08 DEC 2007 - 7 Day Eastern Magic

[Flagger]

It is never too early to start a meet thread. So who is cruising with us?

[CJLKIM]

It is never too early to start a meet thread. So who is cruising with us?

We were all set for the 12/8 but couldn't get one of the SVRs so we moved to the 11/10 Eastern. BUT, we may move back if we can get a totally better deal booking onboard when we're there Nov 06.

So....we may see you anyways....but if not....have a great time and I'll be sure to post live from the ship so that you know what's happening before you get there.... :thumbsup2

[Donnaksmj]

Hi we just booked.....my husband, 4 yr old son (who will be 6...oooh scary!) and myself!!! :cool1:

[Buzz & Woody]

We booked 2 weeks ago for our 10th Anniversay! I can't believe that it's still 1 year and 9 months away! It's going to be a long wait!

[Donnaksmj]

There has to be more Dec 8 cruisers out there!!!!! :Pinkbounc

[usnadiver03]

We booked while we were on board Magic Western two weeks ago! We cannot wait, but we had to space it out since DW is due in October with baby number 2 :yay:

We will be DH (29), DW (29), DS (2), and D?(15 mos). We might be brining some family along as well.

[disney_mommy]

I'm so upset! :mad: I just knew I would get to start this thread! Oh well, the early bird... :rolleyes: We, too, were on the Magic Western April 8th and booked early. First, we were booked for the same time next year. However, after we got home and saw the credit card bills ( :eek: ), we decided we'd better push it back. While cruising the site, I noticed the great prices for the Dec Eastern and just moved our ressie. Very excited! :jumping1:

Will be me (29), son (9), mom (she'd kill me if I said), dad (let's just say, older than mom) and maybe sister (slightly wiser than me). (All ages at time of cruise). Well, time to start packing. Kidding. Sort of. :rolleyes1

[Buzz & Woody]

I've been searching and researching and checking the stateroom reports to fnd a good room. We want something quieter than we had on our first cruise. We were in room 6543 with the kids clubs right below us and they were very loud at nap times and even at 10/11pm. This time we are looking for an outside room on Deck 2 but are having a hard time finding one that sleeps 4. Apparently most sleep 3. That seems weird to me! Anyways, hopefully the time flies!

Holly

[disney_mommy]

Don't tell me that! We have rooms above the club this time! :sad1: Maybe I should talk to our TA about switching... It was hard for us to find three rooms (two cat 6 and one cat 11) together. More research is in order! :surfweb:

[Buzz & Woody]

Don't tell me that! We have rooms above the club this time! :sad1: Maybe I should talk to our TA about switching... It was hard for us to find three rooms (two cat 6 and one cat 11) together. More research is in order! :surfweb:

I don't know abput other rooms though. My inlaws had 6583 I think and they didn't hear a thing! I'll go to the deck plans and see exactly where we were.

Looks like we were right above the LAB.The noise wasnt all the time. It was only when they were useing microphones etc that it was loud. We didn call down to guest services to comment and it was turned down. But I would rather be there than below Rockin' Bar D. too.

It looks like it would be good to be above the Forward or aft areas since there are other rooms there and It also looks like being above most places (minus the Lab would be good too). Sorry to scare you before!

Holly

[Flagger]

Alrighty then where is everyone? The threads for the cruises pre and post this one are now several pages long. Let's not let them show us up!!!

[disney_mommy]

It's hard to wait so long!! :hourglass

We decided to keep our original rooms (6536, 6538 and 6539). We weren't in our rooms much during the day and at night, we're so tired that no noise would keep us up!

I've read up on the new ports (we were on the Western first, so this time we're doing the Eastern) in my Passporter. Trying to decide if I should get their new cruise book or wait and see if another one comes out before our cruise (which is sooo far away!). Does anybody here read the Passporters? I love them! We used one for our DW trip two years ago and it was indespensible. :thumbsup2

Very excited about having verandahs this time. Has anyone here had a verandah room? How do the two compare (with and without verandah)? Now I need to start thinking about door decorations! :hyper: I'm glad we have a (long) while to get to know each other before our cruise. :grouphug:

************************************************** ************
June 2003-Disney World Animal Kingdom Lodge for DS's 5th birthday :bday: The very first time I ever met :eeyore: :cloud9:
April 2006-7-Night Western (our first cruise!) :sail:
December 2007-7-Night Eastern :hourglass

[Flagger]

DD will be 4 when we go and Ms. Flagger and myself will be in our late 30's. We have one of the reclassified Cat 7 rooms with the partial obstruction but not the full navigator's verandah. Since we booked so early, an upgrade would be nice, but we are sure not counting on it.

I know we want to head to Orient Beach on St. Maarten, and we plan on taking the ferry to St. John. I am just so not looking forward to that EARLY wake up call at St. Thomas though.

We will be driving down on Tuesday evening to Orlando. I would like to stay at the Poly, but we might stay off property. It looks like we will just do the Holiday Party instead of trying to do all of the park(s) this trip, but that may all change. We will be staying at the Residence Inn Friday night. Ms. Flagger has/will have tons of Marriott points which will help on pre-cruise costs.

We have one cruise already booked on the Freedom of the Seas this coming January to get in our cruise fix.

[Donnaksmj]

We do have to start this thread up....I have been busy planning our 10 night trip to DW in Sept first......can't pass up that free dining!
My son will just be turning 6 by the time we cruise, we went on this same cruise this past December after 8 nights at DW and he loved it...it was 2 weeks of Mickey...really fun!!!!!the mickey pool is a bit crazy though...not looking forward to that....but he will be older so hopefully not as stressful.
talk to you all soon

[Flagger]

I was kinda hopin for a little less crowds between thanksgiving and christmas since school will still be in session.

[disney_mommy]

That pool was a madhouse! I was shocked. We tried the "get there right after you board when it's not crowded" idea, but within half an hour, it was mobbed. My DS-6 loved it, so we had to go all the time. :rolleyes: I gave up trying to get a lounge chair and just got a table along the railings. I saw lots of people saving chairs and it really aggravated me! :mad: Sometimes I only saw five or six people actually sitting in them but every other chair had something on it like a book or towel or a tee shirt. I felt okay, though, sitting not quite in eyesight. I could see the lifeguards were actually paying attention (all but one, more on him later). I've read that when a chair is being saved, to just move the stuff and take it, but I was afraid someone would come running over and holler at me, so I never did. :confused3 The first day of the cruise, my DS was in the pool (running up the stairs, down the slide over and over and over... :bored: The lifeguard wasn't paying attention to the kids. They would stand there and wait for him to tell them to go down the slide and they would finally have to get his attention to ask. It looked like he was playing with some sort of cell phone. I was just about to say something to someone when another lifeguard climbed up there. The first one looked surprised, but he left. I'm sure another parent complained so they got him out of there. It's nice to know they take the kids' safety seriously. :)

[Flagger]

Saving deck chairs... If I see a towel on it for more than 15 minutes, I remove it and just plop ourselves down. DD is really working on her swimming this season, so we will see if she can handle the goofy pool next year.

[Donnaksmj]

we went to Disney from Dec 2nd - Dec 10th then on the cruise from the 10th - the 17th and school being in session didn't seem to have any advantage. The ship was packed with kids! But it is a Disney ship, it's to be expected....it was really great though!!!!

[Flagger]

I expect kids to be on a Disney ship, but I know the parks at least have a bit of a lull which will be nice.

[Buzz & Woody]

Well, only 17 months till our cruise. I went on the Disney site and noticed that our room is already assigned....crossing my fingers for a little teeny upgrade! We also booked a room at the AS Movies for December 5th-15, 2006. Only 5 months to go. Hopefully the boss will give me the time off ;)

[Buzz & Woody]

I expect kids to be on a Disney ship, but I know the parks at least have a bit of a lull which will be nice.
The beginning of Decemner is always our favourite time. It's already pretty cold here by then, we get to miss a lot of the hussle and bussle of the Christmas shopping season and the parks are pretty quiet. We did the MVMCP last year and 4 days in the parks followed with our first Disney Cruise. It was great!

[TSirgey]

Hello fellow cruisers!

We were on the 5/13 Eastern and booked for 12/8/07 before we left. We didn't think we would do it again so soon, but we got a 10% discount and $200 stateroom credit. So, we couldn't pass it up!

The 5/13 cruise was our first and we are in love with DCL! We had a verandah room 6586 and it was quiet and convenient. We decided to book the same exact room! It was near the laundry room, but I never heard noise there day or night. Once you go verandah, you never go back. I loved sitting out there in the morning and at night. Very romantic and peaceful!

Our group is small. dh, dd (will be 7) and I.

DD loved the Oceaneer's Club so very much! They do an amazing job with the kids.

Has anyone cruised this time of year? We are hoping the water isn't too cool at Castaway Cay.

[disney_mommy]

Hey, guys. Just passing the time until next December! :hourglass I keep going over my PassPorter for the Eastern stuff (we did Western last time). I was going to get the new one they just came out with, but I got an email saying they were coming out with a new one next year, so I'll wait for that one. I love those books! I'm excited about getting a verandah this time, too. Last time, my son and I shared a room with my parents to save on money. It was okay, but a little cramped. Since we booked so far ahead this time and it's not the busy season, my son and I will get our own room, with a verandah! So very excited about that! Okay, back to reality. It's 95 degrees today! :sunny:

[Flagger]

It was approaching 100 today and should be about 96 tomorrow. It "cools" off to the mid 80's with rain on Wednesday. I spent the morning today finally getting new plates for our cars. Whoops been almost three months since we moved here, about time to get that done. DL office was closed so we have to wait until Wed. to do that.

We are headed to Vegas for my birthday/late father's day present and to see my MIL and get a date night. We are going to see the new Cirque show "LOVE" which features an all Beatles soundtrack.

[RBennett]

So my wife and I have signed up for the 12/8/07 cruise and we are SO excited!! This is our first cruise ever, and we had to make sure that our first was Disney!!! It's just the two of us, too! We don't have any children YET. We're hoping the cruise might change that. Anyway, we're anxious to talk to everybody! Let us know what everyone thinks! We're on deck 7, down towards the deck.

[lauritagoddess]

Just booked today for the 12/8/07 cruise. It will be the first cruise for me and my son who'll be 5.5 then. We're also going to be at WDW this December, the 6th through the 10th, staying at the Poly.

[Donnaksmj]

Oh I love the Poly!!! Enjoy! Where do you live in Brooklyn? I grew up there, in Canarsie.....

[lauritagoddess]

Cool!!! I live in Bergen Beach. I grew up in Flatlands and went to South Shore HS, so I spent alot of time in Canarsie. Turns out though that we're not going on the 12/8/07 cruise now. I had to reschedule to 11/24/07 because of possible school conflicts.

[RBennett]

So does anyone have any good tips or information for 1st time cruisers? Are there a lot of characters? Where's a good place to relax at night where it's quiet with a good view of stars, etc? Just anything would be GREAT!!!!

[TSirgey]

My best tip is to stay tuned on this forum! We cruised for the first time this past May and I read the Passporter, but I learned all the best tips from this board. Not to mention, it was great meeting the people I was chatting with for months!

