{"id":1265,"date":"2016-08-08T08:30:07","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T12:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/?p=1265"},"modified":"2016-08-02T21:04:18","modified_gmt":"2016-08-03T01:04:18","slug":"spring-break-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/spring-break-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Break Planning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We eagerly awaited the release of the 2017 Spring Itineraries from Disney Cruise Line.\u00a0 We&#8217;ve taken Disney cruises for our past three spring break vacations and have always enjoyed them.\u00a0 We haven&#8217;t been too adventurous with the spring break cruises: they have all been 5 night cruises on the Disney Wonder, with two sea days, and port days in Cozumel, Mexico and at Disney&#8217;s private Bahamian island, Castaway Cay.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IMG_4310.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"531\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/four-day-cruise-part-1-planning\/img_4310\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IMG_4310.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"5184,3456\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;8&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 60D&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1422525658&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;24&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.004&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"IMG_4310\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IMG_4310-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-531\" src=\"http:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IMG_4310-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_4310\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IMG_4310-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IMG_4310-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As we discussed in a <a href=\"http:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/planning-an-off-season-cruise\/\">prior post<\/a>, we decided to forgo our regular spring break cruise in 2017, for price reasons.\u00a0\u00a0 That left our spring break wide open with no plans.\u00a0 We talked about different locations we could head off to for the week, ranging from Disney World to the beach to the mountains.\u00a0 Our discussion turned towards the Caribbean.\u00a0 We enjoyed a few of the islands we have been to (St. Maarten\/Martin and St. Thomas) and talked about going back.\u00a0 We wanted to invite a friend of my older daughter, but leaving the country would add complexities such as passports.\u00a0 One location became the front runner quickly and that was Puerto Rico!\u00a0\u00a0 Puerto Rico met our requirements of traveling to a Caribbean travel destination while still remaining in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>The next issue became taking care of the basic travel logistics: flights, lodging, and rental car.\u00a0 The flights are always the most difficult portion, since it dictates the dates for the hotel and the car rental period.\u00a0 The flights presented some problems this time since we are taking one extra person and traveling outside the continental United States.\u00a0 We found flight options via United, American Airlines, JetBlue, and Southwest.\u00a0 We had United miles, American Airlines miles, and Ultimate Reward points that can potentially be transferred to United, JetBlue, or Southwest.\u00a0 Going to the Caribbean from the mainland United States costs 17,500 miles one way or 35,000 round trip on United.\u00a0 American Airline charges 15,000 miles on way or 30,000 round trip.<\/p>\n<p>I started looking at flights as soon as the booking window opened at 330 days.\u00a0 United had availability going to San Juan, but not coming back.\u00a0 American had availability coming back, but not going.\u00a0 So, we booked two separate one way award tickets.\u00a0 The United flight isn&#8217;t optimal, but it was the only one available.\u00a0 The flight leaves Dulles at 5:45 AM (before the crack of dawn) and goes to Houston, which seems like the wrong direction.\u00a0 Our next flight leaves from Houston and takes us to San Juan, landing at 3:50 PM.\u00a0 Five one way tickets cost 87,500 United Miles, which was a few more than we had.\u00a0 I transferred enough miles to my account to get two tickets and enough to Nancy&#8217;s account to get three tickets.\u00a0 That took care of getting there.\u00a0 Lots of travel and lost time at the destination unfortunately, but free (except for fees).\u00a0 The American return flight leaves at 9:00 AM and flies to JFK, landing at 1:00 PM.\u00a0 It then leaves JFK and lands at Reagan National at 5:00 PM.\u00a0\u00a0 I had more than enough miles in my account to take care of the 75,000 miles.\u00a0 Despite the less than optimal flight times, we did get them taken care of.<\/p>\n<p>I probably don&#8217;t even need to mention that I booked the <a href=\"http:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/car-rentals\/\">rental car<\/a> through costcotravel.com.\u00a0 We booked a large car that hopefully will take care of the luggage as well as transporting us around the island.\u00a0 I&#8217;ll keep checking back in to see if the price falls any and rebook if necessary.<\/p>\n<p>The lodging was a different issue.\u00a0 Our plan, as of now, is to stay in San Juan.\u00a0 There are a number of choices in the city, from Hiltons, to the Intercontinental San Juan, to various Hyatt locations.\u00a0 We needed to sort through the various options.\u00a0 Nancy and I both have the IHG rewards credit card, so we had two free nights at whatever IHG property we wanted, including the Intercontinental San Juan, which is a very nice property.\u00a0 The first issue staying at the InterContinental would be the other 4 or 5 nights at a minimum at $250 a night.\u00a0 The second issue would be that we would need a second room, since we will be a party of five for this trip.\u00a0 I looked at a few of the Hilton properties, but the same problems popped up, including a lack of Hilton points at the time.\u00a0 I looked at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stregisbahiabeach.com\/\">St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort<\/a> as well, but our SPG points total wouldn&#8217;t give us more than 2 days at this resort.<\/p>\n<p>Our choice moved on to the various Hyatt locations throughout San Juan.