My BIG Family PTR for Fantasy SWDAS on 1/19/19

[m3gg3m]

So, yep. We have a Webex scheduled for this Saturday night, 11:45 pm. Eastern Standard. If we lived a couple few hours west, we could be starting this Webex at 8:45 pm. A much more reasonable hour.

Why, you may ask? (Which you aren't, because you probably know how this works.) But I'll tell you anyway. Our Silver booking window opens up at midnight!

So let's get caught up.

First, I am so grateful to the Disboards for the information members share.

I joined the Disboards community for our first cruise back in 2015 and learning from others' experiences really helped to make for a rewarding and magical DCL experience. I'm also involved to various degrees with other social media sites related to DCL, but I just love the breadth and depth of information that is found here. I'm mostly a lurker, but I'd like to give back, for whatever it may be worth. Bear (is that the right bear?) with me while I embark on my first PTR.

Second, cast of characters:

• Me - A still 30-something wife and mom and NFP tax accountant and accidental family travel agent.
• DH - A now 40-something husband and father and IT guy (super general for whatever cloud security networking thing he does for his mega start-up employer).
• the Eldest - Our 11-yo daughter and veteran DCLer from 2015. She'll be turning 12 onboard!
• the Middlest - Our 8-yo daughter and also veteran DCLer from 2015.
• the Littlest - Our 5-yo daughter who was left behind in 2015. For the longest time she thought going to Nana and Granda's was "vacation" and she didn't want to go to "vacation." In our defense, she was 18 months. And she's an excuse for going back!

Here we are (sans the Littlest) 3.5 years ago having just boarded the Fantasy. (DH had been preparing that beard all winter for Pirate Night. )

But wait! There's more...

 

[m3gg3m]

Cast of characters, continued:

Stateroom next to ours - My Sister's Family

• Sister - Youngest of my two siblings, wife, mom, and teacher.
• BIL - Married to my sister, father, and working artist (graphic design?)
• Nephew/Sister's Oldest - 6 and in kindergarten, same as my Littlest.
• Niece/Twin - 4
• Nephew/Twin - Also 4

Stateroom next to hers - My Brother's Family

• Brother - Middle child, father, husband and certified financial planner
• SIL - Married to my brother, mother and scientist (think pipettes)
• Niece/Brother's Oldest - 9 (Fun Fact - for 1 day each year, she and my Middlest are the same age)
• Niece/Brother's Youngest - 7 (Fun Fact - for 15 days each year, she and my Middlest are the same age)

Stateroom next to his - My Parents

• Granda - Father, husband and capital projects manager (former carpenter)
• Nana - Mother, wife and trainer of police on police IT systems (former art history major)

Recall that I said I was the accidental travel agent?

 

[m3gg3m]

Ok, not really. We have a real travel agent. Her name is Kristin and she's fantastic.

Our first DCL cruise we purchased through Costco when it was at its most expensive (about 150 days out). It was a Fantasy Eastern and friends of ours were going and invited us to go along. We'd never been on a cruise before and DH never says no to them when they ask us to join them on vacation. They were sailing Concierge. We had a porthole. We really liked our porthole. (This time we'll have a veranda, but I think I'd be happy with a porthole.)


4-yo Middlest and DH relaxing in our Cat 8D porthole

Our reservation was linked with our friends', so their Concierge service booked all of our meals and character interactions and tastings and cabana and whatnot. I don't think I even realized at the time that I could book my own stuff. We booked a placeholder on board and I recall learning that if I transferred it to a TA I could get TA benefits. First I was lured by on board credit, but the value is really in having them book on opening day (and having her help navigate my family through this process!). I can't quite recall how I found her, but I suspect that it was from a recommendation. She happens to be the owner of her agency. Summer 2016 was going to be our return to DCL! We wanted to share the magic with our Littlest. But then we had to abandon that notion in favor of a new house.

