12/19/2009 - 12/26/2009 Magical Christmas Cruise! It's not that far Away?

[MN Dis Fans]

*** CLICK HERE TO SEE THE OFFICIAL DIS ROLLCALL FOR THIS CRUISE! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33201037&postcount=133) ***

I don't see a thread for this one yet? 2009 dates are out. We've just booked the 12 / 19 / 2009 - 12 / 26 / 2009 Christmas Cruise. I guess this means X-Mas at Castaway Cay? :cool1: :cool1: :cool1: :cool1:
:disrocks:

[MN Dis Fans]

OK, I realize it's still over 2 years away, but certainly a fellow Dis'er must have booked yesterday when the 2009 dates came out? :confused3 :confused3

[MN Dis Fans]

Anyone? :surfweb: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:

[alohabob]

WOW is this a temping cruise or what!!!!
Hello MN Dis Fans, this sure would be a great cruise the 19th is my birthday so that would be a perfect way to start the cruise and having Castaway Cay on Xmas would be a perfect way to finish it!!!!!

Now I just have to talk my wife into it, it may help that we just took our first Disney cruise a few weeks ago and loved it. Well time will tell.....maybe I can talk a few other folks into going, wish me luck!

[MN Dis Fans]

I just tell my DW :worship: we're going! :thumbsup2 I tend not to get to much resistance when it comes to a Disney Cruise, other than "you're nuts!" :rotfl2:
Good Luck with your negotiations. Let me know if you decide to join us! I can't believe no one else has jumped on board.
Maybe we can hvae the boat to ourselves? :dance3:
:disrocks: :thumbsup2

[CRSNDSNY]

Hi!
We are tentatively booked for this cruise. This would be our 6th Disney Cruise and second for Christmas. It is booked but I will cross my fingers and save our money so we can follow through with it! Spending Christmas Day on Castaway Cay would be WONDERFUL! The first time we did it we spent Christmas Day on St. Maarten. I'm much happier with this setup though!

We wanted to book a CAT6 but got a 9 instead. It was a $2000 difference!!! YOWSA!

[MN Dis Fans]

CRSNDSNY: I managed to snag the adjoining SPH's :goodvibes (Cat. 10) for this cruise. :thumbsup2 My DW does think I'm absolutely nuts, as I have actually booked the same rooms for the following week, so we could tentatively be doing New Year's on the Magic as well. (Back to Back's would be SO awesome!) :banana: :banana: I'm going to have to do some very serious saving to make this happen! :wizard:
I know on our Eastern Cruise last spring, I managed to get all 3x SPH's on the Starboard side for 6x people, for the price of what a Cat. 4 was going for with 4x people in it!
I just don't get that! :confused3 We would much rather have the extra room / bahroom, than the verandah.
Anyhow, I hope you join us! :cool1: :cool1:

[CRSNDSNY]

I agree...especially the extra bathrooms! That's awesome that you were able to get those. WTG!

[dclcruzer]

SIGN ME UP!
:thumbsup2

yes!!! we have this cruise booked also :woohoo:

This will be our 4th disney cruise also 4th christmas disney cruise.
Whose cruisin in your parties??
mine will be....
Me (18 then)
My brother (14 then)
My mom and My dad.

[MN Dis Fans]

Wow! 4x Christmas Cruises on Disney. I am so jealous. :worship:
My. 2x DS's will be 14 pirate: & 12 pirate: by then.
It's just to bad it is so faaaaarrrrrrr away!

[dclcruzer]

haha. yeah. but it's only 4...you've had so many more! I would take a Disney Cruise anytime of the year...but I wish it'd be more than 4
ahww, thats great! yeah my brother will be 14.
OH yes, it is definitely WAY to far away. But I will admit that I have my countdown going :dance3:

[CRSNDSNY]

Wow! 4x Christmas Cruises on Disney. I am so jealous. :worship:
My. 2x DS's will be 14 pirate: & 12 pirate: by then.
It's just to bad it is so faaaaarrrrrrr away!
I am jealous too!
We've done one Magic Cruise for Christmas and it was really a fun and nonstressful way to spend the holiday. We are looking forward to that feeling again.

It does seem so far away, though! Our kids will be 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 at that time. I am anxious for the cruise but don't want them growing up that fast! :eek:

[dclcruzer]

alright, this definitely needs a bump!


ANDDDD.....................


we're finally under 700 days! hahhaaha. i know long ways away, but you gotta find a bright side! :cool1:

[CRSNDSNY]

It'll be creeping up on us before we know it!

[MN Dis Fans]

If you say it like that, it really doesn't seem that far away:thumbsup2 now, does it! :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2:

[CRSNDSNY]

We can keep daydreaming, right??!! LOL

[MN Dis Fans]

:rolleyes1 :rolleyes1 :rolleyes1 :rolleyes1 :rolleyes1 :rolleyes1 :rolleyes1
:rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2:

[dclcruzer]

It doesn't seem too far :thumbsup2 haha.
we just gotta keep looking forward to it!
I think this is one of the best times though! looking forward to it! Becuase if it comes too fast then its over before you know it!
:rotfl:

[dclcruzer]

pshhh 690!?
were at like 686 now!
haha, i have my countdown chain going ((obviously)):cool1:

[TammyAlphabet]

674 days!!!!

[CRSNDSNY]

We're out.
Going for Halloween instead.

Must say, though, that I am very jealous of you all! We really hope to get back onboard for Christmas sometime!

[MN Dis Fans]

CRSNDSNY Bummer! :sad: :sad:
We'll miss you! :grouphug:

I guess the up side to this is: You get to cruise a couple of months earlier! :cheer2: :cheer2:

dclcruzer As official time keeper, what are we down to? :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2:

or perhaps TammyAlphabet would rather have the honor! :surfweb:

[TammyAlphabet]

657 days!

[MN Dis Fans]

That will be here before we know it! :banana: :banana:

TammyAlphabet Thanks for the update! :thumbsup2

How come you don't have a ticker for this one yet? :surfweb: or do they not go that far into the future? :rotfl2: :rotfl2:

Like I should talk? :lmao:

[dclcruzer]

sorry to totally leave you all! I've been so busy with school stuff lately..but i have finally found time!

I must say i'm touched that I get to be the official time keeper... :rotfl2:

but my clock says.......... 641!
but i think i'm leaving a few days earlier than ya'll?

we drive so i'm just counting down until the day that we get to drive off for port canaveral! because then, it gets rollin and the cruise day just jumps at you so fast! :banana:

[dclcruzer]

I think TammyAlphabet should have the honors...definitely :cool1:

haha. I don't think I'm going to be able to make it on here too much in the next couple weeks...but after schools over...i'll catch back up! haha.

[TammyAlphabet]

According to my gadget countdown, it is 642 days until the sailaway party.

[alohabob]

Hello TammyAlphabet, I see by your ticker you are going on a Hawaiian cruise, what cruise line are you taking?

[TammyAlphabet]

We are going on Celebrity Mercury, an older ship, but much cheaper than some of the others. I have never been to Hawaii and have always wanted to go. It sails from San Diego roundtrip.

[alohabob]

We are going on Celebrity Mercury, an older ship, but much cheaper than some of the others. I have never been to Hawaii and have always wanted to go. It sails from San Diego roundtrip.

Tammy you will love Hawaii.....it is beautiful!! My wife and I cruised with NCL in 2005 on The Pride of Aloha and in 2006 on The Pride of America and fell in love with the Islands. Done worry about the ship you are on, the Islands make up for any short coming the ship may have, trust me, NCL has a long way to come in the service department.
Will you be sailing to the four major islands Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island ?

[TammyAlphabet]

We are doing the Big Island, Maui, Oahu. We were originally going to have Kauai too but they changed the itinerary a few months after we booked because of the Jones Act or something and they have to stay longer in Ensenada so they had to shorten our time in the island a bit so they just rearranged it a bit. We have two days at the Big Island, two days in Maui and one day in Oahu. Maybe one day I will go back and spend a week in Kauai because it just seems to be such a wonderful place. But there is still speculation as to whether the current itinerary will indeed stay as it is because of proposed rule changes for ships that don't spend enough time in a foreign port when that embark and debark in a U.S. port. We might end up have it all changed again. I am looking forward to Hawaii though.

[MN Dis Fans]

Hi Folks! :wave2: :wave2:

Are we under 600 yet? :rotfl2:

TammyAlphabet, way cool. Less than 2 weeks, and you're off on a Disney Trip. I'm so jealous. :worship: We're still at more than 90+ for our next soireee. :cool1:

dclcruiser: I hope you are still keeping track of time left as well. We need to keep an eye on TammyAlphabet to make sure she doesn't add a few days on us. :scared1:

[TammyAlphabet]

Hello!!


It is 601 days, so it will be less than 600 when I get back from the Panama Canal. I have made a packing list but I haven't even started packing yet. i did pull the suitcases out but one is too big. I am not sure what I will do.

[TammyAlphabet]

Also, I think I am going to book the New Years Eve Cruise while on the Magic and do the back to back with you in 2009. It seems like a blast!

[MN Dis Fans]

Back to Backs! :cool1: :thumbsup2 :cool1: I'm going to need to so some serious saving, if we're going to be able to manage it! After reading about others that have done it, I've added it to the "list of things we must do". :cloud9: Let us know if you go for it!

TammyAlphabet You say Panama Canal; are you doing the Westbound Repo? That would be real cool to. It just didn't work out with our kids's pirate: pirate: school. I guess the DW & I could have left them home! :rotfl2: :rotfl2: Like we'd ever get away with that!

[TammyAlphabet]

Back to Backs! :cool1: :thumbsup2 :cool1: I'm going to need to so some serious saving, if we're going to be able to manage it! After reading about others that have done it, I've added it to the "list of things we must do". :cloud9: Let us know if you go for it!

TammyAlphabet You say Panama Canal; are you doing the Westbound Repo? That would be real cool to. It just didn't work out with our kids's pirate: pirate: school. I guess the DW & I could have left them home! :rotfl2: :rotfl2: Like we'd ever get away with that!

Yes I am doing the Westbound Repo. I booked it very last minute as the kids and I need a break from right now of all times.

[owensjro]

Well, we may be joining you all on this cruise. We're hoping to book while on our next cruise which starts June 1. My plan is to make this a surprise cruise and take the grandparents with us.

For those who have done a Christmas cruise before can you let me know what special things happen on board? I know it is decorated, but what else can we expect?

Thanks,
Jim, Amanda, Hannah (7 at time of cruise), Grandma, Grandpa.

[MN Dis Fans]

owensjro I hope you decide to join us! :thumbsup2 We've not been over X-Mas. The DW & I did a 4-nt without the DS's pirate: pirate: a few years ago just before X-Mas, and the ship was all decked out! So, we're really looking forward to it.:cool1:

TammyAlphabet You're getting closer to Repo time every day. I was just thinking to myself; WOW our stateroom BILL was BAD after just 7-nts., I can't even imagine doubling it! :scared1:

[TammyAlphabet]

owensjro I hope you decide to join us! :thumbsup2 We've not been over X-Mas. The DW & I did a 4-nt without the DS's pirate: pirate: a few years ago just before X-Mas, and the ship was all decked out! So, we're really looking forward to it.:cool1:

TammyAlphabet You're getting closer to Repo time every day. I was just thinking to myself; WOW our stateroom BILL was BAD after just 7-nts., I can't even imagine doubling it! :scared1:


In the past, I have had very low stateroom bills, mainly because they were four nighters and did do any of the excursions, just snokeling on CC. I have stateroom credits of 650 dollars total including both DU and Disney onboard booking credits. So I have excursions at each of the ports. I don't buy pictures really, I just take them. But the bar bill, that might be pretty high. And the tips! OMG. I better have a yard sale. :lmao:

[owensjro]

Hey, did anyone else notice that the Wonder is going to be at Castaway Cay on Christmas along with the Magic?

I noticed it on porttime.com and so I checked the cruise itinerary for the Wonder. Sure enough, it has a Wednesday sail date with a stop at CC on Friday, Dec 25, 2009.

Not sure how I feel about sharing CC with 5000 of my closest friends. Of course, I didn't think they could have both ships docked there.

Jim

[MN Dis Fans]

I didn't think there was room for both boats to dock; and there is no way they have the infrastructure for tendering? :confused3 do they?

I looked at the DCL website :surfweb: ; I see that they are "tweaking" the Wonders schedule over the holidays, by doing 2x 3 nt. back to backs earlier in the month, which puts their "normal" days out of wack. But I also notice that if you look at the itineraries, they don't change the Days (Sunday - Wednesday) - (Thursday - Saturday) and where the boat is on these days.

So, I have to believe that they will swap the castaway cay / day at sea days, so as not to conflict with the Magic?

Does that make sense? :yay:

[dclcruzer]

Hey everyone! How are you all doing???
So, about this "both ships being docked at CC" yes, they do have the room. I remember seeing pictures and I also have a friend at school who was on castaway cay when the wonder came along also. I think she said that they had a different time slot kind of thing, one came in later and left later, but they were there together at some point of the day.

[dclcruzer]

Hey Everyone! Just checking up to see how everyone's doing. I got 558 on my calendar!
But we're leaving for Disney World next Thursday!!! Were actually going to play in the AAU National Volleyball Tournament but of course, my family needs to spend days in the parks! Were staying at the Carribbean Beach Resort, and of course were SO excited! It'll be our 10th time!

Well, I probably won't be on until after we get back. But I will definitely have to post some pictures that I'll take with my new camera! :cool1::cool1:

[MN Dis Fans]

dclcruzer Have fun at WDW! & Good Luck in your Volleyball tournament!

We're slowly winding our way down to 0! :rotfl2:

[owensjro]

Ok, it's official...we're joining everyone on this cruise. :)

Not sure how I am going to be able to wait over a year for it though!!!

Jim

[owensamo]

Ok, it's official...we're joining everyone on this cruise. :)

Not sure how I am going to be able to wait over a year for it though!!!

Jim

I'd be the other part of Jim's "we" - it'll be Jim, me (Amanda), our DD 7 Hannah, and Jim's parents. Jim managed to snag us connecting cat 9s on deck 2 when he booked on our 4-night earlier this month. :cool1: Which, considering he couldn't find connecting rooms online, was pretty cool. :cool2:

Of course, my current count-down clock is for our January cruise... but it's always nice to have 2 booked at any time. :lmao:

Amanda

[swcruiser]

Hi everyone! We just got off the Mexican Rivera cruise today and we booked for the 12/19/09. We will most likely come in a few days early to do WDW since I have never seen it at Christmas. It will be me, Dh, and Ds who will be almost 14 by that time. We are very excited. The good thing about it being so far away is that I can actually save for it:rotfl2:

[MN Dis Fans]

Hi Folks! :wave2:
It's been a while. Are you all still out there? :cool2:
The DW & I decided we couldn't wait another 15x months to cruise, so went ahead and booked a 4-nighter early November. No Kids! :cool1: :cool1:

Not to worry, we still plan on doing the X-Mas soiree next year as well. It's just that 15x months is so far away! :scared1:

swcruiser Our eldest DS pirate: will also be 14x. Do you think he would be interested in a pen pal? We've managed to find buddies for both of them on most cruises, and it's kind of cool that they kind of know someone before they even get on board.
We've also got a younger one, he'll be 12x pirate: when we cruise next X-Mas. Anyone out there with a 12x year old?

TammyAlphabet How did the repo cruise go? I read a couple of trip reports, it sounded like a blast.

