November 12, 2005....7 Night Eastern...Who Else?

bobsuzla · Aug 13, 2005

Thanks Dis Nurse!!! This is good to know, so at least I can reserve what we would like to do, and then cancel when we get closer. I only have $200 more to go on my balance, but my Discovery Cove balance is $500, and we still have to book airfare, Living paycheck to paycheck really stinks!!!

PrincessHaleysMom · Aug 13, 2005

While the excursions thru the cruise line are nice, I haven't booked one thru them in a long time. When you get off the ship, there are vendors selling the exact same trips for half the price of the cruise lines... if not less. If you are really internet savvy, you can search for tour companies ahead of time and even have them booked in advance at these lower prices. You just make sure you are back to the ship in time! I always say if they tell you to be back by 4, tell yourself 3. But then again, I am paranoid and like to sit on my balcony and watch the late people running back to the ship - or the one time I watched them come via tender and have to basically "hop" up onto the ship!
So... to make my long story short, if the Disney prices for excursions scare you - look elsewhere! St. Thomas and St. Maarten are not places I am afraid to venture on my own! :earsgirl:

FairyDisMom · Aug 13, 2005

Welcome Dom! :cheer2:

barkley · Aug 13, 2005

hello all-

i talked with a company in the islands that offers sailing ship that first does a tour of the area and then docks at several areas for both beach and off boat swimming, snorkeling, etc. they include a light brunch and full lunch later in the day. their site looked good and i had read some very positive reviews on them. unfortunatly they live on the eastern sea board and won''t be returning for trips until a week or so after our trip. however, the owner said that prior to her and her husband purchasing thier boat she had worked for several similar operations in the islands. she is going to be emailing me some suggestions and links. the one's we will look at range from a max of 6 passengers to a max of 18 (i am interested in looking at the one that emphasizes talking about the pirate history of the carrib. for the kids. if anyone is interested in this info. i will pass it on when i get it.

p.s. i get to try to book on-line tonight, i'll let you know if it works!

4formickey · Aug 13, 2005

Dis Nurse look at the #of postings. Sunday is your day.......I hope ! :rotfl2:

chip&dale&fun · Aug 14, 2005

Good Morning and Wonderful Sunday.

A good girlfriend helped me with the midnight vigil by coming to dinner - pinning the hem of the "dress" and relaxing. Frustration occured as I was unable to book reservations at the promised 12:01 hour, or anytime late last night BUT, the system is now up and running and working. I hope Disney appreciates the e-mails saying - please fix...Oh well, it is soooo much better than the rush to stand in line....

Some tips for those of you who have not made rerservations yet.

1. MAKE SURE YOUR TA HAS ENTERED YOUR CASTAWAY CLUB NUMBER WITH YOUR RESERVATION. This will affect my May cruise, it is not in the profile, and I just "assumed" Disney would know - NOT SO....I have plenty of time to make this fix, but any CC members having trouble, you may wish to check on this.

MAKE SURE, FOR YOU MARRIED LADIES, THAT YOU NAME MATCHES YOUR PASSPORT NAME ON ALL DISNEY LINKS, and that Disney has spelled your family name correctly, if it is prone to mis-spellings, ours is so commonly mis-spelled I have given up trying to correct Disney. For the World, it does not matter, 'cept they think we are two different families.....I would have been very frustrated had I not sorted this out, prior to the 90 day deadline, and I only did it on a whim

2. RESERVATION TIMES - are not always in chronological order - so skim the entire age before giving up on your time.

3. ALL OF MY RESSSIES were still available, good luck with the new cruisers.

4. WISH LIST - I did not use this and it would have been easier if I did... You can put as many items on the wish list as you think you might like, a good idea for those makings ressies later in line...it saves from sorting through everything.....And, I am stuck with dial-up as DSL crashed Friday night - if this is my only problem, am I ever thankful.....

Disnurse - good luck in catching post 600.

Barkley - thanks for your research and keep us posted, but we have pretty much decided to do Blue Island 2 tank dive on St. Thomas, although I will miss not driving to St. Johns, oh well, next time. We have rented a car to "tour" the island of St. Maartin on our own, and I fully intend to try to learn a few words of dutch in honor of my paternal grandmother, (smile).

Dom - thanks for the update on the romance package, you will enjoy it. We had this for our first cruise trip...I will not spoil the surprise.

Barkley - very good tips also....And the passporter's guide has a section for "on your own" to book excursions outside of Disney. One HINT - times are different on the islands than on the ship. Not quite sure how this works, Barkely DH tried to explain it, but I guess I need the "Time-change for Dummy's manual"...

RENTAL CAR WALK-UPS I have heard it is more expensive to do a walk-up than a reservation.

