May 13.2006 Eastern

[DeeCeeSW]

Yes, almost 5 months away! Woo hoo! And now 200 posts on this thread, LOL!

I will just assume (although I normally don't like to do that...) that we'll have APL and plan accordingly.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

I imagine that we are all getting ready for the holidays, shopping and such. I am thinking more and more about how our cruise is only 5 months away!!!! I checked DCL's website to see how the ship is filling up and it looks as though there are no more cabins available on Deck 2 (Cat. 9). Does this mean there's a small chance that some of us (meaning me, LOL) might get an upgrade before we sail? That would be lovely (I am not getting my hopes up).

Hope everyone is doing well.

 

[TSirgey]

We finally got our airfare and hotel, and rental car booked. Now it really feels real! The best part is that we do not fly out until Sunday afternoon. That gives us a day to visit the MK when we get back. I'm hoping we won't be too exhausted! Is it actually possible to relax on a cruise? Our last few vacations have been so high energy that I feel like I need a vacation when we get home!

 

[Hanover]

Only 5 months from tomorrow!

Tsirgey- are you dropping off your rental before the cruise or leaving it in the parking area? We left our rental van in the parking area in February while on the 4 day Wonder cruise, but were considering using a company where we could drop off the rental van and get a shuttle back to the Port. We are anxiously waiting for Southwest to open up bookings for May flights.

We decided to go down 2 days early and leave one day after the cruise. In February, we flew out the same day we returned to Port Canaveral and were so jealous of everyone else heading to the parks that day (even though we had 7 days before the cruise at the parks, it was still depressing).
We are hoping that MGM will have started Star Wars weekends so our boys (now 4 and 8) can check it all out. They have absolutely no idea we are doing the cruise, or that their grandparents have also decided recently to join us. They are going to be estatic. They have asked almost on a weekly basis when they can go back on a Disney cruise. They think we are only going for a few days to the parks to celebrate our older son's birthday. We still haven't figured out how we are going to surprise them yet. Our oldest (will turn 9 on the 13th of May) thinks we are going to see Cape Canaveral that day , so we thought we may tell them we were going to just drop by the Magic to see it in Port. Once he realizes we are actually going on the cruise, we were going to have him call his grandparents and tell them, while they show up wherever we are at the time (we'll arrange a place by then). Hopefully we can keep the secret going....it's been really hard to keep the last 9 months!

 

[DrCavin]

Hanover:
Too bad the next 5 months are winter.. UGHHHHH

Budget definitly has a shuttle to/from the terminal to their rental office. Hertz & Avis I believe also offer a shuttle. Budget is the closest to the terminal ~3 miles. They do not charge the one-way rental fee either, so we drop it off & have another rental scheduled for when we get back. Saves the $70 in parking fees.

If you are arriving on Thurs, you could drive past the terminal & see the Wonder in port, it should depart around 5:00 or 5:30.

 

[Hanover]

Thanks for the advice on the rentals. I definitely would rather save my parking money and spend it on board or in ports on pictures or other souvenirs!

It certainly is freezing cold here today. We've still got snow on the ground and we are looking at a high in the mid 20's! I'm looking forward to a quick 5 day trip to WDW in a month to get some kind of warmth!

 

[DrCavin]

We have about 4 inches on the ground, expecting more later in the week as well I think. We dont even live in the snow-belt, but have received more snow this early than I can remember in a long while. High of 30 tomorrow.. heat-wave

Waiting for some airlines to post some deals, right now they are running about $260 pp. Holding out for $200, but may not get that lucky.

 

[Hanover]

We got our DCL Eastern cruise excursion, stateroom gift selection, on board information etc. guide book and "welcome back" letter in the mail yesterday. I couldn't wait until the kids fell asleep to read it (the trip is a surprise for them). It all looks so great.
Now I can't wait until we can book excursions, Palo, etc. on February 12, 2006. The cruise will be here before we know it!

