February 21, 2009 Magic Western Caribean

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Stacie very kindly prepared a group list for us:

Stacieps *** Stacie with DH Doug, DD(11), and DS(9)
Tevagirl *** Denise with DH Joe and *** DD- Jill, DH Aj, DS(15), DS(4)
IndyDisneyFan *** Laura with DH (15th annivesary)
Mc2 *** with DH (2MC), 2 children, parents
Strega7 *** Marci with DH, DS(9), mom, dad, sister
pouncingpluto *** with DH
Cindarella&Dopey *** (honeymoon)
Hanny&AlsMom *** Carolyn with DH, DD(8), DS(5)
mcraft17 *** with DH, DD(12)
TheLionKing *** with parents

[donmil723]

It's too bad you aren't sailing with us on the 2/28/09 Eastern. It will be just DH and I on our 3rd DCL cruise. And we will have just celebrated our 30th anniversary in August 2008.

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

That would have been neat, but we picked cruise because our 30th anniversary will be 2/24/09. There's not that many of us around now days, are there? This will be our first cruise ever!

[donmil723]

You will have a great time! We did the DCL Western in May 2006. I absolutely loved Grand Cayman. We booked our own excursion with Soto's to see the stingrays and afterwards they dropped us off at 7 mile Beach, which is so gorgeous!!!! Pirate night on the ship is also a blast! The last night of the cruise the activity staff did a skit in Diversions! It was HILARIOUS!!!!!!

Donna

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

:confused3 we're not the only ones booked on this cruise?

[stacieps]

We just booked this cruise while we were on the Magic last week.

It will be me, DH, DD11, and DS9.

Another year-long countdown for us. We had booked the Magic for 1/08 in 1/07. Now we have to wait again until 2/09.

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

We just got back from 8 days at WDW on 2/1 and we now have our countdown going for the cruise.

[stacieps]

I think our roll call will start to increase with the February cruisers booking onboard for next year! We're going to WDW in April for 10 days, so we won't be thinking about this cruise much until after that!

[tevagirl]

Stacie's right. We just came off the Magic today and rebooked for this cruise. We are also booked for the St Croix Eastern the following week! :yay:

So hello! I'm Denise and my husband is Joe. This trip there were 16 of us. All my kids, their spouses and my grandchildren. Next year will just be my husband and I.

Our forecast was not very good for the week but it turned out that we had gorgeous weather and an absolutely wonderful time!

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

I'm Robby & DH is Mike, no kids, and we now have 367 days till our cruise. We are really looking forward to it. DH & I always have to have a Disney vacation planned to get through the work week. Have you done a Western trip before? If so, what are your favorite ports and excursions?

[tevagirl]

I'm Robby & DH is Mike, no kids, and we now have 367 days till our cruise. We are really looking forward to it. DH & I always have to have a Disney vacation planned to get through the work week. Have you done a Western trip before? If so, what are your favorite ports and excursions?

Hi, Robby, nice to meet you. We just came off a Western. We didn't do any excursions. All any of us wanted was a beach so on Grand Cayman we took a taxi to 7 Mile Beach and on Cozumel we went to Nachi Cocum. We really enjoyed both places.

I understand about always having a Disney vacation planned. That's why we booked for this cruise while still on board. (Plus the discount and on board credit doesn't hurt either.) Makes getting off the ship a little easier.

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

that with a party of 16 excursions would be difficult. I'm looking forward to Key West. I was born there but haven't been there since I was 2. DH wants to do the Atlantis submarine. I burn in 15 minutes w/o sunscreen, slower w/sunscreen, so I don't do beaches. We're not planning too much since it's our 1st cruise. We do like to dance, so we may be night people on the cruise.:dance3:

[tevagirl]

I enjoyed Key West. It has some great history behind it.

[tevagirl]

http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/sigh.gif (http://www.millan.net)So lonely.

[IndyDisneyFan]

Hi all! We were also on the Magic Feb. 9-16 with tevagirl and rebooked for this week next year. It will once again be just me and my DH, as we try to get away to celebrate our anniversary each year without the kids. For us it will 15 years, and what better way to celebrate than with Disney! Just think, one year from today we will be sailing the seas!

Laura

[tevagirl]

Hi all! We were also on the Magic Feb. 9-16 with tevagirl and rebooked for this week next year. It will once again be just me and my DH, as we try to get away to celebrate our anniversary each year without the kids. For us it will 15 years, and what better way to celebrate than with Disney! Just think, one year from today we will be sailing the seas!

Laura

Yay! That's great, Laura!

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Sorry, busy weekend what with my B-day, our 29th anniversary, helping sister & brother in law move (we are getting too old for that), a wonderful Michael Buble concert & internet outage due to aging modem (4 whole years old, isn't technology great). Glad to know that there will be other experienced Dissers on our cruise since we will know nothing. DH keeps waffling on excursions, I'd just as soon stay on the ship, he can't make up his mind what he wants to do. He's fascinated by the Atlantis submarine. He was on Navy subs before we met & is amazed by the windows.:rotfl:

[mc2]

Hello!
We are also on this cruise (myself, my husband, my 2 children, and my parents). It is our first Disney Cruise, and we are really looking forward to it! We have a countdown clock in our kitchen...359 days to go! :cool1:
PS We are HUGE Buble fans...saw him in concert twice so far...if only he did gigs on cruise ships, it would be perfect (ha ha!).

[tevagirl]

Sorry, busy weekend what with my B-day, our 29th anniversary
Happy birthday and happy anniversary!
Hello!
We are also on this cruise (myself, my husband, my 2 children, and my parents). It is our first Disney Cruise, and we are really looking forward to it! We have a countdown clock in our kitchen...359 days to go! :cool1:
PS We are HUGE Buble fans...saw him in concert twice so far...if only he did gigs on cruise ships, it would be perfect (ha ha!).


Hello mc2, welcome aboard.

[mc2]

Thanks!
Feel free to pass along any tips/hints/advice...this is only our second cruise (first with RCCL), so we are very new to all of this. It's so nice to have a spot like this for sharing our enthusiasm especially as the time gets closer. We got high speed internet access (FINALLY! 6 years later...the joy of country living!) the same week we booked the cruise...needless to say we've been stalking the DCL webpage, and our productivity at home has decreased significantly! ;) My daughter (2) is obsessed with the podcasts! She keeps saying asking if it is time to go on the "cooz" (cruise). The Playhouse Disney channel just launched with our satellite provider in January, and she's a huge fan of "Mikey Mouse Clubhouse"...we were telling her that she would see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, etc..., and she asked if she would see Pete...go figure! :laughing: Is Pete on the ship? I'm guessing not, but you'll have to clarify that one for me!

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Thanks for the happies! Michael Buble on the cruise would be great! Our one regret at the concert was we couldn't dance. We were into the 4th row and the aisles were full of screaming women (and I mean women not teens). I'm sure there will be great entertainers on board, maybe a future star. It's nice to have fellow Dissers to look forward to the cruise with.:goodvibes

[strega7]

Count us in....My mom, dad, sister, dh, ds (9), and myself will all be going. We were supposed to go on the four day the prior week with the inlaws and niece, but didn't work out, so I just switched our res for 7 day western with my side of the family. This is our third disney cruise, and we are looking forward to key west and chocolate dipped key lime pie on a stick! We can't wait! It will be nice to talk to you guys to help pass the time. Marci

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Welcome, Marci! Well, we have doubled in the last 2 weeks. This is great.

[tevagirl]

Good morning :wave:


Welcome aboard, Marci.

[2MC]

Hello, you have already met my wife, mc2, well I am the hubby, 2mc! Just wanted everyone to know.....I just checked the long range forecast for Feb 2009, apparently they are calling for rain until the 20th then sun for the rest of the month, this is based on precise scientific models! So now just 355 days to go!:cool2:

[tevagirl]

Hello, you have already met my wife, mc2, well I am the hubby, 2mc! Just wanted everyone to know.....I just checked the long range forecast for Feb 2009, apparently they are calling for rain until the 20th then sun for the rest of the month, this is based on precise scientific models! So now just 355 days to go!:cool2:

Hi! We were on the February 9th Western and our forecast for the whole week wasn't looking very good but it turned out that we had great weather!

[mc2]

Ummm, honey? Are we going on another cruise I don't know about???
Woo hoo! (check your title of your post...hee hee!).
You have all been witness to the fact that he is saying we are going on a cruise in 255 days as well!!!!
;-)
M.

[tevagirl]

Ummm, honey? Are we going on another cruise I don't know about???
Woo hoo! (check your title of your post...hee hee!).
You have all been witness to the fact that he is saying we are going on a cruise in 255 days as well!!!!
;-)
M.

I'll be a witness.

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

except for the MCs, they get to go on ours and one even sooner!;)

[mc2]

Ha ha!
Thanks! ;-) Glad to see you have all verified my observation. There's no way out of it now!!!!!!!

In all seriousness, um, anyone else OBSESSED with all things "cruise" even though we still have 354 days to go? Yikes! If it weren't for the fact that the kids (9 months and 2) are going to need new summer clothes and will probably outgrow those before the cruise (requiring me to stock up on "bigger size" stuff in August/September), I would probably start packing now!
Ahhh, it's going to be a LONG 354 days....
;-)
M.

[pouncingpluto]

Hey! I didn't know there was already a thread for this cruise. We just got back from a 3-night, and I plan to call DVC tonight to book the 2/21 7-night using the onboard rebooking promo (with DVC you have 3 days to do it after you get off the ship).

It'll be just my husband (36) and me (29). I'm a law student, and this falls on my spring break, which is perfect, as the Western ports are the ones we want to see. We've been to the Eastern ones before, on a Celebrity cruise.

[mc2]

Hello!
I'm working on my Master of Nursing, and it will be my "break" (I'll be into research at that point) as well. Glad to hear there will be other "Spring Break" cruisers onboard! Although now that we have 2 kids, my ability to "live it up" on Spring Break as in the pre-kids degrees will be a bit different (ha ha!). I will live vicariously through you...
:-)

[pouncingpluto]

Oh, my version of spring break is quite tame. :) It mostly involves swimming, eating, and relaxing.

Anyway, I'm all booked now! Woo! I got one of the category 7 rooms that is really a category 6 with a partially obstructed veranda. We had one on deck 7 for our recent cruise. I hope the deck 6 ones are as nice!

[mc2]

Hee hee! I was referring more to the fact that I'm lucky to stay up past midnight now, and the early seating for dinner is more for us than the kids:laughing: I am also looking forward to swimming, eating, and relaxing. We were never really big party people to begin with, but now my idea of a party is to not be in my PJs by 8 at night! That being said, should be interesting to see who puts who to bed on the ship...the kids will probably be so wired from all of the excitement that they're either going to crash at night, or they'll be climbing the walls at all hours of the night not wanting to miss any of the excitement!
It's going to be such an awesome time...can't wait!

