mikeandkelli
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Posts posted by mikeandkelli
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If the price difference was $1000-$1500, it would have been a tougher decision. Basically an extra day at sea or in Orlando at a park. Since my kids want to do the Magic Kingom, Hollywood Studios and both Universal parks, our kids definitely preferred the shorter cruise. Only so much you can squeeze into spring break.
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Well, we went ahead and booked ... the 4 nights on the Dream. My wife and I preferred the Magic and Cozumel, but when we discussed it with the kids, they were strongly in favor of the Dream. (They preferred an extra day at one of the Parks instead of an extra day on the boat. Plus one was a little nervous about being on the boat longer.)
We didn't really make a final decision until we got the prices from our travel agent today. We were distressed that the price of the 4 night Dream cruise increased 20% over similar dates for 2019, but it was still about $2400 less than the five night Magic cruise. (I was shocked, and double checked the fares at Costco, just to be sure there wasn't a mistake, even though our travel agent said she had double checked them.) Needless to say, that tilted our choice to our Dream.
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You have to provide Disney with your date of birth for your reservation, so I'm sure that Disney's computers flagged your reservation as a celebration automatically.
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My personal take - I'm firmly in the "longer is better" camp. 5 nights on the Magic wins over 4 nights on the Dream. I also prefer the smaller, Magic class ships.
Well, the total vacation time is the same whether we take the 4 or 5 night cruise.
But I have noticed that there seems to be a general preference towards the smaller boats, despite seeming to have fewer amenities. ("Seeming" because there may be something I'm missing.) Whether it's crowding on the decks, boarding, dining or at Castaway Cay, people who'd done both seem to trend towards the smaller boats.
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I'm getting ready to reschedule our spring break trip for 2020, and we have two options that could work.
There is the 4 night Disney Dream cruise out of Port Canaveral. We can pad it out with a couple days before and after at the parks. That was what we had originally planned before we had to scuttle our spring break 2019 plans.
The 5 night Disney Magic cruise out of Miami caught my eye when it was announced. It too would fit our schedule, and Cozumel sounds much more interesting than Nassau, plus we'd get two sea days. The down side is an extra two hours to drive to the parks from Miami after the cruise, and only having three days at the parks afterwards.
This is our first cruise, so I don't know whether the boat should make a difference or not. I suspect that it'll be easier to get Palo brunch reservations with 2 sea days on the Magic, though. We have 2 kids that will be 13 and 10 (almost 11).
Thoughts?
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Disney has scheduled an online webcast on Thursday morning 9/27 to announce their early 2020 itineraries.
Live from Walt Disney World Resort, host Mark Daniels will reveal where our ships are headed in early 2020, including first-ever cruises from the port of … (you’ll have to watch to find out!) -
My experience with traveling with my toddlers is to use your car seat, especially if the seat is approved for the airlines. (Most toddler seats are, based on my experience.)
Why?
My kids were used to them, and slept in them without an issue on the plane. The airline seat belts were simpy too loose, and the kids flop over when they fall asleep anyway.
You can use them after the plane on your ground transportation. As long as there is a shoulder belt, you'll be able to secure the seat, and it'll be safer than having your child on your lap. Can you rent/borrow one? Yes, but you'll probably spend more time adjusting that seat to fit your child than figuring out how to hook your seat in. Then there's also the sanitary part; at least you know that it's your child's cracker crumbs that are buried in your seat. (And if you have to rent the seat, why are you even bothering with it?)
If you don't need the seat on the plane, all airlines will check them free of charge like your stroller.
The only downside to bringing your own car seat along for use on the plane is the hassle of lugging it through the airport and through the gate. (I accidentally bumped a guy who was already on board and seated on the plane, so I've been there. It was a rough airport experience that night; I really should have gone back and bought him a drink, but I was too frazzled after dealing with the airline, security, etc.) On a cruise, I suspect there's also the issue of tripping over the car seat all trip in your cabin.
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We tried an AquaVault this spring on a trip to the Dominican Republic, and the lock jammed on the fourth day. Couldn't get it unlocked no matter how many times I tried. I thought I was going to have to call maintenance and possibly destroy a beach chair in the process of getting it cut off, but before doing that, I went back to the room and fortunately had my laptop there to search the internet.
Turns out this is a known problem, as the combination can occasionally get changed as you open and close the stupid thing. So I went back to the beach, and started trying one off combinations of my code, and sure enough, 10 minutes later, I had it opened.
I never used it again, because I figured I had more risk of getting it stuck than getting robbed on the beach.
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The four night Dream cruises typically leave Port Canaveral on Monday and return on Friday. Depending on your schedule, if you can swing arriving on Saturday, you could still experience a park that day and then again on Sunday. Likewise, you could then hit a park on Friday and Saturday after the cruise.
Magic Kingdom is a no-brainer for a four year old, but I'll be contrarian: seriously consider Hollywood Studios instead of Animal Kingdom. Hollywood Studios just opened a new Toy Story Land which kids should love, and can change the dynamic. (My kids were seriously underwhelmed by Animal Kingdom last year.)
