Podcast 4.0 Fantasy 7-Night Western Caribbean Cruise 12/8/2012

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Welcome aboard, Heather.

Thank you

Heather

 

[Silverfox97]

As crazy as it sounds, I actually cruised the Dream twice this year.
Heather

Welcome Heather!!!

Not crazy at all - we've been on 2 DCL cruises this year too - 1 on the Dream in Feb & 1 on the Fantasy in June

Welcome aboard!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Welcome Heather!!!

Not crazy at all - we've been on 2 DCL cruises this year too - 1 on the Dream in Feb & 1 on the Fantasy in June

Welcome aboard!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Thanks! I just booked our flights and so we are officially all booked now! I can't believe we'll be on the Fantasy in less than 2 months and I know my Mom will just be WOW'd!

I'm really looking forward to seeing the Christmas decorations around the ship too -

Heather

 

[Silverfox97]

I'm really looking forward to seeing the Christmas decorations around the ship too -

Heather

US TOO!!!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[luvdamouse91]

Hello! I can't believe it - but I just booked this cruise for myself and my Mom as a treat to her! We haven't taken a mother/daughter trip since I was in high school and because she is a retired military spouse and the military rates were TOO awesome to pass up - we are joining you

As crazy as it sounds, I actually cruised the Dream twice this year. We (my family) booked the Dream 14 months out for June and counted down every day. Then after we got back we missed her so much, we were looking online and noticed the last minute *GT rates so we booked it for August! I told my Mom I wanted to treat her to a Disney cruise and little did I know it would be so soon. I didn't know about the military rates until I was fiddling around on the website not too long ago. I'm a military brat myself but SHE has the ID card! It's going to be really hard to leave behind my DH and DS as the Fantasy was supposed to be our next family cruise (hoping to book an opening day 2014 one) but the 7 day Fantasy was a $100 CHEAPER than the *GT rate on the 4 day Dream since the Dream doesn't currently have any military rates for December. It was a no-brainer!

I'm looking forward to counting down with you all!

Heather

Welcome to the group!

Welcome Heather!!!

Not crazy at all - we've been on 2 DCL cruises this year too - 1 on the Dream in Feb & 1 on the Fantasy in June

Welcome aboard!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Ditto on the not crazy at all - we were on the Magic last month!

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Welcome to the group!


Ditto on the not crazy at all - we were on the Magic last month!

Thank you!!

So that might make us all enablers - lol...there might be help for us as a group, you think? Life is too short and if you can do it - go for it!

Heather

 

[TifffanyD]

Hello! I can't believe it - but I just booked this cruise for myself and my Mom as a treat to her! We haven't taken a mother/daughter trip since I was in high school and because she is a retired military spouse and the military rates were TOO awesome to pass up - we are joining you

As crazy as it sounds, I actually cruised the Dream twice this year. We (my family) booked the Dream 14 months out for June and counted down every day. Then after we got back we missed her so much, we were looking online and noticed the last minute *GT rates so we booked it for August! I told my Mom I wanted to treat her to a Disney cruise and little did I know it would be so soon. I didn't know about the military rates until I was fiddling around on the website not too long ago. I'm a military brat myself but SHE has the ID card! It's going to be really hard to leave behind my DH and DS as the Fantasy was supposed to be our next family cruise (hoping to book an opening day 2014 one) but the 7 day Fantasy was a $100 CHEAPER than the *GT rate on the 4 day Dream since the Dream doesn't currently have any military rates for December. It was a no-brainer!

I'm looking forward to counting down with you all!

Heather

Welcome aboard, Heather!!

You are definietly not crazy. We've already cruised the Magic, Fantasy, and Dream this year!! Too bad this coming cruise isn't on the wonder

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Welcome aboard, Heather!!

You are definietly not crazy. We've already cruised the Magic, Fantasy, and Dream this year!! Too bad this coming cruise isn't on the wonder

WOW - that rocks!! Thanks for the welcome - we are excited and it will be a special cruise for my Mom and I!

Heather

 

[NWmom]

Well, we did not get good news from the doctor, and her foot issues are not healing as fast we would have hoped. We are going to have to drop out of this cruise, but we will move the cruise to around the same time next year. Please remove us from the FE list.

Sorry to here you can't go. I hope healing improves.

 

[NWmom]

Hello! I can't believe it - but I just booked this cruise for myself and my Mom as a treat to her! We haven't taken a mother/daughter trip since I was in high school and because she is a retired military spouse and the military rates were TOO awesome to pass up - we are joining you

As crazy as it sounds, I actually cruised the Dream twice this year. We (my family) booked the Dream 14 months out for June and counted down every day. Then after we got back we missed her so much, we were looking online and noticed the last minute *GT rates so we booked it for August! I told my Mom I wanted to treat her to a Disney cruise and little did I know it would be so soon. I didn't know about the military rates until I was fiddling around on the website not too long ago. I'm a military brat myself but SHE has the ID card! It's going to be really hard to leave behind my DH and DS as the Fantasy was supposed to be our next family cruise (hoping to book an opening day 2014 one) but the 7 day Fantasy was a $100 CHEAPER than the *GT rate on the 4 day Dream since the Dream doesn't currently have any military rates for December. It was a no-brainer!

