The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[mickEblu]

Have you ever done a Disney cruise (or any other cruise)? You might want to take the kids on one down to Mexico for 3-4 days. The food on a Disney cruise has been the best so far. However the service has been better on Royal Caribbean and there is more to do on a Carnival cruise. Disney has less shipboard activities that you just show up for creating long lines.

Ive done many Carnival Cruises, most of them in the late 90s / early 2000's to Mexico and my family and I thought they were great back then. Did one 7 day Disney Cruise to the Caribbean in Spring 2023. Although we had a great time I'm not in a rush to do one again at their usual prices. We got a great deal on our cruise. Definitely not flying to Florida to do another one any time soon. I'd consider a Disney cruise to Mexico since it's convenient but I think they re too expensive. They charge what the competitors charge for a 7 day cruise. Just don't think it's worth it to go back to the Mexican Riviera which I've been to 5 times.

 

[Phroobar]

Ive done many Carnival Cruises, most of them in the late 90s / early 2000's to Mexico and my family and I thought they were great back then. Did one 7 day Disney Cruise to the Caribbean in Spring 2023. Although we had a great time I'm not in a rush to do one again at their usual prices. We got a great deal on our cruise. Definitely not flying to Florida to do another one any time soon. I'd consider a Disney cruise to Mexico since it's convenient but I think they re too expensive. They charge what the competitors charge for a 7 day cruise. Just don't think it's worth it to go back to the Mexican Riviera which I've been to 5 times.

There is the Disney 4 day cruise to Ensenada that leaves out of San Diego. We did that one for Halloween. They had a special Costco deal $650 per person with parking/tips included. I just did a Royal Caribbean out of Port of LA to the same place for $450 per person with parking/tips included. So if you look at as a hotel room with free food, entertainment and goes somewhere for 4 days, it is cheap. The optional shore excursions and the alcohol is where things get expensive.

You just got to watch the prices and book early. $112 room and meals is a steal.

 

[mickEblu]

There is the Disney 4 day cruise to Ensenada that leaves out of San Diego. We did that one for Halloween. They had a special Costco deal $650 per person with parking/tips included. I just did a Royal Caribbean out of Port of LA to the same place for $450 per person with parking/tips included. So if you look at as a hotel room with free food, entertainment and goes somewhere for 4 days, it is cheap. The optional shore excursions and the alcohol is where things get expensive.

You just got to watch the prices and book early. $112 room and meals is a steal.

Oh that’s a great deal! Every time I look at Disney’s site I think the 3-4 day Mexico cruises for the 4 of us for an ocean view (porthole) room are like 5k+. I’ll have to check Costco from time to time.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Really enjoying Dream Productions (Inside Out series) on Disney+ I feel like it could lend itself well to a good filler show at Hollywood Studios or taking over Magic Eye at Epcot.

 

[mickEblu]

Interesting. Our Magic Keys just became eligible for renewal and they allow you to upgrade (or downgrade) to any tier even though they are not available to the general public at the moment. Pretty sure this isn’t how it used to be?

 

[Phroobar]

Oh that’s a great deal! Every time I look at Disney’s site I think the 3-4 day Mexico cruises for the 4 of us for an ocean view (porthole) room are like 5k+. I’ll have to check Costco from time to time.

Disney's site never has discounts. Book early with travel agents or Costco is better.

 

[mickEblu]

Disney's site never has discounts. Book early with travel agents or Costco is better.

I booked our 7 day Carribean Disney cruise for the 4 of us on some Disney + deal on Disneys site for like $4,400 with a Verandah room. I hear what you re saying though. I’m sure that’s super rare.

 

[AJFireman]

Interesting. Our Magic Keys just became eligible for renewal and they allow you to upgrade (or downgrade) to any tier even though they are not available to the general public at the moment. Pretty sure this isn’t how it used to be?

Yes it has been that way since MK's have been introduced.

 

[mickEblu]

Yes it has been that way since MK's have been introduced.

Are you sure? Im pretty sure at some point recently you could only renew into your key tier if the others weren't currently available.

 

[AJFireman]

Here is a planDisney response from Aug 2022. I know they are not official official but they did explain you could upgrade or downgrade your pass.

https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/upgrade-magic-key-pass-514493/

 

[truecoat]

There is the Disney 4 day cruise to Ensenada that leaves out of San Diego. We did that one for Halloween. They had a special Costco deal $650 per person with parking/tips included. I just did a Royal Caribbean out of Port of LA to the same place for $450 per person with parking/tips included. So if you look at as a hotel room with free food, entertainment and goes somewhere for 4 days, it is cheap. The optional shore excursions and the alcohol is where things get expensive.

