Hawai’i 10 Night Cruise to Vancouver

I emailed the Aulani special diets team. They said they don't know if accommodations can be made and I have to wait until I can speak with a chef 30 days prior to arrival. We'll probably book it anyway, and cancel within 30 days if they cannot accommodate. I may call Aulani direct and ask to speak with the food and beverage manager this week for some sort of idea...
 
We booked our Aulani luau for Tuesday the 5th. Anyone else doing that time?

Update on our PIF issue. We got our refund, and as we feared, we lost $150 in exchange fees.
 
We are also now paid in full, and we were able to upgrade from 11B (assigned) to 9B (GTY) for significantly less than I thought it would be! I had been checking for 9B rooms every month or so since we booked and this is the first time they were available. I was truly shocked at how reasonable the price was. Now we get the room category we like the most, hurray! (I prefer the ocean view porthole over a balcony.) Merry Christmas!
 


We are paid in full, flights and hotels booked. Guys.....it’s starting to feel not so far away!
 
Merry Christmas Fellow Cruise Peeps!!
We are getting so close now!! Hard to believe we have come so far!! It seemed so far away and now it is almost here!!
we will be booking soon - hope everyone is ready !! I know I’m not!! I’ve got a good idea what I would like I just need to finalize my plans - if I could just find the time!!
still trying to win the lottery but alas have not did that either 😠
Dec has not been kind so I’ll be glad when it is over - I lost my beloved dog of 14 years two weeks ago and I’m still heartbroken 😪 on top of that my poor cat who is only 3 gas been sick with kidney stones - I believe he passed them Sunday (they were Huge) but now I think he has a cold- he keeps sneezing nonstop . He wasn’t eating for a few days as he didn’t care fur the special food the vet wanted him to eat! Well I guess he has more stones in his future - ugh!! I also had to get a car as mine decided to act up in a bad way!! Hello?? I have a cruise booked ?? Seems my finances don’t care!! On a happy note - after some SERIOUS arguing with the travel insurance co for the airfare I had with Alaska Airlines I got my money back on the difference in price for the new tickets I had to purchase !! I had to do a lot of yelling at several people after I was told several times it was covered to be told nope - policy said it was covered! Won’t do business with them again! They did pay very fast I will say that ! After the holidays we will need to discuss when we would like to shut down the sign ups for our FE groups and get the group details out to all members in.
Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!! We will be cruising soon!!!
 


Oy, I hear you on the unexpected expense front. We've had many unpleasant surprises this month, too, and many thousands of dollars... oy!

I think the FE groups should be cut off at the final check in date (for new cruisers), which I think is early February. That gives everyone two months to prepare everything. And for us, that means starting from scratch because we totally forgot what we were doing and haven't started a thing. I'll have to wait and see what information we collect for each person to see what ideas surface. My husband already has one idea. I hope everyone will enjoy it when they return home.
 
Ok I spoke too soon been at hospital all afternoon with DH not sure may be vertigo still waiting on Dr and some test!!
 
We booked our Aulani luau for Tuesday the 5th. Anyone else doing that time?

I just booked ours for Wednesday the 6th, kind of an Xmas surprise gift to the DW. Too bad we all can't go to the same one but our check in isn't until that day. Merry Christmas everyone!
 
This will be our first cruise as Gold, and first cruise longer than 7 nights. I saw this on the Castaway Club Membership page today:

Gold and Platinum Castaway Club Onboard Reception
Enjoy a private reception on 8-night and longer voyages where Gold and Platinum Castaway Club members will experience special entertainment.

This sounds so cool! Can anyone comment on the details of this reception? Also, what are the special Gold & Platinum discounts onboard?
 
This will be our first cruise as Gold, and first cruise longer than 7 nights. I saw this on the Castaway Club Membership page today:

Gold and Platinum Castaway Club Onboard Reception
Enjoy a private reception on 8-night and longer voyages where Gold and Platinum Castaway Club members will experience special entertainment.

This sounds so cool! Can anyone comment on the details of this reception? Also, what are the special Gold & Platinum discounts onboard?

We've done it a few times on the Panama Canal cruise. Once when we were not even Gold because we had no idea what it was and just wandered into the area. No one was checking badges. It's pretty likely that significantly more than 50% of the boat is going to be gold or platinum (because it effectively sold out gold day) so I am not sure that our experience on Panama will be the same here. It has been outdoors on deck 9 in front of the movie screen. Its been a few snacks, free drinks, and rice crispy Mickey snacks. And a chance to meet the crew. I have to expect that if they do not do it the day after we leave Hawaii it might be starting to get too cool to do it outside. I've heard that it's been done in the main theatre.
 
Last time I attended was last July and it was held in the WD theatre because there were so many of us. They ran thru a scene from one of the ship’s shows explaining how the magic happens. Very interesting. we also received rice crispy Mickey treats.
 
Last time I attended was last July and it was held in the WD theatre because there were so many of us. They ran thru a scene from one of the ship’s shows explaining how the magic happens. Very interesting. we also received rice crispy Mickey treats.
That seems like a very different experience that we have had. So you were sitting? I guess that means that there isn't a chance to mingle and meet officers? Did they offer drinks/snacks or just the Mickey treat at the end?
 
One of the most interesting things we experienced in the last event was when they talked through the lists of people with the large numbers of Disney cruises under their belt. I cannot remember the top number but there was quite a few over 50!

On a related note, it is a shame that Disney's loyalty programme peaks at 10 cruises. Some of the other lines have good loyalty programmes that seem to provide good benefit to their most loyal customers at the higher numbers. My parents have done an astonishing number of cruises on other lines. I'd never counted their number of cruises until my last visit. Disney is probably one of the few main-ish lines that they are not quite high with. They get some great benefits. I have to admit the better loyalty programmes elsewhere is making me look elsewhere as I get to that lovely day when I retire and get a chance to cruise like my parents do.
 
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Yes their are some people who have a lot of cruises under their belt. You will find a lot are people that live in Florida and get a special rate and go for shorter cruises.

We have done many receptions before it changed to over to over 7 days. It was done in the Tube. We had drinks, snacks and got to take a picture with Captain Mickey. Than the Captain told us what was new....and talked about the new ships coming . The other Officers walked around and talked to us as well. Like someone said I think there will be a lot of return guests.
 
That seems like a very different experience that we have had. So you were sitting? I guess that means that there isn't a chance to mingle and meet officers? Did they offer drinks/snacks or just the Mickey treat at the end?
There was a mix/mingle with free drinks in the area outside of the theater just before the doors opened to go into the theater where they greeted us and did the scene explanation. Got to hear the technical direction in addition to seeing the floor lifts etc. Just the Mickey treats, no appitizers.
 
I was just looking at where we are at on the FEs.....are there really only 4 cabins interested in participating in the adult FE? Wondering if this is "worth it?"

Fish Extender - Adult - Who is in
1. Ahain - DH, DD (22) & Myself - Room 5648
2. Diznymom - DH & Myself - Room 8256
3. Kelsanna - Best Friend & Myself - Room ??
4. Scrapycruiser = DH & Myself -
Room - ??
 

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