February 7, 2009 Western early check in! [Archive] - Page 7 - The DIS Discussion Forums

JRandAJsMom

02-17-2009, 07:51 PM

Well, we made it through the cruise with no illness (other than DH having a slightly sore throat the last night). Then I pick DS6 up from his first day back at school today. Apparently he had been telling the assistant teacher all day that he didn't feel good. No one called me :mad: In fact, they told him he didn't "look" sick and I sent him to school so he must be fine (he WAS fine when he left). By the time he got in my car at pick-up, he was all teary eyed and broke down crying when I asked him what was wrong saying he was freezing and his throat hurt really bad. I called the doctors office and left a message while still in the parking lot and took his temp when we got home-- 102.5!!!!! :sick: The poor kid was shaking and crying and had sat through school feeling like that all day. He didn't leave my bed all afternoon except to go to the bathroom as he transferred to his own bed. Doc called back and they didn't have any appointments left today, so we go tomorrow morning. I talked to the assistant teacher after school when she called to say that I might want to watch Joey tonight because she didn't think he felt well. I told her (nicely, of course) if he ever says he doesn't feel well again, I want to be called right away. At least it's all after the cruise though... However-- I need another one to calm my nerves!!! Is it time for bouncebacks yet??? I need back out of this real world junk!!!

princessmeesh

02-18-2009, 06:51 AM

well my cold is still hanging out but not by much, but nonetheless i am going for the bounceback if not over halloween then in Nov....this time maybe if i dont get as excited then i wont get sick?? :confused3

i just wanted to say thank you to everyone in the VV's. our FE was soooo much FUN! we got such great gifts and it was such a treat for the DD's to rush to the door every morning when they awoke and every night before bed, it was so cute! thanks again for everyone's generousity, thanks to you all i gained some Lbs this trip!!

hopefully we can coordinate for the bounceback and/or the next 7 day!

stay warm everyone in the colder climates!

patrsn

02-18-2009, 04:08 PM

Hi guys, well I got a cold on the cruise, not too bad but enough so that now my kids have it and are coughing like crazy, thank goodness it's this week and not last.

Michelle V..what happened to you on the ship? were you sick? I think I missed that, so sorry and hope it's better next time you cruise.

I am going to book the 99 dollar bouncback for the three nights, who else is doing it and what are your dates? I'de like to go when someone else is going.

Thanks Sue and Dee for doing so so much, it was so much fun..I wish I could have spent more time with everyone, but having a cold and coughing so much all I really did was sit in the sun trying to cook it out of me!

I hope we can keep in touch through this board or facebook... off to cook dinner, yuck!

Michelle

TinkerKat

02-19-2009, 08:38 PM

Home sweet Home! I am finally going to sleep in my own bed tonite! Do miss the rocking ship at night though! I haven't slept that soundly in years! Unlike Michelle V. who was home hours after the cruise , we drove to disney and stayed at Pop Century for 4 days. You do get spoiled on the ship though,
not having to think about cooking, cleaning, paying, tipping! I actually was not even hungry! I think the ships food overwhlemed the senses as I know I don't eat three squares a day (though I should). My absolute favorite dessert was a cake they had on Pirate night. They called it the Spider cake, it was a white cake with buttercream icing that was to die for!

It was wonderful meeting most of you! Sorry I missed the meet... Our train was delayed by three hours. And that NEVER happens! Like others have said, it was nice running into familiar friendly faces. Even when I walked the decks like a thief in the night delivering goodies !
I wish I would have known about " dummy bookings" I would've jumped all over that. Too bad they don't offer dummy DVC :)
Maybe they'll have great offers again when I cruise on the 3 day. We too thought about October. But I think November is more doable. Maybe even first week in December. I'd love to see the ship decorated for holiday!

Thank you Sue, for suggesting I contact Guest Services. They sent Eleni a certificate for a Magical Moment regarding the loss of her first tooth, it was signed Tinkerbell and the tooth fairy :lovestruc They included lots of confetti and a Castaway Cay Minnie Beanie in a Sarong! She was thrilled. It was truly Magical. Thanks again for the tip!

Oh yea, Al forgot his luggage at the Port! He didn't realize it until about
3pm. Concierge at Pop called for him, and DCL delivered his luggage to the hotel that same night! Top notch Guest Service all around. Ok, gotta catch up on Lost! Ciao my Voyager friends!

JRandAJsMom

02-20-2009, 04:37 PM

Does anyone have the pic from the meet? I had left my camera up in the room!!!

pgsahm2

02-21-2009, 06:59 AM

Welcome home to everyone who's currently back to reality!

Can you believe it was two weeks ago we boarded the big ship and already one week since we left it behind? Where has the time gone???!!!

I would also love a picture of the meet if someone has one uploaded.

I'm not sure when we'll be doing the bouncback but I hope we get to. I think we're leaning toward December along with a short trip to WDW since I have a 40% off pin code for lodging. Fingers crossed!!!

Are we the only ones who didn't rebook while on board? I'm still sad that we didn't.... Dh just couldn't find it in him with the way the economy is. We have to make sure we have a house and cars and food to eat before trips... personally I'd rather cruise... lol

Namsupak

02-22-2009, 09:21 AM

I think we're trying to do the bounce back in December too. Maybe we'll see some of the Valentine Voyagers :goodvibes A nice short trip to see what it's like to travel with the new baby.