The best things we found out prior to cruising were:
1. Bring a plain pillowcase and markers and drop them off in a ziploc bag at the Guest Services desk. All the characters will sign this at no cost and you have a wonderful souvineer for your kids (or adults)!
2. If you want to do something special for someon you love, use Shirley's Perfect Gift. She creates the best baskets.
3. Bring pirate gear! We had the best time dressing as pirates. It made the night so much fun!
4. Bring a travel size Downey Wrinkle Releaser spray to take your wrinkles out as you do not have an ironing board in the room (it is in the laundry room).
5. If you are bringing dress clothes (suit etc.) send it to down to be pressed/drycleaned the first day on board. It was cheaper than getting it done at home and I didn't have to iron any of dh's suits.
6. Read your navigator ever day to find Character appearances. They list the location and times. We read it every morning over coffee.
7. Speaking of coffee, I recommend ordering a pot of coffee right before you go to bed. They deliver it in a carafe and it stays hot til morning.

I'm sure I can think of a hundered more, but these are the things that come to mind...

[Donnaksmj]

A great tip would be for you to pack your child's bathing suit in your carry on....as soon as they see that mickey pool they want in and the luggage takes a while to get to the cabin. Enjoy!!!

[cinderellyintx]

Hey there we are traveling for the 1st time - with DH, DS (will be 10), DS (will be 9) & DD (who will be 6!)
Cannot wait!
ANyone been on this b4? :cool1:

[Donnaksmj]

welcome, your kids are going to love it, actually you all will love it!!!! It is great...we took this same crusie this past December and we couldn't wait to go back. Everything is so well done...you know..it's Disney!!!!

[TSirgey]

we took this same crusie this past December and we couldn't wait to go back.

How was the weather in December? We just cruised this past May and the weather and water were perfect.

We booked this cruise hoping that we would still get the tropical weather, but see the holiday decorations too.

[cinderellyintx]

I have heard that the weather is pretty much year round - mid 80's for the highs in DEC - i could be wrong though -
oh and my now 4 dd is so excited she asks everyday when we are going - poor thing - I keep telling her after she is 6 - her bday is DEC 3rd!
and where can i add the little trip ticker?

[cinderellyintx]

ok just cking here to see if the ticker i added is wrking

[TSirgey]

cinderellyintx, our dd will be 7 on 11/11. They will probably be in the club together.

dd had a nightmare the other night that there was a hole in the ship and we were not able to go on the cruise. We have spent the past few days reassuring her that Mickey would never let that happen! More than a year away and it is on the top of her mind!

[cinderellyintx]

Oh I am sure my dd will be so excited! She is all ready to dress up!

[Donnaksmj]

same with my son...he'll be 6 that 11/21 and it seems so far away....good thing we are going on Royal Caribbean this Nov..I hope that is as good....anyone ever gone on the Explorer of the Seas?????
The Weather this past Dec was perfect on all of the islands.....Christmas is a real big deal on the ship...it's beautiful...they go all out!!!

[cinderellyintx]

my sil and bil went last year at thanksgiving and said it was beautiful! I cannot wait wish i would win the lottery so we could go this year!

[Buzz & Woody]

We went on a Disney Cruise on Dec 2, 2005, and the weather was perfect. THe water was cool at Castaway Cay, but we expected that. The water in Grand Cayman was WARM! and it was HOT in Key West and Costa Maya. We're thrilled to get the other itinerary this time around

[cinderellyintx]

MY DEAR DH IS TRYING TO GET ME TO SLOW DOWN ABOUT THE CRUISE LOL
WELL - :surfweb: SEEMS I CANNOT STOP SEARCHING FOR INFO - THERE MUST BE A CONDITION ATTACHED TO THIS - WHAT IS IT CALLED? UM
OBSESSIVE DISNEY CRUISE DISORDER (ODCD) - HMMM :Pinkbounc :bounce: :dance3: :woohoo: I JUST AM SO EXCITED!

[TSirgey]

MY DEAR DH IS TRYING TO GET ME TO SLOW DOWN ABOUT THE CRUISE LOL

He He!! My DH does not like to think about his vacation until about 30 days prior. He said he does not like to be excited for something that is so far away! I'm the complete opposite. We have more than a year to go and here I am on the boards already! The tips I learn from this site are priceless!! It made our last trip this past May amazing!!

[cinderellyintx]

well i am glad i am not alone in that lol -
when you went in May did you go east or west?
what was your favorite thing? (if you can pick just one!!)
and what tips can ya give us?
all info is sooooooo much appreciated!
we are going to book VERY soon - we are getting a cat 4 family - since there are 5 of us -
anyway - it is NEVER too early to plan or learn right?

[MrsMork]

We and a group of family are planning on joining you on this cruise. :wave: DH and myself (both DISers, he is DrHug on the boards). Also joining us will be my DN and her family, she also is a DISer. My DN and his family, my DS and DBIL, DD and DSIL. 10 adults, one 12 yo (or will he be 13 at cruise time :confused3 ) and two babies right at 1 year old.

DH and I are sailing this Dec on the DD Dec 9 cruise with our DGS 7yo, the others were going with us but the two babies that will be right at a year 2007 changed everyone's plans! :teeth: DN and DNIL are both having babies late Oct, early Nov so had to cx this year. So, darn the luck, DH and I will just have to go again next year! :woohoo: :dance3:

[Donnaksmj]

hi MrsMork....I believe we sailed together this past Dec 10 Magic cruise! congrats on all the babies coming!!!!!

[RBennett]

So at what age are babies allowed on the cruise? My DW and I are going of course next Dec, ('07) and we want to book our next cruise ON the cruise, because we heard it saves $$. But if all goes as well as we hope, we'll have the BEST souvenir from the cruise and I don't know what age DCL allows kids. My DSIL who is also a travel agent, said we can move it forward once and reschedule if need. Does this sound accurate? THANKS!!!!!!!! :woohoo: :Pinkbounc

[TSirgey]

when you went in May did you go east or west?
what was your favorite thing? (if you can pick just one!!)
and what tips can ya give us?

We did the 7-day Eastern. We liked it so much that we booked the same cruise. We liked the extra day at sea to relax.

My favorite thing was the couples spa villa. We splurged a little because it was our 10-year anniversary. It was the most relaxing experience. We also loved Pirate night. Actually, there really wasn't anything that we didn't love!

My tips are:
1. Use the laundry service to have your dress clothes pressed on the first day onboard. They give you a bag and your room steward can take the bag for you. We had my dh's suit and dress shirts all pressed for a nominal fee. It was so much better than trying to do it myself. This way we didn't have to worry about ironing. I used Downy wrinkle releaser on everything else!

2. If you drink bottled water, stop at a store on the way to Cape Canaveral and purchase a case. We placed that and a case of beer in a duffel bag and used the empty bag for souviners on the way home.

3. Order coffee before you go to bed. It comes in a carafe and stays hot until the morning. You have hot coffee right when you wake up.

4. My dd got a kick out of ordering cookies and milk from room service too.

I'm sure I will think of more. I learned all these tricks from these boards and I was thankful!!!

[MrsMork]

hi MrsMork....I believe we sailed together this past Dec 10 Magic cruise! congrats on all the babies coming!!!!!
Yes we were!

[MrsMork]

So at what age are babies allowed on the cruise? My DW and I are going of course next Dec, ('07) and we want to book our next cruise ON the cruise, because we heard it saves $$. But if all goes as well as we hope, we'll have the BEST souvenir from the cruise and I don't know what age DCL allows kids. My DSIL who is also a travel agent, said we can move it forward once and reschedule if need. Does this sound accurate? THANKS!!!!!!!! :woohoo: :Pinkbounc
They have to be 12 weeks by the date you sail. No sailing past 24 weeks of pregnancy. And yes, it is accurate that you can move to another date if you need. That is what my family did when they found out those babies are on the way.

[Donnaksmj]

are you all as busy as me planning this years trip....this is a very quiet board.....has anyone here done royal caribbean explorer of the sea? any pointers??

[zack&alexmom]

It looks like we are joining this group! We were on the 8/19/06 double dip and rebooked on board with the intention of moving the ressie to 2008 but we have already decided to try to do both. We have only been off a week and we are already missing it. We are myself, DH, DS(will be 10) and DD (will be 8). This will be our 3rd Disney cruise. No other cruise is the same after you have sailed Disney!!! Can't wait to get to know you all over the next 15 months.

Linda

[TSirgey]

Welcome ZackandAlexmom!

[sulleyfan]

I will be joining y'all too. I just switched from the 4-night Wonder on the 9th of Dec 07 to this cruise. It'll be my first cruise and I'm planning on doing a couple days at WDW before hand, just haven't made a final decision on which resort yet.

[MrsMork]

Welcome Linda and Jess! I have not checked in for awhile. We are VERY busy over on the Dec 9 DD thread. My goodness I can hardly keep up there. It's kind of quiet over there today though so I thought I would check in with this group. :wave:

[MrsMork]

DH (Dennis - known as DrHug on this board) and I will be leaving tomorrow morning for Disneyland. We will be there Fri, Sat and Sun. :woohoo: :banana: :dance3: This will be our 4th trip down there this year. More than usual for us. We usually go to DL once a year and to WDW and cruise once a year. Just special stuff has come up this year like chaparoning our DGS high school band trip to DL in March. This trip we are VERY excited because we will get to have brunch at CLUB 33 :Pinkbounc :bounce: on Saturday. We met at DL 39 years ago this Sat (Sept 9) and never ever in a million years did we ever think we would get to go to Club 33, much less on the anniversary of the day we met. :yay: I can not stand the wait!

[MrsMork]

We have been on the Eastern cruise twice and once on the 10 day that also went to St Thomas and St Maarten. Last year we did the St John island tour. It is beautiful! But then so is Megan's Bay. On St Maarten we have twice done the Golden Eagle Catamarran tour and it is LOTS of fun. Great crew.

[Donnaksmj]

MrsMork..how was Disneyland???? I hope you guys had a wondeful time!!!!!

[zack&alexmom]

Is it time to go yet. I am ready now. I still can't seem to stop thinking about the one I just got off and I am ready to go again, now!

Linda

[RBennett]

I just had a quick question; my DW and I will be celebrating our 3rd anniversary on the cruise, and I just wanted to know when can you book one of the open cabanas on Castaway Cay for a massage? Is it 90 days out?

[zack&alexmom]

It depends on whether you are a castaway club member or not. If so, then you can book 75days out(if memory serves me right). If you are in a Cat. 1-3 then 90 days out, otherwise 60 days out.

Linda

[RBennett]

Thanks! 60 days it is!! :)

[whazzapp]

HELLO EVERYONE!!

We just got back last week from the 10 night Wonder cruise. It was our first Disney Cruise and we had a great time. It was myself (Tracey), my DW, Staci, and two of my DSs that are 5 and 3. We left another son home with Grandparents. He will turn 2 in October. We had so much fun we decided to book this cruise. This time we are bringing friends and all 3 sons. Not sure I will be faithful poster this far out, but we will try to check in occasionally.