Although to be honest, a four year old could be completely content to go to Magic Kingdom every day they are at Disney World. As Moki points out, there's no way you can see everything at Disney World in one trip, so don't even bother trying. Figure out what things you'll really like to do, and concentrate on those.
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Are you going on a 3 or 4 night cruise, or a 7 night? If it's 3-4 nights, look long and hard at pricing the round-trip MCO rental van. I ran the numbers on two one-way rentals, and the price was much more versus the weeklong rental - even factoring paying to park at the port. (We were adding park days on the front and back end, so they weren't one-day rentals.)
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Royal Caribbean only sails the Caribbean and Asia/Australia on their winter schedules.
I'll bet Disney follows suit.
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I'm a cruise neophyte, but I suspect that from mid-November until mid-April, I'd expect Disney to have at least five and probably six of their ships in the Caribbean. Not necessarily from Port Canaveral; some might launch from Miami or Galveston. Where else would they run? I think weather is just not going to be condusive to other destinations in the winter time.
Now, after that, everything is open. Probably have two ships on the West Coast. And it's been speculated that one ship will be in the far east full time.
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Scott Sanders of the DCL blog found drawings that indicate it'll be RCL.
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I'll give you the flip side of that argument. With the hassles of packing and lugging/checking bags, plus the limited space in each cabin, the less stuff you have to haul, all the better. Fancier dress for dinner is just one more hassle that people just don't need to deal with.
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Oh, we're not cancelling anything until we decide for sure...and probably not until we actually book the alternative, in case something falls through there. I'm just wondering if there's a reason to hold it until the Spring 2019 itineraries come out this fall to reschedule it, or if it's going to be a cancel and start over.
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We scheduled a Disney cruise last fall for spring break 2019, thinking the kids would love another trip to Orlando and the cruise. Last month, we went to a nice resort and had a wonderful time...so much that the kids are thinking they want to go back next spring break instead. Part of that is because my daughter won't be able to participate in the kids program there after 2019.
So even though we have the deposit down, we're actually thinking about changing our plans. Nothing's definite right now, but I've stopped my Disney planning for the time being. If we decide to do a cruise in the spring of 2020, does it make sense to hold our reservation until the 2020 schedules come out this fall, or should we cancel our cruise once we are sure we aren't doing it in 2019? I know that we have to cancel at least 75 days before the cruise date, but I figure we'll spend non-refundable money on airfare long before then. So I'm sure we'll know for sure in the next few months.
(I'm glad the kids brought this up, as I was just about ready to make a non-refundable DVC rental... :eek:
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We're doing a four night Dream cruise next March, so only one sea day. I have heard that "sometimes" they offer it on Nassau days, but haven't really heard how that happens. My guess is that it's something they periodically do, but not very often.
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What are the chances for a first-time cruiser to get a Palo brunch reservation?
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I can confirm this. I tried to make a booking the day the new cruises came out, and a lot of my choices were not eligible due to the booking sailing date within two years after the date on the placeholder.
How does this restriction work? Is the placeholder for any cruise within the next two years, as long as the dates aren't blacked out? For example, if we decide during a spring break cruise that we'd like to do it again two years later, would that work? And I assume that like other deposits, it's refundable?
And to complicate things...since Disney only schedules cruises out 18 months, we'd have to get a "placeholder" reservation for an announced cruise, then reschedule it when the actual schedule comes out.
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I'd also eyeball car rentals - even round trip if you are on a 3 or 4 night cruise. Weekly rates + parking charges for a family of 4 can be cheaper than a shuttle, and a heck of a lot more flexible.
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Is it true that they also have POG on board? (Passion Fruit, Orange & Guava juice) Disney fans know it from the Polynesian Resort as well as Tusker House (where it's called Jungle Juice), but I know it from Hawai'i.
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Yes, the agent I picked is primarily Disney...in fact, she was on an Alaska cruise on the Wonder in August. And I checked with her, and we'll get a $50 credit. Better than nothing, I guess. Perhaps I should have hit harder before booking...or maybe that's the best she'll do on first day bookings.
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My travel agent got everything figured out early this afternoon after a few exchanges of e-mails. In the crush of reservations today, we originally thought we were getting deck 6, but then went to deck 5 briefly before thinking better of it..now we're on deck 7 for about $150 more for a 4 night cruise.
This is our first Disney Cruise; in fact, it's the first time I've worked with a travel agent in 18 years. She didn't offer any sort of on-board credit; I was wondering if that's something I need to ask for, or since we've already got a room reserved pending a deposit, that we're past that point. (She might feel that considering the first day crush, she doesn't need to offer any incentives for the business.) I know Costco is offering a $380 gift card for bookings on that cruise. Does it hurt to ask?
Capital venture card ?
in Disney Cruise Line
Posted
A Disney gift card will almost certainly not be charged to a travel category because it could also be redeemed for merchandise.
I had a Capital One Venture card a few years ago, and I could use the card to give me a credit for travel expenses, such as hotels and airfare. I converted it to another Capital One card that had a higher cash back.