The last one turns 3 Years Old = Cruise!!! 7 Day WC 7/22/17 Fantasy Sailing

[twinsouvenirs]

We've got three little ones and we're DVC members. Right now they are 3,3 and 1 and the 3 year olds twin girls have had two birthdays in Walt Disney World--their first birthday was celebrated at the hoop-de-do and their third was Akershus breakfast with the princesses and a dinner Spirit of Aloha luau. How do we match that for our little guy, who was born in the most stifling part of the summer? Some sea breezes should help! Enter: OUR FIRST CRUISE EVER!

And speaking of sea breezes, we hear that at three, all THREE of our angels are eligible for the Oceaneers Club. Which means mom can enjoy a sea breeze. Both the airy kind and the liquid type

We booked later than I had planned but here we are--about 14 months out. Apparently there isn't much to actually do at this point except research.

Our itinerary includes port at:

Cozumel, Mexico
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, BWI
Falmouth, Jamaica
Castaway Cay, Bahamas

Please join me as we sail on to this new adventure!

 

[twinsouvenirs]

So we're in the research phases, which is obviously why I've sought out you DIS'ers. Some questions I have to answer:

1) If we decide to do a shore excursion, and it is for adult only or in other ways excludes young children (i.e. most of the excursions i have seen) can we leave the kids on the ship in the kids club? All of my kids will have been in preschool for at least a year by then so I am not concerned about their emotional states, but what happens if there is an injury or something--I am assuming we can't take the wave phone with us off the boat--if we do, does it still work?

2) Booze/wine/etc... what are the new rules? I am assuming you can't bring it on the boat with you initially. I have to read the new policy to determine if we can bring a bottle initially, and if not, can we buy at port and bring to our room? I remember from all my podcast listening that this just got more restrictive but my husband will definitely care, and I'm guessing that the drinks on the boat aren't that cheap! Luckily, we're versatile so we can work with whatever, but I'll want to understand the rules on this.

3) Bottled water. Guessing they won't let you bring this on but who knows. Basically, I need to read the cruising rules!

4) Fish extenders. I added myself into a thread for this sailing and I have always wanted to participate! We participated in a holiday tree exchange in WDW and there is something completely magical about engaging with friends you've never met, gifting to people you don't know. We did a photopass share with friends and we all made presents for the kids... that was a blast too! I love anything that makes this world feel a little more intimate... it's a small world after all! But I still don't know all the rules and will have to cruise around pinterest (haha) for ideas, set a budget, and perhaps start making little gifts!

5) Draft a preliminary packing list to refine--not sure what kind of laundry facilities are available. DVC has spoiled us as we can do laundry free every day if we need to. We have three little ones, so we sometimes need to!

6) Lunch. Are there sit down lunch places or is everything quick service style? I sure hope not, we sit down for almost all meals and everyone stays at the table till we're done. We'll live if it's a grab and go kind of thing but I am hoping there are more formal lunch options. Furthermore--if the kids are in the kids club--do they get lunch there? And on port days--I've heard about people getting uncrustables for lunching. I'm also thinking we might bring ziplocs which would allow us to bag BLTs as well to bring along--but probably people mostly buy lunch at their destination, correct?

7) Port days. Do we have to stay off the boat the whole time? Can we get on and off at will?

8) Shore excursions. It sounds like people have a lot of success with the non-Disney sanctioned port adventures, can take their kids at younger ages, and pay less in these circumstances. But I also understand that there are safety issues/timing issues.

9) MONEY. Not gonna lie, this booking hurt--the deposit alone was just a little more than what we budget for a 7 night WDW vacation in a one bedroom, even factoring in our maintenance fees. Between Tables In Wonderland, our Annual Pass, grocery orders and our DVC points, we usually manage to travel extremely quite inexpensively. We sucked it up and booked the expensive cruise (got a cool deluxe family oceanview stateroom with verandah, though, so that's cool) but between the shore excursions, beverages, upgraded meals (We HAVE to try Palo & Remy), upgraded experiences (I will NOT pay $550 for two girls to have tea with princesses, but I heard there is a weeklong spa pass for $200ish...). We aren't HUGE souvenir purchasers but if I meet a DCL Harvey's bag something could happen... So how much should we budget for 'spending money'?

