lyndenfa

YES, I was the one that originally asked! I went last year in February on the Magic and experienced sea lice then on the out island. Going on the Dream this March and I sure hope they are not present! Guess it's hit or miss!

we are on March 9-14 sailing, how about you? neveer heard of sea lice until now.

Don't waste your time ironing. The day you get on go ahead and send your clothes that need to be ironed to the on board cleaners. Pressing is half the cost of dry cleaning. There literally is one iron on each deck and it's not great. I got stuck behind someone who was pressing an entire cabin full of clothes for 30 minutes. You are spending thousands on a cruise, spend a few bucks and get your clothes pressed by DCL.

 

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We will be on the Magic (first trip on refurb) Mar 9, 2018. Bringing dress/costume for gr daughter. Last year spent lots of time pressing, folding, packing. Having it pressed on board would be easier. Do you know how fast the process is? The first day seems pretty busy for staff with all new guests and I wonder if I can turn it in, if it will be done for the second day? Called Disney and they don't know.

As of this morning' date=' I was holding 2 cruises and had a list of pro and con for each. Sorry, DCL. I really do love the Magic, but I got a concierge suite on another line for 1/2 the price of a balcony cabin (cat 6) on DCL. The other thing that made the difference is that DCL has no "big" beds that divide. I am well aware that most families prefer the single large bed, but there are some "groups" for whom that just doesn't work...I really wish DCL had designated a few cabins with beds that could separate.

 

Sorry, guys. There are still some reasons that I would have preferred DCL....but in the end we had to choose.

Guess we'll see Rapunzel another time.[/quote']

 

 

We *eight of us/3 staterooms, three generations) will be on the Magic for it's first sailing post redo. It will likely be the last for us (gram+gramp) due to cost and doubtful the kids will ever spend this kind of money. Granddaughter took her first last year on Dream, this year she is six. Magic was the first we took our grandson's on many years ago. Wonderful memories, five DCL cruises.

 

Now, we will stay with Celebrity as it is more our style (beds separate:)) and we have enjoyed lower prices for concierge level suites. We have been Oceania and Seaborn guests, so are open to new experiences. Without the young children our needs are different.

Nevertheless we have had hundreds of happy hours on DCL and look forward to sailing on her "new" /"old" ship.

Guests 21 years and older may bring a maximum of 2 bottles of unopened wine or champagne (no larger than 750 ml) or 6 beers (no larger than 12 ounces) on board at the beginning of the voyage and at each port of call.

Is this correct? two bottles at each port of call?

sorry to hear that you noticed some cutbacks. we are sailing on Dec. 9, 2017 and hope your experiences were temporary. were you in a suite, sky suite or regular cabin?

Did you have the "to go" pkgs for internet, liquor and tips?

I am delighted to be on the March 9, 2018 Magic for the new upgrades/changes. It is just by chance as I knew nothing about this when I made our reservations last january. We took our 2 grandsons, then 9 + 11 y/o on Magic and the year prior onFfantasy. This past Jan. we brought our 2 grandsons, then 21 and 19 and the newest granddaughter, 5/y, who will be 6 for this Magic. Also brought the mom and dad for their first cruise ever. Blessed to be able now to add one other son, so eight of us on the "new" Magic. Hooray!

We've used luggage valet quite successfully on a number of flights. However, there are rules that someone at the guest services desk should have known about. Maybe they are in transition to including more flights but doesn't sound like it.

 

This service is available from only a few airports in the US. I believe those are Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Seattle. Your flights have to be on a certain airline (Delta, American, United, Southwest ... maybe some others as well).

Your flight has to fit into certain time frames.

Sounds like you are ok so far in fitting in with all the guidelines.

lso, it is only available for domestic flights ... and someone should have known and somebody should have mentioned that to you. Sorry this didn't work out for you as it is a wonderful service when it works.

 

BTW .. .your flight does not have to be non-stop but I believe your connecting flights all have to be on the same airline. Also, this doesn't automatically give you TSA pre-check status but there is an algorithm that is used to assign pre-check for those that haven't subscribed to the program. On our last flight where we all used luggage valet (except for me as we only had one bag to check), it is was offered to half of us in our group ... and to me.

We were told Southwest does not participate in this program. We are now on United but would have prefered Southwest. Glad to know it works, it will be our first try using it.

Heads up for anyone sailing the next few months. i just received a call from Celebrity that St. Croix has been removed from our sailing on the Eclipse December 10. I haven’t received any email on this. The Celebrity site says it will not call at St. croix until January 2018 so I’m sure we are not the only sailing affected by this. We were given Nassau instead, with changes to timing of sea days. Oh, well.

We are on the Dec. 9th- 16th Eastern and I got a call that instead of St. Croix it will now be St. Tomas and emails will be sent by next monday. so no shore ex for St. T. yet. Probably can look at other ships that go there and see want has been offered for hints.

are there pictures here on CC? if so, how do I find them. Blessings to all ppl and animals who have been in harms way.

I was wondering if anyone has had luck purchasing an economy ticket from Choice Air and then going to the airline (in this case United) and paying to upgrade to Economy Plus? I was able to upgrade to business class last year however this year I don't have enough miles:(

We booked Choice Air for the Chgo to Miami. Are you using Choice Air for your return? I have read Miami airport is almost a 2 mile walk from entrance to gates. Any one know if this is true?

sailed jan 6 - 9,2017

first time on dream, 4 others on Magic and Wonder. Hope to write longer report,but for now:

overall:great as always

connecting family 8624+8626

noticed more crowds, less service in general; will go back to smaller ships next year.

food very good, did not have rapport with waiters exceptone night he did some magic tricks.

believe less contact/rapport due to increased job responsibilities not personalities

more 4 star, past most 5 star. grandsons agreed after 4 other Disney cruises with us

still love disney

Thank you for your wonderful trip report and photos. We are excited to be going in less than 2 weeks.