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Wow, another couple, welcome. Beautiful wedding pictures, people didn't think about getting married at Disney when did it, only the MK then anyway. We chose this cruise for the ports also, mainly Key West. We usually go to WDW right before Spring Break rates start since we don't have kids, so this will be the 1st time in about 5 years that we will actually be vacationing on our anniversary. Really looking forward to it.:yay:

[tevagirl]

It's raining and gloomy.

http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/weathermanf3.gif (http://www.millan.net)The weather forecast for tomorrow calls for more of the same.

I need some sun. :sad1:

[tevagirl]

http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/mornincoffee.gif (http://www.millan.net)Good morning?

[pouncingpluto]

Morning! I'm grumpy that we have lost an hour of our weekend due to daylight savings. But not very grumpy, because last night I finished up my last EVER writing assignment for my legal practice class, which is where they teach us how to write documents addressed to the court, etc. It's a pretty sweet feeling. The end of my first year is so close I can taste it. Only you know... oral arguments, three finals and a 20-30 page paper for a different class standing in my way!

[MyLove4Disney]

We will be our 5th DC, but our 1st on the Western. We are very happy to be going again. Like others we booked on our 2/3/8 cruise for the discount and OBC. New ports will be great. It will be myself and a DD 24 at the time. I'll be celebrating another Birthday on board. For the adults only groups we have always had a great time. We have only had rooms in the lower cats 11 10 and 9's Last cruise we got a sideways inside room Forward deck 6, best inside room we have ever had we will be in one again.

There are lots of tips out there for 1st time cruises as well as continued cruiser. Have fun looking over the forum.

A few I will bring up here for the adult crowd, I don't have any little children so I don't have any tips for that group. These were things that made my trip easier, but it of course may be different for you.

Do: ENJOY YOURSELF YOU ARE ON VACATION:yay:
Do: Bring Outfits for Pirates Nights, you will have a blast (we go all out, hand made outfits).
Do: Bring Over the door shoe holder, I didn't bring one for the 1st 3 cruises but the last one we brought on and put it on a hanger and hung it on the closet door hook. It work so well I can't believe I didn't bring the on the other cruises.
Do: Must bring power strip, for all the recharging items, curling irons etc.
Do: Bring more than one swimming suit, one to be wet one to be dry.
Do: If you have late seating for dinner, skip the sweets on Pirate night, go out to the deck for the party and have the sweets out there so you won't miss all of the party. But don't skip dinner in the dinning room it is great fun.
Do: Enjoy dressing up on the formal and semi formal nights and take lots of pictures; you don't have to buy them. But they are usually very nice pictures.
Do: Go to Beat Street the happening area for adults after 9pm; we will be there every night.
Do: Enjoy a walk on desk 10 at night, its beautiful.
Do: Some of the main shows are held at 2pm; check those out if you like to take time getting ready for dinner on the formal and semi formal nights.
Do: If Ducky Williams happens to be on board at the time, he usually stays after his dinner and draws pencil drawings for people that come up to him and ask politely. He is very nice about that. Last cruise he was at the 4 spot table next to our 4 spot table. We were at the latest dinning rotation.
Do: Get to know your head server right away and you might be able to talk him into getting you the famous desert from PALO at your table in the main dining room.
Do: Enjoy Quiet Cove Pool area
Do: Enjoy Quiet Cove Cafe in the morning, Buy a cup of specialty coffee, its pretty good. The baked goods are good also. Earily in the morning, it is so quiet, I was the only one there one morning and the pool was empty. It was great

Don't: Sweat the small stuff
Don’t: Over pack. You won't wear it all.
Don’t: Sweat it if you don't make it to PALO See Do above about PALO
Don’t: Think what they call cool boxes in the cabin are frigs, they are not; they just keep cold things cool. I put ice in the box to keeps things colder for longer.
Don't: Bring to many different shoes; they take up to much room.
Don't: Forget to go to Sessions for a quiet times relaxing to the sounds of the piano.
Don't: Work will your are cruising. YOU ARE ON VACATION:yay:

Hope a few of these will help you in all your planning. See you next year.

[pouncingpluto]

Welcome to our group!!

[tevagirl]

Hi and welcome MyLove4Disney. Hi Pluto, good news on the writing assignment! :thumbsup2

[strega7]

Is anybody else ready to go! I hope I can make it a year. My husband had to move our suitcases to get to something last night and I wanted him to leave them down so I can start packing:rotfl2: . Just checking in with everyone. Hope your march is going well. marci

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Welcome, MyLove4Disney and thanks for the tips. I have looked at the others on the boards, but it's nice to get them directly & for adults. Being childless, we do come at it from a different perspective, and we are planning on taking advantage of the adult evening entertainment.

I hear you about the shoes, but we're only bringing crocs & dance shoes (which will double for evening shoes). As far as overpacking goes though, it's 7 days, you need day clothes & evening clothes. I know I can manage on a couple of evening outfits, but surely in the Caribean you can't wear the day's clothes more than one day? And as you said, it's vacation, I don't want to do laundry! So how much is overpacking?

[MyLove4Disney]

Welcome, MyLove4Disney and thanks for the tips. I have looked at the others on the boards, but it's nice to get them directly & for adults. Being childless, we do come at it from a different perspective, and we are planning on taking advantage of the adult evening entertainment.

I hear you about the shoes, but we're only bringing crocs & dance shoes (which will double for evening shoes). As far as overpacking goes though, it's 7 days, you need day clothes & evening clothes. I know I can manage on a couple of evening outfits, but surely in the Caribean you can't wear the day's clothes more than one day? And as you said, it's vacation, I don't want to do laundry! So how much is overpacking?


Well if you each have two large suitcases and a large carry on you might have over packed.



Sure on day clothes and evening clothing, but what we did to help elimintate extra, we did use shorts more than once with different shirts. As for the in the Caribbean part. At this time of year the weather is great, it is not humind and not extremly hot. We spent a lot of time out by the pool so the swim suit and coverup were used regularly, and for the reason to have more than one suit. I even had some of the swim suits that were two pieces with a tank top type. So a pair of shorts over the bottom and the swim suit top ended up being a dayout fits. Dress black slacks and different tops work great.

So in summary, don't have an out fit for daytime, dinner time and then late night time. We took 3 pair of jean type shorts and two pair of capris and light weight shirts for each day. Some of these outfits were used in the evening after dinner as well. Dress clothing for each night - two formal gowns, pirates costum, black dress pants and nice blouse for two nights, sweater that can be worn in the dinning rooms as it can be cool to cold in thedinning rooms. Light weight sweat shirt. That is about it. Also what you wear on the flight wear on the flight home. Oh one thing, take your own blow dryer, the one in the bathroom really is very lightduty. If you flight in the day before and stay at port, go to the drug store and buy your shampoo type supplies there instead of carring them in your suit case. The cruise does supply you with product, but I do not like the smell of the product (lavender) many people love that smell but no me. so I buy it and then I leave it in the room. I have asked the room steward if they want it some do some don't. They do like candy left, but I always leave a note. The last two times I bought candy specificlly to leave for them. They like it as an extra treat beside the cash tip. Anyway have a great time.

[MyLove4Disney]

I just took a look at the resis we made and noted that we are on the 2/7/09 western group not this one. So I was just getting to know a few of you and now I have bid a farwell. Everyone have a great cruise. I hope my tips will help this group out. Enjoy.

[tevagirl]

Hello? Anyone here?

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Didn't think I would find a board already! We went on the 16th - 23rd Eastern and booked this one on board. We got engaged in Disney when were down and this one will be our honeymoon! :) very excited!! We are getting married on Valentine's day!

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Engaged & honeymooning Disney! Good omens & congratulations. We look forward to meeting you, although as old married people we probably won't see much of you. Hope all the wedding planning goes well. Try not to let it stress you out.

[tevagirl]

Didn't think I would find a board already! We went on the 16th - 23rd Eastern and booked this one on board. We got engaged in Disney when were down and this one will be our honeymoon! :) very excited!! We are getting married on Valentine's day!

Welcome and congratulations! Now, tell me, which one are you? Cinderella or Dopey?

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Thanks!

I'm Cinderella and usually posts but Dopey's always here reading along. hah We had so much fun on the Eastern Cruise can't wait for the Western! :banana: :love:

[tevagirl]

Thanks!

I'm Cinderella and usually posts but Dopey's always here reading along. hah We had so much fun on the Eastern Cruise can't wait for the Western! :banana: :love:

So, I guess that means we can't talk about him, eh? :sad2:

[mc2]

Hello!
Just checking in, and wanted to say hi/welcome to anyone who has joined since I was last here. We had a very unexpected death in the family, so things have been a bit crazy (hubby's 50 year old healthy uncle). On a more positive note, we had been working on convincing my mom to come with us on the cruise (we kind of booked her in and hoped we could be very persuasive between now and Feb 21:eek: ), but she was always somewhat on the fence. She suffers from motion sickness, so she was concerned she would be sick the whole time. We had been trying to explain to her that the cruise ship is not the same as the little passenger ferries she would be used to, but she wasn't convinced. Well, after the passing of hubby's uncle (who they also knew), she kind of took a "you never know what the hell life will bring" attitude and has given us a definite yes! :cheer2: It will be my parents' first cruise ever, so I'm super excited for them. I think they're going to have a great time. I think they're going to have a blast on their own, but I also think they're going to have a great time watching the kids go nuts over all of the characters and such. There are ads that are airing on the Playhouse Disney Channel here for a Disney Princesses on Ice show that is playing in Toronto this week. Every single time the ad comes on, she does her "Miss America"...this high pitched scream with her mouth open and covered by her hand with complete glee on her face...the "I can't believe I just won" reaction. I haven't had the heart to tell her that it's just an ad, but I HAVE been telling her she will be seeing some of the princesses on the cruise, so she's getting pretty hyped.
February can't come soon enough!
:)
M.

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

:goodvibes Only 11 months now, yea!!! I'm sorry about your family's loss MC2, but I'm glad it spurred your Mom on. It will be great for your family to share the vacation. My late parents were always up for a trip to WDW. They both loved it. Us kids were grown when it opened, but they took us anyway for my 19th birthday. It was nice for DH & I when in the last few years, we were able to take Mom. She would have to be on one of those dreaded scooters, but it made her happy.

Since we made our reservations in early December, it feels good to be only 11 months.:woohoo:

[tevagirl]

Hello to everyone :wave2:

mc2, so sorry to hear about your husband's uncle. How sad. :sad2:

My daughter booked this cruise. Her name is Jill, her husband is Aj, and my grandsons Alec (15) and Andrew (4).

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

That's great that your daughter & grandkids are joining you. I hope you make a lot of fun, special memories.

[tevagirl]

That's great that your daughter & grandkids are joining you. I hope you make a lot of fun, special memories.

All three of my kids, their spouses, and my grandchildren went last month. We had a ball. My daughter and her family had adjoining rooms with us and that was a big mistake. They were pretty rowdy!

