28 January 2018 -> Disney Wonder to the Southern Caribbean!

Thank you :) I really appreciate it. I don't get to book until Nov 14. Perks of being the noob, I guess.

Also anyone feel free to tell me if you've taken any of my choices before and they suck.

Aruba:
-4x4 north coast adventure and beach break
-Natural wonders of Aruba
-Sea and See Island Tour

can't make up my mind yet for that one

St. Lucia
-Soutfriere Island Delight

St. Johns
-Kayak Hike and Snorkel

Bonaire
-Donkey and Salt safari
I know on the site that shall not be named, there is a lot of talk for the St. Lucia stop about doing Cosol tours. Almost the same tour as DCL offers. I've booked that as you don't have to pay a deposit and can cancel up to 24 hours in advance. They get good reviews and guarantee you'll be back on time. Just another suggestion if what you want gets booked up.
 
I know on the site that shall not be named, there is a lot of talk for the St. Lucia stop about doing Cosol tours. Almost the same tour as DCL offers. I've booked that as you don't have to pay a deposit and can cancel up to 24 hours in advance. They get good reviews and guarantee you'll be back on time. Just another suggestion if what you want gets booked up.

We went on a tour with them a couple of years ago. It was fun - a lot of getting in and out of a van but we sure did see a lot!
 
We went on a tour with them a couple of years ago. It was fun - a lot of getting in and out of a van but we sure did see a lot!
Yeah, that was my fear with them. I'm traveling with not very active/mobile parents so I've also booked the private sedan with DCL. I will have to make a decision on which one to keep now!
 
Yeah, that was my fear with them. I'm traveling with not very active/mobile parents so I've also booked the private sedan with DCL. I will have to make a decision on which one to keep now!

Do you know the other people on your tour...? If they're the eldest I would hope everyone would give them the easy seats which would help a lot. If everyone has issues though.... the back row was a maze of seatbelts even for us 30 somethings!
 


Do you know the other people on your tour...? If they're the eldest I would hope everyone would give them the easy seats which would help a lot. If everyone has issues though.... the back row was a maze of seatbelts even for us 30 somethings!
No clue who we would be with, I assume other cruisers. After talking with my mother, her opinion was she doesn't care about cost so she wants the private car with DCL. Works for me, but then I'm not picky. Now I just have to figure out all the other excursions. Yay for research on the internet. I didn't have to put this much effort into the WBPC cruise in April:rotfl2:
 
Finally found a board for this cruise!

Me, my wife, and our two sons (4 and 1) will be doing the B2B Southern and Eastern Caribbean itineraries, finishing the trip with 3 nights in WDW. I booked way back before last Thanksgiving to make sure we got the room we wanted, on the deck we wanted, on the side of the ship nearest Cabanas, for both cruises. I've been counting down for over 300 days!

This will be my wife and my 2nd Disney cruise, after a maiden Fantasy voyage in 2012, but we've cruised many other lines. First Disney cruise for both our boys.

I'm hoping to book my Shore Adventures this weekend. With the young children we can't be very adventurous, so city tours, island drives, and maybe beach visits are pretty much all we can do. Any suggestions?
 
:wave2: Greetings pyork24

sounds like we are doing the exact same itinerary, 7 night southern followed by 4 night reposition followed by WDW. We do not plan on doing any of the parks however, just relaxing and some nice restaurants before heading back to the harsh northern winter.
 


Finally found a board for this cruise!

Me, my wife, and our two sons (4 and 1) will be doing the B2B Southern and Eastern Caribbean itineraries, finishing the trip with 3 nights in WDW. I booked way back before last Thanksgiving to make sure we got the room we wanted, on the deck we wanted, on the side of the ship nearest Cabanas, for both cruises. I've been counting down for over 300 days!

This will be my wife and my 2nd Disney cruise, after a maiden Fantasy voyage in 2012, but we've cruised many other lines. First Disney cruise for both our boys.

I'm hoping to book my Shore Adventures this weekend. With the young children we can't be very adventurous, so city tours, island drives, and maybe beach visits are pretty much all we can do. Any suggestions?
:welcome: I can't help with excursions with young kids, sorry. We are doing the scenic, best of type of excursions at each port as we are not beachy people and I want to see the islands. Disney has at least one of those at each island.
 
:wave2: Greetings pyork24

sounds like we are doing the exact same itinerary, 7 night southern followed by 4 night reposition followed by WDW. We do not plan on doing any of the parks however, just relaxing and some nice restaurants before heading back to the harsh northern winter.

My last two visits were the Princess and Light Side Half-Marathons in Feb and April of 2017. I missed Avatar AP previews by 2-3 weeks so it's been eating me alive ever since. Gonna fix that problem plus get to check out the last weekend of the Festival of the Arts at Epcot and the Star Wars AR games at Springs. I'm almost as excited for those days as I am the cruise!
 
