Panama Canal Eastbound Sept. 14, 2013--it'll be WONDER-ful

[MPS516]

Well the Oct and Nov sailings are available again but still no EBPC Itinerary, I think they are just teasing me !

 

[oybolshoi]

Haven't heard anything from our TA about changes but I wouldn't mind disembarking in Miami vs. Galveston.

Hope everyone had a good holiday. We had a blast in WDW but I broke my foot last week while we were there because I am totally clumsy. I regret nothing!!

 

[twokats]

Haven't heard anything from our TA about changes but I wouldn't mind disembarking in Miami vs. Galveston.

Hope everyone had a good holiday. We had a blast in WDW but I broke my foot last week while we were there because I am totally clumsy. I regret nothing!!

Well, I feel better now. In going to my car Christmas Eve to go to my brother's house, I twisted my ankle and fell against my car and bruised up my arm and had a big swollen knot on my ankle. It is slowly getting better, but it has been a rough week.

We had our first white Christmas since 1975. We were in the area that got over 4 inches. I don't know how you guys up north do this. We are not used to snow in this part of TX and I don't care for it! Even though it is pretty, that is until it freezes and causes us heartache around here.

 

[oybolshoi]

Hope you're feeling better Kathy. We have no snow here ... just cold, gray weather all week.

 

[twokats]

Hope you're feeling better Kathy. We have no snow here ... just cold, gray weather all week.

It is slowly getting better. Luckily it did not break or even sprain, it just swelled up and got very tender and sore. My arm where I slammed into the car was very sore, but is also slowly getting better. I just don't move very fast!!

The show is melting, and supposedly we are getting more rain. Which is fine with me we need it with the drought and all, just don't like the freezing part.

 

[MPS516]

The itinerary is back up and looks the same. They did fix the Panama Canal Day showing up on two days, it now again lists day 9 as the crossing.

 

[Brixton]

We're excited to join all of you in September for fifteen days of fun! It is myself, Dh, DD8, and DD9. We'd like to participate in FE and all of the DIS activities.

 

[twokats]

We're excited to join all of you in September for fifteen days of fun! It is myself, Dh, DD8, and DD9. We'd like to participate in FE and all of the DIS activities.

So glad you are joining us.

I have you on my list and I am sure when youalleverybody updates the roll call she will add you to it.

 

[Brixton]

Reading through previous posts, I see there are other HSing families on this cruise! When we went on the Pixar Cruise in October, we didn't meet any other HSers - though we did meet other kids doing schoolwork at sea

Now, we have to wait another 255 days...

 

[oybolshoi]

for those of you who have sailed PC before ... it seems to me that the ports of call on this itinerary are pretty limited and right now we aren't even spending full days in Cabo or Puerta Vallarta.

While we didn't book this cruise solely for ports of call, we are wondering if we are going to be satisifed with such minimal time in places we've never visited before. Not that a full day is often enough but it looks like time in Cabo is less than six hours right now.

Just looking for some thoughts from those of you who have been there, done that. We do like our days at sea and have never been on the Wonder, but would like to know what things DCL has done to make this type of cruise more special if it's not really stopping many places along the way.

Thanks very much for your input and happy new year!

Edited to add: current DCL itinerary shows approximately 5 hours at Cabo and 5.5 at Puerto Vallarta ... that eliminates a lot of excursions currently listed on the website and is one of the primary reasons I'm asking the questions I am.

 

[pahrumpgirl]

for those of you who have sailed PC before ... it seems to me that the ports of call on this itinerary are pretty limited and right now we aren't even spending full days in Cabo or Puerto Vallarta.

While we didn't book this cruise solely for ports of call, we are wondering if we are going to be satisfied with such minimal time in places we've never visited before. Not that a full day is often enough but it looks like time in Cabo is less than six hours right now.

Just looking for some thoughts from those of you who have been there, done that. We do like our days at sea and have never been on the Wonder, but would like to know what things DCL has done to make this type of cruise more special if it's not really stopping many places along the way.

Thanks very much for your input and happy new year! :

Edited to add: current DCL itinerary shows approximately 5 hours at Cabo and 5.5 at Puerto Vallarta ... that eliminates a lot of excursions currently listed on the website and is one of the primary reasons I'm asking the questions I am.

My DH and I did the Panama Canal West Bound in 2008. We did Castaway Cay and Aruba on the east side of the canal and Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas on the west coast. It looks like the only extra stop in 2008 was Acapulco and everyone said that that trip should be dropped. It was the biggest waste of time on the trip. They seemed to have listened because it is no longer a stop.

Mexico is in such a state of turmoil that they have to be careful of the ports they go into. I remember being met with soldiers and machine guns on all the docks we stopped at.

