Second Time DCL cruiser questions

[Talky_Tina]

Hi,
We would like to book our second DCL cruise within the next few days for 2003. We sailed DCL once before and I have a few questions.
1. What discounts are we entitled to or should we check out?
2. About the Castaway Club: Approx. how much is this discount?
3. Will I need to have my club card # when I make the reservation in order to get the discount?
4. Can you request a dinner rotation? (ah, stop being so fussy!)
5. What are the benefits of town car-limo ground trans as opposed to the DCL bus? or visa versa (we took bus on previous trip).
6. When I received an online quote from DCL (including air fare), they offered an arrival option simply called "DAY BEFORE". Does this mean they are giving us the option to arrive in FL the day before sailing or does this mean that our only choice is to arrive the day before?
7. Where do people stay if they arrive the day before?
8. We are choosing cat 6 (most likely). If we get a room way in the back or way in the front, should we ask for another room? We stayed mid-ship last time and don't know if back is bad, front is good, or anything in between. We were happy mid-ship.

I know this is a lot of questions. Thanks so much for any help! I will check back!

TT

 

[llachance]

Discounts - pretty much depends on when you want to sail but since DCL routinely sales out not much in the way there (Dreams Unlimited had a rebate deal but don't know if it is still in effect.)

Castaway Club - you used to get shipboard credit but now in order to get shipboard credit you have to rebook on board, no other discounts that I am aware of.

If you live in far enough away and Disney makes your airlines reservations for you then you can get day before instead of a red eye. We live in California so if they make our air fare reservations that is an option. You stay at the Hyatt right at the airport and leave from there the morning after you get there. Air fares are usually cheaper if you book your own and you can certainly get cheaper hotels then the Hyatt if you want to come on your own before sailing day. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for three days this year with the money I saved by booking my own airline reservations.

Town Car or Bus - pretty much personal preference if there is only a couple of you. Many more then that and town car service becomes cheaper. For convenience (when I wanted to arrive at the port this year) we took town car service to the port....left my hotel at 11:00 and got there with about 30 minutes to wait to board. We took the bus back to the airport because our schedule was more flexible (weren't leaving until the next day so it really didn't matter).

Still can't request a seating rotation - just time but still have the opportunity to try to change once on board. We have had two different ones on each of two voyages and they were fine.

 

[taswira]

1. Since you did not book while onboard, you will not receive a Castaway Club discount (onboard credit) for booking your next cruise. Unfortunately, they recently revised their policy.

2. If you HAD re-booked while onboard, the CC shipboard credit is $200 per stateroom (for the 7-day).

3. Yes, you need your CC number, but not necessarily a card. If they have not yet issued you a number, call DCL and advise them of the situation and they will give you the number on the phone.

4. You can request a dinner rotation (although not policy), but you <I>might</I> not get it. You will not know your rotation until you check in. If you don't like your rotation, you can TRY to change once onboard.

5. I have never used either.

6. Arriving the day before the sailing is optional, and highly advised. If there were airline delays and you were scheduled to arrive the day of the cruise, you could miss the boat (ship)!

7. A lot of people choose the Radisson because it is close and convenient and usually affordable.

8. Take a good look at the deck plan (and Dave's dcltribute site!) to determine your location. It's a matter of personal preference. I prefer aft or mid-ship, not the front, but that's JMHO.

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

Hi Talky-Tina,

We booked about 6 weeks ago for June 2003 and here are our thoughts.

1. What discounts are we entitled to or should we check out? I've read in these posts about cabin credit if rebook on board but we didn't so no luck there.

2. About the Castaway Club: Approx. how much is this discount?
3. Will I need to have my club card # when I make the reservation in order to get the discount? You do need the number and although they say there isn't a discount this is what I found. I ran through a couple of quotes online with and withOUT my CC number and when I called the CC 800 number, gave them them my CC number and they gave me a price it was lower than either. Not tons, a couple of hundred bucks maybe. And yes I checked all of the details were the same. It was within days of each other so the early booking couldn't have made that much difference. I know everyone says there isn't a CC discount right now so maybe it was just good karma!

4. Can you request a dinner rotation? (ah, stop being so fussy!) No input on this one, sorry. We've never had a concern with it -go with the flow - surprise us.

5. What are the benefits of town car-limo ground trans as opposed to the DCL bus? or visa versa (we took bus on previous trip). We're taking the bus, we don't go that often (this will be our third cruise) and consider bus part of the fun, and IF there were a problem with a road closing, etc. then it is Disney's problem to make sure we get to the ship on time!

6. When I received an online quote from DCL (including air fare), they offered an arrival option simply called "DAY BEFORE". Does this mean they are giving us the option to arrive in FL the day before sailing or does this mean that our only choice is to arrive the day before?
We are in Michigan and could easily (without delays, etc) make it into Orlando the day of sailing. We opted for the day before flight for a couple of reasons - the possibility of delays, the VERY early nature of a same day flight, and the cost was pretty much equal to what we would have spent on a hotel in our gateway city the night before. Also, we let Disney book the airfare because we were not able to find a significant savings by booking ourselves and with all of the financial situations if there should be a problem with an airline - you got it, Disney's problem to fix it!

7. Where do people stay if they arrive the day before? There are several options, we choose the airport Hyatt as it is easy and the busses handle the luggage transfer in much the same way as from the WDW resorts.