I'm looking forward to counting down with you all!

Heather

Welcome to tjhe group.
Skye

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Welcome to tjhe group.
Skye

Thank you Skye!

Heather

 

[sdlong329]

It only makes sense if you're not a single cruiser. It didn't use to be 75% - 100%; it was frequently closer to 50%. They've pretty much priced me out of any future DCL cruises, but I get the feeling DCL really doesn't care.

I do not mean to be rude, but, as a moderator of a cruise line bulletin board, I would think you would recognize ... NO cruise line could possibly make a profit if all of their staterooms were occupied by a single guest. As you should know, cruise lines make money off of expenditures made by guests. If there are HALF or ONE-FORTH the number of guests ... there is no money (profit) to be made. Accordingly, since a cruise line does not generally want to spend $2,000,000,000 to build a cruise ship ... hire staff and management ... purchase inventory (food, gift shop and otherwise), organize talent ... JUST TO LOSE MONEY?

Do you know why larger staterooms cost more money? Because they occupy more square footage, per guest ... and cost more to maintain (per SF). Accordingly, you should be able to understand why it costs "xx" for one guest in stateroom "a", and why it should also cost "xx" for TWO guests in stateroom "a" (even though the cruise will still make less profit in other areas, based upon lower guest count). If everyone could secure the Walt or Roy suite for the same price as an inside stateroom ... EVERYONE would do it!

WHICH cruise line were you sailing, where you allege to pay for 1.5 people, instead of 2? That's not rack rack policy for DCL ... and hasn't been for as long as I can remember.

(priced out of a DCL cruise) It costs what it costs, in order to make a profit (ROI). Losing money is not good. You still have the ability to bring a second guest ... nobody twists anyone's arm. On the other hand, if changing pricing from 170% to 175% prices anyone out of a cruise, they likely should not be sailing anyway. That 5% difference is roughly the cost of transfers. Example: $1500 for two guests on Princess, or $1,275 for a single (170%), versus $1,312.50 (175%) ... or $1,500 (200%). In this example, the difference between 170% and 175% equates to $37.50. The difference between 170% and 200% equates to $225.

(I get the feeling DCL really doesn't care) Most corporations follow a simple guideline. It's much easier to retain an existing customer, versus having to obtain a new customer. That being said, if the company loses money in one department (hotel), it must increase income in another. So, if you would rather have everyone pay less to occupy a stateroom, would you rather have DCL raise prices in other areas? Would you rather DCL charge you for a soft drink at dinner ... as is the case with Holland America? Would you rather DCL charge you for a lounge chair near the pool ... as is the case with Royal Caribbean? Would you rather DCL charge you for a steak in the MDR ... as is the case with Carnival? Would you rather DCL charge you $10 for a taco dinner ... or $20 for a fast food hamburger ... as is the case with Norwegian? Should DCL lower the quality of the ships? Should DCL lower the quality of the entertainment, or should they charge admission to entertainment?

I'm not saying one cruise line's strategy is any better than the other ... some apparently like to get nickel-and-dimed to death with average service and accoutrements.


Steven

 

[sdlong329]

It's going to be really hard to leave behind my DH and DS as the Fantasy was supposed to be our next family cruise (hoping to book an opening day 2014 one) but the 7 day Fantasy was a $100 CHEAPER than the *GT rate on the 4 day Dream since the Dream doesn't currently have any military rates for December.

WELCOME!

Bring DH and DS along with you ... they will still get Military discount ... but have them sleep in a stairwell (I am sure they won't mind). You still get to sail with your mother ... DH and DS will be safe AND will still have a great time.

On the other hand ... once you start to sail 7+ days on a cruise, soon, you will no longer want to sail a 3 or 4 day cruise. As it is now, we find a 7 day cruise to be about as short as we'd ever want to do. We love 14+ day cruises ... will be doing an 18 night B2B in May!


Steven

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

WELCOME!

Bring DH and DS along with you ... they will still get Military discount ... but have them sleep in a stairwell (I am sure they won't mind). You still get to sail with your mother ... DH and DS will be safe AND will still have a great time.

On the other hand ... once you start to sail 7+ days on a cruise, soon, you will no longer want to sail a 3 or 4 day cruise. As it is now, we find a 7 day cruise to be about as short as we'd ever want to do. We love 14+ day cruises ... will be doing an 18 night B2B in May!