My tip would be to by the shoe organizers that hang on the back of the door. We had two and put one on the each bathroom door. It gave us A LOT of extra space.

I also noticed discussion about things to do at port. When we went to St. Thomas we rented a Jeep for around $60. We drove to Coki Beach, Magens Bay, and Mountain Top. It was far cheaper than doing the DCL excursion for 4. Driving was on the left, but we had no problems.

I too hope the weather will be good at Castaway Cay. We did a 3 night cruise several years ago in the beginning of December. In Nassau, the temperature was warm, but the water was a little too cool to get in. There were a lot of people on the beach, but only a handful were in the water.

My kids are already asking when we are going again. It is hard to explain at their age that it is more than a year away. I don't really want to wait a year either, but such is life!! ;)

[cinderellyintx]

We booked it! FINALLY! I cannot wait! we are in the room right next to the walt disney suite -
also is there anyway to move this thread up! It is way on the 5th page! I want to know who is going and i am afraid they will not find us!
:dance3: :hourglass party:

[RBennett]

So is anyone else celebrating anything special on this trip? :hug: My DW and I are celebrating our 3rd Anniversary, and we're wanting a special "souvenir" to bring home. party: My thought is this; I want to surprise DW with the REAS so that on the day of our anniversary we get up and maybe go do the Rasul "mud room", :blush: followed by going to St. Marteen or St. Thomas, wherever we are that day. And then coming back to dinner at Palo's with the romantic turndown service, and then having our romantic breakfast the next morning. :coffee: But does anyone have any recommendations on the REAS or not? I'm just wanting to see if it's worth it or not, in everyone else's opinion. :confused3 THANKS! And what type of excursions are everyone else thinking of doing? :boat: I'm tired of this place being so quiet. Let's talk and see what everyone else is into! :chat:

[brack]

We are on the December 9, 2006 cruise (with MrsMork & DrHug) and this cruise next year is one we are considering on booking while onboard. The 12/9 cruise is our 6th and we have always booked the next one onboard.

So I plan to lurk (and post some) until we leave. When I get back I'll let you all know what the final answer is.

Enjoy the time on this thread. We have had a blast for almost two years on the 12/9/06 thread.

[whazzapp]

My thought is this; I want to surprise DW with the REAS...

I am probably missing something obvious, but what is REAS? :confused3

[whazzapp]

We are on the December 9, 2006 cruise (with MrsMork & DrHug) and this cruise next year is one we are considering on booking while onboard. The 12/9 cruise is our 6th and we have always booked the next one onboard.

So I plan to lurk (and post some) until we leave. When I get back I'll let you all know what the final answer is.

Enjoy the time on this thread. We have had a blast for almost two years on the 12/9/06 thread.

I hope you have a fantastic trip. Hopefully you can join us next year as well!

[RBennett]

I am probably missing something obvious, but what is REAS? :confused3

Not a problem whazzapp. REAS stands for Romantic Escape At Sea. It is a romance package that you add on to your trip and in exchange for it, you supposedly get a couple DCL robes, a silver picture frame, a free 8x10, passes to the rainforest room for the duration of your trip, a bottle of wine with your dinner at Palo's, a romantic turn-down service the night of your dinner at Palo's, and a special breakfast in bed one morning. Now that I type all that out, I think I WILL do it! :goodvibes

[whazzapp]

Not a problem whazzapp. REAS stands for Romantic Escape At Sea. It is a romance package that you add on to your trip and in exchange for it, you supposedly get a couple DCL robes, a silver picture frame, a free 8x10, passes to the rainforest room for the duration of your trip, a bottle of wine with your dinner at Palo's, a romantic turn-down service the night of your dinner at Palo's, and a special breakfast in bed one morning. Now that I type all that out, I think I WILL do it! :goodvibes


Sounds cool. That sounds like a good way to get on the road to that "souvenier" you are looking for. :thumbsup2

[cinderellyintx]

WELL! in answer to your questions - i think you should do the REAS pkg - my sister in law and her hubby did that (almost positive) - well being as we will have our 3 beautiful souveniers with us - we are not BUT we are definately taking advantage of Palo's! Thank goodness for the clubs for the kiddos - i think they would get tired of us as well! LOL We are planning on a snorkling excursion that is kid friendly for 5+ years - in St. Marteen, and there was some really cool things in St Thomas/St John like blackbeards castle, an aquarium or something like that - and of course lest we forget the beautiful beaches!! nOW IN CASTAWAY CAY we are planning on enjoying the beach and everything that island has to offer! Tips are welcome! This is our first trip! I agree also - we need to get busy chatting about this awesome voyage! Wake up!!!!!!!!!!!! :grouphug: :cheer2:

[Donnaksmj]

Hi everyone.....I like that more people are joining us!!! We are leaving Friday the 3rd for a 9 night Royal Caribbean Cruise, but when we get back I will definitely be busier on this board.....We took the same cruise this past Dec on the Magic, so hopefully I can help with some input!!!! talk to you soon!!!

[RBennett]

I have another question; my DSIL is my TA and she mentioned to me last night that she's not sure WHAT all we get with the REAS in 2007. Has anyone looked into this, to see what all comes in the package? She said she would look into it for me, but I thought if anyone here had already done so, it would be quicker. In the meantime, I'll check and let everyone know if I find out! WE'RE GETTING CLOSER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :goodvibes :yay:

[Donnaksmj]

hi, just got back last night from a 9 night Royal Caribbean Cruise to Aruba ,Curacao and their private island Labadee.......let's just say I am glad I am booked on the Magic again for next year!!!! Don't get me wrong, we had a great time...we were cruising in the caribbean for 9 nights, but I missed my Disney ship. the people (who were 98% from Jersey) on the ship were not very pleasant. Their rude obnoxious children wrecked the cruise for a lot of people.....

[Buzz & Woody]

Just thought I would come back and say hello. We are going on this cruise...it's only 12 months away now! YEsterday we booked another Disney Cruise....for three weeks from now (Decembr 9th-16th) We were planning just disney for 11 days, but saw that it would be only $2100 for the 4 of us so we booked it. We were our travel agents easiest customers! talk about short notice! I am still jittery with excitement!

[Donnaksmj]

wow that's great...good for you!!! I saw that great deal come up...I was so tempted but I did just get back last Sunday, I would like to keep my husband!!

[whazzapp]

We were planning just disney for 11 days, but saw that it would be only $2100 for the 4 of us so we booked it.

That's awesome. Where do you find these deals? I would like to get in on one of these some day!!

[plutojudy]

We are thinking of booking this cruise after the new year. We want to go back to St Thomas.

[RBennett]

My DW and I can't WAIT for our cruise! :bounce: We have decided this week that here in the immediate future, (within the next year) we are going to pack up and move to Florida/Orlando and work for Disney! :cool1: We don't have kids yet so it'll be easier to move. Then we could go to Disney EVERY DAY!!!! :goodvibes Not to mention on our vacations we can get on one of those last minute cruise specials and just drive over to the port!! But just think, a year from this weekend we will all be on the cruise!!!!! WHOOO HOOO!!!!!!!!

[Donnaksmj]

That sounds good.....good luck! What do you think you would like to do for Disney once you get down there?

[RBennett]

That's the good question. Disney is it's own CITY. So anything you can do in your town, you can do at Disney. I'm not sure what I would like to do though. I'm a musician and I LOVE to perform, but I don't know if I'm good enough for Disney or if I could make enough to make a living. I keep thinking something in the parks or a resort would be neat! I saw a sign on another thread where it said CMs on the DCL MUST take a 6 hour break every 24 hour period and no more than 16 hours a day and no more than 94 hours a week and I think that would kill most anybody if they did that very long. However, with Disney, if after 6 months you want to transfer to another part of the company, parks, whatever, you get to keep your status, pay, and seniority. And they actually ENCOURAGE this!!! How cool is that!! If after 6 months you don't like your job, you can do something else! :banana: Anyway, sorry to get off on that stream. I know this is our Cruise meet thread. So is everyone else excited??!!! :yay:

[Buzz & Woody]

just wanted to bump this thread up since lot's of us from the Dec 9th 2006 cruise are rebooked on this one

[Donnaksmj]

Did you have a wonderful time????? I'm glad we'll have some new people to keep this thread busy!!!!! :cheer2:

[MrsMork]

Several of us from 12/9/06 have rebooked. DH and I among them. This will be our 9th Disney cruise. We are addicts! Look forward to getting to know you all! Traveling with us this year will be my DS, DBIL, their 2 grown kids and their spouses, 1 young teen, 2 1 year old babies and our grown DD and DSIL. :woohoo: :dance3: DNeice is signed onto the boards, I will tell her to join us here. :surfweb:

[whazzapp]

Glad your joining us!! How was the weather? This time of year makes me a little nervous because it is possible to get a little chilly weather in FLA this time of year.

We just did the 10 night cruise in September, our first Disney Cruise. We had a great time. We left our 2 year old at home because that would have made five of us. You cruising veterans understand the problems with having 5 in your party. So next year we are bringing the whole crew and some friends. There will be eight of us in total, 5 in my family and 3 in the other. Here is a video I made of our 10 night cruise. I hope you enjoy it.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-124914010396556103

[MrsMork]

We were at WDW for 5 days prior to the cruise. The weather was fine except for the last day (Friday). It was cold and windy that day. We needed sweatshirts under our windbreakers.

The weather on the cruise was great. A little cloudy some days and a sprinkle or two a couple of days, but warm. We were able to enjoy the water at CC. All of our cruises have been in Dec, Jan or Feb and weather has never been much of an issue once we leave port. St Thomas and St Marteen are beautiful that time of year.

[Buzz & Woody]

I agree with MrsMork. We did the same-a few days in Disney first. The weather was fine except for the last day. On the cruise I would have loved sunnier days during the at sea days, but you take what you get. It was fine. We had a nice time and can't wait to get back!
Seriously...the water at Castaway Cay feels cold, but really, once you're in it's fine. We snorkelled for about an hour each day and didn't feel cold.

[cinderellyintx]

Hey all - we are getting excited once again about our voyage next year! I for one cannot wait! It was fun watching your video wazzup! thanks for sharing that!
Oh well - just wanted to say hi to all and to have a MERRY CHRISTmas!

[lillygator]

Hi all, we're booked too. We also did WDW a few days prior to the 12/9/06 sailing...and I guess it depends where you are from. We are from FL and it was FREEZING!

Can't wait for next year!

[MrsMork]

Oh, Vanessa, you Florida Girl! It was freezing on Friday, but a balmy 70 something the days just prior.

[whazzapp]

We are thinking of going to WDW next year before the cruise. When are the parks decorated for Christmas?

[MrsMork]

They will be decorated by Thanksgiving.

[lillygator]

Oh, Vanessa, you Florida Girl! It was freezing on Friday, but a balmy 70 something the days just prior.
Christmas day it was in the 80's and this morning the 40's!!! WOW!!

[kimerinc]

Hi Y'all! We booked this cruise on the 12/9/06 Cruise and Mrs. Mork said everyone here was nice, I wanted to say hi! This will be our 2 Disney Cruise and our DD said it was the best vacation of her life.

