Our Fantasy Cruise PTR--March 2, 2013

[Mandersons04]

Okay, so I've never done any kind of report before but figured I'd give it a shot since I'm always so busy reading everyone else's PTR and TR. Let me give you a little background on who will be cruising.

First up, there's me! Yay! I'm Lynn. I'm a stay at home mom to two beautiful kiddies (DD who will be 6 at the time of our cruise and DS who will turn 5 while we're onboard). I'm happily married to my very best friend, Marc, and we will celebrate 9 years of marriage on the ship! We've got a lot of celebrations happening in March

I got a late start to my love for all things Disney. I was 27 years old when I took my first trip to WDW (in 2010). Of course I was exposed to Disney, I love just about every Disney movie out there (and own them too). But it never went further than that until that sweet December day. Let me tell you, it was like stepping into the most MAGICAL place in the world. Seeing that Castle for the first time brought tears to my eyes. I was officially IN LOVE

It didn't help that prior to going to WDW my kiddies were already Disney fanatics (movies, princesses, Cars, Toy Story, EVERYTHING DISNEY) so seeing their faces when we walked in was something I'll remember for the rest of my life. Seeing them go crazy for the classic Disney characters, the same ones I grew up watching, was worth all the money we spent that week and more.

So fast forward to January 2011, we needed another Disney fix. DD's 5th birthday was coming up in October and I had just seen a commercial for Disney's newest ship, the Disney Dream. We booked a 4 day cruise in a matter of days! We were amped! We watched the christening ceremony and all we had to do was count down the days until our October cruise! (Oh, I promise this PTR will be about our upcoming Fantasy cruise).

Our first Disney cruise was fast approaching and I think we had been packed for over a month! It was finally time to go and words just cannot express how AMAZING the cruise was. BEST VACATION EVER!!! We knew before we even boarded that we were booking another cruise while on board And you know what? We did just that! We booked our next cruise on the Disney Fantasy for the Western Caribbean sailing on March 2, 2013!!!!

It's been a long wait (and we've got plenty more time to spare) but I can't tell you how EXCITED we are about going on this cruise! I actually talked my family into cruising with us so there will be 21 of us all together. I'm sure it's going to be a trip to remember for a lifetime.

It brings such a smile to my face when my kiddies ask, "Is it time to get on the Mickey boat again??". I simply reply to them, "Soon babies, soon."

 

[Mandersons04]

Our plan is to fly in the day before our cruise departs. I wanted to add on a few days at WDW but DH has a very strict work schedule and we were blessed that he was able to get that week off to begin with. So I'm not rocking the boat (it just means we'll get to plan another trip for next year at a later date ).

So we're flying in the day before and our flight is scheduled to land at 2:00 PM and we will be staying at the Hyatt in the airport. Now I know many will probably say that since we're arriving so early, we probably shouldn't stay at the airport. But the blessing in this is that we get to stay for free! We're Hyatt Goldpass members and since we typically stay at Hyatt hotels, we earn free nights. So we're staying for free. Can't beat free AND convenient

Plus, since we'll be traveling with such a large group, I figured this would be the most convenient plan. I was still able to get great rates for the other rooms as I was able to book them at the government rate ($110 w/taxes). So no one is complaining

I haven't decided if we'll rent a car to make a few runs to get anything we may need, I'll probably decide that as we get closer to cruise time. We all will be taking the DCL transportation to the port. I thought of arranging for private transportation both ways but it was only a $25-$30 difference. So we booked DCL transfers from the airport to the port and then I arranged for a mini-bus to pick us up afterwards.

Sounds really simple, right? I certainly hope so

 

[Mandersons04]

Here's a picture of us with our servers on the Disney Dream in October 2011. Aren't our t-shirts cool?

 

[Mandersons04]

So, nothing much new going on here except for the fact that we're still counting down until our Fantasy cruise. I was starting to get a little sad because I wasn't sure if we'd be able to do another big trip before our cruise next year. I mean sure, we've taken a few little getaways here and there but we wanted some more Disney magic.

So DH and I planned to take the kids back to WDW. We promised to try to take them back every year after their first visit in 2010 and so far we had succeeded. We knew we wanted to go sometime between September and December. I know, lots of months to choose from. We thought that if we went in September/October we'd be able to go back to MNSSHP which the kids loved (as well as a few extra days at the parks). Or we could go in November/December for a few days at the park and to also be able to attend MVMCP, again something the kids loved.

It was a tough decision but we had decided on going around the Christmas holidays. It'd be closer to cruise time and we wouldn't have such a long wait afterwards. Okay, that was settled. Now on to deciding just how we were gonna get there. We live in Northern Virginia, so Orlando is about a 14 hour drive at most (at least I think it is as I've never made the trip by car). We have never driven anywhere over 8 hours. How was I going to convince myself that I could add on 6 more hours?

Airfare was just way too expensive, well it always is, and we didn't want to pay a $1000 just to get there (not this time at least). So if we wanted to go to Disney, we'd have to drive. Oy vey!

Well as we settled into the idea of going back to WDW, DH and the kids decided that they really wanted to go on another cruise. Another cruise would be fantastic! We had such a great time on the Dream so I thought about us going back. After checking prices and adding in airfare or driving expenses, I decided that I didn't really want to spend that much money when we'd be cruising on the Fantasy (which is already oh so expensive). Plus, I wanted more days on the ship.

So we looked into the other ships but they too seemed to be more than I wanted to pay. So we figured the only way we'd be able to cruise would be on the Disney Magic out of NY. DH is adamant about not taking the kids on any other cruise line except Disney until they're teens. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE everything Disney but we're not rich so I wasn't liking the idea of having to space out the times we could cruise so we can afford it because we just had to do it Disney. But hey, DH rarely requests anything and I figured I'd give in to him just this once since he pays the bills and whatnot....

Well, we priced the Magic and again, I didn't want to spend that much money so we thought it was out. I sadly told the kids that they'd have to patiently wait until our cruise next year and that we'd go back to WDW. They were a little disappointed but were excited that they still had WDW

Well, I woke up on the morning of July 9th with this strange feeling. Something was telling me to log on and check out cruise prices. Well, shock doesn't even BEGIN to describe my reaction when I saw that DCL was offering IGT/OGT/VGT rates for the September 2nd Disney Magic cruise out of NY!!! It couldn't be!!!! I think I literally wanted to do this to my computer because it had to be wrong!

I immediately called DH at work and told him about the deal and how we couldn't pass it up and before I could finish my spiel he yelled, "BOOK IT NOW!!!!" And book it I did!!!!

So now the family and I have something to help us pass the time before our Fantasy cruise and what better way to do that then to take another cruise! The kids are excited and I've already explained to them that the Magic doesn't have a lot of the things they loved on the Dream (Andy's Room, AquaDuck, Midship Detective Agency, etc.). But my appreciative little munchkins asked if there was a Mickey slide and when I replied yes, they said that and being on the Mickey boat was all they needed!!! See, you can be very appreciative at the tender age of 5 and 4 or the beginnings of being really good manipulators

So in less than 2 months, we'll get to set sail on another beautiful Disney ship and we couldn't be more excited