November 10, 2018 - Disney Fantasy 7-Night Very MerryTime Western Caribbean

[LCoulter]

Sorry, I am going to pass on fish extenders.

Only 108 more days!

 

[MSPeeler]

Creeping up fast! We are going to be PIF this weekend! Excited. Then I won't have to worry about it anymore.


Is everyone's PIF date the same regardless of CC level?

I'm looking forward to receiving our booklets and tags and all of that. I know it isn't "required" to cruise and you can get them when you arrive, but it sure does make it fun for me! I'm all about forms and spreadsheets
I've got so many Tabs on my itinerary google sheet that it looks like I'm taking a 2 weeks trip to a foreign land!
I'm not really documenting cruise things too much, financial stuff mostly for that part. The schedule/touring plans section is for Universal when we get to FL afterwards. And reservation confirmations for dinners, hotels and the like. I'm a planner, what can I say?

I still haven't bought any formal wear, don't think we will have the money to do that. I'm going to search the kids wear and see what we've got. I know my daughter has a beautiful dress that will work, the boys I'm not sure. Khaki pants and buttons down shirts at most. I've got a dress I wore to my brothers wedding a couple years ago but will need to try it on again. We don't dress up too much. I'm a t-shirt, jeans and flip-flops girl.

and long-winded apparently

 

[LCoulter]

Our paid in full date is 8/7 but I will probably pay a couple days early.

I think the paid in full date is technically 90 days for everyone but if the gold and platinum want to take advantage of early booking of excursions and such, they need to be paid in full prior to those dates. I think platinum is 120 and gold is 105.

We are lowly silver so it’s 90 for us.

 

[LCoulter]

The last time I asked DD, she said she didn’t want to get any new clothes for cruise. She does have pretty dresses so I will need to have her try them on to make sure they fit still. She is growing so fast. She saved the Elsa and Cinderella dresses from garage sale, saying that she wanted to take them on cruise.

I have a formal dress but not really a cocktail dress. I do have an outfit that is too dressy for work but I wouldn’t call it a cocktail dress but it will have to work for semi formal night.

 

[LCoulter]

I am a planner too with spreadsheets but for a cruise I just do a packing list which I have not started yet. I will start packing list in September maybe and start putting clothes in one place in closet for cruise as the weather gets chilly.

I am hoping for early port arrival time since we will be right in Port Canaveral overnight.

It’s probably way too early to get excited but I am.

 

[MSPeeler]

Our paid in full date is 8/7 but I will probably pay a couple days early.

I think the paid in full date is technically 90 days for everyone but if the gold and platinum want to take advantage of early booking of excursions and such, they need to be paid in full prior to those dates. I think platinum is 120 and gold is 105.

We are lowly silver so it’s 90 for us.

The last time I asked DD, she said she didn’t want to get any new clothes for cruise. She does have pretty dresses so I will need to have her try them on to make sure they fit still. She is growing so fast. She saved the Elsa and Cinderella dresses from garage sale, saying that she wanted to take them on cruise.

I have a formal dress but not really a cocktail dress. I do have an outfit that is too dressy for work but I wouldn’t call it a cocktail dress but it will have to work for semi formal night.

A little less than 4 months will FLY by, not too early to get excited for a Disney Cruise!

We are also Silver, but our PIF is 8/12, I figured all Silvers would have the same PIF date. I don't get to book till then either according to the website.

My DD always wants new clothes, I'm curious if she will want to bring her costumes. She had a growth spurt and grew a few inches over the past 6 months, but still wears the same pant size so I know they should still fit otherwise than possibly being too short.

 

[LCoulter]

I’m thinking that because we use a travel agent, they want the money early so they have time to get it to the cruise line.

We were thinking about doing one excursion in Grand Cayman....the Starfish Point tour to see starfish....I thought that would be one that DD would like. We aren’t planning to get off in Jamaica. If we get off in Cozumel, it’s just to look around the shops right at the port. Castaway Cay is the big draw...love that island.

Can’t wait!

 

[MSPeeler]

I’m thinking that because we use a travel agent, they want the money early so they have time to get it to the cruise line.