We'd love to get a copy of the group pic too. Anybody have a copy to upload?

deedeedubbs

02-22-2009, 09:59 AM

Hi VV's!!!:wave2:
We finished up our week with my parents in Daytona. It was hard leaving the cruise but even harder for me leaving my parents. As you may or may not remember we almost lost my mom in October...it was a minute by minute thing where she was going and then she was revived. Well, spending this much time with my parents, as we do every Feb, meant much more to me! I cried like a baby as we drove away and my special Jerry, DH, just grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly and didn't let go for about 30 minutes.

Fore those of you wondering, "Did Dee get on 95 the the wrong way again?!" The answer is no. I went on the cruise with something, got worse and sported a fever for a few days, it seemed to go away and then wham! I was hit for a second time and much harder. Jerry had to drive the entire trip home because my fever was so high my hair hurt.:scared1: But each time we stopped for gas or rest we did tease, including my kids, about making sure we got on 95 the right direction.

I last wrote we were going to Hoop Dee Doo Review on Sunday. It was more fun than ever. Bailey, DS6 , was selected to ring the dinner bell to start the show. Jerry was highlighted as a cheater with Claire, one of the characters in teh show, and Bailey was selected again to go on stage as the Texas Ranger. The only downside of the night was each of our cameras and video cameras batteries died just before Bailey came out to do his thing. Disney did take a professional photo and gave it to us - so nice! While on the cruise I know I spoke with a few of you about spending that Sunday before the show hopping from the hotels to the next...never happened. Jerry had College homework and lots of it to do or we couldn't go to the show so maybe next time.

We just got in late last night and had to snowblow our driveway. We are getting more snow today! ugh! How are you doing Al? Done with the CT snow?

I DO have the group shots...the kids and the entire group. I'll try to post on my facebook and photobucket so everyone can get to it. If I have technical difficulties I'll email the pix to someone who has a clue about these sites and get the pix up somehow.

I'm sorry to hear that so many of you aren't feeling well either! I hope everyone is better soon!

Kathy, how special of the cruise to have made your daughter's lost tooth so special!!

We also didn't rebook. If we had the extra $ we would have done a dummy booking but we just didn't have it this time around. It looks like we won't be doing the bounce back either. I suggested to Jerry he and I go away with each other as a special date. He likes the idea but then who'd watch the kids and could we afford it and would he be able to get more time off.

I'm probably going to slip back into bed for a little while. I'll look for my all of my pix cd's and sticks and find the group shots as my 1st VV priority when I get back up.

Toodles,
Dee

MyLove4Disney

02-22-2009, 03:00 PM

Hello everyone. Sound like everyone had a great time. I'm so glad that you did. I hope to do the bounce back, but not sure, schedule might not work out as well. I did a dummy rebook, they only charge half the deposit, which is great.

DD is in michigan and had her audition at the univerisity and it went really well. Now all she has to do is wait and see if she gets in and the scholarship and assitantships she can get to fully pay for it. They told them they would know be the end of March. A month and a week to wait. That is going to be tough on her, me too. Oh, it is snowing there and very cold, but she is bundle up and was playing out in the snow today. She was having a good time. You know we don't get the snow so for a few days it can be fun.

Next weekend it is the SoCal adutions she is going to stay with her ex boyfriend, he works for Disney corporate as an artist for all the commercial area, they are planning on going to DL on Monday between auditions. she really enjoy DL.

Her last semester at her current college is a very light semester she only has classes on Tue and Thur and one hour on Friday. She is hoping the she will get accepted at all the universities and then only a decision on what kind of assistance she gets for them.

I'm back into work full swing. But have been under the weather some. My troat and voice are soar. I have resting all weekend. But I need to be doing laundry. I just want to get better fast.

Kathy I saw where you posted that you got some magnets solen, I'm sorry about that. We were very lucky we had a lot of Just Disney Magic logos and non were taken. I expected that a few would have been, we took ours done the night before, but forgot one of the skull and cross bones and we were given as a FE, but it was still there in the morning and we didn't get out of our room until around 745am as our breakfast was at 8am.

Well I hope everyone that take the bounch back that you have as wonderful of a time as we all had this time. 3days for 99 seems good, but it just might be to short of a cruise. I might have to make it a back to back instead. I'll have to check on that, humm that is a thought.

Well anyway, take care. Have a great week.

marieeb

02-22-2009, 07:02 PM

Thank you all so very much for your generosity of spirit and for making our vacation that extra over the top magnificent!! It was so nice to see people around the cruise that I 'knew'. I only wish that I had come to know more of you!! We loved the FE gifts and, as I told Dee, I too wish that I had made time to write such lovely thank you notes to you all.

Dee, I am glad that you made it home safely. Cleo was teary a few nights ago missing Jordan and Nicole. I'm glad that you had a good time with your folks too. Time like that is always special but a close call like that with your Mother makes it even more pecious.

I am happy to report that we had a relaxing and healthy time on board. After we returned Cleo went back to school for two days and then was off the rest of the week with a GI bug. All is well now.

I am very sorry that some of you spent your vacation sick. How miserable. I'm not sure if it made a difference, but one of the first things that I did was to use hospital strength disinfectant wipes and go over the bathrooms, and all handles and knobs and the phone in our stateroom.