10) Deadlines. DVC WDW trips are mazes of deadlines... 11th month window, 7 month window, banking deadlines, holding points, ADRs at 180 days, FP+ at 60, 30.... RunDisney is the same way. Where is our cruise planning drama? Which deadlines do I need to know for cruising? When do reservations open for Palo & Remy, for port excursions, etc? What are the hardest things to book, etc?

I'm sure I have more I'll need to explore but for now, that's all I've got.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Ok, for my own organization... found this at http://www.disboards.com/threads/is-food-and-drink-included-on-disney-cruises.3495516/#post-55426026

WHAT COSTS EXTRA?
1. Parking/transportation
2. Port porters
3. Room upgrades (usually at port, sometimes GS)
4. Extra Wave Phone rental
5. Cellular phone calls (will be billed later to your phone bill)
6. Ship to shore calls from your room phone
7. Welcome aboard packages (flowers, candy, etc waiting in your cabin)
8. Alcohol and cigarettes for delivery at end of voyage
9. Alcoholic drinks at the bars and from roving servers (welcome aboard)
10. Tastings and Mixology
11. Wine by the glass or wine packages at meals
12. Additional tip (over the automatic) for bar servers
13. Tips for room service
14. Soft drinks and candy/snacks from room service or bar
15. Specialty coffee
16. Bottled water (sparkling or still)
17. Candy and snacks/popcorn outside theater
18. Candy and ice cream from Vanelope’s on the Dream
19. Smoothies from the bar in Senses Spa on the Dream
20. Upcharge food items at the adult clubs
21. Adult dining (Palo, Remy)
22. Shore excursions (including cabanas and rentals at CC)
23. Tip for Castaway Cay cabana host (you’ll need cash for this one)
24. Stamps from Post Office at Castaway Cay
25. Excursion tips
26. Spa treatments
27. Required gratuity added to spa services
28. Bingo
29. Sports simulator
30. Photos (individual and packages)
31. Internet
32. Art
33. Purchases from the stores: clothing, sundries, jewelry, souvenirs, etc.
34. Cameras from photo shop
35. Pins sold at trading pin sessions
36. Cigars (Meridian bar)
37. Arcade
38. Hair Braiding
39. Laundry room and send-out laundry and dry cleaning
40. Onboard booking for future cruises
41. Disney Vacation Club membership (you can purchase on board)
42. Adventures by Disney (you can purchase on board)
43. Medical care
44. Nursery (for under 3’s)
45. Kids’s club magic bands (if you want to keep them, you lose the deposit)
46. Meeting room rental
47. Onboard or Castaway Cay wedding (currently $3000/$4000)
48. Vow renewal ceremony
49. Tuxedo rentals
50. Duties at customs at end of cruise if you've made a LOT of purchases abroad
51. Fuel supplement charge if the price of oil is above a certain level(never happened yet, that I know of)
52. Fish Extender program gifts (if you participate)

 

[Raeven]

I have a touringplans account, and I bought the cruise subscription too for help planning. As far as I know the only deadline we have is when the money is due and things can be booked. I wish there was more to do! I'm used to trip planning too.

I can't answer all your questions but I know the answer to a few.

6. I think the sit down place at night does TS for lunch. It's not the same as dinner I'm assuming but it's also not QS.

7. I think you can get on and off when you want.

8. I would read reviews of them first, but if you're hesitant I'd book through Disney. (Though I agree there's are probably more expensive, I don't have as many excursion options since ours is so short but I imagine it would be pricy).

9. You just made me realize how expensive this is all going to be haha, one of the reasons we're only doing 3 nights, but since I'm combining that with about a week in parks I have a feeling we'll still be spending a lot

That list of extra things to pay for is making me feel like we're going to be broke by the time the cruise ends I'd say bring all your money haha

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Thank you for the answers, and welcome!!! That is super helpful.

I think I am going to start a can full of ones for gratuities onboard... it sounds like everything involves at least a $1 tip!