Does anyone have a number of days to cruise time update? I guess 15 months x 30 days = something like 450? :confused3 TammyAlphabet / dclcruiser? One of you 2x must have a definitive number!

owensjro & owensamo Welcome aboard; :welcome: mind you, you've been signed up for several months now!

[owensjro]

We're still here. :)

We've got a 7N cruise we used DVC points for in January. Approaching the 105 days mark where we can start our bookings. Yay!

I can't believe it is so long till the Xmas cruise. It's driving me crazy. I don't like waiting for anything which is why my wife usually gets most of her presents early ;)

Hope everyone is doing well.

Jim

[TammyAlphabet]

Hi Folks! :wave2:
It's been a while. Are you all still out there? :cool2:
The DW & I decided we couldn't wait another 15x months to cruise, so went ahead and booked a 4-nighter early November. No Kids! :cool1: :cool1:

Not to worry, we still plan on doing the X-Mas soiree next year as well. It's just that 15x months is so far away! :scared1:

swcruiser Our eldest DS pirate: will also be 14x. Do you think he would be interested in a pen pal? We've managed to find buddies for both of them on most cruises, and it's kind of cool that they kind of know someone before they even get on board.
We've also got a younger one, he'll be 12x pirate: when we cruise next X-Mas. Anyone out there with a 12x year old?

TammyAlphabet How did the repo cruise go? I read a couple of trip reports, it sounded like a blast.

Does anyone have a number of days to cruise time update? I guess 15 months x 30 days = something like 450? :confused3 TammyAlphabet / dclcruiser? One of you 2x must have a definitive number!

owensjro & owensamo Welcome aboard; :welcome: mind you, you've been signed up for several months now!

Gosh, I have totally lost track! LOL. I have moved this reservation as well as a reservation for the week following to Dreams. I am going to take a hard look at the Summer 2010 special itineraries when they are announced. In other words, I may move my place on this cruise to a later one. Not sure yet.

The main reason that I have lost track is that I am gearing up for a Christmas Cruise to Hawaii on Celebrity, I know it is not disney, so I am adjusting my expectations accordingly.

I really had a great time on the repo. I have never had such a relaxing vacation. I would recommend it to anyone.

[MN Dis Fans]

TammyAlphabet Did you go to the Castaway Club Reception during the Repo? What tidbits of information did you get if any about 2010 Summer itineraries? When we did our August Mex. Riviera cruise, Christian made the comment that they were going to "Alaska, ahem I mean Arizona" We would love to do Alaska:thumbsup2 ; of course I think my family is up for any new itinerary:cool1: . Lots of threads about the Baltic, what did you hear?:worship:

Hawaii sounds like fun. You'll have to keep us posted on how it goes. I've heard a lot of good things about Celebrity. Lots of rumours flying about DCL going there as well.

owensjro I feel your pain on waiting for these trips to happen. It takes forever for the time to wind down, and then it seems the cruise is over, before it even starts! Presents early? I think my DW is working on her gifts from me for the year 2025? :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: That's my story anyway, and I'm sticking to it! :rolleyes1

[TammyAlphabet]

Well, I have pretty much decided to keep this cruise and the one after it, the new years. They have gone up drastically in price and I feel like I got a bargain.

I did not hear anyone talk about the 2010 itineraries while I was on the Repo, but, I am guessing it won't be long now until they are announced. I was hoping to do another repo but looks like the timing is off. If they do a baltic out of UK, I might just book one of those and do a week in london and then do the Baltic. That would be good. My son is graduating in 2010 and he thinks London would be cool. I have a timeshare that I can trade out.

[MN Dis Fans]

Hi TammyAlphabet! :wave2:
Glad to hear you decided to stay with us. We're definitely doing this cruise (X-Mas 2009), however, we were himming / hawing about the New Year's one the week after. I think we're at about 95% sure we're going now. We've got the same SPH connecting rooms booked for both, so it would be a waste not to use them? :confused3 :woohoo:
Now, I need to do some serious savings over the next year to pay my bar bill, and for my DW's Spa's! :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2:

[TammyAlphabet]

Hi TammyAlphabet! :wave2:
Glad to hear you decided to stay with us. We're definitely doing this cruise (X-Mas 2009), however, we were himming / hawing about the New Year's one the week after. I think we're at about 95% sure we're going now. We've got the same SPH connecting rooms booked for both, so it would be a waste not to use them? :confused3 :woohoo:
Now, I need to do some serious savings over the next year to pay my bar bill, and for my DW's Spa's! :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2:

I hear you on the savings. I have a SPH for the Christmas but a cat 11 for the New Years. I have never been to the spa, but I do have a few drinks. I think two visits to Castaway Cay in a row would be great.

[TammyAlphabet]

I hate to tell you guys this, but the call of the Baltic and Med was just too much for me. I have moved my booking to the Baltic. I hope you guys have a fabulous time. :banana:

[MN Dis Fans]

TammyAlphabet Sorry to see that you are jumping ship on us! :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad:

Are you cancelling the New Years one as well?

Which Baltic cruise are you doing? We actually also booked the Baltic (July 6 - 18, 2010)

The DW & I had quite a lengthy conversation on what we were going to do. Luckily, we've already paid for this cruise with DVC points, so this one is a definite.

And, it looks like we've got some good Brit friends of ours joining us for the New Years cruise, so I'm beginning to think we'll end up doing all 3x. (Unless the World Economy seriously tanks!) :confused3

[TammyAlphabet]

TammyAlphabet Sorry to see that you are jumping ship on us! :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad:

Are you cancelling the New Years one as well?

Which Baltic cruise are you doing? We actually also booked the Baltic (July 6 - 18, 2010)

The DW & I had quite a lengthy conversation on what we were going to do. Luckily, we've already paid for this cruise with DVC points, so this one is a definite.

And, it looks like we've got some good Brit friends of ours joining us for the New Years cruise, so I'm beginning to think we'll end up doing all 3x. (Unless the World Economy seriously tanks!) :confused3

Actually I did move them both. I am doing the Baltic June 12-24, the repo right before, I think June 5-12. But, I can't afford those and cruising at Christmas. I was tortured all weekend and kept doing the math over and over and decided that I would trade these two cruises, plus the Alaska that I was planning for next summer, for the Baltic/Med.

[castawaycruzer99]

Hi im goin on the 12-19-09 cruise i am going to be 14 with my parents and my sister who will be 18 it will be my 4th cruise i am very exited thanks:rotfl2:

[castawaycruzer99]

Hi everybody i am also going on the 12-19-09 cruise with my sister 18(dclcruzer) my parents and me 14 it will be my 4th cruise tell me if you are going thanks

[dclcruzer]

Okay, Sorry it's been a while I've just been so busy...moved out of my old house, moved everything into storage, moved everything finally from storage to new house, AND celebrated Christmas in less than a week! Yeah, it was tough, but possible.

Well finally some down time to catch up on my fellow dissers and to make my countdown chain!
Yesss! Finally less than a year and I completed my countdown chain! Now it's official and i'm super excited :cool1:
554 days!

[MN Dis Fans]

:cool1: :cool1:
dclcruzerWhy does your last post say less than a year, and then you mention 554 days? <-Should that have been 354 days? :rotfl2:

As official "timekeeper" now that Tammy Alphabet has jumped ship, we need to get this right. I don't want to wait an extra 200 days to cruise. :rolleyes1

castawaycruzer99 Our eldest DS will also be 14x on this cruise. I'll have to get him to drop you a line!

Hopefully, we'll be able to keep this cruise. Luckily, or un-luckily (at least I'm still employed)?, I am currently scheduled to work next X-Mas / New Year, so I will really have to work hard on my back to back (we work 4 weeks on every day / 4 weeks off) to try and get them off this year. That could be difficult! :eek:

By the way, Belated Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone!

[dclcruzer]

MN Dis Fans: Whoops! :rolleyes1 Looks like i'm just day dreaming! Thank you for correcting me! :worship: Or else I might have missed the ship! haha
Well yesss, 354....but of course now it's 352...Okay I'm on the right track!
:cool1: :cool1: :cool1:

[m&p'smom]

:wave2: Hi Everyone! I just booked this cruise for our family!! :woohoo:Now me and my daughter have to convince my husband to do it! He has never cruised with us so we are hoping he will go!! Wish us luck! pixiedust:

[dclcruzer]

WELCOME ABOARD!

I gotta say...Why doesn't your husband like to cruise!?:confused3

[m&p'smom]

WELCOME ABOARD!

I gotta say...Why doesn't your husband like to cruise!?:confused3

Well I dont know if he likes it or not! He never goes because we go in the summer and he is super busy (he does swimming pool repairs) and we live in Texas and he has no desire in July/August to be out in the sun more than he has to! So me and dd are going in August and I decided to book one for December for the 3 of us...We are working on him now! The bad thing is that this cruise cost almost doulbe what I got the August one for! We are hoping that once he goes we have him hooked like we are!!! :cool1:

[dclcruzer]

Ahh...I understand. Well I hope he joins us!
The thread is a little slow going now, but that's just because everyones busy and it's still a little far off. We are all excited, but I think it will liven up once it gets a smidge closer.:cool1:

[owensjro]

Well, we just got back from our 7N Eastern and are ready for the next cruise! Can't wait until December! We're hoping for a bit more differences in the programming with a holiday cruise as this was our 4th cruise (2 7N Easterns and 2 4N's) and there hasn't been much change especially in the kids activities. I keep looking around for Christmas navigators but haven't found any.

We decided to book a week at WDW the week before. We'll have to pull Hannah out of school that week but we decided it was worth it rather than being there the week after which is so busy.

Anyone else have a kid who will be 7 on this cruise? Hannah turns 7 in April and would love to have a friend on this cruise to play with.

Jim

[m&p'smom]

Well, we just got back from our 7N Eastern and are ready for the next cruise! Can't wait until December! We're hoping for a bit more differences in the programming with a holiday cruise as this was our 4th cruise (2 7N Easterns and 2 4N's) and there hasn't been much change especially in the kids activities. I keep looking around for Christmas navigators but haven't found any.

We decided to book a week at WDW the week before. We'll have to pull Hannah out of school that week but we decided it was worth it rather than being there the week after which is so busy.

Anyone else have a kid who will be 7 on this cruise? Hannah turns 7 in April and would love to have a friend on this cruise to play with.

Jim

Just curious how was the weather? Was the water warm? I have never done a winter trip so not sure about the weather...I am hoping for sunny warm beaches!:beach:

[owensjro]

Just curious how was the weather? Was the water warm? I have never done a winter trip so not sure about the weather...I am hoping for sunny warm beaches!:beach:

We almost couldn't have asked for better weather. It was in the low 80's at both St. Maarten and St. Thomas. We were very comfortable outdoors in shorts and t-shirts and swimming at St. Maarten. Castway Cay was a bit chilly but once the sun came out it got into the mid 70's and was very pleasant. Some kids were swimming, but not us!!

Jim

[robynchic]

Hi, I'm new to the board, and new to Disney cruising. This cruise will be my honeymoon! I'm so excited! It's my fiance's first cruise, too, so we're really excited. I'm not sure what deck or view we'll have, because my parents booked it with DVC.

Any tips on must do's, should do's, "eh, you can avoid it"s would be greatly appreciated.

[dclcruzer]

I gotta admit...I'm not sure on any "don't do's" becuase I think everything is a MUST DO!
One definite must do that comes to mind right now is to see the shows! They are amazing!
Also don't worry about sea sickness...that's something I hear everyone worry about, but I have not seen many people getting sick on the cruise.
But that's all I can really think of right now? :confused3 If you have any questions feel free to ask!
Also...you might want to check out the Picture of the Day Thread, that gives you great ideas also and there are wonderful pictures that everyone shares on there...go check em out.
and finally........

WELCOME ABOARD!
WELCOME TO DIS!
and
CONGRATS!

[TammyAlphabet]

A funny thing happened this week. I got to looking at my taxes and looks like my refund (totally unexpected) will pay for a Christmas Cruise on Disney Cruise Line!!! So, on an impulse, I looked at the available cabins online and guess what? Two SPH's were available. I took this as a sign that I should book immediately and I am booked! I assume the other sph is still available if anyone is interested.

[MN Dis Fans]

Hi TammyAlphabet!
Guess what: You got the SPH from us. :flower3: It looks like we'll be the one's jumping ship! :sad2: I just will not be getting that time off from work this year (2009).
We had 5522 & 5524 booked through DVC, and I managed to move the booking to SPH's last week of July this year (with DVC).
I am still holding 5520 (booked with AAA), in the hopes of hopes that something will change with my work schedule, and we'll still manage to go?
We've also still got 5520, 22, & 24 booked for the following week 26 Dec - 2 Jan., which I also suspect we'll be letting go at some point.

[TammyAlphabet]

Hi TammyAlphabet!
Guess what: You got the SPH from us. :flower3: It looks like we'll be the one's jumping ship! :sad2: I just will not be getting that time off from work this year (2009).
We had 5522 & 5524 booked through DVC, and I managed to move the booking to SPH's last week of July this year (with DVC).
I am still holding 5520 (booked with AAA), in the hopes of hopes that something will change with my work schedule, and we'll still manage to go?
We've also still got 5520, 22, & 24 booked for the following week 26 Dec - 2 Jan., which I also suspect we'll be letting go at some point.

That is something!! I sad to hear that though. Hopefully you will be able to go.

[drizzt117]

Hi all,

We booked this cruise about a month ago. This will be mine and DW 3rd cruise and 1st on the eastern. We hopefully bringing along two friends who we are converting to Disney nuts on their first cruise.

Has anyone started keeping track of staterooms yet? Ours are 6094 and our friends are 2076! We can't wait.

:woohoo:

[dclcruzer]

Cabin 2500!! :thumbsup2

AND ATTENTION ATTENTION!

WE ARE UNDER 300 DAYS!!!! WHOOOOOO!:woohoo:
299 DAYS. 299 DAYS. :woohoo: :dance3:

[owensjro]

Yay! It's getting closer.

Still deciding if we should tell our daughter or not. I'm thinking not. We'll go to WDW the week before and then when it is time to leave head to the port. She can be totally surprised when we don't arrive at the airport but instead at the ship :)

We're on deck. I don't remember where. We have a cat 9 around midship I think.

Jim

[owensamo]

We're on deck. I don't remember where. We have a cat 9 around midship I think.

Jim

Is that the Suite Life - On Deck? :) :boat:

We're actually on Deck 2, and closer to aft than midship. I think we're even port side instead of starboard this time as well - which will be quite disconcerting. It only took me 6 nights last time to figure out how to get to our starboard-side near-midship room. :rotfl:

Amanda

[drizzt117]

Bump...a little quiet here, but we are still a while out. Keep those room numbers coming.

Thomas

[dclcruzer]

hey everyone!
sorry. i was lost for a while. but i'm back! :thumbsup2
280 days!

[robynchic]

I can't remember what our room number is. I know we're on deck 5 and it's an inside stateroom. But I'm house sitting right now, and our reservation information is at home. I suppose that if you guys walk along deck 5 and see some magnets about honeymooning, then you'll know it's us!

[drizzt117]

I can't remember what our room number is. I know we're on deck 5 and it's an inside stateroom. But I'm house sitting right now, and our reservation information is at home. I suppose that if you guys walk along deck 5 and see some magnets about honeymooning, then you'll know it's us!