It was fun catching up on all of your posts that were written after we left. I especially like the last minute preparation ones. I went through exactly all of that stress on our departure day. Stress must come with the cruise tickets. I even called my best friend the morning of our departure to tell that I was going to murder my husband. If anyone has figured out how to avoid the stress please share. Overplanners anonymouse maybe????

So after the cruise I resolved to keep my Disney Carribbean state of mind and to get off the treadmill (not the exercise one but the one of life) and to take more relax time. Despite my efforts, life is getting busier anyway. I must say that I am a little more serene through it all though.

We are hoping to do the bounce back as well. I was initially planning for December 17 but then we would get into the Christmas airfares. Mark and I both have birthdays in mid December so there would be at least one free park ticket if we plan it right. Alternatively, the difference in airfare could buy alot of park tickets if we went earlier. Christmas is supposed to be so pretty at WDW. Has anyone been at Christmas? We made no onboard reservations as I figured that we would do it on the bounce back cruise.

Susan, we did not buy into DVC this time. When and if we ever do I will use your name as a referal. Thanks especially to you, Susan, for your coordination with this group.

I was hesitating to get back on this site as I thought that it would make me sad but I really wanted to thank you all. I am also happy to report that I don't feel sad although I wish we could all start planning our next cruise together. I'm a little nervous about going on another...will it be as good without you?

Have a wonderful week.

MyLove4Disney

02-22-2009, 07:47 PM

Marie, good to hear from you and glad you had a wonderful time. I'm sure that your next cruise will be just as wondereful. And if there isn't another Susan type on the board, I give you full permission to take over my roll. You will have a blast doing it as I did.

I'm glad you got back on the thread, we would keep it going for a long time even though the cruise is over it will last a long time in our memories and posts.

TinkerKat

02-23-2009, 09:43 PM

Susan... hmmmm back to back! Now there's a thought! We'll either try to swing that or a 4 day land, 3 day sea. Trying to narrow down the days as I will be pulling the kids out of school again. But not as many as this last time:goodvibes

deedeedubbs

02-24-2009, 07:15 PM

Hey Everyone!

Jerry has the disc with the group pix on it at work. He is showing off his trip to his co-workers. I gave him strict orders to get him home tonight! Hopefully he remembered. The poor guy has been at work since 6 am and it is now 9pm. I'll give him a little slack if he doesn't have it tonight but tomorrow...no excuses ;)

Good night!

Dee

deedeedubbs

02-25-2009, 06:42 AM

Hey everyone! The group shots (big group and kids) are up. They are in my facebook account. Here's the uncropped version. Can everyone find themselves? If not I'll place the cropped version in. I'm adding all pix eventually (about 2 thousand plus!!) feel free to look and grab any you like or have you and your family in it.

Once we begin looking at the pix let's do a roll call of sorts and announce where we are in the picture. I met so many of you at the meet but I must admit I'm not good at remembering faces and names together.

I'm Dee Williams in CT on facebook and my image is Jordan and Bailey hugging.
Here's the link to my photobucket:

http://s384.photobucket.com/albums/oo286/deedeedubbs/Disney%20Magic%20Cruise%202-09/

I'm holding the flag, DH jerry - tallest guy in back line wearing black shirt, DD Jordan - standing directly to left of me...looks like a floating head, DS Bailey is directly left to me holding his version of VV flag.

http://i384.photobucket.com/albums/oo286/deedeedubbs/Disney%20Magic%20Cruise%202-09/IMG_2961.jpg

DD Jordan sitting far left waving, DS Bailey standing front with arms crossed looking angry for some reason.

http://i384.photobucket.com/albums/oo286/deedeedubbs/Disney%20Magic%20Cruise%202-09/IMG_2960.jpg

I hope it all works.

deedeedubbs

02-25-2009, 06:44 AM

How do I keep the replies with pix within the screen size? Is it OK if you have to scroll to teh right to see everything?

marieeb

02-25-2009, 03:51 PM

Thanks for the picture Dee. Did Jordan get Cleo's email?

Billinaz

02-25-2009, 05:07 PM

Hey Dee, what boarding number did you get? I was in the terminal when you came in.....

We were sitting over here:

http://members.cox.net/billinaz/PC1.jpg

deedeedubbs

02-25-2009, 05:17 PM

Thanks for the picture Dee. Did Jordan get Cleo's email?

Hi Marie,

She did and it made her so happy and so so sad! She has every intention of writing her back but she has been swamped with catching up and mainting her school work. Friday is a no homework day so after we get home from our PTO event I'll be sure to give her time to sit and email her.

I saw the pix of Cleo and Nicole on Marie's facebook. How nice they are!!!

I offered Jordan to give Cleo our phone number when she emails her. Jordan loves the idea of talking with her.

deedeedubbs

02-25-2009, 05:19 PM

Hey Dee, what boarding number did you get? I was in the terminal when you came in.....

We were sitting over here:

http://members.cox.net/billinaz/PC1.jpg

We were given a 9 but then some very nice guy gave us his three. The 1st bit of pixie dust we got!

patrsn

02-25-2009, 05:20 PM

Hi guys, well it's been 2 weeks now... I was doing well till I saw the picture of everyone at the first meet, I want to be there NOW!! I hope everyone is well and getting better. Seems like a lot of us were lucky we got sick after the cruise. I too hope we can keep up this thread as I want to do the 99 dollar cruise and would love to be on with some of you, I'm thinking Dec. too. Anyway, just wanted to say hello to everyone, and Dee thanks for posting that picture, I'm going on facebook now to tag myself.