We were next to the Roy Suite in December and kept trying to look around the balcony to see inside, maybe the cruiser who is next to the walt Suite would let us come peek inside that one? We are bad bad neighbors. (we just wanted to see what it looked like)

Kim

[MrsMork]

Kim, is lurking on the balcony to peak into the Roy suite anything like lurking on the Boards? ;) :lmao: :lmao:

[Jhalkias]

Happy New Year Everyone!

We were on the 12/9/06 cruise too, and have some incredible friends from that cruise. Many of us are posting on our old thread to keep our friendships alive with all of those cruising again with us, and those who cannot cruise in '07 (but may cruise with us again in '08).

So I will be doing some posting on both threads.

This will be our 8th Disney cruise, and we were also on the December 10th '05 cruise.

Cruising will be me, John, DW Amy, and DD Sophia, who will be 7 at the time of the cruise (DS Alex, who will be 20 will be in his first year of Med School and unable to join us). Sophia did not spend much time in the clubs - she had plenty of friends outside of the clubs to keep her busy, and I really don't mind hanging out at the Mickey pool.

Looking forward to it!

John

[MrsMork]

Happy New Year! One week closer to sailing!! :woohoo:

[MrsMork]

We will have a group of family sailing with us. My DSis and DBil, DNeice and her family of 4, DNephew and his family of 3, DD and DSil and DH and myself. The group is 2 babies who will just have turned one, a boy that will be 13, 6 young adults (in 30's) and 4 old geezers. ;)

[MrsMork]

Our group plans a 5 day stay at WDW prior to the cruise at a DVC resort. We hope for OKW, but own at VWL so that is where I will book in Jan and then hope for something at OKW at the 7 month mark. :goodvibes

[MrsMork]

:)

[lustergirl]

we are booked for 12/8/07- our first disney cruise!!! I had originally booked for April 2008 but switched my ressie because I can't go without disney for a whole year. We were fortunate to go to Disney World in September and December of last year. I hear the cruise is so much more relaxed than the world- that would be a nice change of pace for us. I booked a category 11 room- any chance of upgrade would be excellent. So if you see me posting many newbie questions please answer them as I have tons of ?????s

Also doesn anyone have any teenagers that will be cruising with them? My son will be 14 and would love to make some new friends.

[lustergirl]

bumping to see who else is sharing the "MAGIC" with me??

[lustergirl]

Good Morning Everyone!!!

[Jhalkias]

Four more minutes (if the DIS clock matches) to return your Good Morning Lustergirl. Ask away if you have any questions. I'll try and help if I can.

BTW - no teen with us, just a 7 year old.

John

[MrsMork]

we are booked for 12/8/07- our first disney cruise!!! I had originally booked for April 2008 but switched my ressie because I can't go without disney for a whole year. We were fortunate to go to Disney World in September and December of last year. I hear the cruise is so much more relaxed than the world- that would be a nice change of pace for us. I booked a category 11 room- any chance of upgrade would be excellent. So if you see me posting many newbie questions please answer them as I have tons of ?????s

Also doesn anyone have any teenagers that will be cruising with them? My son will be 14 and would love to make some new friends.

We will have a 13 year old boy with us. We will have to get emails for them to start getting to know each other.

[lustergirl]

We will have a 13 year old boy with us. We will have to get emails for them to start getting to know each other.

Good Morning, are you are out there? Is you son into sports? My son is a huge sports fan. I noticed they have PS2 tournaments as well- he will definitely love this. Hope to talk with you soon!!

[MrsMork]

Good Morning, are you are out there? Is you son into sports? My son is a huge sports fan. I noticed they have PS2 tournaments as well- he will definitely love this. Hope to talk with you soon!!

Actually he is not our son, he is our neice's son, greatnephew. We have several family members going with us this trip. He is the only teen in the group and would love to have a buddy, I am sure. He does like sports. He likes to ride his dirt bike in races. I will ask my neice to pm her email to you if your son would like to start communicating with him. My neice is on the DIS also, just not as addicted as I am.;)

[MrsMork]

Bumping. :dance3: :rolleyes1 :surfweb:

[Donnaksmj]

Happy New Year everyone!!!! I see alot of people back that we cruised with in Dec 05.....that's great.....

[lustergirl]

Good Morning Everyone-

Just had to look for this thread- it became lost for awhile but it is back. Anyone else cruising with us??

[WIFamily]

Hi everyone. We're booked and can't wait to go.

We're a party of 8, Me, DW (30's), DS (14), DS (9), DS (5), DS (1), My Mother and Father. We've got a Cat 11 and a Cat 6 across the hallway from each other. DW, and the two youngest DS's will be celebrating birthdays on the cruise.

When I was in highschool, around 89-90, my family went on the 4day cruise / 4day WDW cruise, back when Disney used a Carnival Cruise ship. I haven't been on a cruise since then, and my DW has never been on a cruise.

Look forward to the cruise and chatting with all of you until then.

[Donnaksmj]

hi...glad you joined us!!!! I have a 5 year old son too...his name is Jonny....they are all going to have a wonderful time!!!

[brack]

Just thought that I would post again to confirm that we are booked on this cruise. :thumbsup2 We booked while on the 12/9/06 DISGeek DD cruise.

This is our 7th cruise and to be different we booked another floor (we've always been on Deck 7) and in a "sideways" cabin.

We love :love: cruising and can't wait to get back to sea.

[lustergirl]

hi everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jhalkias]

How about a BUMP up?

Is everybody watching football today?

John

[Donnaksmj]

:cool1: :cheer2: :cool1: :cheer2: I just booked 10 nights before our cruise at the Beach Club!!!!!:cool1: :cheer2:

[Jhalkias]

We will be at Beach Club Villas Thursday and Friday before the cruise.

John

[Donnaksmj]

have you ever stayed at the Beach Club before? any advice on where to request a room.....I can't wait.....it will be my first time there......I am looking forward to the pool!!!! it's gorgeous.....

[MrsMork]

We have stayed at Beach Club Villas once. We liked it and love being right next to Epcot back entrance!

[MrsMork]

Boy! This thread was buried way down on page 3! We need to do better than that? ;)

[Jhalkias]

Well guys . . .

Looks like we are jumping ship on you . . .

Panama Canal 2008 is just too good to pass up, and cannot think about pulling DD out of 2nd grade for more than three weeks, and two cruises within 6 months of each other.

If all goes well, we will be switching our reservation to the May crossing Repo!

John

[MrsMork]

We will miss you on this one,:sad2: but see you on the PC cruise in May! :woohoo:

Bumping us up again. Boy, quiet group here. :tiptoe: :ssst:

[MrsMork]

Doing one more bump up. Anyone out there still going? :confused3

[TSirgey]

Hi everyone!

We are still scheduled for this cruise and I'm so excited that we are under a year! Yippee!

So far it is just my dh and dd (5) and I on deck 6.

I haven't been on the boards much lately and now that we are under a year, I plan to visit regularly :-)

Anyone else with kids around 7?

I wonder what the weather will be like at that time. Did anyone notice what the temps were like for 2006 during this time?

[WIFamily]

We're still on for this cruise.

I've got four boys, 14,9,5,1. At time of sailing. During the cruise, my 5 year old will turn 6 and my 1 year old will turn 2. My wife will also have her birthday on that cruise. You'll recognize us by the number of times we have a birthday cake with dinner :)

[RBennett]

We're still on for this cruise.

I've got four boys, 14,9,5,1. At time of sailing. During the cruise, my 5 year old will turn 6 and my 1 year old will turn 2. My wife will also have her birthday on that cruise. You'll recognize us by the number of times we have a birthday cake with dinner :)

That's TOO funny!!! :rotfl2: You'll probably be able to tell my DW because she'll be the one walking around with the white Minnie ears and the wedding veil. Then everyone will be asking, "Oh!! Are you on your honeymoon??" And she'll be like, "NOPE! Just like to wear the ears!!" AND SHE DOES!! It doesn't have to be on occasion to wear them!! :lmao: Although it WILL be our anniversary! :love:

[TSirgey]

You'll probably be able to tell my DW because she'll be the one walking around with the white Minnie ears and the wedding veil.

That is great!!! :rotfl2:

Our DD's 7th Bday is on Nov 11th and she said she would like her Bday celebrated on the cruise!!! I guess 4 weeks later is ok to do the cake for her and maybe a special gift basket. We were going to cruise on her Bday week, but we really want to see the holiday lights.

Can you tell she is spoiled??

[Donnaksmj]

it will be my son's 6th bday on Nov 21 , so we are also celebrating his special day on the cruise.....I know all about spoiled....this will be his 5th cruise in a row we've celebrated his bday on......I guess we are spoiled too!!!:rotfl2:


:dance3: :cheer2: :dance3: :cheer2:

[cinderellyintx]

Hey all I cannot believe it is this year!
We are all so excited over here in Texas!
Will we do a group meet on the cruise?
My BIL said if you tell them you are a group from DIS boards (i guess)
that they will have a room with food and refreshments and a free cocktail!
Hmmm- anyone know about that?:banana:

[TheTXTaylors5]

I just had a quick question; my DW and I will be celebrating our 3rd anniversary on the cruise, and I just wanted to know when can you book one of the open cabanas on Castaway Cay for a massage? Is it 90 days out?

We just changed our November cruise to this one. Yea!:cool1: So, we are getting caught up on all the posts. Y'all sure have been busy on here.:surfweb: To answer the above post. . .

105 Days in advance for Cat 1-3
90 Days in advance for Castaway Club Members (previous cruisers)
75 Days in advance for Cat 4-12

To book excursions, the Vista Spa and Palo, you must be paid in full. Also, it is Midnight (PST) from the embarkment date.

:thumbsup2 WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE COUPLES OPEN-AIR CABANA MASSAGE! It is a must on our next cruise. Also, the whole Serenity Bay experience sealed the deal on us re-booking onboard. :cool2: We plan to re-book again in December to get the 10% discount and stateroom credits. It was well worth it! We have changed our reservation three times and were still able to keep the 10% discount and stateroom credits. Initially, we were scheduled for the November 24th cruise, then we changed it to the Christmas cruise (we have Santa issues), then back to the November 24th cruise. Now, we are here. Phew!:woohoo: This is the last change we are making. We are going on this cruise!:sail:

We look forward in getting to know you all these next 10 months.
:tinker: -Jennifer

[TheTXTaylors5]

Edited by :tinker: Jennifer

[WIFamily]

Hey all I cannot believe it is this year!
We are all so excited over here in Texas!
Will we do a group meet on the cruise?
My BIL said if you tell them you are a group from DIS boards (i guess)
that they will have a room with food and refreshments and a free cocktail!
Hmmm- anyone know about that?:banana:

I can't wait either. Regarding a meet, it sounds like fun, and if there's a private room with food and refreshments, count me in :banana:

[disney_mommy]

Hey, everyone. It's been a while since I've posted. Been busy with lots of stuff. Very excited that the cruise is actually this year. :cool1: I wish I had the money that everybody else seems to have and could go every year! Still paying off the cruise we went on last April! :crazy2: I just ordered the newest Passporter to start perusing. Has anyone else checked those out? They are wonderful. Especially for first-timers, which we were last time. ::yes:: I'm very excited to see the ship all lit up and decorated! :thumbsup2

[cinderellyintx]

Hey there Taylors - where in TX are you we are just north east of dallas -
ALSO - I think we were telling ages of our kiddos -
On the cruise they will be DS 10, DS 9 & DD 6:dance3:

[MrsMork]

Hi everyone!

