chictravel227

So much good information, thanks again.

Glad I asked, as the excursions had us doing what I would term very touristy stuff (not that we won't be partaking in some and not that there is anything wrong with it) but I have seen glass blowers aplenty. No need to see more.

I grew up with frequent visits to Juarez (alas not recently), but have never been to the western side of Mexico, so I am excited to see what the differences are! My mom, sis, grandma and I loved the open market in Juarez, so much fun to haggle!

Just as an FYI, the past two times we have cruised with Disney, the only way to actually receive the 25% in savings is IF you order one of the 2 most expensive bottles every night. If you are not planning on doing that, you can do better just ordering a bottle off the regular list. At one point, there really was a savings, now, not so much. Unless they have changed the price list.

Also, it ticked me off 2 cruises ago, I paid gratuity on the wine package when purchased and then my server kept bringing me the zero receipt with more gratuity on it then. I don't mind paying once, but 30% gratuity on the wine package, means no savings no matter what.

Y'all are the best! Thank you for the suggestions!

I think that is expensive for an inside stateroom. 2 things. Have you contacted a travel agent? You may benefit, because you could give them some dates and your budget and see if there is anything available.

Second, you could wait and see about a guarantee room rate, BUT you would not be assured of 2 rooms together. Getting rooms at this point that are either connected or near each other may be an issue anyway.

OK, barring those two things, have you looked at other fall cruises since you do home school? I ask because you may have more options that way.

If Halloween is a deal breaker, you cannot sail from I think Sept 5 or 7th through the 31st of October. That being said, I did not think it was overly done. There were some special things for it being a Halloween on the High Seas, but less than you would notice the displays at most stores this time of year.

I know this is a big one. This will be my first time to both Cabo and Puerto Vallarta, and I have no clue what to do.

I know in Cabo we should see the arch. Beyond that, what else?

Puerto Vallarta? Just a city tour?

Some helpful info, mom is not a snorkeler nor in the category of liking the beach, well the sand that gets everywhere at the beach. Lol. Museums, ruins, history, all this is great, but I am not seeing much of this in either port, at least through the Disney excursions. I am willing to not book a tour and just wander around or to do private tours since I have not seen any that say pick me pick me!

Any help on ideas would be appreciated from those that have visited!

Oh and no Dolphin encounters please.

I found more people dressed up more for the Med cruise than for any of the Caribbean cruises. This may have changed and may also depend on the one factor none of us can change, who else is cruising with you.

Do what you feel comfortable with, I take ball gown type dresses that are easy to pack because I love to dress up and don't otherwise get occasion to do so. This being said, I am sailing on a 14 day cruise in October, here I come panama, and am debating about packing formal formal wear, simply because of the length of cruise, I may lean more cocktail.

I buy the insurance for peace of mind, as it does cover other than medical issues as well. Like when the Fantasy arrives in port 6 hours late and you have missed your flight. No problem, insurance is there. Missing luggage? Sure, you have to do some shopping (not a chore for me, lol), but it is paid for within certain limits. Medical is a benefit as well.

A note on the medi-vac helicopter companies, there was an article about possible price collusion on these services amongst the providers. Will be interesting to see what comes of this.

We always purchase when we book, or within a few days. With private insurance, you are also able to add to the policy as you make more reservations, such as air and hotel. This way, you pay the bulk up front and then add as necessary. Also, many private insurances will allow you to transfer that insurance once. So if plans change, you can move the coverage, of course, working with a TA helps this process.

On one of my cruises, it was on the Magic, they had an adult only scavenger hunt, which was the best ever. If you were not in a group of at least 4, you had to make friends, which was great.

The hunt had things like, person with a tattoo, a person with a hole in their sock, girl takes off bra under shirt (yes, on Disney), etc. It was a blast and a hoot. Just this side of being inappropriate.

I wish they would bring this game back, it truly was a great time!

I know that in Miami, they were keeping those out who showed up before their PAT. We got there pretty early, 10:30 since we were concierge, but they were making others wait in a different line to enter the port. I am sure they started letting people in a bit later when those of us with the early PAT's had gotten to get in. This may differ per cruise, as maybe it is not as crowded at every embarkation.