\u00a0 The Hyatt Place has rooms that hold five, so the room size would work.\u00a0 The room was available for 8,000 Hyatt points a night, so we would need 48,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points.\u00a0 Luckily, we had a large pile of Ultimate Reward points that would transfer 1 to 1 into Hyatt points.\u00a0 We transferred the points and secured the room.<\/p>\n<p>So, we took care of the basics of flights, lodging and rental car.\u00a0 Now we just need to figure out our plans for what to do once we get there.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We eagerly awaited the release of the 2017 Spring Itineraries from Disney Cruise Line.\u00a0 We&#8217;ve taken Disney cruises for our <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/spring-break-planning\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[15,7,14,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-flight-cost","category-hotel-cost","category-planning","category-travel-cost","no-post-thumbnail","no-read-more-tag","no-sticky","use-excerpt","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":334,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/planning-an-off-season-cruise\/","url_meta":{"origin":1265,"position":0},"title":"Planning an Off Season Cruise","author":"Joseph","date":"November 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"For a number of years when the kids were young, we never made plans to take a spring break vacation.\u00a0 It's generally too cold to really enjoy the beaches near us.\u00a0 We knew that Walt Disney World tends to be very crowded during spring break week, so that was out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Disney Cruise&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Disney Cruise","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/disney-cruise\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/cheap-cruises\/","url_meta":{"origin":1265,"position":1},"title":"Cheap Cruises","author":"Joseph","date":"July 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't know that you could ever call a Disney cruise \"cheap.\"\u00a0 However, you can find some less expensive Disney cruises.\u00a0 Here are some of our techniques for taking less expensive cruises: Off season Early bookings On board bookings Late Bookings \u00a0 Off season Booking during the off-season (when schools\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Disney Cruise&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Disney Cruise","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/disney-cruise\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1498,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/saving-with-disney-cruise-on-board-bookings\/","url_meta":{"origin":1265,"position":2},"title":"Saving With Disney Cruise On Board Bookings","author":"Joseph","date":"September 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Once you are onboard and enjoying a Disney cruise, you might want to find a way to get right back on board.\u00a0 Disney has an onboard bookings desk right there on the ship.\u00a0 If you book onboard, they will offer you a few discounts.\u00a0 The first is an onboard credit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Disney Cruise&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Disney Cruise","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/disney-cruise\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Onboard Booking Desk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_9358-e1473560695886-768x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_9358-e1473560695886-768x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_9358-e1473560695886-768x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9464,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/disney-cruise-placeholder\/","url_meta":{"origin":1265,"position":3},"title":"Disney Cruise Placeholder","author":"Joseph","date":"August 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Once you are onboard and enjoying a Disney cruise, you might want to find a way to get right back on board.\u00a0 Disney has an onboard bookings desk right there on the ship.\u00a0 If you book onboard, they will offer you a few perks.\u00a0 The first is an onboard credit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Disney Cruise&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Disney Cruise","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/disney-cruise\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Onboard Booking Desk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_3418-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_3418-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_3418-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4484,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/march-23-2018-spring-break-cruise-part-1-planning\/","url_meta":{"origin":1265,"position":4},"title":"March 23, 2018 Spring Break Cruise, Part 1: Planning","author":"Joseph","date":"October 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The Disney Cruise Line Spring 2018 itineraries were released near the end of October 2016.\u00a0 We started scanning them as soon as they came out because we knew our Spring break trip for that year would be a DCL cruise.\u00a0 We eventually decided to go back on the Magic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Disney Cruise&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Disney Cruise","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/disney-cruise\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_8145-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_8145-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_8145-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":347,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/spring-break-2016-cruise-part-1-planning\/","url_meta":{"origin":1265,"position":5},"title":"Spring Break 2016 Cruise &#8211; Part 1 &#8211; Planning","author":"Joseph","date":"September 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Spring Break 2016 Cruise - Part 1 After completing a few spring break cruises, we had our routine down.\u00a0 Once the spring itineraries were released in late 2014, we immediately booked the Disney Wonder for our Spring Break in 2016.\u00a0 We can always determine our school district's Spring Break since\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Disney Cruise&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Disney 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