We are still scheduled for this cruise and I'm so excited that we are under a year! Yippee!

So far it is just my dh and dd (5) and I on deck 6.

I haven't been on the boards much lately and now that we are under a year, I plan to visit regularly :-)

Anyone else with kids around 7?

I wonder what the weather will be like at that time. Did anyone notice what the temps were like for 2006 during this time?

We have done the second week in Dec several times. WDW can be a bit cool if a front comes thru, but once you leave PC the weather is perfect. Mid 80s and sunshine!!

[MrsMork]

Hey all I cannot believe it is this year!
We are all so excited over here in Texas!
Will we do a group meet on the cruise?
My BIL said if you tell them you are a group from DIS boards (i guess)
that they will have a room with food and refreshments and a free cocktail!
Hmmm- anyone know about that?:banana:

Um, I don't think so. If you get a room and food you have to pay for it. We did this as a DIS group in Sessions on the Dec 2004 10 day. We have had DIS gatherings in the suites of DISers (CAT 3), but DCL did not provide anything. They do not even provide free cocktalis at the Castaway Reception anymore.

[MrsMork]

Our DD will be celebrating her birthday on Dec 8 - the day we board. She will be, uh, let's see....born 1968.. She will be 39!! :scared1: Also with us will be son inlaw, a niece, her family and nephew and his family and my sister, maybe BIL.

[brack]

We've been putting a little more planning to this cruise. The only thing we haven't really decided is whether we are going to spend a week before or a week after at WDW. I'm voting for after but DW is considering the week before. Either way this year it will be at a DVC Resort! :woohoo: :thumbsup2

[TheTXTaylors5]

Edited by Jennifer

[MrsMork]

We've been putting a little more planning to this cruise. The only thing we haven't really decided is whether we are going to spend a week before or a week after at WDW. I'm voting for after but DW is considering the week before. Either way this year it will be at a DVC Resort! :woohoo: :thumbsup2

We are doing the week before, Brack. We have ressies at VWL, but hope to move to OKW, BCV or SSR at the 7 month mark.

[plutojudy]

Count us in on this cruise. We paid our deposit yesterday. No kids, just us two big kids.
We cannot wait to see the Magic and Castaway Cay decorated for Christmas.

[MrsMork]

Welcome, Judy! :thumbsup2

[TSirgey]

We have done the second week in Dec several times. WDW can be a bit cool if a front comes thru, but once you leave PC the weather is perfect. Mid 80s and sunshine!!

Thanks a bunch! I know the water temp drops a bit, but only a few degrees. We really picked this cruise so we can see the holiday decorations. But, we love the excursions that involve snorkeling!

Does anyone know what excursions you are going to book?

We might have to do the Golden Eagle in St. Maartin again. That was awesome!

[plutojudy]

This will be our second eastern cruise. The first time, we did the See & Sea on St Martin. The sea part was cancelled because of huge waves. Not sure what we will plan for this year.

We did the St John tour and that was wonderful. This time we want to see more of St Thomas. Maybe rent a car.

We are very excited to be cruising again.:cheer2:

[MrsMork]

We have done the Golden Eagle twice. First time was way too much fun. Second time the water was so choppy that we could not get to the spot they usually take you to. We were just off the beach by the airport. A few of the kids got in the water, but the current was pretty strong and they did not stay in long. So, no water for these old folks that time. We still had a very enjoyable time because the crew is so nice and so much fun, but it was not the over the top fun like the first time.

We will probably go to Trunk Bay this trip. We did the St John tour last trip and it was great.

[plutojudy]

We are also anxious to see the changes on the Magic since our last cruise in April 2004.
DCL cruises are so much fun, we are so happy to sail again. We always meet the nicest people. :grouphug:

[plutojudy]

We need more activity on this thread, it keeps getting buried.

[TSirgey]

The Doubloon Snorkel trip was great at St. Thomas! You swim with sea turtles. The crew is so much fun.

Any other good excursion ideas?? I would like to do something different this time.

[RBennett]

The Doubloon Snorkel trip was great at St. Thomas! You swim with sea turtles. The crew is so much fun.

Any other good excursion ideas?? I would like to do something different this time.

Do you know if you always get to see the turtles on this? The reason I ask is my DW hates swimming. She almost drowned at a young age and it wasn't until early last year when I was able to teach her to swim in our community pool, but she's still not TOO comfortable with it. But if she got to swim with sea turtles I can almost GUARANTEE she'd do it then. She LOVES turtles!! I LOVE snorkeling/scuba diving, but it's something I usually have to do alone and I'd love to do this with her beside me! :love:

[TSirgey]

Do you know if you always get to see the turtles on this? The reason I ask is my DW hates swimming. She almost drowned at a young age and it wasn't until early last year when I was able to teach her to swim in our community pool, but she's still not TOO comfortable with it. But if she got to swim with sea turtles I can almost GUARANTEE she'd do it then.

It is a very remote area where they live, so they are always there. They are AMAZING to watch. However, because it is in a remote area, you cannot go on the shore. You are either on the boat or out swimming. This might be intimidating for a person who is not fond of the water.

[TSirgey]

they have a website where you can see pictures and learn more about the excursion doubloon.com

[RBennett]

It is a very remote area where they live, so they are always there. They are AMAZING to watch. However, because it is in a remote area, you cannot go on the shore. You are either on the boat or out swimming. This might be intimidating for a person who is not fond of the water.

So is it snorkeling or scuba diving? I think that if it's snorkeling and I'm right there with her she would be fine. I think it would be so amazing to swim out there with them watching them up close like that!!

[TSirgey]

It is snorkeling and you wear a flotation device. My dd (5) loved it. She is a pretty good swimmer for her age and loves the water.

[TheTXTaylors5]

Edited by :tinker: Jennifer

[zack&alexmom]

Well we didn't end up making it on the East repo so we are back on board for this trip. As much as I wanted the repo I am excited that we are sailing 10 months from tomorrow.

Cruise Critic is good for looking into info on the ports. I found out a lot about St. Thomas & St. Maartin from them the last time we took a Carnival cruise. That one was with no kids so I will have to look at it with a different approach for this one.

Anybody else ready to go now! 36+ inches of snow in the last 2 days and I have had enough!

Linda

[Donnaksmj]

Coki Beach is great....it looks a bit sketchy when you arrive, but once you are on the beach it is fun.....we brought dog biscuits with us and the fish were literally eating out of our hands...very cute, my kids loved it...we got great pics.....beautiful fish and they come right up to you....

[TheTXTaylors5]

Edited by :tinker: Jennifer

[TheTXTaylors5]

Edited by :tinker: Jennifer

[Donnaksmj]

:thumbsup2 I am glad to hear about Coki Beach. It seems too perfect to be right there next to Coral World. Did you go to Coral World too? If so, how was it? Okay, what were you doing with dog biscuits onboard? :dogdance: Did you dress up your dog as a kid and sneak them on? Just kidding.

:tinker: Jennifer
:rotfl: :rotfl2: :laughing:

...I read alot about the islands I am visiting and I read to bring dog biscuits to Coki...I was so glad I knew about it...it was great....we did not go to Coral World, some things I read led me to believe it was not worth it, but I am sure it is fun, I just love the beach time....it's not that long when you have to get back to the ship.....the message boards on CruiseCritic.com are really helpful for Island planning....
We are from Framingham Ma.......enjoy your road trip....that is quite the road trip I must say.....I am not that brave:scared: :eek:

[brack]

Just checking in. Although we are trying to book the East Bound Repo Cruise we are still going on this one as well.:thumbsup2

[TheTXTaylors5]

Edited by :tinker: Jennifer

[MrsMork]

I need to find out if there is a dolphin encounter at either port. Anyone know?

[MrsMork]

Good morning! Just bumping us back up, we were lost way down at the bottom of page 2! :surfweb:

[pfishgirl]

Hellooooooooooooooooo There !!!!

ADD US PLEASE !!! :banana: WAyyyyyyyy Foward Of the Boat........ Room # 7500

DH and Myself (ONLY) :cool1: :woohoo:
We have Never done this one yet.. Nor have we gone a WEEK without DS (16) ..
He is a little upset we didnt Include him but Hey.. He'll get over it.. :rotfl:


We were on Wonder over the weekend and DH Booked him and I for this one as well as 2 rooms for 9/27/08

:dance3: :dance3: :dance3: :dance3:

[TSirgey]

I need to find out if there is a dolphin encounter at either port. Anyone know?


There is an Anguilla Dolfin Encounter at St. Maarten. I heard it was not worth the money, so we chose to do the Golden Eagle instead to snorkle. I'm sure if you do a search for this excursion, you would find some readers comments. Our dd wants to be a dolfin trainer when she grows up, so we were very interested. There were too many negative comments at the time for us to choose this one. Perhaps they have changed since I last researched this?

[MUGGS329]

Hi...

[plutojudy]

MUGGS329 is cruising with me.

[TSirgey]

Welcome!!!!!

Is anyone booked on deck 6? We are in 6586. We HAD to have a Verandah after being spoiled the first time. ;)

Does anyone who has cruised this time of year have any advise to share?

[RBennett]

Hellooooooooooooooooo There !!!!

ADD US PLEASE !!! :banana: WAyyyyyyyy Foward Of the Boat........ Room # 7500

DH and Myself (ONLY) :cool1: :woohoo:
We have Never done this one yet.. Nor have we gone a WEEK without DS (16) ..
He is a little upset we didnt Include him but Hey.. He'll get over it.. :rotfl:


We were on Wonder over the weekend and DH Booked him and I for this one as well as 2 rooms for 9/27/08

:dance3: :dance3: :dance3: :dance3:



Hey!!! Nice to know there's company on deck 7!! We're WAAAAY at the other end in 7627 I believe!! Only a little more than 9 months to go!!!! :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[plutojudy]

Muggs329 and I are in 6038. We had a verandah for our first four cruises and had an inside room for #5. Never again. Love the verandah. Hated the dark dreary inside room.
Our other 5 cruises were in April, celebrating our 35th, 36th, 37th, 38th, and 39th anniversaries. 40th was celebrated in Maui.
We are hoping for warm weather in December. We are thinking the water at Castaway Cay will be chilly because one April it was still cold. Not Lake Michigan cold but great after we got used to it.

[pfishgirl]

Thank You for the warm Welcomes..