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Guess it would be akward to complain about the noise when they're related!:laughing:

[strega7]

We are also traveling with my parents, they are our traveling buddies. This is our third cruise together. We were going to go on a 4 day the week before with my inlaws, but after I booked they backed out. Instead of canceling altogether my parents had me switch the ressies to their name and make it a seven day not a four day. We love traveling with them, and we always get a connecting room. They aren't that noisy so it works out well :lmao:

Marci

[tevagirl]

Oh, I wanted to report them quite a few times, like when we walked into our cabin and found our verandah swarming with seagulls because those nitwits next door were throwing food over on to it. (and this was before we even left the port!)

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g41/tevagirl/IMGP0025.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g41/tevagirl/IMGP0088.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g41/tevagirl/IMGP0024.jpg

Or when they taped a 'Recyclables' sign to their side of the verandah pointing to our side and we came back to a verandah full of beer bottles.
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g41/tevagirl/IMGP0067.jpg

The only thing stopping us from calling security was that we didn't want anyone to know we were related to them!

[Hanny&AlsMom]

Hello!

I hope to be joining all of you next year. We were on the Feb 23-Mar 1 Western, and rebooked while onboard. Actually, we booked for the Feb 28 St. Croix cruise. I have since booked this cruise, and am hoping to do a back-to-back. My husband isn't completely sure he wants to do this, but I have some time to work on him.

We are: myself, my husband, my daughter (8), and son (5).

Carolyn

[pouncingpluto]

So listen to this!

A few years ago (4, specifically), my husband's company turned 10 and took all of the employees plus one guest on a 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on Celebrity Century. Well, they've just announced that they're doing it again for the 15th anniversary next year! This time it will be a 5-night Western Caribbean beginning on 3/9/09.

I don't plan to cancel this cruise, though. :) We're going to have a week on DCL, a week at home, then head to Miami, spend Saturday and Sunday nights there and cruise on the company dime Monday through Saturday. The two ports are Key West and Grand Cayman. So, I'll have to find another interesting excursion in those places, which I'm sure won't be a problem!

If we had booked with cash instead of DVC points, I would have considered canceling the Disney cruise and doing something else for spring break with the money. But that's an awful lot of reservation points to have to use, and whatever we ended up doing would cost us more actual cash than what we plan to spend on this cruise.

[tevagirl]

So listen to this!

A few years ago (4, specifically), my husband's company turned 10 and took all of the employees plus one guest on a 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on Celebrity Century. Well, they've just announced that they're doing it again for the 15th anniversary next year! This time it will be a 5-night Western Caribbean beginning on 3/9/09.

I don't plan to cancel this cruise, though. :) We're going to have a week on DCL, a week at home, then head to Miami, spend Saturday and Sunday nights there and cruise on the company dime Monday through Saturday. The two ports are Key West and Grand Cayman. So, I'll have to find another interesting excursion in those places, which I'm sure won't be a problem!

If we had booked with cash instead of DVC points, I would have considered canceling the Disney cruise and doing something else for spring break with the money. But that's an awful lot of reservation points to have to use, and whatever we ended up doing would cost us more actual cash than what we plan to spend on this cruise.

Good for you! That's awesome!:thumbsup2


Hello Carolyn, I answered you on the Feb. 28th thread.

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Soon, we'll be out of the 300's!:banana: We are really looking forward to this.

[stacieps]

Well we bought our airfare today! I found that Delta had pricing for non-stops in February at a decent rate and booked it. We paid about the same for April vacation this year (we're leaving this Saturday 4/19 for WDW), I figure prices are only going to go up with gas prices so I might as well lock in now!

We're off to WDW for 10 days. When we get back from that I'll be starting to plan for the ports for this Cruise!

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

I think you were smart to book your flights. We're driving, so roundtrip will be a tank of gas. Just 308 more days!

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

We will be at 299 day! Out of the 300's! :banana:

[mcraft17]

It looks like we will be joining you all! It will be me, my DH, and DD 12. It will be our 2nd Western and our 4th cruise. We are so excited! We are not telling our DD till Christmas. The other times we suprised her the day of the cruise, so this time she will know a little before hand.

[pouncingpluto]

Welcome to the group!

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Since this is my 1st, I can't really tell, but it seems when I go on the DCL site, the rooms are going pretty fast, or is that because there aren't that many cat 8s?

[tevagirl]

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/ad/welcome.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org)

[mcraft17]

Thank you so much for the welcome! Now if only the time would hurry up!!

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

:cool1: We are out of the 300's, which is pretty good since we started in the low 400's. :banana:

[mcraft17]

:cool1: We are out of the 300's, which is pretty good since we started in the low 400's. :banana:

YIPEE!!:banana:

[TheLionKing]

Hello everyone. Just booked this cruise for me and my parents.

It will be our second Disney Cruise. The first was a 4 day cruise and now we are moving up to the 7 day cruise.

Looking forward to visiting this thread multiple times as the departure date approaches.

http://www.pbase.com/sbdigitalimages/image/52251354/medium.jpg

[tevagirl]

Hello everyone. Just booked this cruise for me and my parents.

It will be our second Disney Cruise. The first was a 4 day cruise and now we are moving up to the 7 day cruise.

Looking forward to visiting this thread multiple times as the departure date approaches.

http://www.pbase.com/sbdigitalimages/image/52251354/medium.jpg

Welcome, LionKing. Did you take that picture in your signature? It's gorgeous!

[mcraft17]

Hello everyone. Just booked this cruise for me and my parents.

It will be our second Disney Cruise. The first was a 4 day cruise and now we are moving up to the 7 day cruise.

Looking forward to visiting this thread multiple times as the departure date approaches.

http://www.pbase.com/sbdigitalimages/image/52251354/medium.jpg

:welcome: I too love that picture!

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Our group is growing, and DH & I are very excited. We always have to have a vacation planned to make us get up and go to work each day.:surfweb:

[TheLionKing]

Welcome, LionKing. Did you take that picture in your signature? It's gorgeous!

Thanks. Yes I did. That actually is the Wonder. I hope to get a nice photo of the Magic during this cruise.

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

You are really good, Lion King!

291 days.

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Last Friday DH & I applied for our passports, it took 3 hours & we got there when they opened. But at least that's out of the way.

[pouncingpluto]

Hey guys... I'm in Berlin for the summer, doing a law internship, and I've started a blog. If anyone's interested, here's the link:

http://flyaway2010.wordpress.com/

See you all in 282 days. :)

[stacieps]

This morning I booked the Hyatt at MCO for the night before the cruise (2/20). We are flying down from NH on Friday afternoon arriving at MCO around 6:30, so we decided staying there was easiest (it's what we did for our 1/08 cruise). I got the Hyatt on Hotwire for $83 - great deal!

So, DCL is booked, flights are booked, and pre-cruise hotel is booked. Now I just need to book our transport from MCO to port, and start looking at what we want to do in the ports. We will be visiting Key West and Cozumel on a different cruiseline this summer, so I'll probably wait to decide on those activies based on what we do in August. We've done Stingray City in Grand Cayman, so I'll have to see what else there is.

Researching and planning is a big part of the trip for me - although it drives my husband nuts!

[tevagirl]

Popping in for a hello. Hope everyone is well. :wave2:

[mc2]

Ahhh...if only the cruise weren't so far away! Ugh! We had snow here on Mother's Day (fabulous little surprise "treat"...yeah, right!). We've been booked for over 3 months now, and it's still as all-consuming as it ever was! :thumbsup2 The novelty of it has definitely NOT worn off as the weeks go by! And yes, I've started buying summer clothes for the kids (wishful thinking! ha ha!), but everything will be slightly too big all summer because I'm hoping they will still fit into it in February...Finding summer clothes up here in January will be impossible! ;)

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

I know how you feel, we've booked 5 1/2 months, but it is definitely getting closer. And we got our passports in the mail Friday, just 1 week after applying!:banana:

[mcraft17]

We booked last month and my DH thinks I am so funny because I will say " Only X months and X days till the cruise"! He doesn't get that excited till we are about a month away. And I have to watch what I say around DD since we aren't telling her till Christmas. I have already begun thinking about our door signs and tshirt design for the first day. :cool1:

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

:love: He's been counting since we made the booking, 400 and something days ago. So don't feel bad, and he counts by days, at least you do months.

[stacieps]

I figure it is about time for a group list, so here it is:

Donald&Tinerbell *** Robby with DH Mike (30th anniversary)
Stacieps *** Stacie with DH Doug, DD(11), and DS(9)
Tevagirl *** Denise with DH Joe and *** DD- Jill, DH Aj, DS(15), DS(4)
IndyDisneyFan *** Laura with DH (15th annivesary)
Mc2 *** with DH (2MC), 2 children, parents
Strega7 *** Marci with DH, DS(9), mom, dad, sister
pouncingpluto *** with DH
Cindarella&Dopey *** (honeymoon)
Hanny&AlsMom *** Carolyn with DH, DD(8), DS(5)
mcraft17 *** with DH, DD(12)
TheLionKing *** with parents


Robby, you can copy and paste this into Post 1 if you'd like so that new comers can easily see the group.

[Hanny&AlsMom]

Stacie - thanks for doing up that list! It's great to see at a glance who will be joining us in just 9 short months:)

Carolyn

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

I have edited the 1st post to include the list. Thanks so much.

[mc2]

Hi,
Is Stacie really "Stef"? You said that "Stef" did the list, but I thought it was Stacie. Just trying to clarify, and I don't have enough posts yet to be allowed to PM or email....1 more to go before I can PM...;-)
Thanks!

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

That's what I get for trying too many things at once. You see, I was doing something elsce & DH was reading the thread (he hadn't read the whole thing yet) and let me know that Staci had made the list and suggested I paste it into the 1st post). I asked him to do it since he was at the computer. He didn't know how (you are a computer tech, honey) so I went over & did it real quick. :rolleyes1 Don't know where Steff came from. Thanks for noticing MC2 and I am sorry Staci. And :cool1: 268 days.

Which reminds me, we're coming in on Friday. Yes, I know we're only 150 miles away. That's how paranoid we are that we'll miss the ship. Is anyone else & if so do you know where you're planning to stay?:confused3

[mc2]

Hi!
Thanks for clarifying! I was just trying to figure out if/how I had missed someone along the way that was also on the cruise! ;)
We're also coming down the night before, and we have a room booked at the Radisson Resort at the Port. We're going to rent a car to go from MCO to the hotel (return it at the office in the area), and then use the hotel shuttle to get to the port the next morning.
:)

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

I'd offer to pick you up at MCO and save you the rental fee. I think we're going to stay at the Radisson also. It's actually cheaper to stay there & leave the car there than to park at the port. Unfortunately, it will be full with just us & luggage.