You just got to watch the prices and book early. $112 room and meals is a steal.

The wife and I are doing a week on an MSC cruise in February. $588 per person, drinks and wifi included but not tips.

 

[Phroobar]

The wife and I are doing a week on an MSC cruise in February. $588 per person, drinks and wifi included but not tips.

That's a pretty good deal considering wifi and drinks are rarely included. Tips are always added afterwards per person/per day. I always see people getting on the boat with cases of soda. I feel sorry for those people that are at the bar at 7am. Is life really that depressing that they need to be drunk the entire vacation?

 

[truecoat]

That's a pretty good deal considering wifi and drinks are rarely included. Tips are always added afterwards per person/per day. I always see people getting on the boat with cases of soda. I feel sorry for those people that are at the bar at 7am. Is life really that depressing that they need to be drunk the entire vacation?

I don't even drink but my wife enjoys a cocktail from time to time.

My mom told me about a friend who went on a cruise with her parents. They were heavy drinkers and I guess when they needed to settle up, they had a $1700 bill waiting for the 3 of them.

 

[Phroobar]

I don't even drink but my wife enjoys a cocktail from time to time.

My mom told me about a friend who went on a cruise with her parents. They were heavy drinkers and I guess when they needed to settle up, they had a $1700 bill waiting for the 3 of them.

I've seen cruises that have an all you can drink alcohol plan. My family doesn't drink so its weird hearing stories like that. I guess that is why they call any of the Mexico cruises the Booze Cruise. I found Carnival and Disney were aggressive on pushing alcohol on the ship. They would ask multiple times within ten minutes. Royal Caribbean would ask once and then never see them again.

 

[Consumer]

Spent the day in San Diego and passed Disneyland along the way down. Two things that stand out to me:
1. The trees are too tall around the park. I can no longer see the Matterhorn or Space Mountain from the 5. That's a bad thing.
2. I caught a glimpse of the small world spires with their Christmas lights and it reminded me that Disneyland actually is still worth visiting, even if it is a higher cost for a lower quality product overall.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Are these… fancy lights?

 

[Consumer]

Are these… fancy lights?

Fancy is a generous word. Odd looking would be more appropriate.

 

[TP2000]

President Jimmy Carter has just passed today. May he rest in peace, and may we all be as successful in life and in service to our great nation as he was (he was also a US Navy officer and hero in World War II, before he got into politics).

We've had this discussion a year or so ago when he first entered hospice care, but President Carter was one of the few US Presidents to have visited Disneyland. (Reagan and Nixon come to mind from memory, but I think that's it. Maybe Clinton?)

Here is President Carter taking a morning jog before the park opened with his secret service detail in 1980 when he was in Anaheim to deliver a speech across the street at the convention center. Considering the year, this may have also been on a Monday or Tuesday when the park was closed two days a week in the off season.

 

[TP2000]

There is the Disney 4 day cruise to Ensenada that leaves out of San Diego.

Random thought; How the heck do you turn a San Diego to Ensenada cruise into 4 days? Ensenada is about 75 miles south of Point Loma. That would be like making a 4 day trip out of San Diego to Newport Beach.

What happens on day 3? Do you just float around off the coast? Or do they stay in port in Ensenada for two days?

When I was in La Jolla this past summer, the local news was abuzz over a project to start a ferry service from downtown San Diego to Ensenada a few times per day in 2025. I assume that project is still going forward for '25.

 

[AJFireman]

Random thought; How the heck do you turn a San Diego to Ensenada cruise into 4 days? Ensenada is about 75 miles south of Point Loma. That would be like making a 4 day trip out of San Diego to Newport Beach.

What happens on day 3? Do you just float around off the coast? Or do they stay in port in Ensenada for two days?

The four day cruise includes 1 day on Catalina Island. The 4 day cruises out of San Diego/LA run the same itinerary on all the cruise lines. Day 1 leaving port, 1 day at Ensenada, 1 day at Catalina Island and 1 day parked out on the water. 3 of the days are interchangeable by the cruise line. Then you disembark in the early morning on Day 5 but its not included in the count.