September 29,2013 - DVC Member Cruise

[aan1701]

Hi Alan,

I'm sure your leap day trip was good. Did you "park it" for 24hrs.?

I was wondering if Epcot is doing anything special for their 30th anniversary?

I peeked at your Hawaiian cruise meet and wow, can't get a word in edge wise!

I had not planed to go for the whole 24. As a matter of fact we checked in on the 29th. I came back to AKL at about 4:30 AM. I am sure there will be special merchandise for EPCOT's 30th. Yes the Hawaii crowd talks a lot.

 

[Dreamer7787]

And a big congratulations to Dreamer 7787!!!! I took a sneak peek at your journal and Wow!!! What a beautiful story and wedding you are planning!!
Love the centerpieces! Thanks for sharing and please check-in and keep us posted!

Thank you!! Right now the wedding planning is at a standstill because of how far out we still are. We are meeting with a possible officiant this Sunday. Hopefully we hit it off and it will be one more thing checked off the to do list! The days are flying by though! I can’t believe it’s already been almost seven months since we got engaged!

Danielle, I loved reading you planning journal. Just reading it makes one happy. I was telling my DD and she was just as tickled as I was with all the details. We could so see me taking the pictures and her say "Keep taking pictures, Mom!" That is a memory they will never forget! I am married to my high school sweetheart too. Love him more every year

I certainly plan to!

 

[Henlady]

Hi Everyone.
DH and I are seriously considering this cruise (Thanks Johnny Quest and PI), DH just can't turn down a chance to cruise with Disney. We have a couple of rooms selected, just need to make the final "move".

This will be our 7th cruise with DCL, 3 on the Wonder (10/05, 11/07, 5/10), 2 on the Dream (5/11, 11/11) and one coming up in
April '13 on the Fantasy. Can you tell we love Disney Cruises!!

 

[poison ivy]

:Kris!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So great to hear you might join us. Say yes! (Hi Don!!)

We really can't wait and keep going back and forth on several things
1) Do we drive or fly
2) when to book the land portion - pre or post cruise and where to stay.

The biggest hurdle seems to be timing the WDW stay with the food and wine festival. From everything I've read, it usually kicks off the last weekend in Sept with a soft opening on Thurs.

This doesn't leave very much time before we sail and probably draws a decent crowd when it starts.

decisions...............decisions..............

So Alan, if we opt for the post cruise, you may be in for some competition on booking that AKV concierge. Would love to snag a night or two there but still leaning toward it being before the cruise.
Kris, we'll twist your arm later on this!

 

[aan1701]

So Alan, if we opt for the post cruise, you may be in for some competition on booking that AKV concierge. Would love to snag a night or two there but still leaning toward it being before the cruise.

Right now I don't know if we are going to try to book a club room or not. Too far away to figure that out.

 

[poison ivy]

Yeah - but the weird thing is AKV concierge is the first item we need to decide since we're using DVC pts. Reserving at the 11th mo. window = end of Oct. this year

Of course I wouldn't even be thinking about this either if I had a *cough* 15 day cruise to Hawaii *cough* setting sail in 22 days!!!! Aloohaaaa!!!!

 

[Johnny Quest]

Good Morning,

Happy Easter and Passover to everyone, hope you all have a great weekend.

Don, gotta luv that attitude, "BOOK IT"! That's right up my alley. I will never turn down a suggested cruise/trip. We're rookies compared to the "Henladys" and Alan.

Happy Easter,
Jim

 

[aan1701]

Yeah - but the weird thing is AKV concierge is the first item we need to decide since we're using DVC pts. Reserving at the 11th mo. window = end of Oct. this year

Of course I wouldn't even be thinking about this either if I had a *cough* 15 day cruise to Hawaii *cough* setting sail in 22 days!!!! Aloohaaaa!!!!

Honestly I have been more concerned about my Club 33 reservation for lunch the day before we sail to Hawaii. Alas I got that squared away and then re- checked just to make sure. Honestly I don't think that we are going for a club level room as my mom will be with us and she does not like the club rooms as you can't get a walk in shower in one and she really can't get into the tub shower. The one Handicaped room they do have on the club level does not have a walk in shower just extra rails to help get in. She did not like it much. So it all depends on how many points we use for a Pre cruise stay before the PC cruise from Miami in May and this cruise.

 

[poison ivy]

club 33?????????????

I don't want to pry.............

We travel to San Diego off an on to see our daughters and recently took my mother for her 70th bd which included a two night stay at DL. I hinted to my daughters to covertly try and find a member of this secret society and score a rsvp as a surprise for their grandmother. We did find a member, but the six degrees of separation were too vast to solicit.

I understand they've implemented some new rules regarding complimentary park access for club guests.

Sounds like a really fantastic pre-cruise plan so far. You have a very lucky group.