Congratulations! My wife and I did the same thing for our honeymoon. You will have a blast! :woohoo:

[ps17]

Hi all here,
We just got done with a 7N Eastern to St. Croix. While on board, we booked this cruise for the coming XMas for the entire family not just our immediate(sisters, families, grandma. etc) It could be a tough sell to convince them to spend the money.

Has anyone here sailed at XMas time before? Any comments on how it will be differrent from the other cruises (other than presumed decorations etc)?

Any incentives to tell the larger group to convince them to keep the ressies?

[MN Dis Fans]

Bad News / Good News? :sad1::sad1:

We're going to have to cancel this cruise. :sad1:I've been trying without success to change my work schedule to get the time off, but it was not meant to be. (I guess with the economy being like it is, I am thankful that I am still employed.)

On the upside, I did manage to convince the DW to take advantage of the kids sail free program. (Mind you, that wasn't very difficult :rotfl2::rotfl2:)
So, we booked yesterday for the June 6 Eastern. WoHoo! :cool1:Less than 2x months to go!

We're going to miss meeting all of you wonderful folks. :hug:

P.S. I will be releasing the remaining SPH I had booked 5520 later today.
If any of you were thinking of doing b to b's, we'll also be releasing 5520, 5522, 5524 for the following week: 26 Dec - 2 Jan.
I hope a fellow Dis'er gets these rooms!

[TammyAlphabet]

Thanks, I would love to move over to 5520!

[MN Dis Fans]

Hi TammyAlphabet: I called my TA and asked her to release our ressie's about an hour ago.
I see 5520 is now available on lline, so if you want it, you had better grab it quick.

[TammyAlphabet]

Hi TammyAlphabet: I called my TA and asked her to release our ressie's about an hour ago.
I see 5520 is now available on lline, so if you want it, you had better grab it quick.

I am on hold and trying to get it. My approximate wait time is 9 minutes. Ugh!!

[TammyAlphabet]

I have 5520 now so 5522 is available now.

[BarbaraP1dclcruiser]

This is our fifth cruise and it will be an all girls trip. I am trying to find or join the groups that do the things with hanging stuff on their stateroom doors. Anyone know what I am talking about? I think they are called fish hangers. You exchange gifts with people you are assigned to. My daughter did it some people on our last cruise and it was a blast. Since it will be her and I and her daughter traveling we want to do it again. Anyway I can not wait to on Castaway Cay for Christmas.




Hi!
We are tentatively booked for this cruise. This would be our 6th Disney Cruise and second for Christmas. It is booked but I will cross my fingers and save our money so we can follow through with it! Spending Christmas Day on Castaway Cay would be WONDERFUL! The first time we did it we spent Christmas Day on St. Maarten. I'm much happier with this setup though!

We wanted to book a CAT6 but got a 9 instead. It was a $2000 difference!!! YOWSA!

[Shelvis]

HI all Hoping for a dis meet and fish extender exchange it will be great to be away for xmas even though leaving ds at home it is his sisters turn. our stateroom is 7123 it will be me Michele, Mom Barbara and daughter Tori, it is her high school graduation trip. My mom is Barbarapl1dclcruise or something like that... LOL Hi Mom you shoulda picked a shorter name. (wonder how long it will take for her to figure out it is me on here LOL) Cant wait to meet you all and I am way excited as I wasnt supposed to be going on this trip

[owensamo]

We've done fish extender swaps on cruises before, and it's a lot of fun! I actually started stocking up for this cruise during the after christmas sales last year !!! :rotfl2: So I'm certainly up for an FE exchange - I'm even planning on Christmas-themed FEs :santa: - I purchased some $1 stockings last year and I'm working on how to turn them into a cool fish extender. :cool1:

Amanda

[SoCalDCLfan]

We just changed our 2010 Dover-Barcelona cruise to this one. We're so excited to spend Christmas on the Magic! and it's 7 months earlier than the other cruise!! Looking forward to getting to know all of you. :yay:

[robynchic]

I found our reservation! We'll be in room 5020. I'm not sure whether my fiance will want to meet up with others, but I'll ask him as we get closer.

[TammyAlphabet]

I am in 5520 and my friends are cruising in 5522 next door. I am so pumped!!!

[drizzt117]

Anybody planning on SCUBA diving in St. Maarten or St. Thomas? My DW and I are planning on diving both sites, and will be booking with a local dive shop. We would love to dive with fellow DISers if you are going. PM me if you are interested.

Thomas

[Downrivermama]

Hi guys! I am seriously thinking of booking this cruise. I'm booked for the 7/18/2010 Baltic, but am not really sure about all the expense! It will be my dd 11 and I. She has 2 weeks off for Christmas break starting the 18th and since I don't have to do the Santa thing any more, I thought I would surprise her.

I have been wanting to do an Eastern. Our first was a 3 day, than the Western and last summer the East bound Repo which was awesome! So I think I'm going to have my TA move my ressie to this cruise. Would love to see the Magic decked out for Christmas. No pun intended! LOL!

[TammyAlphabet]

My DD is 11 also. I am sure there will be many children onboard. I have seen the Wonder at Christmas but not the Magic. Hope you join us.

[RAC]

Hi There! I am still working on my husband about the Christmas cruise... :) Have you been at Christmas before? I just think this time last week we were getting ready for our last dinner on the Magic.. :sad::sad: I wish I was still there!

[TammyAlphabet]

Hi There! I am still working on my husband about the Christmas cruise... :) Have you been at Christmas before? I just think this time last week we were getting ready for our last dinner on the Magic.. :sad::sad: I wish I was still there!

I know, where is my dinner? LOL. I hope you can go. I think the girls would enjoy hanging out again. Since mine is usually joined at my hip, I enjoyed the freedom quite a bit. I did a four night the week before Christmas on the Wonder twice, and the ship was beautiful and all the characters had their Christmas outfits and it was a ton of fun.

[Downrivermama]

We are official now! Moved my ressie. My dd is excited. We can't wait to see the ship decorated for Christmas!

[TammyAlphabet]

Great Tina! It will be fun.

[Downrivermama]

Great Tina! It will be fun.

Thanks. Told my dd and she is so excited! We are really looking forward to it. We have a sideways cabin on deck 6. Can't remember the number!

[TammyAlphabet]

I will be right below you on Deck 5.:cool1:

[itutorfortravel]

Hi there! I just officially moved our spring break 2010 cruise to this one today! Some great cat 12 rates are popping up and I couldn't resist Christmas on the Magic, let alone at Castaway Cay....oh my goodness!

It will be me, DH, and DD(7). We went on our first Disney cruise in April, also the Eastern itinerary. While it would have been neat to go to the other ports, we've done all those before either by land or sea, and none really thrill us as much as the Eastern. I am so looking forward to doing a St. John excursion this time!

:yay::yay::yay::yay:CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:yay::yay::yay::yay:

[momtomari]

Hi there! I just officially moved our spring break 2010 cruise to this one today! Some great cat 12 rates are popping up and I couldn't resist Christmas on the Magic, let alone at Castaway Cay....oh my goodness!

It will be me, DH, and DD(7). We went on our first Disney cruise in April, also the Eastern itinerary. While it would have been neat to go to the other ports, we've done all those before either by land or sea, and none really thrill us as much as the Eastern. I am so looking forward to doing a St. John excursion this time!

:yay::yay::yay::yay:CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:yay::yay::yay::yay:

i was able to get one of the awesome category 12 rates.

[itutorfortravel]

i was able to get one of the awesome category 12 rates.

Yeah! I'm so excited for you! Can you believe it...that they had these rates for the week of Christmas? I would have never guessed it...

[itutorfortravel]

i was able to get one of the awesome category 12 rates.

Hello again momtomari!

It just dawned on me that you were also booked for the December 12th cruise like we were and decided to move your date...I remember your post about your DD missing school...that was sort of the same situation we were in. I soooo wish we could take DD on a TA cruise like you're going to do, but I don't think it's in the cards for us. I am just extremely excited about Christmas on the Magic!

Now our girls will not have to miss the last week of school before the holidays and their parties and such...I would have done it to have seen DCL at the holidays, but I am so happy that we don't have to. Our DD really enjoys those celebrations with her class.

Is it still going to be just you and your DD on this cruise, or will more of your family be going as well? I remember your saying that your whole family would be going on the TA cruise but maybe just you and DD in December.

Does your DD know about the cruise and how are you going to handle the Santa thing? I keep asking lots of people how they are doing it with small children so I can get lots of ideas for how to keep the magic of Santa alive even though we won't be home. I am not ready for DD to stop believing. Gotta keep 'em young and innocent as long as possible!:littleangel:

Look forward to meeting you and your DD! I know there is another little girl who is 7 and whose parents are on this thread as well...looks like it will be a nice opportunity for the girls to make friends on the ship.

[SoCalDCLfan]

We received our cruise planning packet yesterday! :woohoo: We just returned from four fabulous nights at the Disneyland Hotel. It was sad to leave, but coming home to the DCL packet in the mail made it a little sweeter. Can't wait for December! :dance3:

[Debs Hill]

What happens if you have booked a GTY Cat 12 at the higher price...........does Disney now refund you difference, or is it tough!?!!
Debsx:goodvibes

[itutorfortravel]

What happens if you have booked a GTY Cat 12 at the higher price...........does Disney now refund you difference, or is it tough!?!!
Debsx:goodvibes



I think you can just call them and ask them to adjust your price. Try pricing it out on the DCL site first with exactly the same options you chose when you originally booked before you call them though...that way you know what to expect in an adjustment. When we priced ours, it was $999 each for DH and me, and $799 for DD(7).

[itutorfortravel]

We received our cruise planning packet yesterday! :woohoo: We just returned from four fabulous nights at the Disneyland Hotel. It was sad to leave, but coming home to the DCL packet in the mail made it a little sweeter. Can't wait for December! :dance3:

What fun! I have not been to DL since I was 12, and I'm not telling how long ago that was! LOL :rotfl: I'd love to go back someday, but being on the east coast it's not an easy trip to make...

How exciting to get your planning packet. I just can't believe that the cruise is THAT close!!! The first Disney cruise we booked didn't happen until 15 months after we decided to go, so this is a little weird to me to think I'll be sailing again in just a few months!

[momtomari]

Hello again momtomari!

It just dawned on me that you were also booked for the December 12th cruise like we were and decided to move your date...I remember your post about your DD missing school...that was sort of the same situation we were in. I soooo wish we could take DD on a TA cruise like you're going to do, but I don't think it's in the cards for us. I am just extremely excited about Christmas on the Magic!

Now our girls will not have to miss the last week of school before the holidays and their parties and such...I would have done it to have seen DCL at the holidays, but I am so happy that we don't have to. Our DD really enjoys those celebrations with her class.

Is it still going to be just you and your DD on this cruise, or will more of your family be going as well? I remember your saying that your whole family would be going on the TA cruise but maybe just you and DD in December.

Does your DD know about the cruise and how are you going to handle the Santa thing? I keep asking lots of people how they are doing it with small children so I can get lots of ideas for how to keep the magic of Santa alive even though we won't be home. I am not ready for DD to stop believing. Gotta keep 'em young and innocent as long as possible!:littleangel:

Look forward to meeting you and your DD! I know there is another little girl who is 7 and whose parents are on this thread as well...looks like it will be a nice opportunity for the girls to make friends on the ship.

yes i switched so that i will not have to go to court. if i would have kept the december 12-19 and then taking her on the ebta she would miss a total of 15 days which is considered excesive truancy.

my daughter will still be missing 2 days as they do not get out of school for winter break until dec 22, but i am ok with that and she would definately rahter be on a cruise then to get the christmas party. last year she didnt get the christmas party because we cruised dec 14-18 and then school was closed on the 19th due to snow, so she hasnt had a christmas party at school yet.

[Disneyday]

I can't believe a week ago I was feeling depressed with the British weather and decided to cheer myself up on the DIS boards.

Someone had posted the new reduced prices, and....

here I am a week later with 2 GTY 12's. Woohooooo
I am still not sure we can afford it, but what the heck. Christmas day at Castaway Cay!
This will be our 2nd cruise, we did the Western last Nov and loved every minute of it.
In our party is me (Sue) DH, DD17, DD11 and DM80!

For those of you who have cruised at xmas before, do they change the menu's at all? Are there any extra xmassy activities?
See you all soon

[Downrivermama]

I can't believe a week ago I was feeling depressed with the British weather and decided to cheer myself up on the DIS boards.

Someone had posted the new reduced prices, and....

here I am a week later with 2 GTY 12's. Woohooooo
I am still not sure we can afford it, but what the heck. Christmas day at Castaway Cay!
This will be our 2nd cruise, we did the Western last Nov and loved every minute of it.
In our party is me (Sue) DH, DD17, DD11 and DM80!

For those of you who have cruised at xmas before, do they change the menu's at all? Are there any extra xmassy activities?
See you all soon


Welcome!

We are excited too and we got our packet last week. I will have to check out the prices to see if ours has gone down.

[TammyAlphabet]

Hello Everybody! I have switched to the Carnival Dream. My friends are going on this ship and I want to be with them. Hope you guys have a wonderful cruise!!

[itutorfortravel]

Hello Everybody! I have switched to the Carnival Dream. My friends are going on this ship and I want to be with them. Hope you guys have a wonderful cruise!!

Sorry you won't be coming on this cruise, but I hope you enjoy the Dream. Isn't that Carnival's new ship?

[itutorfortravel]

I can't believe a week ago I was feeling depressed with the British weather and decided to cheer myself up on the DIS boards.

Someone had posted the new reduced prices, and....

here I am a week later with 2 GTY 12's. Woohooooo
I am still not sure we can afford it, but what the heck. Christmas day at Castaway Cay!
This will be our 2nd cruise, we did the Western last Nov and loved every minute of it.
In our party is me (Sue) DH, DD17, DD11 and DM80!

For those of you who have cruised at xmas before, do they change the menu's at all? Are there any extra xmassy activities?
See you all soon

Welcome Disneyday! Errr, uh, I would be that culprit who likely lured you into this cruise with the post about the cat 12's during Christmas week - LOL! I was so excited to see those prices posted I couldn't help myself but to let the Dis-world know about it!

Our family also had no intention of sailing again so soon. But I had become increasingly interested in doing a holiday cruise and looking at prices for Christmas 2010 :scared1:, I figured I better grab the opportunity to go at a decent price while I can. I am sure this will be our last Disney cruise for some time...I really thought we'd be going to WDW in January and a small part of me is disappointed that we won't be doing that now because of the cruise. But I figure I can always make a WDW affordable by staying offsite, while on a cruise you pay whatever they charge, there's no real cutting corners so to speak. So 2011 will definitely see us back in the parks...but for now, I am very excited to be able to say we are cruising at Christmas!

[itutorfortravel]

yes i switched so that i will not have to go to court. if i would have kept the december 12-19 and then taking her on the ebta she would miss a total of 15 days which is considered excesive truancy.

my daughter will still be missing 2 days as they do not get out of school for winter break until dec 22, but i am ok with that and she would definately rahter be on a cruise then to get the christmas party. last year she didnt get the christmas party because we cruised dec 14-18 and then school was closed on the 19th due to snow, so she hasnt had a christmas party at school yet.

momtomari, that's great that you are now going to be able to cruise without the stress of school absences, too. I am sure it would have worked out fine, but removing stress from one's life always feels good! :goodvibes

And the fact that your DD hasn't had the school party experience at Christmas yet will also work in your favor in regards to her missing it again this year. I guess some kids could care less about the parties, perhaps your DD would be more laid back about it than mine is, but my DD got really upset about missing one of the parties at the end of last school year. So upset, in fact, that the teacher tried to rearrange some of the day's activities so DD could join in. We had a sweet teacher! :hug:

The fact that we are not telling our DD about the cruise ahead of time would make it more difficult if she had to miss the party because I couldn't say "You have to miss your 2 hour party at school so we can go on a 7 night Disney cruise!" to get her to see things my way :rotfl:

Anyway, glad it worked out for you.

