Inaugural 3/31/12 Fantasy Cruise

[ppiew]

I will repeat - we ARE Platinum and still got NO ressies at Palo or a cabana. As far as reducing the royal to 5 passengers, that is what it was last year as we stayed in one. The DREAM and now the FANTASY have only 1 bedroom in the staterooms vs. 2 in the WONDER and MAGIC. The additional 3 passengers are accommodated in the dining area with a single and double Murphy style pull down beds(with super hard mattresses!!). The deck is FABULOUS and HUGE, the BR small. Second bath only has a shower too not a tub.

 

[pilk]

Hello all,

It's Monday.

If anyone is interested in a lanyard customized for this cruise please send the following information to fantasylanyard@hotmail.com.

DIS name
First Name
Cabin number

Please send the above information for everyone in your travel party that would be getting a lanyard.

The cutoff date will be Feb 2, 2012.

The lanyards are free to anyone cruising. The cost is covered by a group called the Lanyard Team. The Lanyard Team consists fellow DISers who have offered to donate to the project. At this point we have enough members to cover the costs. However, with that said if anyone is interested in donating I will put them on a "waitlist" just in case we need more. If you are interested in volunteering for the lanyard team let me know via the above email as well.

Thanks,

Jon

 

[Tracyvp]

That is great! What does she plan on majoring in? DD is interested in dance at the moment, but I don't know how she will feel in another six years.

Alison will be pursuing a BFA in Musical Theatre. It's a pretty specialized degree and most universities only accept anywhere from 8-20 students per year into the program. Sometimes as many as 600-1200 audition for those spots (especially now that Glee has made every high school performer want to be a star!)

Things do change in 6 years! It's been a long road getting here, let me tell you. Six years ago I was sure she was going to try for a college scholarship in gymnastics, but an injury in her sophomore year ended that dream.

She's been a singer/dancer/actor since age 5 but it was just in the last year that she decided she wants to pursue it in college. She LOVES teaching little kids and she will probably end up getting her credential but for now she just wants to give performing a shot. Not necessarily Broadway but at least Regional, National Tours, etc. Her short-term dream is to do at least one contract as a DCL performer! One of her audition pieces is "Believe in Me" from the (now defunct?) "Twice Charmed" show on the Magic. We managed to obtain both the sheet music and a copy of the fully orchestrated tracks!

 

[charwac1]

It's not like the membership levels are "fair".

You can get platinum with 10 3 day cruises in an inside cabin. That's 30 nights.

Meanwhile, there are gold folks with 70-80 nights or more. (There are a bunch of 10/11 night cruises and panama is 14.) Even with "just" cat 6, that's over 3x as much money as the minimum platinum. Throw in a couple of concierges and it could easily be 5x as much money.

As of 10:45 pm est all Remy and palo reservation for tea ect.. Is sold out! Disney should have set a side reservations for the gold and silver members. My parents are not happy campers at the moment. All arrival times at still available though! Happy holidays to all!!

 

[Namsupak]

I wonder - if Platinums are 75% of this cruise, if DCL will need a higher reward levels. My wife suggested Diamond, Emerald. I mentioned Titanium and maybe Adamantium for the highest level.

I would prefer adamantium level. If they added that I can guarantee I would be able to convince DH to take tons of vacation to reach that level. So come on Disney and help a girl out!

supposedly we have been on a wait list for months (as DCL and our TA) have stated for concierge rooms or suites (there are 6 or us) and believe me no one has called or made this available at all. I know the cost is astronomical, but at the time I didn't realize it was the MV of the Fantasy. We were in concierge facilities last year and hubby loved it - so much so that this year being unable to get them he cancelled out!!! Lucky our daughter decided to go in his place so the forfeiture of the deposit didn't become an issue. still bugs me that he won't come but can't change it so I will live with it. Just very annoying that nearly EVERY ressie I have tried to get was not available. ie the dinners and stateroom and cabana.

We were wait listed for concierge and it just came through a month ago so hope you get it! Of course we just wanted a V not a T so that may have changed things.

 

[seaulater]

That's just not the way it's done. It's a chance each time and as you move up the ladder with the levels, your chances increase of getting a reservation as you move up. I honestly didn't expect to have any spots be available for Palo at the 105 day mark on this cruise. It's just how the system works. There are posts on the main board all the time against this policy by new cruisers or silvers. Honestly, as a gold 2 cruises away from platinum who started cruising before non-concierge could even book Palo prior to setting foot onboard and take part in the Resie Rush to RNBD, I am glad that they have finally developed a system that rewards repeat cruisers in some way. Also remember that each platinum cruiser is entitled to a free dinner at Palo -- so they kind of have to have the chance to book one. I will be interested to see what they do if there simply aren't enough places available to allow that to happen -- will they be forced to comp those guests with a room credit? Personally, I don't want to miss out on the experience in the dining rooms our first cruise on the Fantasy [haven't cruised on the Dream]. We didn't go to Palo our first cruise and I don't think we felt like we missed out on anything. I will try to make a reservation for our 2013 cruise when things aren't as crazy.

NOEL ----- I was also surprised that they reduced the capacity to 5. They would still be able to collect more money by increasing the capacity, but I suppose they figured that selling that additional room as a seperate stateroom would result in a higher total per cruise.

On the MV of the Dream, we were not able to get into Palo's. They gave everyone a stateroom credit if they weren't able to get in Palo's.