I have a touringplans account and I never realized they have the cruise subscription! I will check that out!

ALCOHOL & WATER

I looked into the current alcohol policy and it seems really liberal. Except that I won't be able to get a bottle of coconut rum (which would just make the vacay) I can't see that we'll dry out with an allowance of 10 bottles of wine each (2 at embarkation, 2 at each port (4 ports - 8 bottles each)... that is literally 20 bottles of wine between my husband and I. Or 10 bottles of wine for me and 5 six packs for him... assuming you pick up drinks at every port. I read somewhere that someone was able to bring wine coolers--I'm a big fan of flip side canned wine, and some of the hard ciders. I wonder if they'll let me bring a six pack of those! I'd love to bring some refreshing strongbow

With investigation, I discovered that there are a lot of decent deals for onboard liquid refreshment. It looks like there are multiple mixology classes that appear to be around $15 a person and yield around 5 drinks per person, a Skyline martini passport that seems to be a 7 for 6 deal, drinks of the day that seem to be about $4-5 each and then two for one specials as well. Further, the dinner wine bottle packages look very reasonable as well--averaging $28 a bottle at the time I write this, and if you don't finish the bottle at the table, you can take it with you.

In fact, with all these boozy options, we may not want to bring that much back on board with us. I can't imagine we could drink that all, and the mixology classes sound so fun. I will try to etch out projected consumption so I can get a rough budget for this as well.

With some further research, I think I'll have a pretty good picture of our best plan but it sounds like we may actually spend less on drinks on the sea than we do at WDW! *Shakes fist at world showcase*

Water--it seems like it will be a pain to lug around bottled water on embarkation day, so we may just bring nice waterbottles. I have a Silhouette Cameo and love to make custom water bottles for our trips--especially with names and different colors. That's really handy especially with toddlers because they can usually distinguish their color before they can read their name.

SPAS

I read some reviews and priced out the Rainforest at current prices. I was hoping to get the Rainforest Room pass but it looks like I'd be better off paying the day rate ($16 now) because there will inevitably be a few days that I do not visit the room. I do plan to go a few times, though, so I will probably budget for 4-5 visits just to be safe.

PORT ACTIVITIES
To adventure or not.... it looks like you can't deposit your kids at the clubs when disembarking on port days except Castaway Cay. That will change our strategy for Port Adventures... for example, we probably won't get to tour the rum distillery or do the America's Cup regatta after all. But paying $70 a person to be driven to a beach sounds a little crazy to me... so we'll probably go rogue most places and just aim to be back far earlier than departure date, especially because I am not seeing a lot of options for families with 3-4 year olds. Luckily, we have friends in the Cayman Islands so we just may get a free port adventure that day! I also think Castaway Cay is not going to to require a port adventure

• Cozumel, Mexico -- UNKNOWN, probably no port adventure, plan to get off and wander, and perhaps bring swimsuits if a beach is in walking distance. Will likely bring uncrustables and blt's in a small cooler with us for lunch.
• Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, BWI -- no official port adventure but money for lunch and souvenirs
• Falmouth, Jamaica -- UNKNOWN -- probably port adventure, ideally something cultural (a tour of a historic jamaican estate or similar). Would also be tempted by an inexpensive dolphin experience. money for lunch, I want some jerk chicken!
• Castaway Cay, Bahamas -- no port adventure -- budget money for drinks, chair rentals or cabana or whatever. I am assuming the food on Castaway Cay is included.

DEADLINES

It looks like as first timers, we'll have 75 days (May 8, 2017) to book onboard and shore excursions as long as we're paid in full. That seems like a tight timeline! I'm not sure if we'll be able to snag Palo and Remy that close, but I really have no ideas about this.

 

[Raeven]

I think the Rainforest Room sounds awesome, we might do a day pass.

It seems like a tight timeline but I have a feeling it might not be as competitive as booking at the parks is or the deadline would be further away. At least I hope so.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

I think the Rainforest Room sounds awesome, we might do a day pass.

