April 19, 2008 - Western - VERY Early Roll Call - Anyone??!!

[lilo62]

Anyone besides me and Anty30?

[pwgs]

Yup, we are there:thumbsup2 Our first Disney Cruise !

Myself -Paul
DW -Beth
DD11 -Amanda
DD8 - Shannon

we are also traviling with my sisters family and my Sister Inlaws Family:grouphug:

Cant Wait:banana:

East Bridgewater, Ma

[ggreitz]

You can add us to the list!

Myself
DW
DS 14 *
DS 12 *
DD 3 *

* - at the time of the cruise

Also my wife's parents will be onboard. It will be their first Disney Cruise!!

[lilo62]

Very cool! I should start a list with names and where everyone is from!

So...let me know!


Gina and Jeff - *** Cob (Greenwich area), Connecticut
Ant, Ed, Ava (10) and Leo (7) - Brewster, New York
Paul, Beth, Amanda (11) and Shannon (8) - East Bridgewater, MA
Michelle, Michael and Emily (7) - New Windsor, NY
Brenda, Beatrice and Aleah (7) - ?
Conny and her sister Silke - Germany
Bryan, Theresa, Dillon (8) and Riley(5) - Wichita, KS
Margaret, Jerry, Robert (10) - Long Island, NY
Angie, Gerard, Emily (7), Julia (3) - Alberta, Canada
Joan, Pat, Rebecca (8), Tyler (6) - Middletown, NY
Diane, Willie, Alex (13), Victoria (10) - New York
Ravin, Ed, Jordan (8) - Patchogue, NY
Jennifer, Jeff, Jordan (12), Jillian (10) - Mass

[anty30]

Hello everyone. Gina has already filled you in on our info. We are so excited to be cruising again. As you can all see, we made lifelong friends on the last cruise. :grouphug:

FYI Gina, Ava will be 10 and Leo will be 7 by the time the cruise rolls around.:yay:

Our plans so far:
-flying in the day before
-rent a car to get to Cape Canaveral
-will most likely stay at the Radisson at the Port the night before
-hopefully get boarding #2 early in the am at the terminal
-will book PALO as soon as it is possible (hopefully 1 brunch & 1 dinner)
-will do the Pirate Museum on our own in Key West pirate:
-maybe do the Pirate Encounter in Grand Cayman :sail:
-would definitely like to do the Dolphin Encounter in Coz

Anyway, those are all my tentative plans.

Anybody else have ideas about what they would ike to do?:confused3

[lilo62]

I LOVE that pic of you guys! I can't wait!!!! :woohoo:

[pwgs]

Hello All, Right now we have a group of 3 familys going (possibly a 4th):eek: . None of us have been on a disney cruise before:goodvibes , we have crusied but that was a few years ago b.c (before children!):rolleyes: . The only thing everone has agreed to is flying in the day before. This board has been great, the ideas and suggestions I have a very large list. I think we are going to get everone together and have a cruise night to discuss it all. I seem to be the one leading the charge:scared: so I think car rentals and the raddison are the best option for us but we may use a transportaion company, not sure yet.

I'm going to try to get the rest of the group onto Dis to help out the conversations but we'll see:dance3: .

Can't Wait:surfweb: so I spend my time here.

[lilo62]

Hello All, Right now we have a group of 3 familys going (possibly a 4th):eek: . None of us have been on a disney cruise before:goodvibes , we have crusied but that was a few years ago b.c (before children!):rolleyes: . The only thing everone has agreed to is flying in the day before. This board has been great, the ideas and suggestions I have a very large list. I think we are going to get everone together and have a cruise night to discuss it all. I seem to be the one leading the charge:scared: so I think car rentals and the raddison are the best option for us but we may use a transportaion company, not sure yet.

I'm going to try to get the rest of the group onto Dis to help out the conversations but we'll see:dance3: .

Can't Wait:surfweb: so I spend my time here.

Paul - let me know where you all are from and I'll add that info to the rolls!

[lilo62]

You can add us to the list!

Myself
DW
DS 14 *
DS 12 *
DD 3 *

* - at the time of the cruise

Also my wife's parents will be onboard. It will be their first Disney Cruise!!

Great!! Give me names and where you are from and I will add you to our "rolls"!

[anty30]

Gina, we were thinking of doing PALO on formal night, which is Monday. Do you guys want to go with us? Maybe around 7:30pm? I can feed the kids earlier and put them in the clubs. :thumbsup2

[Tinkified]

One more family joining you!

Me, Michelle,
DH, Michael
and DD Emily (7)

We just got off the ship on Saturday and we are experiencing withdrawl symptoms...We rebooked on board for the NYE 08/09...but I got the 07/08 school calendar today (I am a teacher) and I plugged in my spring break dates cause I didn't know them while we were booking and wouldn't you know it...It was a Western...we just did an Eastern...we got a high cat, don't have to deal with snow issues cause we live in NY, it is certainly sooner...and it was 1000 dollars cheaper! So here we are happy to be joining you.


Anty: where in NY are you? We live in New Windsor..the hudson valley region

Looking forward to meeting you all.
Michelle

[anty30]

Welcome aboard Tink.:tinker:
We are from Brewster, a hop,skip, & jump from you guys. It is nice to have you guys joining us. We cruised last year and met Lilo & DH and have kept in touch with them. We cannot wait to go on this next cruise. Two years is too long to wait. Our school break is that week also, and it was $400 cheaper than the week before which was the "ghost date" I had originally booked. :banana:
The vacation is scheduled during off-peak I guess. Hooray for us.:thumbsup2

[conny264]

Great to see there is already a thread going.
Add my sister and me to the list:conny 41,silke 40
This will be our third cruise,we did the eastern in 2002 and the 4 night Bahamas last year.We can´t wait to go again and will be in 7122 on Deck 7.First time with a Verandah.I had originally booked a SPR but decided to spoil ourselves a little this time.
We will fly into MCO on the 17 and go to Kennedy Space Center the next day before the cruise and afterwards spend a week at WDW.
Looking forward to that and meeting all of you.
Take care
Conny

[hbg4]

We're also booked. I had transfered a on board reservation to get my 10% discount and OBC to this cruise.

I haven't got the NYC school calender yet , so I'm taking a calculated guess based on the Jewish holidays that this will be the week the kids will have off for spring break.

Managed to reserve a SPH, thought about upgrading to the secret verandah but the $1000 extra can obviously be used in the spa instead.

Asked DD whether she would prefer WDW for 5 days followed by a 3n cruise on the Wonder, or 7 nights on the Magic. She opted for this cruise even though we're also booked for the EB Panama cruise in August 2008.

So there's me- Brenda:hippie:
Mum- Beatrice :banana:
and DD 10 - Aleah princess:

[lilo62]

Bump (just for me so I can update the role call!)


Hello fellow cruisers!

[Tinkified]

Just checkin' in and saying hi!

To Lilo and Anty: I see you are repeat western cruisers...We just did an Eastern and loved it...Looking forward to different ports this time around, but at the same time a little worried that we won't like it as much:confused3 ...I guess I don't like the excursions I have read about...I have never been to any of the areas we will be going to, so maybe I am just putting the cart before the horse kinda thing, ya know..Can you help me feel better? :confused:

Have a happy Monday, all!:love:
Michelle

[anty30]

Just checkin' in and saying hi!

To Lilo and Anty: I see you are repeat western cruisers...We just did an Eastern and loved it...Looking forward to different ports this time around, but at the same time a little worried that we won't like it as much:confused3 ...I guess I don't like the excursions I have read about...I have never been to any of the areas we will be going to, so maybe I am just putting the cart before the horse kinda thing, ya know..Can you help me feel better? :confused:

Have a happy Monday, all!:love:
Michelle

Michelle,
Let me preface this with, I have been to almost every carribean island. That being said, I can guarentee you you will LOVE :love: the ports on the western. Let me tell you what I love about these ports.
Key West is beautiful and the easiest port to just walk around. There is so much to do within blocks of the pier. It is the one port where you literally step off the boat and you can do tons of different things all on your own. No need to book an excursion in KW.
Grand Cayman is stunning. :cloud9: If you are looking for a beach day head to Seven Mile Beach which was named one of the most beautiful in the world. We did an island tour and stingray city last year and it was the highlight of our trip. It is a safe island. GC is also one of the best diving places in the world. Beautiful coral formations.
Cozumel, after being wiped out by a hurricane in 2005, is recovering well. They had a lot of damage when we went last year. From what I have heard they are back and better than ever. We plan on doing the Dolphin excursion at Chakanaab Park next year. Last year we did the fury catamaran and loved it. The people could not be more polite. :thumbsup2

Now, I have been to St. Maarten and St. Thomas as well. St. Maarten I loved, but was not crazy about St.. Thomas because I found it to be too congested. My DH has not been to those islands, so in the future I would definately go again for him, but I much prefer the Western any day. You will love it. There is so much to do. We just returned from Jamaica in Feb. We stayed at an all-inclusive family resort and had a great time. However, I would never return to Jamaica because it was the most disgusting, filthy, unsafe island I have ever visited. That is one place you should avoid in the future.
We look forward to meeting you and your family.:grouphug:

Antoinette

[conny264]

Hi everybody
Anty 30-its good to hear that you consider Key west as a good place to walk around.That´s what my sister and I are planning to do.We would love to go to the Buuterfly Conservatory and the Southernmost point.We did the Butterfly Farm in St.Maarten and loved it.
For Grand Cayman I´m thinking to book an excursion with Captain Marvin.I read so many positive comments abbout them here on the DIS.I love snorkeling and Silke wants to see the Stingrays.
Cozumel is by far the most difficult port to decide,we´d like to do Tulum but I´m a little scared that it´s very tiring.
Sorry for my english,I hope i didn´t make to many mistakes.
Anyway-today is the 19th,so it´s only 13 month to go until we will be on the Magic.
Looking forward to meeting all of you and lots of greetings from Germany
Conny:banana: :yay:

[Tinkified]

Thanks Antoinette for your words of wisdom and advice...I feel a lot better. It just seemed that any poll or thread I read seemed to lean towards the Eastern as being the favorite choice.

I definately wanted to do the Western when we were rebooking...kinda felt like if we did same itinerary, same boat, same shows it wouldn't be as magical...I am sure that is not entirely true because Disney would not have sooo many repeat customers if it was...but nonetheless, when I read the port info both on line and in the passporter, I felt kinda blah about it. You made me feel better and also inspired me to do a google search for "kids and (port of call)" and came up with some interesting things. This past cruise we did all of our excursions on our own and we feel it all was worth it...more relaxed, less rushed, more personalized etc.

Looking forward to meeting and cruising with you....Perhaps a pre-cruise meet might be in order since we live so close.

Thanks again Michelle

[lilo62]

Gina, we were thinking of doing PALO on formal night, which is Monday. Do you guys want to go with us? Maybe around 7:30pm? I can feed the kids earlier and put them in the clubs. :thumbsup2

Hmmmm....I will run that by Jeff and let you know. I'd still dress up formal night anyway! Maybe we'll get a better pic!

[lilo62]

Tinkified:

What Anty said is so true. Cozumel (Meixco) I thought was going to be my least favorite port. And in fact, it has become my favorite. If you like silver jewelry - you can get some really great pieces and deals! Plus, I find the people are really nice.

The other ports are really nice as well. I was looking forward to doing an Eastern, but I'm really psyched I can do the Western one more time! You won't be disappointed trust me!

[conny264]

Silver jewelery,that sounds wonderful.Are there any stores near the Dock?
Hopefully I will have some time left after the Tulum excursion to do at least a little shopping.
Take care and greetings from Germany
Conny

[goofymax]

:cool1: We are also going 4/19/08. Our first Disney Cruise and we are using our DVC points for a Nav.Verandah on deck 5. The western sounded the best to us and am glad to hear good things about it. Only three of us, me, DH and DS 10. Looking forward, but 13 months! Ugh.:banana:

[bmalonef45]

Add us to the list. Me, DW, DS 8 and DD 5. Our second DCL cruise. We booked this one last Nov. while aboard a 3 day Wonder cruise. Just upgraded to a room with a verandah on Deck 6. Figured with the extra 4 days it would be nice to be able to enjoy the fresh air from the room also. Looking forward to it but having trouble waiting till next year.

[Tinkified]

Welcome Byran and GoofyMax!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. I hate to say it, but I am still working on laundry from our 3/3 cruise...no, I am not that lazy...my daughter has been sick in-between and of course this thing called life happens now and then, you know!

Yes, yes, all, a little over a year:sad2: ...maybe if we all wish :wizard: really hard, it will go by quickly. :cheer2: Anyone have plans for before cruise..We are hoping for a late Thursday MCO arrival, staying on disney property and going to Epcot on Friday. Anyone else with pre-cruise plans....My ultimate perfect vacation would be a week at WDW and a week at sea with Disney!

Enjoy the rest of your sunday..and happy monday....look at as just one less monday morning to wake up to until our trip!

Michelle

[anty30]

Hey everybody. We just got back from a long weekend in DC and my legs are aching! I think we walked more there than at WDW. :eek:

[conny264]

Hi Everbody
The List is getting longer.Welcome.
@goofymax-we are in a Nav.Verandah on deck 7.Firts time with a balcony,I´m looking forward to that.
Hopefully we will also arrive in Orlando on Thursday if Ican get some good transatlantic Flights.Our plan is to go to Kennedy Space Center on Friday and spend the night at Cocoa Beach.
Everybody have a great week.
Take Care
Conny:cheer2:

[lilo62]

:cool1: We are also going 4/19/08. Our first Disney Cruise and we are using our DVC points for a Nav.Verandah on deck 5. The western sounded the best to us and am glad to hear good things about it. Only three of us, me, DH and DS 10. Looking forward, but 13 months! Ugh.:banana:

Welcome Goofymax!

Let me know all the names in your party an where you are from so I can add you all to the role call list!

I love that the list keeps growing! Looking forward to meeting you all!

[lilo62]

Silver jewelery,that sounds wonderful.Are there any stores near the Dock?
Hopefully I will have some time left after the Tulum excursion to do at least a little shopping.
Take care and greetings from Germany
Conny

Conny:

There is a main road of stores right near the dock that has some great silver jewelry stores. I got some great deals in stores that weren't recommended by the cruise ship. You have to explore all the stores - the turqouise pieces were simply gorgeous!

Looking forward to meeting you!

[lilo62]

Add us to the list. Me, DW, DS 8 and DD 5. Our second DCL cruise. We booked this one last Nov. while aboard a 3 day Wonder cruise. Just upgraded to a room with a verandah on Deck 6. Figured with the extra 4 days it would be nice to be able to enjoy the fresh air from the room also. Looking forward to it but having trouble waiting till next year.


Welcome Bryan!

Let me know your wife and kids names and where you all are from so I can add you to the list!

[goofymax]

:goodvibes We are me, Margaret, DH Jerry and DS Robert, who will be ten by cruise time. As an experienced DCLer, can you tell me if we have a good chance of getting our dinner seatings changed to early? We were told, when we booked, that only late seating was availalable and we are on the wait list for the early seating. Thanks for any info. Oh yeah, we are from Long Island, NY.:hippie:

[conny264]

Hi Goofymax.
I would go to Guest services first thing you board the ship.Or call back from time to time.It´s always good to ask.
Lilo62-Thanks for the tip with the Jewelery Stores in Cozumel.I love turquoise and silver Jewelery so I made a note in my travel journal.If I´m correct,the Magic leaves from Cozumel in the Evening so we might have some time after the Tulum Excursion.we have Early Dinner and we might miss that anyway.
Take care everybody
Conny:cheer2:

[bmalonef45]

Welcome Bryan!