[itutorfortravel]

This thread has been sooo quiet lately! :confused3

[lovesDCL]

Hi everyone! My DH and I will be joining you all! :cool1::cool1::cool1:

We had to cancel the EB Transatlantic because we couldn't get the time off....then we moved that to a cruise during Winter Break in February, but a 3 day is just toooooooo short, so DH said "Why not Christmas?" and so here we are!

Booked in a Cat. 12 for a pretty good price. We did lose the 10% re-booking discount :headache: but we did keep the onboard credit so that's still good! :thumbsup2

Can't wait! :woohoo:

[itutorfortravel]

Hi everyone! My DH and I will be joining you all! :cool1::cool1::cool1:

We had to cancel the EB Transatlantic because we couldn't get the time off....then we moved that to a cruise during Winter Break in February, but a 3 day is just toooooooo short, so DH said "Why not Christmas?" and so here we are!

Booked in a Cat. 12 for a pretty good price. We did lose the 10% re-booking discount :headache: but we did keep the onboard credit so that's still good! :thumbsup2

Can't wait! :woohoo:

Welcome lovesDCL! This cruise is a lot sooner than either of the others you had booked, so that is something to defnitely be excited about :)

[riggins]

Hi guys-
Just thought I'd check in and say Hello too. We booked this cruise about 2 weeks ago thanks to the great Cat 12 deals. We were originally booked on the 12/26 New Year's cruise, but couldn't pass up the Cat 12 deals over Christmas. We're actually still booked on the 12/26 sailing . . . long story involving an incompetent DCL rep :mad:, but that's another story. Too bad I can't do both!! It will be me, DH, and our two DDs ages 6 and 8.

See you soon! :santa:
Leslie

[itutorfortravel]

Hey Leslie!

Glad you've joined this thread!

Have you had any luck with the reservation? I checked a couple times yesterday and didn't see anything...I'll keep my eyes out for you :)

I've been going through my "gift closet" this week looking for small things to bring along as surprises from Santa on Christmas morning. Nothing too big, of course, since space will be an issue. But I've found a couple things I can use and also a couple stockings I had bought on clearance last year that I think I'll bring to hold the gifts...my husband's family is joining us so we have decided on a no gifts policy with them, which should make the holidays sooo much easier and will give us all extra $$$ to put towards the trip :thumbsup2

In addition to celebrating Christmas, we'll be celebrating my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. We've asked for an anniversary notification on their reservation (did you do this too lovesDCL?) and I am hoping they bring out a cake like they did for my DD's birthday notification in April. Anyone know what they do for anniversaries?

I've also heard that you can purchase Christmas trees from Disney for your stateroom. Anyone ever done this? Or decorated their cabin in some other way? I'm sure I'll decorate our door, but wondering about the extra space that a tree would take up?

Hmmm...so much to plan and do!

[riggins]

No luck with the reservation. I appreciate your help checking on it. I have until early October to get it fixed, but I'm not that patient! If I don't see another Cat 12 for 4 by early next week, I think I'm going to call and see if a supervisor can help me. It wasn't like I misunderstood or the agent didn't understand what I was asking. I specifically said "So, I will keep my $200 OBC for booking onboard, right?" And she said No. And I said, "Are you sure? I know I'll lose the 10% discount, but in the past I could keep the OBC with a Cat 12." She then got impatient and said "That may have been the case in the past, but it must have changed. I'm reading here and it says that the onboard booking program only applies to Categories 4-11." And I said "So, if I move my existing reservation to the Cat 12 on 12/19, I lose all the benefits, both the 10% discount AND the OBC, associated with booking onboard?" And she said "Yes. The only way you can keep those benefits is to move it to a Cat 4-11." The agent I talked to Thursday agreed that I'd been given wrong info but said she couldn't fix it unless another Cat 12 for 4 became available. I'm not one to throw a fit, so I didn't, but this is its really bugging me. I don't think checking online 20x a day hoping another Cat 12 for 4 will show up is an adequate resolution to an agent clearly giving me wrong information. But I'll give it a shot for a few more days. I actually feel some ownership for this . . . I was was almost certain the agent was wrong. If I hadn't been so afraid that the Cat 12 for 4 would disappear any minute, I would have hung up and called back to get someone else.:laughing:

On a happier note, we celebrated our 10th Anniversary on the Wonder. Our anniversary was noted on our reservation, but we had dinner in Palo that night. No one there seemed to know it was our anniversary and we didn't tell anyone, so there was nothing special. But I suspect that if we had eaten in the dining room, they would have known and done an anniversary cake. I've seen them do it for others in the past. I think if you mention it to your Head Server a day or two in advance, he or she will make sure you're taken care of.

I did a search on the Trip Reports board and found a few people with pictures of their decorated cabins. I didn't see any of the DCL trees, but I saw a couple mini-trees (12-18") that people had set up. It looked like people strung Christmas lights around the mirror and put window clings on the door/window/mirror. I think we'll do something like that. Last week at WDW, we went to the Christmas store and Downtown Disney. They had a really cute Mailable Christmas tree that came in a mailable tube that would pack pretty well. It was only about 10" and had little Mickey ornaments. It didn't have any lights. It was about $25. I almost bought it, but it seemed so small and I wanted something with lights. They also had a little bigger fiber optic one that was probalby 12-14". I liked that it was lighted and it was only about $30, but the box it came in seemed kind of big to pack. So, I debated and debated and ultimately didn't get either one! I'm hoping to find something locally as Christmas gets closer.

[itutorfortravel]

We actually had the DCL rep put an anniversary notification on my in-laws reservation and told them the day we wanted it to be recognized. (We chose the 2nd night, formal night, as we thought it would be fun to get pictures of all of us dressed up celebrating the occasion.)

We did something similar for DD's birthday. We made a note of a birthday notification on the reservation, said what day we wanted it celebrated (I had to call DCL for this), and at the first night's dinner I talked to the maitre d' (msp?) to confirm that it was all set to go the following evening...everything went great!

I had thought of booking something at Palo for all of us for their anniversary, but that would exclude our DD and my SIL's daughter since they are not yet 18. While I hope we still get to Palo, I know my in-laws would want to have their main celebration with the whole family.

I do hope to get to Palo while we are there, tho! DH and I enjoyed it sooo much on our last cruise!

[itutorfortravel]

I did a search on the Trip Reports board and found a few people with pictures of their decorated cabins. I didn't see any of the DCL trees, but I saw a couple mini-trees (12-18") that people had set up. It looked like people strung Christmas lights around the mirror and put window clings on the door/window/mirror. I think we'll do something like that. Last week at WDW, we went to the Christmas store and Downtown Disney. They had a really cute Mailable Christmas tree that came in a mailable tube that would pack pretty well. It was only about 10" and had little Mickey ornaments. It didn't have any lights. It was about $25. I almost bought it, but it seemed so small and I wanted something with lights. They also had a little bigger fiber optic one that was probalby 12-14". I liked that it was lighted and it was only about $30, but the box it came in seemed kind of big to pack. So, I debated and debated and ultimately didn't get either one! I'm hoping to find something locally as Christmas gets closer.



Those trees sound so cute! You know you could call those stores and have them ship you one if you change your mind...

I actually have one of those origami "Christmas Tree in a Box" that I got on clearance a couple years ago. Never opened it, so maybe that is what we will do...though it's just small and made out of paper, but could be fun for the girls to do together.

I got a car door Christmas magnet last year after Christmas at the Hallmark store...sure wish I had gotten more, as I am planning to use it on the cruise and would have loved to have had one for my other family members. I also have some tropical window clings from DD's birthday party that I saved...think I'll bring those too.

[riggins]

If I don't see another Cat 12 for 4 by early next week, I think I'm going to call and see if a supervisor can help me.

Well, I couldn't wait a few days . . . in fact I couldn't wait more than a few hours.:laughing: I called DCL and I got a supervisor who said she could fix this mess for me! I have to wait until Monday so the "back office" people can help make sure all the $$$ get straight, but that's ok. She was really nice and very apologetic for the whole thing. So, I'm going to try not to sweat it anymore . . . at least until Monday!!

[itutorfortravel]

Well, I couldn't wait a few days . . . in fact I couldn't wait more than a few hours.:laughing: I called DCL and I got a supervisor who said she could fix this mess for me! I have to wait until Monday so the "back office" people can help make sure all the $$$ get straight, but that's ok. She was really nice and very apologetic for the whole thing. So, I'm going to try not to sweat it anymore . . . at least until Monday!!

Fabulous! And congratulations on getting it worked out... :thumbsup2

[robynchic]

hmmm...I wonder if my parents (who booked the cruise for us) mentioned we'll be honeymooning, and if they do anything special for honeymoons...Not a big deal if they don't. I can't wait!

[itutorfortravel]

hmmm...I wonder if my parents (who booked the cruise for us) mentioned we'll be honeymooning, and if they do anything special for honeymoons...Not a big deal if they don't. I can't wait!

If your parents booked this, maybe they have arranged for something to mark the occasion! I'll bet they did if they knew it was something that they could do :) Congratulations by the way!

[riggins]

Hi guys-
Does anyone know or care to speculate on whether there will be changes to the dress up/pirate nights on this cruise? Do you think the holiday will change those things or do you think they'll follow the normal Eastern schedule?

We sailed the Wonder 4-night over Thanksgiving last year and even though the stops changed order (Nassau, Sea, CC vs. Nassau, CC, Sea), the "dress" nights stayed the same as any other 4 night. It just worked out that "dress up" night was on Thanksgiving, which worked out nicely. Based on that experience, I would guess that the schedule for this cruise will stay the same. Any thoughts?

Thanks
Leslie

[itutorfortravel]

Would anyone be interested in our doing a roll call for this cruise? I'd be happy to compile the list and post it...if so, why don't we just include:

-Names of family members (if you don't want to use proper names, you could just use DD, DH, etc.)

-Your family's hometown (if you want to include it)

-How many Disney cruises you've been on

-Ages of kids

I don't see any reason to do stateroom numbers for now unless anyone is interested in an FE exchange...that is certainly something we can consider if anyone is interested in it.

Anyhow, if you would like to be included on a roll call, just PM me your info and I'll start the list...it may take me a few days to get it all compiled and posted, as we have company this week, but I'll be happy to do it.

BTW Leslie, I'm not sure about the different theme nights on the ship and if they are switched up. That would be nice to know, though!

Have a great day everyone!

Kimberly

[itutorfortravel]

:santa: Tom (DH), Kimberly (DW), Morgan (DD7) and Lindsey (SDD19)
DISboard ID: itutorfortravel
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
This will be our 2nd DCL cruise
***Interested in FE exchange***


:santa: Billy (DH), Leslie (DW), Sarah (DD6), and Emma (DD8)
DISboard ID: riggins
Hometown: Huntersville, NC
This will be our 6th DCL cruise
***Interested in FE exchange***


:santa: Meg (DW), Joe (DH), Jack (DS13), Madeline (DD, almost 12), and Charlotte (DD, almost 9)
DISboard ID: SoCalDCLfan
Hometown: Irvine, CA (near Disneyland!)
This will be our 5th DCL cruise


:santa: Robyn (DW) and Kerry (DH)
DISboard ID: robynchic
Hometown: near Savannah, GA
Our first Disney cruise
No kids...we're honeymooning! We'll have been married for 2 months and 1 day when we board.
***Interested in FE exchange***

Note regarding FE gifts:Robyn and Kerry are Jewish & do not celebrate Christmas


:santa: Sue (DW), Richard (DH), Kath (Sue's mom, 80), Rosie (DD, almost 18), Alice (DD11)
DISboard ID: Disneyday
Hometown: Rotherham,UK
Our second Disney cruise
***Interested in FE exchange***


:santa: Jhoanna(DW), Sammy(DH)
DISboard ID:lovesDCL
Hometown: used to be So. CA, now Boston, MA
Our third Disney cruise
***Interested in FE exchange***


:santa: Amanda(Mom), Mari (DD,6)
DISboard ID: momtomari
Hometown: Ohio
Our fourth Disney cruise
***Interested in FE exchange***


:santa: Jim (DH / owensjro), Amanda (DW / owensamo), Hannah (DD,7)
DISboard ID: owensjro / owensamo
***Interested in FE exchange***


:santa: Tina and Kaitlin (DD, 11)
DISboard ID: downrivermama
Hometown: Wyandotte, MI
This will be our 4th DCL Cruise.
**Interested in FE exchange**


:santa: DW, DH, DD13 and DS12
DISboard ID: crystald
This will be our 4th DCL cruise
**Interested in FE exchange**


:santa: Stefanie (DD) and Margie (Mom)
DISboard ID: stitchlover87
Hometown: Largo, FL
This will be our 7th DCL cruise
***Interested in FE exchange***


:santa: Casey (DH), Julie (DW), Addison (DD, 18 months), Craig (DG grandpa), and Mary (DG, grandma)
DISboard ID: disneyland255
Hometown: Las Vegas
This will be our 2nd Disney cruise
***Interested in FE exchange***


:santa: Barbara and Mark
DISboard ID: bpsecar
Hometown: San Diego
***Interested in FE exchange***


:santa: Thomas and Colleen
DISboardID: drizzt117
Hometowns: Fairfax, Va / Pittsburgh, PA
This will be our 3rd DCL cruise
***Interested in FE exchange***


:santa: Conrad (DH), Francine (DW), Justin (DS13) and Logan (DS11)
DISboard ID: peaceableone
Hometown: Santa Clarita, CA
This will be our 2nd DCL cruise
***Interested in FE exchange***


:santa: Bill (DH), Angela (DW), Billy (DS17), Kristen (DD13), Kathleen (DS's GF 17)
DISboard ID: 3DAN (Bill) & coasternut (Angela)
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
This will be our 9th DCL cruise


:santa: Tiffany (DW),Brian (DH), Paige (DD10) and Grace (DD8)
DISboard ID: smokescreen
***Interested in FE exchange***


:santa: Michelle (DW), Michael (DH), Brandon (DS8), Corey (DS3), and William (DS2)
DISboard ID: michellemb


:santa: Shannon(DW), Tony(DH), Emily(DD9)
DISboard ID: shannonetherton
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
6th Disney Cruise
***Interested in FE exchange***


:santa: Kiki(DW) and Paul(DH)
DISboard ID: kikimouse
Hometown: DC/Atlanta
4th Disney Cruise
***Interested in FE exchange***


:santa: Lea(DW), Jerry(DH), and Caleb, Sam, and Lulu (all 17 months)
DISboard ID: Proud2BMomof3
Hometown: Fort Worth, TX


:santa: Isidro (DH), Cynthia (DW), Sarah (DD6)
Disboard ID: MERMAIDLOVE
Hometown: Fair Lawn, NJ
This will be our 6th DCL Cruise






The FE Exchange is now closed!