Michelle

Billinaz

02-25-2009, 11:15 PM

We were given a 9 but then some very nice guy gave us his three. The 1st bit of pixie dust we got!

I didnt need it, we were in the concierge boarding

SURPRISE!

pgsahm2

02-26-2009, 05:48 AM

deedeedubbs

02-26-2009, 05:57 AM

I didnt need it, we were in the concierge boarding

SURPRISE!

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!! Thank you so much!!!!!!! I even told my family ahead of time that one of the VV's was giving their early pass to someone to be nice. OMG, it never even occurred to me it was you who met us at the line!!!!!

Thank you again so much because it really made my family have a magical moment right from the start!!!!

dceks cruisers

02-26-2009, 04:48 PM

This was our first cruise and we arrived via the DCL bus from CBR and we got there around 2:30 and the terminal was empty with only one party per check-in CM so no boarding passes.

Can someone bring me up to speed how it works if you get there early when they hand out boarding passes. Do they hand out one number per family and just keep handing them out until the crowd is at a manageable size to not require the passes? Or do they have groups of people to one number?

We will hopefully be doing the $99 cruise and have a 7 day booked for late 2010 and want to know what to expect. The 2010 trip will be with the in-laws and DH's sis and family so there will be more people involved than this time.

Can someone answer this question regarding posting pictures. Do you need the picture posted on the web in order to post it in the thread or can you copy it in somehow without first posting the image to the web?

Thanks everyone!

Connie

marieeb

02-26-2009, 05:41 PM

JRandAJsMom

02-27-2009, 12:31 PM

Hi all! Michelle, I know what you mean. Seeing the picture makes me want to go back so badly... I made a video of our pictures and it was bittersweet watching it.

Speaking of boarding passes - I never did tell you guys that we were literally the 2nd family in the terminal that morning. LOL Braxton and I got there super early and when we came up the escalator it was EMPTY. It looked so nice and sounded so quiet. We got in line and were behind a family that was not a VV family ;) but they were nice and this was their first cruise. Oh, we even got there before they starting handing out boarding passes! LOL

I hope everyone is feeling better and surviving whatever snow you have on the ground. Have a great day!

We must have been right behind you! There were maybe 2 or 3 families right in front of us in line, but the rest of the place was empty. The CM's weren't even in their places yet, lol :-) We got boarding group 2. Knowing that we get WiFi there and that the kids were entertained by just exploring, I'd do it again in a heartbeat...

Speaking of kids-- one just snuck out of his nap for the 3rd time... Time to go!

deedeedubbs

02-27-2009, 01:27 PM

Last year we got a #2 boarding pass and the place was empty as well. We loved it! It was so nice exploring and reading all the different mosaics on the floor.

Speaking of kids-- one just snuck out of his nap for the 3rd time... Time to go!

Don't you just hate when they do that?!! Did you catch 'em? I'm picturing you running around your house chasing the little tike.:lmao: "Get back to your nap! Come here! Come Here! I said come Here!" run, run, run chase chase chase "Get back to your nap! Come here! Come Here! I said come Here!" run, run, run chase chase chase some more...

And now you need a nap!!!:rotfl2: I remember those days fondly.

MyLove4Disney

02-27-2009, 09:27 PM

Can someone answer this question regarding posting pictures. Do you need the picture posted on the web in order to post it in the thread or can you copy it in somehow without first posting the image to the web?

Thanks everyone!

Connie

Hello Connie, you need to upload your photos to a hosting site to get the imaging code to place in the post.

I use photobuck, its free but you have to create an account just like you did for these boards. The upload and post away

deedeedubbs

02-28-2009, 07:19 AM

It's sad not seeing everyone's tickers going for our cruise. My youngest just saw a couple of days ago that the ship wasn't there anymore and he said, "mama, where's my ship?" so I told him how it now says sailed and he said, "Mama, I liked it better when the ship was still sailing in the picture" ...Me too.

When the rest o fyou book another a cruise I'l have to go on your meet thread and lurk just to feel apart of the pre-cruise excitement again.

dceks cruisers

02-28-2009, 11:18 PM

I hope this works. This is another photo of the kids at the meet.

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv20/cjskrivseth/DSC_4088.jpg

It didn't work at first! I thought I could use my mobileme / mac account but it didn't work. It works now by loading to and from Photobucket. Thanks, Sue, for the tip.

Connie

dceks cruisers

02-28-2009, 11:45 PM

Hi Connie,
I can't answer your questions about pictures as I am trying to figure all of that out myself. They give you boarding passes as you go up the escalator and enter the terminal. The passes are awarded to groups of people. Then they board the groups in order. we got there around 11am and were awarded #7. That's all I know.

How is life post cruise for you? I'm extending the feeling as I hang on to it with white knuckles by popping in here from time to time. When are you doing the $99 deal?

Marie

Marie,

We'd like to go do the bounceback on 11/22 if that date is included otherwise if that's not available, we'd like to do nearly any date in Nov. or Dec. but Dec. would be nice to be able to see the Christmas decorations.

