Fantasy 7-Night Western Caribbean Cruise 8/2/14 - 8/9/14

[carolbeech]

Plus if I eat dinner early, then I will have an excuse to order room service or to pick up the light snacks outside of Europa

You can do that if you eat late, I am guessing - just that you do it before dinner!
The Grand Cayman time in port seems really short. What are folks planning to do there?

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

What is Europa???

Europa is the adult club area of the Fantasy.

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

You can do that if you eat late, I am guessing - just that you do it before dinner! The Grand Cayman time in port seems really short. What are folks planning to do there?

I usually get Mickey bars and cookies because sometimes I don't like the desert offerings. Why can't DCL offer an apple pie with ice cream or just a slice of German Chocolate cake?

The Grand Cayman is a short stay but it looks like we will get an extra hour as opposed to their current itineraries when they begin visits to Jamaica.

 

[mug318ca]

I usually get Mickey bars and cookies because sometimes I don't like the desert offerings. Why can't DCL offer an apple pie with ice cream or just a slice of German Chocolate cake?

The Grand Cayman is a short stay but it looks like we will get an extra hour as opposed to their current itineraries when they begin visits to Jamaica.

DCL had a Chocolate night on the EBPC cruise we were on. They had deserts there that I've never seen on a DCL cruise before. I couldn't get enough of the Tres Leches cake. We had second seating for that cruise and it was tough to find room for all of that at 11PM.

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

DCL had a Chocolate night on the EBPC cruise we were on. They had deserts there that I've never seen on a DCL cruise before. I couldn't get enough of the Tres Leches cake. We had second seating for that cruise and it was tough to find room for all of that at 11PM.

I spent two hours trying to find pics of the Magic's late night chocolate desert buffett but I realized that it was in more than four years ago and it's on my old computer.

I miss that buffet but I understand why they cancelled it. Many people were taking a lot of pics but were not eating most of the deserts.

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

Could someone check the DCL website to see if the price of our cruise went up a little

 

[mug318ca]

I spent two hours trying to find pics of the Magic's late night chocolate desert buffett but I realized that it was in more than four years ago and it's on my old computer.

I miss that buffet but I understand why they cancelled it. Many people were taking a lot of pics but were not eating most of the deserts.

I didn't realize they cancelled it. It's understandable because they had way more than ANYONE could eat.

BTW, I see you are in the Philly area. Whereabout? My wife was born and raised in NE Philly and has a sister in Doylestown.

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

I didn't realize they cancelled it. It's understandable because they had way more than ANYONE could eat.

BTW, I see you are in the Philly area. Whereabout? My wife was born and raised in NE Philly and has a sister in Doylestown.

We currently live in Yeadon, PA near PHL airport. I grew up in the Powelton Village section of Philadelphia near Drexel University and University of Penn.

I went to High School at Overbrook High and was a year ahead of Will Smith, "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air." I really should have been nicer to him

 

[AliceIn]

Could someone check the DCL website to see if the price of our cruise went up a little

The price has gone up a LOT. I checked the other day, and if we were to book the same room we have now for the 5 of us, it's $1470 more expensive than when we booked back in November.

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

The price has gone up a LOT. I checked the other day, and if we were to book the same room we have now for the 5 of us, it's $1470 more expensive than when we booked back in November.

I just checked our prices and if we booked today, we would be spending $2,069 more than we paid for our connecting 4C's

We booked onboard, so we got the 10% discount plus OBC

 

[AliceIn]

I just checked our prices and if we booked today, we would be spending $2,069 more than we paid for our connecting 4C's

We booked onboard, so we got the 10% discount plus OBC

I love to look for deals. It's my first cruise, so no booking discount or OBC, but I will be getting $805 back from Costco, plus another $212 that I'm getting in rewards for booking with Disney Visa. I put it on the card, then turned around and paid the card in full. I figure I saved over $1,000 that way, though the Costco gift card doesn't arrive until after the cruise. The bright side of that is if I spend too much on vacation, at least I'll get some groceries at Costco to tide us over.

I also used frequent flyer miles for airfare for the 5 of us. That saved me another $1800. It took a while for me to fly enough for work to earn the 125K miles it cost, and I sure hated to see the balance in miles go to 0.

 

[momtomattclare]

Wow, you guys are right! Ours would cost us $1849 more than when we booked last March. Granted, I had the 10% OBB discount but that only accounts for about $750 of the difference. So glad I booked early!!

I use the Disney visa too. I don't get the $50 OBC this time because of having the OBB credit, but I'll still have some nice rewards built up too spend on board. Already planning to get another hot stone massage!

