November 5th 2011 Eastern on the Magic

[Daniellenbella]

Everone has great methods to using credit card rewards. I knew I would learn something from posting that! See, I'm not one to charge everything, just yet, even though I pay it off fully when the bill comes. After reading all the ideas, I may just have to start using them more.

LovestoRun: I found the pictures of the Dooney & Bourke line by googling it. They even made one for just the Dream.

We have the Disney Visa Rewards card and use it to pay for everything (and pay it off each month). We've been saving up our points for the last 2 years and should have about $800 worth (at least) by the time of the cruise. We are going to put that on our on board credit account so with that, plus the $50 for charging the cruise with the card, then $200 from the TA, we'll have about $1000 for our on board credit---Thank Goodness!! Or we would be in big trouble with this new alcohol policy.

 

[Daniellenbella]

This is a response someone got about the change DCL did for their alcohol policy. Looks like they got toomany complaints so they changed their minds and cancelled their new policy.


Dear XXXXX,

Thank you for your email.

We regret the disappointment you have expressed in your email.

The information regarding the change to our alcohol policy is no longer
applicable.

Our current policy regarding bringing alcohol onboard is still in place.

As a reminder, Disney Cruise Line does not prohibit Guests from bringing
alcohol onboard. Any fragile items (including alcohol) must be
hand-carried onboard in a day bag and/or carry-on, which cannot exceed
22" wide, 14" high and 9" deep. Beverage coolers are not permitted
onboard (cannot be checked or hand carried).

Disney Cruise Line reserves the right to remove fragile items (including
beverages) from the Guests' luggage and the items will be stored to
return to the Guest at the end of the voyage. Beverage containers are
considered fragile and such items have caused damage in checked luggage
(e.g. carbonated cans "explode", glass bottles break).

Guests who request a Wine Steward to open and serve a bottle of
champagne or wine that has been brought onboard will be charged a
corking fee. If the Guest opens the bottle in the stateroom and brings
it into the dining room, including Remy or Palo, they will still be
charged a corking fee.

Alcohol brought onboard cannot be consumed in any lounge or public area.

However, please be aware, policies are subject to change without notice.

I hope this information has been helpful. If you require further
assistance in planning your visit, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Wilma
Email Guest Services
Disney Cruise Line

WOOHOO What a relief!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

I think they changed back due to guests complaints.

Either way people are happy they changed back to their old policy.

I will keep an eye open in case they change anything again. Then I will post it.

Kathy

 

[Daniellenbella]

A bar that has Yuengling!



Thanks again Kathy, I sent you an email this morning. You can add my email address to the list.


On another note, has anyone flown Air Tran before? They're starting to irritate me. They've changed my flight 2 times already and now the latest one they have me on is too close to comfort for me (11am) on my return flight and the next flight isn't until 4pm, which with their crappy selections and layovers, gets me home at 11+ pm...

I'm wondering if I should just cancel the flights and go with another airline or if I should hold out.

We are flying Air Tran also, but they haven't changed our flights as far as I know. (They did change one time by 2 min, but nothing that would effect anything). I don't know that I have flown on them before though. We usually fly Southwest, but their prices out of Philly were crazy when I was looking to book. We ended up with the Air Tran out of Baltimore. Are you flying out of Pittsburgh?


Kathy & Kathy--your beach pictures are so different from what I'm used to on the east coast. I'll have to post some from our vacation. Loved the pic of Minnie sitting up, too funny!

 

[Daniellenbella]

Well, total surprise to me... Eric booked tickets to Portland (small commuter 40 min flight), and the 4 of us are flying there at 5pm, then my inlaws are meeting us at the Portland airport, and they are taking the boys to their house for the weekend to spend time with gma & gpa, and Eric & I are staying in Portland by ourselves w/ out kids for weekend! Wow! Totally would not have guessed this.

So, we get home Monday. I will post again after we get home!

Kathy

WOW!!! How sweet!!! Enjoy your weekend!

 

[2ksilverbullet]

Matt: A bar with Yuengling and a Pens game? Is that possible in a far off country of Florida?

Couldn't tell ya, haven't ever been there. I'm a southwest guy (born/raised in AZ), I only know Cali and Mexico!