It seems like a tight timeline but I have a feeling it might not be as competitive as booking at the parks is or the deadline would be further away. At least I hope so.

I hope you are right! runDisney and the 7 month windows keep me so jumpy!

I am reading trip reports of others who did our itinerary last year and they are so helpful! There is some tour group called Marvyn's or something similar that sounds pretty ideal for Jamaica. They send you a private driver, and I kind of want to see Montego Bay just because it is in the Beach Boy's Kokomo song. Ridiculous, I know But it sounds like they can drive you to a few highlights and are pretty reliable!

 

[Raeven]

That's a good idea, I read a few trip reports similar to ours too. I'm glad you found an idea for your excursions. I don't think that's ridiculous at all, haha I just looked it up and it looks beautiful there!

 

[lillygator]

we'll be doing this same itinerary this december with 3 kids...

 

[trekkie518]

Hi, I'm planning my 10th cruise in Aug, I'll try to answer the questions that I know.

1) If we decide to do a shore excursion, and it is for adult only or in other ways excludes young children (i.e. most of the excursions i have seen) can we leave the kids on the ship in the kids club? All of my kids will have been in preschool for at least a year by then so I am not concerned about their emotional states, but what happens if there is an injury or something--I am assuming we can't take the wave phone with us off the boat--if we do, does it still work?

This one I'm not sure of, we never left the kids on the ship while on shore, I believe you can, I have seen them take kids up to the buffet for lunch, and in case of an injury, the is a med bay on the ship.

2) Booze/wine/etc... what are the new rules? I am assuming you can't bring it on the boat with you initially. I have to read the new policy to determine if we can bring a bottle initially, and if not, can we buy at port and bring to our room? I remember from all my podcast listening that this just got more restrictive but my husband will definitely care, and I'm guessing that the drinks on the boat aren't that cheap! Luckily, we're versatile so we can work with whatever, but I'll want to understand the rules on this.

No answer on this one, we don't drink, I know you can still take some on with you, and at ports.

3) Bottled water. Guessing they won't let you bring this on but who knows. Basically, I need to read the cruising rules!

They will let you take bottled water on with you, but the water on the ship is all filtered and distilled. It really tastes very good. I wouldn't waste the effort on bottled water. I actually just found for my trip a LifeStraw Go Water bottle. It will now be my standard water bottle on all foreign soil. It was a decent price on Amazon for what it is. And honestly at the end of the day will be better then carrying around warm water all day.

4) Fish extenders. I added myself into a thread for this sailing and I have always wanted to participate! We participated in a holiday tree exchange in WDW and there is something completely magical about engaging with friends you've never met, gifting to people you don't know. We did a photopass share with friends and we all made presents for the kids... that was a blast too! I love anything that makes this world feel a little more intimate... it's a small world after all! But I still don't know all the rules and will have to cruise around pinterest (haha) for ideas, set a budget, and perhaps start making little gifts!

I've never participated in fish extenders. I see people doing it, and some of my tablemates have. It always looks like fun, one of these days I'll get around to it. With going to Europe next time, I don't forsee it for that trip.

5) Draft a preliminary packing list to refine--not sure what kind of laundry facilities are available. DVC has spoiled us as we can do laundry free every day if we need to. We have three little ones, so we sometimes need to!

They have both washers and dryers. You use your key to the world card so you don't need to bring coins. I believe its $2 to wash, and $2 to dry. They have soap and fabric softener available for $1.

6) Lunch. Are there sit down lunch places or is everything quick service style? I sure hope not, we sit down for almost all meals and everyone stays at the table till we're done. We'll live if it's a grab and go kind of thing but I am hoping there are more formal lunch options. Furthermore--if the kids are in the kids club--do they get lunch there? And on port days--I've heard about people getting uncrustables for lunching. I'm also thinking we might bring ziplocs which would allow us to bag BLTs as well to bring along--but probably people mostly buy lunch at their destination, correct?

They have the quick service places up by the pool, they have the buffet open, and they have the main restaurant open with a menu that stays the same for lunch daily. Then one other restaurant that has a rotating menu daily normally.