Now none of us are mega-Disney-fanatics. We appreciate Disney and the magic therein. But apparently we had sung the praises of our DCL cruise so much that my entire family wanted to come along. We contacted Kristin in September 2017 to let her know that we were ready for our second DCL cruise and we were bringing 11 of our closests with us! We waited patiently for opening day in the fall of 2017. We gaped at how much the prices seemed to have increased since 2015. We rationalized the expense with the argument that the 8 grandkids are the absolute perfect ages (as a whole) to experience the magic that is Disney (ages 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 11/12) and for us to do it all at together was a once in a life-time experience. And we had basically a year to pay for it.

Our Silver PIF date is this Sunday, 10/21! Hence, the Webex. Scheduled for 11:45 pm. Saturday, 10/20.

 

[m3gg3m]

We're PIF today!

After harassing my parents and siblings to contact our TA to PIF their cruises, I'm the last to actually get it done! But that's because we paid with Disney gift cards that we purchased $450 at a time from Sam's Club. It took some time. Why, might you ask? Because in doing so, we saved $850, or 11% on the cost of our cruise. Once we got into the flow of purchasing GCs, our savings rate was just over 15% per purchase. It was a bit of trial and error to discover that the Uber Visa and Dosh 5% benefit capped out at $20 daily, and that we had to use DH's Uber Visa because it was linked to his Uber account and mine was not. We'll prepay tips and are already planning for some bingo and drinking and at least one Disney excursion. All that will require more Disney GCs.

This is what a typical purchase looked like:

• Sam's Club rebate is 2% back
• In-store purchases with our Uber Visa gets us 1% back
• Uber Visa Promo gives us Uber credits we can use for Uber Eats, thus reducing our dining out budget
• Dosh Cashback is cash we get for using a linked credit card at participating businesses (Sam's is one) and can transfer to our Paypal account

My sister saved 5% purchasing Disney GC's through Target with her Target Red Card. My brother and parents couldn't be bothered with the hassle. To each their own. I get such a thrill out of maximizing savings. When all said and done, we'll have saved over $1000 which will make it a lot easier to enjoy our Pina Coladas with a double shot of rum, yum!
Now we're all set for the aforementioned scheduled Webex this Saturday night. 11:45 pm. Because Silver Booking Day!

 

[m3gg3m]

Tonight's the night!

Silver booking window for January 19th opens tonight at midnight. My brother sent out a Webex invitation so that we can all be online together as we attempt to book that which we desire to do. But what is it that we all want to do?

Here is my approach. I'm an accountant and I spend much of my daily life in Excel. (Just trying to prep you for why you might see various excel pictorials throughout this PTR.)



It's 8:30 pm as I'm typing this with my mom on speaker phone reading various Jamaica excursions to me. She's been reviewing all there is to review since 11:00 am today. I started a private Facebook group a while back for my family to coordinate plans and information. My mom has printed everything that I have posted! She skipped a day at the pumpkin patch for this!

3 more hours...

 

[m3gg3m]

Just finished checking in for my family's 4 staterooms. System was open at 9:00 pm EST!! Some folks on the page-that-must-not-be-named found it too.

Booking activities is not yet open however. Still we wait...

 

[m3gg3m]

I've been on the phone with my parents for 3.5 hours now. At this point I'm just listening to them talk about the different Jamaica excursions. I love that they are getting excited about this.

My mom just got my dad a popsicle, LOL.

Webex time!

 

[m3gg3m]

Plan for Sunday 1/20 - Sea Day

Well, that was a whirlwind! We were able to book just about everything we wanted.

Our first full day is a Sea Day and DD's 12th birthday!

Disney Jr. Breakfast - We scheduled the Disney Jr Breakfast for 9:15. I would have preferred an earlier time by my sister was a bit firm in her declaration that it be 9:15. I'm sure my girls will enjoy sleeping in and I'm having visions of sipping coffee on our balcony whilst gazing out to sea. Or maybe I'll go check out an exercise class on the Deck 11 stage (I recall doing that the first few days of our first cruise). The grandparents are taking a pass on this (my mom really likes to sleep in) and so it'll be the three families with kids. This will likely mostly appeal to the 4 youngest kids (my Littlest and my sister's three), but it should be festive enough for the older kids to enjoy being there with us. I plan not to eat a thing, because...