 

[TSirgey]

Tsirgey- are you dropping off your rental before the cruise or leaving it in the parking area? We left our rental van in the parking area in February while on the 4 day Wonder cruise, but were considering using a company where we could drop off the rental van and get a shuttle back to the Port. We are anxiously waiting for Southwest to open up bookings for May flights.

Yes, we are getting the rental through Budget on the way from the airport to port because it was so much cheaper than any other method of transportation. I was able to get a midsized car for the three of us for $45. We will just drop off the car in the morning and take a shuttle to port.

On the way back, we are renting through Enterprise for again about $45 (SUV) because we are staying until Sunday and going to the MK after we dock. We would have used Enterprise for both because I had a coupon, but Enterprise did not have shuttle to the port. Budget is the closest and best price.

We got our airfare a few weeks ago and we are flying into the Sanford airport. The only hitch was that we had to fly back out on Sunday. No problem for us! We have no problem spending an extra day in Orlando!

Now that I'm finished my holiday shopping, I can start thinking about the cruise again!

Not sure if I mentioned this on this thread, but we got our room assignment: 6586. I was shocked it was assigned so early.

 

[Hanover]

Thanks for the information.


We got our room assignment months ago from Dreams Unlimited: 6508. It was about our only option at the time we booked (April 05) on the side we wanted and deck we wanted. We also didn't want a connecting room since last time we could hear a lot of what the other people next to us were doing.

I didn't think we'd miss having a balcony at the time we booked, but I'm now wishing we would have gone ahead with it. We had one on the Wonder (6546), but didn't use it a whole lot. I think we would use it a lot more with the extra sea days on the 7 day. I think we might be out of luck with hoping to pay for the upgrade at the Port because the ship looks pretty full now.
My parents are also going on the same cruise and they will have a balcony, so I guess we could always hang out there pulling into and out of ports. Our boys loved watching our docking on our last cruise.

I'll have to check into any balcony room openings once the last payments are due.

 

[DrCavin]

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to everyone....

Some rooms do open up once the final payment date passes. People cancel just before getting dinged for some $$. If you want to take a chance, you can upgrade at the port cheaper than doing it before, BUT may not have anything available - decisions.. .decisions....

We are in 6550, requested it when we booked - which seems like years ago now

 

[SQUIGGLE]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.
We got our welcome back, excursion envelope just before Christmas. What a pleasant surprize! But I didn't see the Swim with the Stingrays on CC. Does anyone know if this has been discontinued?
Just a few more days and we can say we are going "this year"!

 

[Hanover]

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas/Holiday. We got our flights booked for our May WDW/cruise trip through Southwest yesterday. It's nice to finalize that aspect of our trip. We had gotten an email from them with a "ding" rate that had to be booked by midnight yesterday for flights in January and February from BWI to MCO.We ended up getting our January WDW trip flight tickets for $39/each way from BWI to Orlando ($93/round trip including taxes, etc.) and got a nice credit towards our May tickets. Our tickets weren't that cheap for May, but we are hoping they'll go down and we can get another credit later. What a nice Christmas gift from Southwest!

 

[SQUIGGLE]

That's great news Hanover. Hope everyone has good luck with plane fare.
fran

 

[huey duey & luey]

Hi all
hope everyone had a fantastic new year. I am so happy to finally be able to say that we go this year !!!
Tara

 

[SQUIGGLE]

Happy New Year to all our fellow crusiers. May it be what everyone is hoping for.

fran

 

[TSirgey]

Do any of the fellow Disers cruising on 5/13 have any kids in the 5-6 range? Our dd is 5 and she is hoping to make some friends.

 

[Hanover]

We have a 4 year old boy (who will be 5 by then) and an 8 year old boy who will turn 9 on May 13th.

 

[DrCavin]

DD will be almost 9 (July b-day) & DS will be 6.

 

[jodifla]

I was thinking DH would want to cancel, but it looks like we're in!

It's me, DH and DS, 4.....We're South FLoridan refugees who are currently located in chilly Michigan.

Now I need to book airfare, hotel, car....