I called to inquire about 2 beds and was also told "no". Two twin beds would be almost a wide as a king size I think. Yet, we have had options on other cruises to make 2. We prefer 2 but it's gonna be ok. We cruise 01/06/17. Have a great trip!

Good news indeed. We were also on that maiden Marina. Looks like a few of us have taken time to post to welcome Bob that were on the Marina together. Never forget the pre-cruise dinner in Barcelona. We are on Vineyards and Vignettes May 24, 2017. Any other Marina folks coming back to Oceania again? It's been some time away to try other cruise lines and our hearts are happy to be coming back.

Lynne and Dennis

I've just recently come back here myself and catching up a bit. This is some good news.

We had the pleasure of a brief conversation with him on Marina's maiden voyage. He and FDR were hard at work on that cruise!

If a change is as good as a rest, if nothing else, Oceania will have some renewed energy.

Welcome back Bob

I, too, just recently came back to the O Boards. We were with you on that maiden voyage and the delightful pre-cruise get together in Barcelona. Have you made a reservation yet? Nice to see you here.

Lynne

It has been 3 years since our last Disney cruise and Pirate night was a seprate buffet. It looks like the separate buffet is now combined with the re gular dinner??

Check trip insurance benefits that come with your credit card. We have Chase Sapphire and it reimburses up to $10,000 p/p for the same issues that paid travel insurance does. When traveling outside U.S. we purchase a medical policy only. Does anyone know if the DCL insurance includes a "cancel for any reason"? One family member and possibly two may not go and our CC insurance would cover if it is a medical or family issue but not a personal choice.

I have 1 800 370 0097. Have called several times and no problems. Seems lots of big companies (Amazon, Apple, MSN, etc.) change phine numbers for some reason. Good luck.]

Years ago we took our 2 grandsons on 3 Disney cruises. Now we are taking them again along with the 5 y/o grand daughter (and the mom and dad). There was some website that offered $100 off or some price if you booked with them. Anyone know if there is anything out there for a little savings?

"Friday evening was the Cruise Critic pre-cruise dinner at Taller de Tapas on Rambla Catalumya, about 3-1/2 blocks from the hotel and about 8 blocks from the Plaza Catalonia end of Las Rambas. About 40 had signed up, and all showed up. It was brilliantly organized by Mark M. (YoHoHo), and was highly successful."

Then, I found this link.

What a great get together that was. Last year we were in Barcelona and could not remember the name. Now I have it. Yes, thanks Mark M for a memorable evening and wonderful beginning to a very special cruise. Don, I was happy to meet you and Betsy for the first time. I remember our van break down in Morocco, standing on the side of the road getting to know Betsy (OT/PT)

Fondly, Lynne

We are using our Chase Sapphire for "regular"cancellation coverage. We do still buy a very small Travelguard policy so that we are covered in case we need medical evacuation (hope we never do) It also covers accident and medical expenses. We purchased it when we booked our cruise. For $144 total for both, we got 25K each medical and 500K evacuation plus some other items thrown in like baggage, delay etc., which I know is covered by Sapphire, but comes with this as standard.

We use our Chase Sapphire and also buy a small medical policy.

Our Chase Sapphire is $95 annual fee. Do others pay that? Looks like United charges this but did not see other posts that Chase Sapphire does also.

Are we missing something?

Thanks.

Just my guess I have no insider info

It may have to do with when they can get the facilities to do the upgrades & the position of the ship

I am sure they will not just sail the ship to Europe off season to do the upgrade but will do it after a TA when it is close to the ship yards

time is money ;)

 

usually the up grades are cleaning or replacing soft goods as needed, painting

I believe they took the carpet out of Deck 6 in the Grand Bar hallway since I was on her in 2011 replacing it with tile ..(easier to keep clean)

 

Time will tell

 

Lyn

Thanks, Lyn

I have no inside information but there is a gap of 10 days from April 15 to the 25th so maybe that is where the idea came from for a drydock

 

Lyn

I too, looked to check dates and see the same April 15 to 25th.

I also responded to this same topic a few weeks back to see what's up and still wonder what is to be changed?

My comment was that Marina is the one who is "older" and having just been on a Med cruise last October, did see a few signs of age.

We are to be on Riviera Feb. 13 - 23 2015 and will see if I can find out more while there.

It's just a puzzle to me.

Lynne

Does anyone know what changes or improvements are scheduled for the drydock this April for Riviera?

I called O just now and was told there is no schedule for dry dock of Riviera in April and that there are actually two itineraries planned.

I would be interested to know where the OP got this info.

Thanks.

Lynne

Just the other day we were discussing his hands-on involvement when on Marina's maiden voyage FDR, Mr. Binder & a rep from Fincantieri (I assume) were making rounds. Clipboard in hand notes were made of this and that detail. (won't mention the discussion of the wonderful, enormous quartz crystal table lamps that once adorned the Grand Bar ) We were impressed that FDR and Bob were on-board working sleeves rolled up not just taking in all the people.

Hello YoHoHo. fond memories of that cruise. So great to meet Mr DelRio and Mr. Binder and had a short conversation more than.

I have photos of the unbelievably gorgeous quartz crystal table lamps so sort they did not survive the storm.

Best memories of any cruise ever. Congratiulations Mr. Del Rio. May we meet again

Lynne