Interesting about the lack of HA on AK club level. I never really took note and we've stayed there with an ECV bound friend. He had limited mobility and could manage with bars and his wife's assistance so they never specifically requested the HA rooms.

As much as i love Jambo House, the Epcot area is a far better stay for our group during F & W. That's why I'm favoring AKV more as a pre-cruise. Club level affords the perfect segway to ease into the trip.

 

[Henlady]

Well.....as you know from my previous post Don (DH) and I were considering booking this cruise. We have given it much thought and consideration and we have finally decided on which stateroom we want, so we are now

Booked!!

It only took Don about 2 seconds to tell me to book the cruise, just had to decide what stateroom we wanted. We waffled between an inside with the "Magic Porthole", then thought we'd try the 8A with the 2 portholes and split room, then ended up deciding on a 7A. We always book a complete center aft verandah room on the Dream and scheduled in one for our Fantasy cruise and wanted to try something different. DH will be able to smoke on the verandah and there won't be anyone "downwind" of his smoke as the next room is a porthole room.

Now the wait begins......................

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

Well.....as you know from my previous post Don (DH) and I were considering booking this cruise. We have given it much thought and consideration and we have finally decided on which stateroom we want, so we are now

Booked!!

It only took Don about 2 seconds to tell me to book the cruise, just had to decide what stateroom we wanted. We waffled between an inside with the "Magic Porthole", then thought we'd try the 8A with the 2 portholes and split room, then ended up deciding on a 7A. We always book a complete center aft verandah room on the Dream and scheduled in one for our Fantasy cruise and wanted to try something different. DH will be able to smoke on the verandah and there won't be anyone "downwind" of his smoke as the next room is a porthole room.

Now the wait begins......................

Welcome

We couldn't decide on stateroom either. DS wanted to try one of those really cool rooms with the magic porthole. He was sure they cost more than the verandah rooms though. But we also wanted to try one of the center aft rooms with the larger verandah. So...that is what we chose. Would love to hear what you have thought about the center aft rooms on the Dream.

I saved a couple H2O products from our last cruise. I throw them in my gym bag when I am needing a Disney fix. Came home one day last week from the gym and my DD sat next to me. She recognized the smell immediately. It is the little things in life that make us smile

Hope you all are having a wonderful week. Weather has been beautiful here. Doing a lot of hiking before it gets too hot!

 

[Johnny Quest]

Hi Kris and Don,

Great to hear that you're booked! I remember at some point in this booking process we were in a 7a, right after we were in an 8b, and right before we were in a 5a. Now we're trying to decide on travel dates and pre or post stays. Hoping to do the Food and Wine Fest and possibly a Halloween Party. I think you took the Auto Train if I remember correctly. Is that your preferred method, or do you fly/drive also?

We are looking forward to cruising with you guys. BTW we have a couple smokers in our group, so Don might have some company out in the "smoking area".

Yea, the wait is the toughest part, at least you will have the Fantasy to keep you busy. We'll want a full review on that one.

Jim

 

[Henlady]

Gerberdaisy1234: We LOVE those Aft verandah staterooms. We were in 6690 on both of our Dream cruises & have 7194 for our Fantasy Cruise. The verandah is huge. You could easily fit 6 or 8 people out there. It will be great for your kid(s). You will experience a bit of vibration/noise in the cabin whenever the ship is backing into a port and they have to use the thrusters, but it only lasts a few minutes. So if the pictures on the wall shake a bit and there is a deep rumbling sound don't get scared..
I'm still not convinced that we won't upgrade to one of those aft rooms in the near future. What stateroom do you have?

JohnnyQuest: Food and Wine Fest is fun. We like getting to try all of those different types of food. We did the MNSSHP once and that was a good time also.
We have traveled by the AutoTrain many times and prefer it over driving(which Don won't do anymore). But, their rates have gone up somewhat over the past year and sometimes it is now actually cheaper to fly. We'll be flying in April '13 and possibly in Sept also, but we shall see.

Don will be happy to have someone to smoke with, I think he sometimes gets lonely out there all by himself. And I can guarantee he knows all of the smoking spots. His favorite is at the outside bar area of Meridian (near Remy & Palo) and at the Current's bar area above the adult pool.

373 days to the Fantasy and 528 till September 29 Dream!!

 

[poison ivy]

Kris and Don - great decision.
How did you fare that storm system? We only had heavy rain but your area looked like it may have been hit much worse.

Our friend Cass will be happy to frequent those hangouts with Don (that is unless I can get her to kick the habit - no luck so far)

JQ was right about us switching categories. We went from a 7A to 5B to 4A to V to T. Finally, when we couldn't go any further we stopped at R.
That's what happens when you have close to two years to plan a cruise!

And since we imposed a trip moratorium til Sept 2013 (except for San Diego of course!) we'll have to live vicariously through all the upcoming great travel plans of everyone else here.