At most, you are talking a difference of probably 2 hours and that is if you have a late PAT time. I think completing your on-line check in earlier helps, so do it as soon as you can!

Taking our first cruise on Magic this weekend. What is the discount if you book on the ship for future cruises like?

Normally 10%, plus OBC (depends on length of cruise and cannot be combined with the Chase OBC), and a reduced deposit.

On the other topic of cost, here is the deal. I spent a good part of last night comparing other cruise lines (NOT Princess, HAL, RCCL, Carnival), Celebrity, Oceania, Silversea, Azamara, Seaborne to DCL's prices for roughly the same itinerary I want (7nght Norway Fjords and then 7 night Northern) and while it is virtually impossible to compare staterooms to staterooms, I went by square footage. Guess what I found, DCL is a bit higher than some, a bit lower than some. But it is in line with these other lines.

I have had bad experiences on Princess the two times I gave them a try, and it may be unfair to lump the others with them, but that is now my perception. Carnival was ok, but nothing spectacular. Basically, I am willing to pay more for a known, knowing what to expect and to transport me in style, vs. try an unknown for a European trip. I am going to look outside of Disney for upcoming Caribbean/Alaska travel (those Alaska prices and NO visit through Glacier Bay, uh, no) especially if Disney continues to get higher in cost on those itineraries.

I did look at the other lines, just because I was curious and most are cheaper, but, most are also only 10 night cruises, vs. the 14 nights that I am doing. Also, I am getting to more ports this way. The other lines I checked also had more port visits. In the end, we all have to make decisions as to what is right for us, but did want to point out, Disney, aside from those concierge prices (really, someone paid that?????) (no, really, they are booked?) I cannot get over that, 68k is half a nice house in many cities. 3 cars. Vacations for 10 years.

I guess as long as there are those willing to pay the price (myself included) the price will still go up. Until they don't sell the rooms and the price drops. Lol.

First off, we did the conceirge on the Wonder, so it is a different thing entirely. We were able to book the 2 bdr suite for 4 adults at a decent price. We, too, thought that we would not want to ever sail any way other than with concierge. But, when it comes down to the perks for the price, we thought going on multiple vacations was worth not sailing concierge.

We are pretty low maintenance ppl, we like to dine at the MDR's, Palo (or Remy on the new ships), and in general have very few requests. It was nice to have breakfast in our room one morning and on debarkation day, but is this worth 3x the verandah cost? Not in my opinion. The service (Love Rodrigo!) was amazing. We never needed to remember anything, it was all told to us and reminders given and that was really nice. As in, we all thought we all need a Rodrigo in our lives! Lol.

Free drinks - the unlimited bottled water was nice, but for 4 of us, what is this, maybe a savings of $100? Few free alcoholic beverages, again, maybe $100 - $200. Treats in the room, ehhh, we almost never ate ours because we were go go going.

So here is where I think that the concierge is worth it, do you want first chance at booking something and HAVE to have it? Do you need dinner served in your room because of little one's schedule, and some classes get Palo. Are you on a cruise that you really just want to get back to the ship and hole up? Want priority boarding/tendering/debarking? Great, there are some things that you cannot put a price on!

Overall, if the price for one of these rooms ever falls below the down payment on a house, I would do it again. If not, for our group, it is not worth the extra money, but that is my opinion and my budget.

If funds were unlimited, heck yeah, I would do it every time. Just because, it does make you feel a little special.

Also, I would like to try on one of the newer ships, to get the full benefit of the lounge and the sun deck!

Hope you have fun! There are not many tips to getting the most out of it.

Use the lounge, don't hesitate to ask for anything, PIF and then book at 120 days out (let the concierge team know at day 125) and have a blast!

Disney has provided them on our sailings where it has been raining. That being said, most of the time, it rains, and is gone. Of course, Disney only has them out if you are at the ship and it is raining, so they don't hand them out preemptively.

I am mid-30's, travel with my mom, sister and friend quite often. We have been doing Disney because of service and smoking policy. However, we are looking for a new line. I have given Princess 2 chances and they lost my business. I had fun on Carnival, but that was a great itinerary, not really for the food, entertainment, etc. factors. I could have dealt without, what I will call, the younger antics geared at college aged individuals.