:welcome: I can't help with excursions with young kids, sorry. We are doing the scenic, best of type of excursions at each port as we are not beachy people and I want to see the islands. Disney has at least one of those at each island.

We aren't beachy either, honestly. Castaway Cay in the second cruise is probably going to be enough for us.
 
My last two visits were the Princess and Light Side Half-Marathons in Feb and April of 2017. I missed Avatar AP previews by 2-3 weeks so it's been eating me alive ever since. Gonna fix that problem plus get to check out the last weekend of the Festival of the Arts at Epcot and the Star Wars AR games at Springs. I'm almost as excited for those days as I am the cruise!

We just got back last week from the food and wine, but went to a closing of the Great Movie Ride desert party walk through in August. We had not planned that trip since we had been to food and wine last year, Christmas to new year, may flower and garden and knew we were going to food and wine this year. We decided to do the few days following the cruise just to be at WDW to relax, staying at Boardwalk and will enjoy what most people miss outside the parks.
 
I give up, the other social media sites have got me so paranoid I now have 2 hotels booked! I booked the Sheraton hotel and casino through Hotwire(pre hurricane) so that is non refundable but I also did a refundable room at the airport hotel. I guess if all else fails, we will literally be sleeping at the airport and that may even include having a room:sad2:
 
I personally think it’s time for me to cancel this cruise. If I can get my other half onboard with that, that’s exactly what I am going to do.
 
I personally think it’s time for me to cancel this cruise. If I can get my other half onboard with that, that’s exactly what I am going to do.
You have to do what makes you comfortable. For me, flying in the night before with 2 hotel reservations and flying out same day the cruise gets back gives me enough peace of mind. It's all about the adventure and memories made. I'm not going to explore San Juan as originally planned but, when they are back on their feet, maybe I'll cruise from there again and explore. I still believe that if wasn't safe enough the cruise lines wouldn't sail from there, especially Disney.
 
Well I found out some info. The only reason DCL is sailing from there is the fact the airport is up and running. They use three hotels for pre or post cruise. Only one can accept guests. I have been also told , by someone shoreside in celebration, that when they do resume eastern as of now they will be skipping San Juan as they can’t offer port adventures, but that can change. DCL is currently not advertising but if you are on a cruise out of San Juan and want to change or cancel they are allowing and waving any cancellation restrictions at this time.
 
Makes sense as they don't want any bad publicity about sending people to San Juan. I was never going for San Juan anyways it was about the other ports I've never been to. As long as my flights land, we are cruising. I'm going to make my hotel decision after December 1st and Disney guests start talking about the island. I'm thinking I will just stay at the airport and do DCL transfers both ways as that would be the easiest for my party. Like I said, everyone has to make their own choices about how comfortable going to San Juan makes them. I totally understand those that have or will cancel this cruise. If you decide to leave then I will still talk to you over on the WBPC thread, otherwise here's hoping for an awesome January cruise!
 
Honesty I think I am leaving. I just do not feel comfortable going to San Juan. I would really like to go to Bonaire so I can say I have been to all of the ABC islands. If my other half is still determined to go, I will probably eat the cruise fare on me. It’s a hard pill to swallow but for me I think it’s the right call. Can’t wait for the WBPC. It’s my absolute favorite itinerary.
 
So we are officially cancelled from this voyage. To many variables with going to San Juan at this time. I hope you all have a great voyage. Oh and they did stop waving cancellation penalties so now I have to do a insurance claim.
 
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Good luck with insurance, with ship still sailing and airport open there may be limited options for coverage. Yes it has been frustrating not knowing just what is going on, we have just decided we are going to go with the flow. We have had to spend the night in airports before whether it was due to late connections out of Hawaii or weather closing our destination airport and not being able to leave connection city. Delta changed our flight times (did not receive notice), so we don't get into SJU until 10:30pm so it will be a short night anyway.

We are booked at the Embassy Suites Casino and being told by corporate our reservation is good. Spent a lot of time this week trying to follow up, spoke with supervisor and had then send me a written verification acknowledging the call and verifying our reservation would be honored. I understand that is virtually worthless except for conversations with Hilton after the fact. Also spoke with front desk and first call on Monday said it is honoring January reservations, Friday told they would not honor any reservations until after March 31. We did add a reservation at another property on Monday and will wait until we receive a call in January from Hilton regarding our Embassy Suites reservation the whole time expecting we are spending the night in a chair at the airport.

This is not a complaint, yes it would be nice to know however the situation there does not yet seem to be stable so only disappointed Hilton can not get their information together. People currently sailing out of San Juan are reporting they are visiting Old San Juan and lots of bars and restaurants are open. We have received e-mail from places we previously stayed and visited telling us they are open and welcoming visitors, hoping we can visit soon.
 
Oh I know the insurance will get denied. That’s fine. In the long run only going to lose about 230. I will get the remaining in a cruise credit that I will be able to apply to WBPC 2019. Honestly at this point I would rather lose the 230 than go.
 

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