BOBSULA - sorry to hear of your misfortune...I hope that things pick up and you can still cruise, even with less exciting options.....Please post updated information for our list, I think I am still waiting on some for you.

OK - that is enough babbling for now...It is Sunday - time to get dressed for church.

barkley · Aug 14, 2005

hello all-i just finished reserving on-line: i got palos for brunch, high tea, and dinner. sched. a hot stone massage for both hubby and i, and reseved floats plus the banana boat at castaway cay.

we are getting set to leave for santa cruz beach boardway in a bit-catch up with you wednesday.

4formickey · Aug 14, 2005

they will only allow me to book a table for 2 at palo,so I will try on board to at least book a table for 4 for the wife. I guess we will rent a car at St. Thomas to get around.I know that budget have a place not far from the cruise port. This will allow us to go to the beach and see some of the city, saving some cash. Ok I have the car rental from budget at $48.50 for thje day. It will allow us run free and see more of the city. :moped:

Choc_marg · Aug 15, 2005

DOM - Welcome to the board! We are (slowly) pulling together an order for some silicone wristbands to easily ID each other as DISers on the ship. Are you guys interested?? If so, how many will you want? They come in large (8 3/8"), medium (7 3/8" ) & small (5 7/8"). They will probably end up costing about $3 each.

Hey all - I am going to order this week! I have been in constant contact with Reminderband re: the artwork & am getting nowhere. I e-mailed a different company with all the same licensing questions & they haven't written me back. I even e-mailed the moderator of this board & she said that she wasn't authorized to let us use the smileys, but I would need to get in touch with Pete. I asked her how to go about doing that, but haven't heard back, so I think that we should scap the art and try for the alternative spelling. Use just the regular font & have them say "Dizney Cruise 11/12/05" That way they still say what we wanted, but hopefully won't get in trouble with using the "Disney" name. If they don't like that, then "Magic Cruise 11/12/05" would be the next choice.

I think that we are finally starting to narrow down some excursions. Maybe Golden Eagle Catamaran or Lord Sheffields (sail) on St. Maarten and most likely Coral World on St. Thomas. We'll probably do Coral World on our own and if we decide on Lord Sheffields, that will defn be on our own. We just have to make sure that anything we do leaves enough time for shopping

Only 2 weeks until we can book our stuff. Then what will we all have to obsess about for 2 months???

Chip&Dale&Fun - when you update your chart, you can include that this is our first cruise & we are celebrating DM & DF's 40th anniversary!!

JaysGoofyMom · Aug 15, 2005

Hi Everyone :wave2:

I will be on the Cruise too!! I can't wait!! I am Jaypd's Mother, part of the whole gang joining him when him & Stacey renew their wedding vows. It will definitely be a very special time for us.

See you all there!!

chip&dale&fun · Aug 15, 2005

Hi Folks,,,,,,I see I have some updates to do...Welcome again everyone
Jaypad's Mom and Dom.

I am glad the reservation process is proceeding smoothly.....Sorry the table arrangements for bruch did not work out, but there were those abusing the system, booking a larger table for 8 (4 times) and this prevented others from having a single chance at Palo's, so overall, I think it was needed to be limited. Perhaps more will open up at the day of the cruise.

We reserved AVIS and heard they had a car terminal "At the Port". Still have not decided if we will keep the car for St. Thomas as we are diving (I hope) in the morning...

chip&dale&fun · Aug 15, 2005

I think that we should scap the art and try for the alternative spelling. Use just the regular font & have them say "Dizney Cruise 11/12/05" That way they still say what we wanted, but hopefully won't get in trouble with using the "Disney" name. If they don't like that, then "Magic Cruise 11/12/05" would be the next choice.

I agree - you have been a real trooper trying to pull this together, but I think that the time is not worth the continuing hassels with the Company.

Magic Cruise 11/12/05 is Great if they continue to have the slightest objection.....time, at this point is not on our side, for reminderbands.....but is really getting there for our cruise....Can't wait!!!!!

4formickey · Aug 15, 2005

follow this link if you want to learn more about what happens behind closed doors on thiese ships.cruisejunkie click on cruise ship blues. You will be surprise on the events that happens out at sea.

AngieBelle · Aug 15, 2005

Hi! My boyfriend and I are potentially going to be on this cruise! I say potentially because we are both CMs, and in order to get the biggest CM discount, we have to wait until the spaces become available (a month or less before departure). Unfortunately, that doesn't guarentee they will have spots for us. However, we both have vacation time off from work all set and ready to go!

I'm really excited and sure hope it works out! It will be the first Disney cruise for both of us. I once did an Alaskan cruise on the Princess line but that was 6 years ago.