7) Port days. Do we have to stay off the boat the whole time? Can we get on and off at will?

You can go on and off at will, or stay on the boat the whole time. There were some days we chose not to get off as we had been to the port before and didn't feel like going off, but rather stay on board an almost deserted ship and enjoy the pool, and just relax. They have things going on even on port days, just not as many.

8) Shore excursions. It sounds like people have a lot of success with the non-Disney sanctioned port adventures, can take their kids at younger ages, and pay less in these circumstances. But I also understand that there are safety issues/timing issues.

We have had success with non-Disney sanctioned port adventures, just make sure that you schedule them to get back to the ship earlier then all aboard time. With Disney sanctioned adventures, if the adventure runs long, they won't leave you. If you schedule something, and it runs long, and the ship leaves, you have to get to the next port on your own. We have rented cars, taken our own excursions, done our own parasailing trips, hired our own tour vans, and never had a problem. You just have to be aware, that there is the posibility.

9) MONEY. Not gonna lie, this booking hurt--the deposit alone was just a little more than what we budget for a 7 night WDW vacation in a one bedroom, even factoring in our maintenance fees. Between Tables In Wonderland, our Annual Pass, grocery orders and our DVC points, we usually manage to travel extremely quite inexpensively. We sucked it up and booked the expensive cruise (got a cool deluxe family oceanview stateroom with verandah, though, so that's cool) but between the shore excursions, beverages, upgraded meals (We HAVE to try Palo & Remy), upgraded experiences (I will NOT pay $550 for two girls to have tea with princesses, but I heard there is a weeklong spa pass for $200ish...). We aren't HUGE souvenir purchasers but if I meet a DCL Harvey's bag something could happen... So how much should we budget for 'spending money'?

We do $50 per person per day for spending at both the parks and the cruise for extra spending money on top of excursions, etc. But, we don't do a lot of extra spending either. I have been known to buy a ring here or there, etc, but...

10) Deadlines. DVC WDW trips are mazes of deadlines... 11th month window, 7 month window, banking deadlines, holding points, ADRs at 180 days, FP+ at 60, 30.... RunDisney is the same way. Where is our cruise planning drama? Which deadlines do I need to know for cruising? When do reservations open for Palo & Remy, for port excursions, etc? What are the hardest things to book, etc?

If you log into the Disney Cruise site, you can get all this info, they have when you can do your online checkin, set up your shore excursions, and your palo reservations. It depends what member of Castaway Club member you are, etc, I know it's 90, 105, and 120 for Castaway club members to book things, I'm not sure for new cruisers. When I booked my cruise, I was under 100 days, so I could already book.

Hope this helps.
Angie

 

[twinsouvenirs]

we'll be doing this same itinerary this december with 3 kids...

Ok Lillygator! Spill! How did it go--I cannot wait to hear!

163 days away according to the DCL Navigator App I just added to my phone. The countdown function is going to be handy I am going to have to come up with a good plan for countdowns for the kids.... I think maybe at 150 days we should start? They are SO excited. They talk about the cruise literally day. Which is convenient because I TOO want to talk about the cruise every day They are ridiculously excited about the Oceaneers club. One of the girls is desperately hoping Spiderman will be there. I was going to explain that this one isn't going to be Marvel focused but it looks like there is a dry dock planned in April/May for the ship that may end up changing some things--for example, a Vanellope's is supposedly going in.

We were using a travel agent who is fabulous, but discovered we could get a $950 Costco cash card if we switched the reservation. We talked it over and gave her something for her work, and switched the reservation. We'll still be saving about $600 this way despite our gift to her so it seemed the right thing to do. We also considered Dreams Unlimited but it looks like our onboard credit would have been limited because it was a preexisting reservation, so we wouldn't have been able to save enough to make the switch worth it. I will definitely remember to shop around more first next time!!!

I also have started using an annoyingly complex system of buying discounted gift cards to hopefully shave off a few more hundred dollars (trying for 8-10% savings) and paying for the cruise with those cards. It just hit me how massive this bill is going to be! I also have to figure out the costs of port adventures and tipping--thank you all for your tips about costs!

