May 30, 2009 - Western Cruise Magic

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I'm so excited for everyone that got upgrades! But I kinda feel bad about those that didn't get upgrades or not much of an upgrade. I wish all my friends had gotten upgrades! And I know that as much as I was making sure I didn't "expect" an upgrade I know I'd be a little bummed to see others upgraded if we weren't. It would be hard not to! I wish all our friends on here had gotten upgrades and I still hold out hope that they might be upgraded again!!!! I'm SO thankful for our upgrade and that our rooms are near one another and excited- I know we'll love our portholes because our first cruise was obstructed view portholes so I know this will be even better... I'm just tempering my excitement with a little sadness for those that didn't get upgrades and hoping they get some pixie dust too. KWIM?

I think I would have probably FAINTED if I'd been upgraded from inside to verandah cat 7 though. That's so incredibly awesome! I'm so happy for you guys that got this!!!

I can't wait till we have a list of rooms because I'm having a hard time visualizing where everyone is! Maybe I should write it down but why bother when awesome Bruce will be doing it soon anyway? LOL (yeah Bruce!! )

I wonder if we still have some on our master list that haven't even checked yet and don't know they got upgrades? It's possible there are still some that will be pleasantly surprised when they get on and check!

 

[pooh.kim]

Got upgraded to cat. 9's. We are so excited!! 2026 and 2028 connecting rooms We only have one FE for all four of us though.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Got upgraded to cat. 9's. We are so excited!! 2026 and 2028 connecting rooms We only have one FE for all four of us though.

Oooh, you did us one better with connecting rooms! Congrats!!!!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Bruce- I'm having a bit of trouble printing out the lists. The first one is so tiny I'll need a magnifying glass to read it (and I can't figure out how to make it bigger?) So I tried the last one- since it has the most info like what we're all doing at each port/etc. but it only prints over halfway and cuts off all that info on the right. How do we make it print it all? And if it gets any smaller I'll need the magnifying glass too so I don't know if I can even bother trying to make it smaller to fit all of it in the printout?

Also I'm confused- what are the ones with the names/info but says June 13th cruise? are those people going on the May 30th and the June 13th? or are they not even cruising with us now and still on the list? I'm so confused. I hope you don't mind helping me figure all this out.

Also we have 2 cabins and I noticed that mentioned on some people but not on ours. I'm not sure how to add rooms. If we can find out for sure that neither of our rooms has a bunk then we can just choose one for the kids- or choose whichever one might have the bunk but I have no idea. I know we can't fit it on there with both rooms on each of our "line" on the spreadsheet. But both rooms need to be on the FE- we'll have an FE for us on our room and one for the kids on their room. You tell me what would be best- I'm assuming even if you said give you a room number for each of us and we ended up in opposite rooms that those doing the FE gifts would figure out we'd switched by our names on our FE pockets, right? LMK! I was just trying to print them out and write on the room numbers and then encountered these problems with printing them (I can't write that small though! LOL)

 

[klcason]

Look at my trip report.

Basically you just drop the pillowcases off at guest services with markers and they have a sheet to fill out.

Thanks so much! I got hold of my DD and she is very excited, too! She thought I was teasing her!





We did this last year except we had a t-shirt and picture mats. Bruce is right, you take to guest services and they ask which characters you want. We got all of them but you could just have princesses if you want or maybe the fab 5. We took them the first night. I had them in a plastic bag with different colored sharpies. The last night they appeared on our bed! They were great!

This year I made an autograph book. I'm trying to decide if I want to take it to GS to be signed or have my DGD carry it with her when she meets the characters. If we depend on her carrying it, it might get left somewhere. I know the line will go faster if kids don't need to have their books signed but isn't the whole point to have them interact with the characters...

That is what we will do then, that seems so very easy! Thanks!

Got upgraded to cat. 9's. We are so excited!! 2026 and 2028 connecting rooms We only have one FE for all four of us though.

Wow, an upgrade and connecting!!!!! That is very cool!

