May 6, 2006 - 7 nite Western - Anyone Crusing?

[Sneezy63]

Ok, so you need to help out this "Disney's first cruise for dummies" and help me get straight the sailing schedule. So what will our schedule be now for sea days?

I have seen some people on cruise critic talking about a dolphin swim at Uvero Beach in Costa Maya, but it seems to be a excursion that is booked with Carnival and I was going crazy the other night trying to find info on it. I know my DD's were still crossing their fingers and toes that Dolphin Discovery would open in time on Cozumel.

Has anyone found any information about swimming with dolphins in CM?

Hi Mazzarafe...

I found this....hope this helps some.

http://www.mayanbeachgarden.com/activies_dolphins.html

And I just checked yesterday on the Disney cruise page and it still has us for Cozumel but when I checked that cruise ship calendar site it does indeed show us at Costa Maya. (May 6th cruise) But if you want to book through Disney, you probably couldn't do it until they officially change it. (I'm assuming.) Good Luck!

 

[mazzarafe]

I was checking prices this morning for my last minute brother who is now looking forward to spending his tax refund and thought he would join us for our cruise. And I was on cruise411 and it lists Costa Maya as the stop for the May 6th Magic, not Cozumel.

Funny thing though, I had my DU agent check on this yesterday and she said that the DCL agent said that they only have sailings thru 3/25 showing Costa Maya and that the situation in Cozumel is still not good and they haven't officially been given word yet of anything beyond that date.

Sneezy63, thanks for the link. I found that site too! Even emailed them. They have nothing to do with the dolphin swim, it is thru Uvero Beach Club, they just sell passes to the club for their hotel guests.

The mystery continues....

 

[jillane88]

I'm thinking about booking the Rays, Reef and Rum Point excursion with Native Way in Grand Cayman. Anyone else doing this? I'm a little nervous about a non-Disney excursion, but I've read really good things about this company and they haven't had anyone "miss the boat" yet, so I'm trying to not worry about that!

I had originally thought I'd book with Captain Marvin's but I liked the idea of going to Rum Point for lunch and I don't think that CM offers that.

What do you guys have planned for Grand Cayman?

I've heard great things about NativeWay and we were considering that same excursion. If we don't do that one, we definitly want to do Stingray City and snorkle excursion and we will most likely book with an outside vendor other than Disney.

Heather

 

[ganurse]

We have not decided although you guys have given me a lot to think about. We may just walk around, shop and spend the rest of the day on the quiet boat!

 

[jcfowler]

I just spoke to the folks at Cruise(dot)com (who spoke to Disney!) about our cruise. As of today the "plans" are for the Western Cruises to include Costa Maya at least through March 25th. They even said depending upon the response (from all of us I guess!?!) it might be changed to a "regular" stop for the remainder of 2006. If you would like to give your opinion call Disney. As for me and my house, we plan to go wherever the ship goes!!!

As to the Dolphin "experiences" the one listed in Cozumel is $135 per person as compared to $279 at Discovery Cove in Orlando. Sounds like a deal to me! I'm a big fan of Flipper!!

Good luck to all of you in the great frozen wastelands of the US - north of the Mason/Dixon! LOL! Now you know why I live at the Gulf Coast! Hope you all thaw out in time for the trip!

BTW - we are spending Friday night at the Radisson in Port Canaveral and leaving our car there free for the week. No plug. Just info.

Later!

 

[pearlieq]

We may just walk around, shop and spend the rest of the day on the quiet boat!

That's exactly our plan if we do wind up heading to Costa Maya. I figure it will free up a little extra money for Key West, which we're really more interested in.

I figure we'll just look around the port, maybe take a cab into the fishing village, and then head back on board and take it easy. Works for me either way!

 

[mazzarafe]

I just had a email back from the one I sent to Via Delphi which is the company who does the dolphin swim at Uvero Beach Club in Costa Maya.

They said that they do not have online or phone reservations so the only way to book it is to do so thru the cruiseline or to go directly there once in port. I know that you need to buy a pass into the club to get to the dolphins. You can buy passes into the club at the pier.

Just thought I would share.

jcfowler, I'm sitting at the computer with a nice fresh cup of java in my big 100 years of magic mug. At least we have nothing but a chance of a snow flurries on Monday night for the next week.

Has anyone done any of the submarine tours in Grand Caymen? I want to book this as back up in case we don't get to do the dolphins and not sure which one to do.

 

[new2cruise]

Hello Everyone -I am new to this board and we ( Hubby, son 10 and me) will be on this cruise. Our first one ever. Can not wait! Cozumel or Costa Maya- either way everyone will enjoy. Anyone have a 10 or 11 year old boy?