I think we will try to book only one official port adventure at this point, perhaps in Jamaica. I am inclined to skip one port (Cozumel?) just to take advantage of the empty ship and get some serious watersliding in!!! I am also considering just going aboard for a little bit of shopping in Mexico and then heading back on board. I have to get a little more organized about the itinerary, I think--including times we can get on and off.

I'm definitely cost-focused right now, because this will officially be the most expensive vacation we have ever taken! We booked the trip with the deposit and then didn't really make a plan to save the rest up--so we're looking at a big chunk still due. We are trying to be more budget conscious this year in general. The good news is that if all goes well, my company did well last year and I find out about bonuses (please please please) in two weeks. Additionally, it doesn't look like we're going to get hit for a lot of taxes this year (in previous years we had an in-home babysitter a few times a week and had to pay employment taxes which hurt every year). Also, since we'll owe the whole chunk well before we actually set sail we hopefully won't have surprise bills afterwards other than incidentals. I am hoping to save up lots of gift cards for those!!!

My husband's valentine's day gift to me arrived early--it is an Aurora-themed $50 gift card I'm keeping that one for a special memento on-board! Wonder if they have any DCL Alex & Ani....

I can't remember if I mentioned this before but we booked a few days before the cruise at WDW. I managed to snag a DVC Studio at the Polynesian! I'm really excited to be able to zoom right over to the Magic Kingdom--we all have annual passes so that will be a low cost add-on. Normally we cook in the room with the kitchens but studios only have a microwave/fridge. I also got a new credit card with a really good travel reward initial bonus worth two flights, so our flights will likely be covered between all the frequent flyer programs we belong to.

So just to think "out loud," budget items to consider are these:

WDW:
flights (points)
accommodations (DVC points)
meals ****BUDGET/SAVE****
DCL:
transport to cruise line****BUDGET/SAVE****
port adventures****BUDGET/SAVE****
souvenirs****BUDGET/SAVE****
drinks****BUDGET/SAVE****
tips****BUDGET/SAVE****
cruise fare****BUDGET/SAVE****
transport from cruise line****BUDGET/SAVE****

My husband is still talking about what to do about alcohol, but I'm pretty much ok with just bringing my allowed wine/cider on board and budgeting for mixology classes and tastings, which I think will be more fun regardless. I am ALSO getting geared up for the fish extender fun. I found some cool Moana fabric and I'm going to let each of my kids pick their favorite fabric for their pocket on the extender (I already had fabric with lion guard, princesses, etc). I think I'm going to flag onboard activities on old Navigators, find cost estimates and just build out the worst-case budget. I really want to consider the bippity boppity add on for the girls. The princess royal table thing sounds overpriced, but I will go through liberally first, list prices, and then narrow it down.

I also think I might order an in-room celebration type of thing for my son's birthday. Either that or we could bring decorations and one parent can decorate while the other distracts the kids!

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Hi, I'm planning my 10th cruise in Aug, I'll try to answer the questions that I know.
.....

Hope this helps.
Angie

Thank you SO MUCH for all of these pointers!!! What great info--I really appreciate you taking the time to go through this!

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Another question for any of you following along-- can you/should you bring a stroller on board? I can imagine our port stops will be a lot easier with one, but it will take up room in the stateroom!

 

[twinsouvenirs]

MONEY UPDATES
Not much of an update today, but it feels like progress... put another chunk of my gift card savings down, and when I was consolidating them, I found $317 just sitting on some gift card somewhere in our house--that sounds weird, but what I mean is that I try to upload my gift cards to disneygiftcard.com to avoid losing the value even if I lose the card. We have a LOT of cards floating around since we use them to save and often receive them as gifts since we will OBVIOUSLY use them. So somewhere along the way, we just plain forgot about a gift card with $317 on it. That certainly helps!!! So between the discount purchases of the gift cards and a few windfalls like that, I was able to plop down over a thousand more. I'm feeling better about that big "PAID IN FULL" deadline.