Palo Brunch! - I've never done this before, but I've watched a few-ish You Tube videos and my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I'm thrilled that I was able to secure an 11:30 reservation for a party of 6, because this was my second booking stop after SWDAS. A member from my social-media-group-that-must-not-be-named (from hereforth referred to as SMGTMNBN) said she tried booking Palo brunch at 12:05 am and it was already booked. There looks to be such a variety of deliciousness, that I'm not sure how I'll be able to eat it all! (Maybe I should definitely plan on doing that exercise class in the morning.) My brother, SIL and parents will join DH and me for this experience. Can't wait!!




Frozen Gathering - DH, the Eldest, the Middlest and I met Elsa and Anna back in 2015 on the Fantasy. We look forward to doing so again with the Littlest, and all of her cousins. Concierge made the reservations for us last time, so I was not entirely clear if we needed tickets for all of the adults to be able to come too to watch (even if not interacting). I included everyone just in case.


The Middlest showing Elsa her braid. Too sweet!

Ice Cream Social - There is talk about having a SMGTMNBN meet-up at Eye Scream for a meet and greet. I'm more inclined to do something like this than a lounge meet and greet. My sibs haven't been to involved with the SMGTMNBN, but I am. They may or may not join.

Bingo - We just played the last game of Bingo on our last trip and had so much fun! I put place holders here (based off of a 2018 SWDAS navigators) just so that we have an idea of when there is Bingo! We're budgeting for this in advance, but it's pricey. There is no expectation that anyone join us.

We'll be playing bingo this Friday actually. PTA fundraiser for our girls' elementary school and everyone gets dressed up in Halloween costumes and the kids get to do a costume parade.

 

[m3gg3m]

Plan for Monday 1/21 - Cozumel

We did not do any excursions on our Eastern cruise back in 2015. When I first started researching excursions in Cozumel, I had my heart set on the DCL Turtle Snorkel and Mystic River (CZ84) excursion. It sounds amazing! I thought it would be really cool to swim through caves full of stalactites and stalagmites, and then finish the day swimming with turtles! We're not too far from Luray Caverns and look forward to out-of-town guests so that we can take them there to explore.


Reflection of stalactites in the water at Luray Caverns in Luray, VA. There is also a Stalacpipe Organ that uses the stalactites to produce music. Highly recommend if you are near Shenandoah National Park in VA.

So as not to force my will on my family, I had DH review the excursions in Cozumel without my input. His interest was peaked by the various excursions that involved boats. Turns out he was not at all interested in traveling 3 hours in total (there and back) to the mainland. He was concerned that the fun parts would feel rushed and it would not be relaxing at all. I can see where he's coming from. We plan to take the girls back to Mexico for a family vacation at some point and I hope to make the Mystic River part of that vacation.

Cozumel Excursion - Fury Catamaran Sail Snorkel & Beach Party (CZ12)
This one seemed to fit the bill. It is not an all day commitment. We'll be on a boat (DH - check). We'll get to do some snorkeling (Me - check). And there is a private beach with inflatables in the water (kids - check). And free booze (well... check). (And with the money we're not spending on the excursion to the Mystic River, we'll have extra in the budget to put towards Remy!) My brother and his girls will join us for this one, which should be a lot of fun. My sister is passing, since the twins will be only 4 and can't participate. Which is too bad, since that is Disney's restriction. If we could book directly with the company, there is no age restriction, but the company requires you to book through your cruise line. (I checked.)

Cozumel Excursion - Caves Caverns and Paradise Lagoon (CZ79)
My parents, on the other hand, plan to venture to the mainland and spend the day exploring two natural cenotes (caves?) and snorkeling at a freshwater lagoon aquarium. Their excursion also includes some beach time. I can't wait to hear all about it!

