For me, someone who never wanted to go on a cruise I can say I now understand. I discovered that when it comes to cruising it’s now where you go, but how you get there.
I want to start with a quick review of the Radisson in Cocoa beach. We arrived in Cocoa Beach on Saturday evening with Resv. for this hotel with the cruise package. The hotel was nice enough, although obviously older. And much smaller then the pictures in the guide books would suggest. The reason we chose this hotel though was they allow free parking for cruise guests, with free transportation to the terminal and back. I would probably stay there again as it is cheaper then taking the bus if you have more then a couple of people. Also we were able to arrive early enough to beat the crowds that accompanied the arrival of the busses.

Day 1 (Sunday) we arrived at the terminal at 10am gave our luggage to the porter and headed inside. We were among the first half dozen parties that arrived that day so we had no wait for check in. Even before boarding the gifts started. With our welcome aboard package we received lanyards with special DVC pins attached. There was a very large contingent of Disboard people one this trip; they all had matching shirts they obviously made special for the trip. At precisely noon they started boarding. So on we went. It was cool boarding and having your name announced like you are a star on the red carpet. The first thing Wfoxx and I did was head up to the Vista Salon. We wanted to get a couple’s massage in the cabanas on castaway cay, but we were unable to get them on line. We were able to secure a time on our second day on the island so we were all set. We spent the rest of the time before departure exploring the ship. Eating at Beach blanket buffet and checking out our room. Opening the door to our stateroom we not only found an awesome room, but the second of many gifts waiting for us. For the rest of the trip we got one or two gifts a day left in our room. Dinner that night was at Parrot Cay. Our table mates were a blast, and because of these really cool people we looked forward to every dinner. That night we watched Hercules the musical and spent a couple of hours partying it up to the 70’s party then retired to the sounds of the ocean sliding by as we cruised through the starry tropical night.

BTW pictures can be seen here http://s21.photobucket.com/albums/b283/WFoxx/Disney%20Cruise/

Day 2 (Monday). We decided on an early breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet then off to the low point of the trip. We were invited to a “new game” called “on the nose” the entire audience would compete for prizes. What it was was an attempt at hard sell for adding more points to our DVC. It was so bad that I was told the second show was changed quite a bit. DVC doesn’t need or benefit from a hard sell, it’s a shame they wasted 90 minutes of our vacation with this.
After the time share hell we were docked for our first day on Castaway Cay. We didn’t see the docking as we were stuck in that great presentation. But when we went up to our room to change we had the most beautiful view (see our pictures to see what I mean). The day was spent on Castaway Cay. I spent 2 ½ hours snorkeling. That island may just be paradise.
That evening we had our pirate themed dinner in Tritons. We decided to skip the “golden Mickeys” show. Wfoxx and I had Resv for the exotic rasul treatment in the spa. I can’t go into details, but it was really great. If you don’t know what it is and want to know I will explain. Later we went to the Pirates in the Caribbean party. What a blast. The dancing was fun, most people had costumes on, and the food was once again Disney’s best. The party climaxed with fireworks. The only cruise line to have fireworks BTW. The evening came to an end as Wfoxx and I sat under the stars and watched “the curse of the Black pearl” on the jumbo-tron.

Day 3 (Tuesday) was our day at sea. It was fun, it was so much more than I would ever have thought. We took a napkin folding class, we walked around the ship, we played shuffleboard, and we did all kinds of stuff. The highlight though must have been hearing Roy Disney speak. He showed why he is deserving of our trust. At one point when he was referring to the save Disney campaign he mentioned how impressed he was with Bob Iger. He said in every sense of the title he is the “anti-Michael”. Stunned silence for half a second followed by cheers and laughs. Dinner that evening was at Triton’s again for the normal menu. It was as usual fantastic. That evening we watched “Disney Dreams”. I understand why it is called the best show afloat. It was truly amazing. And Disney has some truly talented people working on their cruise ships. Afterwards I pulled a muscle at the 80’s party. This would be the only down side in a perfect day, it would continue to bother me, (and still does) but it didn’t spoil our trip.
Day 4 (Wednesday) and we were back at Castaway Cay. They announced the night before that some 83 rocks painted with the DVC logo was “hidden” on the island. Guests were encouraged to find them and either keep them as souvenirs or turn them in for a prize. The ship docked early and some fool got off the ship before everyone else supposedly to “jog”. He picked up 60 of the 83 leaving very few left for the rest of his ship mates. What he’s going to do with 60 little rocks with the DVC logo on them we’ll never know. One would have sufficed for me.