Because we transferred the reservation to Costco, we have to pay "through" Costco--as in, we call them with the gift card numbers and they call Disney, then we get a confirmation. When doing this, I HIGHLY recommend the use of disneygiftcard to consolidate your gift cards first. You can consolidate up to $1000 per card, so if you have multiple cards going on, you can really limit the time you spend on the phone this way. However, I got THE NICEST agent when I called Costco. She was so helpful and patient.

Our agent mentioned one scary thing--our Paid in Full deadline is now April 8! Apparently Costco has a paid in full date two weeks earlier than Disney's deadline, not sure why. But that means two weeks less to plop the savings in the account... so we're really off to the races now. NOT. PANICKING. NOT. PANICKING.....

ISSUES
A real bummer--somehow, when we rebooked the cruise, we lost our early dining and were moved to second seating. This is going to be a problem. Our kids are little and go to bed by 8... We're now on a waitlist for main dining but if it doesn't come through I'm really not sure how that will work. I suppose we'll just have to start transitioning bed times to get used to that--but here's hoping we'll be able to get into main dining. Has anyone ever been waitlisted for Main and had it come through, or not?

FISH EXTENDER
This year is already flying by. I've gotten a start on fish extender gifts, but also saw that there are theft issues! I am going to hunt down zip ties to secure ours, and I have heard zippers or buttons help. I'm actually thinking of velcro because I don't know how to sew zippers or buttons just yet! I'd love to elaborate about the gifts I have planned but there are a few people in my FE group that just may read this so I'm just going to hint... some are hand made, some are hand embellished...some are nerdy/educational and some are just fun. I'm trying to stick to a $5 a person budget because our group is LARGE.

ADD-ONS/RESERVATIONS
It's looking like we're going to be in the last group to make reservations, and it's also sounding like those Serenity Bay Cabanas are snapped up pretty darn early in the booking process, but I'm still thinking about the Bippidy Boppity stuff and Palo and Remy. I'm wondering if I should be getting more into the planning in this respect as far as requesting a specific rotation and booking certain nights/brunches. I'm also tossing around doing dinner at one and brunch at the other. One more thing to research

HIGH PRIORITY TO-DOS
Really need to get the passport applications in soon. I have been picky about the kids photos--I need to get them all primped and preened and take them to Costco to get the photos taken. The pictures we originally got look so bad--they were all sick--and I'm feeling bad about having their first passports with terrible photos. I'm also wondering if there is a way to get the country stamps for our various stops! It's so funny, the more I think I learn about cruising, the more questions I dig up!

Soooo for my own benefit... takeaways: get the stinkin passports done, keep plugging $$$ away at the balance, research palo/remy options, make a "booking window" priority list, track the planned (and realized) FE gifts, and buy some velcro!

 

[lovingeire]

Following along. We aren't planning to cruise until 2019 and actually decided to postpone a family cruise until then to take one with my parents to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. I just can't decide between eastern and western. My biggest issue with western is the excursion age limits.(I mean if I'm going to the area I'd like us all to see Chichen Itza...but my youngest will be 5 the .) But my husband really wants Jamaica. And my mom strangely said I could choose. So I'm curious to follow along as you plan and hear about your travels!

 

[lovingeire]

Oh, what do you do for discounted gift cards? I use swagbucks and am thinking I'll join Sams Club for that discount. But the cost of this trip scares me!

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Following along. We aren't planning to cruise until 2019 and actually decided to postpone a family cruise until then to take one with my parents to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. I just can't decide between eastern and western. My biggest issue with western is the excursion age limits.(I mean if I'm going to the area I'd like us all to see Chichen Itza...but my youngest will be 5 the .) But my husband really wants Jamaica. And my mom strangely said I could choose. So I'm curious to follow along as you plan and hear about your travels!

Welcome!!! I totally get that--I didn't consider excursion ages when we booked! You're absolutely right about the ages for most of them--there aren't much for the littlest of littles! However, many excursions--the same ones that Disney is using--have less restrictive policies if you book directly through them. I am strongly considering booking some excursions directly with the companies for this reason--I really want to see some of the Mayan sites and I am thinking about just trying to snag a taxi or something. I'll keep you in the loop and hope some of my experiences help!!! My husband picked the itinerary, but the greatest factor was our sail date. It's perfect timing for us.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Oh, what do you do for discounted gift cards? I use swagbucks and am thinking I'll join Sams Club for that discount. But the cost of this trip scares me!

