DVC Wonder, West Coast Cruise May 15 through May 20, 2019,

I don’t mind not knowing - I like the surprise of finding out on the ship. It is a bit like D23 Expo, where to get the lower ticket price you buy a year in advance, yet the guests info does not start coming out until a couple months before. Best surprise for me was seeing Eric Goldberg in the line to check in for Alaska; that’s when I learned he would be on that year’s MC.

I’ve only been on a couple,2015 and 2016, but for each of those, there were no presentations during the time we were in port. Here are links from the Disney Cruise Line Blog of Navigators for the past couple of MCs if you’d like to check the schedules to see what was offered when & early/late things were.

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/cruise-planning/itineraries/itinerary-summary/?itinerary=261

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/cruise-planning/itineraries/itinerary-summary/?itinerary=315
Thanks for the links to the Navigators! It definitely gives me an idea of the types of presentations and timing. It looks like the presentations are spaced out they aren't competing against each other. How early do you need to get to the venue to be able to get seats? We would rather get to the venue early in order to make sure we get in, than try and scoot in at the last minute.
 
Thanks for the links to the Navigators! It definitely gives me an idea of the types of presentations and timing. It looks like the presentations are spaced out they aren't competing against each other. How early do you need to get to the venue to be able to get seats? We would rather get to the venue early in order to make sure we get in, than try and scoot in at the last minute.
I suppose I plan to arrive at least 10-15 minutes before hand. The only time I ever missed a presentation was to see Maryellen Hooper. There were no seats left, I went to another presentation that was starting within the half hour. Sometimes the presentations do overlap.
 
Thanks for the links to the Navigators! It definitely gives me an idea of the types of presentations and timing. It looks like the presentations are spaced out they aren't competing against each other. How early do you need to get to the venue to be able to get seats? We would rather get to the venue early in order to make sure we get in, than try and scoot in at the last minute.
I tend to arrive 15-30 min early; it depends on the presentation. If it is something in the bigger theatres, 10-15 is early enough unless you want front row seats. However, for the sessions with the animators they may have on the cruise, ie Eric Goldberg or Stacia Martin, those have been in one of the lounges where there is not as much seating, so maybe 20-25 min. early there. I’ve not gone to any of the Star Wars sessions so don’t know how popular those are. Anything by someone like Joe Rhode is also popular.

Some sessions are repeated, so good to use the DCL app to scope that out as you can check the schedule farther out than the navigators in the cabins. That can help with scheduling overlaps, or if something is so good you eant to catch it again,
 
Stacia presented in the atrium of the Fantasy last year. I thought that a bit strange, but maybe there were people standing in the balconies.

C9C053B9-D975-4B3D-AC36-36E58B8C7569.jpeg
 


That does seem strange - were people standing for the whole thing? I’ve not yet been on the Fantasy.
They put chairs in the atrium. We were seated. I never looked up to see if there were folks who had to stand near the railings.
 


We received the letter/confirmation from DVC today too!

It is not listed in our DCL cruises yet.
 
Received our confirmation letter yesterday as well. The cruise has been posted on the DCL My Cruise Reservations for a couple of weeks now.
 
I received my letter on Monday as well --- I manually added the reservation number in on My Disney Cruise Reservations.

Now the planning begins! Looking at arriving in San Diego a couple of days early, trying to figure out where to stay. I do have a reservation for a hotel in Little Italy, it looks to be a nice area. But I'm told it is very close to the airport so it could be noisy. Also wanting to stay in Vancouver for a couple days after the cruise. I am so out of my box --- I know how to go to Disney.

We're very excited --- 1st DVC Member Cruise and 4th DCL Cruise (last one was a long time ago though)
 
I received my letter on Monday as well --- I manually added the reservation number in on My Disney Cruise Reservations.

Now the planning begins! Looking at arriving in San Diego a couple of days early, trying to figure out where to stay. I do have a reservation for a hotel in Little Italy, it looks to be a nice area. But I'm told it is very close to the airport so it could be noisy. Also wanting to stay in Vancouver for a couple days after the cruise. I am so out of my box --- I know how to go to Disney.

We're very excited --- 1st DVC Member Cruise and 4th DCL Cruise (last one was a long time ago though)
Good idea! I linked mine too!:thumbsup2
 
This is my second DM Cruise. This time with my daughter who will be turning 21 a week before the cruise. Looking forward to a cruise up the West Coast. Any hotel suggestions in San Diego? It's been years since I've been there.
 
By the way, in this year’s MC there were three presentations in the atrium, and they were very well attended! I only went to the artists presentation.

Three artists.

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This is my second DM Cruise. This time with my daughter who will be turning 21 a week before the cruise. Looking forward to a cruise up the West Coast. Any hotel suggestions in San Diego? It's been years since I've been there.
There are so many to choose from and every chain has at least one for each of their brands and price points. You might want to start with -

How are you arriving - plane, car, train?

Are you leaving a car there to fly back to San Diego from Vancouver? Some hotels closer to the port offer reduced long term parking for cruisers if you stay a night or two before the cruise

How many days in advance are you arriving before the cruise?

What do you want to see and do in San Diego before the cruise? There is so much - zoo, Sea World, museums, Balboa Park, missions, the beach, Coronado, USS Midway, Old Town/Gas Lamp area, etc.

I think I’d start with when are you arriving and what do you want to do there before the cruise, then look for hotels in proximity. Though, nothing is really too far away.

If you want a hotel close to where the Wonder will dock, there are two - a Marriott Springhill Suites directly across and a Wyndham down a block, both are on Harbor Blvd.

For those leaving a car and not staying the night before, check out the Port of San Diego long term parking page. https://www.portofsandiego.org/coming-and-going/parking-and-transportation/long-termcruise-parking The cheaper options will sell out, so book parking ahead of time at least two months in advance.
 
Thank you @Mathmagicland for that info. We are flying in and will be looking for hotels near the port. Any activities or festivals in SD during Mid May that would take up hotel space?
I don’t live that far south in Calif, so can’t help with local knowledge. But, with San Diego’s almost perfect weather year-round, there is likely always something happening each weekend. Thank goodness this cruise does not coincide with Comic-Con, which takes over the city each July!

I found a couple of links online that may be helpful - one to the convention center events and a couple for festivals. The festivals look to be mostly local. The convention center doesn’t seem to have anything really big around that time, either this year for historical comparison or scheduled yet next year. Of course these likely won’t include individual hotel-specific meeting events, but a clue there may be if rooms seem to already be at a premium this far out.

Convention center https://visitsandiego.com/events?combine=&field_event_date_value2[value][date]=May+1+2019

Festivals -
https://www.sandiego.org/explore/things-to-do/arts-culture/festivals.aspx
https://www.everfest.com/california/san-diego-festivals?page=12

If someone is from the area, they can likely provide more local insights.
 
Looking at port Adventures offered for San Francisco this year is one to Alcatraz island and Sausalito. For those who may be thinking of doing the Alcatraz tour on your own, here is a link to the website where advance tickets can be booked. Tickets go on sale 90 days in advance and it does fully book 4-6 weeks ahead of tour dates/times. There are no walk ups so you will want to plan & book your tickets shortly after they become available to be sure to get tickets.

This is the site that’s goes with the NPS for the tickets
https://www.alcatrazcruises.com/?_ga=2.82343058.541217756.1533435649-412321653.1533435649

It will be a very easy walk from our cruise terminal to the Alcatraz tour departure site.
 

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