I dug out my Personal Navigators and checked our times in port at Puerto Vallarta and Cabo. The first Tender left for Cabo at approximately 8 AM and the last one returning was at 8 PM. At Puerto Vallarta, ashore was approximately 8 AM and All Aboard was 5:30 PM. I saw that our times were very limited but I have a feeling that that may be a misprint and will change closer to time. DCL has contracts for certain excursions and unless there is some major reason for them not to stay long enough to honor them, they will.

They will try to get to the canal the night before we make the trip. They pay for a reserved spot to start through the canal and must be there at that time so they will spend the night in harbor and be fueled while there.

Unless there is something that I am unaware of they should have plenty of time to stay longer at the port of calls.

Carol

 

[JanDave]

I just posted the below message on our FB page. Reduced rates just annouced for the May 2013 PC cruise! Hope reduced rates are out by May 2013 for our cruise.


Reduced rates for the May 2013 PC cruise just came out. On the DCL website, reduced rate for 2 adults: IGT:$2392; OGT: $2532; VGT: $2812. These are restricted fares, but what a great deal! So, sometime in May, I'm guessing the reduced rates will happen for our cruise! Even with incurring a penalty for canceling existing cruise, there is still money to be saved by re-booking.

Jan

 

[youalleverybody]

Finally got around to updating the roll call! As always, let me know if I need to change something on your entry.


Jan--I'm torn about the news of rate changes.... DH and I have discussed, I mean seriously, cancelling this cruise. It's so much money for our family of 7. I'm considering moving the reservation to another date, and then making a new reservation if they announce *GT for this cruise. My only concern is that if we book with GTY rates, we could end up with two rooms far away from each other on the ship. That would be inconvenient, but if it saves us thousands of dollars and we still get to go....worth it to me.

 

[JanDave]

Jan--I'm torn about the news of rate changes.... DH and I have discussed, I mean seriously, cancelling this cruise. It's so much money for our family of 7. I'm considering moving the reservation to another date, and then making a new reservation if they announce *GT for this cruise. My only concern is that if we book with GTY rates, we could end up with two rooms far away from each other on the ship. That would be inconvenient, but if it saves us thousands of dollars and we still get to go....worth it to me.

Anja, we definitely will rebook if rates drop for our cruise. Doesn't matter to us where we are on the ship and, fortunately for us, we don't have to worry about having two staterooms close together. I'm wondering whether DCL would be able to arrange to keep the two rooms together that are required for your family under the *GT rates. It can't be difficult for DCL to do!

Jan

 

[CrusinLattas]

Finally got around to updating the roll call! As always, let me know if I need to change something on your entry.


Jan--I'm torn about the news of rate changes.... DH and I have discussed, I mean seriously, cancelling this cruise. It's so much money for our family of 7. I'm considering moving the reservation to another date, and then making a new reservation if they announce *GT for this cruise. My only concern is that if we book with GTY rates, we could end up with two rooms far away from each other on the ship. That would be inconvenient, but if it saves us thousands of dollars and we still get to go....worth it to me.

I have booked large families in multiple rooms under GYT and they did put them together - usually those only come up if the ship is not full so odds are better they can put you close - of course, there are no guarantees of location - that is the big discount, but especially with kids odds are good you will be close.

 

[MPS516]

I just posted the below message on our FB page. Reduced rates just annouced for the May 2013 PC cruise! Hope reduced rates are out by May 2013 for our cruise.


Reduced rates for the May 2013 PC cruise just came out. On the DCL website, reduced rate for 2 adults: IGT:$2392; OGT: $2532; VGT: $2812. These are restricted fares, but what a great deal! So, sometime in May, I'm guessing the reduced rates will happen for our cruise! Even with incurring a penalty for canceling existing cruise, there is still money to be saved by re-booking.

Jan

The usually offer GT rates following the final payment due date when the ship is well below the desired sailing capacity, on the May cruise they were almost 80% sold. If location is not your primary concern it is often better to cancel or move your reservation and re-book GT to save. On our MED cruise we spoke to them about doing something like that and they ended up giving us shipboard credit instead, albeit not for the full difference.

 

[Brixton]

We just booked the WBPC yesterday - the *GT rates were too low to ignore! Also, the flight to Miami is much less expensive than the flight home from Houston...every extra $ helps. For now we're keeping the EBPC as well, with fingers crossed for *GT rates this Spring.
It would be nerve wracking to worry about a few cabins next to each other and being at the whim of DCL. However, everyone I know has been really lucky with this!

 

[readyplayer]

Hello everyone!
My DH & I are booked on this cruise and are very excited. We are from Los Angeles and our last cruise was to Hawaii on DCL. Need to catch up on reading all the posts and we look forward to meeting and chatting with everyone.

 

[MPS516]

Welcome Nancy ! Really excited to see people repeat a PC cruise, makes me think it is going to be a very good trip.

 

[readyplayer]

Thanks, we really enjoyed our Panama Canal cruise. It was one of our favorite cruises and was extra special since my two sisters and their families traveled with us too. I hope this one will be too.