Post cruise life has new meaning...I work to cruise and it feels so much colder now and I don't feel as tolerable of the cold :scared1:

Are you doing the bounce back? We're just crossing our fingers and hoping jobs and economy don't stop the plan. I'm already checking out airfare, cost of excursions we'd like to do and what the worst case cost would be and then comparing that to how cheap we could go if I use Freq. Flyer miles, don't do excursions and really curb the extra spending on the ship. I haven't calculated the low cost estimate yet but I'll be doing that soon.

Girl Scout cookies arrived and I've been busy with sorting all the orders and getting it all set up for Katelyn to do her deliveries and collect the cookie money. I'm a total newbie to the world of Girl Scouts and Katelyn just joined in Nov/Dec. so she's new to it all too but she'd totally loving it.

Connie

deedeedubbs

03-01-2009, 01:42 PM

Connie,

Your pictire of the kids is much nicer than the 2 I took. I copied it and I'm putting it in my facebook. Thanks for sharing!!!

I'm so jealous hearing about those of you who might do the bounce back. I don't even know where our coupon is even if we decided to go.

Thanks again Connie,

Toodles,
Dee

JRandAJsMom

03-02-2009, 06:46 AM

Haha, Dee!!!-- Yes, it went something like that... Only I wasn't running and he knew I couldn't! He's learned that he can take full advantage of the boot situation!!!

On another note with him, we have his eval with the Pittsburgh Children's autism team today. Hoping he's himself so they get the full picture!!! We'll see!!!

marieeb

03-02-2009, 08:07 AM

Good morning all,
Hi Connie, I am planning on doing the bounceback. I, like you, am now working to cruise. I can be rather single minded about things (or as my husband puts it, relentless) so, as far as I am concerned, we are going (unless an absolutely insurmountable obstacle comes our way). Initially I was hoping to book on Dec 17th. My birthday is on the 14th and that would gain us a free park pass, we would see Christmas decorations and it would not be too disruptive for Cleo's schooling. That said, I am rethinking it because, at that time, you get into Christmas airfares. Very scarry and the difference in airfare, if we go sooner, could add up to alot of park passes. I'm now looking at late October or November. November can be quite grey and grim around here....

On this past cruise I tried to be tricky on priceline and get a 5 star Downtown Disney property for a 2 star price and failed. I paid $70 for a $69 maingate room and, much to my surprise, was ....very pleased with it!!! As a result of this I am now thinking outside the 'Disney bubble' in an effort to make the bounceback possible in the face of global economic uncertainty and my ongoing 'Adventures in Plumbing'. The bounceback is not an absolute cetainty yet (but I'm not telling Mark that) but, if I live the next year like we are going, it is more likely to happen.

Dee, I wish that you and your family were doing the bounceback too. Cleo will cetainly miss Jordan when/if we go.

Are you on facebook Connie?

#@$& it's frosty here. Just came back inside from talking to the Plumbing estimator guy. No snow though. We leave for Victoria British Columbia in 10 days to visit friends. Knowing that trip was coming made getting back from the Cruise easier.

Take care all. I'm off to get ready to pounce on Leonard Cohen tickets when they go on sale at 10:00. wish me luck.....
Marie

dceks cruisers

03-02-2009, 08:27 AM

Marie and all,

I took the leap and booked the bounce back for 12/17. You can book now but risk the date might not be offered. Since the last honored date is 12/17, I'm taking the chance after speaking with Disney reservations that this is a pretty safe bet and I'll just have to supply the voucher after 4/6/09 to adjust the price. We are booked and I looked at airfare and it's not too bad for non-stop and we don't plan to add extra days before or after...just doing the trip and the kids will only miss their last two days before Christmas break starts and it's in the early part of the second trimester so there is time to make up for missed school assignments or tests.

Hopefully the economy or anything else doesn't stop the plan! I'd love to have other VV's join us!

Connie

marieeb

03-02-2009, 09:39 AM

Congrats Connie,

I am going to get things firmed up and book soon too!!! I don't know when though......

Marie

margolyn

03-02-2009, 06:36 PM

And then I logged in nostalgically...

:-) I am about to put my pics out on FAcebook... wish me luck!

deedeedubbs

03-02-2009, 07:35 PM

Luck

marieeb

03-03-2009, 07:31 AM

:) So, I got my Leonard Cohen tickets and then I booked on the cruise sailing October 22nd.:dance3: We chose that one as the family that we dined with and got on very well with will be on that one and it works for our time frame. Cleo got on very well with thier daughter and, as an only child, it will be nice for her to have a friend on board. It will be better for us too as, according to someone who has cruised before (Dee?), you don't have the time to form relationships with people on the short cruises.

Dee, if by chance you were able to make it may I suggest Oct 22? When I told Cleo that we were going she very happy , of course, but sad that Jordan wasn't coming too.

After yesterday, the credit card is smokin'!!!! On the other hand, I feel a little like I hit the lottery. I did an online search and found a chemical that claims to kill off tree roots with once a year treatment. It seems to have a good track record! I will need pixie dust for that one:wizard: , that and prayers, I hope it works!!! Once a year treatment versus a backhoe, mmmmm. That will just about take care of the cruise. Now, if only fixing the economy and the exchange rate on the Canadian dollar were that easy. (Of course it may not be that easy but I have high hopes!!)