I have traveled pretty extensively throughout the US and Europe, and am itching to explore more. Of course, my extensively may seem to others as just having scraped the surface :) I am comparing myself to most of my friends. Disney is just pretty limited in itineraries. And getting pricier. Therefore, we are wanting to explore different cruise lines.

I enjoy the shows, but could live without them, could care less about casinos, do enjoy nightclubs, but also find that when I have been exploring a port all day, the bed calls sooner rather than later.

What other lines should I be thinking of? Azamara, Celebrity, Oceania, any others out there? Any advice would be great, there are so many to choose from and I am at a loss as where to go next.

No flames at all. What was happening (my guess) is that the auto-gratuity appears on the receipt where you purchased the wine package. The auto gratuity appears on the receipt of ALL bar items along with a line for "additional gratuity." The auto-gratuity is pooled and divided among all the people categorized as bar workers. Anything added on the "additional gratuity line goes directly to the person who serves you (and his/her name will appear on the receipt).

 

MANY people don't realize that they have already paid a 15% gratuity on any bar item. This includes specialty coffees' date=' smoothies, etc. They see the additional gratuity line and write in something, often in the 15-20% range.

 

What I do (again, I'll wear my flame proof suit)...if I go to a bar and request something, the auto-gratuity has it covered for me. If someone goes out of his way to take an order and bring me something, I add something to the "additional" line....but it is no where near 15% additional! And I don't buy anything from the guys who roam around the adult pool carrying drinks that are melted before you buy them. Sorry, I like mine fresh.[/quote']

 

 

Thank you! Me too! I actually think the automatic 15% gratuity hurts my bartenders, as I would probably tip 20% on the tab, but since they are auto adding it for me, unless the service is out of the park special, I leave it alone. I guess too many people were not tipping? I too, do not order those drinks, as I find them not as well made and also too sweet!

On if you asked for a table by yourselves.

How big your party is?

Others having the same/similar requests.

If you want to sit by yourselves and you are not, then talk to the head server and see if it is possible. Seems like they try to accommodate for the most part. However, be aware if your sailing is full and others had their requests in earlier/they have a more pressing need for whatever reason, I think allergies have been brought up before, then you may be out of luck. Disney does at least try to seat you with other guests your age and with kids around your kids age, from what I have read.

We have always had our own table, but we ask when we make our reservation. :)

They would get rid of Toy Story. I had a good nap in it. Just my opinion, but it is the weakest. I was also not a huge fan of the Golden Mickeys, but it at least kept me entertained. However, that is one of the very few reasons I sail, so not a huge deal to me. Just my two cents. I hope the Tangled show gets on the ships soon!

I think the only person to decide if it is "worth" the extra money is you. I think it is, but that is me.

It is different than other cruise lines because it is more family focused, entertainment tends to be better and cleaner (no cursing). Character meets.

Service has been better in my experience.

Not sure that it is any different than other lines aside from what was said earlier, "Disney Magic".

When you purchase the wine package, sometimes they charge you the gratuities then, sometimes they don't. If they do, you still have to sign off for each bottle and when I was on the Fantasy, the server tried to put in gratuity again on my zero receipt (what you get when you have ordered the package to sign off on the bottle). I don't think he was too happy when I told him I had already paid for the gratuity and did not think him bringing me a bottle of wine was reason enough to pay additional amounts. Before I get hammered for this, we tipped him well at the end, just was miffed by the attempt at the "double" gratuity.

Itinerary, this makes a big difference. Time of year, you will find cheaper cruises in the off-season. Longer, repositioning cruises also offer a discount. Ship, the classics (Magic & Wonder) tend to be a bit cheaper than the new (Dream and Fantasy) ships.

As others have said, book early. Also, if/when you do go, then book your next cruise on-board.

Use a TA that offers on-board credit. I think lots of ppl use Costco as they offer rewards back to spend at Costco. We don't have a Costco in my town, so we don't partake in this.

