Oct 18th 2007, 3 nights?

[SettinSail]

I think DH and I are going to stick to what we did last time, which is go tropical.

Tropical always looks great! At some point, we will be breaking out our
3 matching outfits...It's a Mickey tropical shirt for the guys and a Mickey
tropical dress and sandals for me. We originally bought them to wear last
fall to the Hawaiian Luau (gosh, how do you spell that?) at the Poly Resort.
The night of the Luau, my dress had somehow gotten too tight so I
could not wear it! It's still a little tight today (somehow) but hoping to
wear it on the cruise. It's something you'd feel ridiculous wearing at home
but I think it will be cute on the cruise. My husband does not "dress up"
in any kind of costume but he likes his Mickey shirt!

 

[Disney_4_us]

Just booked last night for 10/18 sailing. I hope the weather cooperates for us all.

Like pearlieq, I got a great great rate on airfare. I am taking my DW for her 30th birthday. She doesn't know it yet (birthday is Friday). Only sad part is, we are leaving our 3 kids behind.

I'm excited... this will be our second DCL vacation. First time on the Wonder!

That has been on our minds too.... The Weather!! We typically go to Florida late October, and have just missed hurricanes in the past.... So we too are crossing our fingers! BTW, welcome aboard!

 

[SettinSail]

That has been on our minds too.... The Weather!! We typically go to Florida late October, and have just missed hurricanes in the past.... So we too are crossing our fingers! BTW, welcome aboard!

My son has 3 weeks off of school every October. We always book the last
week he has off (3rd week of October) for any travel and for the past 5
years have had wonderful weather. While we have not always been travelling to Florida, we live in the Southeast in a very hurricane-prone
state (NC) and I do not recall any storms at all in the past in late October.
I would be more worried with Aug & Sept.

Of course, with that said, I may have just jinxed us all!!!

But, our sail date is only 14 days away from the official end of Hurricane Season!!!

 

[Disney_4_us]

My son has 3 weeks off of school every October. We always book the last
week he has off (3rd week of October) for any travel and for the past 5
years have had wonderful weather. While we have not always been travelling to Florida, we live in the Southeast in a very hurricane-prone
state (NC) and I do not recall any storms at all in the past in late October.
I would be more worried with Aug & Sept.

Of course, with that said, I may have just jinxed us all!!!

But, our sail date is only 14 days away from the official end of Hurricane Season!!!

Two years ago we went to Florida right after that hurricane (cant remember the name), did that loop and decided to hit Florida anyways!!! There was minor tree and roof damage, I remember all the blue tarps on the houses, and the weather was very chilly for Florida that time of year....You are right though, it is very near the end of the season....

 

[pearlieq]

But, our sail date is only 14 days away from the official end of Hurricane Season!!!

I've definitley got my fingers crossed for good weather!

The vacation when we took our first DCL cruise we managed to hit Frances, Ivan, AND Jeanne! We came in right as Frances was finishing up. It did a number on Port Canaveral, so we didn't know until literally the morning of our sailing whether we'd be sailing out of there or Ft. Lauderdale. Luckily they were able to get it dredged in time.

As we took sail, Ivan hit the Caribbean. We were supposed to go on a Westen itinerary, and then they changed it to the Eastern because of the storm damage. Unfortuantely, they couldn't even do that because of the storm, so we wound up hitting San Juan, Nassau, and Castaway Cay (which had just reopened after Frances).

After the cruise we spent a week at WDW. Jeanne rolled in at the end and we were one of the last flights to make it out! It was a wild trip!

Even with all the storms, we had a blast! The cruise staff was upbeat and fun and they offered free drinks almost every night, just to be nice.

I figure as long as we can make it down there to sail, and preferrably leave from Port Canaveral, I'm a happy camper. The rest is gravy!

 

[pearlieq]

...It's a Mickey tropical shirt for the guys and a Mickey tropical dress and sandals for me.

I've seen several folks were those on the cruise. They're just adorable and make great pictures!

I wonder if I could talk DH into it. I had to spend months reassuring him that his Tommy Bahama-type shirt did not look silly. He looks great in it, but on his own he'd never venture past khakis and a polo he got for free from some software company, so this was definitely new territory for him!