Let me know your wife and kids names and where you all are from so I can add you to the list!

Thanks for the welcome.

We are Me (Bryan), DW (Theresa), DS 8 (Dillon), DD 5 (Riley) (ages they will be when we cruise).

We are from Wichita, Kansas... about as land locked as you can get!

Here is a pic of the kids on the Wonder in Nov.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j104/bmalonef45/poolpic.jpg

We don't know what we are doing before our trip but we will be coming in the day before. Will probably try to stay near the port but last time we stayed at the BCV and went to MK. We'll see what happens. Looking forward to waiting out the year as a group so we can all be excited together.

We are also booked in the second seating and last week when I upgraded our cabin I added our name to a waiting list for first seating. I imagine we will get it but I don't know. Keeping our fingers crossed. With this being the last Western before the ship heads west it may be a full boat. Here is hoping everyone gets the seating they want.

[lilo62]

:goodvibes We are me, Margaret, DH Jerry and DS Robert, who will be ten by cruise time. As an experienced DCLer, can you tell me if we have a good chance of getting our dinner seatings changed to early? We were told, when we booked, that only late seating was availalable and we are on the wait list for the early seating. Thanks for any info. Oh yeah, we are from Long Island, NY.:hippie:

Where in Long Island are you from?? DH and I have lots of friends in LI as we work for the rock band Zebra from the 80's!

You being on the wait list for the earlier seating should payoff as we get closer and people decide they really can't afford the cruise! I don't think you'll have any worries.

[lilo62]

Hi Goofymax.
I would go to Guest services first thing you board the ship.Or call back from time to time.It´s always good to ask.
Lilo62-Thanks for the tip with the Jewelery Stores in Cozumel.I love turquoise and silver Jewelery so I made a note in my travel journal.If I´m correct,the Magic leaves from Cozumel in the Evening so we might have some time after the Tulum Excursion.we have Early Dinner and we might miss that anyway.
Take care everybody
Conny:cheer2:

Conny:

Your are quite welcome! When DH and I did Tulum on our first Western, we did have time to hit the stores after. The only hitch is that in 2005 Cozumel was hit very badly with a Cat 5 hurricane. So the pier where the ship had docked was destroyed as well as other water front shops and hotels. Last year, the pier was still not fixed so the ship had to dock a certain amount of feet from the pier and we had to jitney over. Also, because of that, we were not in Cozumel as long as we had been the year before thus making it next to impossible to shop IF you do an excursion as the last jitney to the ship was at 5PM. This is another reason why I personally don't do an early seating for dinner. After a day in port, I dont want to have to rush back to the boat to make sure I'm ready to eat by 6. I have to be leisurely while I am on vacation, plus DH and I have no kids so the later time just works out better for us. Maybe you should think about switching your dinner time.

I already told my DH that if we have to leave Cozumel at the same time, we are NOT doing an excursion that is a super long time (if there is such a thing). I'll have to check the excursion list again. I really want to take the time to shop and look around. There are alot of silver stores in Playa del Carmen which you have to ferry over to start your journey to Tulum, but they don't allow you to stop and shop there. Playa is absolutely gorgeous - much nicer than Cozumel. The Tulum Ruins were incredible and afterwards you get time to swim in the Carribean Sea! You will LOVE it!

[conny264]

Thanks Lilo
As far as I read at the Boards,the Pier in Cozumel seems to be repaired.We had the Late Dinner Seating on our first 2 Cruises and I´m not good with eating so late.Both times we had 8.30.If we don´t make it to DInner after Tulum,there is always Topsiders as a relaxed alternitive.I just let our servers the day before that we might not make it,so they won´t wait.Jewelery shopping is an absolut neccessity for me:rolleyes1 .
Take care.
Conny:cheer2:

[lilo62]

Thanks Lilo
As far as I read at the Boards,the Pier in Cozumel seems to be repaired.We had the Late Dinner Seating on our first 2 Cruises and I´m not good with eating so late.Both times we had 8.30.If we don´t make it to DInner after Tulum,there is always Topsiders as a relaxed alternitive.I just let our servers the day before that we might not make it,so they won´t wait.Jewelery shopping is an absolut neccessity for me:rolleyes1 .
Take care.
Conny:cheer2:

Well that is GREAT news about the pier being fixed. Let me tell you to see the devastation of the hurricane compared to the year before - it was just horrible. I agree that the 8:30 time is indeed quite late. I requested 8:00 for this cruise and got locked in. I wish they offered like 7:30 - that would be perfect!!! And I SO get what your saying....jewelry shopping is absolute must for me as well!!!!:cloud9: (It's a good thing my DH isn't on this board!!!!)

[anty30]

Well that is GREAT news about the pier being fixed. Let me tell you to see the devastation of the hurricane compared to the year before - it was just horrible. I agree that the 8:30 time is indeed quite late. I requested 8:00 for this cruise and got locked in. I wish they offered like 7:30 - that would be perfect!!! And I SO get what your saying....jewelry shopping is absolute must for me as well!!!!:cloud9: (It's a good thing my DH isn't on this board!!!!)

So we wont have to tender in next year?:cool1:

[goofymax]

:thumbsup2 I used to check out Zebra around 1980 at the Mad Hatter. Thought they would make it big. We live in Southampton now. My husband is 17 years older than I and has never heard of Zebra!:confused3

[conny264]

Just saw a trip report on the Western with a picture of a family on the pier and the Magic right behind them.So,I guess no tendering.:banana: :banana:
Take care
Conny

[lilo62]

Now that's cause for celebration!:dance3:

[Angiefromalberta]

Not only am I sooo excited to be going on our first cruise but I am so excited to find this forum!! It will be so cool to get to know some of you prior to the cruise.
I am Angie
DH is Gerard
DD Emily will be almost 7
DD Julia will be 3

If anyone can tell me how to post a picture I will do that too.

Angie

[lilo62]

:thumbsup2 I used to check out Zebra around 1980 at the Mad Hatter. Thought they would make it big. We live in Southampton now. My husband is 17 years older than I and has never heard of Zebra!:confused3


WOW!!! The Mad Hatter - I remember that place! Well, they did make it big for a while - they cut 3 albums with Atlantic Records back in the 80's! It's hard to believe that they are still playing out every now and again as they all are in their early 50's now. Randy is still on top of his game - his vocals are just as good as they were 25 yrs. ago. Your hubby doesn't know what's he's missing!!!! :goodvibes

[lilo62]

Not only am I sooo excited to be going on our first cruise but I am so excited to find this forum!! It will be so cool to get to know some of you prior to the cruise.
I am Angie
DH is Gerard
DD Emily will be almost 7
DD Julia will be 3

If anyone can tell me how to post a picture I will do that too.

Angie

Welcome Angie from Alberta! I will add you to the list!

[lilo62]

BUMP! Just trying to keep the thread alive!

[pwgs]

Does this mean the boat will be empty?:rotfl:

Small (Bump);)

Oh ya we are from East Bridgewater, MA

[lilo62]

Hey everyone!

Thought I'd post this link to a great website that gives great deals on some KW adventures and are much cheaper than DCL. I've used them 2 years in a row for some of the excursions and they are top notch! And, DCL doesn't offer some of the excursions they have.

http://www.historictours.com

Click on Key West and check out what they have! DH and I are thinking about doing a sunset cruise or the dolphin adventure! :thumbsup2

[pwgs]

Very Cool :thumbsup2

thanks will check them out!

[anty30]

Thanks Gina. I wish we were going this month instead of next year. I am excited to meet everyone. :)

[Tinkified]

Welcome to all our new families! Our little group is slowly becoming not so little anymore!

Angie...my DD 7 is an Emily as well!

Gina: We were thinking of doing the dolphin adventure as well...it looks pretty cool. I am at a loss for the group Zebra...are we talking 80's? I am sure my husband will know them. In what capacity did you work for them...how cool is that!

Happy April all.......
Michelle

[Angiefromalberta]

MIchelle,
Emily will be thrilled to know that. My Emily will actually be turning 7 the day after we leave the boat-April 27. We were looking at someone's blog of their little girl getting their hair braided. I'm sure my little princess will be up for that!!:wizard:

As far as the signs that people put on their stateroom doors, can someone tell me an example of what they have seen or done in the past. It sounds like a cute idea but have no idea what to do.

Thanks,
Angie

[Tinkified]

Angie: My Emily will have just turned 7 in January 08. I am assuming that your daughter will be in first grade also at time of trip.

We were supposed to cruise for her 6th birthday this year, but she got sick and we had to cancel...Can you say "Thank GOD for trip insurance" and we were able to rebook for the 3/3/07 sailing and had a blast. Emily got her hair braided while we were on board in March. She loved them and would have liked to keep them forever if I had let her! I have photos I could share, but I don't know how to post them...also, there is a "what does your DCL door sign look like" thread as well to show you what other's door signs look like. I don't know how to insert a link for that either.


Anyhow, until I learn to do a link...here is the address for the link..you can cut and paste it the old fashioned way!..who knows..perhaps when I submit this reply, it will come up as a link...Here goes!

www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=838817

Does anybody else know how to do a photo or a link? Thanks in advance for the tutoring.


Ciao for now!
Michelle

[Tinkified]

well, the link worked....1 out of 2 skills down....

Can anyone show me how to do a photo? And while we are at it...how bout a signature thingy?

Ciao for Now
Michelle

[bmalonef45]

The best way to do pics in my opinion is using http://photobucket.com/

Signing up is free and you can upload quite a few images. It pretty much walks you through it from there but basically it gives you text to copy and paste into your message or siganture that works on the boards. The images stay in place as long as you need them as far as I can tell. I have never had any problems.

Hope it works for you. Maybe it will help make the time go faster until next year if you can post images on DIS!

Sounds like you're daughter is close to the same age as our kids so I'm sure we will spend time in the same places (kids club, and Mickey pool) next April.

[anty30]

Hey Tink, I am sorry to say that I have no idea how to do the pics on here. My DH did the one we have here now and I am clueless. For my regular pics I always download to Shutterfly. Photobucket, snapfish, Kodak, etc. , any one works well. :thumbsup2

[pwgs]

This is the thread that helped me post pics and with the signature.
Good Luck!

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=4886029#post4886029

[conny264]

Hi everybody.
I have to ask a favour.Does someone have any experience with Delta Airlines.Good or bad.It´s somewhat difficult to find a decent connection from Europe to Orlando and Delta seems to be ok timewise.We have the choice of going through New York or Atlanta.To get a good rate I`D have to book next month and right now I´m clueless.:confused3 Any tip would be highly appreciated.
And i hope all of you have a great Easter weekend.
Take care
conny:flower3:

[lilo62]

Hi everybody.
I have to ask a favour.Does someone have any experience with Delta Airlines.Good or bad.It´s somewhat difficult to find a decent connection from Europe to Orlando and Delta seems to be ok timewise.We have the choice of going through New York or Atlanta.To get a good rate I`D have to book next month and right now I´m clueless.:confused3 Any tip would be highly appreciated.
And i hope all of you have a great Easter weekend.
Take care
conny:flower3:

Greetings Conny!

Hope I can help with your question. DH and I 9 out of 10 times ALWAYS fly Delta. We've been using them for many, many years and have had always had a great experience with them. As a matter of fact, we are using them for our trip to WDW this May. Keep in mind that they are in Chapter 11 and their telephone reps don't quite seem as top notch as they have been in the past, but I am still confident in their service. I have also flown Jet Blue to FLA - not bad either. Good Luck!

[lilo62]

Welcome to all our new families! Our little group is slowly becoming not so little anymore!

Angie...my DD 7 is an Emily as well!

Gina: We were thinking of doing the dolphin adventure as well...it looks pretty cool. I am at a loss for the group Zebra...are we talking 80's? I am sure my husband will know them. In what capacity did you work for them...how cool is that!

Happy April all.......
Michelle

Michelle:

It does look pretty cool doesn't it? I also like the fact that the dolphins are in their own environment and not trained. I think that would be such a cool experience. I've done a dolphin swim at the Living Seas a few years ago. THAT was great -it was something I had always wanted to do. This would just magnify the experience. I really should have been a marine biologist - I've always had a love for water and certain sea creatures!

Yes, Zebra is from the 80's. They cut 3 albums on Atlantic records back in the day. I sell merch (t-shirts etc.) at their shows and my DH is their webmaster. That's our hobby; managing bands, merch, doing band websites etc. - music is a huge part of who we are. We do have regular day jobs!! Working for a national act band has been a blast - afforded us to be to have met some really cool people.

Looking forward to meeting you and everyone!

Gina

[lilo62]

Thanks Gina. I wish we were going this month instead of next year. I am excited to meet everyone. :)


Ditto for me - BELIEVE ME!!!

[4newtocruise]

This is our first cruise!Just booked the April 19-26, Cat. 6, Room 6542.
Anyone next to us
We are from the subburbs of New York.
Can't wait to go

Traveling with 2 children: Rebecca 8, Tyler 6
:yay:

[lilo62]

Welcome!

Give me all the names in your party and where you are from! I will add you to our every growing list!

DH and I are in a Cat 6 as well but we are in room 6086. Looks like you are on the other side and closer to the foward elevators as we are closer to the mid-ship elevators! The Verandahs are sooo nice to have when cruising! :cloud9:

[conny264]

Thanks Lilo

To get a good connection I will have to use a travel agant anyway.The website is only giving me Paris as a connecting airport and that is the one airport to absolutly avoid in Europe.

Take care
Conny:flower3:

[anty30]

This is our first cruise!Just booked the April 19-26, Cat. 6, Room 6542.
Anyone next to us
We are from the subburbs of New York.
Can't wait to go

Traveling with 2 children: Rebecca 8, Tyler 6
:yay:


Welcome. We are from Brewster. A stones throw.:welcome:

[4newtocruise]

It's so nice to have this forum - you get excited everyday until the trip. Thanks for your responses!
We are a family of 4 from Middletown, NY - Brewster, your right around the corner is right!!

Myself - Joan
Husband - Pat
Rebecca - 8
Tyler - 6

We just changed this trip, we were orginally going in February, Cat 8. We changed it to April for weather reasons and decided to upgrade. Did we do the right thing?:confused:

Thanks for your input - we need it as first time cruisers!!
:thanks:

[Tinkified]

Hi Joan...welcome to you and your family! My family is from New Windsor, NY and I was just in the Middletown Galleria yesterday! How cool is that. My daughter will be 7 at time of cruise...looks like she fits right inbetween your two! With a bunch of us being within an hour of each other... perhaps a pre-cruise meet may be in order for some of us!