8. We are choosing cat 6 (most likely). If we get a room way in the back or way in the front, should we ask for another room? We stayed mid-ship last time and don't know if back is bad, front is good, or anything in between. We were happy mid-ship. We've always done a cat 6, starboard, forward (6836 in the past, right now we have 6836 and are wait listed for "our" cabin)

Any particular dates you're looking at? Just curious.

Deb

 

[Talky_Tina]

Wow! These are such great replies! Thanks so much for the feedback!

Question#
2 & 3. I will call DCL with my Castaway Club# and see what happens as far as discounts (I have made a note of my online price quotes for comparison).

4. Dinner Rotation- ok, I was being so fussy because on our first DCL cruise, Lumeires was first on rotation, our luggage was VERY late, and we looked "rush job semi-formal". I was hoping to avoid formal/semi-formal on the first night, but after that last experience, anything would be a piece of chocolate mousse cake!

5. Ground trans - undecided.

6. We have decided (after reading these posts and the Castaway site) to use the Day Before option.

Deb, we are looking at a March 22 sailing. If for some reason, that doesn't pan out, we will go in June.

I really appreciate all the great advice here!

TT

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

Glad we were able to help make up your mind! LOL If you end up booking in June let me know - we're headed out 6/21, I think I said that already!

Deb

 

[Talky_Tina]

I sure will, Deb! I will know in the next couple of days.

 

[dylan'smom]

Just to consider...
we used DCL air & bus transportation for our first cruise & thought the cost was a little high, but later were proved wrong. Living in CA gave us that wonderful night before option w/ DCL at no extra cost than we would have paid for a red-eye.

When we factored in the cost of the Hyatt, and all of the extra "legs" we added to our transportation during the rest of the trip (before & after the cruise, with the price never changing, BTW), we found this to be about $75 ea. more than our best fair quote & that was w/o transportation!!

The second time we drove to the radisson w/ rental cars & went that route, but by the time all the costs were in, the convenience of the first trip was a bargain!! Having said that... we booked our own this time - just wanted more control.

BTW - LOVE your username! Very "Zone"esque...

 

[Talky_Tina]

Thanks for the info and the compliment, dylan'smom.

The more I think about it, the more I am looking forward to flying in the day before.

TT

 

[aalan]

talky-last march we flew in from denver, and stayed at the hyatt overnight. this is really the best way to do it: gives you a chance to relax, get a decent nights sleep (if you can!) plus no stress over possible flight delays. also, the room at the hyatt was really nice and suprisingly quiet, and no, we didnt hear planes all night!

 

[Talky_Tina]

Hi aalan, thanks, we did decide to fly in the night before. This is a relief. No worries. I wouldn't have heard about all the benefits of doing so if it wasn't for this board. Thanks, everyone!

Update on the Castaway Club discount: there isn't any for us.
We got the early booking discount. I had my castaway #, but early booking is all we got. Not complaining!

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

Thanks for the update Talky_Tina; maybe when I was comparing everything I just happened to hit one of those deeper discounts that sometimes come up. Whatever the case, I'll take it.

So are you going in March or June? You'll have to add a second counter now. I too love the ID, although I have to admit everytime I see it this vision of a pull string doll I had as a kid that my brother basically scalped! flashes through my brain!

Deb

 

[Talky_Tina]

Ouch, Deb, that hurt. That had to be ChattyCathy. He would have never gotten away with that with me

We decided to go in March. I think I called in the nick of time too. The early seating is all booked up. We are on a waiting list for that. The rooms seem to be going fast, especially the ones with verandas.

I did make a second counter for the cruise and then deleted it. I found myself thinking too much about the cruise and not enough about WDW. I began to feel somewhat disloyal. That is just so nuts, I know. I will eventually put the second counter back up when some of the guilt wears off.

Maybe we will hook up on the same boat some day. I had to stop myself from looking at a 3 day Halloweener in 2003. Dressing in costume on a cruise ship is just way too appealing!



TT


>So are you going in March or June? You'll have to add a second >counter now. I too love the ID, although I have to admit >everytime I see it this vision of a pull string doll I had as a kid >that my brother basically scalped! flashes through my brain!

>Deb

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

Sorry! No harm intended. One of those subliminal things from childhood - blame the brother. I do!

Have a grand time! on your WDW trip and the cruise. My partner in Disney obsession at work just emailed that she just booked a Christmas trip to WDW, she still can't convince her DH to take the cruise. We keep working on him though!

Deb

 

[taswira]

<B>Talky_Tina</B> - That IS the same Talky_Tina as from that <I>Twilight Zone</I> episode, right? Anyway, it's cute!

 

[Talky_Tina]

Thanks taswira Yes! That is the same Talky Tina doll from the Twilight Zone. The episode is called Living doll and is one of my favorites.

Well, Deb, as far as I can see on these boards, when people can't get their partners to go to WDW or cruise with them, a true Disneyaholic will dig up someone else. Whether it's bribing grown children to go, taking your kids and not your spouse, or something like that. I don't think we should let a reluctant partner stop us from going on vacations. I hope your friend manages to find a travel buddy if her hubby doesn't go.

We will enjoy our vacation. I hope you do too!


TT

 

[myfourkitties]

We have taken the bus both times. It's much less hassle, we usually overpack (no fun to lug your own), and the FEELING you get from everybody else is great. I have cried both times and know I will again in October when I watch the video!