Lunch
We'll be back from our catamaran excursion around lunchtime. I'd like to do lunch there in Cozumel, perhaps after taking the kids back to the boat and feeding them there and letting them hang out in the kids clubs. @Kpercyman made mention of a Cuban restaurant in Cozumel that sounds worth trying. (Would love to know the name!) Any other recommendations? Anyone? Bueler?

Remy
DH and I dined at Remy back in 2015 and really enjoyed it. It's something he is interested in doing again, so I made the latest reservation on Pirate Night for us so that we could enjoy some of the Pirate festivities with the rest of the family. I understand they do the pirate show and fireworks around 7:30 on the SWDAS sailing before Late Dining. We actually chose Late Dining this time (having done Main Dining the first time). I'm on the fence, because I think it would be fun to catch up with the rest of the family to hear about everyone's adventures that day, but it's not often DH wants to do a romantic French dining experience with me either. So...



Pirate night last time was so much fun! Though it sounds like it takes a bit of a back seat to SWDAS on these sailings. We got all dressed up last time!


DH with his best friend on our way to dinner at Palo in 2015.



The Eldest and the Middlest all dressed up for Pirate festivities!

This time we'll be a bit more subdued. We all get Christmas PJs each year. This year I ordered some Pirate Mickey/Minnie decals from Etsy and will iron them onto t-shirts and pair them with some buffalo plaid leggings. Tada! Xmas PJs done! Then we'll reuse the t-shirts for Pirate night and I've purchased some red metallic skirts from Etsy that I'll include in the girls' xmas stockings to go with the shirts.

 

[m3gg3m]

Plan for Tuesday 1/22 - Grand Cayman

Princess Gathering
Who wouldn't like to meet a princess? I cannot wait to see the Littlest get to meet the princesses! We booked this for 9:45 am so that we have plenty of time to wake up and eat breakfast in a relaxed manner. Nobody needs to catch the first tender to George Town. However, 9:45 will still likely be too early for Nana if she doesn't absolutely have to be there. Princesses don't quite make the cut off for absolutely.

Captain Marvin's Stingray City & Snorkel
We're venturing on our own with this one, but I think it's a pretty safe bet. Captain Marvin's gets fantastic reviews on Tripadvisor and it sounds like it will be a good value. It'll be my family and my parents for this one. When I first contacted Captain Marvin's, I requested the 11:15a tour. However the response I got back was that our ship would not arrive in time for the 11:15a tour as the latest check-in time for the tour is 10:45a and our tendered ship is estimated to debark at 10:30a. So they booked the seven of us on their 1:45p tour. I think this is for the best. We won't be rushed to get off the boat and we'll be able to get lunch beforehand and keep any hangry monsters at bay. I read @chunkymonkey 's (wonderfully detailed ) SWDAS TR and she mentioned a place there near the port area that sounded worth trying, Caribbean Kitchen. The Cayman Conch Salad/Ceviche caught my eye. I think the kids might like the Owen Island Coconut Shrimp. And two of DH's favorite desserts, Coconut Cream Pie and Key Lime Pie, are on the menu.

For US$40 (adult) and US$30 (children), we'll take a boat to Stingray City where we'll swim with and learn how to feed the stingrays and then venture to a second stop where we'll snorkel at either Coral Gardens or the Barrier Reef.From the reviews, it sounds like they only take around 20 or so people per tour, so it's a personable experience. Ivy at Captain Marvin's says we'll be back between 4:30p and 4:45p, which she says will be plenty of time to catch a tender for a 5:30p all aboard.

Seven Mile Beach
Grand Cayman sounds like it is a great port for keeping costs down and venturing off on your own for a beach day. I understand public buses/vans in Grand Cayman cost US$2.50 per person and run all day long. My brother's and sister's families are planning to head to Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman's most well known public beach. Our SMGTMNBN created an event within the group page for folks to organize a meet-up at Seven Mile Beach. There are currently about 20 families going and another 15 who are interested. It's tempting, but I really am looking forward to Stingray City and snorkeling.We'll have had some beach time in Cozumel the day before and plan to spend the day on the beach at Castaway Cay, so there will be plenty of beach time to be had.