We just did our first disney cruise in March....LOVED IT...more than words can say...my daughter cried the last night of the cruise..someone will be sleeping in our room...someone will be eating at our table...and then when I had a video montage made of our photographs..she cried HYSTERICALLY...My husband and I LOVED it...best vacation we have ever taken so YES, I think you have made an excellent choice as far as VACATIONS go...and you have found the right place as far as info goes...I have been totally addicted to this site since I found it in August 06. Ask and you get answers all from caring people who have been there, done that, but most of all, LOVED that! As far as weather goes...you know how variable the weather here in the Hudson Valley Region...so you never know what you may be looking at the day of your planned departure...we lucked out when we went the first week in March this year...but the people who left on St. Patty's day missed their vacation due to weather issues. So, picking april over feb has you ahead of the game already. As far as weather on the trip goes, it was VERY cold in Florida when we were sailing away..we all had pants and sweatshirts on...my relatives said it was unseasonably cold that day...but the destinations' temps were fabulous...no complaints at all!! As far as categories go...we just did an 11 and we are booked on a 10 this time around...we have cruised several times before...inside and outside cabins, but never a verandah...would LOVE one...but right now, it is not in the budget...If you have any other questions that I maybe able to answer, ask away..

Thanks all for the photo posting tips...I will have to check it out when I have time...I am supposed to be painting my guest bed and bath right now..not typing this!!!

Connie: My husband was very excited when I told him about you, your husband and Zebra...he immediately knew who I was talking about...and had one album..the one with the song Bears on it...he recalls the album cover having zebra chess pieces...and recalls buying it back in 83 or 84. Are they still performing?


Ciao for now!
Michelle

[4newtocruise]

Tinkified: We definintely should get together before hand. Friends of ours just backed out of the trip, so it would be great if my kids new someone on the trip. They will probably be in the same age kids club. :cool1:

Is your daughter on Spring Break at that time also?

It's good to see that there are people from the area and even if not, I feel good about talking to others that will be on the same trip! I'll definintely will be picking your brains as the trip get's closer. I need all the advice I can get! ;)

-Joan

[yogibigdog]

Hi Everyone,

Going on the 04/14/07 Eastern leaving next week and plan on rebooking on board for the 04/19/08 Western.

There are a whole bunch of us.

I will give all the details of who's is going once I get back and we are booked.

We are all from Massachusetts.

Did anyone buy there airfare through Disney?

[4newtocruise]

Have a wonderful time on your cruise and tell us all the details when you get back! Hopefully you can all rebook, I see there wasn't a lot of rooms left for April.

Anty30: We'll be right next to each other, we are cabin 6540!!

:rainbow:

-Joan

[pwgs]

Deck 6 is going to be crowded we are in 6052 :thumbsup2 The rest of our group is in the lower 6000's:dance3:

[4newtocruise]

Deck 6 is going to be crowded we are in 6052 :thumbsup2 The rest of our group is in the lower 6000's:dance3:

Right across the hall! :cool1: It makes me feel so much better that we will actually know some people beforehand!

I can't wait to meet all of you, it's going to be fun!

:yay:

-Joan

[anty30]

Have a wonderful time on your cruise and tell us all the details when you get back! Hopefully you can all rebook, I see there wasn't a lot of rooms left for April.

Anty30: We'll be right next to each other, we are cabin 6540!!

:rainbow:

-Joan

hello.
we are actually in cabin 2614, deck 2.

[bmalonef45]

Add us to the deck 6 group. 6028!

[conny264]

Happy Easter to all of you.We can´t wait to meet all of you.The last 2 Cruises it was so much fun to meet the people you´re talking to on this board.
There was always someone you run into to talk.
We´re on Deck 7 7122.
take care
Conny:flower3:

[4newtocruise]

Okay, I'm almost the only nubie on this cruise, so I'll ask some questions. :confused:

Will this cruise be overly crowed? Will there be so many kids in the pool that it will seem overwhelming?

How does the rotating seating work on the Western cruise? Which night is formal, semi-formal, pirate, etc.? I'm looking for a good night for Palo's, which I understand is A MUST!

Should I be on the computer exactly 90 days to the date to book reservations and exertions?

And lastly, which Spa Treatments are the best?

Thanks, you guys are the best. :love:

-Joan

[yogibigdog]

Okay, I'm almost the only nubie on this cruise, so I'll ask some questions. :confused:

Will this cruise be overly crowed? Will there be so many kids in the pool that it will seem overwhelming?Most cruises sail pretty full - the pools are usually very crowded - I went Thanksgiving was told only one empty cabin on the ship but we still had a great time

How does the rotating seating work on the Western cruise? Which night is formal, semi-formal, pirate, etc.? I'm looking for a good night for Palo's, which I understand is A MUST!
Western Caribbean:

Saturday
Port Canaveral
Casual

Sunday
Key West
Casual

Monday
Day at Sea
Formal

Tuesday
Grand Cayman
Casual

Wednesday
Cozumel
Pirate Theme

Thursday
Day at Sea
Semi-Formal

Friday
Castaway Cay
Casual



Should I be on the computer exactly 90 days to the date to book reservations and exertions? Only if you are a Castaway Club member otherwise you will have to wait until 75 days out


Thanks, you guys are the best. :love:

-Joan

Hope this helps!
You can always do the brunch at Palo's which great too. You won't know what restaurants you are in until you check in.
The cruise I am going on next week is the same school vacation we will have next year. There is still a lot of staterooms left. You can tell since they are still selling cat. 12. Plus there are stateroom numbers listed under each category.

[Tinkified]

Hey Everyone...

Has anyone found Spring? I am still hunting for it here in NY suburbia...please send it our way. I am anxiously awaiting its arrival.

Thanks Joan for asking and thanks Yogibigdog for answering. I never thought that the dress code schedule-so-to-speak on a western wouldn't mirror the eastern we just took. But there is a reason to what we wear and when...formal and semi-formal nights are always days at sea! Cool...good to know.

Joan: I think our trip was pretty full this march...don't know exact #s or anything...but the pools were crowded...by my daughter didn't mind...more kids to play with...I was in the family pool maybe 2x's and it was fine...I never thought...OH MY GOD!...and according to some people's concerns/complaints in other threads I expected NEVER to find a chair around pool...We always did...and we would move from one pool to another, come back later etc...and always got one...but it is important to note that we are a very fair irish family and we do not sun worship and move our chairs to meet the sun etc...but nonetheless, we never had a problem.

As far as booking Palo, spa, etc on line...I didn't do it...and was able to get an appointment for 1/2 body massage when I called the spa sunday afternoon when I decided to treat myself...I did want a full body, but I settled. And according to Disney and the DIS experts, they do hold back a certain amount of reservations for people who aren't online and don't have the opportunity to do anything ahead of time. Also there are tables set up upon boarding the ship to make these reservations in person. Our DIS group did set up a group brunch, which we (my DH and I..not the whole group) cancelled because our daughter hadn't shown a lot of interest in the clubs that early on in the cruise..it was Monday am.

...BUT HEY...THAT IS AN IDEA FOR THIS GROUP...I THINK YOU NEED 12 PEOPLE TO MAKE A PRIVATE GROUP BRUNCH RESIE...ANYONE INTERESTED

I assume you meant restaurant rotation for dinner. You will find your dinner time and restaurant rotation on a set of tickets with your table number. Some people have preferences...to me, it really didn't matter...we did have Parrot Cay (carribean theme decor) for pirate night which just lent it self nicely to the theme etc and we were in Lumiere's for formal night as well..but to us it doesn't matter...We had Parrot Cay, Lumiere's, Animator's Palette...you do your first restaurant 3xs and the other two 2xs.....All good food, all good service..your wait staff follow you from restaurant to restaurant.

Our family dressed for Pirate night and had a blast..our best professional photo taken on the ship was the three of us in our costumes. I found a great lady on ebay who made them for us!

We booked all our own excursions, which we plan on doing again for the western. I did research and booked a private sail in St THomas/St. Johns (just 6 passengers and the husband and wife owners) and went to Paradise Point on our own and then in St. Maarten we went to a beach resort that welcomed cruise passengers.

If you have any other questions, I will try and answer. WOW LOOONGGG post..Can you tell, I like to talk...tee-hee..I am home on Spring Break (I am a teacher) and I have a lot (I guess too much ) of time on my hands!!

TO ANTY30: We are stateroom neighbors...we are 2611!

TO ALL: Happy Holidays!


Ciao for Now
Michelle

[Tinkified]

oh, and yes, Joan, my daughter IS on spring break the week of the cruise.

[Tinkified]

sorry! This was an experiment gone wrong.

[Tinkified]

still trying!

Thanks for your patience!

Sorry..my bad...trying to get a photo up here without accessing the whole album. No dice.

[anty30]

Hey Tink. Awesome, we are nieghbors on and off the cruise. What school district do you teach in. I am a sub. Started this year after being home 9 years. Leo is in 1st grade and Ava is in 4th and so I have a lot of free time and subbing works out well.
I would definately be interested in a group brunch at PALO. :cool1:
Joan: I remember planning my first DCL cruise and it was positively overwhelming. I loved every minute of it (both the planning and the cruise). It is the best vacation ever.:banana:

Is anyone planning on staying the night before at the Raddison? That is where we will be. :woohoo:

[yogibigdog]

Is anyone planning on staying the night before at the Raddison? That is where we will be. :woohoo:

I have stayed there twice before two different cruises. We also have stayed at Ron Jon's Resort and the Inn at Cocoa Beach. Last time we stayed at the Radisson I would have to say we were really disappointed. Room was really dirty. Found whole bag of smashed up potato chips under the bed. The rooms are in need of some updating.

Next week are trying the new Country Inn and Suites. They have a room with bunk beds that we will be trying. My kids don't share the bed well.
If anyone is interested I will post some pictures and let you know how it is when we get back. Can't beat the rate I got either I think it was $89.00 plus you get breakfast.

[anty30]

yogibigdog,
I would consider switching to the Country Inn and Suites, but do they have a free shuttle? :confused3 We will have a rental car for the drive to Cape Canaveral, but last year we returned it early Sat. morning and took the Raddison shuttle. I would have to agree with you though on the condition of the room. We had a room that was really old. :eek: We would request a room in the back of the hotel next year as those are the newer ones. However, if the Country Inn and Suites gets glowing reviews, we may switch. The pool at the Raddison was great though. :thumbsup2 The kids spent the whole day in it on Friday. I will be looking forward to your report when you return. Pics would be great also. I am super jealous that you are going next week.:sad2:

Antoinette

[Tinkified]

I second that Jealousy, Anty! To be a week or even a month out would be FABULOUS!....but then again, a major headache to our financial situation...2 disney cruises within a month of one another...my idea of heaven!

We are going in the night before as well. Not sure if we are interested in the Raddison after that glowing report. I haven't really looked into it...just planned it in my head...figure those small details can wait. Have you made your air plans yet...do you do your own or disney's? Are you going to go out of Stewart? We love the convenience, but hate the layovers...hoping for jet blue or airtran direct. How bout you Joan, our fellow Hudson Valleyer?

By the way, Anty, I forgot to mention before that I teach in Newburgh School District. I am the inclusion consultant teacher for k and 1. Are you subbing in Brewster?

Have a good weekend and Happy Holidays all. Remember to send Spring our way if you find her. We are desperately looking for her. I think the Easter Bunny's toes might freeze.

Ciao for Now
Michelle
Michelle

[yogibigdog]

yogibigdog,
I would consider switching to the Country Inn and Suites, but do they have a free shuttle? :confused3 We will have a rental car for the drive to Cape Canaveral, but last year we returned it early Sat. morning and took the Raddison shuttle.
Antoinette

We rent a car too. My husband will drop all of us off with the luggage at the ship. Then he will return the car and take the Budget shuttle over to the ship.
You can always take a shuttle or taxi from the Country Inn Suites by you would have to pay for it. I will find out all the details and take a bunch of pictures while I am there.

[anty30]

I second that Jealousy, Anty! To be a week or even a month out would be FABULOUS!....but then again, a major headache to our financial situation...2 disney cruises within a month of one another...my idea of heaven!

We are going in the night before as well. Not sure if we are interested in the Raddison after that glowing report. I haven't really looked into it...just planned it in my head...figure those small details can wait. Have you made your air plans yet...do you do your own or disney's? Are you going to go out of Stewart? We love the convenience, but hate the layovers...hoping for jet blue or airtran direct. How bout you Joan, our fellow Hudson Valleyer?

By the way, Anty, I forgot to mention before that I teach in Newburgh School District. I am the inclusion consultant teacher for k and 1. Are you subbing in Brewster?

Have a good weekend and Happy Holidays all. Remember to send Spring our way if you find her. We are desperately looking for her. I think the Easter Bunny's toes might freeze.

Ciao for Now
Michelle
Michelle


Hi Michelle,
Yes, I am a sub in Brewster. K-3 are the grades I teach because it works with my schedule. I most often do the special ed classes with children who have disabilities. I find it very rewarding and challenging at the same time. Different from day to day. :)
My DS is in a 1st grade inclusion class. He has done really well there. Taken great strides since September. I am sure it is challenging for you.
We are going to fly out of Westchester most likely. It is 20 min. for us. Jetblue and Airtran both go direct out of there. Stewart is an option if the price is right. Last year we flew out of Westchester on Airtran and it was $69 each way. You cant beat that. :cool1:

Joan & Michelle, do you guys ever go to SplashDown in the summer with the kids? Maybe we could have a meet there. I am sure Gina and Jeff would go too, even without kids.:grouphug:
My DD goes to sleepaway Girl Scout camp for 2 weeks in the summer and I know they are doing a day trip there. That is the day I will go with Leo so that I can see her.:angel: I will probably go more than once though.
Antoinette

[4newtocruise]

Wow, I missed a lot. Now it's the weekend I had to go back to work. I'm an RN at Horton Hospital and work 12-hour shifts. Because of Spring Break, I tried to work the weekends to be home with the kids all week!

Thanks for all you followups! :)

I thought in my passporter guide book you could somehow figure out what restaurants you will have on what day. Is that true? I'll have to look it up.

Antoinette: I haven't been to splashdown in a long time! Is that the one that used to be Action Park? If it is, that was the last time I was there. I would love to get together in the summer. My DD ( I think I finally got what this means, it took a while, ha, ha) is going to camp at the YMCA here in Middletown for four weeks during the week the end of June to the end of second to the last week in July. She is very active and gets bored easily. This is the first time I'm going to try it.


Michelle: Thanks for all the great information! Where do you get the information booking excursions on your own?

Do I really need to think about hotel stays, airfare, and car rentals now? Oh my, I feel like I'm behind and it's over 12 months away. What do you use a rental car for? Does that mean nobody does the Disney ground transfers?

I'll stay where everyone else is staying - you guys are the experts! We are going to fly in a day ahead. Michelle/Antoinette: I would leave out of Stewart for the convienance but it can be just too expensive, so when we travel we have been leaving out of LGA or Newark. Do you find that as well or has it gotten better? Plus, my husband may have enough frequent flyer miles to get us four tickets, so then we would have to leave out of LGA or Newark on American Airlines.

Okay, I have to get to work, talk to you all soon!
Happy Easter to Everyone!
:Pinkbounc

[bmalonef45]

Wow, I missed a lot.

Do I really need to think about hotel stays, airfare, and car rentals now? Oh my, I feel like I'm behind and it's over 12 months away. What do you use a rental car for? Does that mean nobody does the Disney ground transfers?