[mc2]

You are too sweet! Thanks for even wishfully thinking of us that way. Chances are we'll be having to rent two minivans to get the 6 of us down there with all of our luggage!:eek: We're just going to do a one-day/one-way rental, and then we don't have to worry about anything. We'll be taking the Disney transfers for the trip back to the airport. Dad is hoping there will be a launch the Friday night, but no signs of anything on the schedule so far. FYI, when I booked back in March (I'm a tad obsessive with planning this trip! ;) ), the girl at the Radisson told me that if the prices dropped closer to the date, we could still be eligible for the cheaper price? Not sure how much truth there is to that statement (and not holding out for it), but it's worth looking into closer to the date.
Still waiting for the "booking high" from the day we booked the cruise to wear off...nothing yet! :woohoo:

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

I'll give you the price we get when I book, but I would have thought they'd go up for Spring Break, course they're not on the beach so maybe that's why they go down. We'll see.:confused3

[mcraft17]

We are flying in the night before too. We will probably stay near WDW since that is what we did last time and go shopping at DTD. We are hoping to maybe add a day at the parks for Sat. when we return, but it depends on what the best price for flights are. We had a good one with Airtran ($165 per person round trip) but we waited too long and they were gone. :( Here's hoping we can still find a cheap flight.

[pouncingpluto]

I'm not sure yet what we'll do... I'm leaning toward flying down Friday morning, going to a park, and spending Friday night at a DVC resort on points. Using ME and DCL transfers. We won't buy our airfare for a few months at least.

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Ok, I booked online & got it for a total of $120, which isn't cheaper than parking in the terminal lot, but makes DH feel more secure. I'll have to ask Shirley for a good seafood restaurant that has a good steak for him so I can get some seafood. 255 days!:cool1:

[strega7]

Yah! 255 days....the counter on my computer died at 280 days so I was wondering how many days left. We are flying down on thurs...staying at the Residence Inn...Renting a car...and already bought airfare. I got our airfare the first day I could, I was worried about the gas prices going up and airfare going up. I go the airfare for $470...which isn't great, but when I looked the other day, the same airfare was $1300 :scared1:. I guess that is what I get for living in little town nowhere and lucky to have 3 carriers flying us in and out of here.

Marci

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

At least we missed the new fuel surcharge by booking early. Marci, go to pocketdisney.com. They have a simple, great counter that doesn't do anything to your computer. DH's company even allows their employees to use it on their work machines.

[mc2]

At least we missed the new fuel surcharge by booking early. Marci, go to pocketdisney.com. They have a simple, great counter that doesn't do anything to your computer. DH's company even allows their employees to use it on their work machines.

Hi! I just went to the pocketdisney.com website to try to upload a counter, but the website has been forced to shut down...or at least that's the message I got!
:-)

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

I wonder what happened. We've been using their counter for several years but I have it on disk & don't have to go there very often. Sorry for the bad info.

[mc2]

Not your fault! :-) Is it something you could attach in an email, or would that even work? I'm sure we'll all be posting random countdowns on here anyway! ;-)

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Hanny & ALs Mom your in Alberta Canada? My mother was from there. I believe she was from Edmonton. (I hope that is spelled right.)

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Well, DH & I went down to the St. Augustine outlet mall today for Crocs & an ice cream maker. Ended up buying a beautiful bedroom set for about the price of the cruise when they told us the 1/2 price. Didn't want to go into debt for it, so we decided it was better to have the furniture for the rest of our lives than the cruise. We can still go to Disney for 6 or 7 days for less money. So we're saying goodbye to the cruise threads and hope you all have fair winds and following seas.:thumbsup2

[Hanny&AlsMom]

Hanny & ALs Mom your in Alberta Canada? My mother was from there. I believe she was from Edmonton. (I hope that is spelled right.)

Hello,

Yes, you spelled it correctly! We are also from Edmonton. We have had a really overcast, cloudy week, and just enjoyed our first dry day in many days. I was very happy about that, as it was my daughter's 8th birthday party today, and of course I planned an outdoor party. I don't know what I was thinking. I had a bit of stress as the day drew closer, and the weather got wetter, but luckily we had a really great day.

Moira, I got your PM. I tried to message you back, but as I don't have 10 posts yet, I cannot. I'll have to keep posting to boost my count! Did you enjoy your trip to Edmonton in May? As I recall the weather was all over the place. We had a terrible snow storm the first part of the month, and by the end of the month it was 30 degrees. We wore all 4 seasons worth of outdoor clothing in a matter of days.

I hope all the dads have a great Fathers Day!

Carolyn

[Hanny&AlsMom]

Well, DH & I went down to the St. Augustine outlet mall today for Crocs & an ice cream maker. Ended up buying a beautiful bedroom set for about the price of the cruise when they told us the 1/2 price. Didn't want to go into debt for it, so we decided it was better to have the furniture for the rest of our lives than the cruise. We can still go to Disney for 6 or 7 days for less money. So we're saying goodbye to the cruise threads and hope you all have fair winds and following seas.:thumbsup2

Sorry that we won't meet you on the cruise! Take care, and I hope that you enjoy your beautiful furniture. Isn't that the way it always works - when you are not looking to buy something you find the item you have always wanted and cannot do without. Drop by to say hi from time to time!

Carolyn

[mc2]

Well, DH & I went down to the St. Augustine outlet mall today for Crocs & an ice cream maker. Ended up buying a beautiful bedroom set for about the price of the cruise when they told us the 1/2 price. Didn't want to go into debt for it, so we decided it was better to have the furniture for the rest of our lives than the cruise. We can still go to Disney for 6 or 7 days for less money. So we're saying goodbye to the cruise threads and hope you all have fair winds and following seas.:thumbsup2

I'm super thrilled for your find, but sad to see you go! Enjoy Disney and the furniture! I really enjoyed "meeting" you on here!

[Brena]

Hi everyone!!!!! My fiance' and I will just booked this cruise on Saturday! We were on our very first DCL cruise this weekend (3 day Wonder) and it was way too short! We can't wait until the next one.

[pouncingpluto]

Welcome! It will be our first time on the Magic too!

[Cinderella&Dopey]

It's Getting closer!!! I can't wait to get back on the Magic!:cheer2:

[mcraft17]

We are leaving too... We decided that it would be cheaper to go to Disney World right now. I hope everyone has a great cruise and maybe we will meet up on someother cruise!

[drskw]

Hi everyone

My partner and I have just booked for the Western Caribean Cruise, Feb 21, 2009. Super excited!! :banana: We are huge fans of Walt Disney World and anything Disney for that matter. This will be our first Disney Cruise, actually our first cruise ever.
The excitement starts now with the planning and as our Canadian winter sets in 6 months from now, the thought of the Caribean with Disney will have us both on :cloud9:
Looking forward to hearing everyones plans as we get closer popcorn::

Yippee :cool1:

[Cinderella&Dopey]

YAY another Canadian! :banana:

[mc2]

Welcome, Brena and drskw!

drskw, winter setting in in 6 months...isn't that a tad optimistic??:lmao:
Not being sarcastic...we live in NS...I expect the "fun stuff" will be starting by November! I tried to find a "Canadian Winter" related smilie to insert here, but no such luck! ;)

Watch this be the one winter with balmy spring weather all season long just BECAUSE we are so looking forward to escaping the winter weather while on the cruise!!:laughing:

Feel free to PM me any Canadian related tips you see along the way! I hear we may not have a great last morning to look forward to (something about a super early meeting?:eek:)...although I'm hearing they may have made some changes.

Try to keep some of that heat and humidity in Ontario, ok? ;)
M.

[drskw]

WOW, didn't even notice my fellow Canadians when I posted. Thanks for the welcomes.
We can all hope that the worst weather of the winter happens while we are away and traps us in Florida for a few extra days after the cruise!! :cool1:

[mc2]

Ha ha! That would be the best thing EVER!!:woohoo:

[Cinderella&Dopey]

A few Extra days away from the snow would be Awesome! We are doing Disneyworld before and after the cruise...so I would not have a problem staying in Dis for a few extra nights!

Mc2 - We're from Nova Scotia too! I was checking flights on Air Canada...not pretty at all but we'll get there one way or another!

[DMMarla07860]

hey, so hopefully I'll be booking this cruise by August/ My dad and I just got back from our cruise on the Magic last week and are on a eastern but are thinking of doing a back to back so we might book this week:cool1:

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Welcome Aboard! :goodvibes

[strega7]

Just checking in.....who has started packing? ;) I am ready to go. Does anybody know how many more days till the cruise? I haven't taken the time to figure it out. Marci

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Just add a week to my ticker!:banana:

[mc2]

I think we are at 200 days today (not including today, but including the 21st)? :woohoo:
I got the count from a site that will calculate the time from one date to another (based on your time zone) - just enter the cruise information (I used 4 pm as the time of day) and choose your time zone. It gives you the exact amount of time from the moment you do it until day/time you choose (cruise).

http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/customcount.html

We'll be booking our reservations and excursions online before you know it (or at least I HOPE the time goes by quickly!! ;) ).

[strega7]

Thanks guys, I know I am ready to go! almost in the 100's! :banana:

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Can't Wait to see you again Magic! :love: :love:

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/jennwoodfine/DSCF5463-1.jpg

[DMMarla07860]

hope everyone is doing great. wanted to share some pictures from my trip on the magic in July 13th july 20th, 2008
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/marla07860/Disney%20Cruise%202008-Mexican%20Riviera/P7130214.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/marla07860/Disney%20Cruise%202008-Mexican%20Riviera/P7150347.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/marla07860/Disney%20Cruise%202008-Mexican%20Riviera/P7150361.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/marla07860/Disney%20Cruise%202008-Mexican%20Riviera/P7160217.jpg

[tracyz]

Hello everyone! My first post on these boards...I thought this would be the appropriate place! We'll be joining you guys on this cruise in February. I am now officially driving DH crazy, I'm already so excited for it. Our family did a 3 night cruise on the Wonder in February '07 and just loved it. It was our first cruise, and convinced us we would love a 7-night adventure.
It will be us (me, DH, and DD18 and DD6), and this time we're bringing along my parents, and my sister and her DH and their 2 daughters (13 & 3). It will be the first cruise for all of them. My 13 year old neice is the one who's as excited as I am...I can't wait!!
Already starting to think about Christmas gifts I can buy that are cruise-related.
And I'm looking forward to getting to know you guys before we all cruise together!:dance3:

~Tracy

[mc2]

Hi Tracy!
Welcome! :-) The anticipation for the trip is driving me CRAZY!!! I'm going to be booking our flights in the next 2 weeks - just what I needed - another "excuse" to go crazy with my obsessive trip planning! ha ha! I feel like I now remember what it felt like to be a kid and to want to ask "Are we THERE yet????".
I'm with you on the Disney theme for Christmas - feel free to share if you come across any great things! :-) I think the adults will be getting those baggallinni (sp.?) bags - I'm hearing really great things about them on the board.