 

[not2blu]

Count us in! DH, Me, DS 6, DS 4. We rebooked on board on our November 2005 trip to February 2006, then I kept reading trip reports and everyone said it was cold in Febrouary so I changed the dates and now we are on the May 6-13 2006! Can't wait to be back on the Magic!!!!!!

We'll be on it- all 9 of us. It's our 1st cruise.
The D as in DH means what, Disney? Please forgive me- I'm a noobie on this forum. On other forums I would be flamed for asking such a question- so feel free.

Here's our itinerary (brief version) for excursions:

Sunday- Key West:
Thinking of taking it easy and just doing the Sunset Sail. If so, will I miss my 6pm dinner? I read that we can go to Topsiders if this is the case.

Tuesday- Grand Cayman:
Planning on Stingray City Snorkel Tour unless there are other stingray snorkeling excursions that are better. Read about Captain Marvins. Is it possible to do more than one thing per day? Like, could I do the snorkeling and the Grand Cayman Island tour? Are the times for these excursions posted somewhere?

Wednesday- Cozumel:
Dolphin Discovery. Any other recommendations for Cozumel?
I just read that it may be Costa Maya- when will we know for sure?!
Hard to make plans without knowing.

Friday: Castaway Cay:
Just thinking of an all-day equipment rental. That way I can go snorkeling w/ my 5-year-old daughter at leisure.

Again, this is our first cruise and there's a lot of info to digest here. Are we doing too much on shore? I know there are a ton of things to do on the ship and don't want to miss anything important there. Can we reserve theatre seats online? Any comments greatly appreciated and we look forward to seeing you in May!

Thanks in advance!

 

[jcfowler]

I just had a email back from the one I sent to Via Delphi which is the company who does the dolphin swim at Uvero Beach Club in Costa Maya.

They said that they do not have online or phone reservations so the only way to book it is to do so thru the cruiseline or to go directly there once in port. I know that you need to buy a pass into the club to get to the dolphins. You can buy passes into the club at the pier.

Just thought I would share.

jcfowler, I'm sitting at the computer with a nice fresh cup of java in my big 100 years of magic mug. At least we have nothing but a chance of a snow flurries on Monday night for the next week.

Has anyone done any of the submarine tours in Grand Caymen? I want to book this as back up in case we don't get to do the dolphins and not sure which one to do.

76 days 87 hours???? Hmmmmm! I think your counter might need a cup of unleaded too! Stay warm on a nasty Saturday!

 

[slg]

I have a 10 year old son (and a 7 and a 4).

We're definitely going to try for the semi-sub in Grand Cayman. Key West will be just a walk-around tour.

I would rather Cozumel as we were going to do Xcaret Ecological Park. It seems to have everything, and my friend went last year and said it was great. If its Costa Maya, then we'll do one of the ruins tours. Probably the easier one as we have a small son.

I'm a little concerned about the advice to bring bug spray. My DS10 reacts very severly to mosquito bites. Each bite initially swells up to the size of...get this a golf ball, turns black and blue, hot, and then spreads. Usually lasts two weeks. Once he had several on his ankles and we thought he had sprained his ankles they were so black! Anyway, how bad are the bugs? Does anyone know?

Can't wait for the trip. Really hoping for an upgrade, but will be okay if we don't get one. We had two 11's on mid deck 7.

 

[jcfowler]

OK Folks, I have a question.....???? I just researched the possibility of booking an additional stateroom for two more family members and ran across something I find rather interesting - and a bit confusing. A cat 5 stateroom now is selling for an average of $200 LESS than a cat 9 at every booking agency I could find including Disney Cruiseline reservations.

As a Castaway Club members shouldn't we at least be eligible for some sort of an upgrade before they start selling higher cat rooms for a lower price? A discount to fill the ship is understandable, but to price staterooms this much lower is hard to understand. Anyone care to venture an opinion?

Have a great weekend all!

 

[slg]

I think it has to do with how many rooms have already been sold. The first few rooms in each cat. are sold at a lower price, then the price goes up when a certain number of rooms have been sold, etc. I don't think they would drop the price of the cat. 5, it just hasn't gone up because there hasn't been the demand. Lower cats. always sell first so the price goes up quickly.

It would make sense for someone booking late to see what the lowest price was and not assume the lower cats were necessarily cheaper.

I know what I mean, but does it make sense to you?

 

[jcfowler]

I didn't mean to come across with a "sour grapes" attitude. I just don't understand.

Perhaps what I don't understand is how an upgrade is determined if not by the demand for less expensive staterooms? I thought that when the lower cats sold out those who made reservations "early" would be considered as eligible to be "upgraded". Now, however, it would seem those booking higher cats later are the ones being rewarded by "upgrades" in lower booking costs.

Perhaps someone who has actually received an upgrade on a past cruise can explain the process to thick-headed people like me in simple terms. Oh, well.

Thanks for the kind response. Evidently I still have a lot to learn about booking cruises.