Kayla

 

[brucechase]

Bruce- I'm having a bit of trouble printing out the lists. The first one is so tiny I'll need a magnifying glass to read it (and I can't figure out how to make it bigger?) So I tried the last one- since it has the most info like what we're all doing at each port/etc. but it only prints over halfway and cuts off all that info on the right. How do we make it print it all? And if it gets any smaller I'll need the magnifying glass too so I don't know if I can even bother trying to make it smaller to fit all of it in the printout?

Also I'm confused- what are the ones with the names/info but says June 13th cruise? are those people going on the May 30th and the June 13th? or are they not even cruising with us now and still on the list? I'm so confused. I hope you don't mind helping me figure all this out.

Also we have 2 cabins and I noticed that mentioned on some people but not on ours. I'm not sure how to add rooms. If we can find out for sure that neither of our rooms has a bunk then we can just choose one for the kids- or choose whichever one might have the bunk but I have no idea. I know we can't fit it on there with both rooms on each of our "line" on the spreadsheet. But both rooms need to be on the FE- we'll have an FE for us on our room and one for the kids on their room. You tell me what would be best- I'm assuming even if you said give you a room number for each of us and we ended up in opposite rooms that those doing the FE gifts would figure out we'd switched by our names on our FE pockets, right? LMK! I was just trying to print them out and write on the room numbers and then encountered these problems with printing them (I can't write that small though! LOL)

Lots of questions.

I will resend the list with just name and room numbers as soon as everyone updates their room number. That should take care of the smallness on that sheet. For the other sheets, I can send you a pdf with just the info you want. That way it will print however you want. I really hadn't thought of anyone printing them yet until I had all the information on it. I will make sure that they are readable on the next go around.

As for the people with different dates, these are people who posted early on our thread that they were going and never came back. I just did a search for them on the boards and found that they posted in another meet thread (June 13) after they posted in our. I noted it in case they came back (but they never did). I have now deleted them from the list to minimize any confusion.

On the list now you are listed with 2 room numbers.

I will also include a ship layout with our FE rooms highlighted. I have it in excel now and it won't be hard to make into a pdf. I also have an excel sheet with the "ultimate packing list". This is something I found last cruise and just saved it. I will print it in pdf if anyone is interested and doesn't have excel. Just drop me a note and let me know.

I need room numbers (for the FE) for the following (If they are already somewhere and I missed it, let me know. This thread had a lot of posts in the last 2 days):

2BoysMom
Bamabornnemonut
casacoco
Hmurry
sixtiesmum

As soon as I get these, then we can finalize the list and I can get everything out in the final form - that is until the next upgrade fairy strikes!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

So I tried to pay for an upgrade but DCL says that all the Cat 10 and Cat 9 are sold out.

 

[brucechase]

So I tried to pay for an upgrade but DCL says that all the Cat 10 and Cat 9 are sold out.

Did they give you a price for anything higher?

Doesn't look like there will be much room on the ship afterall.

 

[stlkeeler]

Bruce, I wanted to make sure you added us to the list of people staying at the Radisson. I just made the ressie for the shuttle yesterday. Ours is 10:30. Our flight gets in MCO somewhere around 2:00 - 3:00. (AirTran keeps changing it.) I think we're renting a town car for the ride to Cape Canaveral. Maybe. I still haven't made up my mind. Anyway, I hope we'll be there early enough for a swim in the pool and to meet up with anyone else who is there early. Anyone up for dinner together?

 

[kcashner]

I just checked....they are showing at least 16 verandah cabins available on our cruise (the most I can find is 8 in each category no matter how many are open). Cat 6 and 7 are gty, 4 and 5 are listing cabins. No, I'm not paying for an upgrade. We'll enjoy our double bath on this trip and I'll quit envying all who got a window.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I just checked....they are showing at least 16 verandah cabins available on our cruise (the most I can find is 8 in each category no matter how many are open). Cat 6 and 7 are gty, 4 and 5 are listing cabins. No, I'm not paying for an upgrade. We'll enjoy our double bath on this trip and I'll quit envying all who got a window.