Anyway this was the day Wfoxx and I had our couple’s massage on the beach. It was really awesome, and totally relaxing. After the massage they wanted us to buy a couple of things to continue the benefit of the massage. Without asking the price we said yes. They then handed us a bill for $620 ouch! $175 for a tube of what amounted to Ben-gay; well needless to say we changed our mind. They completely understood and fixed the problem for us.

That night we ate our last dinner at Animators palate. What a cool dinning experience. For those who haven’t had the privilege the room, and the waiters start out black and white, then magically transform into full color by the end of the evening. It was totally cool; our pictures do not do it justice.

We opted to skip the show that night instead we shopped for more luggage so we could get all our booty home. Then we headed over to the movie theater for the last showing of the prestige. It’s neat that Disney can have first run movies like that on the cruise. Right before the movie we had to do our final packing and set our luggage out so our porter could take it and prepare it for disembarking. But it was a wake up call that our cruise was almost over.

Day 5 (Thursday). I woke up long before we got into port, and watched the arrival from our veranda. We made our 6:30am breakfast seating back at animator’s palate then while waiting for the disembarking said goodbye to our new friends. One quick pose and off we went. I am truly amazed at the efficiency of the system; we were off the ship with our luggage and through customs by 7:23 am. I wish the airline industry was as efficient, when we got home we waited over an hour for our luggage only to find United had busted a bottle of liqueur we had bought at WDW.

Anyway overall it was one of the top three or so vacations Wfoxx and I have had. We are already planning on our next cruise, this time with the kids. We can’t make the 07 members cruise, but we will do our best to be on the 08 cruise. If you are a DVC member then start saving your points and join us. BTW the last picture on our album is half the stuff DVC gave us on the cruise. One item, the photo album is quite the thing complete with its own wooden box.

Good report. What a butt head that guy was taking all those rocks.

Can I ask how early you booked? We've heard stories of the phone lines burning up the day they take reservations and being sold out early on. When do they announce the DVC member dates? Thanks!

Great recap -- I feel like I'm back there... :)

Can I ask how early you booked? We've heard stories of the phone lines burning up the day they take reservations and being sold out early on. When do they announce the DVC member dates? Thanks!
As I recall the booking opened up about 11 months before the sail date, so I would think it was sometime around Thanksgiving of last year.
We booked on the first day, but it wasn't easy. to start with I had decided that I wanted to have a room with at the minimum a navigators veranda, so we decided on a cat. 7 room at minimum, but prefered a cat 6. So on the day booking opened we started speed dialing at 6am local with three phones. busy, busy, busy... I gave up at 9am, but Wfoxx kept going with two of the phones. she finally got through about 10:30 but was put on hold for at least another 30 min. When she finally got through she was able to secure my coveted cat 6 room, in a great location no less. On the cruise I noticed there were always a couple of tables that were empty. my guess was there were a few rooms that were empty on the ship. unlike regular cruises DVC doesn't upgrade rooms to fill the ship. if a catagory room fill up that's it. some people we met on the cruise who had been through this many times said the lower cat rooms fill up first and fast as these use the fewest points. so the empty rooms were most likely the upper catagory rooms. you don't have to use points for the cruise, you can spend cash, or use a combo. of points cash. we ended up paying with points for one of us and cash for the other.
DVC hasn't to the best of my knowledge hasn't announced cruise dates for next years cruise, but if you go onto the cruise web site you are unable to book a 4 day cruise that would otherwise leave on Oct 21st. a call to the cruise line and all they will say is that the ship is prebooked for a private function. if all this holds true then booking should begin in less then a month. if you want one of the lower catagory rooms you will need to do everything in your power to book on that first day, most likely before 1pm eastern. rumor had it that 90% of the ship was booked by this time last year.

On the cruise I noticed there were always a couple of tables that were empty. my guess was there were a few rooms that were empty on the ship. unlike regular cruises DVC doesn't upgrade rooms to fill the ship. if a catagory room fill up that's it.

Empty tables has been true on a number of our cruises. For example, the 11-night southern carribbean we did in Sept was sold out of staterooms, but, over 1/3 of the tables were empty. Why? Because most of the cabins sailed with only two passengers. Reportedly, we had fewer than 300 kids on board, where 1000 is the norm. That kills the overall numbers and results in a lot of empty tables.

While we bought in to DVC way to late to go on this year's cruise, our guide did tell us that as of just a few weeks ago, they were still sold out.

Don't know if we will be able to do next year's cruise (late October is tough, and we are in the Med for 2+ weeks in September).

Great - thank you so much for all the good info! I'll have to get my speed dialing fingers in shape :)

For example, the 11-night southern carribbean we did in Sept...