Happy Easter to Everyone!
:Pinkbounc

Plenty of people use the Disney ground transfers but they also are spending more money and having much less freedom. We compared the cost of a family of 4 to use the DGT to renting a car from MCO to PC returning it at PC and then Renting a car from PC to MCO and the savings was huge. At 30.00 per person each way it was going to be 240.00 to use the pretty Disney busses. We found we could rent a car for around 30.00 a day and then just take a shuttle or cab to the port. There were extra steps but the extra money was worth it. Plus we had the freedom to make stops etc. Also we used National which has to be the furthest from the port. They don't have a shuttle but on the day you arrive that isn't all that bad. There were pretty long lines at each of the Rental car shuttle pick ups. The busses aren't big enough for everyone so you get to wait. The cab ride is 15.00 and there is no waiting. Depends on the timing I guess but that was the best 15.00 we spent on the entire trip. Don't know what we will do next year but I do know we won't be paying for the pretty new paint on the Disney busses!

[anty30]

I agree about the car rental. Last year we rented a car from Budget for $35.00 and drove to the Raddison. DH returned the car early Sat. am and got a ride back to the hotel and then we took the shuttle to the port. Upon our return we walked out of the terminal and the Budget shuttle was there waiting for people. We got our car and were at the airport with an hour. Again, it was $35.00 for the car that day.
It is a huge savings if you dont have a large party going. There are only 4 of us, so it made sense.:thumbsup2

Joan, Splashdown Beach is on Route 9 off of exit 13, Wappingers.
Antoinette

[Angiefromalberta]

Hi again everyone,
It is so nice to get info from people that have done this before. Are there any other Canadians here yet??
We are booked in a category 9 in room 2108 I believe. I tried to pick a room that would have less motion. I really hope that myself or my family are not prone to sea-sickness. That would really put a damper on the trip. I was down in Montana for the weekend and bought some Bonine-just in case. Then I noticed when I got home today that it expires in November....UGGH!
Angie

[conny264]

I second the car rental decision.We did it every time.I have a Avis preferred Customer card.Very quick service at the Airport and the Port.They have bigger shuttles than the other companies and we never waited more than 5 minutes.

One other thing,has anybody seen the website for Aquatica,the new waterpark by Seaworld?
It looks amazing and is supposed to be open in Spring 2008.Originally we we´re planning on going to Kennedy Space center the day before the cruise but are no thinkig of getting a Room in Orlando and go there.
If anybody is interested:www.aquaticabyseaworld.com

Lots of greetings from Germany
Conny:flower3:

[anty30]

Hi again everyone,
It is so nice to get info from people that have done this before. Are there any other Canadians here yet??
We are booked in a category 9 in room 2108 I believe. I tried to pick a room that would have less motion. I really hope that myself or my family are not prone to sea-sickness. That would really put a damper on the trip. I was down in Montana for the weekend and bought some Bonine-just in case. Then I noticed when I got home today that it expires in November....UGGH!
Angie

You have my old cabin! I LOVE that cabin.:thumbsup2 I actually requested it, but it was not available. :confused3 I got #2614, which I am now excited about because it is on the opposite side of the ship and we will have a different view. You will love that cabin. It was great, no noise whatsoever. Convenient to aft lifts. Really great. :thumbsup2

[4newtocruise]

Thanks Bryan and all of you for all your information! :yay: I'm printing all this out so I don't forget! Without you guys I would be spending a lot of money that I don't have!!!

When do I have to start reserving airfare, car rentals and hotel stays?

Antoinette: I don't think we have ever been there! We'll plan something for the summer, maybe sometime in August. If it ever gets warm around here!!

-Joan

[4newtocruise]

Plenty of people use the Disney ground transfers but they also are spending more money and having much less freedom. We compared the cost of a family of 4 to use the DGT to renting a car from MCO to PC returning it at PC and then Renting a car from PC to MCO and the savings was huge. At 30.00 per person each way it was going to be 240.00 to use the pretty Disney busses. We found we could rent a car for around 30.00 a day and then just take a shuttle or cab to the port.

Bryan or anyone: I just want to get this straight. :confused3 We fly into MCO the day before, pick up the rental at the airport and drive to the hotel? Stay at the hotel then drive the next day to PC and return the car there? Or do you drive from the airport to PC, drop off the car and take a taxi back and forth from the hotel?

Thanks.
Joan

[anty30]

Joan,
You have different options. We rented from Budget at the airport (make sure you reserve a car in advance). We drove to PC and went shopping at Ron Jons (a must for last minute items). We went to the hotel and then Sat. am DH returned the car to Budget and they brought him back to the hotel. No taxi needed. Most car rentals will give you a complimentary ride to wherever you need to go. The Raddison gave us all a free shuttle to the port.
Another option is to have your DH drop you all off at the port with the luggage and then he can go and return the car and then get a ride back to the port. It is up to you. Because the Raddison shuttle was free, we chose that option.
Upon your return from the cruise, you walk out of the port and all of the car rentals have vans there to pick up passangers. Again, just make sure you reserve a car in advance. :thumbsup2
Antoinette

[Tinkified]

To all the experienced car renters: How far is the port to the rental places?
How far is the Raddison from the rental places?

Happy Monday all...one less monday morning to do until our cruise!

Joan/Anty: We're in for Splashdown! I know the plan of going there is far out...but we are away the first week of july and the first week of aug. But I am sure we can work something out!

Ciao for Now
Michelle

[bmalonef45]

I think Budget and Avis are pretty clost to the port. Not sure about Hertz but I know all of them are closer than National. Have the Emerald Club membership so that is what we normally use. May not next year. National doesn't have a shuttle but contracts with a cab company to offer 15.00 trips back and forth to port.

When you drop the car off is up to you but if you do it the same day it cost less obviously. We like to have it for the freedom with young kids you never know what you will need. Basically I dropped the family and luggage at the boat then took the car back myself. Let them deal with the check-in process!

It worked really well and is how we'll do it again. We stayed at WDW the night before last time. I think we will probably stay at PC next year though.

As far as reserving airfare its hard to know. Just start looking for the best deals. A lot of the airlines don't offer booking this far out though. Usually it pays to wait as deals come and go.

[Angiefromalberta]

You have my old cabin! I LOVE that cabin.:thumbsup2 I actually requested it, but it was not available. :confused3 I got #2614, which I am now excited about because it is on the opposite side of the ship and we will have a different view. You will love that cabin. It was great, no noise whatsoever. Convenient to aft lifts. Really great. :thumbsup2

That is such a great coincidence!! Sorry I beat you to your old cabin. I booked it because it had good reports from the DIS site...now that I think about it, maybe it was your report!!

To all you veterans
Just to summarize, does this make sense.
Fly to Orlando, rent a car From Avis or Budget. Drive to the Radisson Hotel near Port Cavernal, return the car to the rental agency, have them drive you back to the hotel, then take a shuttle from the hotel to the ship on the day of the cruise. When we get off the ship, grab an Avis or Budget shuttle back to the rental agency and drive ourselves back to the Orlando airport or hotel or wherever.

This is the way that I understand it. Please let me know if this is right. It is so confusing when it is your first time.:confused3 I imagine we will be a day or two early as we haven't booked any flights yet.

Angie 2108

[bmalonef45]

I think you got it Angie!

If you want you could keep the car until the next day just to have it with you but that may cost extra. I thought it was nice to drop the family off then go take the car back while DW and the kids checked in. But either way I think the rental car is the way to go.

[conny264]

For anyone who would like to see how far the rental Car Companies are from the Terminal.
Map on:www.dcltribute.com
Nice overview.

Take care
Conny:flower3:

[Tinkified]

That's a great site, Conny. One I actually have never come across before.

And I think that is the way we are going to go...Arrive friday in Orlando, rent a car to drive to Raddison Port Canaveral...return either that day or next, and take Hotel/car/rental shuttle to the pier EARLY saturday morning. Even though we did the Disney cruise this past march, we boarded so late that we were not greeted or announced...if fact, we missed the safety drill...and we were not the last people to board...there was a whole group of people at the airport waiting for their DCL transfer after we left.

I have read on the DIS that they announce your family name when you board...how cool is that!

Off to do some laundry, straightening and some other errands...it is back to school tomorrow for me...no more spring break...the weather will probably be beautiful starting tomorrow. At least the kids at school can play on the playground now! Winter here in NY is far too long!

Ciao for now
Michelle

[Angiefromalberta]

Hi everyone.
FOr those of you that have sailed before, I have question about the pager you get for your kids. Do we only get the pager when they are in the group activities and then they take it again when they check out of the group, or do we have it for the whole duration of the trip??
Just thinking about if our little ones get lost when they not in the groups. Do cell phones work when you are out at sea?? Cause if they did she could call me on mine.

I know, I know. I am a worrier.
Thanks guys!!:thumbsup2
Angie

[anty30]

Hey Angie,
You get a pager in the terminal before you even get on the ship. You keep the same pager for the whole cruise. You just have to make sure you carry it everywhere. Sometimes we forgot it, by accident of course.:rolleyes1
As for cell phones, no they do not work out in the big blue sea. No towers in sight.:sail:

Antoinette

[Angiefromalberta]

Thanks Antoinette!

I guess if they page you and they are lost, you still wouldn't know where they are. Better to have a meeting place maybe?? Hmmm
Angie

[anty30]

Angie,
A lot of parents make the kids go back to the cabin. The counselors will page you anytime the kids leave. They will say "______ has just left the lab", etc. It is good to tell them if they leave to go to the same place everytime. The cabin is logical.
Antoinette:)

[Tinkified]

Angie: The oceaneer club is VERY secure. The couselors page you...not the kids...and the kids have to be signed in and out with ID and a password to get through a locked door. My daughter is six and when she wanted to leave...and she never did...she would tell a counselor and they would page me as to where they were and what I needed to do. Older kids have the privelege of signing themselves out but only with parental approval...you don't need to agree to have them do that if that is what makes you comfortable. YOU are ultimately in charge of what your kids can and can not do. How old are your kids?

When the clubs do transition time...moving from one place to another..ie..club to lab or club to the buffet...no one is allowed to be taken out...and there are counselors at the front, middle and end of group when walking..I saw them on the top deck walking to the buffet a couple of times.

Overall, I have nothing but praise for their program...my daughter LOVED it...she was a little slow to warm up, but by the end I was pulling her out at 11:30pm to go to bed because mom and dad were tired!

Hope this helps you some!
Ciao for now
Michelle

[mm126]

We'll be on the cruise - Kerry, Michael (10) and Molly (9). I was considering staying at either the Hyatt at MCO or Poly the night before the cruise. Any thoughts.

[Tinkified]

Welcome to our group!

We were considering both...staying on site and the Hyatt at the airport...but I think we settled on the Radisson at the port. Read back a few posts..you will find quite a few of us are doing it.

My family really wanted to sneak a day in at one of the parks on Friday...but we decided against it...hotel for thurs and fri + park + whatever comes up was just too much extra running, money, time etc.

We will be flying in early on Friday, renting a car at MCO and spending a leisurely day at the hotel...I hear the pool is great! Perhaps a precruise gathering may even happen Friday! Who knows, right?

Welcome again.
Ciao for now.
Michelle

[lilo62]

Greetings fellow cruisers!

It's been a while since I've gotten on the board! First, let me wish all of you a much belated Easter. No more holiday dinners now until Thanksgiving!!!! We have summer bbq's to look forward to or at least I thought! The weather here in the NE has not been spring-like at all! I'm still wearing gloves, a coat and boots!! My sandals are calling me!!!

Our list is growing which is fabulous!!! I can't wait to meet all of you. DH and I will be doing the same as most of you, arriving in Orlando the day before the cruise. We will rent a car at the airport thru Budget as we have in the past. It seems the majority of you will be staying at the Raddison. DH and I will be staying at Ron Jon's more than likely. We stayed at The Raddison for our first cruise and then tried Ron Jon's because it was so highly recommended and have stayed there ever since. Even tho it is a timeshare, you can "rent" rooms and we've never had anyone pressure us to buy into it. We like Ron Jon's better than the Raddison - just personal preference. You can walk to the beach at Ron Jon's and go out on the pier and see all the cruise ships, it has a lazy river pool plus a regular pool. It has a movie theatre, mini golf course and the rooms are quite nice. We usually spend the day at one of the parks the day before and then drive into PC. We return the car to Budget which is down the street and get shuttled to the pier. Our boarding time on our tickets has been 1PM which is fine for us as we have no kids and like to be leisurely. After you check out of Ron Jon's you get an all day wrist band so you can continue to use the pools etc., until you are ready to leave. There is a restuarant on site which serves dinner only - not a big deal because there are so many other restaurants on the strip - it's nice to be able to pick from. The rates for Ron Jon's aren't bad - if you have AAA (Auto Club) you can get a 10% discount. It will be interesting to see what the prices in 2008 will be!

Since we are going to WDW in 4 weeks, DH and I invested in annual passes - we can use them as well in April of next year as they won't expire until May 2008. It was a more cost-effective way to go especially with the DVC discount. We will be staying at Saratoga Springs which will be a new adventure for us since we always stay at the Wildnerness Lodge (our fave). Wish the cruise was NOW!!! Will miss going to the Carribean this year. Looking forward to the countdown ticker saying 11 months!!
:cool2:

[lilo62]

Connie: My husband was very excited when I told him about you, your husband and Zebra...he immediately knew who I was talking about...and had one album..the one with the song Bears on it...he recalls the album cover having zebra chess pieces...and recalls buying it back in 83 or 84. Are they still performing? Ciao for now!Michelle

Michelle:

The Zebra stuff is actually me and not Conny!!!! Your husband is dead on with the song and album cover! They do still perfom on LI and in New Orleans. Randy Jackson (singer and guitarist) also does accoustic shows and sings with a symphony orchestra on occassion. The person who conducts the symph shows has redone the scores to music of Led Zep, Eagles and The Doors for more of a rock symph show and Randy is the singer for some of these projects. It's a really cool show. Looks like we'll have some music to talk about when we meet!

Gina

[Tinkified]

OOOPPSS...sorry Gina and Connie...I knew that it was you, Gina, but I must have had my head in the toilet or something!

And hey...you have peaked my interest in Ron Jon's...the idea of the beach being right there is a plus! I will have to look into it!

Ciao for Now
Michelle

[pwgs]

Okay, I was wondering if anybody could help a disney cruise newbie. :confused: I have started looking into hotels and transportation for our little group of 19.:scared1: I saw this hotel mentioned on a post earlier in the year and it peaked my interest. The hotel is .fawltytowersresort.com the reason the reason it peaked my interest was that they had a transportation option from the airport and to the ship. They are also very close to the beach. The post earlier in the year quoted a price of 540.00 or so for a family of 10 for hotel and transportation So my question is does anybody know anything about this hotel? Good or bad

this a link to the earlier post
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1323773&referrerid=&highlight=fawlty+towers

Thanks
Paul

[anty30]

Paul- I checked out the websites and also looked at reviews on Trip Advisor and they are all good. It looks like a good place to stay. I, however, will most likely stick with the Raddison. Also, the transportation looks like a good deal. DH likes to rent a car though so that we have some freedom. I would definately consider the Fawlty Towers if you are not renting a car. :thumbsup2

Everyone in the Northeast- our weather is the worst this year. I feel like I'm drowning with all this heavy rain. So I guess April showers will bring plenty of May flowers?:confused3

[Tinkified]

We are swimming right along side of you...or dare I say drowning along side of you! We too have had it with this non-spring, even non-springish weather. Please tell me that those gorgeous days back in January were not the only warm days we are going to see this year? If it is like this now..what will June, July and August bring? HELP...send a lifeboat to NY.