 

[pearlieq]

I have seen some guidelines here about tipping and wonder if I need to print off & bring with us or if they will have that info on the boat as well?

They will put tipping guidelines for the waiter, assistant waiter, room steward, and head waiter in your room.

Other than that, there's just the spa staff, porters, and room service runners to tip. You'll need cash for the porters and room service, but spa tips can be charged to your onboard account.

 

[pearlieq]

Just booked last night for 10/18 sailing.

By the way, Welcome Home!

We also own at SSR, though we haven't stayed there yet. It sure does look nice when we visit, though!

 

[SettinSail]

Two years ago we went to Florida right after that hurricane (cant remember the name), did that loop and decided to hit Florida anyways!!! There was minor tree and roof damage, I remember all the blue tarps on the houses, and the weather was very chilly for Florida that time of year....You are right though, it is very near the end of the season....

2005 was the *worst* year for Hurricanes - they actually ran out of the alphabet and had about 4-5 more named storms (using Greek letters after they ran out of the alpha) that year. I think there were some October storms that year that hit Florida now that I think back.
There were about 5 hurricanes that hit Florida that year.
Well, hoping that year was a rarity for everyone's sake- whether cruising or not!!!

 

[SettinSail]

I've seen several folks were those on the cruise. They're just adorable and make great pictures!

I wonder if I could talk DH into it. I had to spend months reassuring him that his Tommy Bahama-type shirt did not look silly. He looks great in it, but on his own he'd never venture past khakis and a polo he got for free from some software company, so this was definitely new territory for him!

Ha! That sounds just like my husband but he does love his Mickey shirt!
He has worn it to a couple of functions around here.

 

[SettinSail]

They will put tipping guidelines for the waiter, assistant waiter, room steward, and head waiter in your room.

Other than that, there's just the spa staff, porters, and room service runners to tip. You'll need cash for the porters and room service, but spa tips can be charged to your onboard account.

Thanks so much!!! I can figure out room service, I'll look up the
porters on here and I'm not booking any spa services so we should be OK.

 

[Disney_4_us]

Welcome! Glad you joined!

I've sailed a couple of times before, and I'm a long time DISer. If you've got any questions I'm happy to help.

Less than 2 months now!

Is anyone going to WDW before or after the cruise?

I thought of a question, Have you ever had sea sickness, and if so what helped?? We have never cruised before, so the sea sickness part is sort of in the back of my head... Nobody gets car or air sick, but we are not sure about the sea sickness? Thoughts?

 

[pearlieq]

I thought of a question, Have you ever had sea sickness, and if so what helped?? We have never cruised before, so the sea sickness part is sort of in the back of my head... Nobody gets car or air sick, but we are not sure about the sea sickness? Thoughts?

The ship is very large and has good stablizers, so most people aren't bothered with the motion too much. Plus, since we're on a 3 day, we'll be spending most of our time in ports, so hopefully it won't be too much of an issue.

That being said, on our cruises DH was fine, but I did get a tad seasick. I'm a bit more prone to it though--I have gotten airsick in the past and usually skip rides like Star Tours because they make me a bit green.

What worked like a charm for me was just a daily tablet of Bonine. They sell it at any drug store right by the Dramamine. It didn't make me drowsy and it worked for a full day. I just popped one before dinner and I was good to do for the whole cruise!

Other things that help:

--Try to keep something in your stomach at all times. Don't let yourself get ravenous as it can make you queasy. That tip was from our waiter who took a while to get his sea legs.
--Sip ginger ale if you feel sick. They have this at all the bars. The ginger helps with motion sickness and the carbonation helps settle your stomach (kind of the Alka Seltzer principle)
--Go out on deck. Both the fresh air and being able to see the horizon help with motion sickness.

I'm sure you'll be fine, but you may want to pack a small packet of Dramamine or Bonine just in case. They also have it available in the gift shop and in the ship's clinic if needed.

 

[pearlieq]

A PSA to anyone who booked and paid for the cruise with the Disney Visa:

If you book and pay with a Disney Visa you are entitled to an onboard credit of $50 per stateroom. When I booked online I thought this would happen automatically, but when I got my confirmation there was no mention of it.