Interesting.
We might pay for an upgrade at the port but probably not. I mean it would have to be a really good price for a verandah and then we'd have to upgrade on TWO rooms and they'd have to be near one another- and it's just very unlikely that we'd be able to upgrade 2 rooms, near one another, plus cheap enough that we'd do it. KWIM?

Maybe if they have those rooms left they'll do another mini-upgrade fest closer to the time of the cruise? Surely they won't keep people in lower categories and leave those verandahs empty! That would be such a waste! LOL

 

[mrpawn]

Hey Guys,

I need some advice from those who have cruised previously. We got our room assignments - 6303 & 6145. While we are thrilled that we went from deck 2, cat 12 to deck 6, cat 11, we are concerned with the placement. Our rooms are actually at complete opposite ends of the ship - and I do mean opposite! We are the first room & the 2nd to last room on the deck. This actually doesn't bother me as my kids are 17 (1 month shy of 18 @ cruise time) and 14. What scares me my 14 year who is a 1st time cruiser is prone to motion sickness. He really wants the room in the front of the ship as it is next door to 2 of his friends (we are 6 families sailing together). I was told by my neighbor, however, that the front of the boat has the most motion & he is likely to get sick. Does anyone have experience with this? I was planning on having non-drowsy Dramimene as well as the RX patch for him. Have any of you sailed in the front & what was your experience. The only cruises I have ever been on were Carnival & they were small boats. Should I be worried?

On a happier note, DCL really does pay attention to who is in the rooms when assigning them. All of the families w/ small children & multi rooms ended up right next to each other. I have the oldest children & the family w/ the 2nd oldest children & the family with a 20 year old & a 10 year old were split up. It's nice to know they were paying attention. I guess that's why they call it Disney Magic!

 

[ducky_love]

Hi Guys! I'm such a lurker... but I finally joined so I could give you the skinny on paying for upgrades. Don't tell my hubby! He already said I could decorate the door but no making 100 online friends to play with instead of having our romantic cruise alone!!

I just called to ask about upgrades since we went from a 12 to an 11. I'm a FL resident and have an IATA card, CLIA cert. There are no cat 10, 9, or 8 left to buy. The upgrade cost from 11 -> 7 is $2,600!!! (We got a good laugh out of that since we paid a little over $1,300 for the cruise!! AND got $200 OBC)

So I'll save everyone a call!! Get to the port early!!

 

[klcason]

Thanks so much for the info!!!! That really helps to clear some questions up!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Hey Guys,

I need some advice from those who have cruised previously. We got our room assignments - 6303 & 6145. While we are thrilled that we went from deck 2, cat 12 to deck 6, cat 11, we are concerned with the placement. Our rooms are actually at complete opposite ends of the ship - and I do mean opposite! We are the first room & the 2nd to last room on the deck. This actually doesn't bother me as my kids are 17 (1 month shy of 18 @ cruise time) and 14. What scares me my 14 year who is a 1st time cruiser is prone to motion sickness. He really wants the room in the front of the ship as it is next door to 2 of his friends (we are 6 families sailing together). I was told by my neighbor, however, that the front of the boat has the most motion & he is likely to get sick. Does anyone have experience with this? I was planning on having non-drowsy Dramimene as well as the RX patch for him. Have any of you sailed in the front & what was your experience. The only cruises I have ever been on were Carnival & they were small boats. Should I be worried?

On a happier note, DCL really does pay attention to who is in the rooms when assigning them. All of the families w/ small children & multi rooms ended up right next to each other. I have the oldest children & the family w/ the 2nd oldest children & the family with a 20 year old & a 10 year old were split up. It's nice to know they were paying attention. I guess that's why they call it Disney Magic!

I really don't know about forward being worse than aft. We've been both forward and after on deck 5's and 6's and haven't noticed a bit of difference. But then we aren't prone to motion sickness.... I hope you can find out from others but if you DO find out that forward is worse- do you think you and the families you're cruising with might be open to switching things around where not only your children but the children he wants to be near are all switched to aft?