I am now off to plan my day around going back to bed so that I can go to work tonight!....now I have to pay for all of this.:rolleyes1

Take care all. It is still nice popping in here it extends the vacation even more!!
Marie

deedeedubbs

03-03-2009, 08:31 AM

Where are you guys looking for flights? For the heck of it I just did a search and it came up with each ticket costing almost $400. There has to be a better price than that!

If I can find a way to keep this dirt cheap and Jerry can get two more days off we might have a chance at booking Oct 22.

If Jerry wouldn't mind I'd take the kids by myself.

marieeb

03-03-2009, 11:07 AM

Yipee Dee!!! :yay: Do it!!:yay: Do it!! :yay: I'm not booking at flights yet. I will wait for a seat sale. We usually cross the border and fly Jet Blue out of Syracuse. They are not booking flight past September yet.Ohhh it would be so nice if you guys came.

Marie

deedeedubbs

03-03-2009, 11:27 AM

Marie,

You know how much I'd love to come!!!! I hope it is something we can swing. If I was working we could probably do it but working is not an option right now. I do my Pampered Chef shows and that would be nice if I can ramp up my bix so we can go. One thing is for certain...we can only go if it is debt free. No charges what so ever.

It would be nice if the kids were older so we could do this as an early Christmas gift but they are still too young. I could see us taking the trip as a Christmas gift and then Christmas morning them waking up and being horribly disappointed because there isn't much under the tree. Jordan might understand that Santa gave her her Christmas gift early but I don't think Bailey could comprehend that.

I'd love to do it and doing it as a Christmas gift might offer us an option. If we shorten our time in Florida in Feb to just over a week rather than 2 it might work.

Can you tell that I'm just talking out loud to myself as I'm writing? It would be so special to see you all again and the friendships that could be forged could be very lasting. Poor Bailey, though...no little boys for him.

Gotta run!

brinalyn530

03-03-2009, 01:58 PM

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't posted since we've been back, but every time I tried to post I took too long and lost everything. I'll try to keep it short this time.

I also am so grateful to you all for making our cruise even more special then I imagined. It is funny how we seemed to run into the same people over again and hardly ever saw others. Even after seven days I still felt like there was so much we missed - especially hanging out with my VV friends. We'll just have to do this again! The FE turned out great (we still have so much candy!) - thank you all for the goodies! It seemed to be spread out pretty well too, which kept it exciting :thumbsup2 ! Special thanks to princessmeesh and Sue for the raffle prize - the bracelets are beautiful!

Mom got sick on the cruise, Dad got her whatever it was after the cruise. Payton and I stayed healthy until last week when we shared a virus he brought home from school! I took a chance in taking him out for so many days for the trip and it kind of backfired on me - he hardly ever gets sick so I didn't figure we'd get close to that missed days threshold, but now he cannot be sick for the rest of the school year :scared1: ! I'll be getting some vitamin c at the drugstore this weekend!

Well, I am eyeing the December 3rd cruise for our bounceback, with some time at WDW beforehand. It's just going to be me and Payton, so we are flying this time. I would LOVE to see Disney in all it's Christmas splendor! But the flights would be about half the price if we did the same vacation in October. We like Christmas much more than Halloween, and the only price difference is the flight, so I'm still leaning towards December. I really wish I could get one of those discount codes for the WDW part... I've been registered on the website for years and have never gotten anything. I even registered again hoping it would put me to the front of the line so to speak. We'll see if it works.

I'm going to dig out our bounceback code this evening and call to see if I can book it now. Hopefully I'll make a final decision while I'm on the phone with them. Wish me luck!

I hope we can keep in touch, and I hope to see you guys again on one cruise or another very soon!

Sabrina

dceks cruisers

03-04-2009, 01:09 AM

I keep learning more on how to get the costs down on cruising. For our first cruise (made very special by all of you VV cruisers!) we stayed one night at CBR and did Boma for our anniversary treat and also did the DCL bus to have that experience.

Now as I check into the bounce back I'm looking for low cost all the way and it looks like staying at Hampton Inn or someplace at the port is the way to go. For the price of DCL transfer I can about get RT shuttle from airport to port and get my one night before included for same cost.

We'd like to do KSC/NASA on the bounceback and Hampton has what looks like good deals on a night stay that includes the KSC tickets too.

I'm seeing super deals on NWA flights from Mpls to Orlanda RT, non-stop for $880. I didn't dare book w/o talking to DH since it looks like the tickets are non-transferable in case he can't get the work days off. I love the airfare price but also want to make sure the bounce back is good for 12/17. Ugh...I just want it all booked and done.

Congrats Marie on your concert tickets. So, DeeDee, how about a 12/17 cruise??? OK, I've been cruising the web way too long tonight...thank goodness (or maybe not!) for night owl syndrome! :surfweb:

dceks cruisers

03-04-2009, 01:17 AM

Marie, CONGRATS on booking the bounce back too!

Tonight we ate at Fuddrucker's after 2 hours of watching the kids at karate and when the gal asked for my name for the food order I said, "Minnie" and she just looked at me dumbfounded and said "Minnie????" and DH (the one that so resisted cruise #1) said, "yes, like in Minnie Mouse"

I just had to chuckle inside and then when we got our food receipt she typed Minnie as Minny....she has a ways to go but we sprinkled pixie dust in her direction!

princessmeesh

03-05-2009, 06:28 AM

yeah! we booked it! we chose saildates november 5-8! hope to see some of you there, but i know everyone schedules are all over the place so who knows. one thing i DO know is that the VV group was very special so that will hard to come by ever again!;)

pgsahm2

03-05-2009, 07:14 AM

deedeedubbs

03-05-2009, 07:41 AM

I am so excited for all you who have booked!