Anyone planning to go down the night before and planning rent a car to get from MCO to the Port Canaveral area? I've been checking out the rates for one-way rentals, and am just wondering if anyone else is doing the same? We should "compare notes" as they say. I've seen all of the posts r/t different codes and such, but might worth discussing here since we may be looking for the same rental (MCO-Port Canaveral) on the same date. We'll need a minivan (or 2 sedans?) to get the 6 of us to Port Canaveral - or maybe even a U-Haul with the way that my mother and I tend to pack! Ha ha! We'll be coming with enough luggage for a 7 MONTH vacation! ;-)

:-)

[tracyz]

I'm just waiting for JetBlue to put the tickets on sale for February. Does anybody want to take a guess how many times I check that website every day? :rotfl2:

We're also planning to go down on Friday and get a rental car one-way from the airport. Then we'll do a one-way rental on the other end too. I've done a little bit of looking, and we'll definitely save some money by doing the 2 rentals over paying for the Disney transport for the 4 of us. The money we save will pay for a hotel in Cocoa Beach on Friday night, and we'll either go to beach or to the Kennedy Center for the afternoon.

[DMMarla07860]

We are planning on going down the day before and going to a hotel close to the airport or the hotel in the airport and so we can be well rested for two weeks aboard the Disney Magic :dance3: :cheer2:

[tracyz]

MC2, I tried to respond to your PM but I don't have enough posts yet ~ I guess I need to get busy!:rotfl:

I'll post my response here because others might be interested anyway! Thanks for the helpful info. I looked at that link you gave me and I've also booked us a room at the Radisson. After looking at the pictures, I recall that last year we stayed at the Country Inn & Suites, which was nice, but we had to go to the Radisson to catch the shuttle and thought it looked great. This time we're going to stay there! And I booked a room with the whirlpool in the bedroom! Great way to start the vacation!!:yay:

I really like your idea of returning the rental car the night before (that's what this board is great for, I might never have thought of that on my own). In fact, we can check in at the hotel then just one of us can go return the car and everyone else can just relax at the hotel. Great idea!

Now on to researching the rental car...

[DMMarla07860]

hope everyone is well, is anyone else watching the Magic today?

[tracyz]

You piqued my interest, so I checked, but I can't tell for sure...have they made it through yet? I saw there were some delays...

[DMMarla07860]

yeah, they made it through

[mc2]

MC2, I tried to respond to your PM but I don't have enough posts yet ~ I guess I need to get busy!:rotfl:

I'll post my response here because others might be interested anyway! Thanks for the helpful info. I looked at that link you gave me and I've also booked us a room at the Radisson. After looking at the pictures, I recall that last year we stayed at the Country Inn & Suites, which was nice, but we had to go to the Radisson to catch the shuttle and thought it looked great. This time we're going to stay there! And I booked a room with the whirlpool in the bedroom! Great way to start the vacation!!:yay:

I really like your idea of returning the rental car the night before (that's what this board is great for, I might never have thought of that on my own). In fact, we can check in at the hotel then just one of us can go return the car and everyone else can just relax at the hotel. Great idea!

Now on to researching the rental car...

Hello!
In case some people haven't seen it, I thought I would post the link for the thread that I had sent to her:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1520273
There are some super helpful people from the Port Canaveral area who have been providing TONS of general information about the area in the thread - everything from hotels, to which car rental companies have offices in the area (and have shuttles), to where to buy beer - you name it, they have answered it! The same people are also running a similar thread on the cruisecritic website. I think it's basically the same information on both sites. I've been following it for a few months now, and have found it to be incredibly helpful!

As for the car rental comment, the Radisson Resort at the Port has a free shuttle that will take you directly to the Port (you can book a seat/time when you make your reservation). I don't know if there are any other hotels that offer a similar service. Our thought was to return the car the night before and take the hotel shuttle the morning of the cruise - in the hopes that we could avoid some of the crowd/chaos and such at the car rental companies on the morning of the cruise (for those who are arriving/dropping off and departing/picking up). Those are our plans, anyway!

Hmmm...so far that makes 2 groups (?) at the Radisson for the Friday night....do I feel a pre-cruise pool party coming on??? Ha ha!:cool1:

We're one day closer.....:banana:

[tracyz]

Oh, yes, oh, yes!! Pre-cruise celebration at the Radisson! It will be a blast! :banana:

[stacieps]

Well, we're just back from a short Carnival cruise (with the Girl Scout troop), so now I'm ready to start thinkings about this cruise.

We happened to visit Key West and Cozumel (we'd been before, but several years ago) this week on the Carnival cruise, so now I have an idea of what we want to do (or not do) in February. Our kids will be 11 and 9 when we board the Magic, so that will give us more choices than the time we visited these islands years ago.

We are booked at the Hyatt at MCO on Friday night, so we will miss the party at the Radisson. We fly in late afternoon/early evening Friday, so we enjoy relaxing right there and getting going early Saturday a.m.

I have to schedule a town car - I can't remember who we used last year, so I'll have to see if I can find my old paperwork.

We booked our flights on Delta a few months ago (Boston), and I'm glad we did seeing what Southwest wants out of MHT - double what we paid!

Have fun with all your planning!

[tracyz]

No worries about missing out on the pool at the Radisson, Stacie...there will be lots of fun when we get on the ship!!
I'm very interested to hear about your experiences with Key West and Cozumel, if there were things you really enjoyed or would advise not to bother with. My daughter is 6, and my niece who will be traveling with us is 13.

[DMMarla07860]

hope everyone is great and has a awesome weekend :cool1:

[DMMarla07860]

hope everyone had a great holiday over the weekend!

can't wait for this cruise to come, so close yet so far. But I'll be on the ship for two weeks when this cruise comes so I want to go :lmao:

[tracyz]

Waiting for the cruise is almost making me want winter to come! **Almost**

I'm so jealous...when we all have to go home you get to stay on for another week! How lucky are you?!?:dance3:

[DMMarla07860]

Waiting for the cruise is almost making me want winter to come! **Almost**

I'm so jealous...when we all have to go home you get to stay on for another week! How lucky are you?!?:dance3:

don't be jealous, my aunt is joining the second week, I'm going to have to try to hide from her all week, she invited herself :lmao: to understand why I have to hide from her you would have to know her

[mc2]

It's agonizing!! So close, but yet still so far away! ;-)

[DMMarla07860]

It's agonizing!! So close, but yet still so far away! ;-)

I couldn't agree more, I just told my dad last this "The cruise is so close, but so far away" I mean we booked flights and should book a hotel soon for the night before so we have stuff taken care of:cool1:

[Cinderella&Dopey]

The time is Flying! Feb will be here before we know it....less then 6 months to our wedding! ACK!:scared1:

I'm having major invitation problems! I can't find ones I like...grrr

[DMMarla07860]

so, anyone traveling with anyone 18-23. I hope there will be some people that age on this cruise, I've met a lot of people around those ages my last three cruises and can't wait to see about this one :goodvibes

[DMMarla07860]

so, how is everyone doing?

[CruisingCamper]

Hello Everyone,

I am thinking of booking this cruise. We are currently booked on the 4 night Wonder, but I think a 7 would be better. We will be staying at WDW on-site after the cruise for 7 days also.

I have a question to some of you experienced Disney Cruisers & of course, to those of you who may not have cruised, but have spent hours researching....

Why are Disney cruises so much more expensive than other lines? I read the Bio that they prices are based on supply and demand, but how do I explain this to DH. We have cruised 10 times on other lines during the last 7 years, and we never have paid even close to the amount Disney wants, probably half for a 7 night, but we really would like to give it a try on Disney b/c now we have DS, who will be 2 when we sail.

What do they have that other ships do not have?

[DMMarla07860]

Hello Everyone,

I am thinking of booking this cruise. We are currently booked on the 4 night Wonder, but I think a 7 would be better. We will be staying at WDW on-site after the cruise for 7 days also.

I have a question to some of you experienced Disney Cruisers & of course, to those of you who may not have cruised, but have spent hours researching....

Why are Disney cruises so much more expensive than other lines? I read the Bio that they prices are based on supply and demand, but how do I explain this to DH. We have cruised 10 times on other lines during the last 7 years, and we never have paid even close to the amount Disney wants, probably half for a 7 night, but we really would like to give it a try on Disney b/c now we have DS, who will be 2 when we sail.

What do they have that other ships do not have?

Well I don't know how to answer the question too well, but I can tell you why I choose to do Disney Cruises again and again. On my 5 disney cruises the crew has been amazing, and some remember me from past cruises so that is always great to see people who remember you and talk to them, I love that part the best catching up with them, even if I do talk to some of them on facebook, myspace, e-mail. Hopefully other people answer this question for you as well:goodvibes

[DMMarla07860]

hope everyone is doing well:goodvibes

getting closer to the cruise:lmao:

[tracyz]

so, anyone traveling with anyone 18-23. I hope there will be some people that age on this cruise, I've met a lot of people around those ages my last three cruises and can't wait to see about this one :goodvibes

I hadn't responded to this yet because we weren't 100% sure if my DD would be joining us, but now she definitely is and she'll be 18 when we cruise. I should direct her this way to say hi!

Hello Everyone,

I am thinking of booking this cruise. We are currently booked on the 4 night Wonder, but I think a 7 would be better. We will be staying at WDW on-site after the cruise for 7 days also.

I have a question to some of you experienced Disney Cruisers & of course, to those of you who may not have cruised, but have spent hours researching....

Why are Disney cruises so much more expensive than other lines? I read the Bio that they prices are based on supply and demand, but how do I explain this to DH. We have cruised 10 times on other lines during the last 7 years, and we never have paid even close to the amount Disney wants, probably half for a 7 night, but we really would like to give it a try on Disney b/c now we have DS, who will be 2 when we sail.

What do they have that other ships do not have?

Steph,
I asked the travel agent this exact same question when we booked our first cruise (a 3-night) last year. His answer was "well, you're paying for Disney, but YOU ARE GETTING DISNEY!" I remember this word for word, because it turns out he was SO right. Our DD was 4 at the time, and there is nothing like the way Disney caters to families. They think of everything. We loved it so much we're going back for a 7-night this time!!

[DMMarla07860]

I hadn't responded to this yet because we weren't 100% sure if my DD would be joining us, but now she definitely is and she'll be 18 when we cruise. I should direct her this way to say hi!

well, feel free to give her my e-mail if she wants to talk to some people before the cruise

my e-mail is lady_braves_basketball_girl25@yahoo.com

[stacieps]

It finally seems like this cruise is within reach! I guess that's the downside to booking 13 months out - it seems like forever.

We were able to switch out Cat.10 connecting cabins on Deck 2 to connecting SPH cabins on Deck 5 - doing the happy dance about that today!

We're discussing activities in ports and will start making reservations soon.

[pouncingpluto]

Hi all! Just checking in, now that I've got a crazy September behind me.

