So, I called today to book our shore excursions for the 14-night Florida to LA cruise. Reservations have only been available for 3 days, and not heavily advertised.

The Swim with the Dolphins in Mazatlan excursion apparently sold out within hours on the first day. According to the rep I was talking to, several others are sold out or are almost full. We ended up with second and third choices in some cases.

If you are doing the Westbound 14-night, call now to book! If you are on a seven-night, I would book on the first available day. For the first departure (5/28), you can start booking on 2/27. The rep said that the dolphin excursions are definately the first to sell out.

June 4th - 11th cruisers can book at 6am PST on Sunday, March 6th. It's been on my calendar since I called them a couple weeks ago to verify. :D

June 4th - 11th cruisers can book at 6am PST on Sunday, March 6th. It's been on my calendar since I called them a couple weeks ago to verify. :D

Let us know if you get through -- I know you've been wanting that one for awhile... :)

Hi,

If you don't get the shore excursion you want, don't hesitate to call them back and also check on the ship for last-minute cancellations. People seem to make lots of reservations and then, cancel the ones they don't want after their plans become more clear to them.

Best Regards,
Julia

Let us know if you get through -- I know you've been wanting that one for awhile... :)I got it!!!!!!!!

Called yesterday at 6am. I'll be swimming with dolphins at noon in Puerto Vallarta! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! *does the happy dolphin dance* :D

Congrats! Be sure to post photos when you come back.

:confused: How were you notified that it was time for you to book your excursions? I am going on the West Coast Cruise in July and haven't received anything by mail yet. Thanks & enjoy your cruise! :cool:

:confused: How were you notified that it was time for you to book your excursions? I wasn't. When I found the excursions finally listed on the website about a month ago, I called right away. And that's when the reservations CM told me that shore excursions can only be booked a maximum of 90 days prior to departure. Then, she told me the exact date and time that I could book, which happened to be 6am PST on March 6th for the cruise that departs on June 4th.

Since you're travelling in July, it's not too early to call and find out your earliest booking date. ;) I'm glad I did! :)

Disneyphile is correct - we recieved nothing in the mail. It was only because I saw that the excursions had been posted and found out that they were now allowing reservations 90 days out.

Thanks, Disneyphile and Tony! I can hardly wait to set sail!! I am anxious to read trip reports from those who take the West Coast Cruise before me. It's a special and new adventure for Disney and I am so happy to be part of it! :D Enjoy your cruise!! :cool:

By the way, I would like to encourage everyone who's doing the West Coast cruises to consider writing full trip reports for official publication on MousePlanet (not just the pad). Just go to our Trip Reports page at:

http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/trip.rpt/

and email Alex with your trip report file.

By the way, I would like to encourage everyone who's doing the West Coast cruises to consider writing full trip reports for official publication on MousePlanet (not just the pad). Just go to our Trip Reports page at:

http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/trip.rpt/

and email Alex with your trip report file.Will do! That reminds me, I still have to do one for Marceline from May of last year....... :|

I have been a number of cruises. My favorite cruiseline is Disney.

There is always a difficulty in getting on to the more popular shore trips. This is typical of all the cruise lines. There are a number of other companies that do shore trips outside of the crruise line itself. one of these companies is http://www.shoretrips.com/. I have read a number good reviews of this group.

The one thing that you need to be aware of it the fact if you are on a shore excursion that is not booked through the cruise line, you are responsible to be back at the ship on time. If you miss the sailing it is up to you to find a way back on board. If you are on a sponsered shore excursion generally they will hold the ship if there problems on shore.

Of course the other companies know of this problem and will do anything in there power to prevent you from being late. The other benifit of using an outside shore excusion opeartion is that they are cheaper than the cruise line sponsered versions, becaquse you are not paying for the cruise line profit on the trip. You will discover that what ever way you book a shore excursion you will end up with the same sub-contractor providing the shore trip.