disneyfaninaz
It takes faith, trust & pixie dust!
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2007
We just got home from another amazing DCL cruise. We avoided a major hurricane, the sea days were so much fun and going through the Panama Canal was epic! I’m still wading through laundry and loading photos , but let’s get started, shall we!
Cast of Characters:
Our cast for this trip is small compared to our last cruises. It would just be 5 of us.
Me: 25th Anniversary celebrating, Disney trip planning, retired mom of a college student.
DH: 25th Anniversary celebrating, retired, indulging husband of my Disney dreams!
DNC: Cruising buddy and planning co-hort.
DNJ: DNC’s husband and all around good egg.
DNM: Princess, uber Disney fan!
Background:
2018 shaped up to be a very busy year. We prepared for our one and only to graduate from high school and head to college out-of-town in the fall. We planned and enjoyed an epic 19 day trip to Europe which included 5 nights in London before our 10 night Mediterranean Disney Cruise in July. (Med Cruise Trip Report)
One of the cruise itineraries that DH always wanted to do was the Panama Canal crossing. Unfortunately, they are 14 nights long and always in the Spring or Fall, right smack dab in the middle of the school semesters. While our DD was in school we made a conscious decision to not take her out of school (for any more than 1 day for travel) for vacations. We would travel over spring and fall breaks or over the summer.
Well. . .DCL itineraries opened up for the Fall of 2018 in May of 2017. We secretly talked with our cruise buddies (who were also interested in the PC cruise) and decided that 2018 would be the year. Both our DDs would be graduated from high school, so we were free to go. DD would be well into her first semester of college (no fall breaks there).
Traditionally, the PC cruise is considered a transitional cruise, so prices are generally less expensive. So, on May 16th, opening day for Gold CC members, I called and was able to book the Eastbound PC cruise in a 5C cabin on the 6th deck with a verandah. We got a great rate with only the 2 of us. We kept it a secret from our DD as long as we could. We knew she would be mad at us for going without her (and she was), but what are you going to do, we’re both retired!
Planning:
In the spring of 2018, I pulled out my Panama Canal folder and started thinking about airfare and a hotel in San Diego. The cruise arrives back to the US in Galveston, so we had to get airfare home from Houston. We fly Southwest Airlines whenever possible and were able to get good fares both ways.
We’ve been to San Diego many times, so we decided one night before the cruise was all we needed. We booked the Marriott Springhill Suites Downtown. I was going to use points, but I couldn’t get a room with a harbor view, so we splurged so I could possibly see the Wonder come into port the morning of our departure.
We also booked airfare home from Hobby Airport the day of departure and a shuttle service to Hobby.
Ironically, the day that I could start booking excursions and check in online was the day before we left on our Med cruise in Barcelona. So, instead of 9PM the night before (being MST in Arizona), I am checking in at 6 AM, the morning of. I was able to get all our excursions and Palo booked without any problems. With the exception for Grand Cayman, which we booked a private tour with our neighbors, we booked all DCL excursions. We also booked 3 tastings, a Palo brunch with our neighbors and a Palo dinner just for us!
The only other thing to do was plan our costumes for Halloween. DNM wanted to go as Cinderella so she told her parents they had to go as her ugly step-sisters and wear big butts! So that left Lady Tremayne for me and the Fairy “Godfather” for my DH.
After that, we were all ready to set sail!
Itinerary:
Day 1 – October 18, 2018 – Travel Day, San Diego
Day 2 – October 19, 2018 – San Diego, Embarkation
Day 3 – October 20, 2018 – Sea Day 1
Day 4 – October 21, 2018 – Cabo San Lucas
Day 5 – October 22, 2018 – Sea Day 2
Day 6 – October 23, 2018 – Sea Day 3
Day 7 – October 24, 2018 – Sea Day 4
Day 8 – October 25, 2018 – Sea Day 5
Day 9 – October 26, 2018 – Sea Day 6
Day 10 – October 27, 2018 – Panama Canal
Day 11 – October 28, 2018 – Cartagena, Colombia
Day 12 – October 29, 2018 – Sea Day 7
Day 13 – October 30, 2018 – Grand Cayman
Day 14 – October 31, 2018 – Cozumel, Halloween on the High Seas
Day 15 – November 1, 2018 – Sea Day 8
Day 16 – November 2, 2018 – Galveston
Next: Our Adventure Begins
Cast of Characters:
Our cast for this trip is small compared to our last cruises. It would just be 5 of us.