Slogan Ideas:

We had two ideas that were tied for a winner! Take your pick, they are both great :goodvibes


Goofin' Around the Holidays


Teachers Gone Goofy

[itutorfortravel]

You know what? I just thought, do we want to add our DISboard ID's to the roll call? That would help us know "who" is posting! I'm going to add ours...let me know if you want me to add yours, too...

[riggins]

I think that's a great idea Kimberly. Thanks!

[itutorfortravel]

Hi everyone, I hope I have gotten everyone's info up on the roll call who has sent it to me...if I've missed anything or made any errors, please let me know and I'll change asap.

lovesDCL made a note that she is interested in an FE exchange. If you are interested in that, let me know, and I'll make a note under your info. I'm not sure yet if my family is going to do that just because I know we'll have sooo much stuff with us trying to also bring a few surprises from Santa. But I would be happy to note those who are interested and then once we figure all that out, maybe someone from the group who wants to do the FE exchange can coordinate that part. How does that sound?

StepDD is visiting us this week and we told her about the cruise. She is so excited! We've got to talk a little bit about shore excursions and what she might like to do since I'll have to start booking those in a little over a month. I can't believe it!

[itutorfortravel]

DH, SDD, and I had a great time last night! After DD went to bed, we started talking shore excursions and it was exciting planning all the things we wanted to do :) We are thinking about a tour of St. John, doing St. Maarten on our own (actually maybe just getting a taxi over to Marigot to shop and eat - anyone ever done this?), and then SDD and DH want to do the wave runners at Castaway Cay. Has anyone else decided on shore excursions? Leslie, I know you said you were looking at the Eco tour in St. John which looked really good to us, too, but we just didn't know if we'd have the stamina for an active tour the morning after Pirate night - ha ha.

Right now our family has a cat 12 booked for all four of us, but after talking more, we are leaning towards doing 2 cabins. We know we run the risk of being far apart on the ship, and DH and I might not be able to sleep together that week, but we just really feel we need the space and the extra shower. Plus, SDD told us last night that she sometimes gets a little claustrophic (as does DH), so maybe it is in our best interest not to cram all four of us in one cabin! We're still trying to decide, but I think this is what we are going to do.

I can't believe that this cruise is so close and that it is really happening! So much to do between now and then!!!

[robynchic]

I was looking at the roll call and noticed that someone was willing to do an FE exchange. What's that mean?

[itutorfortravel]

I was looking at the roll call and noticed that someone was willing to do an FE exchange. What's that mean?

Hi Robyn,

If you go to the top of the cruise threads, there is an anchored thread with Disney Cruise FAQ's and there is some information there about FE's. Also, I had posted a thread today to get a little more clarification on them...don't know if this helps at all...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2263876

Take care,
Kimberly

[robynchic]

Hi Robyn,

If you go to the top of the cruise threads, there is an anchored thread with Disney Cruise FAQ's and there is some information there about FE's. Also, I had posted a thread today to get a little more clarification on them...don't know if this helps at all...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2263876

Take care,
Kimberly

...but I still don't get what it is. All I got from it is that it's a "fish extender", and that it involves trades or something? If someone could please clarify this for me, I may be willing to join in on it!

[Shelvis]

sorry i havent been on in quite some time my name is michele im 37 traveling with my mom(Barbara) and my daughter Tori(18). It is her graduation trip. We will be staying on the 7th floor i will post what room tomorrow. We definitley would like to participate in the fe exchange. Any one ever do a christmas cruise before? Is there something i shouldnt miss?

[riggins]

...but I still don't get what it is. All I got from it is that it's a "fish extender", and that it involves trades or something? If someone could please clarify this for me, I may be willing to join in on it!

Everyone that participates, hangs a "fish extender" outside their room from the decorative fish on the wall. The FE has pockets of some sort that people can put things in. Then other people from this cruise meet would come by and put small gifts in your FE. Likewise, you have to go around to the other FEs and put small gifts in theirs. Does that help?

[itutorfortravel]

...but I still don't get what it is. All I got from it is that it's a "fish extender", and that it involves trades or something? If someone could please clarify this for me, I may be willing to join in on it!

Outside the stateroom door is a little metal fish type "hook". Sometimes the cruiseline will leave little messages, mostly promo stuff, on there for you. You can also buy what are call fish extenders (go to eBay and search "fish extender" to see one). Then from what I understand a meets thread will organize a list of people who want to participate in the FE exchange. The list has to include the number of occupants in the room, the ages, and the stateroom number. Then, each traveling party buys things for the other people in the exchange and leaves those surprises for them at some point in the cruise. The things bought are typically small trinket type items from what I have heard. I have never done an FE exchange, but this is my understanding of it. I'm not sure if that helps, but that is all I really know too. Maybe someone else on this thread who has done it can come along and give more insight...

[itutorfortravel]

sorry i havent been on in quite some time my name is michele im 37 traveling with my mom(Barbara) and my daughter Tori(18). It is her graduation trip. We will be staying on the 7th floor i will post what room tomorrow. We definitley would like to participate in the fe exchange. Any one ever do a christmas cruise before? Is there something i shouldnt miss?

Hi Michele! I've got your family's info on the roll call :goodvibes If you want me to include your hometown or how many Disney cruises you've been on, you can PM me and I'll update it!

[robynchic]

Outside the stateroom door is a little metal fish type "hook". Sometimes the cruiseline will leave little messages, mostly promo stuff, on there for you. You can also buy what are call fish extenders (go to eBay and search "fish extender" to see one). Then from what I understand a meets thread will organize a list of people who want to participate in the FE exchange. The list has to include the number of occupants in the room, the ages, and the stateroom number. Then, each traveling party buys things for the other people in the exchange and leaves those surprises for them at some point in the cruise. The things bought are typically small trinket type items from what I have heard. I have never done an FE exchange, but this is my understanding of it. I'm not sure if that helps, but that is all I really know too. Maybe someone else on this thread who has done it can come along and give more insight...

Oh...I'm not sure Kerry and I will be able to join in. I'd like to, but I'm not sure we'll be able to afford it, especially since we're going to WDW after the cruise for part of our honeymoon. :(

[riggins]

lovesDCL made a note that she is interested in an FE exchange. If you are interested in that, let me know, and I'll make a note under your info. I'm not sure yet if my family is going to do that just because I know we'll have sooo much stuff with us trying to also bring a few surprises from Santa. But I would be happy to note those who are interested and then once we figure all that out, maybe someone from the group who wants to do the FE exchange can coordinate that part. How does that sound?

Hi Kimberly- Go ahead and note me as interested in FE exchange. I may regret it when I'm trying to figure out how to pack all our clothes, gifts, and Christmas decorations (and hide it all from the kids too!), but I figure there's no better time than a Christmas cruise to do a little gift swapping.

Thanks!
Leslie

[Disneyday]

I will participate in FE exchange. It will be hard especially at xmas but it was one of the highlights of our last cruise.It was so exciting to wake up every morning knowing there was a little gift outside.
It doesn't have to be expensive stuff, alot of people stock up on gifts from the dollar stores and homemade gifts such as magnets were some of the best things we received. Here is a picture of my FE. I made it myself with lots of fabric glue and iron on transfers
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii142/mog2wife/FLORIDAcruise2008065-1.jpg
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii142/mog2wife/FLORIDAcruise2008081.jpg

[owensamo]

Sign us up, too! I've been stockpiling FE stuff since just after christmas last year! :rotfl:

Jim (owensjro), Amanda (owensamo) and DD7 (Hannah).

We'll also have Jim's parents in the room next door, but they're not DISers. I'm going to make an FE for them, but don't want them to feel obligated to be in an exchange (they're not DISboards-type people). It's mostly so our rooms match and will be easy to find from down the hall! :)

I *soooooo* can't wait for this cruise!!!

Amanda

[itutorfortravel]

Hey everybody! I think I've got the list all updated now...for those of you who don't have hometowns or the # of Disney cruises you've been on listed by your names on the roll call, let me know if you want me to add it...if you can, PM me since I'm afraid of missing someone's info in the thread...

Kimberly

[itutorfortravel]

Sign us up, too! I've been stockpiling FE stuff since just after christmas last year! :rotfl:

Jim (owensjro), Amanda (owensamo) and DD7 (Hannah).

We'll also have Jim's parents in the room next door, but they're not DISers. I'm going to make an FE for them, but don't want them to feel obligated to be in an exchange (they're not DISboards-type people). It's mostly so our rooms match and will be easy to find from down the hall! :)

I *soooooo* can't wait for this cruise!!!

Amanda

Hi Amanda! I've got a DD (Morgan) who is also 7...hopefully the girls will get to play together in the club!

Kimberly

[lovesDCL]

Hi everyone!!! Got our planning package it the mail!!! :cool1: SO excited!!!

I too loved coming back to the room to find little surprises! :woohoo:

Just a little over 100 days to go! :cheer2:

[itutorfortravel]

Hi everyone!!! Got our planning package it the mail!!! :cool1: SO excited!!!



Getting that planning packet makes it seem more real, doesn't it? Just think we'll get to start booking excursions in just about 3 weeks or so since we're CC members! That is really hard to believe!

I was reading some of your honeymoon TR...love it! I also noticed your DH teaches math - me too! Well, I used to teach high school math a long time ago, but went on to do other things before I had DD. But I started my own business about 5 years ago tutoring and love it!

[Downrivermama]

Hey all we are back from WDW and ready to get to planning this cruise! Kimberly, I PM'ed you with the roll call info. I'm up for a FE exchange. Last year was trial by fire on the Magic EB Repo. Over a 100 participated!

My dd is 11 and looking forward to the cruise. We have never cruised at Christmas so this should be fun. Also looking into staying after the cruise for a couple of days along the coast before going home.

[lovesDCL]

itutorfortravel, the planning packet does make it more real! :thumbsup2

i can't believe i only have 3 weeks to decide what to do :scared1:...i have castaway cay set (wave-runners :woohoo:), but don't know what to do for st. maarten or st. thomas...

i think we want to go over to trunk bay while in st. thomas but don't know how crowded it will be since there are two other ships in port with us that day...:confused3

for st. maarten we were thinking the rhino rider and snorkeling adventure...

it's great that you started your own business! i'm currently getting my masters in education...

can't wait for december!

[riggins]

This must be the Math Teacher's cruise! My DH is also a math teacher - 8th grade Algebra and Pre-Algebra. For the past 3 years, we've done a 3-nt Bahamas cruise on RCI with a bunch of DH's coworkers. We affectionately call it the "Drunk Teacher" cruise. There's something to be said for group of teachers letting off some steam! :drinking1

[itutorfortravel]

Hey all we are back from WDW and ready to get to planning this cruise! Kimberly, I PM'ed you with the roll call info. I'm up for a FE exchange. Last year was trial by fire on the Magic EB Repo. Over a 100 participated!

My dd is 11 and looking forward to the cruise. We have never cruised at Christmas so this should be fun. Also looking into staying after the cruise for a couple of days along the coast before going home.

Hey Tina! I've got all your info on the roll call, on page 9 of the thread...anyone know if there is a way to get that particular post moved to the first page for easy reference?

Jhoanna & Leslie, what a small world to think that 3 math teachers are on this cruise! What are the odds of that...okay, didn't mean to make the question into a math problem, but I just can't help myself! LOL!

Jhoanna, what grade do you want to teach?

[riggins]

Hey Tina! I've got all your info on the roll call, on page 9 of the thread...anyone know if there is a way to get that particular post moved to the first page for easy reference?

MN Dis Fans started this thread. So, we could ask her to edit the very first post with a link to the latest Roll Call: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33201037&postcount=133 So, the list would stay on page 9, in post 133, but there would be a link to that post on page 1. I think the only other choice would be to ask a mod to close this thread and start a new one. Anyone else have another suggestion?

[itutorfortravel]

MN Dis Fans started this thread. So, we could ask her to edit the very first post with a link to the latest Roll Call: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33201037&postcount=133 So, the list would stay on page 9, in post 133, but there would be a link to that post on page 1. I think the only other choice would be to ask a mod to close this thread and start a new one. Anyone else have another suggestion?

Hey Leslie! Right after I posted my question I thought about contacting a moderator, which I did. I think she will be able to help move the roll call post to the first page if we can't get MN Dis Fan to post a link or somehow put a link on the first page to the roll call post...I haven't seen MN Dis Fan on this thread in awhile...

Sounds like either way we should be able to work it out.

[robynchic]

This must be the Math Teacher's cruise! My DH is also a math teacher - 8th grade Algebra and Pre-Algebra. For the past 3 years, we've done a 3-nt Bahamas cruise on RCI with a bunch of DH's coworkers. We affectionately call it the "Drunk Teacher" cruise. There's something to be said for group of teachers letting off some steam! :drinking1

I think that it'll be a TEACHERS cruise this time! DFiance/DH works in higher education, I'm a teacher of the deaf, we're table mates with a couple where the wife is a kindergarten teacher...

Am I the only one noticing a trend? :rotfl:

I haven't gotten my packet yet. Could it be because we moved, so our address was changed, but we're not sure whether it was changed on the reservation?

[itutorfortravel]

I think that it'll be a TEACHERS cruise this time! DFiance/DH works in higher education, I'm a teacher of the deaf, we're table mates with a couple where the wife is a kindergarten teacher...

Am I the only one noticing a trend? :rotfl:

I haven't gotten my packet yet. Could it be because we moved, so our address was changed, but we're not sure whether it was changed on the reservation?

Where does your DF teach / work? One of my students just spent a couple weeks at the Savannah College of Art and Design doing some sort of summer program and loved it! She is entering her senior year here and hopes to get into the school in a couple years after she does some of her pre-reqs closer to home. She is a very talented artist.

[crystald]

We just booked 2 cabins on this cruise. It is our 4th dis cruise.
Myself and my husband dd13 ds12 will be going.We too are interested in the FE gift exchange so please sign us up.

[itutorfortravel]

We just booked 2 cabins on this cruise. It is our 4th dis cruise.
Myself and my husband dd13 ds12 will be going.We too are interested in the FE gift exchange so please sign us up.

Welcome to the thread! Just got your info posted on our roll call on page 9, post #133...trying to work on getting the post or a link to it moved up to the first page to be more convenient.

[itutorfortravel]

:santa:Hey everyone!

The roll call is expanding! It's awesome! And I think so far there could be as many as 26 people participating in the FE exchange so I thought we better start talking about that a bit...:thumbsup2

I wanted to ask who might be interested in taking over the FE coordination as we get closer to the cruise? I am keeping a spreadsheet of everyone on the roll call and can send that to whomever wants to coordinate the FE stuff as we get closer to the sailing date...

I am traveling on this cruise with extended family who have have never been on a cruise. So DH is really counting on me to take care of everything for them and show them the ropes. That being said, I'm sure I will be feeling a bit overwhelmed on the day we board and it's unlikely that I will be able to do a DISmeet when we first board in order to update the cabin info. So I'd enjoy maintaining the roll call for us, but would like to pass the torch to someone else for the FE exchange as we get closer.

So anyone interested?

Thanks, Kimberly

[robynchic]

Where does your DF teach / work? One of my students just spent a couple weeks at the Savannah College of Art and Design doing some sort of summer program and loved it! She is entering her senior year here and hopes to get into the school in a couple years after she does some of her pre-reqs closer to home. She is a very talented artist.

He's actually the assistant dean of students, but he doesn't work at SCAD.

[lovesDCL]

Jhoanna, what grade do you want to teach?