This is our 2nd "Magic" cruise.. and the 1st Time in a Cat # 8.. We normally stay in a 6 with a Veranda.. We wanted to stay in this room because when we go in Sept 08 on the Double Dipper we will be in a Cat #4 but we may have friends joining us in an 8 and wanted to be able to tell them how it is.. It will be their 1st Disney cruise... Plus it is Only DH & Myself so we don't need the roominess of the 6 soooo we decided on an 8.. Oh and the fact that we got 10% off since we booked while on Wonder over the weekend and a $200 on board credit helped in our decision.. :woohoo:

:grouphug:


It will be extra nice to stay in our Own Home in Florida prior to and after the cruise one day on each end.. I can do all the :laundy: and come back to NJ with Clean clothes..

Now Time to Find Excursions !!!! :cool1:

[pfishgirl]

Welcome!!!!!

Is anyone booked on deck 6? We are in 6586. We HAD to have a Verandah after being spoiled the first time. ;)

Does anyone who has cruised this time of year have any advise to share?


we cruised on New Years 05/06 on the Wonder.. the weather was still pretty warm... Little cooler at night on deck.. We did the Magic last year on 1/28.. and the Wonder just over the weekend... Castaway was rather breezy this time and DS Waverunner excursion was cancelled but it wasn't really that cold.. sat in the sun a little while before we went back to the ship for showers.. and then to the Castaway party..

[plutojudy]

This group is just too quiet!

[WIFamily]

Welcome!!!!!

Is anyone booked on deck 6? We are in 6586. We HAD to have a Verandah after being spoiled the first time. ;)

Does anyone who has cruised this time of year have any advise to share?

We're in 6544 and our parents are in 6543. They refused to take a verandah, so I'll let them look at ours from inside the room, but not let them step out on it. :goodvibes j/k. I plan on seeing if there are any open when we get to the port on the 8th, and if it's less than $1000 to upgrade, I'll probably spring for it, and surprise them.

Another 10 months or so,,,, HURRY! :)

[MrsMork]

We have sailed several times this time of year. It is our favorite time! The ship is beautiful all decked out for Christmas. Castaway Cay has not been cold on any of the second week in Dec cruises we have done. It was too breezy this past year for some of the excursions, but the beach was wonderful and the water was fine. We did the DD and both days were picture perfect!

[pfishgirl]

:cool1: Checking Out Excursions.... :cool1:


on St. Maarten.. and the Warnings of.. Bathing Suits Optional.. :rotfl:

DH may do the 12 Meter Regatta.. He use to Sail alot but hasnt done it in 5 years.. If he does this one one.. Im doing the Butterfly/Flower Island Tour..

If DH decides NOT to do this.. we will probably do the Shipwreck Cove Snorkel instead..

on St. Thomas/St. John

We are looking at the Doubloon Sail & Snorkel at Turtle Cover.. We also liked the 5 star St John Snorkel & Beach.. or maybe the St John Trunk Bay Beach & Snorkel.. :confused3


Has anyone done any of These??.. Oh and where can I find the Comments on these Excursions?? I heard about it but haven't seen it and Not sure where I look..

[MrsMork]

We did the St John Island Tour last time there. It gave us a great overall view of that beautiful island. We want to go to Trunk Bay this time. It was so, so beautiful! We have done the 3 hour island tours of both St Thomas and St Martin the first time we went there. We take the island tour first trip to each place we go, then on return trips try something different. We have done the Golden Eagle Catamaran at St Marteen twice...it was that much fun. And yes there was one or two topless women on the beach where the catamaran stopped for us to snorkle, but other than some "ugly Americans" making rude comments (one very loud man told his toddler son to go ask that woman if she has any milk) it was not anything much to write home about.

[pfishgirl]

We did the St John Island Tour last time there. It gave us a great overall view of that beautiful island. We want to go to Trunk Bay this time. It was so, so beautiful! We have done the 3 hour island tours of both St Thomas and St Martin the first time we went there. We take the island tour first trip to each place we go, then on return trips try something different. We have done the Golden Eagle Catamaran at St Marteen twice...it was that much fun. And yes there was one or two topless women on the beach where the catamaran stopped for us to snorkle, but other than some "ugly Americans" making rude comments (one very loud man told his toddler son to go ask that woman if she has any milk) it was not anything much to write home about.

Yea, I have met some Rude Americans before.. :sad2: always ruining something..

Thanks for the Tips.. :hug: It is up to Hubby and if he is Sailing or not.. at least for St Maarten.. as for excursions...


Ohhhh Is there a Dis Meet onboard Planned Yet ?? Lunch? Tea/Coffee ??
I have our Lime Green Mickey Heads ready for Our cabin Door..

[MrsMork]

Yea, I have met some Rude Americans before.. :sad2: always ruining something..

Thanks for the Tips.. :hug: It is up to Hubby and if he is Sailing or not.. at least for St Maarten.. as for excursions...


Ohhhh Is there a Dis Meet onboard Planned Yet ?? Lunch? Tea/Coffee ??
I have our Lime Green Mickey Heads ready for Our cabin Door..

I would like to meet first day. Maybe deck 10 around 3. That would give us a few minutes to visit and put faces with names before the safety drill. Then at sail away we can visit some more and party together. That allows the kids to get to know each other a bit too. More meets on sea days would be fun too. Lunch/pool time with the little ones/SkipBo at Cove Cafe. We will have Mickey Heads and door signs on our door! I am a hardcore DISer, so we are up for whatever!

[pfishgirl]

I would like to meet first day. Maybe deck 10 around 3. That would give us a few minutes to visit and put faces with names before the safety drill. Then at sail away we can visit some more and party together. That allows the kids to get to know each other a bit too. More meets on sea days would be fun too. Lunch/pool time with the little ones/SkipBo at Cove Cafe. We will have Mickey Heads and door signs on our door! I am a hardcore DISer, so we are up for whatever!

My son (16) is Staying home.. he.. umm.. wasn't invited.. :rolleyes1

DH & I are doing this one alone.. We are going on the Magic in Sept 08 with our son and family and maybe friends..

so a Playdate wont work for us.. but we will be at the deck party.. :cool1:

[MrsMork]

My son (16) is Staying home.. he.. umm.. wasn't invited.. :rolleyes1

DH & I are doing this one alone.. We are going on the Magic in Sept 08 with our son and family and maybe friends..

so a Playdate wont work for us.. but we will be at the deck party.. :cool1:

We are kidless also, but gathering as a group early does allow those with kids to let them get to know each other while we adults get to know each other also.

[pfishgirl]

i love children... if i could.. id be in the kiddie pool with them and in the play rooms i would.. maybe i can borrow someone's child.. :rotfl:

[MrsMork]

i love children... if i could.. id be in the kiddie pool with them and in the play rooms i would.. maybe i can borrow someone's child.. :rotfl:

Us too. We've taken DGKs on some of our cruises. This trip will be just us, but we will be with my sister's family and that will include 2 1 yos and one 13 yo.

[plutojudy]

Count us in for a first day meet.

[WIFamily]

i love children... if i could.. id be in the kiddie pool with them and in the play rooms i would.. maybe i can borrow someone's child.. :rotfl:

Hmmmm, I've got four boys... we're always looking for volunteer parents :rotfl2:

[MrsMork]

Hmmmm, I've got four boys... we're always looking for volunteer parents :rotfl2:

We would never be volunteer parents, but we have on many occassion been volunteer GRANDPARENTS! It is just way, way more fun to be Grandparents than Parents. :goodvibes :dance3: popcorn:: All the fun, none of the responsiblity! :woohoo: In fact, if we had known about all the perks we would have just skipped the parent phase and went right to grandparent phase! :rolleyes1 So, anybody that needs grandparents to spoil the kids for awhile let us know! :rolleyes:

[RBennett]

I LOVE this thread!! We're getting more and more active the closer we get!!! :goodvibes Sign DW and I up for early meets! I also have another question and I figure some of you would know more than anyone. On Tuesday, the St. Maarten day, my DW and I are celebrating our anniversary AND it's Pirate Night!!! :woohoo: My question is do you think I'm trying to do too much in one day? So far I would LOVE to go to St. Maarten for a while and enjoy Orient Beach. I've heard the beach is BEAUTIFUL there, and then come back and maybe indulge in the Rasul room for some spa pampering, followed by dinner at Palo and then Pirate Night festivities. Is that too much? I want to have a great anniversary for DW but I don't want to be running around so much that we can't enjoy it. :confused3 Opinions??

[MrsMork]

I LOVE this thread!! We're getting more and more active the closer we get!!! :goodvibes Sign DW and I up for early meets! I also have another question and I figure some of you would know more than anyone. On Tuesday, the St. Maarten day, my DW and I are celebrating our anniversary AND it's Pirate Night!!! :woohoo: My question is do you think I'm trying to do too much in one day? So far I would LOVE to go to St. Maarten for a while and enjoy Orient Beach. I've heard the beach is BEAUTIFUL there, and then come back and maybe indulge in the Rasul room for some spa pampering, followed by dinner at Palo and then Pirate Night festivities. Is that too much? I want to have a great anniversary for DW but I don't want to be running around so much that we can't enjoy it. :confused3 Opinions??

I think that would be doable (is that a word??). You could get off the ship pretty early and have some beach time. The Rasul is how long??? I'm thinking no more than 90 min, right? So late afternoon Rasul and then early Palo dinner, spend a couple of hours doing that and then the pirate party is not until about 9:45. This is just me, but the time at the beach is not "running around", but is relaxing, and so is the Rasul time and Palo. You would just have to be mindful of the clock at the beach. I think it would be a fun day of celebrating the two of you. And may I add that your wife is a lucky woman to have you thinking of all these things to do for her. :love: Which anniversary is this?

[RBennett]

I think that would be doable (is that a word??). You could get off the ship pretty early and have some beach time. The Rasul is how long??? I'm thinking no more than 90 min, right? So late afternoon Rasul and then early Palo dinner, spend a couple of hours doing that and then the pirate party is not until about 9:45. This is just me, but the time at the beach is not "running around", but is relaxing, and so is the Rasul time and Palo. You would just have to be mindful of the clock at the beach. I think it would be a fun day of celebrating the two of you. And may I add that your wife is a lucky woman to have you thinking of all these things to do for her. :love: Which anniversary is this?

This will be our 3rd anniversary. We'll both be 27. I know, I know....still kids!! :rotfl: But that's what I was thinking too! If we go to the beach early, and then play it out like you said, I think that will work. And for an anniversary present I am going to book her one of the open cabana massages at CC and tell her about it that night. I'm also leaning towards booking the REAS and not telling her so that when we walk in the room she'll be surprised with the gift basket. And then book the doubloon excursion as well as maybe a tour on St. Thomas and she should have fun! :goodvibes Now I just need to find something for me, although making her happy makes me happy. What's the old saying, "if the woman ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." I learned that one EARLY!! :laughing:

[MrsMork]

This will be our 3rd anniversary. We'll both be 27. I know, I know....still kids!! :rotfl: But that's what I was thinking too! If we go to the beach early, and then play it out like you said, I think that will work. And for an anniversary present I am going to book her one of the open cabana massages at CC and tell her about it that night. I'm also leaning towards booking the REAS and not telling her so that when we walk in the room she'll be surprised with the gift basket. And then book the doubloon excursion as well as maybe a tour on St. Thomas and she should have fun! :goodvibes Now I just need to find something for me, although making her happy makes me happy. What's the old saying, "if the woman ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." I learned that one EARLY!! :laughing:

And you are a smart young man! You have learned early. :rotfl2: :rotfl: By the way, we will celebrate our 40th anniversary this year and we are still kids too! :dance3: Stay that way! :) Edited: I was only 20 when we celebrated our 3rd! Talk about a kid!