It is nice that they took age into consideration when assigning rooms. I do know that the one on another cruise that had seperate decks also had an adult child and teenage child- so DCL was probably trying to put families with younger children closer and those with older children and/or adults they probably felt they could be more flexible with them.

Anyway maybe if you ask in the main forum there will be more responses about whether or not forward or aft is better or worse for those prone to motion sickness? I hope your son isn't feeling seasickness on the cruise!!! We were so lucky, especially our first cruise. I wasn't prepared (at all) for any seasickness and we were so fortunate that none of us experienced any seasickness and then we cruised again for 15nt and again no sea sickness. I can imagine having sea sickness and dealing with it would make it a very different cruise. So I hope that doesn't happen to your son!

 

[Tinkmom]

As someone inclined towards motion sickness I would say there is a noticeable difference in forward versus aft. Those swinging curtains in the theater come to mind! However, it may be that your cruise is generally smooth and it won't really matter. On some cruises when the ship is really rolling it could potentially be a problem anywhere on the ship.

Which brings us to prevention: I am sure there are people on the planet who have had pleasant experiences with the patch, but every single person I have ever known who used the patch hated it, and had problems--not from motion, but from using the stupid patch! Lots of dizziness, visions problems, etc. which resolved once the patch was REMOVED!

On the other hand, I think that Bonine (meclizine) is the greatest product ever for motion sickness and am only aware of success stories using it. Again, I am sure there are people with different experiences, but after five cruises and lots of discussion about products for motion sickness prevention I feel the need to relay this to newbies!

 

[klcason]

Hey Guys,

I need some advice from those who have cruised previously. We got our room assignments - 6303 & 6145. While we are thrilled that we went from deck 2, cat 12 to deck 6, cat 11, we are concerned with the placement. Our rooms are actually at complete opposite ends of the ship - and I do mean opposite! We are the first room & the 2nd to last room on the deck. This actually doesn't bother me as my kids are 17 (1 month shy of 18 @ cruise time) and 14. What scares me my 14 year who is a 1st time cruiser is prone to motion sickness. He really wants the room in the front of the ship as it is next door to 2 of his friends (we are 6 families sailing together). I was told by my neighbor, however, that the front of the boat has the most motion & he is likely to get sick. Does anyone have experience with this? I was planning on having non-drowsy Dramimene as well as the RX patch for him. Have any of you sailed in the front & what was your experience. The only cruises I have ever been on were Carnival & they were small boats. Should I be worried?

On a happier note, DCL really does pay attention to who is in the rooms when assigning them. All of the families w/ small children & multi rooms ended up right next to each other. I have the oldest children & the family w/ the 2nd oldest children & the family with a 20 year old & a 10 year old were split up. It's nice to know they were paying attention. I guess that's why they call it Disney Magic!

As someone inclined towards motion sickness I would say there is a noticeable difference in forward versus aft. Those swinging curtains in the theater come to mind! However, it may be that your cruise is generally smooth and it won't really matter. On some cruises when the ship is really rolling it could potentially be a problem anywhere on the ship.

Which brings us to prevention: I am sure there are people on the planet who have had pleasant experiences with the patch, but every single person I have ever known who used the patch hated it, and had problems--not from motion, but from using the stupid patch! Lots of dizziness, visions problems, etc. which resolved once the patch was REMOVED!

On the other hand, I think that Bonine (meclizine) is the greatest product ever for motion sickness and am only aware of success stories using it. Again, I am sure there are people with different experiences, but after five cruises and lots of discussion about products for motion sickness prevention I feel the need to relay this to newbies!

Both dh and dd are prone to motion/car type sickness, I am somewhat but only since ds was born! We we forward in connecting SPH rooms on deck 5and everyone but ds had problems the first afternoon. I had an arsenal of meds but before trying them we decided to give the Sea Bands a try. We put them on about 5:30 or so and by the end of dinner, I would say a couple of hours, we were all fine. Needless to say we didn't take them off the entire cruise.

Had they not worked Bonine/meclizine would have been the next on my list. Just glad we didn't have to worry about it though.