Higher level high school English, so 11th or 12th grade...we'll see how it all works out! :teacher:

[itutorfortravel]

:goodvibes Looks like the moderator who I asked for help on anchoring the roll call at the beginning of the thread put a big link on the top of page one that will jump to the list. It's great! So a big thank you to lbgraves for her help!!!

Now everyone can just go to the link at the top of page one to get to the current roll call.

[Downrivermama]

:santa:Hey everyone!

The roll call is expanding! It's awesome! And I think so far there could be as many as 26 people participating in the FE exchange so I thought we better start talking about that a bit...:thumbsup2

I wanted to ask who might be interested in taking over the FE coordination as we get closer to the cruise? I am keeping a spreadsheet of everyone on the roll call and can send that to whomever wants to coordinate the FE stuff as we get closer to the sailing date...

I am traveling on this cruise with extended family who have have never been on a cruise. So DH is really counting on me to take care of everything for them and show them the ropes. That being said, I'm sure I will be feeling a bit overwhelmed on the day we board and it's unlikely that I will be able to do a DISmeet when we first board in order to update the cabin info. So I'd enjoy maintaining the roll call for us, but would like to pass the torch to someone else for the FE exchange as we get closer.

So anyone interested?

Thanks, Kimberly

Kimberly, I would be able to do it!

[itutorfortravel]

Kimberly, I would be able to do it!

Thanks, Tina! That would be awesome :)

I'll keep track of the roll call info with notes as to who wants to do the FE exchange and then send it to you when we get closer to our sailing date, unless you want it before then. Whatever you think would make you feel more comfortable is fine by me!

Take care,
Kimberly

[robynchic]

Ok, I'm starting to consider the FE. DF may not be completely pleased, but I'm sure he'll appreciate my amusement by it. Would I need to make separate compartments for each of us, or one larger FE?

[riggins]

Ok, I'm starting to consider the FE. DF may not be completely pleased, but I'm sure he'll appreciate my amusement by it. Would I need to make separate compartments for each of us, or one larger FE?

I've never done an FE, so I'm no expert, but I did a lot of searching to look at pictures of other people's FEs and I think you can do whatever you prefer. Some people just had a big gift bag hanging on the fish! I'm sure some people will have separate gifts for each of you and some will have a gift to share. So, I don't think there is a "preferred" way to do it. I'm going to make a pocket for each of my DDs, but I haven't decided if DH and I will share a pocket or not. My mom is going to help me sew, so I may go the distance and do 4 pockets since I have some expert assistance!

[robynchic]

Do we have to drop things in people's bags every day? I have an idea of something I may make (yes, make...)

[crystald]

My daughter age 13 started a cruise meet forum for kids for our cruise if any kids want to join in.

[itutorfortravel]

My daughter age 13 started a cruise meet forum for kids for our cruise if any kids want to join in.

what a great idea! what is the link? my dd may be too young to do this, but others may love it!

[itutorfortravel]

As I add people to the roll call, I am starting an Excel spreadsheet as well with all the same information.

I have never done an FE exchange before, so I'm not sure how this data would be best organized. In other words, when you guys do FE exchanges, do you typically do something for the adults separate from the kids and if so do you choose things for the kids based on gender and age? If so, I was thinking of how I could organize the info to make it easy for us to select and purchase items? Like, should I group them by "Girls / under age 3" , "Boys / 3-5 years old", etc.?

Also, do you all want to say that everyone in the group will have an FE gift for all other cabins, or if we end up with a lot of people doing the FE exchange, do you want to do subgroups? I have read of some FE groups getting to be as many as 100 cabins, and I'm wondering if that becomes a little overwhelming in terms of cost, packing, and delivery time?

Y'all let me know what you think! Thanks!

Kimberly

[riggins]

what a great idea! what is the link? my dd may be too young to do this, but others may love it!

I think its a great idea too . . . although this trip is a surprise for my DDs. We're planning to tell them the day we leave. Is anyone else surprising their kids?

[lovesDCL]

As I add people to the roll call, I am starting an Excel spreadsheet as well with all the same information.

I have never done an FE exchange before, so I'm not sure how this data would be best organized. In other words, when you guys do FE exchanges, do you typically do something for the adults separate from the kids and if so do you choose things for the kids based on gender and age? If so, I was thinking of how I could organize the info to make it easy for us to select and purchase items? Like, should I group them by "Girls / under age 3" , "Boys / 3-5 years old", etc.?

Also, do you all want to say that everyone in the group will have an FE gift for all other cabins, or if we end up with a lot of people doing the FE exchange, do you want to do subgroups? I have read of some FE groups getting to be as many as 100 cabins, and I'm wondering if that becomes a little overwhelming in terms of cost, packing, and delivery time?

Y'all let me know what you think! Thanks!

Kimberly

Hi Kimberly,

I've only done one FE exchange before and it was not organized by age or anything. We were two adults and got Hannah Montana stickers/magnets! :laughing: (which was fine as I'm sure there were many cabins that enjoyed these)

Our FE Exchange organizer set days for each group to distribute the gifts (not the first day and not the last day of the cruise) so that there would be gifts almost everyday.

The gift we decided to give were cruise themed picture frames which would work for every cabin regardless of the make up of that cabin.

I plan to do something similar this time. (Not picture frames, but something that will work for all.) I actually already know what I'm doing...it's the OCD planner in me:rolleyes1...
Having a gift that will work for the entire cabin also keeps the cost low! :thumbsup2

However, I'm open to whatever the group decides. :)

[riggins]

As I add people to the roll call, I am starting an Excel spreadsheet as well with all the same information.

I have never done an FE exchange before, so I'm not sure how this data would be best organized. In other words, when you guys do FE exchanges, do you typically do something for the adults separate from the kids and if so do you choose things for the kids based on gender and age? If so, I was thinking of how I could organize the info to make it easy for us to select and purchase items? Like, should I group them by "Girls / under age 3" , "Boys / 3-5 years old", etc.?

Also, do you all want to say that everyone in the group will have an FE gift for all other cabins, or if we end up with a lot of people doing the FE exchange, do you want to do subgroups? I have read of some FE groups getting to be as many as 100 cabins, and I'm wondering if that becomes a little overwhelming in terms of cost, packing, and delivery time?

Y'all let me know what you think! Thanks!

Kimberly

Hi Kimberly-
I've never done this before either, so I sure those with some experience will have other ideas. But it would seem to me that you'd want to sort the spreadsheet by cabin # to make it easier when you deliver things. Then along with the cabin #, you'd want a column for the number of adults and then some variation of columns for the kids. I like your idea of breaking the kids down by boys/girls and age groups.

Based on my last check of the Roll Call, I think we have 8 families which are made up of 15 adults and 10 kids. So for now, I think if everyone gives to everyone else once, that's good. However, if we grow to be a lot more people, I like the idea of doing two groups (i.e. group A gives to others in group A and group B gives to others in group B). So, I guess it depends on how many more people join in.

Does anyone have any recommendations on when you "close" the FE and no longer add participants? I don't want to exclude people who want to participate, but I'm sure its difficult to buy/make more gifts at the last minute. Just curious what others have done in the past.

Have a good day!
Leslie

[itutorfortravel]

Leslie, I sooo wish I could hold out and surprise my DD with the cruise, but I am bursting at the seams to tell her! Out of 9 of us cruising, she is the only one who doesn't know!!! Step-DD knows, as does my niece, so I think we're going to tell DD this weekend. Hope she will be excited!

I also like your idea of sorting by the cabin numbers.:thumbsup2 I will absolutely do that. In addition, you are smart to think of a closing date and / or capacity for the FE exchange. I think most DISers are long term planners, so that would probably be helpful to most.

So, let's talk about either setting a date or a certain # of cabins...anyone care to throw a number out there? As far as a date goes, I think we need to back it up to sometime in November only because some people do handmade gifts and that will take time, not to mention the additional demands on everyone's time at the holidays. We don't want FE exchanges to be stressful for anyone. :eek: So do you think mid-November is too early or late to set up a deadline?

Jhoanna, I think we could all decide whether we want to give either a cabin gift or individual ones. My organizing the data by ages would only be done to help those who decide to do things for adults separate from the kids and to be sure to get age / gender appropriate items.

Aside from not doing the FE exchange on the last day of the cruise (due to packing), how would you all feel about allowing everyone the flexibility to distribute their FE gifts on the day that works best for them? Can you see any problems with doing this? I'm suggesting that only because none of us know what each day will be like for us, whether we may be feeling rushed by a shore excursion, wanting to get down to an autograph session, a show, etc., and since the FE exchange is supposed to be fun, maybe having some flexibility would not cause any undue stress for anyone. What does everyone think of that?

I love the idea of breaking into subgroups once the group gets to a certain size. I don't think we've gotten anywhere near that threshold yet, but what would you guys say is a good point to break out into subgroups?

Kimberly

[Downrivermama]

As I add people to the roll call, I am starting an Excel spreadsheet as well with all the same information.

I have never done an FE exchange before, so I'm not sure how this data would be best organized. In other words, when you guys do FE exchanges, do you typically do something for the adults separate from the kids and if so do you choose things for the kids based on gender and age? If so, I was thinking of how I could organize the info to make it easy for us to select and purchase items? Like, should I group them by "Girls / under age 3" , "Boys / 3-5 years old", etc.?

Also, do you all want to say that everyone in the group will have an FE gift for all other cabins, or if we end up with a lot of people doing the FE exchange, do you want to do subgroups? I have read of some FE groups getting to be as many as 100 cabins, and I'm wondering if that becomes a little overwhelming in terms of cost, packing, and delivery time?

Y'all let me know what you think! Thanks!

Kimberly

I doubt this FE Exchange will grow that large. You can do whatever you want for FE gifts, candy, tatoos, stuff from Oriental Trading is inexpensive. On the EB Repo last year it took me about 2 hours to deliver goodies.

Hi Kimberly,

I've only done one FE exchange before and it was not organized by age or anything. We were two adults and got Hannah Montana stickers/magnets! :laughing: (which was fine as I'm sure there were many cabins that enjoyed these)

Our FE Exchange organizer set days for each group to distribute the gifts (not the first day and not the last day of the cruise) so that there would be gifts almost everyday.

The gift we decided to give were cruise themed picture frames which would work for every cabin regardless of the make up of that cabin.

I plan to do something similar this time. (Not picture frames, but something that will work for all.) I actually already know what I'm doing...it's the OCD planner in me:rolleyes1...
Having a gift that will work for the entire cabin also keeps the cost low! :thumbsup2

However, I'm open to whatever the group decides. :)

If you are handy with crafts, that is an option too! We got many magnets, mickey ears for the door, address books, etc.

Hi Kimberly-
I've never done this before either, so I sure those with some experience will have other ideas. But it would seem to me that you'd want to sort the spreadsheet by cabin # to make it easier when you deliver things. Then along with the cabin #, you'd want a column for the number of adults and then some variation of columns for the kids. I like your idea of breaking the kids down by boys/girls and age groups.

Based on my last check of the Roll Call, I think we have 8 families which are made up of 15 adults and 10 kids. So for now, I think if everyone gives to everyone else once, that's good. However, if we grow to be a lot more people, I like the idea of doing two groups (i.e. group A gives to others in group A and group B gives to others in group B). So, I guess it depends on how many more people join in.

Does anyone have any recommendations on when you "close" the FE and no longer add participants? I don't want to exclude people who want to participate, but I'm sure its difficult to buy/make more gifts at the last minute. Just curious what others have done in the past.

Have a good day!
Leslie

I was thinking that since I volunteered to keep track for the FE Exchange that I could do a spread sheet sorted by deck and cabin numbers.

Things we received: candy (tootsie rolls, hard candy) pirate tatoos, homemade magnets, little trinkets from Oriental Trading, glow sticks, buttons, CD's with cruise music, pens, pencils, mini calendars, to do lists.

I already decided what I will do. I got it in the FE exchange last year. It was real neat and I can handmake it!


I would say at this point, don't stress about it. But I would suggest that we have a cut off date or number of cabins that can participate. Maybe no more than 75 cabins or cut off date of 11/21/09.

[riggins]

Kimberly and Tina-
I agree that this group probably won't grow so big that we'll need 2 groups. We'll need a pretty big increase in participants pretty fast for that to happen! I think we can wait to discuss this more if we get a lot more people.

I like the idea of leaving the day flexible, for all the reasons Kimberly mentioned. Does anyone have any objection to that?

It sounds like we're all having the same thought about a cut-off date. What about 11/19 . . . its one month from sailing, so it seems easy to remember.


Tina - On a completely unrelated note, I LOVE the "good example" quote in your signature!!


Take Care!
Leslie

[Downrivermama]

Kimberly and Tina-
I agree that this group probably won't grow so big that we'll need 2 groups. We'll need a pretty big increase in participants pretty fast for that to happen! I think we can wait to discuss this more if we get a lot more people.

I like the idea of leaving the day flexible, for all the reasons Kimberly mentioned. Does anyone have any objection to that?

It sounds like we're all having the same thought about a cut-off date. What about 11/19 . . . its one month from sailing, so it seems easy to remember.


Tina - On a completely unrelated note, I LOVE the "good example" quote in your signature!!

Take Care!
Leslie

Thanks Leslie! I loved that quote the first time I saw it!

11/19 is a good cut off. That was what was so frustrating about the repo cruise last year. Our coordinator was afraid to exclude anyone, but at the same time it made it hard if you had already planned and bought stuff. What I ended up doing was, with some of the people who came late to the thread, I just skipped. They weren't going to know if I skipped them or not.

I'll have to look at my FE stuff tonight and maybe I can take a pic to give everyone an idea of what was handed out. I really like getting the Mickey ears for the door! I had left them at home. Another idea is some things could be Christmas stuff.

[lovesDCL]

I agree with the cutoff date as well. Will make planning much easier! :)

[robynchic]

When we make something, could it be like, one larger thing, then get a bunch of little things otherwise? I have an idea for what I want to make, but I'll have to see how long it takes to make one before deciding whether I should make one for everyone or every family.

[itutorfortravel]

It sounds like the November 19th deadline for the FE exchange was pretty well-liked according to a few replies here, so I put a note at the bottom of the roll call regarding that date as the deadline to join the FE exchange...if we decide we want to change it, we can, but I thought while it was a fresh topic I'd go ahead and make that note...

[owensamo]

On the past FE we did, we got a mix of both stuff in everyone's pocket, and one "package" for the room (typically with a few things in it). I kind of liked that everyone did something different!

Some other suggestions I've read were things from your hometown/state, things themed to the theme of the day (pirate, formal, etc), obviously pirate stuff and beachy/tropical themed stuff, etc. We've gotten everything from pencils to rubber duckies to candy to stickers and tattoos. I just hope it doesn't go like last time, when the bulk of what we were bringing home far exceeded what we'd brought - which made packing quite fun! (not!)

Amanda

[owensamo]

As I add people to the roll call, I am starting an Excel spreadsheet as well with all the same information.

I have never done an FE exchange before, so I'm not sure how this data would be best organized. In other words, when you guys do FE exchanges, do you typically do something for the adults separate from the kids and if so do you choose things for the kids based on gender and age? If so, I was thinking of how I could organize the info to make it easy for us to select and purchase items? Like, should I group them by "Girls / under age 3" , "Boys / 3-5 years old", etc.?


