April 13, 2013 - Western Caribbean Fantasy Cruise

[heidibilotti]

Yay! 15 sounds perfect. Does anyone know whether there are any issues with FE and concierge rooms? My understanding is that the Fantasy doesn't have the gate issue of the Dream, right? We are in concierge this trip and want to make sure it will still work for us to participate...[/QUOTE

My friend and I have a cabin in conciege as well, it was no problem on the dream so the fantasy should be easier.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

My friend and I have a cabin in conciege as well, it was no problem on the dream so the fantasy should be easier.

Great! Good to know, thanks.

 

[pershing]

Hello all!

I keep saying we've had our last Disney Vacation and the kids keep vetoing me even though my oldest is a high school junior and we should be saving for college! He says since he's decided to take his core subjects at the local community college, we should be able to go on another cruise. I think we should use those 2 years to save for the other 2 years, but my will is weak as I want to cruise again too.

So, we made an agreement that if the DCL website reopened availability on this cruise in cat 9-11 we would book. I thought that unlikely since only concierge was left, but this morning 9B showed and we nabbed it!

Another stipulation was that we would drive and not fly, which would be our first time driving. I'm researching that joyful idea now. Pretty intimidating!

And lastly, no WDW this trip which I will have a hard time with. Especially with the finished Fantasyland Expansion and the new Test Track. Maybe one day.

We have two kids a son who will be 15 and a daughter who will be 13. Anyone going these ages?

I have myself and 3 DS's who will be 18, 16, and 15. My youngest DS 15 is outgoing, talkative and makes friends easily. He loves Vibe! (Is it called that on the Fantasy?)

Ok all.....officially joining you, all booked!!!

Howdy Stranger! mdurette and I cruised on the April 19 Dream, but I didn't make it to the cruise meet. One of the kids had a stomach ache, probably from pigging out at the buffet and then all the convenient food areas! I was bummed I missed it.

Sadly, I don't think I can join this. I don't use a FB profile, I use a "page." Hope people will still be talking around here

I will be here, although I'm trying to figure out facebook more. I use it mostly for gaining store coupons by like-ing them on FB. I've never really done anything with my 'page.' Not like my kids, who really bond with some of the kids they cruise with. My oldest still 'talks' to kids on FB he cruised with 3 cruises ago. This will be our 7th.

 

[mdurette]

Just curious - but what are the advantages of Conciege? I really haven't come up with one from my reading that makes it worth the extra money for me at least.

Sell me.....why do you book that level?

 

[mdurette]

Hey Pershing.....funny I haven't checked this thread in a bit and I just hopped on and you and I are posting at the same time!

I didn't make it to the meet either - not really sure if anyone did.

Sure you are like me....feeling the blahs returning to MA to this hum drum weather. It wasn't too long ago we were both walking the beaches and it was over 80!

 

[pershing]

Hey Pershing.....funny I haven't checked this thread in a bit and I just hopped on and you and I are posting at the same time!

I didn't make it to the meet either - not really sure if anyone did.

Sure you are like me....feeling the blahs returning to MA to this hum drum weather. It wasn't too long ago we were both walking the beaches and it was over 80!

blah is too right! Nevermind Florida, I was walking the beaches here before we left for Florida and the weather was glorious. Now raining and spitting cold. I've been wearing my coat since I've been home and you can't tell me I acclimated to Florida weather that quickly.

....ok maybe I have the vacation blues......we really had a nice time and I had this awesome Ford Taurus from Alamo for 10 days that I wanted to shrink and put in my suitcase. I loved that car! My Toyota Camry is so boring now. lol

....and I miss people cooking and waiting on me. That's why we booked, 3 days was way too quick for us.

 

[DisneyWhirled]

Another stipulation was that we would drive and not fly, which would be our first time driving. I'm researching that joyful idea now. Pretty intimidating!