The cruise is starting to seem tangible! We got that little booklet from DCL in the mail in the past week, and I called DVC today to book Magical Express and DCL ground transfers. We're spending a night at Boardwalk Villas before the cruise and will hopefully have a nice dinner/evening in Epcot.

Now I need to figure out what we want to do for excursions! We definitely want to do Palo for dinner, high tea, AND brunch. We've only been on the Wonder before, so we've never gotten to experience the latter two.

[mc2]

According to my countdown clock, 135 days to go! :cool1: I can't believe it's already time to start looking at excursions and such. We've been "lucky" in that we have been so busy for the past few weeks/months, that we seem to have arrived at 60 days closer in the blink of an eye! :thumbsup2

We booked our flights this morning, so it's all becoming that much more real...they're calling for the "F word" for Monday (flurries):eek: , so it can't come soon enough as far as I am concerned!

[DMMarla07860]

hope everyone is doing good, this cruise will is coming up, slowly but will be here in no time at all, can't wait. Anyone else book a cruise for 2010 like my dad and I? yes we are crazy, I know :lmao:

[Cinderella&Dopey]

I don't want to see flurries yet! Its too early....OH NO it's the 15th...is't this when we can put the snow tires on? :scared1: ...less then 4 months now until the wedding/vacay...can't wait! Happy thoughts! :sail: :mickeyjum

According to my countdown clock, 135 days to go! :cool1: I can't believe it's already time to start looking at excursions and such. We've been "lucky" in that we have been so busy for the past few weeks/months, that we seem to have arrived at 60 days closer in the blink of an eye! :thumbsup2

We booked our flights this morning, so it's all becoming that much more real...they're calling for the "F word" for Monday (flurries):eek: , so it can't come soon enough as far as I am concerned!

[mc2]

Well, we saw our first hints of winter weather today :eek:. It IS the first of November, so I guess it was bound to happen eventually! I can't believe we'll be starting to book excursions and such this month! :woohoo: DH and I were on the cruise website all day doing some preliminary scanning of the options - such a horrible way to spend a day! ha ha! ;)

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Does anyone know what excursions they are going on?

[mc2]

Hi!
We're still working on ours - although I did just notice tonight that my 2009 Birnbaum's Guide to Disney Cruise Line has the departure times listed for the different excursions. For any of you who may be first time Disney cruisers like us and don't already know that type of information and want me to look it up for you, just post the excursions and I'll find the info in the book.

Am I correct in understanding that a) you don't get billed until the cruise, and b) you can cancel excursion bookings, spa, etc... without penalty up to 2 days prior to the cruise departure?

Thanks!

[stacieps]

We looked at some pictures of Paradise Beach in Cozumel today and decided we'd go there. We did the dolphin encounter at Chankanaab in August, so this will be just a fun beach day for us.

In Key West we've decided to rent an electric car and tour the island on our own. We walked all the way to the Southern Most Point in the August heat, so this will be a nich change of pace!

We aren't planning anything in Grand Cayman. Last time there we did Stingray City, so this time we'll just wing it.

I'm just glad we've made our decisions about port activities (and happy that they inexpensive!).

We have our flights, our hotel for Friday night, and our transportation booked, so I guess we're all set!

I'm anxious for February to get here. Then I'll be anxious to see if we can take advantage of the $99 bounce back DCL is giving us.

[strega7]

will we be able to use the 99 dollar bounce back, or is it tooo late since we already paid for our cruise? I assumed it would be for new bookings only. Marci

Oh yeah, Key west we are doing trolly on our own, Cozumel we booked a dolphin swim, Grand Cayman we are going to just wing it....probably cab to a beach, most likely 7 mile beach. I am so ready to go, I almost can't stand it.

[stacieps]

will we be able to use the 99 dollar bounce back, or is it tooo late since we already paid for our cruise? I assumed it would be for new bookings only. Marci



My travel agent was able to add the code to the booking without changing anything else and told us we'd get a voucher for the bounce back while on board.

[mc2]

We were able to add it as well. Is it for a limited number of rooms (e.g. do they set aside a certain number of rooms per cruise that are valid for the second cruise)? In other words, is there a chance that there won't be any rooms left by the time we get our vouchers (if everyone in January/February reserves before we board)? Or is it pretty much a guarantee that if you want to book it, you can probably get a reservation at some point during the time period?
Just curious!
:-)

[stacieps]

We were able to add it as well. Is it for a limited number of rooms (e.g. do they set aside a certain number of rooms per cruise that are valid for the second cruise)? In other words, is there a chance that there won't be any rooms left by the time we get our vouchers (if everyone in January/February reserves before we board)? Or is it pretty much a guarantee that if you want to book it, you can probably get a reservation at some point during the time period?
Just curious!
:-)

Bookings for the $99 rates start April 6 and go through May 30 for cruises August 13 to December 17. So bookings with the voucher start a couple days after the last eligible cruise returns. It looks like everyone will have an equal chance of booking. I plan to have a couple of dates chosen and will call on April 6 and see how it goes.

[mc2]

Thanks for the info, Stacie! That is great news. I wanted to figure out how it was going to work before getting my hopes up that we might have at least half of a chance of booking the second one. ;-)

[Hanny&AlsMom]

Hello,
I haven't posted here for some time. I just thought I should let you know that we have changed our cruise plans, and are now sailing at Christmas, 2010 :santa: . I hope you all have a magical cruise - it will be here before you know it!

Carolyn

[drskw]

They are doing the same thing for DVC members who have booked with points for the same time period. They can book a 3 night as well for just 23 points per person. Sounds like the phone lines for Disney Cruise line will be pretty busy April 6th !!!!!

[tracyz]

Stopping in to say hello! The countdown is getting exciting! And speaking of exciting, I am soooo pumped about the bounceback deal! Another cruise that I can justify paying for!! :banana:

As far as shore excursions, we're leading toward Stingray City in Grand Cayman and the Dolphin Encounter at Chankanaab in Cozumel. When we did our 3 night last time we didn't do any excursions. This time we're going to just go all out I think.

[stacieps]

We are finally into double digits --- 99 days to go!

[DMMarla07860]

Hey, haven't been posting here lately, but still am going on this cruise and then the one after this, so I am realyl excited for both:goodvibes

[pouncingpluto]

Hey... what's the bounceback thing??? Specifically for those of us who booked on DVC points?

[mc2]

Here is the link from the DCL website:
http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en_US/reserve/specialOffers/detail?name=SpecialOfferBEDetailPage

No mention of the DVC points in the offer (and I have no idea what the points are/how they work, so I am useless for info there!), but if you call they can probably give you the scoop.

Good luck!
:-)

[drskw]

The DVC "bounce back offer" is listed on the DVC members website and is called "Sail with Mickey for a Minnie Price" ! In reading the fine print is states that a voucher will be given to members on the cruise if they have booked by the deadline. I also booked ahead of this offer but would assume that since I am ahead of the deadline we would be included.

[pouncingpluto]

Sweet... thanks guys... I hope it works out for us and we get our vouchers! I'd totally fly down for a 3-night.

[pouncingpluto]

Soooooo... when can those of us who are CC members book Palo, etc.? Friday (Thursday night) at midnight? Saturday (Friday night) at midnight?

[mc2]

Soooooo... when can those of us who are CC members book Palo, etc.? Friday (Thursday night) at midnight? Saturday (Friday night) at midnight?

Hi! Saturday the 8th was considered 105 days prior, so bookings were available at 12 am EST (so midnight Friday night EST) for the people booking 105 days out. If you get access at 90 days out, then that would be Sunday the 23rd (at 12 am EST, or midnight EST on Saturday night). If look at the "Cruise Plans" section of your reservation online, it will tell you the date that you are able to start booking things - go online at 12:01 am that day, and you should be good to go!
:-)

[pouncingpluto]

Oh cool, thanks! After I posted, I realized that I had my countdown widget set to the Friday (the day we fly down/ spend the evening in Epcot) rather than the day we board the ship.

I didn't realize the cruise plans thing said the date... that's great, thanks!

Now I just have to make sure I can get logged in and everything. I have to be careful because I have a problem with my login, which is that my birthdate is one day off, and there's no way to fix it. So it conflicts with my CC info, and this has caused trouble before. I have to make sure to log in with another userid!! (That's the only solution tech support was able to give me... sign up for a new id.)

[tracyz]

Tonight at midnight for CC members to make reservations. Do you know what that means??? 90 DAYS TO GO!!!:banana: :yay: :cool1:

[pouncingpluto]

So exciting!!!

I'm really excited for this cruise and even more excited about the new promo meaning that we can take a cheap, quick anniversary cruise in November. Fingers crossed that it works out!

[DMMarla07860]

can't wait for this cruise, first part of my b2b cruise:cool1: :goodvibes

[strega7]

Thanks for the reminder guys!!! I just got my Palo ressies :banana:
I am ready to go now!

Marci

[DMMarla07860]

got Palo for the time and day I wanted and booked the excursion I wanted so I am all set for this cruise, well till the week before then I'll have to pack:lmao:

[pouncingpluto]

I got everything I wanted, too! Palo brunch, high tea, and dinner reservations for my first-choice days, a pedicure the first morning, and the waverunner excursion for the warmest part of the day at Castaway Cay.

:)

[tracyz]

Hooray! Just booked my ressies for brunch at Palo, registered for 2 excursions, and registered DD for the Oceaneer's club. This is soooo exciting! :yay:

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Today is my Birthday and I'm excited that I got all the ressie's I wanted! :) YAY! Getting closer...:banana:

[DMMarla07860]

what excursions did everyone book?

[pouncingpluto]

Just the CC waverunners. At Cozumel, I think we'll take a cab to Chakanab. At Grand Cayman, I think we'll do a tour with Nativeway. And at Key West, I think we'll just walk around.

[tracyz]

We're going to do the sail & snorkel excursion at Key West. At Grand Cayman, we're going to Stingray City, but we'll book our own excursion, no through Disney. Same with Cozumel...we're going to Chankanaab on our own. On CC DH and I are going to go parasailing!
We didn't do any excursions on our last cruise, so this time we're really going all out.:thumbsup2

[mc2]

Hello!
We are also planning to do our own tour of Key West - I found some websites where you can do the trolley tour as a hop on/hop off tour rather than the guided tour that Disney sells, so we are looking forward to that. We are splitting up in Grand Cayman - mom and I and the kids are going to take the bus tour of the island (have to send some postcards from Hell! :rotfl2: ), and Dad and DH are going to do stingray city (hubby and I did it when we were on our last cruise). In Cozumel, we are all going to Chankanaab - DD and DH will do the dolphin discovery while the rest of us go as observers (neither of my parents are interested, and DH and I did it on our last cruise). I can't wait to see the reaction on her face - she'll either love it or be terrified of the dolphins - hopefully she will love it! We're hoping to have a lazy day at Castaway Cay - DH and Dad are doing the parasailing, but the rest of the day will be spent with no particular schedule - we've booked package with the bikes/snorkels/floats, so we'll see how the day goes. Our daughter will have a blast all day long (she can't WAIT for the kids club!), but our son still naps in the afternoon, and it won't be worth it to skip the naps!:eek: Mom and I are looking forward to some R&R, but "the boys" are looking forward to some of the more adventurous activities, so we will balance it all out. We also booked all of other reservations (Palo, etc...), so I am thrilled to have that taken care of - just counting down the days! I actually read about a great idea for counting down the days to a trip - we made paper garland with a number on each "loop", and each morning the kids get to take off a loop - it counts down the days until we leave, and it fits in very nicely with the Christmas decorations! ;) The chain is getting shorter and shorter with every day that goes by!:yay:

Anyone else going crazy with the cruise theme for the holidays this year? Ha ha! Santa might just put some sunscreen and trip related items in the stockings this year! :thumbsup2

[tracyz]

I love the idea of sunscreen as stocking stuffers! Also thinking of putting other stuff in the stockings, such as goggles, disposable underwater cameras, any other ideas?