[lilo62]

DH and I are buildling an arc - if any of you in Westchester would like to join us, please make your ressies now! Animals of course are welcome! :rotfl2:

This weather in a word....SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!! :sad2:

[lilo62]

OOOPPSS...sorry Gina and Connie...I knew that it was you, Gina, but I must have had my head in the toilet or something!

And hey...you have peaked my interest in Ron Jon's...the idea of the beach being right there is a plus! I will have to look into it!

Ciao for Now
Michelle


If I can help you with Ron Jon's - let me know!

[conny264]

I´m so sorry to hear about the bad weather over there.Here in Germany it´s unusually warm.I hope it stays that way,we will be in Scotland next year for our 2007 vacation.
But exactly one year from today we will be onboard a plane to Florida.Can´t wait.

Greetings from Germany
and hopes for better weather.

Conny:hippie: :flower3:

[lilo62]

12 months exactly and counting - eagerly!!!!!!!

[4newtocruise]

I think we may finally be out of the rain this coming weekend!! :goodvibes

It hasn't been a good week between the weather and the terrible shootings in Virginia - let's hope and pray it starts looking up!

Has anyone started to book anything - car, hotel, etc....

Joan from Middletown, NY

[lilo62]

I think we may finally be out of the rain this coming weekend!! :goodvibes

It hasn't been a good week between the weather and the terrible shootings in Virginia - let's hope and pray it starts looking up!

Has anyone started to book anything - car, hotel, etc....

Joan from Middletown, NY


Not me Joan - I'll probably start in Sept or so.

[bmalonef45]

Just 365 days to go... man that seems like a long time but I'm sure it will fly by. Can't wait until next year at this time!

[anty30]

OK, I am thinking I am going to book the Country Inn and Suites. They have April 18, 2008 available for $99.00. I think I will just do it and not think about it anymore. I was going to go with Budget, but I heard there is a Hertz opening or maybe just opened and it is the closest to the port. Anyone have info on this? :confused3

[yogibigdog]

OK, I am thinking I am going to book the Country Inn and Suites. They have April 18, 2008 available for $99.00. I think I will just do it and not think about it anymore. I was going to go with Budget, but I heard there is a Hertz opening or maybe just opened and it is the closest to the port. Anyone have info on this? :confused3



I just got back from the Magic cruise.
The cruise was great. The weather at Castaway Cay was picture perfect!
We did rebook onboard. Our group has four cabins.

Hertz is opening up right in front of the Residence Inn(right next door to the Country Inn and Suites)
The building is up and a sign saying coming soon.
The Country Inn and Suites was nice but........ they had a wedding at the pool that night we were there which turn into a horrible experience. I did take a lot of pictures. The hotel itself was nice but the wedding kept us awake until 11:00 pm. Manager was useless.
I will post pictures and tell you more tomorrow but I have to start unpacking.

[lilo62]

OK, I am thinking I am going to book the Country Inn and Suites. They have April 18, 2008 available for $99.00. I think I will just do it and not think about it anymore. I was going to go with Budget, but I heard there is a Hertz opening or maybe just opened and it is the closest to the port. Anyone have info on this? :confused3

Ant - the other thing to into consideration about Hertz is that they don't have a terminal in the Orlando airport you have to shuttle over.

Can you send me the link for the Country Inn and Suites? I'd like to check it out.

[anty30]

Good to know Gina. Thanks. I did not realize that.
http://www.countryinns.com/capecanaveralfl

Ant

[yogibigdog]

I posted pictures of the Country Inn and Suites here is the link:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1431398

[pwgs]

nice pics:thumbsup2

I think you have made up my mind on the hotel. Hopefully no weddings there next april.

Thanks

[anty30]

yogibigdog,
thanks so much for the pics. I am booking that hotel.
Anty:thumbsup2

[yogibigdog]

nice pics:thumbsup2

I think you have made up my mind on the hotel. Hopefully no weddings there next april.

Thanks

I talked to the manager about the wedding. He said it had been booked before the hotel was even complete and that they will not have any more weddings by the pool area.

[4newtocruise]

Anybody know anything about the Residence Inn. My DH has points with Marriott, we were thinking of staying there.

-Joan

[yogibigdog]

Anybody know anything about the Residence Inn. My DH has points with Marriott, we were thinking of staying there.

-Joan

I walked over there last Friday. It looks very nice. The serve a full hot breakfast. It would also be a great place to stay.

[Tinkified]

Hi everyone!

Looks like the Country Inn and Suites are going to be busy! We booked and got the $99.00 hot deal! Thanks yogibigdog for the pics and recommend! Still waiting on airfare to be made available! Even that can't come too fast for me...I like to have all my ducks in a row and know all the details!

We are doing a car rental from MCO...with Budget, I think, and we are planning on doing Downtown Disney...I think we will feel rushed doing the parks after arriving mid-dayish on Friday...so we are going to get a little magic in and enjoy the pool at the CI & S.

Anyone interested in a dinner for Friday evening? My last cruise meets group did a dinner at Grills...I think it is right at the port..I believe.

Michelle

[anty30]

Hi everyone!

Looks like the Country Inn and Suites are going to be busy! We booked and got the $99.00 hot deal! Thanks yogibigdog for the pics and recommend! Still waiting on airfare to be made available! Even that can't come too fast for me...I like to have all my ducks in a row and know all the details!

We are doing a car rental from MCO...with Budget, I think, and we are planning on doing Downtown Disney...I think we will feel rushed doing the parks after arriving mid-dayish on Friday...so we are going to get a little magic in and enjoy the pool at the CI & S.

Anyone interested in a dinner for Friday evening? My last cruise meets group did a dinner at Grills...I think it is right at the port..I believe.

Michelle

Hey Michelle,

I booked the $99 rate also. I think a dinner at Grills would be great. We are going to try and fly out of Westchester early in the am and have a day at the pool also. Sounds like it will be a great start to our magical cruise.:grouphug:
Anyone else?

Antoinette

[njmoms]

Hi all,

We had originally booked on-board for the week of April 5, 2008. Our school calendar came out last week so I called this morning to change it to the April 19, 2008 cruise and was told by Disney that the cruise is completely booked!!!! Does anyone know if that is true, or is there something else I should know about????????

Very sad at the moment! :confused3

[pwgs]

Hi all,

We had originally booked on-board for the week of April 5, 2008. Our school calendar came out last week so I called this morning to change it to the April 19, 2008 cruise and was told by Disney that the cruise is completely booked!!!! Does anyone know if that is true, or is there something else I should know about????????

Very sad at the moment! :confused3

I was on the disney cruise web site yesterday and they still showed all cat's 4-12 avaliable. I would check again or try a travel agent

[anty30]

Hi all,

We had originally booked on-board for the week of April 5, 2008. Our school calendar came out last week so I called this morning to change it to the April 19, 2008 cruise and was told by Disney that the cruise is completely booked!!!! Does anyone know if that is true, or is there something else I should know about????????

Very sad at the moment! :confused3

I am perplexed by this. :confused3 How many in your group? Maybe they dont have a cabin to accomodate your party size? Maybe the catagory you want is full? Maybe the kids clubs are filled to capacity? I just dont understand it. I would call back and try and get a supervisor.
Good luck. Keep us posted.popcorn::

[Angiefromalberta]

I know how the children have to be potty-trained to be part of the children's groups. My DD will have just turned 3 and I wonder if she will be potty trained fully by then as my other DD wasn't. She will be too old for day care. But can't she just wear pull ups and I can go check her out in a couple hours to change her. How would they even know??
Does anyone have any experience with this?
TIA
Angie (still excited!!)

[anty30]

I am not experienced with this issue because both of my kids were trained early, but I would assume as long as your 3 year old does not do #2 in the pull-up, it would be ok. How would they know? :confused3 Who knows, she might surprise you and be totally trained by then. :thumbsup2

[LadyShiva]

Hi all,

We had originally booked on-board for the week of April 5, 2008. Our school calendar came out last week so I called this morning to change it to the April 19, 2008 cruise and was told by Disney that the cruise is completely booked!!!! Does anyone know if that is true, or is there something else I should know about????????

Very sad at the moment! :confused3

We just booked a Cat 5 for this cruise. I'd call again and check?

*wave* Hiya, all! DH, myself, and 3 year old DD have booked this cruise. I'm hoping kiddo will get to do more on this cruise; we just got off a backwards 4 Day Wonder where kiddo had a blast in Flounder's Reef.

Brandie

[LadyShiva]

Oops, sorry, I changed to a May 3rd cruise today. *wave*

Have a great time! Leave a Konk Kooler (or 5) for us! :)

Brandie

[lilo62]

Just wanted to bump this to keep it active!

How is everyone?!

[cmaelltt1]

Hello everyone,

This sure is a quiet bunch so far. I've been reading the last 10 pages and figured I better speak up and say hello.

My name is Carrie. My family and I are booked on this cruise. We booked onboard the eastern cruise the week after Thanksgiving. That was our first cruise and we loved it so much. My husband, Kevin, and my 3 kids are very much looking forward to going on the western route. I am especially excited to see Key West. It has been on my list of places I want to visit for years. My kids are Lauryn, almost 15, Maysen, 8, and Jamie, 6. (ages in April 08).
The older 2 are girls and my son is the baby. We live in Virginia and will drive to FL. I'm also trying to talk my parents into joining us.

That's it for now.

[anty30]

Welcome Carrie and fam.:grouphug:

My DS will be 7 on the cruise so I guess Jamie and will be with him in the club.pirate: pirate:

You are going to love the western ports. They are beautiful. Any plans so far? Excursions? Which dining do you have?

Antoinette

[DisneyMomforLife]

Hi everyone!! :wave2:

I am about 99% sure that I will "officially" end up on this meet thread but I could be jumping the gun!!

We are previous one-time Disney cruisers and when we got off of the Wonder back in October of 2006, I said to my husband, "so, if I don't bother you for any quick 3 or 4 night cruises in 2007, can we do a 7 night on the Magic in 2008?" And of course, since in 06 a cruise in 08 sounded so far away ... he said yes. Well, I just hit him up with the old, "you said so ... and you know that the sooner we book, the cheaper the prices will be" and he said FINE! We'll book in two months!!!

We will most likely be traveling with his brother and my sister in law and their 3 kids who have never cruised before but heard so many wonderful things about our first one, that they want to do it now. We are pretty much sure that the Western will win out due to the itinerary but the only problem I can see with it is that the Eastern on the 12th actually lines up with the vacation week for the kids. BUT, that might not matter since we usually take them out of school so as to NOT be on the same week as vacation so ... I think this is where I should be!!

At any rate, I am super excited beyond even any words at all. We are HUGE Disney fans and my husband has said that out of all of our trips, our 3 nights on the WONDER was probably one of our best vacations ever and we try to travel as much as we can so that meant a lot.

Has anyone here done the Western yet? I guess I'll be reading up a few Western trip reports over the next few months. I would be happy with 5 days on Castaway Cay but I think everyone would. My dd9 and I parasailed last time and I will be insisting that my husband and DS17 do it this time as well. It was so amazing.

Well, hope you all have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all of the MOMS out there!!!


Kat

[anty30]

Hi everyone!! :wave2:

I am about 99% sure that I will "officially" end up on this meet thread but I could be jumping the gun!!

We are previous one-time Disney cruisers and when we got off of the Wonder back in October of 2006, I said to my husband, "so, if I don't bother you for any quick 3 or 4 night cruises in 2007, can we do a 7 night on the Magic in 2008?" And of course, since in 06 a cruise in 08 sounded so far away ... he said yes. Well, I just hit him up with the old, "you said so ... and you know that the sooner we book, the cheaper the prices will be" and he said FINE! We'll book in two months!!!

We will most likely be traveling with his brother and my sister in law and their 3 kids who have never cruised before but heard so many wonderful things about our first one, that they want to do it now. We are pretty much sure that the Western will win out due to the itinerary but the only problem I can see with it is that the Eastern on the 12th actually lines up with the vacation week for the kids. BUT, that might not matter since we usually take them out of school so as to NOT be on the same week as vacation so ... I think this is where I should be!!

At any rate, I am super excited beyond even any words at all. We are HUGE Disney fans and my husband has said that out of all of our trips, our 3 nights on the WONDER was probably one of our best vacations ever and we try to travel as much as we can so that meant a lot.

Has anyone here done the Western yet? I guess I'll be reading up a few Western trip reports over the next few months. I would be happy with 5 days on Castaway Cay but I think everyone would. My dd9 and I parasailed last time and I will be insisting that my husband and DS17 do it this time as well. It was so amazing.

Well, hope you all have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all of the MOMS out there!!!


Kat


Hi Kat.
I see you are from Norwalk. My DH works there! Also, Lilo and her DH live in CT. I hope you end up joining us.
FYI:You should call DCL soon because there was another post about how our ship was all booked. I would hate to see you and your family miss out on this cruise.:sad2:
My family did the western in 2006. We loved it. So much so that we are going again!:love:
You must do Stingray city in GC. It was the highlight of our trip. :thumbsup2We plan on doing Dolphin Discovery in Coz next year. Also, the Pirate Encounter in GC looks good.
Keep us updated with your cruise plans. Have a great Mothers Day.:flower3:
Antoinette

[Mass-cateer]

We will be joining you on the April 19 cruise on the Magic. (Jennifer, Jeff, Jordan - 12, Jillian - 10)

We sailed the Eastern last month and booked this one while on board. We have sailed on the Magic twice now, both times Eastern Itinerary. We are excited that this cruise will be the Western. Our friends here in Massachusetts got us hooked on the Disney cruise in April 2005, they will be on the crusie next year as well. :woohoo:

Looking forward to researching the excursions offered on the Western stops. We are big watersports and snorkel fans so I am sure we will find something fun. Last month we went on the snorkel trip in St. Thomas aboard the Dabloon pirate sail boat pirate: to turtle cove. Saw some turtles and had so much fun on the boat. The crew was awesome.

Anyway, looking forward to "waiting" until April with you on this board.

[conny264]

Hello and a big welcome to all of you,who joined us.
Just back from 2 wonderful weeks in Scotland,so the next vacation will be the cruise.
Can´t wait.
Greetings from Germany
Conny:flower3:

[cmaelltt1]

Thanks for the hello. I am still not sure about excursions. We started planning for our first Cruise in 2004 for a 2005 sailing. We ended up postponing for a year because my dh had some job issues. So it was a long time to be thinking of a cruise. After we got off in December I decided to take some time and not think about it at all. I didn't even start any cruise scrapbooking. But now I'm ready to start thinking again and need to read up on some excursions.

I know that Kevin wants to see some of the ruins in Mexico and my daughter wants to swim with the dolphins. I'm not exactly sure how that will work out. We didn't do any excurions on the Eastern Cruise. My oldest did the teen excursion on Castaway but that is all. I really enjoyed not doing any. So I don't want to over schedule this one either. It's nice to be on the ships while everyone else is off. We did get off the ship to walk around at every port.

For those that have cruised this route before, what were your favorite excursions?