 

[cscream13]

Hi, I just found this thread while searching for the cruise meet (since I am considering booking the 1/19/19 cruise last minute). I just wanted to make sure you knew that Pirate Night is a separate night from SWDAS!! We love dressing up for pirate night, too. Pirate night is scheduled for the Cozumel port day and SWDAS is scheduled for the second day at sea.

 

[m3gg3m]

Hi, I just found this thread while searching for the cruise meet (since I am considering booking the 1/19/19 cruise last minute). I just wanted to make sure you knew that Pirate Night is a separate night from SWDAS!! We love dressing up for pirate night, too. Pirate night is scheduled for the Cozumel port day and SWDAS is scheduled for the second day at sea.

My very first commenter!

@cscream13 , if you are Canadian, I hear there are very nice discounts now available. (I am not.)

Yes, I expect Pirate night will be on Monday, though it did get switched to a non-standard night on our Eastern cruise back in 2015. I can't recall the reason why. I understand that the Pirate night on SWDAS cruises is not as done up as it is on a standard cruise. The big pirate show and dance party and fireworks happen early, between 7:30 and 8:15, and no late night pirate buffet. (Instead it is a late night Star Wars buffet on Thursday!)

We'll be representing Pirate Night with our matching family pirate Mickey and Minnie shirts though. (I'll be sure to post pics once I have them finished.) And my girls will have cute metallic red skirts to go with, assuming my then 12-yo doesn't balk at the idea of dressing like her sisters. DH and I have a Remy dinner reservation for 8:20p, so we'll need to be able to do a quick change between fireworks and dinner. We did Palo all dressed up in pirate garb, but I think for Remy we'll keep it classy-ish.

 

[cscream13]

I am not Canadian, unfortunately! I have been watching and waiting, with fingers crossed, for a VGT discount... nothing yet.

We sailed last year on the first ever Marvel Day at Sea and loved it! My boys are a little more into superheros than Star Wars, but I think we would still have a blast! Its hard to remember if anything was different for Pirate Night... but, then, it was on the Magic and it seems like each ship does Pirate Night a little differently. When we last sailed the Fantasy in 2014, Captain Jack was doing his nighttime show. It sounds like they might not have that on this sailing?

I'll keep following your PTR -- its fun to be excited about the planning as your countdown the clock. Please do post pictures of your pirate shirts and skirts -- they sound so cute!

 

[m3gg3m]

Plan for Wednesday 1/23 - Jamaica

Falmouth Excursion - Tranopy Adventure (FA12)
Nana and Granda will be two of the first off the boat to join DCL's Tranopy Adventure. This one sounds pretty cool actually. Zip lines and bobsleds and the Sky Explorer chairlift. I expect they'll have a great time. Nana can use the hour long bus ride to Mystic Mountain to finish waking up.

The rest of us have no plans! I read @TestingH2O 's TR and her Jamaica Culinary Tour caught my attention. I'm not sure we'll want to do the entire tour, but I am interested in finding the patty shop that they ate at. Luckily one of her photos had the name of the shop in the picture! Spicy Nice. The pic of her daughter's patty looked so good. (It's lunch time right now and my stomach is growling at me.) We may leave the kids on the boat for this one and venture off for and adults only lunch. We'll see.

I'm organizing our FB group's Mixology. (The more of these I read, the more I'm seeing others just come out and say it, so no more SMGTMNBN. FB it is.) I contacted DCL already and was told to check back around 30-days pre-sail, but was told that availability might be limited to port days. I'd be okay with that for this port day.

Hoping to get some Bingo in as well!

 

[m3gg3m]

I am not Canadian, unfortunately! I have been watching and waiting, with fingers crossed, for a VGT discount... nothing yet.

We sailed last year on the first ever Marvel Day at Sea and loved it! My boys are a little more into superheros than Star Wars, but I think we would still have a blast! Its hard to remember if anything was different for Pirate Night... but, then, it was on the Magic and it seems like each ship does Pirate Night a little differently. When we last sailed the Fantasy in 2014, Captain Jack was doing his nighttime show. It sounds like they might not have that on this sailing?