 

[ditty3199]

PIF finally! Now I can start my killer diet.
20lbs in 3mos...lol. who am i kidding.

 

[lbgraves]

Her short-term dream is to do at least one contract as a DCL performer! One of her audition pieces is "Believe in Me" from the (now defunct?) "Twice Charmed" show on the Magic. We managed to obtain both the sheet music and a copy of the fully orchestrated tracks!

DD wants to perform on DCL as well! When did Twice Charmed stop running on the Magic?!?!??! We love that show and play the CD often. That is one of my favorite songs from it.

On the MV of the Dream, we were not able to get into Palo's. They gave everyone a stateroom credit if they weren't able to get in Palo's.

 

[Lynn G]

Happy Winter Solstice to all! Yeah to longer days!

 

[Tracyvp]

When did Twice Charmed stop running on the Magic?!?!??! We love that show and play the CD often. That is one of my favorite songs from it.

I don't know that it has! That's why it put a ? in my post. I remember reading awhile ago that they were going to get rid of it but since we haven't been on the magic since 2008 I don't know what ended up happening. It's our all-time favorite show, too. Hope it's still running and that we get another chance to see it one day! (preferably with Alison as Cinderella!

 

[Tracyvp]

PIF finally! Now I can start my killer diet.
20lbs in 3mos...lol. who am i kidding.

Um...Well, I went back to Weight Watchers this past month in hopes of doing just that (well, as close as I can get, anyway!)

 

[ditty3199]

Um...Well, I went back to Weight Watchers this past month in hopes of doing just that (well, as close as I can get, anyway!)

Maybe we can find a way to keep each other motivated. i need all the motivation i can get!!! this will be a long 3mos

 

[lbgraves]

Now that we are back home, I am hoping to drop the weight I gained due to all the stress and fast food over the past four months. The scale won't work even with new batteries. I don't know it it's just being annoying or trying to spare me.

 

[Relaxin']

I'll join the motivation group for weight loss. I quit my gym Dec. 1 because my new gym was suppose to open Dec. 15, and I was on the Dream/WDW the first week of December. Sounded good at the time, but we are still waiting to hear the date the gym opens. To add more excuses not to exercise, our local pool is closed for annual maintenance. Now, I have a painful right shoulder, no gym, no hot yoga and I am putting the cookies in faster than I bake them or someone is. I bake at night, go to work, come home and the tin is empty. Oops forgot, my son came home Tuesday. At least he asked if there was anything in the fridge that was off limits. Just told him to stay away from the turkey. I really want to run a disney half marathon some day, but I have gone backwards over the year. Last year at this time, I was running 5K a few days a week. I can not remember the last time that I walked 5K. Here I am using gyms and pools as my excuse not to exercise and we have a lovely neighbourhood for a jog, but baby it is cold outside. I can do it.

 

[Tracyvp]

If I have learned one thing about myself over the years is that I HAVE to have the accountability of a meeting or weigh-in of some kind in order to lose weight. I just do. So WW has worked for me before, as has another weekly accountability group. For me, it's not enough to just keep track of what I eat. I have to actually have another person write down my weight every week or I just won't stick to my guns.

Haven't gotten there yet on the exercise thing. I know from experience that once I start I'll be able to stick to it at least for awhile, but it's the getting started that's the tough part! I only like to exercise when there's no one else in the house, so although we have a treadmill set up in the family room right in front of the TV I haven't been using it because everyone's around all the time. Once school starts back up and everyone's back on their normal routines I'll find a quiet 30 minutes per day to at least get started!

 

[Scotty69]

Woo Hoo we finally made it to double digits folks. So cant wait.

 

[Scotty69]

Um...Well, I went back to Weight Watchers this past month in hopes of doing just that (well, as close as I can get, anyway!)

Kathy and I are going back to WW after the holidays

Maybe we can find a way to keep each other motivated. i need all the motivation i can get!!! this will be a long 3mos

We are in with helping. lord knows we can sure use some motivation.

Now that we are back home, I am hoping to drop the weight I gained due to all the stress and fast food over the past four months. The scale won't work even with new batteries. I don't know it it's just being annoying or trying to spare me.

Lisa every time I try to step on my scale it screams GET OFF, Then it laughs at me and says ya right I don't think so

 

[Lynn G]

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all!

 

[wickesy]

Just seen this via a link on Facebook:

Disney Cruise Line’s newbuild, Disney Fantasy, was the victim of significant vandalism while under construction at Meyer Werft, according to German media reports.

Various water valves were allegedly left open on Dec. 9, 2011, causing roughly one million euros in damage to approximately 40 cabins onboard the 128,000-ton vessel.

The damage will not affect the delivery date of the ship. Disney Cruise Line confirmed a float-out scheduled for Jan. 7,2012.

Cruise Industry News

 

[charwac1]

Cruise Industry News has a bunch of cool stuff about the cruise industry, including stuff about ship designs, tradeoffs, and future trends. One trend that I'm a bit skeptical about is:

"Looking ahead, Fincantieri’s Torrente said that someday e-guided vessels may be a reality, using technology to avoid collisions, groundings and other incidents. “Then, we do not have to concentrate on the consequences of flooding if collisions can be avoided,” he noted."

From http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news-articles/67-articles/6240-fall-2011-next-generation-optimizing-ship-designs.html