[RBennett]

So here's another question about St. Maarten. I know I've seen this thread in other places but I wanted to keep some activity going here and get people's opinions; is the shopping anything special in St. Maarten? I know there's an active thread right now saying snorkel in St. Thomas and shop in St. Maarten/St. Martin, but if you're going to St. Maarten for just a leisure day, is the shopping something you should try and do? :confused3

[TheTXTaylors5]

Edited by Jennifer

[RBennett]

:thumbsup2 I would highly recommend you do the couples open-air cabana massage on Castaway Cay. You mentioned just her, you need to do it too! We were celebrating our 10th Anniversary on our last November cruise. :love: So, we wanted to do something just us, no kids.:dance3: It was sooooooooo relaxing! Neither one of us had ever had a "professional" massage before. Now we are hooked, we want to do it again on CC.:goodvibes

:tinker: Jennifer

I'm wondering if I would enjoy it that much though. I thought we could go snorkeling that morning before everything gets churned up and then that afternoon she could have the massage to relax from the snorkeling and I would just enjoy sitting out on the adult beach relaxing. If there are any guys here let me know if you've tried these/enjoyed it!! :thumbsup2

[Buzz & Woody]

Hi Everyone
I just wanted to let you know that a new yahoo group is ready to go. If this thread get's as big as the Dec 9, 2006 one then it ends up getting hard to keep track of our new friends etc. To subscribe to the group send an email to : disney_magic_2008-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
or to visit the group see it at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/disney_magic_2008/
Hope to see you there!
Holly (Buzz & Woody)

[Buzz & Woody]

We're in 6544 and our parents are in 6543. They refused to take a verandah, so I'll let them look at ours from inside the room, but not let them step out on it. :goodvibes j/k. I plan on seeing if there are any open when we get to the port on the 8th, and if it's less than $1000 to upgrade, I'll probably spring for it, and surprise them.

Another 10 months or so,,,, HURRY! :)
we had 6543 for our first disney cruise! great location

[MrsMork]

I'm wondering if I would enjoy it that much though. I thought we could go snorkeling that morning before everything gets churned up and then that afternoon she could have the massage to relax from the snorkeling and I would just enjoy sitting out on the adult beach relaxing. If there are any guys here let me know if you've tried these/enjoyed it!! :thumbsup2

My DH AKA DrHug loves the massages! Last cruise he got a massage and I did not! What's with that??

[RBennett]

My DH AKA DrHug loves the massages! Last cruise he got a massage and I did not! What's with that??

Ok....that's just WRONG!!! :rotfl2: How could he get a massage and not let you get one?! :confused3 You tell him next time you need 2 to make up for it!! ;)

[pfishgirl]

Hmmmm, I've got four boys... we're always looking for volunteer parents :rotfl2:

Do I get to give them Back ?? :confused3


:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

[pfishgirl]

I LOVE this thread!! We're getting more and more active the closer we get!!! :goodvibes Sign DW and I up for early meets! I also have another question and I figure some of you would know more than anyone. On Tuesday, the St. Maarten day, my DW and I are celebrating our anniversary AND it's Pirate Night!!! :woohoo: My question is do you think I'm trying to do too much in one day? So far I would LOVE to go to St. Maarten for a while and enjoy Orient Beach. I've heard the beach is BEAUTIFUL there, and then come back and maybe indulge in the Rasul room for some spa pampering, followed by dinner at Palo and then Pirate Night festivities. Is that too much? I want to have a great anniversary for DW but I don't want to be running around so much that we can't enjoy it. :confused3 Opinions??

Yup... you fit in PERFECT !!! :dance3: :dance3:

[MrsMork]

Ok....that's just WRONG!!! :rotfl2: How could he get a massage and not let you get one?! :confused3 You tell him next time you need 2 to make up for it!! ;)

Actually I encouraged it. We did not plan to either get any treatments this trip, but we were at the Rainforest and his shoulder/neck had been bothering him since our flight from OR - 8days earlier. He mentioned it when we were checking out of the spa and one of the therapist told him he should get at least the half body massage and let them work on that area. I said that would be great, but getting an appt at that late time would likely be impossible. She said she would be happy to check and they did have an appt for noon the next day - a sea day! So we booked it for him and it did help him ALOT and made the trip better for both of us.

[MrsMork]

Good morning to all of you that seem to have a life outside the DIS, from one who does not. :sad2: ;) Just bumping us up.:)

[DrHug]

Ok....that's just WRONG!!! :rotfl2: How could he get a massage and not let you get one?! :confused3 You tell him next time you need 2 to make up for it!! ;)

In my defense; She made me do it! That's why my shoulder and neck were hurting. She twisted my arm !:confused3 :rolleyes1 :rotfl:

She could have done the massage too. We usually get a couples massage, or some other kind of treartment. Our DS and DDIL are Massage Therapists, but moved away to Phoenix. So now we have to do the Vista Spa. Such a shame huh?

[whazzapp]

Hi all,

It's been a couple of months since I have been on this thread. I see some have joined and some have left.

This will be our second cruise. We did the 10 night southern in September. There was a very active DIS group on that cruise. We have small children so we did not participate much in the meets. However, we greatly enjoyed the fish extender gifts and door decorations. Anyone planning fish extenders?

I have read a lot about excursions on this thread. We stopped in St. Thomas on the 10 night. We decided to rent a jeep. I would highly recommend it!! There were four of us. It only cost us like $65 for all four of us. Much cheaper than an excursion and we were able to spend the time as we wished. We went first to Coki Beach, then to Magens Bay beach and then to Mountain Top. We were not crazy about Coki beach. It was pretty, but rather small. I snorkled a little there until I saw a jellyfish. That was enough for me. :scared: We liked Magens Bay much better. It is a very long beach and very pretty. It has restrooms, bathhouse, bar, etc. The view from mountain top was breathtaking. It overlooks Magen's Bay. You can also see St. John.

We drove back to the ship for lunch. We then did the St Thomas Skyride. It was also a beautiful view. It gives great views of the ship in port.

I can post pictures of any of these places if anyone is interested.

We are anxious to see the ship and wdw adorned with Christmas decorations!! :santa:

[plutojudy]

Hi Whazzapp, we are thinking of renting a car/jeep this trip. Who did you rent with? Did you make reservations in advance?
Did you feel you had enough time there?
The view from the mountaintop sounds nice. Last Eastern cruise, we did the St John excursion so we did not see much of St Thomas.

[whazzapp]

We rented with Budget. It is right across the street from the shopping area where you disembark. They have there own website, but I found it to be cheaper to use the budget corporate site. We had no problems. In fact, the guy working the counter was originally from Michigan. :) The car was just like US, driver on the left. However, the driving is opposite, on the left. It took a little extra thought than normal, but not bad.

We did have one problem. The guy at the counter marked "you are here". After we drove by the Budget office three times trying to figure out where we were going, we realized his "you are here" mark was in the wrong place. :confused3

We really liked being in control of where we went and how long we stayed.

[MrsMork]

We are thinking of doing Trunk Bay this trip. I am a bit leary to take the ferry outside of Disney excursion. I worry about being back on time. I know the ship will wait if we are on their excursion. We have been to St Thomas 3 times. The first time we took the morning Island Tour and just got an overview of the whole island as well as a bit of history from the tour guide. The second time I was ill the night before (kidney stone on Christmas Eve on the Magic :sad2: ) so we just took the tram up for a bit. The last time we did the St John Island Tour - again to get an overview of the whole island. St John is absolutely beautiful and I cannot wait to get in the water at Trunk Bay. :goodvibes

[MrsMork]

We will have a Fish Extender that we can bring - I just got one for the WB Panama Canal Cruise. If this group gets active and wants to do that we are up for it. So far this has been a very quiet group, but closer to sail we may get more active and plan some activities and meets.

[plutojudy]

MrsMork, please tell me about fish extenders. Our last cruise was in 2004 and I don't remember seeing fish extenders.
You are right this group is too quiet.

[MrsMork]

A fish extender is a thing you hang on the fish outside your stateroom. It has pockets where other DISers can drop little surprises throughout the cruise. I'm not sure which cruise started this, but there are variations such as using Christmas stockings. Since this is a Dec cruise stockings might make sense - and I already have stockings for the 4 rooms for the group traveling with us. :santa:

[plutojudy]

Sounds like fun. Christmas stocking sounds like a great idea. Is it one per room? I will get one. They don't disappear do they?

[plutojudy]

MrsMork, what type of little surprises? We will be in Florida in September with a stop at Downtown Disney, I'll be able to pick up some things then. Thanks.

[MrsMork]

Yes, one stocking per room, just hang it on the fish by the door. We have never had any disappear, but you might personalize it just to make sure. Glitter DIS name or something on the fur. We have not done this though and they have never disappeared. The surprises are many and varied. Folks are creative. Some people get stuff from Oriental Trading Company (OTC)for everyone - on the 12/9/06 DD I got pirate beads for everyone and dropped them in the stockings before Pirate night, someone got us lime green leis, someone else made lime green bandanas, someone got pencils personalized with the DIS Geeks DD on them, someone else got pirate stickers from OTC for all of us, someone had a deck of cards made with DIS DD Geeks on it, someone else had lime green glow in the dark wrist bracelets made with DIS DD Geeks on them, someone else got glow necklaces from OTC, someone else made Mickey Head magnets for our door with our name/DIS name on them. That was a very large group though, so there were lots of things. Some things cost more, some less, we all just dropped in whatever surprise we could come up with for about a hundred stockings! Some days we would find a little bag of candy or a smiley face magnet in our stocking. Our DGS was with us that trip and he had such fun patting the stocking each night to see if something was in there. There was no pressure to bring gifts, but those of us who did provided them to everyone that was on our roster. Someone provided the stockings for the group as her gift.

[plutojudy]

Sounds like fun. I have a lot of time to come up with some ideas.
Something else to have along with our door sign. Have to change that to make it more festive for Christmas. I just can't wait to see all the Christmas decorations on the ship and island.
"All I Want For Christmas Is A Real Good Tan".

[MrsMork]

"All I Want For Christmas Is A Real Good Tan".

:lmao: :lmao: That is the BEST Christmas gift for sure!! :thumbsup2

[spoiledbrats3]

Hay MrsMork. I found you and the DIS board!!:cheer2: Just thought I would say "HI"

Love Mary

[MrsMork]

Hi, you spoiled one! I have stockings for your staterooms already! Now I just need to get treats to drop in there! :goodvibes

[TSirgey]

I didn't know about the fish extenders. What a neat idea! :cool1:

About how many items do you plan to bring? I guess we can figure out how many of us there are closer to the date of the cruise.

This sounds like a great way to get in the holiday spirit.

