October 17, 2009 Western

[missusem]

On the Fish Extenders --

I would be all for splitting if that's fine with Laura - not too much organising??

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We've also booked our family's stay in Miami for before the cruise.. very excited. I'm wondering if Disney does any transfers from Miami airport though..

Have a good Sunday guys and gals!

 

[MommyTo5]

We've also booked our family's stay in Miami for before the cruise.. very excited. I'm wondering if Disney does any transfers from Miami airport though..

The port is quite a long drive from Miami --- 200+ miles making the drive well over 3 hours. I've never heard of Disney or any of the local (Orlando/Port Canaveral) companies offering transfers.

You're probably going to need to rent a car, Sue. A good place to look for discounts is on the Mousesavers website... most codes will apply to any of the Florida airports/locations.

 

[lucky1]

Laura, thank you for keeping the list and all the FE details for us. I can't recall if we've discussed at what point/if any we would consider splitting into smaller groups. For us, providing gifts for more than 15 families would be difficult. I have no problem with the possibility that most others would be in favor of a higher limit before splitting. I would just have to withdraw. No hard feelings, really.

I'm fine with splitting into 2 groups, but will participate either way. If we split now, we'll pretty much have a gift a day. Don't really need more than that, but this is my first cruise so I'm up for whatever the group wants to do...

Thank you so much for updating and organizing FE.
I already picked up some gifts, and now have to focus on the Fish extender itself.

I also took your advise and went to local Target and found pirate shirts for my kids. They are very cute!

Glad you liked them. Can't go wrong at under $5. I went looking for adult T-Shirts but didn't find anything.

On the Fish Extenders --

I would be all for splitting if that's fine with Laura - not too much organising??

All - On FE splitting I have no problems I am going with the flow, so after Sept 1, we will see who we have on board with FE and then I will PE everyone on the list to see if anyone has dropped out or are still in and what their upper and lower limits are. I agree with you that above 15 would be too much for me. I am not sure how some of these cruise meets deal with 150 families. Right now we are on 14 rooms/families. I am very open to any suggestions.

Honestly the whole reason I created a spreadsheet was on my last cruise meet, I had a hard time keep up with names and DIS names. I never knew who was who. The FE coordination just fell into this. DD is so looking forward to doing FE. She already has something planned for the kids. (I think she is counting on Mom being crafty for her gift, Haaa.. I might just buy it).


Laura

 

[aan1701]

The port is quite a long drive from Miami --- 200+ miles making the drive well over 3 hours. I've never heard of Disney or any of the local (Orlando/Port Canaveral) companies offering transfers.

You're probably going to need to rent a car, Sue. A good place to look for discounts is on the Mousesavers website... most codes will apply to any of the Florida airports/locations.

This is very good advice. Miami is about a 4 hour drive, longer I think. When I did it it reminded me of driving to Vegas from here in Los Angeles, ( I do mean time wise). DCL only offers transfers from the airportor WDW.

 

[lucky1]

More Kids' Pirate gear. I was in Gymboree outlet today (okay maybe it is an obsession) and they had some cute black long sleeve t-Shirts with a glow in the dark with a pirate scull and crossbones. (~$13) They also had some cute toddler PJ's with a pirate ship on it.

Laura

 

[calmpets]

I picked up the cutest blue sundress today for the cruise - I can't wait to wear it!

 

[dcannon101]

Has anyone been following the price of oil lately? I just saw that it is over $74 per barrel. It looks like we all may be paying the fuel supplement for our cruise.

 

[kerickson]

Has anyone been following the price of oil lately? I just saw that it is over $74 per barrel. It looks like we all may be paying the fuel supplement for our cruise.

Bummer! I was hoping to use that refund to help fund our bar tab onboard The deadline is a month out, right? Or is it what the price is w/in the month you sail? Will probably go back down right after Labor Day...too late for us.

Edit: Just looked on the DCL website and Sept 17th is our magic date...

For cruises that have already been booked, the following guidelines have been established for the refund of fuel supplements paid:

If the closing price on the NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange) of West Texas Intermediate fuel is below $70 a barrel two weeks prior to the beginning of the calendar quarter (dates specified below), the company will refund fuel surcharges paid in the form of an onboard credit.

The determination of which quarter a cruise is in will be based solely on the sailing date. The entire cruise will be considered to be part of the quarter that the sailing date originates in.

Fuel Price Determination Date Quarter of Possible Fuel Surcharge Refund
June 17, 2009 Third Quarter 2009
September 17, 2009 Fourth Quarter 2009
December 18, 2009 First Quarter 2010
March 18, 2010 Second Quarter 2010
June 17, 2010 Third Quarter 2010
September 17, 2010 Fourth Quarter 2010

To see if you are eligible for the onboard credit, go to My Disney Cruise on or after the determination date. Retrieve your reservation and view the Invoice Information under Reservation Details.
The elimination of the fuel surcharge for new bookings applies to sail dates through the end of 2010. The company will continue to closely monitor fuel prices. Reinstatement of a fuel surcharge may be necessary in the future.