I have to agree with Michelle, this group created a high standard and I don't know if I'm ever fortunate again to cruise I'll experience the same spirit of the VV's again.

Has anyone written a trip report? I'd love to read it. I'm still working on mine and can't believe how hard it is to write it. My intention was to write a little each day while on the cruise but it never happened.

Please keep all the pix coming. I'm loving looking at all of them!

Dee

dceks cruisers

03-05-2009, 11:27 PM

Congrats to those that have booked bouncebacks already!!!

We're looking at 4 nights at WDW prior to the December 17 sailing. Camden's birthday is the 17th and he asked several months ago if he could celebrate his birthday at WDW one time. I didn't think we've ever get to do it but it's looking better and better!!!!! Hopefully within the next few weeks we'll decide and book it!

Still crossing my fingers that all works out that we can go on 12/17. I noticed that the 12/17 meet thread I started just got posted in the meets section today. :banana:

I'll have to ask DD8, Katelyn, if she knows your two older sons. Well, I certainly hope our families can cruise together again.

Connie

deedeedubbs

03-06-2009, 06:01 AM

Last night I mentioned to Jerry that so many of you are doing the bounce back. I was waiting for a reply...oh yeah is what I got. Then I mentioned that I've been looking at flights but nothing in reach yet financially. Then he said he doesn't have anymore vacation days left. I said you could probably get two days off without pay. He smiled. Then I said I could always go with just the kids. His reply, "And let you have all the fun without...I don't think so!"

So, he's onboard! Just have to get past the flight cost situation. We have planned to dicuss again this weekend and maybe we'll make a decision to make a down paymnet. I still have to find my coupon. We still have things we haven't even looked in since we got back from our cruise.

Wish me luck!

marieeb

03-06-2009, 07:42 AM

:bounce:
OOhh Dee that would be great if you can swing it!

Connie, what is an RT shuttle? I'm all for cost saving measures... I'm going to miss you on the cruise.

I wish that we could do a VV reunion cruise. This was our first cruise and, although I have nothing to compare it too, I am so afraid the next experience will be a let down without all of you.

I haven't booked our flights yet but I am haunting airline sites, both Canadian and American, doing math and getting ready to pounce if the Canadian dollar spikes.

Take care all,
Marie

patrsn

03-06-2009, 07:44 AM

Hello everyone!!! Just popping in to say hi, I keep in touch with most of you via Facebook, but thought I would see what was going on here.. For those of you Not on Facebook, what are you waiting for?? haha

Looks like lots of people are doing the bounceback, yay, thats my next project..I'm definately doing it I just have to figure out when I'm doing it. I haven't read all the details yet but I'm sure there are blackout dates! I'll be working on that next week. I'm worried that three days will not be enough! My 7 year old still won't look at pictures of the cruise because it makes her cry.. and she refuses to cut off that darn kids club bracelet!! I don't know if it's worth the heartache to take her back and have to leave again..:sad2:

Have a good weekend everyone!

Michelle

marieeb

03-06-2009, 08:04 AM

Hi Michelle,

Cleo is still wearing her kid's club bracelet too! When are you thinking of bouncing back?

Marie

dceks cruisers

03-06-2009, 09:22 AM

Round trip shuttle. Doing the RT shuttle through one of the port hotels will save us money this time since the cost of the DCL transfer was nearly the same cost as what I've seen for Hampton Inns 1 night stay that included the RT shuttle.

Gotta keep finding whatever money savers I can find. We have Southwest entering the Minneapolis market and I think NWA is responding to that threat already. Finally, some nice airline competition happening here!

I need to get on Facebook and join up with everyone! I'm somewhat afraid of how addicted and time consumed I'll be once I join.

Kids are off from school today but not around. Katelyn is at a day fieldtrip and then attending Kidstop (at school kidcare program) and DS13 Erik is gone much like he was on the ship...he slept over at a friends house and will be hanging out with his buddies today like every day. Usually they are here at our house so I am enjoying the QUIET!

Have a great day everyone!:hug:

margolyn

03-06-2009, 01:49 PM

dceks cruisers

03-06-2009, 04:35 PM

Hey Everyone....

I thought we had to wait unitl April 3 to book the bounceback - can we book them now? Also, they let you have in December? I'll probably put this out on FB too... we plan to do it and I'd LOVE To get it SCHEDULED!!!

Any insights and man, do I feel stupid

Margo

Don't feel stupid at all. I read on some other thread that people were booking already. I checked it out and what you can do is to reserve your trip today and then check after 4/6 to see if that date is not blacked out. If it is, just move the date to another one but this way if you book now and it's not, you can get better choice in room.

You just send in your voucher after the date and they will adjust the price to the $99 rate.

I didn't book airfare yet although I'd love to since I'm seeing the best rates I've EVER seen on Round Trip with no layovers either way from MPLS to MCO with the times I want/need for all 4 of us for $880. I'm booked on 12/17 but there are a few other dates that other VV's are booked for.

Maybe what we do on this BB cruise is we are actually "recruiting" future VV's to join our initial group and we all join up again on a long 7 day in a year or so with the original VVs and our recruited VV members :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2!

margolyn

03-07-2009, 06:48 AM

THANKS!