We have the late dinner. I enjoyed it last time and the kids did great with it. But since we had the clocks set back most of the time, it wasn't a huge change. I am a little worried about it on this sailing. Do we change the clocks at all? I would like to get the 8:00 seating which would be a bit better than the 8:30 that we had before. Is therer a way to lock into that before we sail?

I don't think I mentioned before but we will be having 2 (connected) outside staterooms. I don't remeber the number right now. But it's mid-ship. My parents have decided not to come. So it will just be our family again.

My son asks all the time when can we cruise again so he can go down the Mickey slide.

Can't wait to sail again.

Welcome Carrie and fam.:grouphug:

You are going to love the western ports. They are beautiful. Any plans so far? Excursions? Which dining do you have?

Antoinette

[conny264]

Hi Carrie.
We are planning on doing the Tullum Excursion with Disney in Cozumel.If your husband is interested why don´t you consider splitting up?You could go to the DOlphin swim with the kids and so everybody is happy.Although I´m not sure how you would fell about going seperate ways.It was just a thought.
For Grand Cayman we áre planning on doing a snorkel/Stingray excursion with Captain Marvin.
I think there is a time change on the Western,but don´t know exactly when and how.
Greetings from Germany:flower3:

[yogibigdog]

We will be joining you on the April 19 cruise on the Magic. (Jennifer, Jeff, Jordan - 12, Jillian - 10)

We sailed the Eastern last month and booked this one while on board. We have sailed on the Magic twice now, both times Eastern Itinerary. We are excited that this cruise will be the Western. Our friends here in Massachusetts got us hooked on the Disney cruise in April 2005, they will be on the crusie next year as well. :woohoo:

Looking forward to researching the excursions offered on the Western stops. We are big watersports and snorkel fans so I am sure we will find something fun. Last month we went on the snorkel trip in St. Thomas aboard the Dabloon pirate sail boat pirate: to turtle cove. Saw some turtles and had so much fun on the boat. The crew was awesome.

Anyway, looking forward to "waiting" until April with you on this board.

Where you on the 04/14/07 Magic?
I remember seeing your name. We were on the 04/14/07 Magic and also rebooked onboard.
We had such great time!
:welcome: to all the new Dis'er this is shaping up to be a great thread.

[Mass-cateer]

Yogibigdog,

We did cruise the 4/14 Eastern last month. I recognize your screen name from the 4/14 Thread. We had so much fun that we booked onboard for next year.:yay:

[pwgs]

(Bump):rolleyes1

It's been to quiet...pirate:

[anty30]

I agree. it has been quiet. How is everyone doing? I followed the Med repo cruise. It sounds like it was very cold and rocky. :sick:

[Tinkified]

Hi to everyone too from NY. Spring is finally in full swing with Summer around the corner....busy mowing and planting instead of reading and posting!


Welcome to any new families I may have missed.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Michelle

[Angiefromalberta]

Hi everyone,
I was thinking about the cruise constantly and then we decided to build a new home and I haven't been thinking about the trip much at all lately. I am not sure if that is good or not. It is kind of nice to focus on something else for a while at it was becoming an obsession.

I am going to order some pirate costumes soon. I think it will give us something else to get excited about in the interm.

I am just watching "The Lot" right now. I like it. I watched it last night and thought it was really funny.

Angie

[OSUBuckly]

Hello everybody,

Glad to see this board has been created. My fiance and will be be onboard this cruise as well. This will be a very special cruise for us because it is our official HONEYMOON. Very exciting indeed. We are getting married on April 18 in Orlando, just the day before, so will we truly be NEWlyweds! Very exciting indeed.

This will be our second Disney cruise. We did a four day stint on the Wonder back in September of 2006. That trip included a lot of family so it will be quite different with it being just the two of us. I know we'd like a night at Palo and a few evenings at Sessions (the Cadillac Lounge of the Magic, correct?) but other than that, no excursions planned. I'll do some more extensive research in the upcoming months to set up some activities. I know it will include some quality spa time and the ruins in Cozumel.

We are staying in a Category 5 on Deck 7. Late dinner seating. I figured that is best for us as we are a young couple with no children. I guess that is all the info I have right now for introductions. It will be very nice chatting with you all and I can't wait until the trip!

[conny264]

A big welcome from Germany and Congartulations on your upcoming wedding.
Conny:flower3:

[OSUBuckly]

Thanks, Conny. Very exciting, but stressful times. April 19 will be quite the relief.

[rantnnravin]

Ahoy Mateys!!!pirate:
The Rant Family here, asking permission to come aboard.

This will be our first cruise EVER and will ahve mmmmaaaaaannnnyyyyy questions about onboard and in-port activities.

Our crew:
Me
DH - Ed
Jordan - age 8
:sail:
Anchors Aweigh!!!

[conny264]

Permission granted,welcome onboard.
I´m sure,we all try our best to answer any questions,so go ahaed and ask.

Greetings from Germany
Conny:flower3:

[rantnnravin]

thanks Cpt. Conny!

I'm so overwhelmed trying to figure out what to bring, how much to budget, what excursions to choose, what activities not to miss...
and i thought planning a WDW trip was confusing...:confused:

not to mention DH is suffering from sticker-shock now...

[Tinkified]

Welcome OSUBuckly and Rantannravin!

To Rantannravin: We are from NY too...we have a bunch of us from NY here on our meet thread! We did our first cruise in March of this year...and can say without a doubt...OUR BEST VACATION AND MONEY SPENT EVER! HANDS DOWN! Tell your DH not to worry...he will feel the same after the cruise I am sure. We rebooked...and here we are!

We have been to WDW 2x with our daughter (6 yrs old at time of cruise) and of course we all loved that and thought it was our best vacation ever...and she was very afraid of not liking it as much as WDW...She LOVED the cruise. We all kind of feel that it will probably be some time before we choose WDW over a cruise again..

Welcome!
Michelle

[rantnnravin]

Hey New Yorkers!
Yeah, as soon as i saw the very RARE 10-day spring break for my school, i started to plan a WDW trip, then DH said, "i want to try the Disney Cruise before we do WDW again."
so, i told him, if we want to go on a cruise during next year's peak, we need to book NOW, like, as in, yesterday. Since he replied with, "yeah, i know you gotta book those early" (more "thinking out loud" than anything) I got got online and booked it STAT, before he could change his mind- LOL
then, i told him i booked it.
of course, i booked the CAT 7 (secret CAT 6) stateroom:rolleyes1
you had to see him, "How much?" $xx :scared1:
"does that include airfare?" no.:faint:

wait'll he sees what the onboard charges are gonna be!!!:eek:
:lmao::rotfl2:

[OSUBuckly]

Coincidently enough, we live in New York as well. I guess there is something in the water that made us all choose this particular date.

Disney cruises definitely aren't the cheapest vacation one can choose, but it is absolutely worth it. We've been on one previous Disney cruise and toyed with the idea of trying another Cruise line. But only because I wanted to hit Alaska and Disney doesn't go there (yet). Once we changed our plans, Disney was our only choice!

[anty30]

New York, New York, a helluva town... :dancer:

Hello everybody. Welcome. :grouphug:

I am so excited to go on this cruise and meet everyone. Make sure you all go to Home D and get the lime green paint chips. Cut them out, write your screenname on them and wear them when we board. This way we can identify eachother. You can laminate them too. :thumbsup2

[conny264]

Hi Rantnnravin
Which Cat 7 did you get.we are in 7122 on Deck 7.Unfortunatly there was not Secret navigator Verandah available,when we booked.So,someone must have cancelled.
Good fpor you that you got one.Your Husband will eventually over the shock.Wait ´till he gets on board.
Great planning.
Conny:flower3:

[rantnnravin]

We booked stateroom 6134 on 5/22/07. We actually had a choice of port vs starboard and since port "wasn't good for sunsets" we knew that port would be superb for "sunrise" which is when i plan on being out on the verandah.
I know it will be be worth the $, but it seems like it's gonna turn out to be 3x what a WDW trip costs for us once all is said and done. At least i have a year to save:lmao:

[yogibigdog]

Leaving for Disney World next week.

Wanted to check in to see if anyone purchased their plane tickets yet?

The ones I have found have been really high.

[OSUBuckly]

Haven't purchased any plane tickets yet. I'm gonna wait until I get back from THIS year's vacation (non-Disney) before I throw myself head first in to next year's. Although if any of you New Yorkers find any deals, please let the rest of us know. :)

[wdhinn89]

Hi everyone! Add us on the April 19,2008 list.

Diane - 43
Willie-43
Alex- 13
Victoria - 10

Also from New York.

I heard there was a shore excursion from Port Canaveral to the
Space Center on the final day. Does anybody know if that is true?

Thanks

:hourglass

[OSUBuckly]

I heard there was a shore excursion from Port Canaveral to the
Space Center on the final day. Does anybody know if that is true?


Welcome! Glad to have you all aboard. As for the shore excursion, I don't see how that is possible. The boat gets back to Florida very early in the morning and the only activities that day are breakfast and debarking. However, some people might plan something unofficially, but that would be news to me. I love the Space Center though.

Anybody have any other light to shed?

[anty30]

Hi everyone! Add us on the April 19,2008 list.

Diane - 43
Willie-43
Alex- 13
Victoria - 10

Also from New York.

I heard there was a shore excursion from Port Canaveral to the
Space Center on the final day. Does anybody know if that is true?

Thanks

:hourglass


Welcome. Where in NY are you from?:confused3

[AddictedtoMickey]

Hi everyone!

Please add myself, my wife and three girls to the roll call! We're from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Frank (41)
Pam (40)
Jamie (10)
Sydney (7)
Brenna (4)

We're excited to be planning our first disney cruise!

Has anyone done the scuba excursions on either Cozumel or Grand Cayman? I'm trying to decide between the two.

Thanks,
Frank

[yogibigdog]

Hi everyone! Add us on the April 19,2008 list.

Diane - 43
Willie-43
Alex- 13
Victoria - 10

Also from New York.

I heard there was a shore excursion from Port Canaveral to the
Space Center on the final day. Does anybody know if that is true?

Thanks

:hourglass
:cheer2: Welcome.

No, Disney Cruise Line does not offer a shore excursion to Kennedy but it is easy enough to do on you own. Are you using there transfers or are you getting to the port on your own?

[SueInBoston]

Leaving for Disney World next week.

Wanted to check in to see if anyone purchased their plane tickets yet?

The ones I have found have been really high.


Hi Everyone,
My family has a reservation on this cruise but we are moving it to 2009 when that schedule comes out :sad1: That is why I have not checked in...

However yogi, I have an airfare question for you...I'm currently checking airfare from BOS to MCO for the same week and it's awful. I know you were on the April vacation Eastern, can you tell me how much you paid for air this year? We did Wonder and WDW during vacation week, I waited for AIrtran and Jet BLue for their fares last year and ended up paying $400pp. Trying to find something less for next year but doesn't look good at all.

Sue

[wdhinn89]

Hi everyone,

We are from Long Island, NY.

We did purchase transfers back and forth. We did that when we cruised in May of 2005 on the Wonder and it just worked out easier for us.

Has anybody seen any discounts codes. Hoping to save a little money.

We booked a cat 5 on deck 7. I only see a discount on cat 12

[OSUBuckly]

Hi everyone,
We are from Long Island, NY.
We did purchase transfers back and forth. We did that when we cruised in May of 2005 on the Wonder and it just worked out easier for us.
Has anybody seen any discounts codes. Hoping to save a little money.
We booked a cat 5 on deck 7. I only see a discount on cat 12

Looks like we will be neighbors in more ways than one. We live in Brooklyn (currently) and also have a Cat 5 on deck 7.

We didn't book any transfers because we'll have a car while in Orlando the week before. Might as well use it to get us to the port. Still not sure how we'll get from the port to the airport, but I know we have options.

Has anyone on our Cruise ever done the 7 day Western (or Eastern) before?

[anty30]

We did the 7 day Western last year. It is fabulous. :thumbsup2

We left the kids on the ship in KW & took the trolley around to all the sights. The one where you can get on & off as much as you want. We had a 2 for 1 coupon so we did it on our own. Ate at Sloppy Joe's, had some frozen key lime pie, went to the southernmost point, etc. It is a beautiful port.

In Coz we did a DCL excursion. The Fury Catamaran swim & snorkle. We loved it. Very nice day. Never got to really see the island because we were in the water all day. This next cruise we plan on doing the Dolphin Swim. :cool1:

In GC we did Stingray City and island tour on our own through Nativeway. It was the highlight of our trip. :woohoo: I would highly recommend it. Next year we want to do the Pirate Adventure. pirate:

DD wants to do parasailing on CC. :eek: We'll see.

[OSUBuckly]

We did the 7 day Western last year. It is fabulous. :thumbsup2

Any desire to take an Eastern? I have family who seems to enjoy that trip more but I can't understand why. The Western just seems to have the more balanced itinerary. I'm always curious as to why people choose Western vs. Eastern.

[anty30]

Any desire to take an Eastern? I have family who seems to enjoy that trip more but I can't understand why. The Western just seems to have the more balanced itinerary. I'm always curious as to why people choose Western vs. Eastern.

I have been to the islands on the Eastern itinerary. I have been to just about every carribean island, come to think of it. I just enjoy the western ports more. I would love it if DCL added a Southern Carribean cruise to their schedule. Aruba, Barbados, etc. That would be great.:thumbsup2

[Angiefromalberta]

Hi everyone!

Please add myself, my wife and three girls to the roll call! We're from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Frank (41)
Pam (40)
Jamie (10)
Sydney (7)
Brenna (4)

We're excited to be planning our first disney cruise!

Has anyone done the scuba excursions on either Cozumel or Grand Cayman? I'm trying to decide between the two.

Thanks,
Frank

Hello fellow Canadian friends. So far your family and mine are the only Canadians to check in. Like you, we are planning our first cruise too.

We live in Lethbridge Alberta but my husband is a Newfie. We have the candy countdown on.

Our girls will be 7 and 3 at the time of cruising.:goodvibes

Angie :yay:

[Mass-cateer]

Leaving for Disney World next week.

Wanted to check in to see if anyone purchased their plane tickets yet?

The ones I have found have been really high.


Yogibigdog,

I bought our tickets last week...BOS to MCO via Charlotte on US AIR. I prefer to fly out of Manchester or even the direct flights from BOS-MCO, but too much $$. I bought these tickets on USAir.com and paid $290 per ticket. I don't think they will get cheaper. For the cruise we did this past April, I bought them 330 days before and paid about this much as well.

[conny264]

I´m so envy that you got your flights allready.I´m trying and trying,but so far it´s close to impossible to get a good connecting from Europe to Orlando.
But I´ve been in contact with Capt.Marvins in Grand Cayman.They seem very nice and helpful.We will definitly to an Excursion with them instead of booking with Disney.
We will do Key West on our own and hopefully the Jeep excursion in Cozumel with Disney.
Our first Cruise was the Eastern in 2004.The Islands were nice and one more Seaday was great.But now we´re excited to go on the Western and meet everybody.
Greetings from Germany
Conny:flower3:

[OSUBuckly]

Conny brought up an interesting question I have for everybody (and I'll be sure to ask closer to the 90 day activity booking date). For those that have sailed on the Western (or know much more about it), do you have any non-Disney excursions you can recommend? I'm always a big fan of saving money and I hear there are quite a few decent private companies out there to book with. If anybody has any suggestions, that would be great! :thumbsup2

Thanks!