Let's see -
Alan is doing Club 33 before cruising to Hawaii in 5 days and then sailing thru the Panama Canal.
Kris and Don are on the Fantasy in April next year.
Danielle is planning a beautiful wedding.
Regina and family are running marathons and hiking all over the place.

What are we doing? nuthin

 

[aan1701]

Poison Ivy, you left out our 11 night trip to WDW for EPCOT's 30th and food and wine. Thanks DVC.

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

Henlady (Kris?), I have to double check the number but it was one that two people posted lots of pictures of at the very middle of deck 9. The balcony looks amazing and the shots they took from the balcony were awesome.

Poison Ivy (very allergic to you by the way)One of the great things about hiking is it does not cost a lot. So it is a good way to get away in between Disney trips. I buy a lottery ticket about once a month hoping that we will get to go to Disney more often but nothing yet.

I will get a bit of Disney fix next month though. My Dniece will be there for about a month. I am going to mail her a few pins. I am going to call the red phone booths in the UK at EPCOT (she will be sitting close by). When someone answers I will ask them a simple Disney question and if they answer I will have them find her for their "prize." Hoping it works out because it would be nice to sprinkle some pixie dust from miles away.

Another way I am getting my Disney fix is by planning what we are going to make for FE gifts (hoping we have a group that wants to do FE). Last time our gifts were on the bulky side so I am trying to plan more compact things this time.

Then we just sold our Expedition due to gas prices so I am buying new Disney stickers for the back window of the vehicle we have not purchased yet.

 

[poison ivy]

Poison Ivy, you left out our 11 night trip to WDW for EPCOT's 30th and food and wine. Thanks DVC.

What!?! How the heck did I miss this one!?!

I might need two of these now!!!

In honor of your voyage, let me wish you all the best on such a fantastic trip.

Poison Ivy (very allergic to you by the way)

Too funny!!! True, it's contagious but on here it only spreads in a good way!

One of the great things about hiking is it does not cost a lot. So it is a good way to get away in between Disney trips. I buy a lottery ticket about once a month hoping that we will get to go to Disney more often but nothing yet.

Love the hiking idea. Hope you guys hit it big someday! We only play when the hype builds which is futile.

That plan with your niece sounds like great fun. Let me know how it turns out.
BTW - I know Iron Man wants to do the FE.

So this is what I've morphed into with zero plans til Sept 2013

 

[Henlady]

Kris and Don - great decision.
How did you fare that storm system? We only had heavy rain but your area looked like it may have been hit much worse.QUOTE]

We did fine with the storm system - it pretty well missed us, we had snow/rain/sleet, but it did not accumulate on the ground. However "up the mountain" about 20 minutes away they got close to a foot of snow. I had to head over those mountains to Pittsburgh on Monday evening and on the highest ridge it was totally fogged in (could only see about 2 car lengths in front of you) with blowing snow and messy roads on a very steep grade. That part was not fun.

gerberdaisy1234: I have also seen the pics of the deck 9 verandahs and you should be very happy with that stateroom. It's also sooo easy to head up to Cabanas or the Adult district. If I was in our stateroom(6690) and wanted a soda or coffee, I'd just go up to Cabanas and grab it. Even if it was "closed" the fountains/coffee machines were still operational.
What you and your niece are doing at EPCOT is a very sweet thing. What fun that would be. I'm sure she'll have some interesting interactions with that.

aan1701: Sounds like you have some awsome trips coming up. It would be wonderful if you kept us up to date with all of that.

We're staying away from our "Disney fix" this year. Heading to Ocean City, Md for a few days in June, then to Gettysburg, PA for the battle reenactment for a weekend in July. Back to Gettysburg for a weekend in late October so Don and DD can get their ghost hunting fix. Don's "bucket list" includes actually seeing a ghost, seeing a flying saucer/aliens, and going gator hunting to kill an alligator. Yeah, he's a little wierd, but I still luv him.

 

[Johnny Quest]

I must say that's an interesting bucket list Don. I don't have too many right now; check out Hawaii, travel to Croatia, my Grandfather's birthplace, do a Med cruise, and maybe a Sailfishing or Marlin fishing trip. I'm sure some others will be added over time. I did cross one off by going on our first cruise.

Oh yea!... Travel cross country in a 45ft. luxury RV bus without a care in the world!.... Yea right!

 

[poison ivy]

FYI - One of the cruisers on Alan's trip is blogging live from the Wonder as she journeys to Hawaii.

check it out - http://magicaldreamtours.com/index2/hawaii/

looks like they had rough seas yesterday. My uncle (retired Naval captain) has always remarked about this in comparing the Pacific vs Atlantic.

We had three concerns with the Sept 2013 booking date - all having to do with how the weather would impact the seas; the average temperature each day; and sailing in the forward cabins on Deck 12.

Very unpredictable.

But apparently this is not unique to hurricane season as I've just read from a return cruiser on the April 25 Magic cruise meet thread.

I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic.