Our upcoming cruise is December 4 on the Fantasy, smack-dab in the middle of our longer 30th anniversary Disney vacation. It’ll be great!
Except…I just found out that the Fantasy is going into dry-dock the month before our trip. We already knew that part…but found out today that OUR cruise is the FIRST cruise scheduled after the dry-dock…which makes me a bit nervous that if anything goes awry during dry-dock that our cruise could be canceled. I’m not sure what the full implications are for that in terms of how Disney would refund, etc. But the big concern becomes…what do we do with a block of 3 nights/4 days at WDW where we have no reservations/tickets currently. We have 4 nights before the cruise, and 2 nights after, booked on DVC points.
I just looked to see if maybe I should reserve a room on property as a precaution…but there is zero availability for the days we would need, so it seems like it is too late to have a back-up in place.
I’m fairly optimistic that all will be fine…but I’m slightly nervous now…because what IF? Should I be? Curious what you all would do in a similar boat. (pun intended)
ETA: Okay…false alarm…the person who posted this information was using ChatGPT as their source of information, which as would be expected, was not correct. Mischief managed.
Weird. If I check from the browser on my computer instead of my phone, there is availability (although not a lot in the range we would want)…but, if I go to the page where you decide whether to make it a room-only versus package, I select no tickets, but the page will NOT let me scroll down. If I scroll down, it just automatically pops back to the top of the page. I had to select “No Tickets” then select “Number of Days”, scroll down, it pops back up, then select “No tickets” again before it actually let me scroll down. Stupid website.
You may have more limited availability with other selections (ah - is this the issue? did you inadvertently select a package on that first page by chance??)
I didn’t…but I wonder if the website THOUGHT I did or something. I’ve had that happen before, where I thought I was browsing regular room rates, but it decided, no, we have a sale, and we’re only going to show you the sale prices (even though there are no rooms available!
The “no scrolling” issue I’ve seen before as well, but usually if I back out and go back into the page, it fixes itself. This time that didn’t work.
Anyhow, now I’m seeing much more availability…although, only narrowing ourselves to options less than $400/night if possible since we would have to buy park tickets if, in fact, we end up needing the room.
I’m thinking Pop Century is ideal for those three nights as a backup. What is it…5 night cancellation policy on room-only? Is that still right?
I would think that Disney would be accommodating for a closer cancellation that is caused by a related entity.
Keep all receipts/emails.
But I do think you’d know before the 8 day cancel window. I think when ?Wish didn’t make it for inaugural sail date they knew that a few weeks in advance
Have you looked for off-site resorts to see if there is a better cancellation policy (like 24 hours or 72 hours)? While not ideal, it may be an acceptable as a back-up option if there is an issue with the cruise.
That’s a lot of “ifs.”
Statistically speaking I’d be ver comfortable with the 8-day out plan.
And worst case scenarios, there will be rooms somewhere in the area, even if Disney springs or surrounding area. While some perks would be lost off-property, the cost would be drastically less than the cruise refund and enhancements could be added on.
It is a very short dry dock planned so likely super specific foci. I am very risk averse, but this wouldn’t stress me with just me and DH.
It is really only TWO ifs. First if would simply be if the cruise is cancelled. Second if would be if it was cancelled within the 8 day window. We can easily protect against the first, but the second not so easily, because it would be purposely holding onto a reservation within the cancellation period for an event that likely wouldn’t happen. Why would Disney accommodate that? Probably not.
I guess I just book a room at Pop, but cancel before the 8 day window…and IF the cruise is cancelled after that, expect DCL/Disney to handle it!
Each event is so unlikely.
It is a very short dry-dock.
In your shoes I would do exactly what you are doing, have a room only reservation cancellable up to 8 days out. I’d also probably find a Plan C hotel I would be happy with.
It may be bc I’m a “preferred customer” but I see five Disney Springs properties for those dates under $200 a night with 12/1 & 12/2 Fully Refundable rates. I know it’s not the same as staying on property, but the later refunding date may appeal.
Okay…okay. This may have been a bit of a minor panic for nothing…because the person who posted about this was using ChatGPT as their source of information!!! Which, surprise surprise, wasn’t correct. There are cruises ahead of ours on the Fantasy AFTER the dry dock is complete after all.
I really shouldn’t trust things people post on forums.
Dry docking is part of routine/necessary maintenance for any vessel, I would assume they would give ample time after splash and before any new cruise to verify it’s all ship shape.