Now, I thought they were a bunch of hooey, and we did have something that was visible, but we will have them on again. The look on dh's face when I brought them out was priceless, he was like "yeah right like that's gonna help"! He closed is mouth real quick when he was able to make it through dinner though!

Dh and I both used the patch on a cruise many years ago and swore NEVER AGAIN!! I will say that we are both nurses and according to what we have been told it has been improved. However, the side effects to us just aren't worth it.

Kayla

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

We use meclizine. I get motion sickness really bad and every cruise I use meclizine and have not gotten sea sick. I buy it at Target, I get something like 100 pills for $3.

 

[kcashner]

Forward is definitely worse than aft when it comes to motion on the ship. If you think about it (or watch a small boat), the front of the ship takes the brunt of the "hit" when there is a large wave--thus, it has the most displacement (motion). The intensity of the front going up (or down) pushes the back of the boat in the opposite direction, but due to the size of the ship and the stabilizers, the motion of the ship is somewhat attenuated by the time it reaches the back. Obviously, you then get the reverse situation as the ship comes back to equilibrium. The center will have the least motion, but front is definitely worse than back--from a theoretical as well as a "been there, done that" perspective.

DCL had a lot of complaints about breaking up families on previous cruises....seems they made no real effort to keep families together when assigning cat 12s on some of the earlier "cheapie" cruises. People were calling to complain, talking to Guest Services, and re-arranging staterooms themselves with people they'd met on the Dis. I do realize that we were guaranteed NOTHING when we booked the cat 12, but it does make a lot of sense that they'd keep families near each other....after all, if 2 Dis families can trade to keep a family together, why couldn't DCL do it originally?

On our Feb. cruise, we did B2B in a cat 12. We weren't upgraded, but we were required to change cabins between the cruises!!! I mean, if you're not going to upgrade us an NO ONE has a specified room in a 12...you'd think we could have the same 12. I even had the TA call on that one--no dice because "the ship is full." SO, on this "full" ship, I was able to purchase an upgrade at the port.

On our March cruise, we got a great cabin at a great rate. However, the family across the hall were Dis-ers who were unhappy because one cabin was 7 aft and the other was 5 forward. However....they put the older kids (teens) in the forward cabin, and kept the 10 year old with the parents. During the cruise, they told me that it all worked out fine and the teens really liked being "alone."

The FL resident and other discount rates for our cruise disappeared a couple weeks ago....all you can get now is 4,5,6, and 7 at high rates. I won't argue with pixie dust, but won't pay more to upgrade than I paid to cruise! My teens will just have to LIVE WITH IT! So says the mom!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Kcashner- do you mind me asking what cat you booked and if you were upgraded at all?

I agree with you that it's weird if you have cat 12's and don't get upgraded that it doesn't make sense why they couldn't let you have the same cat 12's for the next cruise. I mean it's not like the other people SPECIFICALLY chose specific stateroom numbers for cat 12's so they can't move them before they assigned their rooms! Geesh! I do agree that I think they are trying much harder (and doing a great job, it seems so far?) of keeping the rooms close with those that have younger children. Gotta give kudos to them for that!

I spoke with my TA (who is so awesome- contacted me back within minutes, as always!!!) and found out our two rooms are all sleep 3... probably why we got those rooms so I'm not complaining! We'll figure out how to sleep our 3 kids somehow- oldest might get beat up a bit from the thrashing-in-her-sleep youngest dd. LOL Maybe she's outgrown that by now- I don't know.. we've avoided her sleeping in the same bed as anyone else for years now so maybe she's outgrown it. Hopefully!
But we also found out our rooms are NOT on the list of those not having steamer trunks- so that should mean we have steamer trunks which will be very helpful. Last time when the 3 kids were in the cat 11, it was difficult to pack away their clothes and they basically had to live out of their suitcases. I was thinking about buying those hanging closet shelf thingies from Bed Bath and Beyond though... just to have more clothing space. We could even use it in the TT while at Fort Wilderness too. hehe