Welcome to the thread! We are in Maine and have driven to FL. It is doable, just long. Personally, I am hoping for good airfare. Already watching Jet Blue, Air Tran and Southwest although I know it will be a while for their schedules to be out. I just want to grab 'em at the best price

Glad you are going to get another cruise in!!

 

[mdurette]

Welcome to the thread! We are in Maine and have driven to FL. It is doable, just long. Personally, I am hoping for good airfare. Already watching Jet Blue, Air Tran and Southwest although I know it will be a while for their schedules to be out. I just want to grab 'em at the best price

Glad you are going to get another cruise in!!

I am loyal to SouthWest. Fly off of my points and a companion pass for DH. But, even their prices were soooo high for this week last year. I secured by flights the 1st day the schedule opened and the return on Sunday was $420 one way each passenger!

Rumor is Jet Blue is coming to PVD - maybe a bit of competition from their will be a good thing for consumer prices!!!

 

[pershing]

Welcome to the thread! We are in Maine and have driven to FL. It is doable, just long. Personally, I am hoping for good airfare. Already watching Jet Blue, Air Tran and Southwest although I know it will be a while for their schedules to be out. I just want to grab 'em at the best price

Glad you are going to get another cruise in!!

Thanks so much!

I didn't tell the back story about how we booked on this cruise. I kept checking each morning and when the 9B came available with seven cabins listed, I emailed Kelsie at dreamunlimited to transfer my dummy onboard booking to this cruise. She emailed me back right away saying her agent system did not have that availability, did I have the right dates with the right # of people and ages. I'm like panicking emailing back 'Yes! Yes! Everythings right!' She emails me to take screen shots and I'm frantic 'cause I can't remember how! I googled it- alt plus print screen then open paint and press and hold ctrl plus the letter V. Well, I can't get all the info in the screen shot that verifies the date, people, ship. I finally kinda semi booked it to get all that info without the payment part. She got five useless screenshots before a good one. Meanwhile my cellphone is ringing off the hook and the UPS guy shows up at the door with me in my PJ's. Kelsie emails back saying to finish the booking and she'll deal with it then but I've inadvertently closed the window and when I try again, all the 9B's are gone! I thought all was lost, but Kelsie used the screenshot and got the booking from DCL!! She ROCKS! I love her. Anyway, had to share my drama!

I am loyal to SouthWest. Fly off of my points and a companion pass for DH. But, even their prices were soooo high for this week last year. I secured by flights the 1st day the schedule opened and the return on Sunday was $420 one way each passenger!

Rumor is Jet Blue is coming to PVD - maybe a bit of competition from their will be a good thing for consumer prices!!!

Yes, you and I were on Transportation Board more than anyone else on our last cruise thread! We got awesome rental car deals though!

I wish we could fly, but I too booked Southwest at 5 in the morning when they opened up in September and the best we got was $110 one way out of Hartford. I had booked Jetblue on the way home in July for $110 also.

I won't have the money to book airfare in July or September this year as paying off the cruise this time around will be arduous enough. And so far mdurette is right- Jetblue is trending at $170 one way so far and Southwest $140 out of Hartford again. Although it would be wonderful for Jet Blue to fly out of PVD also. I think the prices are paralleling the pump gas prices. Maybe they'll drop in September after the summer months, but I don't think so.

My research shows driving is less than $500 with gas, hotel etc. It just costs time. For us, the costtodrive dot com website calculates our trip at:

Your Trip

Eastham, MA, USA to Port Canaveral, FL 32920, USA, in 2002 Toyota Camry
Your Cost To Drive Is
$174.76
Total Distance:1,372.37 miles
Driving Time:23 hours 17 minutes

We also won't have a rental car or transfers cost added to the trip. Just parking as usual.

I love that between my onboard re-booking credit and my dreamsunlim. credit the cruise tips (recommended $336) are already covered with like $130 to spare.