[anty30]

Conny brought up an interesting question I have for everybody (and I'll be sure to ask closer to the 90 day activity booking date). For those that have sailed on the Western (or know much more about it), do you have any non-Disney excursions you can recommend? I'm always a big fan of saving money and I hear there are quite a few decent private companies out there to book with. If anybody has any suggestions, that would be great! :thumbsup2

Thanks!

Like I said earlier, I definately recommend Nativeway in GC. They were about half the price of the DCL excursion. We paid when we got there, in cash. I believe it was around $45.00pp for the island tour and stingray city. :thumbsup2

[AddictedtoMickey]

Hello fellow Canadian friends. So far your family and mine are the only Canadians to check in. Like you, we are planning our first cruise too.

We live in Lethbridge Alberta but my husband is a Newfie. We have the candy countdown on.

Our girls will be 7 and 3 at the time of cruising.:goodvibes

Angie :yay:
Hi Angie,
Thanks for saying hello. Are you looking into any shore excursions yet? Maybe our girls will be pals! :earsboy:

Frank

[Tinkified]

Just checkin' in and My oh my, we are on the third page:sad2: ...toward the bottom no less! I guess we all are suffering from spring fever, now that it is almost summer! I know we have been busy with spring clean up, dance recitals, and now the pool. And I am a teacher :teacher: too, so here in NY we are in our final 2 weeks...the only thing that could make me any happier right now would be a vacation on the magic...

Airlines ressies for our cruise have opened up...which gives me a glimmer of hope that April 08 is around the corner. We are going to sit and wait until Jetblue or Airtran publishes theirs...Jetblue is into January 08 now so it shouldn't be too long!:banana: :banana:

Joan and Anty...any ideas on dates for a meet at splashdown?

Happy Monday Morning all! oh, and welcome to anyone new whom I may have missed!

Michelle

[anty30]

Hey Michelle, Your schedule sounds like mine. This is the beginning of our next to last week of school. So this week it is class picnics, field days, field trips, clean-up of desks, etc. etc. I am hoping there will be no more homework from here on out. Lacrosse and baseball finish this week also. :cool1:
We are camping at Jellystone in Woodridge, NY on the weekend of the 22nd. (We get a lodge, so I dont know if you call that camping, but we do!;) )
Mohegan Sun the 30th of June (O&A Comedy Show :lmao: )
So we have a lot going on.

I, too, am waiting for the Air Tran & Jet Blue tix to open up out of Westchester County Airport. That is our 1st choice, Stewart is our 2nd choice. We shall see. :confused3 We are flying out of Laguardia in August to go to Myrtle Beach, and I really do not enjoy going to those large airports.

I dont have any date yet for Splashdown, but I am thinking July definately.

Antoinette

[wdhinn89]

I'm with you guys on the air out of NY. Jet Blue has not posted yet like some of the other airlines and I don't know if I should wait. :confused3

For our Nov 8th trip to WDW, I waited for Jet Blue fares and had to change are dates by one day because the Nov 7th airfare was outrageous. By the time Jet Blues rates come out, all the other airlines rates are sky high because they have already been out for months.

Enjoy this beautiful day my fellow New Yorkers and every one else too!:cool1:

[TJeff]

Hey all,
Just checking in.
This will be our 2nd cruise.
Our first one was this past April 14th, 7 day eastern.

Me (jeff)
DW
DMIL
DS - 6
DD - 2

We're from Taunton

Can't wait!

I'll be keeing an eye out for Jet blue to release our dates.
Ended up paying 600+ round trip for each of us this year.

[gottagoo]

Well I just signed up for our first Disney cruise!!! (4-19-08 cat 6)

AND yes we are from NY. Its funny how many New Yorkers are going - especially from upstate. We are from just outside Middletown and I too work for a local school district. I saw someone is going to Jellystone at the end of the month well we are going this weekend for some needed R&R. My DD will be 14 at the time we push off from dry land. Does anyone else have a teen?

Also how is the teen club - DD can't wait but is she getting her hopes up too high?

[kewbrickny]

Wow - look at all the Hudson Valley people. We will be joining everyone on our first cruise (shhh, it is still a surprise!!!). We are from Tallman NY (Rockland County).

ME - Kev
DW
DD 15
DD 10
DD 7

Looking forward to it. We are traveling with another couple and their son as well. Also watching the plane tix $$$ as well. See ya real soon!

[anty30]

Welcome fellow NY's. :grouphug:

kewbrick, my DD is 10 also. Maybe they will bond.princess: princess:

[wdhinn89]

TJEFF, I noticed Jet Blue has that $299 one way fare around holiday times, we paid $600 roundtrip in February that is why I'm wondering if I should just book American Airlines now before theirlow fares get higher. I really prefer Jet Blue though:confused3

[Tinkified]

Welcome all newcommers to our little thread...even the ones not from NY!! I can't believe how many people are going from NY and the hudson valley region...maybe we can ask for a regional/state discount...tee-hee! Well at least it will be easy for us to plan a post-cruise reunion!

Gottagoo..where do you teach? I teach in Newburgh. Counting the days! Actually, I am headed off to a retirement party for our districts Physical Therapist.

For those of you in the hudson valley region...we have tentative plans for a pre-cruise meet with kids and all at Splashdown in Fishkill/poughkeepsie area this summer. No specific date as of yet. Hope you can join us! Maybe just us adults should go out too!

Ciao for Now
Michelle

[TJeff]

TJEFF, I noticed Jet Blue has that $299 one way fare around holiday times, we paid $600 roundtrip in February that is why I'm wondering if I should just book American Airlines now before theirlow fares get higher. I really prefer Jet Blue though:confused3

Last year, there was a ding with a 4 day period for buying multiple tickets on jet blue for just $79 each way.
My dates WERE included in there for that 4 day period, but that was it.
We didn't know how early we wanted to fly down and well.... you snooze, you loose and we did big time.
$600+ round trip each.

I'll keep watching Jet blue for the next few months.
If I get something, I'll post it up here too for you.

Jeff

[wdhinn89]

Last year, there was a ding with a 4 day period for buying multiple tickets on jet blue for just $79 each way.
My dates WERE included in there for that 4 day period, but that was it.
We didn't know how early we wanted to fly down and well.... you snooze, you loose and we did big time.
$600+ round trip each.

I'll keep watching Jet blue for the next few months.
If I get something, I'll post it up here too for you.

Jeff

Thanks!

We fly out of JFK or LGA if it's cheaper.

[wdhinn89]

School's almost out for the summer. 4 more days:cool1:

[anty30]

School's almost out for the summer. 4 more days:cool1:

:banana: :woohoo: :cool1: :cheer2:

I feel the same way. No more homework, no more books...

[Tinkified]

...and I will finish that line for you.....No more teacher's dirty looks....

But gosh, just as the third week of June rolls around...that is certainly is not the look you get from me.....cause...I BE SMILING all the way home!

Happy almost summer vacation, at least to us Northerners!

[Angiefromalberta]

I am sooo excited. We booked our flights today for the cruise and got all 4 seats on airmiles and direct flights!!
You can't beat that!! Great luck!
Angie:banana: :woohoo:

[wdhinn89]

I am sooo excited. We booked our flights today for the cruise and got all 4 seats on airmiles and direct flights!!
You can't beat that!! Great luck!
Angie:banana: :woohoo:

Lucky You:banana:

Still waiting for Jet Blue.

[conny264]

Good for you.
Over here in Europe,they still have no flights released,although website says 11 month prior to travel date.
Hope,they come up with something soon.

Take care
Conny:flower3:

[rantnnravin]

two more days of proctoring, graduation, and pick up your check day left...:banana:

[kruk4us]

:dance3: Hello,

We are also joining in!!!First time cruise for us. Can't wait !!!!!It will be myself My husband
(Mark) my 2 kids Jared will be 7 and Ava will be 5 at time of cruise.
We are going with my brother Paul and his family (of E. bridgewater,Ma)
as well as his sister in laws family and friends of our also family of 4.
We can't wait.....Paul told me about this site and thought I would sign on.

Holly
Weymouth,Ma

[OSUBuckly]

Welcome Holly!

You are in for quite a treat with a Disney Cruise! It is especially fun traveling with other family. Often, I would only see the other members of my family at dinner. There were so many things to do, that everybody could do their own thing.

Now how to pass those long 10 months until the cruise? :confused3

[4newtocruise]

Boy, have I missed a lot! It's been a while since I've been on the tread. School's out now, so maybe I'll finally have time to put some thought into this cruise again! You guy's got me all excited again!

I have done some booking. We ended up booking the Residence Inn - anyone else? We rented the car from Hertz. I guess I better start looking at airfare!

Michelle/Antoninette: Hope your summer is going well! Let me know when you want to go to Splashdown!!! We are going on vacation the last week of July to Aug. 4th.

Welcome everyone from New York!!! I can't believe how many are from the area! We are from Middletown, NY!!!

:beach:
-Joan

[4newtocruise]

Wow, flights are expensive! :eek:

$259!!! Are there any flight secrets from any of you! That price was from LGA. I also tried Newark, Albany, Wilkes Barre, and Newburgh, all of them were more! Help

-Joan

[anty30]

Wow, flights are expensive! :eek:

$259!!! Are there any flight secrets from any of you! That price was from LGA. I also tried Newark, Albany, Wilkes Barre, and Newburgh, all of them were more! Help

-Joan

Joan, I would wait a little lobger for airfare. Stewart is closest to you. I am sure they will have some good rates by the end of the summer. We are waiting to book out of Westchester on Jet Blue or Air Tran. :thumbsup2
Antoinette

[wdhinn89]

Hi All! Waiting patiently with the rest of you. Also waiting for Jet Blue's rates to come out. We live on Long Island, NY so looking to go out of JFK or LGA with whatever carrier has the cheapest fare.

Does anybody have any excursion recommendations? Other than fishing at Castaway Cay, we have no idea.

:dance3: :dance3: :dance3:

[Tinkified]

Welcome kruk4us! Our group is growing and growing and growing! The more the merrier! Yeah! This is going to be such fun! Now only to figure out what to do with the next 10 months, as someone else has said.

Some points to respond to:

We are waiting for jetblue too...out of Stewart....if we can avoid the big 3 in NYC at a resonable price we will be happy as pigs in...you know what...we paid 1500 last march for Disney air out of Stewart (we fly during the winter months and wanted to be protected by disney in case of bad weather/delays/cancellations.

We are doing the Residence Inn the night before as well. We haven't booked the car yet...but thinking of doing Hertz as well....

Excursions

...we have a wild dolphin adventure booked for Key West. It is a private sail for 6 people...we are a party of 3 so there is room for three more if anyone is interested. WWW.wilddolphinadventures.com

...in cozumel we are doing a dune buggy tour with beach and snorkle time. It sounds like a lot of fun..we are not booked yet...but I have it book marked to reserve...
http://cozumelcruiseexcursions.com/CozumelDuneBuggyTour.htm

...in the Cayman's I think we are just going to beach it..maybe rent a jetski or two

...and Castaway Cay is all about the R and R...


And some other trip details:

Anyone one doing a spread sheet of sorts for our group...you know, names, hometown, children's ages, cabin number, dinner seating time etc? I don't know how or I would offer.

And how bout a pre-cruise meet the 18th for those of us who are arriving then? Our last group did a dinner at a restaurant right on the pier called Grills. We weren't there the night before last time but heard it was good.

And how bout a group ressie for Palo...I think they do a private brunch. Our group did that too on Sunday...but our daughter hadn't gotten into the groove of clubs that early on in the cruise so we didn't do it.


And for my fellow Hudson Valleyers....I am still in for Splashdown...Let's figure out a date that works for us...

Ciao for Now
Michelle

[wdhinn89]

Welcome kruk4us! Our group is growing and growing and growing! The more the merrier! Yeah! This is going to be such fun! Now only to figure out what to do with the next 10 months, as someone else has said.

Some points to respond to:

We are waiting for jetblue too...out of Stewart....if we can avoid the big 3 in NYC at a resonable price we will be happy as pigs in...you know what...we paid 1500 last march for Disney air out of Stewart (we fly during the winter months and wanted to be protected by disney in case of bad weather/delays/cancellations.

We are doing the Residence Inn the night before as well. We haven't booked the car yet...but thinking of doing Hertz as well....

Excursions

...we have a wild dolphin adventure booked for Key West. It is a private sail for 6 people...we are a party of 3 so there is room for three more if anyone is interested. WWW.wilddolphinadventures.com

...in cozumel we are doing a dune buggy tour with beach and snorkle time. It sounds like a lot of fun..we are not booked yet...but I have it book marked to reserve...
http://cozumelcruiseexcursions.com/CozumelDuneBuggyTour.htm

...in the Cayman's I think we are just going to beach it..maybe rent a jetski or two

...and Castaway Cay is all about the R and R...


And some other trip details:

Anyone one doing a spread sheet of sorts for our group...you know, names, hometown, children's ages, cabin number, dinner seating time etc? I don't know how or I would offer.

And how bout a pre-cruise meet the 18th for those of us who are arriving then? Our last group did a dinner at a restaurant right on the pier called Grills. We weren't there the night before last time but heard it was good.

And how bout a group ressie for Palo...I think they do a private brunch. Our group did that too on Sunday...but our daughter hadn't gotten into the groove of clubs that early on in the cruise so we didn't do it.


And for my fellow Hudson Valleyers....I am still in for Splashdown...Let's figure out a date that works for us...

Ciao for Now
Michelle

Thanks for the tips!

I see they are all Non-Disney excursions. Have you ever gone on any of the excursions Disney offers? We did the fishing on Castaway Cay when we were on the Wonder and loved it. We see the Dolphin excursion on the Magic but my husband saw some documentary about not doing animal excursions outside of the USA because they are not monitered for safety. I'm pushing for the stingray excursions though. :confused3

[Tinkified]

To answer your questions Wdhinn89...Yes, they are all non-disney excursions. I did a lot of research for excursions for our March 07 cruise..both on the general internet and here on the DIS...we did Divi Little Bay (St. Maarten) and a private sail and snorkle and "Ride the View" (St. Thomas) all on our own. They ended up being cheaper and we did not have crowds or time restrictions etc. We have cruised before and I felt confident doing it all on our own...although this past March was the first time we ventured out on our own...and I plan on continuing to do so because of all the freedom allowed.

I have done the dolphin encounter in Nassau at Discovery Cove on a cruise through Carnival I believe. It was really cool..and I know people who have done the excursion through Disney and without Disney and all have had positive experiences. As far as safety outside the US for these excursions, IMO, I don't think the cruise lines would contract with the providers if it wasn't safe, up to standards or the codes so to speak. As an additional sidenote, there is also a lot of info out there about the controlled swim or encounters with captured animals etc...you know that it cruel to capture the dolphins etc...I guess it all depends on your beliefs etc...

Why don't you post a specific safety question regarding the dolphin encounter on the DIS with the info you have from the show you watched? Funny about the stingray encounter though...my husband and I are leary about the stingray encounter due to Steve Irwin's death...and of course there is debate, even here on the DIS, about those encounters too.