Also, be sure when comparing to other lines that you are comparing apples to apples. We are taking the EBPC this October and found that we are getting a stellar deal on our room as compared to other cruise lines. I.e., the typically less expensive cruise lines cost just as much as Disney, therefore, I think it is a stellar deal. We are at less than 3k a person for a verandah and it is a 14 night cruise. Similar cabins on Princess and Holland were about 4k per person.

If you have flexibility in when you can go and how much notice you need with your work schedules, then the GT rates are wonderful. FYI, in case you are wondering, the GT rates are guaranteed rates for that cabin category. So you purchase the guaranteed rate and are simply guaranteed a room in that category, inside, ocean, or verandah. Not sure there are any concierge GT rates, lol! There are some spectacularly good last minute deals. On a whim, I was looking at cruises in April/May and they had some Verandah GT (VGT, OGT = oceanview, hope you get the picture on the many acronyms) where the VGT rates were cheaper than an inside cabin at normal rates. We went on the med a number of years ago, and actually scored a second cabin for around $500 more than what we were paying because it was last minute and had not sold out. This allowed 3 adults to have 2 rooms instead of 1. It was pretty last minute, and there were still rooms available.

We enjoy the verandah rooms, BUT we have also sailed inside and oceanview and we have still enjoyed the rooms! Basically, we were on the ship on vacation, so really, we were more than ok. On many cruises, you don't spend a ton of time in your room, so it is a nominal consideration, except for cruises such as Alaska and PC, where you will have a comfier viewing experience, imho.

I know you said not to, but you really do have to consider some of the "magic" that is a part of the Disney cruises. You should almost think of it as a trip to WDW. In fact, I found the cruise cheaper than WDW. The characters you get to meet in a mostly good time frame, as in you will probably not wait in any line to see any character for much more than 30 minutes. The sheer volume that you will meet as opposed to our WDW experience. The random encounters, etc. The service really is better.

With all this being said, if you do not want to shell out your hard earned money for a Disney cruise, that is up to you, it is your money!

I choose to because of other issues, like smoking, many of the "bargain" lines do not have smoking policies that line up with my health needs. The other lines that do, tend to be as much, if not pricier than Disney, so to me, it is well worth it if I want to cruise.

Typically, when we travel, it is mom and 3 "kids", two of us are 35 and one is 36, we love the cruises. If you like Disney, then you will enjoy the cruises. It is still fun to have your picture taken with the characters and the service is generally great. There are enough adult activities that you do not feel inundated with kids 24/7. There will be children, some better behaved than others, but I think you find that on any cruise.

As far as activities, there will be numerous tastings offered, chocolate and liquors, champagne, whiskey, cognac, scotch, wine, mixology, martini, tequilla, and beer are some samples. Please note that not all of these are offered every cruise. Palo and Remy are also adult only and provide alternate (upcharged) dining options. Depending on where you are from and the diversity of food around you will depend on whether you think these two are worth it. We don't have very sophisticated food around us, so we enjoy them, if you live in a bigger city, you may not be impressed.

I find that there is plenty to keep you occupied and the overall theme of the cruise is family fun, so some of it may be a bit cheesy, but then again, who needs another hairy chest contest?

I find that most of the shows are better on Disney than on other lines, that being said, there are some that I would not see again, but that is my opinion.

Also, on one of our cruises, they had an adult only scavenger hunt the first night. It was sooooo much fun. It was a great way to meet other adults and just have a great time. I have only seen it on one cruise, so I would be interested to hear how we get them to do it again? There were just 2 of us on that cruise and you had to pair up in groups of at least 4, so it "forced" you into meeting others for the game. You may like that, or not, but it was fun for us.

The nightlife on the ship completely depends on who you end up sailing with. We have been where it has been dead after about 10 or 11, and we have been where at least one of the clubs was pretty busy until close. When we did the med cruise, we were way too tired after spending a day on shore to stay up much past 11.

Overall, we always have a fun time and have met great people. So, if you don't take yourselves too seriously, and just want to have a good time, then I think you will enjoy the cruise.