Kimberly,

Just for fun on our last cruise (January of this year) I went through all of the pages and pulled together a roll call list from that. It was mostly because I was curious! :) Anyway, in my spreadsheet I broke the kids down by kids club age groups. That way everyone could see how many DIS kids would be in their child's group. We had 25 5-7 year olds (where Hannah was)!

For the FEs, it's nice to know if there are under 3s in the cabin so that you can make sure that if there's a toy, it's something they can play with. :)

Amanda

[itutorfortravel]

Kimberly,

Just for fun on our last cruise (January of this year) I went through all of the pages and pulled together a roll call list from that. It was mostly because I was curious! :) Anyway, in my spreadsheet I broke the kids down by kids club age groups. That way everyone could see how many DIS kids would be in their child's group. We had 25 5-7 year olds (where Hannah was)!

For the FEs, it's nice to know if there are under 3s in the cabin so that you can make sure that if there's a toy, it's something they can play with. :)

Amanda

Hey Amanda! That is an awesome idea to break down the kids groups by kids club ages...you're right, that would make it easy to see who is in the clubs together :thumbsup2 Thanks for the suggestion!

Kimberly

P.S. to everyone...I LOVE how this thread is starting to take off!!! I think we've added four pages in just the past week!!!:goodvibes

[robynchic]

Ok, I think I'm suckered in to it. Sign us up for FE! If I order or buy a bunch of stuff and it's primarily for my students (but I tuck a few things in there for the cruise), it's tax deductible, right?:rotfl:

[itutorfortravel]

Ok, I think I'm suckered in to it. Sign us up for FE! If I order or buy a bunch of stuff and it's primarily for my students (but I tuck a few things in there for the cruise), it's tax deductible, right?:rotfl:

I like your thinking! ;)

[Downrivermama]

Ok, I think I'm suckered in to it. Sign us up for FE! If I order or buy a bunch of stuff and it's primarily for my students (but I tuck a few things in there for the cruise), it's tax deductible, right?:rotfl:

:thumbsup2

[itutorfortravel]

Okay, I've figured out something to do for an FE gift that won't take much packing space, so we're in!!! :cool1:

[WDWKOOK]

:wave2:

This is my first time posting to the CL forum:hyper:. I read/skimmed all of this thread tonight as we are considering booking this cruise. This would be our first DCL cruise, and my DD10's first-ever cruise.

We are also considering the 12/23 4-night Bahamian cruise. We would love to sail over Christmas, and these two sailings are eligible for the Military/DoD promotion which we could use. This is equal to 52% off rack rate for a cat. 7 12/19 sailing or 44% off rack rate for a cat.7 12/23 (4-nt) sailing.

Does this sound like a deal we can't pass-up? Or will this promotion likely be available in 2010, too?

Would the two ships be docking simultaneously at CC on Christmas?:boat::crowded::boat:

If you have to cancel and you lose your deposit, does DCL ever take your deposit and let you apply it toward a future cruise or do you completely lose it? Sometimes the WDTC will apply your deposit toward a future visit.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, as most of you have already booked this cruise, but did you consider the 12/23 cruise, too? Why or why not? Which would you recommend for our first DCL cruise? Would you recommend cruising in the summer instead? This would be the only other time we could book and there might not be as great a discount:eek:.

I apologize if my long post has replaced your Ambien for this evening:laughing:.Thanks for helping a potential DCL first-timer:thumbsup2.

[itutorfortravel]

:wave2:

This is my first time posting to the CL forum:hyper:. I read/skimmed all of this thread tonight as we are considering booking this cruise. This would be our first DCL cruise, and my DD10's first-ever cruise.

Hello, and welcome to our thread!

We are also considering the 12/23 4-night Bahamian cruise. We would love to sail over Christmas, and these two sailings are eligible for the Military/DoD promotion which we could use. This is equal to 52% off rack rate for a cat. 7 12/19 sailing or 44% off rack rate for a cat.7 12/23 (4-nt) sailing.

Does this sound like a deal we can't pass-up? Or will this promotion likely be available in 2010, too?

Unfortunately, there is no way to predict the discounts that DCL will offer in the future. This year has been unusual with all the offers and discounts they have done, which are simply a result of the economy and the fact that DCL is having a harder time filling its ships. I think the discount you can get is fabulous and if you can do the cruise this year, I would definitely go for it! Our family has wanted to cruise on DCL for a long time but just couldn't justify the outrageously high prices. This cruise will actually be our second one this year because of some wonderful rates out there!

Would the two ships be docking simultaneously at CC on Christmas?:boat::crowded::boat:

I seriously doubt it, even though that is what both itineraries show. This question has been asked on the boards before and most people think that one of the itineraries will deviate from the norm so that both ships are not at CC on the same day. I'm not even sure if it is possible for both ships to dock there on the same day. I sure hope not, as that would be a very crowded place on Christmas day!

If you have to cancel and you lose your deposit, does DCL ever take your deposit and let you apply it toward a future cruise or do you completely lose it? Sometimes the WDTC will apply your deposit toward a future visit.

DCL has a set cancellation policy in effect. If you cancel at least 75 days in advance (for cat 4-12), you would get all your money back. Beyond that time, there would be some penalties for cancelling. You can see the exact details of that on the DCL website and it may even be posted on the DCL FAQ thread anchored at the top of the main cruise thread. Many people get travel insurance to help with things like possible cancellations.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, as most of you have already booked this cruise, but did you consider the 12/23 cruise, too? Why or why not? Which would you recommend for our first DCL cruise? Would you recommend cruising in the summer instead? This would be the only other time we could book and there might not be as great a discount:eek:.


The low rates for Christmas time this year are out of the ordinary discounts. Christmas, New Year's, spring break, and the summer are the most expensive times to sail from what I have observed. So getting a good deal at Christmas is something I couldn't pass up as I always wanted to sail at the holiday. If you want to do the 3 or 4 night over a 7 night, I would probably recommend going in the spring or summer. The Bahamas will be much cooler than the lower Caribbean islands. For our first cruise in April, we went on this exact same itinerary as the 7 night Christmas cruise. We love the additional sea days and there are some additional activities on the 7 night cruises that aren't on the 4 night ones. We found it much more relaxing to go for a longer period of time. You won't get bored! We weren't able to possibly do all we wanted to do...but whichever one you choose, it's Disney, so I am sure it be be wonderful!


I apologize if my long post has replaced your Ambien for this evening:laughing:.Thanks for helping a potential DCL first-timer:thumbsup2.




Good luck in your decision, and if you happen to choose this cruise, we hope you'll come join our thread!

[riggins]

:wave2:

This is my first time posting to the CL forum:hyper:. I read/skimmed all of this thread tonight as we are considering booking this cruise. This would be our first DCL cruise, and my DD10's first-ever cruise.

We are also considering the 12/23 4-night Bahamian cruise. We would love to sail over Christmas, and these two sailings are eligible for the Military/DoD promotion which we could use. This is equal to 52% off rack rate for a cat. 7 12/19 sailing or 44% off rack rate for a cat.7 12/23 (4-nt) sailing.

Does this sound like a deal we can't pass-up? Or will this promotion likely be available in 2010, too?

Would the two ships be docking simultaneously at CC on Christmas?:boat::crowded::boat:

If you have to cancel and you lose your deposit, does DCL ever take your deposit and let you apply it toward a future cruise or do you completely lose it? Sometimes the WDTC will apply your deposit toward a future visit.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, as most of you have already booked this cruise, but did you consider the 12/23 cruise, too? Why or why not? Which would you recommend for our first DCL cruise? Would you recommend cruising in the summer instead? This would be the only other time we could book and there might not be as great a discount:eek:.

I apologize if my long post has replaced your Ambien for this evening:laughing:.Thanks for helping a potential DCL first-timer:thumbsup2.

Welcome!! Kimberly has answered most of your questions, but I thought I'd share my two cents on a couple of items too.

Like Kimberly suggested, I wouldn't count on these kind of discounts next year. Its possible that they'll be there, but a lot will be different next year that will impact supply/demand. I'd like to think the overall economy will be in a better place, but even if it isn't, the DCL schedules will likely impact demand. The Magic is going to be in Europe for nearly 6 months, leaving only one ship to support the demand for Bahamas/Carribbean cruises through the spring and summer. Also, next Christmas, the Magic is doing special 10/11 night cruises and the Wonder will be doing two 7-night cruises. So, the 4-night won't be an option. If you want to cruise next Christmas, you'll have to choose one of the longer and more expensive cruises.

We didn't consider the 12/23 cruise. We've sailed to the Bahamas twice in mid-January and thought it was too cold. It was in the 70's which was certainly pleasant, but way too cold for swimming and to fully enjoy the beach. Last year we sailed the Bahamas in November, and while the air temperatures were pretty warm, the water had already gotten a little too cold for comfort. So we only considered the cruises that went further south. We were originally booked on the 12/26 Magic sailing, but we recently changed to 12/19 when DCL offered the great Cat 12 deals. We saved $3000 by switching!!


Good Luck on your choice!
Leslie

[WDWKOOK]

Thank you both for your responses:).

[robynchic]

With the FE exchange, are we doing anything special since it's the holidays?

[stichlover87]

*

[itutorfortravel]

Hello everyone!! My mother and I (DD 22) have just decided to book this cruise today :cool1:It will be our seventh Disney Cruise (5 on the wonder, and 1 Western on the Magic). We are very excited to go on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary! We are going to do a category 12 (maybe upgrade, but doubt it ;)) and save our money for shore excursions or my favorite...bingo :rotfl2: We are doing the late seating for dinner and will probably try and get Palo for dinner or a brunch one day. (SO MUCH TO PLAN :banana:)

We have never done the fish extenders before, but being Christmas we think it would be a good time to try them...so could you add us to the fish extender gift exchange?

Hello and welcome to the group! You're going to love the Eastern itinerary!!! We just did it in April and loved it...can't wait to do this cruise to see the islands again and experience Christmas on the Magic...I'll put you on the roll call and make a note that you and your mom want to do the FE exchange. downrivermama is our official FE coordinator, but I'll just make the note on the roll call since I'm keeping up with that. If you want me to include yours and your mom's names and hometown on the roll call, just PM me and I'll add that too!

Kimberly

[lovesDCL]

Hello everyone!! My mother and I (DD 22) have just decided to book this cruise today :cool1:It will be our seventh Disney Cruise (5 on the wonder, and 1 Western on the Magic). We are very excited to go on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary! We are going to do a category 12 (maybe upgrade, but doubt it ;)) and save our money for shore excursions or my favorite...bingo :rotfl2: We are doing the late seating for dinner and will probably try and get Palo for dinner or a brunch one day. (SO MUCH TO PLAN :banana:)

We have never done the fish extenders before, but being Christmas we think it would be a good time to try them...so could you add us to the fish extender gift exchange?


:welcome: stichlover87!!!

[itutorfortravel]

With the FE exchange, are we doing anything special since it's the holidays?

Hi Robyn,

I'm sure some people will do holiday themed items for the FE since we are sailing at Christmas. But it is totally up to you as to what you want to do...island inspired items, pirate stuff, etc. would all be great! I think everyone will just have fun finding little goodies throughout the week, no matter what they are!

Kimberly

[lovesDCL]

...island inspired items, pirate stuff, etc. would all be great! I think everyone will just have fun finding little goodies throughout the week, no matter what they are!

Kimberly

Well said Kimberly! Any FE gift is a good FE! :dance3:

(Robyn, I will be doing a holiday themed gift. :santa: Don't know if that helps you out ;))

[itutorfortravel]

:wave2: Hey! Where is everyone?! It's been very quiet around here the past couple days!

Well, I've been busy! I decided to bite the bullet and buy an FE. I got it from an eBayer who made me the cutest pillowcase for my DD for our April cruise. I am so excited! If any of you are looking to get an embroidered pillowcase for this trip, PM me and I'll give you her eBay ID! We loved the one she did for us, and I am getting 3 more for this trip - one for DD, stepDD, and my niece. Should make a nice souvie...

I've also figured out one of the things I am giving for an FE gift! I am sooo excited :banana: I also picked up a couple other little things I have come across for the exchange.

Lastly, our family has decided only to buy gifts for the kids this year since we are going on this trip....ahhh, a REAL stress free holiday! ;) Anyhow, even though we are not officially exchanging gifts, I am making up a little bon voyage basket for my MIL and SIL...today I picked up a couple pump hand soaps and those concentrated room sprays from Bath & Body Works. I thought I would also put a pack of highlighters (for marking activities on the Navigators) and a nightlight in the basket. Do any of you have any other fun ideas of things to add that they may not think to bring?

Hope all of you are doing well!

Kimberly

[stichlover87]

*

[Downrivermama]

I'm here! Kinda caught up with some contract developments at work. I've thought up 2 things for FE gifts. Other than that counting down the days! Taking a long weekend and dd starts school on Tues.

Not doing that much for Christmas either. DD wants an ipod and Walmart has a bundle for an 8G that I'm going to order for her. I figured I'll get a couple of small things, but the cruise is our main gift this year. We are going to stay a couple of days after the cruise, so I'm looking for a nice place along the coast to stay.

[disneyland255]

Hey everyone! itutorfortravel told me about this thread when I mentioned we had this cruise booked as well. It is I (30), my wife (31), our daughter (18mos on cruise), and my parents going on this cruise together. What is this thread all about? Can someone give me the lowdown.

[itutorfortravel]

Hey everyone! itutorfortravel told me about this thread when I mentioned we had this cruise booked as well. It is I (30), my wife (31), our daughter (18mos on cruise), and my parents going on this cruise together. What is this thread all about? Can someone give me the lowdown.

:wave2:Hey Disneyland255! Glad you made it over to the meet thread. This is a place to mix and mingle with your fellow cruisers prior to the trip. Let's face it, most of us are pretty crazy about Disney and like to talk about it - ALOT!!! :rotfl:, But (at least for me) most of my friends don't want to hear me go on and on and on and on...well, you get the picture! So, here in this forum we all share the same excitement and anticipation for the cruise.

We have a roll call for this trip if you want to join in. Just let me know if you do. You can see the current roll call by going to the first page of this thread and clicking on the HUGE link at the top! If you want to include your names, hometown, how many Disney cruises you've been on, etc., you can do that too...just PM me whatever you want to include.

Some of us are also doing an FE exchange on this trip. There was some discussion a couple pages back about how the FE exchange works, in case you're not familiar with this (I know you said you were new to the DISboards). Also, there is some info on the FAQ's thread anchored at the top of the Disney Cruise main discussion board. If you decide you would like to do this, just let us know. Another DISer is going to be coordinating the FE exchange, but I have started a list of people who are interested.

At any rate, welcome to the thread!:thumbsup2

[disneyland255]

Okay - I PM'd you our information.

I'm new to all the DH, DD, DW, etc. so if I got them wrong I apologize. LOL I did DG for grandparent. LOL I'm not quite sure what an FE is. I put that in my PM to you, but if there are others who don't know what it is, maybe explain it here.

I completely understand your friends not wanting to hear it because my family and friends get that way as well. This is THE PERFECT spot to do that!

I apprecaite the warm welcome and I am so excited to share all this and possibly run in to some of you on the cruise!!! :cool1:

[lovesDCL]

Hey everyone! itutorfortravel told me about this thread when I mentioned we had this cruise booked as well. It is I (30), my wife (31), our daughter (18mos on cruise), and my parents going on this cruise together. What is this thread all about? Can someone give me the lowdown.

:welcome: disneyland255!!! happy to have you onboard!