One complaint I had about the Dream was the ship stores had nothing I was really interested in. Except the red bed pillow, but I wasn't gonna pay $200 for a pillow! Usually I have to restrain myself from dropping a bucket load there.

mdurette- did you find anything you liked? I never got to the stores on Castaway Cay.

I'm already excited to be sailing again. I just saw the picture of the Fantasy's lobby area. So beautiful!

 

[boettmb]

We just booked yesterday! We actually went on the Fantasy April 14th-21st and it was so wonderful we booked another one while we were on the ship. Nice perks!

This will be our 2nd cruise. We have a son who will be 13, daughter who will be 11 and a daughter who will be 7.

I will tell you 75% of the people on our other cruise were from MA! Red Sox shirts and hats everywhere!!

We are from RI also!

 

[DisneyWhirled]

We just booked yesterday! We actually went on the Fantasy April 14th-21st and it was so wonderful we booked another one while we were on the ship. Nice perks!

This will be our 2nd cruise. We have a son who will be 13, daughter who will be 11 and a daughter who will be 7.

I will tell you 75% of the people on our other cruise were from MA! Red Sox shirts and hats everywhere!!

We are from RI also!

Welcome!!! We did WDW this past April break and it was the same a lot of New Englanders! We ran into several people we know on our way down and back and while there

Thanks so much!

I didn't tell the back story about how we booked on this cruise. I kept checking each morning and when the 9B came available with seven cabins listed, I emailed Kelsie at dreamunlimited to transfer my dummy onboard booking to this cruise. She emailed me back right away saying her agent system did not have that availability, did I have the right dates with the right # of people and ages. I'm like panicking emailing back 'Yes! Yes! Everythings right!' She emails me to take screen shots and I'm frantic 'cause I can't remember how! I googled it- alt plus print screen then open paint and press and hold ctrl plus the letter V. Well, I can't get all the info in the screen shot that verifies the date, people, ship. I finally kinda semi booked it to get all that info without the payment part. She got five useless screenshots before a good one. Meanwhile my cellphone is ringing off the hook and the UPS guy shows up at the door with me in my PJ's. Kelsie emails back saying to finish the booking and she'll deal with it then but I've inadvertently closed the window and when I try again, all the 9B's are gone! I thought all was lost, but Kelsie used the screenshot and got the booking from DCL!! She ROCKS! I love her. Anyway, had to share my drama!

How nerve racking!! Glad it all worked out, though!!

I hear you about the $$ you save with driving. I am not ruling anything out yet

We are very excited too, already thinking about FE stuff, excursions, etc!!

 

[mdurette]

Yes....New England School vacation week! Always find a bunch of people from the area when we are in Florida that week.

Pershing: I didn't find much on the ship - I actually only made 2 purchases. One was just a stuffed animal cat "Marie" that my DD wanted but I did get a charm for my bracellet that I am happy with. It is ship with the DCl logo.

We were in Orlando a few days before the cruise and I went over to the Disney outlet and did find myself a DCL swim coverup and my DD a DCL sweatshirt that were very cute. I also found a bunch of mouse pads there for a the FEs.

Something all you New Englanders might want to consider if you dont' have already is getting a Southwest Credit Card. They are offering 50,000 points after first purchase right now. Its a very good deal. With these points and points you can accumulate over the next year for purchases, dining, online shopping etc you may be able to deal with some or all of the cost of flights. If the 50,000 isn't still available - I have a referral code you can use to get 25,000 points. Just PM me and I will send info to you.

You are correct about Dreams Unlimited - they are a great company. I think I had already mentioned to you about the error they made on a former cruise and corrected in a big way - paid for my cruise. A company that stands behind its customer service!

 

[Calfan]

Just signed up for FE online. Hope it worked! We have never done FE before. Hoping to try it for our August Alaska cruise, but that board has been very slow, so I'm not sure it is going to get off the ground.

 

[pershing]

I will tell you 75% of the people on our other cruise were from MA! Red Sox shirts and hats everywhere!!