I'll keep following your PTR -- its fun to be excited about the planning as your countdown the clock. Please do post pictures of your pirate shirts and skirts -- they sound so cute!

Will do! I just need a good hour or two home alone so I can put the shirts together. <-- (me and my girls)

I'm curious too to see how Pirate night is done differently from our first cruise. Having looked at last years' navigators, it looks to be abbreviated. I do hope it is still festive, because we had so much fun last time. I have video of DH dancing with our girls and it is one of my favorite cruise memories!

 

[m3gg3m]

Plan for Thursday 1/24 - Star Wars Day at Sea

Happy Halloween!! I convinced my family that we should all dress up as characters from Star Wars this Halloween!! How fun would that be, right!? The Middlest was all about it. Chewbacca and done. The Littlest could not be convinced to be C3PO or R2D2 and wanted to be Chewbacca too. The Middlest vehemently opposed this. Compromise = when in the presence of the Middlest as Chewbacca, the Littlest will hence be know as "Queen of the Wookies." The Eldest, she wanted nothing to do with any of it. She ditched us to go be an Angel with her Devil(-ish) BFF. Tweens...


Hans, Leia, the tween before she left us, Chewbacca, Queen of the Wookies, and the Wookie Queen's BFF from NASA


The Middlest as Chewie.

And now we're ready for SWDAS!

Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple
We booked all 8 kids for the Jedi training academy at 10:00 am. This will give us plenty of time to wake up, eat and get into character. The whole thing is only supposed to last about 20 minutes or so, but the kids will get to dress up as Jedis and "train in the ways of the Force" and "test their new skills against the power of the Dark Side." This will be fun to watch.

Character Experience: Chewbacca
Then straight from Jedi training all 16 of us will get in line for our 10:30a meet and greet with Chewbacca! I predict this will be a family favorite. My girls are fans.


Notice the Middlest snuggled up close with Chewbacca?

Character Experience: Darth Vader
And then at 11:00 am we'll have our meet and greet with Darth Vader.

Character Experience: R2-D2 and C-3PO
And we'll round out the morning with the droids at 11:30 am. I was very happy with the time slots we were able to secure. It will be a fantastic way to spend a morning kicking-off SWDAS. I'm sure by the end of it we'll all be ready for lunch!

Chocolate and Liquor Tasting
While the dads and the grandparents take the kids to go get lunch (probably at Cabanas), my sisters and I will be having chocolate and liquor for lunch, yum! This was on my short list of things I wanted to try this time around. The only time this tasting is offered is at 12:15p on SWDAS. That's okay, though. It just adds to the festivities. There is a great video that the DIS Unplugged did on this tasting that I found on You Tube. It's from 2013 and on the Wonder, but I expect it conveys the general idea of the event.

My sister celebrates her 34th birthday the day before we board, so I'm treating her to this experience as a birthday gift.

Tequila & Margarita Tasting
This was on Nana's short list. There was a tequila excursion on Cozumel that she briefly considered, but when she saw she could do this on board, she went with the Caves, Caverns and Paradise Lagoon instead. She and Granda are scheduled for this tasting at 4:00p.

I've read a number of TRs (both Eastern and Western itineraries) to get a feel for what to expect on the SWDAS. I hope we run into Jawas. (I'm planning my FEs with Jawas in mind.) I expect we'll spend some time up on Deck by the pools in the afternoon. The Star Wars dinner menu looks fun and the night time festivities should prove to be a blast!

 

[m3gg3m]

Plan for Friday 1/25 - Castaway Cay

Castaway Cay 5k
To run or not to run, that is the question.

DH and I ran the Castaway Cay 5k back in 2015. I would absolutely do it again, but my concern is that by Friday, I might be used to sleeping in a bit and we'll most definitely have been up late the night before for the SWDAS deck party and buffet. Granda and my sister are runners, so I can see them wanting to do this. DH and the Eldest may want to do it also. I think this one we may play by ear.

