Deciding whether to take the plunge on a first solo cruise (MDAS)

[cruiser21]

When I was playing around with the DCL site it looked like the price to add her was about $200 for port fees, taxes, that sort of thing. Not sure if those costs can actually go up or if it's going to stay at that rate if I do end up needing to add her later (also, I assume there would probably be a cost to add trip insurance for a second person). Honestly, I'm more concerned about adding a second person on flight reservations if I'm waiting on an answer.

The ports fees stay the same if anything they may go down. I've been on a few cruises where I've got a refund on port fees. It's also a lot cheaper to buy insurance on your own but you can add insurance for her.

 

[YawningDodo]

The Dreams Unlimited quote did explicitly include trip insurance (just the cruise, though), and at this point the bump in cost is low enough for me that I'm not going to tax myself to hunt down a lower rate on my own. There's something to be said for peace of mind when some things are just bundled together.

Got my new quote, and the price change was not as big as I expected! The PIF date is very very soon, though, because we're nearly within the 90 day window already, so I'm going to have to shuffle some things around to be ready to make that payment. Hopefully my understanding of how the 0% APR deal on the Disney Visa works is correct, because it might take me until next month to be able to pay the full balance (I've never used it for that before, but it looks like I just, you know, put the Disney vacation package on the card and it should register). I don't know if it'll get harder to make changes after the full balance is paid; I'm still kind of waffling about whether I want this to be solo or shared. Think I'd have a lot of fun either way; it just changes the overall tenor of the trip one way or the other.

With the 75 day window coming up so fast, too, I'll need to get my ducks in a row for reservations within the trip. I know at least some character meet and greets require advance reservations; someone mentioned in another thread that they had to reserve an opportunity to meet Groot. I'm probably not going to be too invested in non-Marvel characters, and it sounds like Dr. Strange (my big priority, haha) is one of the sort of wander-at-random characters. Dunno who else has ticketed meets. Probably won't reserve Palo or Remy until I know my rotation and which sea day is MDAS; I won't be broken-hearted if I don't do either of them on my first go, so that's no big. Dunno what excursion I want yet in Cozumel; the submarine tour looks absolutely terrifying and that appeals to me, but it could be nice to do something a little more sane.

Still deciding, too, whether to take the 12:30 return flight on debarkation day or spend the afternoon and night in Miami. Probably a $300+ difference and I'm not sure if I'm excited enough about an evening in Miami to pay that much. It'd make for a more relaxing morning, but again...cost.

 

[beachdrmn]

We use our Disney Visa for our cruises and yes, all you have to do is charge the cruise to the card and it automatically locks in the six month 0% interest free financing. Plus you get your points you can redeem and we add that card to our onboard account.