[disneyland255]

Thank you so much for the warm welcome!!! :hyper:

[Disneyday]

Can anyone make a suggestion for shore excursions for us?
I would really like us to stay as one group, but DD (11) hates shopping and I don't think DM (80) is up for anything too active (which we would love). Help!

I also have a question about the FE. Do you think any of us might be upgraded at the port, since a few of us have booked the 12GTY's. If so, what would we do about exchanging room numbers?

[itutorfortravel]

Hmm maybe a travel alarm clock (those fan ones in the room don't light up at night which can be frustrating), a shoe hanger with the pockets or over the door storage compartment (I hang it from the hook in the hallway by the bathroom for extra storage of things like sunscreen or sunglasses or even shoes...dollar store or target usually has cheap ones), some water bottles or plastic containers that they can carry around to refill from the soda fountains, gum because they do not sell it on the ship, shouts wipes or tide to go pen, motion sickness pills or patches, some candy or snacks to take to the shows. Just some ideas off the top of my head of things I usually try to bring.

I am so excited for this cruise! I put a countdown on my widget yesterday and I probably checked it ten times just to see the minutes get lower and lower :rotfl2:I am also very excited about the new 3 tiered castaway club idea (interested on how it will play out!) Also excited for next Friday to hear about the new ship's itineraries :cool1:

I am headed to WDW tomorrow for the weekend :woohoo: Staying at the Pop Century and going to HS tomorrow night for Fantasmic :wizard: my favorite! Then AK and Epcot on Saturday. Saving the MK for MNSSHP in October. Hope everyone has a good labor day weekend.

Hi stitchlover, thanks for the great ideas for my family's bon voyage baskets! Someone on the DISboard made me the greatest magnet designs for everyone in my family! I love them! I can't wait to have them made and put them on their doors!!! They are all cruise virgins so they have no idea what to expect, they will probably think that every cruise is like this - LOL!

I just finished planning out my FE gifts and ordered everything I wanted to get today. I am soooo excited about it! I also decided to spring for a handmade FE from someone on eBay who had made me a pillowcase for our last cruise. I cannot wait to get it!!! I also ordered pillowcases for my DD, stepDD and niece. I also just got a white picture frame the other day with the intention of having the characters sign it and then put a picture of my in-laws in it to commemorate their 50th wedding anniversary.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend :)

Take care,
Kimberly

[stichlover87]

Just back from WDW...we ended up going to MNSSHP on Friday instead of going later in October and it was great. This trip made me even more excited about the cruise in December...can we fast forward a few months? :rotfl2:

[robynchic]

Sorry that I've been quiet. Work's been a bear lately (IEP meeting, teacher meeting with the other teachers of one of my students), ILs-to-be here for the weekend, and just trying to get everything taken care of before the wedding.

I can't wait to start making our FE. How big should it be? I was planning on knitting ours.

[riggins]

Sorry that I've been quiet. Work's been a bear lately (IEP meeting, teacher meeting with the other teachers of one of my students), ILs-to-be here for the weekend, and just trying to get everything taken care of before the wedding.

I can't wait to start making our FE. How big should it be? I was planning on knitting ours.

I've been quiet too! I was travelling with work last week, so I didn't get to check in much. But the FE gifts I ordered came while I was gone and I really love them, so it was extra great to come home.

Robynchic - I'm just getting started on my FE and from what I've read, I think 8-9 inches wide and as long as you want (although I guess if you get more than 4-5 feet it will drag on the floor!). My mom offered to help me do the sewing, but I just can't decide what I want to put on it!! Decisions, decisions!

Take Care!
Leslie

[Disneyday]

Does anyone have the link to the kids thread? DD is interested in chatting to the others.
Thanks

[itutorfortravel]

Does anyone have the link to the kids thread? DD is interested in chatting to the others.
Thanks



Hey Sue! Not sure where that thread is either...it was mentioned a few pages back, but I never noticed a link...maybe someone else will come along who can help :)

Kimberly

[itutorfortravel]

I've been quiet too! I was travelling with work last week, so I didn't get to check in much. But the FE gifts I ordered came while I was gone and I really love them, so it was extra great to come home.

Take Care!
Leslie

Hey Leslie! Hope you had a good business trip and a nice holiday...did work take you anywhere as fun as you'll be in just a little over 100 days?! LOL!

I ordered my FE gifts this week, too, and I am excited! Can't wait till they come and I can start putting it all together.

[itutorfortravel]

Hey everyone! I'm still adding folks to the roll call, so if anyone hasn't yet joined and wants to, just send me a PM with all your info and I'l add you!

Also, I have been asked about supplying cabin numbers for the FE exchange. I know a lot of us have booked cat 12's and don't know our cabin numbers yet...but if you do know your assigned cabin and want to PM that to me, I'll add it to a spreadsheet I have been keeping updated offline. I wasn't planning to post cabin numbers on the thread, unless someone wants me to for some reason. How does that sound?

Anyhow, I'll keep up with as much info as I can before the cruise...Tina (downrivermama) has graciously offered to be our FE coordinator, so when we get closer to the cruise, she said she'd take over that end of things and make sure all our cabin numbers are updated if necessary, etc.

Guess what? Tomorrow is the 100 Day Mark...and the day after that we are into double digits!!! YEAH!

Kimberly

[disneyland255]

THIS IS SO FRIEKING EXCITING!!!!!!!! :banana:

[lovesDCL]

Guess what? Tomorrow is the 100 Day Mark...and the day after that we are into double digits!!! YEAH!

Kimberly

YAY!!!! :woohoo::dance3::cheer2::thumbsup2

Sorry I've been quiet as well....lots going on over here with starting to co-teach at a new high school....but can't wait for the cruise!!! :woohoo:

[itutorfortravel]

100 Days Till We Sail!!!

[riggins]

100 Days Till We Sail!!!

:cool1::cool1::cool1::cool1::cool1::cool1::cool1:: cool1:

I'm really excited. I went ahead and paid off my balance yesterday! A couple more weeks and we'll be booking things already!

[Downrivermama]

Hey all! Cool only 100 days! :banana::banana: Well by the time we sail I will be retired! My employer has offered a 20 and out, with no age requirement and health care so I should be gone by 10/1! So I'll have plenty of time to get FE gifts and the list in order before we all sail! And maybe I'll actually pack well this time!

Some one asked how to handle room upgrades and changes for the FE exchange. You all could contact me and I could post them on my door. I'll have to look for my exact cabin number, but I have a cat 11 so I doubt I'll be upgraded. It's on deck 6 forward. I'll post the cabin # when I get a chance.

[itutorfortravel]

:( We decided not to book the FL rate for the cat 7...just too much risk ($$$) if something were to happen and step-DD couldn't go. We may upgrade later but for now we're holding our cat 12's. Just glad to be on the ship!

[itutorfortravel]

Hey all! Cool only 100 days! :banana::banana: Well by the time we sail I will be retired! My employer has offered a 20 and out, with no age requirement and health care so I should be gone by 10/1! So I'll have plenty of time to get FE gifts and the list in order before we all sail! And maybe I'll actually pack well this time!

Some one asked how to handle room upgrades and changes for the FE exchange. You all could contact me and I could post them on my door. I'll have to look for my exact cabin number, but I have a cat 11 so I doubt I'll be upgraded. It's on deck 6 forward. I'll post the cabin # when I get a chance.

Tina, congratulations on your retirement! Wow! What a celebration cruise for you for sure!!!

Your idea for posting the updated FE info sounds good...that may help everyone out since there may be some who might not be able to meet up at the terminal or shortly after boarding.

I am so darn excited I cannot stand it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and neither can the rest of my family, by the way :banana::banana::banana::banana:)

[Downrivermama]

Hey All! 98 more days! :banana::banana::banana:

Did anyone see the DCL announcements? Alaska in 2011 and Wonder repo to CA 1/6/2011.

[crystald]

the kids thread is right here

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2268155

[Disneyday]

the kids thread is right here

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2268155

~Thanks, I'll show DD :goodvibes

[Pluto,]

just signed up for this cruise, with the great cat 12 gty price. what do they do special for a christmas cruise besides decorations?

[itutorfortravel]

just signed up for this cruise, with the great cat 12 gty price. what do they do special for a christmas cruise besides decorations?

Welcome! pixiedust:

If you'd like to join our roll call, check out the link on page one and send me a PM with your info. I'm also compiling a list of those who are interested in an FE exchange, so if you want to do that as well, just let me know!

Not sure what will happen on board in addition to the decorations, though I have heard past cruisers say that Mrs. Claus reads to the children, Santa makes an appearance on Christmas morning, and it snows on Castaway Cay. :)

[owensamo]

I'm soooo excited! We just got all of our ADRs for our WDW pre-stay!! Everything we wanted, at the approximate time we were looking for! :woohoo::yay:

90 days from now we'll be checking into AKV - I'm so looking forward to it! :cool1:

Then a very Magical Christmas! :santa:

It's going to be a very long 3 months...

Amanda

[itutorfortravel]

I'm soooo excited! We just got all of our ADRs for our WDW pre-stay!! Everything we wanted, at the approximate time we were looking for! :woohoo::yay:

90 days from now we'll be checking into AKV - I'm so looking forward to it! :cool1:

Then a very Magical Christmas! :santa:

It's going to be a very long 3 months...

Amanda

Congratulations on getting everything you wanted at WDW! You are going to have such a wonderful holiday with both WDW and DCL - wow!

It does seem like it's going to be a long time till we reach this trip. But what I have found is that the time drags until you have about 6 weeks left and then it just flies by b/c there is so much to do to get ready. Couple that with the holidays, and I feel that once Halloween is upon us, we will be feeling like the cruise is just around the corner!

[robynchic]

Whoo hoo! 95 days! 3 weeks (well, 20 days) until we can book excursions. I'm so excited!

How cruel is it that part of why I'm so excited is that it means my mom won't be bugging me about wedding planning stuff anymore? :rotfl:

ETA: This may sound strange, but do we also want to make mention whether we don't want Christmas related stuff? My fiance and I are Jewish. I don't know whether he won't care, but we definitely will have no use for ornaments or such!

[Pluto,]

well i been checking prices for this cruise ever since i booked on sunday. today there is no more cat 12 showing i got in just in time.

[riggins]

ETA: This may sound strange, but do we also want to make mention whether we don't want Christmas related stuff? My fiance and I are Jewish. I don't know whether he won't care, but we definitely will have no use for ornaments or such!

I'm sure Tina and Kim can decide how to best note this kind of thing, but its good to know. Thanks!

[itutorfortravel]

ETA: This may sound strange, but do we also want to make mention whether we don't want Christmas related stuff? My fiance and I are Jewish. I don't know whether he won't care, but we definitely will have no use for ornaments or such!

Thanks for letting us know this info. Why don't I just make a note of this on the roll call so that everyone will know this when they are planning their FE gifts? Does that sound okay?

[bpescar]

I am new to these DIS Boards. My daughter orginally was coming but now can not sail. Instead it will be just me and grandpa sailing alone for the first time. A couple of kids ourselves wants to participate in the FE. I have been planning all year for this! We are in stateroom 2568 Mark and Barbara. You will notice us by the older looking couple acting like a couple of teenagers. I am sad that it will no longer be a girl's cruise however there is always next year! Disney rocks! Can someone please post details on how this FE works and how I get a print out of who I am sharing with. Look forward to hearing from you soon! :dance3::littleangel::cheer2:

[itutorfortravel]

I am new to these DIS Boards. My daughter orginally was coming but now can not sail. Instead it will be just me and grandpa sailing alone for the first time. A couple of kids ourselves wants to participate in the FE. I have been planning all year for this! We are in stateroom 2568 Mark and Barbara. You will notice us by the older looking couple acting like a couple of teenagers. I am sad that it will no longer be a girl's cruise however there is always next year! Disney rocks! Can someone please post details on how this FE works and how I get a print out of who I am sharing with. Look forward to hearing from you soon! :dance3::littleangel::cheer2:

Welcome Barbara! I've got you on the roll call (see link on page 1 of this thread) and also on the FE list...

Good for your that you and your DH are still young at heart. I hope I'm always that way, too! Sometimes I think people tend to take themselves too seriously, which is why I love the "escape" of anything Disney!!!

[robynchic]

Thanks for letting us know this info. Why don't I just make a note of this on the roll call so that everyone will know this when they are planning their FE gifts? Does that sound okay?

Sounds good to me! I'm sorry if I put a wrench in anyone's plans for what they were getting/making. I promise, everyone, you'll get something awesome (and non-denominational...that you'll be able to use all the time) from my fiance and me.

Which brings me to a bizarre question...People with kids- do your kids have a favorite color? If so, what is it?

[owensamo]

Sounds good to me! I'm sorry if I put a wrench in anyone's plans for what they were getting/making. I promise, everyone, you'll get something awesome (and non-denominational...that you'll be able to use all the time) from my fiance and me.

Which brings me to a bizarre question...People with kids- do your kids have a favorite color? If so, what is it?

According to our DD's "All About Me" book she wrote for her "back to school night" last night, it's blue. Of course, I believe 90% of her wardrobe is pink, so that was news to me! :rotfl:

Amanda

[bpescar]

Hi Everyone;
Thanks for adding us to the roll call and the FE list. Where do I find this FE list? My daughter told me something about being able to print out the list before we set sail. As you can tell we are really excited. I have been stuffing away items and want to make sure that our elves did not mix up their gifts with other good intentions. See you real soon!:dance3::cheer2::yay:

[itutorfortravel]

People with kids- do your kids have a favorite color? If so, what is it?

Both of our DD's favorite color is blue!

[riggins]

Which brings me to a bizarre question...People with kids- do your kids have a favorite color? If so, what is it?

Emma likes pink and Sarah like purple (typical girls, huh?).


Any other CC members online tonight waiting until the clock strikes 12 to book Palo and excursions?

[itutorfortravel]

Hey Leslie! I'm here, ready to book. Hope you get everything you want :thumbsup2

[riggins]

Thanks Kimberly! Glad you got home in time. I just finished and got everything I wanted with no problems. I hope you had the same luck.

[Downrivermama]

Woo Hoo! Just booked my ressies and got what I wanted. T-90 and counting!

[itutorfortravel]

Hey Leslie! Yep, I kept my eye on the clock tonight and once it got to be 11:30 I told DH we needed to say our goodbyes to everyone and get home to the computer - LOL! We've got a group of couples who do a supper club every couple months and some were already leaving so it worked out well.

Glad you and Tina both got everything you wanted...so did we! I'm thrilled!

[drizzt117]

Same here. Got all my Palo times, my excursions, and couples cabana massages on X-mas day!!!!

:yay::yay::yay:

[itutorfortravel]

Same here. Got all my Palo times, my excursions, and couples cabana massages on X-mas day!!!!

:yay::yay::yay:



Have you ever done the cabana massage on CC? I signed up for just me to do that, DH and step-DD are doing the jet ski excursion as their special Christmas day activity, so I think I will treat myself to a massage! I've never even been over the Serenity Bay - we didn't make it over there in April?

Well, congratulations on getting everything you wanted. Anyone else doing the St. John island tour or the Golden Eagle Catamaran?

Oh, by the way drizzt117, let me know if you want to be added to the roll call. We've got a link to it on page 1 of this thread. :)

[riggins]

Anyone else doing the St. John island tour or the Golden Eagle Catamaran?

Hi Kimberly - We're doing the Golden Eagle Catamaran at 1:00. Are you doing that same one or are you guys going in the morning?