Way Early Roll Call For March 4, 2006 Eastern.........

[Qball]

just noticed that 2princesses/2princes and sandraB are fellow Canadians! Us too...SK.

 

[2Princesses/2Princes]

just noticed that 2princesses/2princes and sandraB are fellow Canadians! Us too...SK.

Welcome Qball! Yes, there seems to be a few Canadians booked. The ones I know of are from NB, and now you from Sk. I guess we can all wait together at 6 am (with our children) for the last morning customs thing...not a great way to end the vacation......oh well, we must do what we have to.

 

[sandraB]

There do seem to be a few canadians...I am wondering if it is because we often have earlier spring breaks? We call it March break here, and it is allways the first full week of March.

Customs at 6am? What is that?

Because we are canadian we have to do an earlier customs?

Ick.....

sandi

 

[Qball]

We purposely wanted to avoid spring break but then it's hard to avoid it when it varies from prov to prov and state to state.
Not to ignore our fellow shipmates...but a question to my fellow canadians...
I noticed on the forums, there are have been tips to book things like dining reservations to Palo and registering our kids, can be done online. We did not book directly with DIsney cruise lines. Did you? We had a travel agent book our cruise and she did it thru Canada vacations. So can we still register online and how?
Are you guys flying out of Toronto? We are arriving a day earlier and potentially staying at the Radisson for the night before we leave port.

 

[Qball]

I finally got time to read the other 5 pages. When we booked our cruise, we got the late seating as well and put on a waiting list for the early seating. Our DD will be 4 at time of cruise. I read that supper is a 1.5 hour ordeal. Although DD will do ok staying up late, eating that late might be a problem for us as well. I'm trying to convince myself that we will live our day to day lives in our time zone, then we won't notice the difference...8pm seating is 6pm for us. Think that will work??
So what are the seating times for breakfast and lunch?

 

[Ariel&Flounder'sMom]

Hello all Canadians, I'm a Minnesotan, is that close enough?

First of all, Qball's question about reservations: We made our reservations through Dreams Unlimited. They give you a reservation number, and you can use that to find your Disney confirmation number. Ask your travel agent for that number, and then go to disneycruise.com. You can then make all your own reservations.

The late seating thing I'm trying to look at with rose colored glasses. If we do end up stuck with late seating, it gives you more time during the day and we won't feel as rushed. The shows start at 6pm for the late seating, but if you have early seating, you go right from dinner to the show at 8pm. Either way, you have one thing and then the other. My girls were so excited - they were 2 and 4 at the time - they had no problems staying awake for the shows. As long as I get them a snack to tide them over, I think we'll be fine.

Kristin

 

[gemjoy]

Have any of you gotten them yet? I wrote it on my November calendar as something I need to take care of this month!! (I think they take about 6 weeks to process)There was a bit of confusion for awhile there ~ some say you need them ~ some say you don't...... We decided... better safe than sorry. And IMHO... one less headache! When I step onto that ship I want to be worry free!

 

[2Princesses/2Princes]

Customs at 6am? What is that?

Because we are canadian we have to do an earlier customs?

Ick.....

sandi

I was reading in the Disney Ship and Shore Vacation Guides that we recieved this week, and it says under "Re-entry into the U.S."
"United Staes Customs and Borders Protection requires that ALL NON-US CITIZENS.....present themselves for immigration inspection upon arrival in Port Canaveral."
Time: 6 am "Every family member who is not a US citizen , including children, must be present."

I'm not sure why they have to do this - we have been on other cruise Lines and they do not have this procedure.

 

[allcanadian]

QBALL, I saw your note regarding reservations on line and I thought I had better mention since you booked with a travel agent the number that they give you will not always work to get you on line because they have another reservation number that they use sometimes. The number on my travel documents did not work so I called Disney Cruise Line and gave them our names and they were able to give me the correct reservation number. Hope this helps. Shelley

 

[Qball]

Hi Shelley,
Thanks for the tip. I just got our invoice from our TA with a reservation number. I guess I can't book anything just yet anyways, since we haven't paid in full yet...deadline is Dec.9, 2005 for full payment.

Have you heard much about this 6am customs check at the port for "foreigners". Here I thought we were going to smart and reserve spots for the early shuttle (10am) from the Raddisson. So we have to be there at 6am now? Good thing someone directed me to this site, otherwise, I would have never known any of these things.
Susan

 

[Qball]

Gemjoy,
From what I understand you have to have passports to travel to any foreign country. Canadians didn't need passport to go to the US but since 911, this is going to change (either has already changed, or is soon to be changed...oh that's bad english).

Our passport application states 10 business days for processing. We've filled all our out (my old one just expired two weeks ago) and just need to get some passport pics taken and have a garantor sign the documents. That' s on our to do list for this weekend.