 

[carolbeech]

Wow, you guys are right! Ours would cost us $1849 more than when we booked last March. Granted, I had the 10% OBB discount but that only accounts for about $750 of the difference. So glad I booked early!!

I use the Disney visa too. I don't get the $50 OBC this time because of having the OBB credit, but I'll still have some nice rewards built up too spend on board. Already planning to get another hot stone massage!

This is our first cruise so we are looking forward to getting that 10% off our next cruise (although my husband is not sure he'll want to, we know better )
I just got the Disney visa for this trip, so got a $200 Disney reward card plus the OBC from the travel agent. I want to try a hot stone massage!

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

I love to look for deals. It's my first cruise, so no booking discount or OBC, but I will be getting $805 back from Costco, plus another $212 that I'm getting in rewards for booking with Disney Visa. I put it on the card, then turned around and paid the card in full. I figure I saved over $1,000 that way, though the Costco gift card doesn't arrive until after the cruise. The bright side of that is if I spend too much on vacation, at least I'll get some groceries at Costco to tide us over.

I also used frequent flyer miles for airfare for the 5 of us. That saved me another $1800. It took a while for me to fly enough for work to earn the 125K miles it cost, and I sure hated to see the balance in miles go to 0.

With combining our DCL's OBC with DU's OBC we will have $950.00 to play with

Of course that will cover our gratuities and maybe an excursion. We just became Gold Castaway and we will get 10% off of purchases on the Fantasy.

We are building up our Frequent Flier Miles for a trip to Maui, Hawaii next year to celebrate our 25th Anniversary

 

[AliceIn]

We are building up our Frequent Flier Miles for a trip to Maui, Hawaii next year to celebrate our 25th Anniversary

That sounds fantastic! I'd love to go to Hawaii. I think when the kids are older we will go without them.

 

[AliceIn]

This is our first cruise so we are looking forward to getting that 10% off our next cruise (although my husband is not sure he'll want to, we know better )
I just got the Disney visa for this trip, so got a $200 Disney reward card plus the OBC from the travel agent. I want to try a hot stone massage!

That hot stone massage sounds heavenly! I'm afraid of what I can do in that spa and the havoc it will have on our bill at the end of the cruise. There are so many relaxing treatments I'd like to try!

 

[AliceIn]

Wow, you guys are right! Ours would cost us $1849 more than when we booked last March. Granted, I had the 10% OBB discount but that only accounts for about $750 of the difference. So glad I booked early!!

I use the Disney visa too. I don't get the $50 OBC this time because of having the OBB credit, but I'll still have some nice rewards built up too spend on board. Already planning to get another hot stone massage!

Do you know if the OBC on the Disney Visa is automatic? I don't remember seeing any place to mention it or anything when I did the online booking. I'd read it on a statement or other communication from them. I read from somebody on the main boards that you had to specifically request it, but not how. I'd assumed that they'd know, the same way they know to put the no interest thing on it.

 

[AliceIn]

I took a closer look at the price differences between when we booked and now, and I was surprised to see that the big jump in price was for the kids' fares. For the adults, it was $115 each difference in price. The kids' fares went up by $300 or $400 each, depending on age. I wonder if that means that the cruise is reaching the kid limit?

I've noticed that some days when I try to look at price changes for our cruise, it will show no availability for a family of 5. Other days it does. If I change the party to 4, it shows the same room availability as I'd see on the days I put in 5 people and it had availability. So for example: Room 10580 will show up as sleeping 5, but some days it's not available if I say I actually have 5 people. The cruise will not show up at all as available for a party of 5.

 

[momtomattclare]

Do you know if the OBC on the Disney Visa is automatic? I don't remember seeing any place to mention it or anything when I did the online booking. I'd read it on a statement or other communication from them. I read from somebody on the main boards that you had to specifically request it, but not how. I'd assumed that they'd know, the same way they know to put the no interest thing on it.

You'd think it would be automatic, but I don't think it is. When I did our first cruise last March and booked via Expedia (before I knew about using TA for additional OBC), I believe I called DCL to get it added. On our cruise this past Dec. our TA took care of it. I'd suggest calling your TA or DCL depending on how you booked to ensure that it is added.

 

[momtomattclare]

That hot stone massage sounds heavenly! I'm afraid of what I can do in that spa and the havoc it will have on our bill at the end of the cruise. There are so many relaxing treatments I'd like to try!

Cannot say enough good things about the hot stone massage--it was amazing! However, my facial left me unimpressed. Won't be doing that again. Definitely plan to book a Rainforest Room pass again. That was one of the things I missed on the Magic this past Dec. Those heated stone loungers are wonderful!