Minkyboodle
Ready to set sail!
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2012
Part 1 - Background
Starting a pre-trip report in order to prepare myself for the actual trip report!
Where to start…introductions? Sure!
There’s DS, Liam (4)
DH, Matt (35).
and me! Justine (33).
Anyway, this will be our second cruise with DCL and I couldn’t be more excited! Our first cruise was a 4 night on the Disney Dream in April, 2013. Matt and I weren’t exactly sure we were “cruising people” but we figured we’d give it a go. Luckily, some friends of ours decided to come along as well. At first we weren’t sure the trip would be for them, because although they are a married couple, they don’t have any kids yet. Long story short, we loved it, they loved it…we were hooked!
Here’s a little video I made of our cruise from last year! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdIn8O78jjc&list=UUszCQ4NLzhDFqVcn_pVeeNQ
At the time, I didn’t know about the onboard booking deals and we got off the ship unaware of the benefits. We did get a postcard in the mail a few weeks after, but my father had just passed away and we weren’t in the right frame of mind to contemplate a vacation.
Fast-forward one year later and we’re ready! But, the question arises, “which cruise should we take?” Knowing how much we all loved the 4 nighter, I was ready for a longer cruise and immediately went for either the Eastern or Western Caribbean. My wallet, however, was not. My line of work usually allows for 2 windows for vacations a year; April and October. That’s it. Well, April was here now and wasn’t happening and that left October….Hurricane season {dun, dun, dunnnnn}.
Living at the Jersey shore has forever traumatized me with October being hurricane season. Granted, we were lucky enough to not sustain damage from Sandy and only had to live without power for 9 days. But, it was enough to leave a lasting impression.
Anyway, the prices during October are easier on the wallet than other times of the year so that helped in the decision making process. Now, we needed to decide Eastern or Western. Reading the Disboards opened my eyes to the GT rates and the potential of saving money on a vacation we were planning anyway. Now, the conundrum. I’m a planner. I need to have every minute detail covered, every eventuality accounted for and all of my bases covered. That doesn’t mean that when I’m actually on vacation I can’t let go and relax. When I’m on vacation I’m laid back and totally open to spur of the moment activities or inactivities.
The planner portion of my personality made me hesitate to book the GT rate because I wouldn’t know what room we were getting ahead of time. Full rate was a little more than we could handle at the moment and so we compromised with another 4 night Dream cruise. We’d done it before, we knew what to expect, and we were comfortable with the price. Done!
The up-side to booking the 4 night meant we would be able to use the in-laws DVC points to spend a few days at the World. When they head our plans they decided to join us for part of our vacation in Disney. My MIL is too scared to take a cruise so that leaves them on dry land. They own points for OKW and we’ve stayed there every other year for the past 15 years that I’ve known them. This time we decided to try somewhere new…Yacht and Beach! I was so excited to get to try Storm-along Bay and the sand bottom pool. But…it was not to be. They were completely booked up and so was OKW for that matter. The only place we could find rooms to accommodate us was Saratoga Springs. No matter! We’ll have fun regardless.
So that’s all set!
But wait! We have some last minute guests joining us! Our friends from last year decided they were just as hooked as we were and wanted another go on the Dream. Plus, my brother and his girlfriend would also be joining us!
This is the emotional part for me. My family hadn’t been on a trip together in probably about 20 years. With my father’s death last year, it really brought home the importance of spending time together as a family. So, needless to say, I was over the moon with excitement that my brother would be coming along as well.
Well, that’s it for the background part. Let’s get into the planning!
Here's our itinerary:
10/18 leave NJ around 1am to drive straight through to Port Canaveral
10/19 Board the Dream!
10/20 Nassau, Bahamas
10/21 Castaway Cay, Bahamas
10/22 Day at Sea
10/23 Disembark the ship, head to Saratoga Springs and spend the day at the pool
10/24 Magic Kingdom
10/25 Epcot
10/26 Possibly Animal Kingdom (still undecided)
10/27 Hollywood Studios
10/28 Head back to Jersey around 7am and drive straight through
Starting a pre-trip report in order to prepare myself for the actual trip report!