So I was using GiftCardZen, eBay and Raise to buy Target Cards (which I use to buy Disney Cards in store), but for some reason GiftCardZen has a weird user authentication process and although I was able to purchase a few cards from them, one day they said I did not pass their third party verification system (trust me, I'm a pretty boring person and have no idea why) to purchase. They wouldn't give any further information and I was quite annoyed. I could have my husband buy them but I obviously am annoyed and don't want to do business with them any longer--I know of NO reason I should have any issue with this.

So I've been using eBay but mostly Raise.com and hunting for Target gift cards with at least a 5% discount (which is what I could buy Disney cards at Target for with my RedCard discount). I then load them on the Target app and buy the gift cards at the store (you can't do this online). PM me if you'd like my Raise referral link!

The reason I would rather buy the Target cards through Raise and then use those to buy Disney cards if I can get the same discount is because I use a credit card on Raise, so I not only get the 5% off but I get the airline miles on my credit card (adding up to approximately 7% off value).

I have also bought Target cards at a discount on ebay (then used those cards to buy Disney Cards in Target).

Then, I consolidate the cards as mentioned above and call Costco to make a payment.

Tell me about Swagbucks!

As far as joining Sams Club, consider signing up for the Target RedCard Debit or credit card instead. I think the Sam's discount is only around 3% and the RedCard discount is 5%.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Big, BIG news: AS OF THIS MORNING, WE'RE PAID IN FULL!!!!!

I just plopped down the final fare payment for the cruise this morning so we're ready to go when our booking window opens! I am so relieved to have that part over with. And a fun surprise, apparently the taxes and fees were just an 'estimate' at the time of booking--and so when I went to make the final payment the cost had adjusted downwards by about $50. Happy surprise!

Now I need to do a little more research and determine whether we can pay for tips with Disney Gift Cards or if we should be planning to bring cash. I am going to be tempted to prepay gratuities for sure, to really maximize the 'all inclusive' feel of the trip. I'd also like to load up cards with any excursion prices and money for extra meals or souvenirs--but it occurs to me non-Disney excursions will probably want real money

I SERIOUSLY need to get on the passport thing. SERIOUSLY. And we have to figure out whether we're going to go down on the Wednesday or Thursday before the cruise to WDW, and whether we can snag an afternoon flight out of Canaveral on our return day or whether we'll need to book another night on our return day. Typically the non-stop flights to our home airport are in the very early afternoon.

We've got to do that soon, because we are DVC members and our banking deadline is coming up, so if we are going to cancel and have extra points that we should put back for next year, we've got to do that before the end of this month.

Fish extender gifts are sort of coming along The easiest of them is well underway and the kids have been able to help with them, with excellent results. We have more of them now than we even need!!! I have a few more I need to start working on but I don't think they'll take too long

 

[lovingeire]

Tell me about Swagbucks!

Thank you for the tips! I have heard of Raise, but haven't looked in to it too much. I did have a Target credit card for a long time, but as part of our Dave Ramsey/Financial Peace things I paid it off and cancelled it. I might look in to the Debit Card.

Swagbucks is a site where you can earn points (swagbucks) that you can redeem for gift cards or PayPal payouts. I know people who are much more hard core than I am who make a lot. I average about $50 month unless I have a big shop and earn purchase or special offer I take advantage of. But you take surveys and watch videos. There are daily goals to meet point wise. They offer referral credits and such. So it can be a time suck and frustrating some times, but free money is free money! ETA: I take multiple trips a year for runDisney so I was at Disneyland in January and WDW in November and will be there next month and have paid about $200 just from Swagbucks since I got back from Disneyland towards my Dark Side trip next month. So I'll work on spending money for the rest of this month early April and then I will start plugging away at Wine and Dine in November.

Congrats on having the trip paid for! That is awesome!!!!