Family Beach
In 2015 we enjoyed Cabana #2 with our concierge traveling companions. After the 5k, we spent the entire day at our cabana, except when we ventured off to Cookies to grab some lunch. It was nice and relaxing and a great beach day with friends.


Our well lived in Cabana #2 in 2015.


The view from our Cabana #2.

Having paid a pretty penny for that luxury, we did not venture off to explore any other areas of Castaway Cay. So we plan to do so this time! The morning will be family time. We'll snorkel and play on Pelican Plunge and build sand castles and peruse the shops and perhaps mail some postcards.

Mojito & Caipirinha Tasting
Nana really wants to do the Mojito tasting. (You'd never guess from this PTR that in real life she's not really much of a drinker. ) My brother and sister and spouses plan to join them for this tasting which starts at 2:00p. I have no idea what a Caipirinha is.

Serenity Bay
I figure while the rest of the adults are off getting their drink on, DH and I can go explore and relax the afternoon away at Serenity Bay, having never been there before.

We'll just need to figure out what to do with all the kids!!

 

[m3gg3m]

Logistics

Back in 2015, we drove down I-95 from the DC area down to Port Canaveral. We left 2 days prior to our cruise. Our destination was New Smyrna Beach, FL where we'd be meeting up with our friends who had flown out from CA. The friends we were cruising with had family there. We were about an hour away when we had to call it and grab a motel room in St. Augustine, FL. We explored St. Augustine the next morning (cute town) and continued on our way. Lot's of driving! And lots of potty stops!


Exploring and old Spanish boat in downtown St. Augustine in 2015

This time? We're flying in the day before. We happen to be the (not-so) proud owners of RCI Points vacations. (It's not all bad. We really do like our home resort at Massanutten for easy getaways.) We were able to cash in on some of our RCI benefits and get $700 off the purchase of airfare through RCI on United. So our round-trip flights, for our family of 5 were about $650. Cost-benefit analysis made flying A LOT more attractive than driving 30+ hours, with potty stops.

Southwest had a pretty good deal for flights out of DC that Nana and Granda and my brother's family took advantage of when the flight dates opened up in the summer. I think it averaged about $200 round-trip per person. They'll fly into MCO around 4:00p on Friday and I think we'll be there around 2:30p.

My sister will pack her mini-van full with her family of 5. She thinks they will make the drive in one go and drive through the night after work on Friday to arrive at PC on the morning of the 19th. I (will) strongly recommend that they take the day off, leave earlier and find a cheap-y motel to stay at along the way. There is nothing better than a good night's sleep and I'd hate for them to be tired (and cranky) the first day of her first cruise! They've done a road trip with their three kiddos before, most recently to Louisiana to visit family, so they know what they're in for.

We'll be staying at the MCO Hyatt. Has anyone heard of it?! Yep, it's a popular spot, so I hear. DH travels to the west coast for work every couple of months and always stays at Hyatts. So we'll get to stay here on his World of Hyatt points. We're just shy of enough points to gift a room to my parents. However Granda proposed that my brother and my parents split those points and then purchase enough points to pay the balance of the room. It's cheaper than purchasing a room outright that way.

Granda also proposed that all 11 of us staying at the MCO Hyatt share transportation to port. DH gets a decent number of Uber credits to use each month (employer benefit). We generally use them up on Uber Eats, but in this case we'll save January's allotment for actual Uber transportation. We'll likely use up our allotment getting to our home airport and back and one-way to/from Port Canaveral, so perhaps we can all rent a van for the way there and then we'll Uber XL it back. I'll have to propose that to Granda...

 

[lilsonicfan]

Fun PTR so far! I have to say from the second post where you talked about the Uber Visa and had a spreadsheet I thought to myself - this lady is an accountant. Lol.

 

[m3gg3m]

Fun PTR so far! I have to say from the second post where you talked about the Uber Visa and had a spreadsheet I thought to myself - this lady is an accountant. Lol.

Thanks! Yep, I have spreadsheets for everything.