[pouncingpluto]

What a cute idea! Keep them coming! :)

[DMMarla07860]

so how is everyone doing? getting closer to the cruise, have to do christmas shopping now that Thanksgiving is over, going to try to get that done this week so I can start saving money to buy stuff on this cruise:cool1: :lmao: :goodvibes

[pouncingpluto]

Well, I am about to have my last week of classes for the semester (law student), and then a two-week finals period. I'm not Christmas-shopping until the weekend before Christmas, thanks to that. :)

But, as you can see, I have time for DIS breaks!!

I am sooooooo looking forward to this cruise, which will be my spring break (yeah, we have our break early). I've now made reservations for Cozumel (Nachi Cocom) and Grand Cayman (Native Way- Rum, Reef, and Rays).

[DMMarla07860]

Well, I am about to have my last week of classes for the semester (law student), and then a two-week finals period. I'm not Christmas-shopping until the weekend before Christmas, thanks to that. :)

But, as you can see, I have time for DIS breaks!!

I am sooooooo looking forward to this cruise, which will be my spring break (yeah, we have our break early). I've now made reservations for Cozumel (Nachi Cocom) and Grand Cayman (Native Way- Rum, Reef, and Rays).

I usually wait till the weekend before Christmas to do shopping, but I'm doing it next weekend because it is easy and when I go to NYC on December 13th I want money saved up to buy a new ipod

[drskw]

Got lots of snow up here in Canada and windchill of -21C, OUCH! Hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to the cruise that is quickly approaching. Being a newbie to this cruise, we were just able to book our reservations this morning and were able to get everything we wanted, with the exception of brunch at Palo. Do you think we have a chance if we check when we board or it there a waiting list?
Thinking of warm caribean water to keep the chill off right now.:yay:

[Cinderella&Dopey]

We weren't able to book brunch or high tea last time. As soon as we got on the boat we got put on the waiting list. They called us for both! :) I'm sure you'll be able to get brunch. We had no problems last time!

It started snowing here today...we were lucky, this is really the first snow of the year. Its soooooo cold out. I just keep thinking warm thoughts of Flordia! :goodvibes

Got lots of snow up here in Canada and windchill of -21C, OUCH! Hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to the cruise that is quickly approaching. Being a newbie to this cruise, we were just able to book our reservations this morning and were able to get everything we wanted, with the exception of brunch at Palo. Do you think we have a chance if we check when we board or it there a waiting list?
Thinking of warm caribean water to keep the chill off right now.:yay:

[pouncingpluto]

We've been getting lots of snow since 11/30, but today it turned to rain. :( I'm bummed because my parents are spending Christmas with us, and they're hoping for their first white Christmas in years. So I was hoping to have a good base of snow built up in case it doesnt snow closer to the time. But it's gone now.

[drskw]

We had rain yesterday as well but the snow was flying again this morning. You know you should be on a crusie when the weather man posts a "Flash Freeze Warning" after the rain!! We could send you some snow if you are in need, plenty to go around here! :santa:
Keep the count down comming :yay:

[stacieps]

I was just looking at the DCL site and noticed that a Secret Porthole room has opened up for our cruise - if anyone is interested room #5524 is available.
We had originally booked connecting Cat 10s on deck 2 and a few months ago were able to get connecting SPH rooms 5022 and 5024.

I'm really looking forward to this cruise - only 2 months to go!

[DMMarla07860]

I can wait for this cruise:goodvibes

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Not much longer now! and Christmas is almost here! 1 week until Christmas Eve!!:banana:

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Hope everyone is having a great holidays! :banana:

Did you guys here that we are getting our fuel surcharge back as an onboard credit? I read it on a different forum. Does anyone know if this is true?

[DMMarla07860]

hope everyone had great holidays,this cruise is getting so close can't wait:goodvibes :cool1: :cool1:

[pouncingpluto]

Happy Holidays!

C&D... I don't know anything about the fuel surcharge. I'm not even sure if we were supposed to pay one, since we are cruising on DVC points.

[mc2]

Happy Holidays! :)

Just realized we're heading to Florida in 52 days!!!:thumbsup2

I remember hitting the 70s in our countdown chain and thinking that I hoped the time would go by quickly - :eek: nothing like the holidays to make the time go by on warp speed!! lol!

We still haven't sent out our Christmas cards yet (time kind of got away from us this year! oops! :laughing: ), so if the next 52 days go by as quickly, we'll be there in no time! woo hoo!

Re: the fuel surcharge, I had also read on another board that they would be giving an OBC - I have emailed our TA to ask her if we paid it - we paid in full early in the spring to maximize the exchange rate while it was still good (which actually worked out really well for us), so I think we may have escaped paying it because we didn't have an outstanding balance when they introduced it in the first place? I'll let you know if she offers any insight that would be of note.

If I close my eyes, I can feel the sand between my toes....;) I'm either REALLY excited to be getting so close, or in complete denial of the 30 cm of snow and high winds we have forecasted for tomorrow night! :scared1:

Take care!

[pouncingpluto]

I've started looking at swimsuits!

[mc2]

I've started looking at swimsuits!

:scared1: SWIMSUITS!!!
Bought an eliptical machine 3 months ago with the intention of starting a serious workout regimen in advance of the cruise - makes a great spot for hanging clothes! :lmao:

Guess we all know what MY New Year's resolution will be for this year!!

:laughing:

[mc2]

OH MY WORD!
Just found out that we don't just have a winter storm warning for tonight, but we have an actual BLIZZARD warning - upgraded to 45 cm of snow and winds in the 100 km/hr + range!!:eek:

There's no place like the cruise....there's no place like the cruise...(clicking my heels)....;)

Side note aside, I wanted to post to share with you that I called the Disney reservation line this morning (1-800-951-3532), and anyone who booked our cruise before May 28 would not/should not have been charged the fuel surcharge. Those who booked after that date and are on our cruise will be receiving an on-board credit equivalent to the amount of the surcharge. If you give them a call, I'm sure they can tell you a) if you paid the surcharge or not and b) the amount of your on-board credit.

:)

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Thanks For checking on that!!

I hope Everyone has a good New Year! mc2: Dopey and I may be stuck in the house tomorrow due to the blizzard. (although I am supose to work at 9am) I hate snow....can't wait for the warm weather!

[Dave and Micha]

Hey fellow cruisers...we're Dave and Michael from Braunfels, Germany and just booked this cruise as a 2 week B2B! It will be my 68th cruise, but my first Disney. We are really excited! I'm a total Disneyfile having grown up in Orlando (my first job was in the Liberty Tree Tavern) and can't wait to see what Disney has done on the high seas!

Any past Disney cruisers here with some tips on what to expect, bring, etc?

We've been to most of the ports several times and can answer/advise anyone who might have questions.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Dave

[pouncingpluto]

Welcome! So you're from Orlando, but is Michael German? I'm a Germanophile myself. :) Spent a year outside Cologne as a high school exchange student, and I just spent this past summer in Berlin working at an office of an American law firm.

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Welcome Aboard! This is our second Disney Cruise!

My tip to you would be!
Make sure to book Palo's! Dinner, Brunch, High tea! If you can't get a ressie don't worry you can get one once on the boat! :)



Hey fellow cruisers...we're Dave and Michael from Braunfels, Germany and just booked this cruise as a 2 week B2B! It will be my 68th cruise, but my first Disney. We are really excited! I'm a total Disneyfile having grown up in Orlando (my first job was in the Liberty Tree Tavern) and can't wait to see what Disney has done on the high seas!

Any past Disney cruisers here with some tips on what to expect, bring, etc?

We've been to most of the ports several times and can answer/advise anyone who might have questions.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Dave

[DMMarla07860]

Hey fellow cruisers...we're Dave and Michael from Braunfels, Germany and just booked this cruise as a 2 week B2B! It will be my 68th cruise, but my first Disney. We are really excited! I'm a total Disneyfile having grown up in Orlando (my first job was in the Liberty Tree Tavern) and can't wait to see what Disney has done on the high seas!

Any past Disney cruisers here with some tips on what to expect, bring, etc?

We've been to most of the ports several times and can answer/advise anyone who might have questions.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Dave

welcome, your doing a b2b, will this be your first week or second week, I'm doing a b2b as well, this will be my first cruise then the cruise after this will be my second week:goodvibes

[Dave and Micha]

welcome, your doing a b2b, will this be your first week or second week, I'm doing a b2b as well, this will be my first cruise then the cruise after this will be my second week:goodvibes

This will be our first week. We've been in all of these ports before except, oddly, Grand Cayman. We are really excited about this trip. Disney brings out the kid in everyone, eh?

[Dave and Micha]

Welcome Aboard! This is our second Disney Cruise!

My tip to you would be!
Make sure to book Palo's! Dinner, Brunch, High tea! If you can't get a ressie don't worry you can get one once on the boat! :)

Thanks for the advice... we are booked for dinner one night each week. Are the formal nights on the second and sixth night like on most cruises? I reserved in Palo for the first night since that is usually kind of quiet and everyone is getting adjusted and settled in. We really would like to attend the high tea, do you really need a ressie for that? Should we check as soon as we get on board?

Is there any nightlife on this ship or are all the tired parents in bed by 11?

[Dave and Micha]

Welcome! So you're from Orlando, but is Michael German? I'm a Germanophile myself. :) Spent a year outside Cologne as a high school exchange student, and I just spent this past summer in Berlin working at an office of an American law firm.

You had a Disney wedding? How jealous am I!!! I can't think of many venues better than that! I'd like to hear about it over a cocktail!!!!

As for being from Orlando, yeah, I grew up there; born in Philly, lived in Orlando from 78 to 97. Loved it!!!! Although glad I don't live there anymore...way too much traffic and congestion and development.