We are flying Air Tran also, but they haven't changed our flights as far as I know. (They did change one time by 2 min, but nothing that would effect anything). I don't know that I have flown on them before though. We usually fly Southwest, but their prices out of Philly were crazy when I was looking to book. We ended up with the Air Tran out of Baltimore. Are you flying out of Pittsburgh?

Yep, out of Pittsburgh. They bumped ours up about 30-45 mins the first time, which I was fine with, then cancelled that flight and put us on an 11am flight, which I don't think we could make. If it was just me and my wife, I'd go for it, but with all the kids, I don't think we'd make it. Oh well, we might take the later 8:30pm flight that night and figure out something to do for the day. There's just nothing available for non-stop between PIT and MCO.

 

[GreensboroKG]

hello everyone,
We have spent our Labor Day weekend up in our cabin in VA. Had a good time and my mother was up here too. We are getting ready to head home in a little bit. Watched Mary Poppins and Pirates of the Carribean in our continuing Disney emersion program. Otherwise, it was just a relaxing weekend. Talk to everyone soon.

Matt, I'm surprised Southwest's rates were bad, we got a really good rate from Raleigh after their 50th anniversary sale or something, maybe try back to see if the rates improve.

Scott

 

[wtgilligan]

Matt: They do serve Yuengling on the cruise and if we can get a Pens game it will be the best vacation ever !

So where around Pittsburgh are you?

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Morning all,

Going to be a hot one again today.

Good to see people have returned safely from their holiday weekend.

BT, what is Yuengling? Must be a drink but I have never heard of it.



We are one week closer to this cruise!!
We are at the 2 month mark today.

Back later,

Kathy

 

[2ksilverbullet]

Matt, I'm surprised Southwest's rates were bad, we got a really good rate from Raleigh after their 50th anniversary sale or something, maybe try back to see if the rates improve.

Scott

I just can't find anything that'll get me back to Pittsburgh at a reasonable time right now. At this point, I'd even pay more to get the kids home before bed! I'm going to call AirTran tomorrow and see what they can do.

Matt: They do serve Yuengling on the cruise and if we can get a Pens game it will be the best vacation ever !

So where around Pittsburgh are you?

I'm east of downtown about 2 miles from the Monroeville turnpike exit.

Morning all,

BT, what is Yuengling? Must be a drink but I have never heard of it.

Oldest brewery in America out of Pottsville, PA..

 

[LovesToRun]

Hi everyone!

We are still in Portland waiting for my inlaws to drop the kids back off to us very soon. We had a great time...there is so much to do in downtown Portland! We never spend time here because when we come to Oregon, we just drive right through Portland in order to get to Eric's parent's house.

The weather could not have been more perfect, too! Was mid-80's w/ nice breeze the whole time.

Anyway, as you all know that our oldest son loves planes & airports, so Eric did not book our flight home till 5 pm, so we'll go to airport early to hang out so kids can watch planes.

We kids are almost here! Gotta go, but will catch up on this board after we get home.

Happy Labor Day!
Kathy

 

[GreensboroKG]

Hey Kathy,

I noticed you were also organizing a FE group on the Cruise Critics website. Are you consolidating the groups or keeping them separate?

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Hey Kathy,

I noticed you were also organizing a FE group on the Cruise Critics website. Are you consolidating the groups or keeping them separate?

I want to combine if possible. 3 of us already post both places. I am hoping to get anyone there who wants to do a FE to post over here too, so they can get aquainted.
Doing a FE for such a small group on there wouldnt be worth the effort for them. Theres only a couple there interested who arnt already posting here. So a FE for just them would not work.

I have done this in the past and everytime people on CC posted here too and they came to the meet . I will mention the Dis over there on and off to get them motivated soon and see what happens.

Kathy

 

[clj1410]

Thanks everyone for Emma's birthday wishes. It is always nice to have a 3day weekend to celebrate! I can't believe that two more years and she will be a teenager

Kathy (lovestorun) i think you are right Emma and Tyler will be considered tweens! There is a tween club onboard,"The Edge", i am hoping Emma will want to go, what about Tyler?

Well it is back to school for my kids tomorrow, Josh is starting 3rd grade and Emma is starting middle school

Good luck to all the kids going back to school tomorrow

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Good morning all,
Today all the kids around here are heading back to school this morning. It will be in the low 90's and most schools here so not have AC since we usually dont get hot weather that much.
I'm sure there are lots of busy moms and kids this morning.
Hope people will have time to post this evening.
I'll check back later today and see who has had time topost today,

Have a great day everyone,
We are getting so close to the cruise !!
Time to party!!