While we bought in to DVC way to late to go on this year's cruise, our guide did tell us that as of just a few weeks ago, they were still sold out.

Funny little story. one of the Disboard people we met said they were friends of yours. said they were on the cruise, and subsiquent stay at SS resort that pushed you over the top into joining. don't recall her name though.

another thing we noticed, but didn't mention yet was a few not so gracious DVC members. on our second day on castaway cay we were sitting on the beach at serenity bay. a group of 5 people arrived and surounded our two beach chairs. then proceeded to complain about everything on the trip. this they claimed was their 6 DVC cruise, and the gifts were so much better on other cruises. infact one lady said "if I get one more pin I'm going to throw it at the cabin steward". hey lady, I thought, their gifts. no one has to give them to you, there's no contractual obligation they are a bonus.
they were so obnoxious Wfoxx and I finally got up and left. but that may have been there plan all along.

Funny little story. one of the Disboard people we met said they were friends of yours. said they were on the cruise, and subsiquent stay at SS resort that pushed you over the top into joining. don't recall her name though.

Short red-head? Linda. Yep, she's the one to blame for all of this! ;)

Short red-head? Linda. Yep, she's the one to blame for all of this! ;)sounds about right. we met her on deck 10 forward during the sail away party.


BTW maybe sometime we can arange a MP DVC cruise. I'm thinkin 08 would be a good time, give us plenty of time to prepare.

Love the trip report Efoxx. You put me right there. Glad you had such a great time. I want to go on a cruise so badly but I am afraid it will have to wait at least till I am done with school.

sounds about right. we met her on deck 10 forward during the sail away party.


BTW maybe sometime we can arange a MP DVC cruise. I'm thinkin 08 would be a good time, give us plenty of time to prepare.

On our calendar - we'll look more as we get closer!

Great report!
I laughed after you talked about the prices for the items touted after your massage. I say that because Mrs.GusMan and I kinda fell into the same trap. The thing is that we did buy some massage oil and it is wonderful. At the same time, the makers website was selling the same product for nearly the same price, so it wasnt like DCL was charging the inflated prices on their own.

I love your trip report!!! thank you for sharing and the pictures are awsome!!

Can I ask how early you booked? We've heard stories of the phone lines burning up the day they take reservations and being sold out early on. When do they announce the DVC member dates? Thanks!
Just got the mailing today.

Another Member Cruise is on the horizon.

Fire up your ship-to-shore radio, announce it to your firends, or write it in the sand: Next year we're headed on another incredible Disney Vacation Club voyage, the S.S. Member Cruise 2007! During this special 4-night journey from October 21-25, 2007, Members will enjoy countless magical moments aboard the Disney Wonder and two exciting stops at Castaway Cay.

This Year's New Reservation Process

To create "smoother sailing" for Members who haven't previously experienced a Member Cruise, we're introducing a new process that includes two booking dates for the S.S. Member Cruise 2007.

If you've never sailed aboard a Member Cruise:
1. Log onto dvcmember.com and express interest in sailing on the S.S. Member Cruise 2007 before November 20, 2006.
2. Look for an e-mail notification in late November to see if you've been randomly selected for the first booking date on December 2, 2006.
3. If you haven't been selected, you'll still have an opportunity to make reservations during the second booking date on December 9, 2006, by calling Member Services at (800) 800-9800, beginning at 9:00 am EST.

If you've previously joined us aboard a Member Cruise:

1. Call Member Services at (800) 800-9800, beginning at 9:00 am EST on December 9, 2006, to reserve your stateroom on the S.S. Member Cruise 2007. For detailed booking information, visit dvcmember.com.

Whether you've sailed with us in the past or are looking forward to your first voyage, all Members interested in making reservations will have an opportunity to be aboard next year's cruise.

"Sea" you real soon!

Any info on how many slots they're holding for first timers? would it be possible that they could fill up the whole ship with first timers?

I ran the numbers, and what I see is that there are around 850 cabins on the cruise, and there are approx 106.000 DVC owners. now if each DVC owner wanted to do the cruise, and the cruise was limited to a one time affair for each member it would take approx 128 years to meet demand. maybe they need a boat just for DVC people. good thing not everybody wants to do the members cruise.

Any info on how many slots they're holding for first timers? would it be possible that they could fill up the whole ship with first timers?
On #1, no. I copied the entire mailing. On #2, since there's a random selection and then a second window, I'm going to guess that they'll cap the first window at X number of people, in order to leave Y number of cabins available for the rest of the membership. They just haven't tipped their hand at the breakdown.