Where to start…introductions? Sure!
There’s DS, Liam (4)
DH, Matt (35).
and me! Justine (33).
Anyway, this will be our second cruise with DCL and I couldn’t be more excited! Our first cruise was a 4 night on the Disney Dream in April, 2013. Matt and I weren’t exactly sure we were “cruising people” but we figured we’d give it a go. Luckily, some friends of ours decided to come along as well. At first we weren’t sure the trip would be for them, because although they are a married couple, they don’t have any kids yet. Long story short, we loved it, they loved it…we were hooked!
Here’s a little video I made of our cruise from last year! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdIn8O78jjc&list=UUszCQ4NLzhDFqVcn_pVeeNQ
At the time, I didn’t know about the onboard booking deals and we got off the ship unaware of the benefits. We did get a postcard in the mail a few weeks after, but my father had just passed away and we weren’t in the right frame of mind to contemplate a vacation.
Fast-forward one year later and we’re ready! But, the question arises, “which cruise should we take?” Knowing how much we all loved the 4 nighter, I was ready for a longer cruise and immediately went for either the Eastern or Western Caribbean. My wallet, however, was not. My line of work usually allows for 2 windows for vacations a year; April and October. That’s it. Well, April was here now and wasn’t happening and that left October….Hurricane season {dun, dun, dunnnnn}.
Living at the Jersey shore has forever traumatized me with October being hurricane season. Granted, we were lucky enough to not sustain damage from Sandy and only had to live without power for 9 days. But, it was enough to leave a lasting impression.
Anyway, the prices during October are easier on the wallet than other times of the year so that helped in the decision making process. Now, we needed to decide Eastern or Western. Reading the Disboards opened my eyes to the GT rates and the potential of saving money on a vacation we were planning anyway. Now, the conundrum. I’m a planner. I need to have every minute detail covered, every eventuality accounted for and all of my bases covered. That doesn’t mean that when I’m actually on vacation I can’t let go and relax. When I’m on vacation I’m laid back and totally open to spur of the moment activities or inactivities.
The planner portion of my personality made me hesitate to book the GT rate because I wouldn’t know what room we were getting ahead of time. Full rate was a little more than we could handle at the moment and so we compromised with another 4 night Dream cruise. We’d done it before, we knew what to expect, and we were comfortable with the price. Done!
The up-side to booking the 4 night meant we would be able to use the in-laws DVC points to spend a few days at the World. When they head our plans they decided to join us for part of our vacation in Disney. My MIL is too scared to take a cruise so that leaves them on dry land. They own points for OKW and we’ve stayed there every other year for the past 15 years that I’ve known them. This time we decided to try somewhere new…Yacht and Beach! I was so excited to get to try Storm-along Bay and the sand bottom pool. But…it was not to be. They were completely booked up and so was OKW for that matter. The only place we could find rooms to accommodate us was Saratoga Springs. No matter! We’ll have fun regardless.
So that’s all set!
But wait! We have some last minute guests joining us! Our friends from last year decided they were just as hooked as we were and wanted another go on the Dream. Plus, my brother and his girlfriend would also be joining us!
This is the emotional part for me. My family hadn’t been on a trip together in probably about 20 years. With my father’s death last year, it really brought home the importance of spending time together as a family. So, needless to say, I was over the moon with excitement that my brother would be coming along as well.
Well, that’s it for the background part. Let’s get into the planning!
Here's our itinerary:
10/18 leave NJ around 1am to drive straight through to Port Canaveral
10/19 Board the Dream!
10/20 Nassau, Bahamas
10/21 Castaway Cay, Bahamas
10/22 Day at Sea
10/23 Disembark the ship, head to Saratoga Springs and spend the day at the pool
10/24 Magic Kingdom
10/25 Epcot
10/26 Possibly Animal Kingdom (still undecided)
10/27 Hollywood Studios
10/28 Head back to Jersey around 7am and drive straight through