Not sure what tips I can offer. Oh, if you get sat next to any families that (please don't hate me on this one) fail to control their children, speak to your head server, he/she will be running the dining room. We had a bad experience where a table next to us let their children run around the tables and kept knocking into our chairs. Don't ask me why the parents thought this was appropriate behavior. Anyhow, we later learned, we should have spoken up and either us or them would have been moved to a different location. But, we held our tongues and still had a great time, we just developed a warning system for when the children were out of their seats. No red wine in your hands!

I think that you can have a credit card per person. It is done through the online check in. You should be able to say who has signing privileges on your card. If you do not check anyone else in your stateroom, I believe they must also put in a credit card. I cannot access my online check in to try this out. So you could have your cc and just you have signing privileges and then your bff and sister could have one that is linked.

We stayed at the B2 hotel, right across from the port. We enjoyed waking up to the sight of the ship in the morning! The view from our room was incredible.

Not sure what your definition of "nice" is. I found this hotel to be nicer than most holiday inns, but it certainly is not the most luxurious hotel out there either. We were there for a night. I would probably not stay here for more than 1-2 nights. We also booked one of the larger rooms. We had southwest points, so used em.

Few things, this is a more modern hotel. It is nice, but minimal. They provide a pouch of Kleenex instead of a box, as one example.

The elevators are SLOW. I mean slower than slow and SMALL. That being said, you just had to time it right or know ahead of time and be patient. Or take the stairs. We always managed to catch one, or at least 1 of us did with the luggage and then the others would take the stairs down.

There is a nice little pub right on location. Short walk to the biscayne bay area, where there are lots of places to eat and shop. The restaurants here were better, but if you are tired or don't want to go anywhere, the food is at least average to above average. CVS is also a short walk away.

There are numerous hotels along this strip, so I would say look around and pick what works for you, price wise and all. I do recommend staying in this area if you are only in for a night. Plenty to do and a quick way to experience some of Miami!

Liquor store around the corner, if you are wanting to BYOB onto the ship.

We almost could have walked to the port, but thought the shuttle was worth the price due to our luggage. Talk about over doing it on fish extenders. Lol.

• What complimentary beverages are included in the dining room? Milk? Juice.. if so, what kinds? Soda? Hot chocolate?
  
• In the dining rooms, all beverages, except for alcohol, smoothies, specialty coffees, and mock-tails are not free. I believe they have the normal juices, apple, orange, cranberry. I am not a huge juice drinker, so hopefully someone else can chime in on that. I believe hot chocolate is free at the MDR's.
  
• What complimentary beverages are available in the buffet or other self serve areas?
  
• Sodas are free in the MDR's, as well as the buffet. There is also a drink station with the soda's on an upper deck, this is available all the time. Disney carries coke products. I do not think you can have soda delivered by room service, they will bring you cans and charge for it. Sodas are also charged for in the bars. There is also Cove Cafe for adults (those over 18), and they do not charge for coffee, but will for specialty coffee drinks.
  
  
• Does the Wonder have a channel on the in-room tvs that features a live shot of the bow or pool deck? The reason I ask is that on Carnival ships, if you are staying in an inside room, you can mute the tv and have it tuned into the bow camera so you know if it's dark out or daylight.
  
• Yes. Disney has many more channels than what the Carnival ship did when last I sailed Carnival. Of course, nothing compares to the newer ships which feature any movie ever made by Disney or an affiliate.
  
• Carnival and Princess allow certain types of power strips, including the one I use: Belkin 3 plug, 2 USB, surge protector. Is it true that Disney will confiscate those?
  
• Yes, I guess there have been fire issues, which means safety. I have heard that you can possibly get one from guest services, but a deposit is required.
  
  
• Honestly, I have never needed one on a Disney ship, I do not know how many things people are trying to plus in at once, but we typically have extra outlets available. It was an issue on Carnival, but we just took turns on who got to charge something. The staterooms on the Disney ships tend to just be better (when comparing actual same class of room) than on the other lines.
  
  

Yeah, I had forgotten the nightmare that was Hector. I did not think he had a good voice and really wanted him to stop after the first few missed notes. Then, the fact that we felt we had to applaud, and wait for him to finish, when we just wanted to get out of there. Not our cup of tea either and it was the last time we dined in that dining room.

I am thoroughly enjoying reading both this review and your one on the Disney cruise! Thank you for taking the time and energy to share.