Hope this helps some.
Ciao for Now
Michelle

[wdhinn89]

Good point. Forgot about Steve Irwin. Just thinking about when we fed them at the local aquarium. Thanks for all your info.:)

[anty30]

Hello.
I posted this earlier, but we did the Island Tour & Stingray City in GC through Nativeway on our own and it was a great experience. I would highly recommend them. :thumbsup2
Antoinette

[OSUBuckly]

...we have a wild dolphin adventure booked for Key West. It is a private sail for 6 people...we are a party of 3 so there is room for three more if anyone is interested. WWW.wilddolphinadventures.com

This sounds like fun. Since it is a private sail, what would the rates be for two of us? Also, have you done this trip before or know someone who has? Just curious why this one stood out.


...in cozumel we are doing a dune buggy tour with beach and snorkle time. It sounds like a lot of fun..we are not booked yet...but I have it book marked to reserve...
http://cozumelcruiseexcursions.com/CozumelDuneBuggyTour.htm

I would LOVE to do this trip. However, I am unable to drive a stick. That kind of takes the fun of it. Oh well. :sad2:


Anyone one doing a spread sheet of sorts for our group...you know, names, hometown, children's ages, cabin number, dinner seating time etc? I don't know how or I would offer.

That sounds like a great idea. Is anybody very proficient with Excel? If nobody else volunteers, maybe I can convince my girlfriend to do it (she is quite handy with all those MS Office programs). However, she might not have the time.

[4newtocruise]

I'm pretty proficient in Excel and have the program. I can work on that, no problem. :surfweb: I'll go back on the tread and gather as much info. as I can. I'll just be asking everyone to fill in the blanks!

I would love all of us to get together for dinner the night before - Antoninette, do you have time to organize that? That place sounds good, so they have private rooms that can accomodate a large group?

Thanks for the info. on JetBlue, any idea when there rates might come up?

Anoninette/Michelle: What days are you available in August for Splashdown? I don't have my schedule out for that month yet but if we come up with a date, I can request off at the hospital.

-Joan

[anty30]

Hey everybody,
I think the idea that Tink had with a pre-cruise dinner at Grills would be great. :grouphug: We are staying at the CIS. You dont need a private room, it is outdoor seating and we can just meet up. That way, whoever can come, comes, and if you cant make it, no big deal. It will be real casual. Here is the website for Grills, http://www.visitgrills.com/ :cool2:

I believe Jet Blue releases prices 7 months out, but dont qoute me on that.

Splashdown sounds great. Maybe one day during the week the 1st week of August? Let me know.

Antoinette

[Tinkified]

OSUBuckly:
regarding the wild dolphin adventure...it is 85 dollars per person and they take up to 6 people at a time. If you joined us it would be a party of 5...we did a private sail and snorkle in St Thomas and it was just the three of us and another couple from another shiip. Please join us if you are interested. Contact them directly and see if they still have our date and space available...assuming noone else has booked. As far as how I chose them...a did a search on the net and chose one that had a bathroom! Their rates are competative with others, they don't offer food or drink and others do at the same price, but having a 6, ooppss, she will be 7 then, on a boat for 3+ hours a bathroom is a necessity...actually when we were in St Thomas and did the private sail I think I was the only one who used the bathroom!

Regarding the dune buggy tour...I hadn't thought about the stick shift thing...My husband doesn't drive stick shift...but I do! I guess I will be doing the driving! Perhaps you can be set up with another party of 2 and have them do all the driving. I am sure you are not the only ones...in fact I read somewhere that if you are sharing the car that you take turns driving etc..Inquire...if the trip sounds like fun..it might be worth your while.

Joan: Thanks for offering to do the spreadsheet. I know excel, but I don't have access to it at home...only at work...and I am not working for the next 10 weeks...YAHOOO! WHOOPIE...YIPPEE...Can you tell I am excited about summer vacation!

I mentioned the evening before meet at the restaurant...I am not sure if Antoniette did or not...but I can handle that..as long as I am not stepping on anybody's toes. Let me know

As far as the Splashdown day goes...I somehow remember august being discussed...but I am not sure....but we are unavailable the 3rd, 8th, 9th, 10th and the 16th and the 17th.

ANYONE FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY NY REGION: we have sketchy plans to go to Splashdown in the Fishkill/Poughkeepsie area this summer. Please join us...Let us know.

Happy Summer! Hey what's the cruise countdown? Less than 10 months right?
Michelle

[Tinkified]

POLL:

Who is arriving the night before or even earlier?
And where are you staying the night before the cruise?

I posted earlier that we are staying at the Residence Inn...my bad...We are at the Country Inn and Suites...or known here on the DIS...CI & S!

[4newtocruise]

For Splashdown: How about the week of August 20th? Can we pick a date that week. Like I said, I'm pretty open, I can request off.

We are planning on flying in on Thrusday and going to Cape Canaveral on Friday. For anyone who has been there, is it an all day thing? I would love to meet for dinner as long as we make it back.

Let me know if you want me to do the spreadsheet.

-Joan

[4newtocruise]

Question: Is it difficult to get transportation to the shore excursions if you do it on your own? DCL provides transportation, correct? :confused3

-Joan

[anty30]

Hey all,
Tink - please handle the Grills dinner. That would be fab.
We are staying at CI&S friday night.
Joan - we will be away the week of the 20th in August. Heading to Myrtle Beach. Any other week in Aug is good for us.
Also, transportation is easy in the ports. The cabs are always at the piers waiting for customers. Just make sure you settle on a price before you go.
Sometimes they say $10, and then it ends up being per person when you arrive. It is safe but they are in need of cash and may try to swindle you.
Ant

[msdisney53]

:cool1: Just got off the phone with member services and booked our cruise. We will also be on Deck 6. This will be our 5th Disney cruise and our 3rd Western. It will be Myself(Denise) DH (John) DD (Gianna,who will be celebrating her 16th Birthday on board) and DD 17 (Nikki). We are also hoping to have three other families joining us.

I starting reading this while I was on hold with Disney but haven't finished yet ,10 more pages to go. :goodvibes

Denise :earsgirl: :earsboy: :earsgirl: :earsgirl:

[wdhinn89]

:cool1: Just got off the phone with member services and booked our cruise. We will also be on Deck 6. This will be our 5th Disney cruise and our 3rd Western. It will be Myself(Denise) DH (John) DD (Gianna,who will be celebrating her 16th Birthday on board) and DD 17 (Nikki). We are also hoping to have three other families joining us.

I starting reading this while I was on hold with Disney but haven't finished yet ,10 more pages to go. :goodvibes

Denise :earsgirl: :earsboy: :earsgirl: :earsgirl:

WELCOME:)

Less than 10 months to go:banana:

[4newtocruise]

Some thought - I bought the PassPorter's Field Guide for the DCL and they have some great information on the excurtions. They include how to do it on your own as well as booking through DCL.

Welcome to everyone new on the thread!

Hudson Valley: How about Splashdown the week on August 12th. Maybe Wednesday, August 15th?

-Joan

[anty30]

Wed. August 15th sounds good to me.:thumbsup2
Antoinette

[Tinkified]

HUDSON VALLEY NYERS and Joan and Antoinette: Splashdown on Wednesday 8/15 works for me! It is a date! Aren't there more of us from the area too...I forget..the group keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger!

Welcome Denise!

Joan: Yes, the passporter is a great guide. I used that myself and perhaps that is where I got a lot of the excursion on my own info! My husband and I did Kennedy Space Center. There is a lot to see. I would say it could be a whole day thing if you wanted it to be. I recall getting there early after we disembarked off a cruise and did lunch and was probably at the airport for a early evening flight home to NY. As far as the pre-cruise dinner at Grills...I am thinking a 7pm kind of thing...that way later arrivals can join, earlier arrivals can enjoy day etc kind of thing. Of course as the date gets closer we will finalize a time for dinner/meet.

To all that plan on arriving to Florida Friday 4/18 (night before cruise) a pre-cruise dinner at the restaurant GRILLS at port canaveral is being arranged by me (michelle aka Tinkified) Let me know who is interested and I will start creating a list/head count kind of thing.

Ciao for now!
Michelle

[msdisney53]

We booked stateroom 6134 on 5/22/07. We actually had a choice of port vs starboard and since port "wasn't good for sunsets" we knew that port would be superb for "sunrise" which is when i plan on being out on the verandah.
I know it will be be worth the $, but it seems like it's gonna turn out to be 3x what a WDW trip costs for us once all is said and done. At least i have a year to save:lmao:

It looks like we're going to be neighbors.We booked statroom 6132 and 6135pirate:

[msdisney53]

Well I just signed up for our first Disney cruise!!! (4-19-08 cat 6)

AND yes we are from NY. Its funny how many New Yorkers are going - especially from upstate. We are from just outside Middletown and I too work for a local school district. I saw someone is going to Jellystone at the end of the month well we are going this weekend for some needed R&R. My DD will be 14 at the time we push off from dry land. Does anyone else have a teen?

Also how is the teen club - DD can't wait but is she getting her hopes up too high?

My DDs have been to the teen club on the last 2 cruises. They don't like the club so much but it's where they get to meet the rest of the teenagers. Your DD should go the first night to the 411(you can go too if she'll let you)My DD (16) made alot of good friends last time and about 8 of them came to her sweet 16 party last January. They have a cruise reunion scheduled for JUly.

[conny264]

Hello everyone.
If I´m able to get a flight from Germany on Thursday,we,too will be in Cocoa beach on Friday.I have a reservation for the Best AWestern Oceanfront.
Our plan is to go to KSC before the cruise.
Dinner at Grills sounds great,we went there before our cruise last year.
If the time allows we might join in.
But everybody should make sure to print the 10% coupon from their website for out of state Drivers licence.

One other question for all of you.Is somebody thinking of doing the 2 Snorkel trip with Eagle Ray DIvers in Cozumel?
My sister wants to do nothing and I would like to go snorkeling,but I´m not sure to book this alone.So,I was wondering if anybody is planning this if I could join in.
If ot,I will do the Discover Snorkel with DIsney.

Anyway,have a gret weekend and take care.
COnny:flower3:

[rantnnravin]

It looks like we're going to be neighbors.We booked statroom 6132 and 6135pirate:

can't wait to see your door decorations!
just curious: was 6133 already taken? That seems to be more directly across from 6132 than 6135- which is actually right across from me.
too bad you have teens- my DD is 7 -- of course she thinks she's a teenager...:rolleyes:


Joan: any word on the excel sheet? would love to see who DD might be having fun in the lab with. Thanks for vounteering to do that.

[msdisney53]

can't wait to see your door decorations!
just curious: was 6133 already taken? That seems to be more directly across from 6132 than 6135- which is actually right across from me.
too bad you have teens- my DD is 7 -- of course she thinks she's a teenager...:rolleyes:


Joan: any word on the excel sheet? would love to see who DD might be having fun in the lab with. Thanks for vounteering to do that.

I assume that it was taken, they said this was the closest they could get us. I guess I should start planning some decorations now!:eek:

[4newtocruise]

August 15th sounds great! Can't wait to meet you!

Welcome to everyone who has joined our group :goodvibes

I'm confused, am I doing the spreadsheet? I don't mind I just don't want someone to be doing duplicate work. :upsidedow


-Joan

[4newtocruise]

...in cozumel we are doing a dune buggy tour with beach and snorkle time. It sounds like a lot of fun..we are not booked yet...but I have it book marked to reserve...
http://cozumelcruiseexcursions.com/CozumelDuneBuggyTour.htm

Ciao for Now
Michelle

Did you know that the dune buggy tour is for ages 10 and up? Are you planning to go without your DD? It sounds like so much fun! I wish my DS and DD could go!

-Joan

[rantnnravin]

I'm confused, am I doing the spreadsheet? I don't mind I just don't want someone to be doing duplicate work. :upsidedow
-Joan

I'm sorry, that's what i thought tink was saying when she posted:Joan: Thanks for offering to do the spreadsheet. I know excel, but I don't have access to it at home...only at work...and I am not working for the next 10 weeks...YAHOOO! WHOOPIE...YIPPEE...Can you tell I am excited about summer vacation!


but then i noticed further down that no one actually gave you a definitive answer when you asked if you were definitely doing it.
sorry for the mix-uppirate:

[4newtocruise]

I'll start working on it! I will post what I get done and maybe everyone can fill in the blanks. I hope everyone will be able to view it. I think there is a excel viewer you can download. Let me know your thoughts.

-Joan

[4newtocruise]

I have the spreadsheet done, I just don't know how to insert or attach it :confused:

Help

-Joan

[4newtocruise]

Try this -
Please help fill in the blanks.
Cut and paste this in your browser:

C:\Documents and Settings\Joan\My Documents\DisneyCruise4-19-08.htm

[rantnnravin]

naw
that's just the file name in your computer. only you can see it from there.
i don't know how to do it either....maybe someone more technologically inclined will come along...:rolleyes1

[4newtocruise]

You can cut and paste that address online and the spreadsheet should come up for you.

-Joan

[rantnnravin]

that will only work in your browser, Joan, cause the file is on your computer and your browser just goes through the file directory on your computer and finds it and opens it your browser, but the file doesn't exist on the web,
You have to upload the file to a server on the web so that we have somewhere to point our browsers to
i just don't know where there is on the web to upload to

[4newtocruise]

Oh....:confused3

I'll keep trying but if someone knows how to do it....let me know.

-Joan

[4newtocruise]

Maybe try this...tell me if it works.

http://dl3u.savefile.com/ebc700131d7152c836ee1d2d949f83e4/DisneyCruise4-19-08.htm

-Joan

[TJeff]

Maybe try this...tell me if it works.

http://dl3u.savefile.com/ebc700131d7152c836ee1d2d949f83e4/DisneyCruise4-19-08.htm

-Joan

Yes, it works.
Just printed it out on my computer to show my DW.
We should be flying down on Wed, but not sure if we'll be staying with family in New Symerna or at some hotel.
The Nichelodeon one looks real nice with spongbob stuff and all. :thumbsup2
Guess I should start thinking about it.
I'm guessing Jet blue will come out with the flights sometime late August/early Sept area.

Jeff

[anty30]

Joan, that looks great, thanks for doing it:thumbsup2 . Just one error on mine, DS Leo will be 7 at the time of the cruise.pirate:
Antoinette

[bmalonef45]

Joan,

Thanks for doing that. Very helpful!

Next time you are updating you can ad that it is our 2nd cruise. We'll keep checking back to see the updates.

[rantnnravin]

oh, sure. I keep getting this error message:
Invalid download session. Please initialize download session again.


Joan, could you email it to me as an attachment?

[4newtocruise]

Glad most of you can view it. I'll update it and repost at the end of the month as people provide me with information. It is definintely nice to have! If anyone wants to give me their cabin number, that would be great. That way if you want to locate someone on the ship, you have that information.

Anyone that wants to privately email me, my email address is jselvaggi@hvc.rr.com. That way I can email you an attachment if you want and you can save it to your computer.

rantnnravin: I can't email yours as an attachment without your email address.

[4newtocruise]

For those who can't view my link, Lisa was so kind to provide this one:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pvz1JCXy59coqm7uMzNgKXg&inv=jselvaggi@hvc.rr.com&t=354861615362592058&guest

-Joan