I called DCL today and they said it wouldn't show up on the paperwork--only in their system. However, when she checked for me, it wasn't applied to our account. She had it added, so I should be squared away now, but I'm glad I checked.

So, if you are doing the Disney Visa thing, it may be worth calling just to be sure the DCC promotion is showing up on your file so you get the onboard credit.

 

[SettinSail]

A PSA to anyone who booked and paid for the cruise with the Disney Visa:

If you book and pay with a Disney Visa you are entitled to an onboard credit of $50 per stateroom. When I booked online I thought this would happen automatically, but when I got my confirmation there was no mention of it.

I called DCL today and they said it wouldn't show up on the paperwork--only in their system. However, when she checked for me, it wasn't applied to our account. She had it added, so I should be squared away now, but I'm glad I checked.

So, if you are doing the Disney Visa thing, it may be worth calling just to be sure the DCC promotion is showing up on your file so you get the onboard credit.

I have been wondering about this. My TA told me about it but when I saw it mentioned on these boards it seemed to indicate you needed to use a code when booking to get it. I also did not see this on any paperwork I recd from Disney or from Visa. Do you think I should call my TA, Disney or Visa?
Visa did send us a pin which kinda surprised me. It was the first time we'd
ever used the card although we've had it almost 5 years

 

[pearlieq]

Do you think I should call my TA, Disney or Visa?

I would start with your TA and just ask them to verify that the Disney Visa promotion is showing up on your account and that you will get the onboard credit. I bet they took care of it, but it would be nice to know for sure.

It would be nice if they printed details like that right on the confirmation--it would save a lot of questions!

Very cool that Visa sent a pin! Is your DS into pin trading?

 

[SettinSail]

I would start with your TA and just ask them to verify that the Disney Visa promotion is showing up on your account and that you will get the onboard credit. I bet they took care of it, but it would be nice to know for sure.

It would be nice if they printed details like that right on the confirmation--it would save a lot of questions!

Very cool that Visa sent a pin! Is your DS into pin trading?

I will give her a call and hopefully it's already showing up.
This is our first pin so we've never swapped before.
We watched some folks do it at WDW but I don't think he will be into it.
He has the typical attention span of a 10 year old boy!!! He doesn't stand
still for very long if you know what I mean! Do you guys have alot of pins?
They are neat.

 

[SettinSail]

I ended up calling DCL as the # was handier at the moment and the OBC *was* noted on our reservation.

I asked how it would work and was told we would have a gift card waiting in our suite.

Got into a long conversation with the CSR. Said she had been on "many,
many" Disney cruises! We talked about what to wear at night, to the restaurants and such. What children wear at night, etc. Sounded like
she dressed up a bit more than I planned to. She said the last night was considered "formal night". EEks - now I need a new bathing suit AND a
nice dress!!!

 

[pearlieq]

She said the last night was considered "formal night". EEks - now I need a new bathing suit AND a
nice dress!!!

I had been wondering how dressy people were going to get for the "dress up night" (as they're calling it in the navigators). On the 7nts I wore a full, floor length gown for formal night (not that one necessarily had to, I just like dresses), but that seems like way too much for a 3nt.

I was planning on a sundress for the first night, my tropical dress for the 2nd, and a cocktail dress for the last night. DH will have khakis and a polo for the first night, khakis and his tropical shirt for the second, and dress pants with a dress shirt and tie for the last night.

I'm glad to hear everything was squared away for your OBC! I hope your shopping goes well!

 

[SettinSail]

I had been wondering how dressy people were going to get for the "dress up night" (as they're calling it in the navigators). On the 7nts I wore a full, floor length gown for formal night (not that one necessarily had to, I just like dresses), but that seems like way too much for a 3nt.

I was planning on a sundress for the first night, my tropical dress for the 2nd, and a cocktail dress for the last night. DH will have khakis and a polo for the first night, khakis and his tropical shirt for the second, and dress pants with a dress shirt and tie for the last night.

I'm glad to hear everything was squared away for your OBC! I hope your shopping goes well!

Ugh - I'm the opposite, I don't care for dresses.

So, do you already know that Pirate night is our 2nd night?
Do you know in what order we'll eat at the restaurants?
We made res for Palo for the last night but it was the easiest
night to get a res for and I wonder if there's a reason for that?