We were thinking about doing one excursion in Grand Cayman....the Starfish Point tour to see starfish....I thought that would be one that DD would like. We aren’t planning to get off in Jamaica. If we get off in Cozumel, it’s just to look around the shops right at the port. Castaway Cay is the big draw...love that island.

Can’t wait!

We are using a TA also, I'm surprised she didn't ask for our early now that I think about it!
We watched a YT video of a family doing a DCL Western Caribbean cruise, and they felt Jamaica was very "sketchy" feeling and unsafe. They decided to get back on the boat. I doubt we will get off either, the boat will probably be crowded. Looking at past navigators here from last year, I noticed that Jamaica is the only day that there are almost NO activities scheduled before 2:00pm. Is that because of Pirate Night??? No idea what we will do.

What about the Aqua Duck?? Will it be open? I'm sure the lines will be awful.

Our youngest is finally potty training. It's been a week in undies and only 1 minor accident and only because he was not at home So hopefully he will be able to go to kids clubs with the older kids and my DH and I can have adult time! If I had known all I had to do was put him in underwear and say "ok, no more pull-ups... they're gone for daytime. Bedtime only." I would have long long ago.

 

[MSPeeler]

I am stressing out over here. Trying to make payment through my TA and my cards are being declined! I have to split payments because of the total, but I didn't have this trouble last time when I booked direct with Disney Waiting to hear back from DU now about this second submission of payment.......

 

[LCoulter]

I am stressing out over here. Trying to make payment through my TA and my cards are being declined! I have to split payments because of the total, but I didn't have this trouble last time when I booked direct with Disney Waiting to hear back from DU now about this second submission of payment.......

Take a deep breath. You have lots of time before final payment is due to figure it out.

We are using DU too

 

[MSPeeler]

Take a deep breath. You have lots of time before final payment is due to figure it out.

We are using DU too

Figured out the problem. Our bank was rejecting the amount requested by our Paypal cards. So we had to split the PIF amount into 8 PAYMENTS! Our room is Paid in Full!!! Now just waiting for my MIL's payment info for her room and we will be good to go

 

[LCoulter]

Glad you figures out your payment issue.

I’m not sure if the aqua duck will be open during port days but I think it is because I think that’s when we rode it to avoid long lines. Really?....they don’t have activities until 2 on Jamaica day....that kinda stinks. Although just sitting on the balcony, or in Cove Bar or the adult deck area lounging around sounds wonderful to me.

 

[LCoulter]

I think I changed my mind about doing Starfish Point in Grand Cayman and going to do the Dolphin encounter instead. I think DD will really like that.

 

[MSPeeler]

I think I changed my mind about doing Starfish Point in Grand Cayman and going to do the Dolphin encounter instead. I think DD will really like that.

I reallllllyy want to do the Dolphin Encounter in GC too, but for 5 people it's $400, plus the photo package I know I will want to buy is expensive according to my research ($200-$250!) and I'm not really good at haggling prices down which might be possible. She will love it though! I might book it, just "in case" we come up with the money... We have to take a 45 minute tender boat to shore though, don't we? Or am I remembering wrong?

I started a thread last year about it, asking peoples opinions on which was best.

 

[LCoulter]

That’s a lot for the photos. Maybe I should wait until she is a little older and can do the extreme encounter where she can do pulled through the water by the dolphin and doesn’t have to have an adult do it too. I want to pet them but no way do I want to have them pull me.

I don’t think the tender is that long. I’m guessing 15-20 minutes.

 

[MSPeeler]

That's not too bad then, for the tender.

Yes the photo package is mind-blowing. That was a price for 4 people. I would have 5 (maybe 6) on the excursion, so probably even more for us. Just talked to DH tonight and it doesn't look like we will be getting off the boat for anything unless the money fairy makes a stop at my home between now and November

 

[LCoulter]

Yahoo! Double digits are here! Only 99 more days!

 

[MSPeeler]

and only about a week till booking window opens! Will it open at midnight eastern time?

 

[crazy4wdw]

and only about a week till booking window opens! Will it open at midnight eastern time?

Yes, should open at midnight EST. For my first DCL cruise in May 2017, the booking window didn't open until around 1:00 am. I hope Disney's systems will be up an running this year!

 

[LCoulter]

Final payment is made and only 97 more days to go!