Me: 25th Anniversary celebrating, Disney trip planning, retired mom of a college student.
DH: 25th Anniversary celebrating, retired, indulging husband of my Disney dreams!
DNC: Cruising buddy and planning co-hort.
DNJ: DNC’s husband and all around good egg.
DNM: Princess, uber Disney fan!
Background:
2018 shaped up to be a very busy year. We prepared for our one and only to graduate from high school and head to college out-of-town in the fall. We planned and enjoyed an epic 19 day trip to Europe which included 5 nights in London before our 10 night Mediterranean Disney Cruise in July. (Med Cruise Trip Report)
One of the cruise itineraries that DH always wanted to do was the Panama Canal crossing. Unfortunately, they are 14 nights long and always in the Spring or Fall, right smack dab in the middle of the school semesters. While our DD was in school we made a conscious decision to not take her out of school (for any more than 1 day for travel) for vacations. We would travel over spring and fall breaks or over the summer.
Well. . .DCL itineraries opened up for the Fall of 2018 in May of 2017. We secretly talked with our cruise buddies (who were also interested in the PC cruise) and decided that 2018 would be the year. Both our DDs would be graduated from high school, so we were free to go. DD would be well into her first semester of college (no fall breaks there).
Traditionally, the PC cruise is considered a transitional cruise, so prices are generally less expensive. So, on May 16th, opening day for Gold CC members, I called and was able to book the Eastbound PC cruise in a 5C cabin on the 6th deck with a verandah. We got a great rate with only the 2 of us. We kept it a secret from our DD as long as we could. We knew she would be mad at us for going without her (and she was), but what are you going to do, we’re both retired!
Planning:
In the spring of 2018, I pulled out my Panama Canal folder and started thinking about airfare and a hotel in San Diego. The cruise arrives back to the US in Galveston, so we had to get airfare home from Houston. We fly Southwest Airlines whenever possible and were able to get good fares both ways.
We’ve been to San Diego many times, so we decided one night before the cruise was all we needed. We booked the Marriott Springhill Suites Downtown. I was going to use points, but I couldn’t get a room with a harbor view, so we splurged so I could possibly see the Wonder come into port the morning of our departure.
We also booked airfare home from Hobby Airport the day of departure and a shuttle service to Hobby.
Ironically, the day that I could start booking excursions and check in online was the day before we left on our Med cruise in Barcelona. So, instead of 9PM the night before (being MST in Arizona), I am checking in at 6 AM, the morning of. I was able to get all our excursions and Palo booked without any problems. With the exception for Grand Cayman, which we booked a private tour with our neighbors, we booked all DCL excursions. We also booked 3 tastings, a Palo brunch with our neighbors and a Palo dinner just for us!
The only other thing to do was plan our costumes for Halloween. DNM wanted to go as Cinderella so she told her parents they had to go as her ugly step-sisters and wear big butts! So that left Lady Tremayne for me and the Fairy “Godfather” for my DH.
After that, we were all ready to set sail!
Itinerary:
Day 1 – October 18, 2018 – Travel Day, San Diego
Day 2 – October 19, 2018 – San Diego, Embarkation
Day 3 – October 20, 2018 – Sea Day 1
Day 4 – October 21, 2018 – Cabo San Lucas
Day 5 – October 22, 2018 – Sea Day 2
Day 6 – October 23, 2018 – Sea Day 3
Day 7 – October 24, 2018 – Sea Day 4
Day 8 – October 25, 2018 – Sea Day 5
Day 9 – October 26, 2018 – Sea Day 6
Day 10 – October 27, 2018 – Panama Canal
Day 11 – October 28, 2018 – Cartagena, Colombia
Day 12 – October 29, 2018 – Sea Day 7
Day 13 – October 30, 2018 – Grand Cayman
Day 14 – October 31, 2018 – Cozumel, Halloween on the High Seas
Day 15 – November 1, 2018 – Sea Day 8
Day 16 – November 2, 2018 – Galveston
Next: Our Adventure Begins
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