Steven

Thank you and thanks for the giggles!! I wish they could come but DS can't miss that much school. BUT... He doesn't know there is a surprise trip to WDW for next month that I've had booked for months. I just had Mohs surgery on my nose to remove a basal cell spot so as long as I'm healed up and no complications we will be headed that way!!

I looked at some Christmas shots of the Dream and can't wait to see the Fantasy all decked out!!

Heather

 

[NancyIL]

I do not mean to be rude, but, as a moderator of a cruise line bulletin board, I would think you would recognize ... NO cruise line could possibly make a profit if all of their staterooms were occupied by a single guest. As you should know, cruise lines make money off of expenditures made by guests. If there are HALF or ONE-FORTH the number of guests ... there is no money (profit) to be made. Accordingly, since a cruise line does not generally want to spend $2,000,000,000 to build a cruise ship ... hire staff and management ... purchase inventory (food, gift shop and otherwise), organize talent ... JUST TO LOSE MONEY?

Do you know why larger staterooms cost more money? Because they occupy more square footage, per guest ... and cost more to maintain (per SF). Accordingly, you should be able to understand why it costs "xx" for one guest in stateroom "a", and why it should also cost "xx" for TWO guests in stateroom "a" (even though the cruise will still make less profit in other areas, based upon lower guest count). If everyone could secure the Walt or Roy suite for the same price as an inside stateroom ... EVERYONE would do it!

WHICH cruise line were you sailing, where you allege to pay for 1.5 people, instead of 2? That's not rack rack policy for DCL ... and hasn't been for as long as I can remember.

(priced out of a DCL cruise) It costs what it costs, in order to make a profit (ROI). Losing money is not good. You still have the ability to bring a second guest ... nobody twists anyone's arm. On the other hand, if changing pricing from 170% to 175% prices anyone out of a cruise, they likely should not be sailing anyway. That 5% difference is roughly the cost of transfers. Example: $1500 for two guests on Princess, or $1,275 for a single (170%), versus $1,312.50 (175%) ... or $1,500 (200%). In this example, the difference between 170% and 175% equates to $37.50. The difference between 170% and 200% equates to $225.

(I get the feeling DCL really doesn't care) Most corporations follow a simple guideline. It's much easier to retain an existing customer, versus having to obtain a new customer. That being said, if the company loses money in one department (hotel), it must increase income in another. So, if you would rather have everyone pay less to occupy a stateroom, would you rather have DCL raise prices in other areas? Would you rather DCL charge you for a soft drink at dinner ... as is the case with Holland America? Would you rather DCL charge you for a lounge chair near the pool ... as is the case with Royal Caribbean? Would you rather DCL charge you for a steak in the MDR ... as is the case with Carnival? Would you rather DCL charge you $10 for a taco dinner ... or $20 for a fast food hamburger ... as is the case with Norwegian? Should DCL lower the quality of the ships? Should DCL lower the quality of the entertainment, or should they charge admission to entertainment?

I'm not saying one cruise line's strategy is any better than the other ... some apparently like to get nickel-and-dimed to death with average service and accoutrements.


Steven

sayhello is NOT a moderator of this cruise line forum; she moderates the Adventures By Disney forum. If I'm not mistaken, I believe this Podcast cruise will be only her second Disney cruise.

 

[mdvlprof]

Higher initial cost with less 'extras' to pay for vs. lower cost but a lot of 'extras' to pay for. 6 of one, half-dozen of the other. We've found that we end up paying about the same.
We love DCL, but their itineraries are very limited. And with DS, we can only do ones that depart from US or Canada, since his legs won't bend enough to be comfortable flying. So we usually do DCL when there is something else going on, too [like PCC] .

 

[PDJPrinceCharming]

Very happy to be joining on PCC 4.0. A Disney cruise has been a dream I have had for a long time but sadly with the way the single supplement works out, this may be my last cruise as going by myself seems to be the only option & I can't afford to pay for another person who won't be going. I am excited to be able to go on the ship as I cannot wait to meet everyone & I can't wait to take advantage of all of the perks offered.

 

[provenchers]

Can't wait!! This is our first cruise and we are so excited (we are not part of the PCC). We will be surprising our 4 and 6 year old by showing up to port and showing them the ship. I can't wait to see those faces I am bummed that I didn't learn about the fish extender sooner. We would have so enjoyed it, if somebody knows of a way we can participate please let me know. Hope to see some of you on board.

 

[TIGGERmetoo]

Welcome

 

[tink576]

Can't wait!! This is our first cruise and we are so excited (we are not part of the PCC). We will be surprising our 4 and 6 year old by showing up to port and showing them the ship. I can't wait to see those faces

They will be so excited!