Kathy

 

[2ksilverbullet]

Welp, I guess we can take our time getting off the boat on the 12th. The only worthwhile option of getting back to Pittsburgh has our flight out of MCO at 8:30pm that night.

Soooooo, any recommendations of things to do between leaving the boat and getting to the airport? I guess we'd have to figure out something with our bags as well...

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Matt,
are you renting a car for transportation?

IF you have a car rental you have lots of options.
Your luggage can be in the trunk so out of site.

The Kennedy Space center and Astronauts Hall of Fame are 15 minutes away fron the port.
Or head back to Orlando area and go to Sea World. You can easily do that in a day.

Also not too far from the Airport is Gatorland which costs less and is about 4 hours to see it all. you can google it on line to get details.

Also in the Orlando area is a cool place for kids, the name escapes me for the moment. It is close to SeaWorld and it looks like an upside down building. Its full of scientific stuff but not boring at all. Also an arcade off to one side.
I will have to ask my son for the name of it. It is close to a Ripleys believe it or not.
Both are 2 to 3 hour attractions to see.

Of course there is always Universal or WDW. Even if you dont want to go into Disneys theme park the downtownd Disney area is a nice place to walk around. Lots of stores and places to eat. There is a 24 plex theater there and a 5 story arcade. I think its about $30 for the day admission for the arcade, but it is awesome for those into those kinds of games.
Also without getitng into theme parks are 4 mini golf courses near by on Disney property. In front of the Swan & Dolphin is Fantasia course and a regular mini golf course. (meaning not themed). Also next to Blizzard beach is the Summer / winter wonderland courses.

Also right at cocoa beach are some nice beach areas to spend the day. The road by the Radisson you can go about 10 blocks to a Manatee rserve (free) and see the Manatees under the water. There are a few benches, picnic tables and clean restrooms there.

Now if you are taking the DCL bus to the airport, thats a different story.
There are shops in the aiport to browse but nothing to keep you busy all day.
I would suggest if the budget allows to rent a car there for the day, put your luggage in it and then do some Orlando area attractions.

Good luck, Hope you can find something to keep everyone busy and Happy,

Kathy

 

[2ksilverbullet]

Great ideas Kathy, thanks!

We have a car service taking us to and from the airport so maybe I'll see if I can change the return service and get a rental car instead.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Matt,
this link has many attractions within your reach for a one day time limit. It also has links to discount tickets and lots of great information about each place.

Of course it has several items there you will just skip over but there are lots of the things I was thinking off all in one site.

Also the place I was trying to think of was Wonder Works and it is listed here too.
Hop this helps.


http://www.visitorlando.com/things-to-do/attractions/

Kathy

 

[LovesToRun]

Welp, I guess we can take our time getting off the boat on the 12th. The only worthwhile option of getting back to Pittsburgh has our flight out of MCO at 8:30pm that night.

Soooooo, any recommendations of things to do between leaving the boat and getting to the airport? I guess we'd have to figure out something with our bags as well...

Hi Matt,

This is always the case for us because the direct flight from MCO to Seattle leaves around 7 PM. Last year I booked a rental car via Hotwire and got a car for $20.00 from MCO for the whole day. So, we had Disney check our bags through from the ship, and we took the CruiseLine bus to MCO, got to MCO around 9:30 - 10:00 AM, and went straight to the rental car area, picked up our car, and we drove to Down Town Disney and hung out there for the day. It was fun... and we ate dinner there. Then, we just drove back, turned our car back in, grabbed our carry-on bags, went through security, got to our gate and flew home! Made an inexpensive day at Disney.

With our November cruise, we'll be in the same situation. This time, we are thinking about getting a day room at MCO for $85.00 plus tax, and just having a place to relax, and hopefully we can get a room facing the runway so our kids can watch planes... then we can play in the pool, etc.

Anyway, those are two options that I know work well for late night flights. There are a lot of people wandering around MCO who have late night flights who just got off cruise ships that morning. Our first cruise, we didn't think about renting a car, or getting a day room, so we just hung out at MCO in the terminal ALL DAY LONG and on man, was it ever a LOOOONG day! It was after our first cruise that we got creative and decided to rent a car or get a day room. Made the time so much better than just sitting in the terminal all day.

-Kathy