:santa: Count us in!!

[MrsMork]

It is fun, both to give and to receive. We should start a roll call somewhere, like on the first page or something so we can get an idea of how many DISers will be on this cruise. It has been very, very quiet and I know that some who planned to be on this cruise have rebooked to the canal cruises.

[TSirgey]

So excited!!!!!!!!!!!! Last night we booked another room for my sis and b-i-l!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :cool1: :banana: :banana:

I just sent her the link so she can join our group. Welcome Naku!!!

They live in the UK and we do not get to see them nearly as much as we like, so this is so exciting.

Yippee!!!:cool1: :cool1:

[MrsMork]

So excited!!!!!!!!!!!! Last night we booked another room for my sis and b-i-l!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :cool1: :banana: :banana:

I just sent her the link so she can join our group. Welcome Naku!!!

They live in the UK and we do not get to see them nearly as much as we like, so this is so exciting.

Yippee!!!:cool1: :cool1:

:cool1: Great! My sis and bil are with us too! SpoiledBrats3 is their DD. Should be a fun time. The spoiled one and I need to get my sis hooked up on the DIS. Project for us.;)

[MrsMork]

Bumping us up again from page 2 so DrHug can find us!

[plutojudy]

Bumping up again.
Wish we were cruising today. The weather here in Chicago, in the last 24 hours....sleet, ice, snow, more snow, rain, more rain, sleet, and now more snow. We need to see some sunshine.

[pfishgirl]

Checking in, it's been awhile since I was on last.. :wave2:


Hope all is well with everyone!!!


Don't tell Disney but, DH & I are going on a Carnival Cruise, in March.. It was a Free cruise given by one of my Husband's suppliers.. Im sooo excited because we stop in Key West.. We are having Brunch with My Brother and His Wife!!! Havent seen them since the wedding Last year.. :cheer2:

[MrsMork]

Checking in, it's been awhile since I was on last.. :wave2:


Hope all is well with everyone!!!


Don't tell Disney but, DH & I are going on a Carnival Cruise, in March.. It was a Free cruise given by one of my Husband's suppliers.. Im sooo excited because we stop in Key West.. We are having Brunch with My Brother and His Wife!!! Havent seen them since the wedding Last year.. :cheer2:

How fun! Cruises are so much fun, even Carnival! :lmao: :lmao: ;)

[brack]

MrsMork, please tell me about fish extenders. Our last cruise was in 2004 and I don't remember seeing fish extenders.
You are right this group is too quiet.

Our fish extender on our last cruise in December was a stocking.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b144/brackjr/IMG_0035.jpg

[brack]

MrsMork, please tell me about fish extenders. Our last cruise was in 2004 and I don't remember seeing fish extenders.
You are right this group is too quiet.

This was the fish extender for our other cruises.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b144/brackjr/IMG_2920.jpg

[brack]

I didn't know about the fish extenders. What a neat idea! :cool1:

About how many items do you plan to bring? I guess we can figure out how many of us there are closer to the date of the cruise.

This sounds like a great way to get in the holiday spirit.

:santa: Count us in!!

It was really cool and added to the fun of being with the DISBoard group. :cool1:

[pfishgirl]

wow you go allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll out on your door decorations...
very nice job...

[MrsMork]

Good morning Brack! I don't know if you have gotten over to read the Geek thread, but WE BOUGHT OUR MOTORHOME! We pick it up Wednesday. I will try to get DrHug to post some photos over there pretty soon! Ready to hit the road and check out the Walmart parking lots now! :woohoo: :woohoo:

[plutojudy]

I have another question about the fish extenders. Do we need a large loop of cord to fit over the fish? Is that how it attaches? Thanks.
Can't wait to start looking for "gifts". MrsMork, I think you said we need about 100. Boy, that will be my exercise for that day, just finding all the staterooms.

[MrsMork]

I have another question about the fish extenders. Do we need a large loop of cord to fit over the fish? Is that how it attaches? Thanks.
Can't wait to start looking for "gifts". MrsMork, I think you said we need about 100. Boy, that will be my exercise for that day, just finding all the staterooms.

Nope, what I said was we had over a 100 last cruise I was on. This thread seems way quieter than that. We will know closer to sail how many DISers are on board. Some cruises have small groups, some have huge groups. And yes we did get our exercise delivering to every single floor and on both sides - twice for us! :upsidedow

[spoiledbrats3]

MrsMork-CONGRATS on the motorhome!!:thumbsup2 Can't wait to see it. Hay Tammy @ dreamsunlimited said the # I gave her for Bass reservation to connect with did not have enough #'s in it, but yours was o.k.

Love Mary

[MrsMork]

I'll look up the number and pm you.

[TheTXTaylors5]

Edited by :tinker: Jennifer

[MrsMork]

Jennifer, of course you can use the stocking idea for a fish extender! It would be great if everyone had stockings. With that and a door decoration of some sort with a DIS name it makes distributing all those trinkets much easier.

[pfishgirl]

:wave2:

Does anyone Have Def.. Excursions Planned??
DH Keeps changing "our" mind.. :sad2:

[TheTXTaylors5]

Jennifer, of course you can use the stocking idea for a fish extender! It would be great if everyone had stockings. With that and a door decoration of some sort with a DIS name it makes distributing all those trinkets much easier.

Thanks! I may put our DISboards name on the stocking. I have already started our stateroom door signs. I like creating and doing things like that. DH says I "over-plan". I just like to be prepared.

:tinker: Jennifer

[TheTXTaylors5]

Edited by :tinker: Jennifer

[plutojudy]

Bumping us up. :santa:
We booked the cruise. We just booked our air. We booked the night before the cruise. We booked the night after the cruise. All that's left to do is book car for two days after cruise. We still need to decide on our excursions.
Friends may cruise with us, but still haven't made up their minds.

[WIFamily]

We keep going back and forth too on what we want to do this cruise. Initially, we were going to get the kids off at both ports St. Maarten and St. Thomas. We had to drag them off at Nassau last time. They were having too much fun in the Oceaneer's Club and Lab. So, we may just "drag" them off at St. Thomas and do Coral World and Coki Beach. Then, DH and I can relax and enjoy ourselves at St. Maarten. We want to go to Orient Beach just the two of us. Of course, we will all be getting off at Castaway Cay. DH and DS6 had the best time snorkeling last time. So, they definitely want to do that again. DH and I did the couples open-air cabana massage last time. If I don't get to do anything else on my list, I want the cabana massage. After being at WDW the week before with the kids and I am a SAHM, I NEEDED the relaxation at Serenity Bay. DH had to drag me back onto the tram to get the kids. These are our "current" plans. Is anyone else going to Orient Beach?

:tinker: Jennifer

We keep going back and forth too. It's a little harder because we're bringing my parents with, so we have to hold family meetings to discuss options. This is the only reason I'm glad there's still 9 months to decide what and where to go. One of the big reasons for DCL was Castaway Cay, so we're going off ship for that. We probably won't do much for serious excursions with the 8 of us, so probably just some beaches and shopping. I would like to take my father and the two older boys fishing, but that's going to be hard to split up the family like that, and it would be expensive too, but we'll still be thinking about it.

[pfishgirl]

Checking In :wave:
Hope all is doing well !!!

We can't Book our flight yet :( they are only up to 10/31/07
So I'm guessing in another month or two I can :thumbsup2

We know we will do a Snorkle excursion, cause we always do..
other then that.. Nothing definate

I sure wish DH would make up "our" mind :laughing:

[RBennett]

We keep going back and forth too on what we want to do this cruise. Initially, we were going to get the kids off at both ports St. Maarten and St. Thomas. We had to drag them off at Nassau last time. They were having too much fun in the Oceaneer's Club and Lab. So, we may just "drag" them off at St. Thomas and do Coral World and Coki Beach. Then, DH and I can relax and enjoy ourselves at St. Maarten. We want to go to Orient Beach just the two of us. Of course, we will all be getting off at Castaway Cay. DH and DS6 had the best time snorkeling last time. So, they definitely want to do that again. DH and I did the couples open-air cabana massage last time. If I don't get to do anything else on my list, I want the cabana massage. After being at WDW the week before with the kids and I am a SAHM, I NEEDED the relaxation at Serenity Bay. DH had to drag me back onto the tram to get the kids. These are our "current" plans. Is anyone else going to Orient Beach?

:tinker: Jennifer



My DW and I are DEFINITELY wanting to do the Doubloon snorkeling excursion in St. Thomas, but St. Maarten is on our anniversary so I thought we might go to Orient Beach for a little while early on, and then come back to the ship that afternoon and do the Rasul treatment followed with dinner at Palo's. That's where I'm going to give her her anniversary present: a spa treatment at CC. And at CC that's the only thing I'm going to book that day. The rest is just that......REST! Rest and ENJOY the view!!! :smooth: party: :smooth: Although I guess we could enjoy the view at Orient too! :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2:

[cinderellyintx]

Hey there - we are in the DFW area too! Specifically Rowlett! where are you!
We are leaving for Orlando on Dec. 7th and staying at the hotel at the airport then going on to the port the next day! I cannot wait - we have NEVER been on a cruise, so the excitement is great over here!:banana:

[cinderellyintx]

We should get together too! Before the cruise! That would be fun! Besides you have been on one and could tell us what to do! Sry for the double reply - but i was looking back to see when i last posted and saw you all replied to the TX question i asked before!
We have 2 boys and a girl - they will be 10, 9 & 6 on the cruise.
-Angie

[whazzapp]

Here is our fish extender. There is typically a loop at the top. It hangs on the fish beside the door of your room.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m56/whazzapp/815d4ae2.jpg

On our last cruise, someone provided a list of names and cabins of those that wanted to participate. We just brought a little something for everyone on the list. We had some little tatoos and things like that, nothing very costly. It was fun. We have little boys, and they enjoyed the gifts (we did too!:) )

[spoiledbrats3]

HI!! I'm with Mrs Mork's group and we have room #6551, my DM is rm#6553, and my DB is rm#6555.

[spoiledbrats3]

we are booked for 12/8/07- our first disney cruise!!! I had originally booked for April 2008 but switched my ressie because I can't go without disney for a whole year. We were fortunate to go to Disney World in September and December of last year. I hear the cruise is so much more relaxed than the world- that would be a nice change of pace for us. I booked a category 11 room- any chance of upgrade would be excellent. So if you see me posting many newbie questions please answer them as I have tons of ?????s

Also doesn anyone have any teenagers that will be cruising with them? My son will be 14 and would love to make some new friends.

:thumbsup2 Hay my DS is going to be 13. His name is Lucas. My DD will turn 1 Nov. 30. That would be great if the boys could hang out.

[WIFamily]

Also doesn anyone have any teenagers that will be cruising with them? My son will be 14 and would love to make some new friends.

Our son will turn 14 in September, so I'm sure they'll meet.

[MrsMork]

You two could set your sons up to email between now and the cruise. They would both know someone in the teen club then. It helps at that age to have a buddy.:thumbsup2

[spoiledbrats3]

What a great idea!:cool1: How does that sound WIFamily? or lustergirl?