 

[lucky1]

Without asking my TA... How would I know if I paid a fuel charge already? Oil was low when we booked in May.

Laura

 

[kerickson]

Without asking my TA... How would I know if I paid a fuel charge already? Oil was low when we booked in May.

Laura

If you booked May of this year you most likely didn't pay a surcharge. I think they discontinued it last fall/winter? I booked July 08 and the charge was line itemed out on my receipt. Note, I booked mine through DVC so my receipt came from them, not DCL....

 

[jeanneg]

So if we didn't pay it, and the price rises above $70/barrel, will they add it to our bill?

 

[calmpets]

According to what they told me when I had the fuel surcharge removed, they will add it on and notify you before the cruise that you have a balance due. If the fuel surcharge is already included in what you paid, and oil is below $70 per barrel, you will receive the money back in the form of a shipboard credit.

 

[Pennyb123]

If you want to know whether or not you paid a fuel surcharge without having to call up your Ta and ask them... look at your invoice. Mine clearly had it listed right in there with all those other things like taxes, add-ons and fees... Mine is right there in pink and black.

 

[cwid510]

I just book and paid in full today... yayyy But I couldn't any spot available for Palo reservation

From experience, what is the chance of me getting the reservation?

Do I need to keep checking online every hour to see if a spot is open?

Thanks so muchh

 

[yazee1]

I just book and paid in full today... yayyy But I couldn't any spot available for Palo reservation

From experience, what is the chance of me getting the reservation?

Do I need to keep checking online every hour to see if a spot is open?

Thanks so muchh

Welcome cwid! We have been able to get reservation once onboard.

 

[cwid510]

Welcome cwid! We have been able to get reservation once onboard.

Thank you for the info !! It's going to be our first time disney cruise. I'm not sure if I have time to read all the postings..

Getting nervous here but very excited....

 

[Pennyb123]

Welcome Cwid! You are in for a real treat!! I was SOOOOOO blown away by my first Disney Cruise! Hope you join us for our Dismeet in the Promenade Lounge at 3pm on the 17th!!

 

[KJF]

Wow - It's so nice (and a bit scary!) to see the tickers start w/ 1 Month... Time to get moving! Starting to put small things aside for packing. The clothes I'll do closer - by then we won't be wearing our summer stuff & I can have it all clean to pack at once.

Went to Target on Fri, but like I was expecting, no Halloween shirts out yet. W/ the remodeling they're doing, right now the clothing area is only a small compressed area w/ the rest roped off for now. Can't wait for it to be done - I can't find anything in that store right now! We'll be at my parents this weekend, so maybe I can pop into that Target to look for them.

Spent part of the weekend trying to weed out the house - DH did the Livestrong bike ride challenge & I had the kids clearing out their rooms (Purple Heart pile, trash) until we met DH at the finish line later in the day. I cannot believe how much stuff those two get!!

 

[kerickson]

Wow - It's so nice (and a bit scary!) to see the tickers start w/ 1 Month... Time to get moving! Starting to put small things aside for packing. The clothes I'll do closer - by then we won't be wearing our summer stuff & I can have it all clean to pack at once.

When I see random things that I think I'll want to pack I put them in a 'Cruise' bag, but I plan on doing all my packing at once a few nights before we leave. If I gradually pack, I get mixed up in my head and end up worried that I'm forgetting something (even if I have a list). I need to visually see everything on my bed then in my suitcase to feel complete n

I'm also really trying hard not to over pack. Hopefully I'll end up with the right amount of items at the end of it all. I'm not above wearing things a few times during the week as long as we can do some laundry...

 

[lucky1]

When I see random things that I think I'll want to pack I put them in a 'Cruise' bag, but I plan on doing all my packing at once a few nights before we leave. If I gradually pack, I get mixed up in my head and end up worried that I'm forgetting something (even if I have a list). I need to visually see everything on my bed then in my suitcase to feel complete n

I'm also really trying hard not to over pack. Hopefully I'll end up with the right amount of items at the end of it all. I'm not above wearing things a few times during the week as long as we can do some laundry...

Let me just say now. I HATE PACKING. I use to be good at this, but I think since our daughter came along (there I go blaming someone else), I never seem to find the time to pack until the last minute and way overpack and I always forget something. I do have a bag of Cruise items that I had packed for our May cruise that didn't happen, so I need to go through that. But as far as Clothes, we will still be swimming and in summer clothes during that time, so it is making sure what we want to take is clean.


My goal is to use everything I pack, well maybe not the sweater for cool weather.

Laura