Crossing the atlantic on a ship sounds so romantic. I wish we could afford it! If it included airfare, maybe, but alas, it doesn't.

I *love* at sea days. Some day I hope to cross the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2 or something similar. But I need enough money to really do it right, and right now I couldn't leave my Boris kitty alone that long. (Sasha really doesn't care.)

The problem is that, as one travel agent said, the Disney Magic is designed for short trips and is not an ocean liner. The Queen Mary 2 is designed for longer stints without a port of call. The Magic, not so much. Also, it is smaller so if rough sees are experienced it will feel it more.

That's why this is going to be an adventure!! It will be interesting to see how it all works out. Supposedly, they're going to add some regional stuff to the dining menus, and also have some new "surprises" to keep people entertained on the repo cruises.

Last year, we hit some rough water during our last sea day coming back into Los Angeles. The storm was horrible. The speaker/light posts on deck 10 were literally bending almost 30 degrees from the winds, and we got seriously blown around even on deck 9. For kicks, we attempted to play foosball, and the wind took the ball right out of the box, sending it flying across to the other side of the deck. It was quite impressive. ;) Everything rattled something fierce for hours, and the waves were definitely felt while trying to sleep that night. Although, it rocked me to sleep pretty quick. But, still, it was like laying on a rollercoaster for a bit. :D Definitely not a trip for people who get seasick.

Well, if you're doing it keep an eye out for future discounting. Disney will match the lowest offered price for people who have already booked but you have to ask, they don't do it automatically.

The travel agent I spoke with is expecting that Disney will have to do quite a bit of discounting on the repos at least. Almost everybody who had expressed interest to hiim in the repo cruises dropped out when they saw the combination of price and itinerary. Most aren't even willing to do the Mediterranean cruises at the prices offered.

Thanks, Alex!! That's a good thing to know. We're also going to ask about during-cruise booking discounts when we're on our honeymoon cruise this October. I know they offer like $300 in stateroom credit if you book while on another cruise, so I want to see if they'll apply that as well. It'd definitely cover the gratuities for us.

I hated having to pay extra for gratuities on board. I felt like we were paying so much for the cruise itself that the employees should have already been compensated for their actual value. Come to think of it, I hate tipping in general. By all means charge me more to cover employees wages, but I hate having to tip for so many things.

I know what you mean. A lot of other countries actually pay a good wage to their staff, including waiters, because good service is expected with the job. Sadly, I know for a fact that DCL only pays their crew like $50 a week, plus their room and board. And, counting how many people the wait staff serves, and doing the math, they only get about $400 a week if they receive the suggested tips from all their people, and they work 6 days a week, 12 hours a day. But, that money translates to a lot more in their home countries, so that's why they do it.

On the cruise we took, I calculated that if eveyone the our head waiter served tipped what was recommended, it came out to well over $1000 for the one week. As service-inudstry jobs go, especially considering that they have room and board covered while they're on the ship, and considering the alternate choices in the home countries of most of the crew, that's a pretty hefty sum of money (even considering that it's seasonal).

Wow!!

On DCL, the servers and assistant servers are kept down to about 8-12 guests at most. And the server's suggested tip is only like $35 per person for the entire week. Although, the crew room and board on DCL is supposed to be much nicer than other lines.