Sept 20,2011 Wonder Repositioning Cruise

[M4travels]

Has anyone started checking out hotels in Vancouver? The Pan Pacific is the perfect location but we're hoping for a bit of a savings over current pricing. We may have to check out betterbidding.com to see if it's ever offered on Hotwire and/or Priceline. We're flying up the day before arriving around 1:30 p.m.

Michael

 

[rcchello]

We will probably be arriving 3-4 days before. Unless a good deal shows up on one of the hotel web sites I think I will wait until the month before and check out hotwire.

Some of the chains offer seasonal deals that can be quite good. I am hoping for something in the city so we won't need a car.

 

[~Dani~]

We've been looking at the Coast Coal Harbour and will be seeing what kind of prices they bring out Spring of next year. If I look it up now, it's $229 p/night, but similar dates this year were $139 p/night.

Bob - we were indeed on the Jan. 3rd cruise! What a coincidence that we will be on a second cruise at the same time.

 

[roseburghughes]

We will be using Hotwire and I will be booking sometime in May/June 2011.

Plans so far:

Amtrak to Seattle and pick up our daughter. Amtrak to Vancouver and arrive the night before the cruise. Both my wife and I have visited Vancouver before and our daughter doesn't have the extra time off to cover extra nights.

We are looking forward to a relaxing 5 night cruise and then a few days at Disneyland, before we fly home. We will also Hotwire a hotel in Anaheim.

Tim and Kathy

 

[llachance]

are along on this cruise and my mother is doing the additional week to Mexico. My husband and I have an inside and we will share my mother's balcony. We have all been on the Magic but this will be our first on the Wonder. Can't wait.

 

[FourM's]

Okay, so I'm totally jealous of all the people doing the back to back cruise to Mexico !
Has anyone looked into the ground transportation options at the port in LA? After the cruise is over we are heading to GCH at Disneyland for two nights and trying to figure out the best way to get there with out totally breaking the bank. I haven't been able to find much info on the subject online.

 

[M4travels]

Okay, so I'm totally jealous of all the people doing the back to back cruise to Mexico !
Has anyone looked into the ground transportation options at the port in LA? After the cruise is over we are heading to GCH at Disneyland for two nights and trying to figure out the best way to get there with out totally breaking the bank. I haven't been able to find much info on the subject online.

For groups of more than two it will probably be less expensive to make arrangements with something like Super Shuttle or Prime Time Shuttle instead of using Disney transport. We're going to have some local friends pick us up and then we'll all head to the park for a day of fun and stuff!

We haven't decided if we're flying home from LAX or from Tijuana. If we decide to go the TJ route, we'll head down to family in San Diego later that week and then take the trolley to the border, taxi to the airport, and then fly on home!

Moving south of the border makes for creative traveling at times!

Michael

 

[FourM's]

Thanks for the info M4travels! I'll look into the two shuttle services.
How long have you lived in Mexico? I won't complain about needing a shuttle after the cruise, sounds like its quite a process for you to get home. It's all worth it though for a disney cruise!

 

[M4travels]

Thanks for the info M4travels! I'll look into the two shuttle services.
How long have you lived in Mexico? I won't complain about needing a shuttle after the cruise, sounds like its quite a process for you to get home. It's all worth it though for a disney cruise!

We are relatively new to Mexico; living here, that is. Marc retired at the end of February and as I wasn't working at the time we made the plans then to move to San Miguel de Allende. We left Los Angeles on July 7 and have been happily living here since mid-July. A MUCH more relaxed lifestyle!

Though we are a bit of a distance from our favorite spot, we are NOT giving up the love of Disney!

Michael

 

[yukongirl123]

Hi All,

Have had this cruise booked since last December, but had been contemplating doing the WBTA again. Instead we've decided to add the MR cruise to make this a 12 day cruise. Looking forward to another long cruise on DCL.

I'm Janice and will be sailing with my son Trevor.....

See some familiar names here also.....

 

[M4travels]

Hi All,

Have had this cruise booked since last December, but had been contemplating doing the WBTA again. Instead we've decided to add the MR cruise to make this a 12 day cruise. Looking forward to another long cruise on DCL.

I'm Janice and will be sailing with my son Trevor.....

See some familiar names here also.....

Hi, Janice! It will be great to see you and Trevor on this cruise. We, too, were contemplating doing the WBTA again (booked it while onboard!) but we've decided to put that booking into a holding pattern for now. Maybe the Magic will do it again in 2012????

For now, the MR will be ours in September!!

Michael

 

[Mmmwaffles]

Hi! Count us in! This thread inspired me to register (I have been a long time lurker of disboards trying to learn everything I can about cruising).

This will be our first cruise to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and my hubbies 50th birthday. We plan on spending a few days at Disneyland (first time without the kids!) and catching a baseball game as well.

We want to stay at the Grand Californian. Should we be booking that asap?

So looking forward to this trip!!

 

[M4travels]

Hi! Count us in! This thread inspired me to register (I have been a long time lurker of disboards trying to learn everything I can about cruising).

This will be our first cruise to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and my hubbies 50th birthday. We plan on spending a few days at Disneyland (first time without the kids!) and catching a baseball game as well.

We want to stay at the Grand Californian. Should we be booking that asap?