And yes on the airfares. Scary how good they are right now. Delta dropped fares out of Cinci for the first time EVER!

Have a great day!

pgsahm2

03-13-2009, 08:00 AM

Hey guys! Can you believe it's now been over a month since we set sail?

We are booked for the December 17 cruise. I can't believe we're able to go back again this year. And I have to keep this one a secret too! :)

I have a question for those of you that are WDW experts. We'll be spending 4 nights there prior to the cruise and visiting the parks. I've always have park hoppers before but this time I think we'll save the money. Is it more difficult to visit the parks without park hoppers? I'm a little nervous about it and would like any advice you can possible give me. I have always found the park hoppers to be great so I need to learn how to do the parks without them!

Hope everyone is doing well! I'm so ready for spring!

MyLove4Disney

03-13-2009, 11:07 PM

Looks like many of you are going to do the 12/17 bb,

What other dates are VV going. It looks like we wouldn't be able to make that date, it will be during finals week for Monica (She's going to California State University in Fullerton Ca, right next to Disneyland) looks like she is even getting a scholarship, shocking...

Meg, SoCalDCLFan, Any advise on inexpensive appartments, close to the campus would be appreciated. Even if the advices about areas we should stay away from.

I hope you did well on your testing. She will have to connect up with you guys when you visit the DL.

We are probably coming down the weekend of 3/28/09 for the naming ceromoney of the perfomaning arts center at the university and of course going to DL too.

dceks cruisers

03-14-2009, 10:57 PM

Amanda, congrats on booking. We'll have to connect on the 12/17 BB! I'm watching the airline rates and the prices are still good.

Susan....congrats to your daughter on the scholarship! Keep us posted on you BB date!

We're in WI at a karate tournament. I have yet to have a "do nothing" weekend since the cruise. Last weekend I got a Disney fix by going to Disney on Ice at the Target Center in Mpls. I went with Kate, DD8, her good friend that's 8, (Megan) and Megan's mom Lisa. We told the girls we were taking them to a movie downtown with a mega screen. The girls didn't even realize they were going Disney on Ice until we walked into the seating area and saw the ice. It was a really fun time.

I'm really liking some nice weather (ha, 40's and 50's). This is especially nice after getting a fresh batch of snow last Tuesday that was followed by 0 and minus 0 for a few days. That's harsh when I'm still thinking of the warm ocean breezes!

Take care all! Connie

Michellepooh

03-16-2009, 08:06 AM

Hi everyone! Just checking in on all of my VVs! It looks like a lot of us are doing the bounceback offer. We were thinking of going in November, but thought it might be too close to our 1/31/10 Eastern, so we've decided to book for the 10/22 3 night. Of course this means I'll have to go to MNSSHP while we're there! I think we'll probably only do a night or two at WDW because we will be there for a week in conjunction with the January cruise. I'm so excited!!! :cool1:

pgsahm2

04-07-2009, 07:57 AM

Hey everyone! How goes it? It's been 2 whole months as of today since we stepped on the Magic. Wow, time has flown!

We are officially on the December 17 three night for the bounceback. I'm thrilled because that's Camden's birthday and he will be so surprised. We've decided we'll tell them about the WDW trip (4 nights prior to the cruise) sometime this fall but we're not telling them that we're going on the cruise until we pull up the port. They'll think we're leaving the World to go home. But we won't!

I miss checking in here every morning. I hope life has been treating everyone well!

margolyn

04-15-2009, 05:01 PM

We appear to be seriously talking about 12-17.... keep your fingers crossed....

I TOTALLY MISS YOU GUYS!

Paxton's Mom

04-21-2009, 09:56 AM

Hi everyone-

Glad to see that so many of you are able to do the bounce back. We too are able to swing it, we booked for the November 19th cruise (the week before Thanksgiving). Paxton will be attending a new school next year and they operate on a year round schedule, but that means she'll be off of school for two weeks in November, so that works out perfect for us.

As long as we're making the trek from Minnesota and paying for airfare, we decided to make a week of it and spend a few days at the parks. We typically travel in Feb/March so this will be a little different for us but I have heard others say that November is a great time for the parks. Still warm but hardly any people. The park tickets are the hardest part for us to swing. I love, love, love Disney but it is so very expensive!

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying spring.

Dawn :)

JJCJFL

04-29-2009, 05:22 PM

Hi All!

We booked for Dec 10, three night. Figured we would enjoy the holiday decorations. I am already looking forward to it!

Jill

patrsn

05-02-2009, 08:15 PM

I'm totally horrified!! I forgot my password to get on here and had to reset it!! It actually took me a little work just to get to this thread...sad sad..So Im just dropping in to say hello to everyone who still visits here. I hope you are all on Facebook now! I'm so glad we made it to Mexico before the "swine flu" pandemic, how crazy is that. I think the ships are going to Nassau instead of Mexico for a while. I haven't booked my bounceback yet.. Hoping for December but I'm sure it will be last minute so I'll let you all know when it happens. So I met a new friend from NY on the Disney Facebook page. He's doing the western cruise in July and I'm reliving my cruise through him, (even though he's a Yankees fan). He asks me all sorts of cruise questions and it's so much fun remembering but I do miss it and all of you. I promise I'll be back soon, I just have to remember how to get here.