend that!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone! This cruise will be here before we know it!

Susan

 

[Trep72]

Bump!