 

[slg]

I'm not at all experienced, but what I've read on these boards is that upgrades don't happen as a reward but apparently randomly.

My guess is they have a random computer program that reassigns cabins in the event of empty cabins but I don't have any basis for that guess.

What I've read time and time again is not to count on upgrades, because they don't happen very often.

I agree with you however. I booked in Nov. 2004 and it would be nice if those who booked early had an edge on upgrades!

 

[jcfowler]

WOW! You've been waiting for this cruise since Nov 2004! If anyone deserves the Walt Disney Suite it is YOU!! LOL! I booked in May of 2005 and thought I was early!

Again, please understand, I'm not pouting about this upgrade stuff. I am very sincerely appreciative just to be alive after Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina. We're thankful to be going even if we had to sleep in a life boat! Any upgrades would simply be icing on the cake. Besides, I'm told the best location to avoid motion sickness is mid ship - and that is where we are now!

Again, thanks, and I'll get over this real soon!! If you don't ask, you'll never learn! Have a wonderful week!

 

[mazzarafe]

jcfowler, I found the same thing a few days ago. I was looking at pricing to see if my brother could join us with his family and when I looked at the prices, the cat 5 was less than $20 more to upgrade from a inside stateroom!

Now if when I booked my cat 9, and the difference was only $20 to go to a 5 I would have in a heartbeat!

Right now the prices for a cat 9 are double what I paid for mine!

I have also seen someone post recently that they were upgraded for their cruise and they booked less than 2 months before the cruise. Seems to be no rhyme or reason to who gets a upgrade.

Maybe more of us have a chance for our cruise.

 

[mazzarafe]

Was I the only one up at 3:00am this morning to make online ressies?

I got Palo for my anniversary on Friday. No more brunch available I guess, it didn't come up. Guess I'll try on board.

Booked the Atlantis Sub for Grand Caymen and couldn't figure out which island tour to do to go to Hell, so I didn't book any. Now this morning they are all gone! Guess I'm gonna taxi it there if we want to go.

Signed the girls up for the clubs. Not sure if I'm going to keep my younger one in the 5-7 group, may try to get her into the 8-9, I think she would like the activities in that one better. Have to see what happens on board.

Now to get thru today minus the hour or so sleep I lost. Had a hard time falling back asleep when I climbed back in bed about 3:20.

 

[married2grumpy]

Not sure if I'm going to keep my younger one in the 5-7 group, may try to get her into the 8-9, I think she would like the activities in that one better. Have to see what happens on board.

We will be putting DS 7 in the 8-9 group along with DD 8. Both kids were in the 5-7 last year and they thought it was too "babyish". They wanted more time doing older kid things like the computers and such. My DD 5 will be moving up to the 5-7 group and I think I will have the opposite problem with her. She loved the activities in the 3-4 group and I wonder how she will feel about the 5-7 activities.

We too will see what happens on board.

 

[Sneezy63]

Was I the only one up at 3:00am this morning to make online ressies?

I got Palo for my anniversary on Friday. No more brunch available I guess, it didn't come up. Guess I'll try on board.

Booked the Atlantis Sub for Grand Caymen and couldn't figure out which island tour to do to go to Hell, so I didn't book any. Now this morning they are all gone! Guess I'm gonna taxi it there if we want to go.

Signed the girls up for the clubs. Not sure if I'm going to keep my younger one in the 5-7 group, may try to get her into the 8-9, I think she would like the activities in that one better. Have to see what happens on board.

Now to get thru today minus the hour or so sleep I lost. Had a hard time falling back asleep when I climbed back in bed about 3:20.

I was up, too. Well, ok, only midnight for me, though, since I'm on the West Coast. I booked our massages first and got exactly the time that I wanted, but by the time I was done with that, there was no brunch for Palo, and nothing on Thursday night at all. (That's the night I wanted.) I went ahead and booked for Wednesday night but can hopefully change it when I get onboard. Is Wednesday Pirate Night? I don't want to miss that, so I may end up cancelling my Palo reservation even if I can't get one for Thursday.

It was interesting how fast the Palo stuff went. I tried to "go back" after I booked the Wednesday night slot and by that time it said that there was NOTHING available anymore!

And I am having the same dilemma with my son regarding the club. He will be 3 months shy of his 8th birthday, and may think that some of the stuff is babyish, but on the other hand, he is only in first grade (held him back) so he's used to playing with kids a bit younger than he is. I went ahead and put him in with the 5-7 year olds...figured I'd give that a shot first since you can only switch once.

I didn't book any excursions....I figured we can do Key West on our own, and I think I want to book through Native Way for Grand Cayman (I need to get going with that if I'm going to do it!). Since we're still not "official" regarding Costa Maya vs. Cozumel, I'm just leaving that one alone for now.

I'm getting excited....75 more days!!!