The $1,100 dilemma - what do you think?

[MelissaE1]

We are booked on the 10-22-05 Western. We booked October for a number of reasons... my kids will have more time to settle in school, it's later in the hurricane season (having been hit by Ivan last year and Dennis this month we've about had our share for a while) and most of all, it's the first Western after dry dock for the Magic, which will be fun I am sure.

Here is the dilemma... September resident rates have been out for some time and there is still space. If we chose to go on the September 24th sailing it would save us $1100. Also my daughter would be on the ship for her birthday, which is the 28th.

Final payment is fast approaching, with no resident rates for October showing. I'm happier with the October date, especially because of dry dock, but the monetary savings sure look nice... any opinions out there to confuse me even further? LOL.

 

[kcashner]

What you are really asking is whether you should hold on and hope that FL resident rates become available for October....hard to predict with the dry dock time in there.

We did the 9/25 cruise last year that got shortened to a 4 day cruise (from 7) due to Jeane. However, I've had 4 other September cruises that were Magical....so I wouldn't let the hurricane possibility worry you.

$1100 buys a whole lot of shore excursions, etc. I'd probably take the better price deal.

 

[Jsme]

What a decision to have to make. $1100 is a large chunk of change to invest in other ways on your cruise.

If you have insurance this would help with the chance of a hurricane. Knowing me I would go for the savings and go in September.

 

[smilingmouse]

I'd recommed the 9/24 sailing too---though I am biased since that is my sail date...If you do switch, be sure to join our cruise meet thread....we are a fun (and crazy) group....

 

[cruzings]

i'd take the savings. while it's true that hurricanes are possible, then again they may not happen. we've been on two september cruises. on went well but the the other (sept 18 to antigua) was shortened by half a day due to hurricane jeanne. we did get a nice discount off our recent west coast cruise because of it. IMO, still a win-win situation.

 

[scrapperjill]

That a big savings...but first off...are you looking at and compairing like cabins (same catagories on each sail date). Secondly...if you decided to stay on the 10/22/05 date you should check out the cruise meet board...as we have a good sized group forming over there As you can see that's the same cruise were on. .


A couple of the reasons we picked 10/22/05 are the same as what you mentioned....Later in hurricane season...and first Western after dry dock. (I can't wait to see what they do)

 

[captaincrash]

We're sailing this Sept 3rd....

.... and we've sailied almost every Sept for the past decade. The last two times were on Disney.... and for the first time we had our cruise disrupted by a hurricane last year (Frances). And now that we have kids that are 4 and nearly 2 we have to ask ourselves are we going to continue these September sailings or pull the kids out of school for a week to save a little cash?

Well... we plan to continue sailing in September as long as we can... assuming our kids do well in school and that they can take their assignments with them on our trips. I believe our school district has a policy that tolerates 15 days of unexcused absence - and I suspect they have this policy because they are trying to maintain qualification for state funding on every student. Plus they can argue reasonably that too much absence for most students cannot be very good. I would counter that being away and experiencing something enriching (not just entertaining) is of clear merit. So - this suggests that future shoulder season travel for us will have to mix in cultural, educational and/or historical merit.

So - go ahead and take the September sailng. Save the 1100. Don't waste time waiting for a FL discount in October. If they have not announced it yet and you have good reasons to go in September then go in september!

 

[DrCavin]

I would save the $1100. Are the drydock changes that are scheduled worth $1100 to you? That is a pretty expensive movie-under-the-stars or whatever they are going to call it... Here is a list of changes:

On the upper deck of the ship they are adding a jumbo tron type display so that they can show movies under the stars and also enhance the sailaway parties will be 24 feet wide and I think 15 feet tall.

The conference rooms are being eliminated and replaced with more childrens areas, they will be computer simulations and actually allow the kids to pretend to dock the ship.

On Castaway Cay they are adding swimming with the stingrays

Spa area is being enlarged as well...

 

[mickeyboat]

I would save the $1100, as long as it does not affect four child's schooling more than the October sailing would.

Hope you have a great time!

Denae

 

[lindakmonty]

I have to agree, take the $$$ for your family! It's hard enough to get a good deal or a discount

 

[frank2271]

TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN!!!! It sounds like a no-brainer to me.

How far in advance of the cruise date does DCL offer the resident discounts?

 

[khoffman923]

As long as school is not an issue, I say save the money and go with the September cruise. And to allow your daughter to celebrate her birthday while on board would seem to be the real bonus . I would love to have my birthday celebrated on DCL.

Only my opinion. Good luck with making your final decision.

Karen

 

[tstobb]

We're cruising on the 29th of October and have the same dilemma but have chosen to wait. Our anniversary is 9/9 and DS's birthday is 9/6 so the 9/3 sailing is oh-so tempting but we really want to see what the drydock changes are...

 

[MelissaE1]

Wow, it looks pretty unanimous there, lol. I was starting to think I was a little nuts for waffling at all until tstobb posted that they were (forgive the pun) in the same boat.

I really want to see the changes after dry dock (a DCL CM told me she'd pay the extra money and wait because the boat looks so nice then) but I guess I have to look at whether a look at the "new" Magic is really worth all that extra money. As was pointed out, that would pay for a lot of shore excursions, etc.

I am going to wait a day or two to see if resident rates come out for October and hope... if not, we may be joining the September group.

Thanks to everyone who posted an opinion... it really helps to have a "sounding board."