Yep, Massachusetts vacation week in April never moves. It's always the week with the third Monday of April...Patriots Day! And the day of the Boston Marathon.

Could you imagine school buses on the road the day of the Boston Marathon. It would be a nightmare!

Y

Pershing: I didn't find much on the ship - I actually only made 2 purchases. One was just a stuffed animal cat "Marie" that my DD wanted but I did get a charm for my bracellet that I am happy with. It is ship with the DCl logo.

We were in Orlando a few days before the cruise and I went over to the Disney outlet and did find myself a DCL swim coverup and my DD a DCL sweatshirt that were very cute. I also found a bunch of mouse pads there for a the FEs.

Ah "Marie" from Aristocats? I loved that movie growing up. Had the Record and Book and played it over and over again.

Where is the Disney Outlet? I did not know you could get DCL stuff there! Shoot!

side note: Did anyone use Park NCruise last cruise? We parked in the garage. I know expensive $20 a day. Promised my son. This time ...forget it.. not paying $120 for parking and since we are driving, probably not staying at PC hotel.

 

[mdurette]

We parked at the port last year also.

Here is the park and cruise site: http://parkcruise.com/

I also heard some local hotels in the area will offer parking and shuttle even if you don't stay with them.

 

[brich]

I wish we could fly, but I too booked Southwest at 5 in the morning when they opened up in September and the best we got was $110 one way out of Hartford. I had booked Jetblue on the way home in July for $110 also.

I won't have the money to book airfare in July or September this year as paying off the cruise this time around will be arduous enough. And so far mdurette is right- Jetblue is trending at $170 one way so far and Southwest $140 out of Hartford again. Although it would be wonderful for Jet Blue to fly out of PVD also. I think the prices are paralleling the pump gas prices. Maybe they'll drop in September after the summer months, but I don't think so.

Just an idea to throw out there... We just sailed on the Fantasy a couple of weeks ago and seeing as we didn't book this trip until February, airfare was astronomical for the 5 of us... What we ended up doing was fly Jetblue down on Friday night, stayed at the airport and Disney bused it the next morning. But coming home, it was more than $2000 cheaper for us to fly home on Monday instead of Saturday. We stayed Saturday and Sunday nights at the Poly for $411 a night, hung out at the pool all weekend, (kids were fine not going to the parks, although we did a few monorail rides) so we still saved over $1000 doing this.... Moral of story is look at airfare outside of the weekend and you may see some savings. Kids only missed a day and a half of school doing this too...

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Just curious - but what are the advantages of Conciege?

I'll let you know! This will be our first time. After reading numerous trip reports, I've wanted to give it a try. One in particular really intrigued me. I'd link, but not sure it's allowed since it's another forum.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Just signed up for FE online. Hope it worked! We have never done FE before. Hoping to try it for our August Alaska cruise, but that board has been very slow, so I'm not sure it is going to get off the ground.

Ditto from me! Are we going to have a limit on # of families before breaking off in second group? We had about 18 on my last cruise, and it was great but don't think I'd want many more than that . . .

 

[ChristineandLiv]

I am loyal to SouthWest. Fly off of my points and a companion pass for DH. But, even their prices were soooo high for this week last year. I secured by flights the 1st day the schedule opened and the return on Sunday was $420 one way each passenger!

Rumor is Jet Blue is coming to PVD - maybe a bit of competition from their will be a good thing for consumer prices!!!

That would be awesome! Greene is around the corner from my house!

 

[heidibilotti]

OK Happy Fantasy Cruisers we have a fish extender document. Lets start putting down our information and get this ball rolling. Yeah us we are going to have the best FE yet. Look forward to everyone signing up. See you all in about a year.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuGs2S1pwQ3DdFZySm8yZGRnQlcxU0NndUhnUkQ5eUE

I will monitor the FE list and cap it at 15 stateooms. When and if it hits that point I will post a second list, you are welcome to sign up for both if you wish. Just want to keep this a bunch of fun for everyone