So looking forward to this trip!!

Welcome!!!

Some of us who are booking the Grand Californian are staying in the villas and since there aren't many of them, jumping on those as quickly as possible is a necessity! I would think the regular rooms at the Grand wouldn't be as difficult to book at a later date, but you might want to check into that with Disney. We LOVED staying at the GCH before they added the villas; now we love it even more!!

Michael

 

[FourM's]

Hi! Count us in! This thread inspired me to register (I have been a long time lurker of disboards trying to learn everything I can about cruising).

This will be our first cruise to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and my hubbies 50th birthday. We plan on spending a few days at Disneyland (first time without the kids!) and catching a baseball game as well.

We want to stay at the Grand Californian. Should we be booking that asap?

So looking forward to this trip!!

Welcome Mmmwaffles! DH and I will be there on our anniversary also, 20th not 25th though. We are staying at the Grand Californian Villas after the cruise. We have stayed in the non DVC portion of the hotel during this same time of year in the past and have never had a problem getting reservations even when we didn't plan very far ahead. But there's something to be said for having your ressie made and not worrying! Maybe we'll see you on the ship!

 

[tanyaewa]

we'll be on this cruise as well!
We booked right after our last trip to Disneyland in April. We were so jazzed!

We are travelling with another family who are big Disney fans and have been WAITING for the West Coast itinereries.

We are dh, me, ds 8 and ds 6 - from Whistler, BC
They are dh dw, ds 6 and ds 5 - from outside Vancouver, BC

FWIW - suggestions re: hotel stays in Vancouver... It is going into low season at that point fo the year so good deals can be had. Hotwire is very helpful as are the direct hotel websites for Pan Pacific, Westin, Delta, Marriot, Fairmont, Coast, Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn etc. I would wait until next summer to book.

I am very familiar with Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest so am happy to answer questions.
I need some info about port in LA - area etc.

WE are SO excited!!!!

 

[rcchello]

we'll be on this cruise as well!
FWIW - suggestions re: hotel stays in Vancouver... It is going into low season at that point fo the year so good deals can be had. Hotwire is very helpful as are the direct hotel websites for Pan Pacific, Westin, Delta, Marriot, Fairmont, Coast, Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn etc. I would wait until next summer to book.

WE are SO excited!!!!

Welcome to the cruise thread! I was hoping there might be some good deals on rooms if we waited for a reservation. THANKS FOR THE INFO!!!

Now all I need to do is figure out when to book flights. That will be my big expense, especially since I plan on flying into Vancouver.

 

[M4travels]

we'll be on this cruise as well!
We booked right after our last trip to Disneyland in April. We were so jazzed!

We are travelling with another family who are big Disney fans and have been WAITING for the West Coast itinereries.

We are dh, me, ds 8 and ds 6 - from Whistler, BC
They are dh dw, ds 6 and ds 5 - from outside Vancouver, BC

FWIW - suggestions re: hotel stays in Vancouver... It is going into low season at that point fo the year so good deals can be had. Hotwire is very helpful as are the direct hotel websites for Pan Pacific, Westin, Delta, Marriot, Fairmont, Coast, Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn etc. I would wait until next summer to book.

I am very familiar with Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest so am happy to answer questions.
I need some info about port in LA - area etc.

WE are SO excited!!!!

Welcome aboard! Thanks for the info on the hotels!

Michael

 

[taaren]

Ahoy! Thought I'd say hi. DH, DS4, two good friends and I have 2 inside staterooms booked for this cruise since August '10 though we're waiting to hear whether DH's boss will give him the time off or not (can't request until Jan 1... grr). We really wanted to see Castaway Cay, but its just too hard to fly those extra 3000 miles to Orlando so we decided to do the relaxing trip on the West Coast. Its really hard to get farther than the West Coast from the middle of the Pacific since you end up spending half your trip just getting to and from.
Anyhoo, current plan is to fly into Seattle a few days before, see our friend's boat there, then somehow get up to Vancouver (was originally thinking ferry, but my son would _love_ a train trip, and I would love it if that was cheap too!). Definitely want DS to see the aquarium; my nephew loved that best about Vancouver when he was my son's age. After disembarking heading to the GC Villas for 4 nights to meet up with some different friends and send the DS4 home with Grandpa so he doesn't have to miss as much school and we can have some adult-couples time.
Very excited as we've never cruised Disney-style before, can't even remember the name of the line I took once in the Mediterranean 10 years ago.
Nice to meet y'all!

 

[M4travels]

Welcome aboard, taaren and family!! Here's hoping it works for your DH's vacation request!!

Michael

 

[Steffy]

I'm trying to get over my post cruise depression, so I booked this cruise. It will be my best friend Terry, our friend and her daughter.

This will be my first time at DisneyLand! Can not wait. We will only be there for a day or two. I can't take off 3 weeks like I did for the WBTA.

A big shout out to all of the WBTA folk! Hey there Tim and Kathy, Michael and Marc and Janice! Kool!

Hello to all of you cruisers!

We're thinking of flying into Seattle, going to the Space Needle, sitting in a Starbucks and drinking a latte then taking the train to Vancouver. At least this is what I want to do.

I also want to stay at the GCV. Wish me luck at that seven month window.