 

[2Princesses/2Princes]

Have you heard much about this 6am customs check at the port for "foreigners". Here I thought we were going to smart and reserve spots for the early shuttle (10am) from the Raddisson. So we have to be there at 6am now? Susan

Hi Susan! The 6 am customs happens on the last day of cruise - to
re-enter the US, not at the start of the cruise .

 

[sandraB]

I noticed someone say their final payment is due Dec 9th, I just got a document that states Dec 19th?

Does anyone know which is right?

I was also wondering about Palo reservations and excursions. I think we can do these 75 days out. A friend of mine said she went online midnight the day you book, and said the palo reservations were going fast. That meant she got up at 4am to do this!

I wonder if I will just wait on the palo reservations until I am on board, I guess they hold so many for booking on board. (but you have to line up after you board)

I wonder if the excursions book up fast as well?

Anyway.....I am looking forward to all the planning....that's half the fun!

 

[2Princesses/2Princes]

I noticed someone say their final payment is due Dec 9th, I just got a document that states Dec 19th?

Hi sandra!

Our final payment is due the 19th as well. Stacy.

 

[Qball]

How was everyone's weekend? I just check my documents again, and mind does say Dec. 9th, 2005. Our travel agent booked our cruise thru AirCanada Vacations (not sure if that makes a difference). I guess if I have to pay on the 9th, that just means that I can book Palo and register our DD that much earlier, online. Someone said that you can do those bookings online once you get your Disney registration number and have paid in full.

Another question about the 6am customs check when we get back from the cruise. That's just way too early! SO how is that possible? I'm one of those that must eat our 3 meals a day. Do we order roomservice for breakfast? SO we get back to port at 6am and they boot us "foreigner" off first?

 

[Ariel&Flounder'sMom]

Hi guys - hope everyone is doing well!

I think I have this right, from reading the boards for the last year:

If you've paid in full, the date you can start booking your excursions/Palo/kids clubs is different depending on which category you are in:

105 days out - if you are concierge level or have booked REAS. (for us, that's Nov. 19th.)

90 days out - if you are a repeat cruiser, aka castaway club member. (for us, that's Dec. 4th)

75 days out - if you are a first time cruiser. (for us, that's Dec. 19th)

I don't know why you'd have a date of Dec. 9th? That's a new one for me.

Also, from what I've read, the reservations book up fast, and many get up in the middle of the night to book their reservations. I think Disney goes on midnight pacific time, so in the midwest, I think that means 2am?

I asked on the boards if you really need to do this, and several people said yes, Palo books up so fast, that if you wait until 7am or so the same day, you may not get the times you want.

However, yes, they do hold some reservations back and make them available when you board.

Whew! Hope that helps. Kristin

 

[sandraB]

Wow, I can't believe it is that close!!!

I booked this last march, so it seems like forever away, but 3months,3weeks sounds so close!!!!

Seems like quite a few canadians on board! Should be fun.

Sandi

Ps....i do like americans too!!!! lived there half my life! and gave birth to two!!!

 

[LisaSp]

I think we were given the date of Dec 19th too. We booked a long time ago too--I think it was in March or April so we are getting excited!

Our kids (DD will be almost 7 and DS will have just turned 5 by cruise time) don't know about the trip yet. My parents are taking us (in honor of their 40th anniversary--thanks Mom and Dad!), and they are trying to come up with a creative way to let them know as a Chanukah gift.

 

[Ariel&Flounder'sMom]

I can't believe how fast the trip is coming up. A surprise trip - wow, will your kids be excited!!

SandraB - I noticed your AKL March 2005. Did you love it? We were there in March 2005, right before we went on the Wonder. My girls love animals, and they loved staying there. We had the savannah view, and we could sit there and watch the giraffes, wildebeests, zebras, etc.

 

[sandraB]

LOVED the AKL!

We too had a Savannah view, and my only regret is not spending more time on the balcony!!

We had to drag ourselves away every morning....

In retro, I would go a few more days...but it is never long enough is it???

I have been planning this trip and I keep adding more days...two before , and now two after, and I am regretting not doing three!!

We never have enough time! However, we do run out of funding...so this is the longest I can stretch it!!

We too are really excited about the cruise! We booked almost a year in advance, and there is no way I could keep a secret! I am in awe!

The boys talk about it a lot, so I know they too are looking forward to it!

Are you all doing any excursions? I am leaning towards winging it on our own! I found a website that describes the beaches on St.Thomas, so I think we may just do it ourselves with a taxi.

THis trip just keeps getting more expensive, if I can save on not doing excursions, we might.

Ariel's mom,
you said you did the magic last year? Was it the eastern?


Happy Planning all!!!
Sandi