Michael was born in Köln/Cologne and we live halfway between Köln and Frankfurt on the border of the Western forest and the Taunus mountains; this is the area where the Grimm brothers did their etymology research by gathering the various folklore and combining them into the cohesive fairy tales that we know and love today. (Kannst du Deutsch sprechen?) Since our castle (from 1275) was the inspiration for Neu Schwannstein we like to say it is the grandmother to Cinderella's castle in DW.

Berlin is awesome, eh?

[DMMarla07860]

Thanks for the advice... we are booked for dinner one night each week. Are the formal nights on the second and sixth night like on most cruises? I reserved in Palo for the first night since that is usually kind of quiet and everyone is getting adjusted and settled in. We really would like to attend the high tea, do you really need a ressie for that? Should we check as soon as we get on board?

Is there any nightlife on this ship or are all the tired parents in bed by 11?

there is some nightlife, not much but some

[Dave and Micha]

Kind of what we figured... we've found that on our last cruises the bars were so smoky that they were no fun to hang out in... so there weren't that many late nights.


Does anyone know what they are doing in Cozumel?:grouphug:

If you are looking for a nice beach with swimming activites, food and drink in an all inclusive price we always go to Playa Mia. They have a pool, a decent changing area, unlimited drinks and use of all the non motorized watercraft, play and snorkel areas, etc. We've been there 4 or 5 times and always loved it. It is a short taxi ride away and you can stay as long as you want to (unlike a ship tour that will whisk you away just when the fun is getting started.) The web site is PlayaMia dot com

It costs around $50 per day with food and $35 or so without. The taxi ride costs less than $10 for the whole cab.:hippie:

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Kind of what we figured... we've found that on our last cruises the bars were so smoky that they were no fun to hang out in... so there weren't that many late nights.


Does anyone know what they are doing in Cozumel?:grouphug:

If you are looking for a nice beach with swimming activites, food and drink in an all inclusive price we always go to Playa Mia. They have a pool, a decent changing area, unlimited drinks and use of all the non motorized watercraft, play and snorkel areas, etc. We've been there 4 or 5 times and always loved it. It is a short taxi ride away and you can stay as long as you want to (unlike a ship tour that will whisk you away just when the fun is getting started.) The web site is PlayaMia dot com

It costs around $50 per day with food and $35 or so without. The taxi ride costs less than $10 for the whole cab.:hippie:


You do need a ressie for High Tea and Brunch. If you can't book them now you can try once you get on the boat. They will put you on a waiting list! We we on the waiting list last year and got to go to both!

We are going to the Mexican Cooking Classes in Cozumel(It's at Playa Mia beach) looks like fun! Can't wait! Gotta make it through the wedding first! ACK :scared1:

[DMMarla07860]

Kind of what we figured... we've found that on our last cruises the bars were so smoky that they were no fun to hang out in... so there weren't that many late nights.


Does anyone know what they are doing in Cozumel?:grouphug:

If you are looking for a nice beach with swimming activites, food and drink in an all inclusive price we always go to Playa Mia. They have a pool, a decent changing area, unlimited drinks and use of all the non motorized watercraft, play and snorkel areas, etc. We've been there 4 or 5 times and always loved it. It is a short taxi ride away and you can stay as long as you want to (unlike a ship tour that will whisk you away just when the fun is getting started.) The web site is PlayaMia dot com

It costs around $50 per day with food and $35 or so without. The taxi ride costs less than $10 for the whole cab.:hippie:

about the lates nights, there isn't a lot of people out late, but I know on my past three cruises there were people in the club till 2:00am, after that. I know people went off since that is when the club closed, but myself and the college age people 18-23 or so went to diversions or different areas around the ship and played cards and talked and walked around till 4:00am in the morning a lot, but it is pretty dead

as for cozumel, my dad and I are doing the Cozumel Beach Break excursion. We've been to Cozumel before and did stuff on our own, last two times, so this time doing a excursion

[Dave and Micha]

The Cooking class sounds fun! Michael already wrote them directly to compare the offer direct from Playa Mia compared to the cruise line's.

I can honestly say, this is definitely a place/attraction you can go to without paying the cruise line's an extra fee! It is pretty close, there are always plenty of taxis (that use the meter), and it is a well known Cozumel destination.

One month til your wedding... do you have any hair left?

[pouncingpluto]

You had a Disney wedding? How jealous am I!!! I can't think of many venues better than that! I'd like to hear about it over a cocktail!!!!

As for being from Orlando, yeah, I grew up there; born in Philly, lived in Orlando from 78 to 97. Loved it!!!! Although glad I don't live there anymore...way too much traffic and congestion and development.

Michael was born in Köln/Cologne and we live halfway between Köln and Frankfurt on the border of the Western forest and the Taunus mountains; this is the area where the Grimm brothers did their etymology research by gathering the various folklore and combining them into the cohesive fairy tales that we know and love today. (Kannst du Deutsch sprechen?) Since our castle (from 1275) was the inspiration for Neu Schwannstein we like to say it is the grandmother to Cinderella's castle in DW.

Berlin is awesome, eh?

We'd love to tell you about our wedding over a cocktail! :) I could even bring a small album on the cruise, I suppose.

In '93-94 I lived mostly in Marienheide, a tiny town near the small/medium town of Gummersbach, which you might have heard of (especially for their handball team, which is what Germans always say to me). And, yeah, I loved Berlin... I lived in Prenzlauer Berg and worked on Potsdamer Platz... Berlin is just so unique in so many respects!

Und ja, ich kann Deutsch! Besser sprechen und lesen als schreiben, aber es geht.

[pouncingpluto]

there is some nightlife, not much but some

I'm hoping for karaoke. :)

[pouncingpluto]

as for cozumel, my dad and I are doing the Cozumel Beach Break excursion. We've been to Cozumel before and did stuff on our own, last two times, so this time doing a excursion

The beach break through the cruiseline, or another one? What we're doing is called Cozumel Beach Break, but it's basically a reservation for Nachi Cocom.

[Cinderella&Dopey]

The Cooking class sounds fun! Michael already wrote them directly to compare the offer direct from Playa Mia compared to the cruise line's.

I can honestly say, this is definitely a place/attraction you can go to without paying the cruise line's an extra fee! It is pretty close, there are always plenty of taxis (that use the meter), and it is a well known Cozumel destination.

One month til your wedding... do you have any hair left?

I think I turned into Bridezilla yesterday when I went for a fitting! :scared1: ACK...so much to do so little time..I just can't wait for the vacay afterwards.:love:

[DMMarla07860]

The beach break through the cruiseline, or another one? What we're doing is called Cozumel Beach Break, but it's basically a reservation for Nachi Cocom.

through the cruiseline

[DMMarla07860]

I'm hoping for karaoke. :)

krazy karaoke was one of the best times on my cruise in july. I love it:goodvibes :lmao:

[Dave and Micha]

We'd love to tell you about our wedding over a cocktail! :) I could even bring a small album on the cruise, I suppose.

In '93-94 I lived mostly in Marienheide, a tiny town near the small/medium town of Gummersbach, which you might have heard of (especially for their handball team, which is what Germans always say to me). And, yeah, I loved Berlin... I lived in Prenzlauer Berg and worked on Potsdamer Platz... Berlin is just so unique in so many respects!

Und ja, ich kann Deutsch! Besser sprechen und lesen als schreiben, aber es geht.

Ha ha.. we do know Gummersbach, but couldn't think why. Wetzlar, the next town over, are the Handball World Champions (as if that means anything to an American like me) and I hear the scores on the radio all the time; must be from that. That's a strange game that I just can't seem to care about - soccer/fußball is enough.

We've thought about buying an apartment in Berlin just to have there... it is changing so fast! Prenzlauerberg is now one of THE places to be... do you miss it?

[pouncingpluto]

I would love to go back but take my husband with me this time! He's never been to Germany at all, which is strange to me, since Germany means so much to me and my husband means so much to me. :) I really want to bring the two together. Airfare was just so high last summer, and our dog was very old and sick, so he stayed home.

[Dave and Micha]

I would love to go back but take my husband with me this time! He's never been to Germany at all, which is strange to me, since Germany means so much to me and my husband means so much to me. :) I really want to bring the two together. Airfare was just so high last summer, and our dog was very old and sick, so he stayed home.

Lufthansa has some SUPER rates at the moment!:dance3:

[DMMarla07860]

So are we all going to plan a meet a greet for the first day before sailaway? because would love to meet everyone and get to know each other and put faces to names:goodvibes

[paganoni]

Hi everyone! :wave2:

I've been "lurking" for a bit and reading up. I had booked this cruise for my husband and I last year, but then we also decided to host an exchange student for the semester, so...all three of us will be sailing with you now! :)

Listening to you all talk of Germany and such made me think of adding our names to the list. I was an exchange student to Spain in high school, and our student, Jasi, will be coming over from Austria to spend a semester in high school here in Florida. She arrives in another 2 weeks and we can't wait! We told her about the cruise for Christmas and she is super excited, although we aren't sure she really even understands what a Disney cruise is yet. LOL Last year we hosted a girl from Iceland, Eyrún, who LOVED the cruise. We did too. It is our 5th cruise on Disney, and even though we don't normally have kids with us, we still love it.

Can't wait to keep my eyes open and possibly meet some of you in less than 50 days!!!

-- Patty, Chris, and Jasi

[DMMarla07860]

Hi everyone! :wave2:

I've been "lurking" for a bit and reading up. I had booked this cruise for my husband and I last year, but then we also decided to host an exchange student for the semester, so...all three of us will be sailing with you now! :)

Listening to you all talk of Germany and such made me think of adding our names to the list. I was an exchange student to Spain in high school, and our student, Jasi, will be coming over from Austria to spend a semester in high school here in Florida. She arrives in another 2 weeks and we can't wait! We told her about the cruise for Christmas and she is super excited, although we aren't sure she really even understands what a Disney cruise is yet. LOL Last year we hosted a girl from Iceland, Eyrún, who LOVED the cruise. We did too. It is our 5th cruise on Disney, and even though we don't normally have kids with us, we still love it.

Can't wait to keep my eyes open and possibly meet some of you in less than 50 days!!!

-- Patty, Chris, and Jasi

welcome, more people the better, and exchange student, that's super cool. Must be a great experience

[pouncingpluto]

Hi everyone! :wave2:

I've been "lurking" for a bit and reading up. I had booked this cruise for my husband and I last year, but then we also decided to host an exchange student for the semester, so...all three of us will be sailing with you now! :)

Listening to you all talk of Germany and such made me think of adding our names to the list. I was an exchange student to Spain in high school, and our student, Jasi, will be coming over from Austria to spend a semester in high school here in Florida. She arrives in another 2 weeks and we can't wait! We told her about the cruise for Christmas and she is super excited, although we aren't sure she really even understands what a Disney cruise is yet. LOL Last year we hosted a girl from Iceland, Eyrún, who LOVED the cruise. We did too. It is our 5th cruise on Disney, and even though we don't normally have kids with us, we still love it.

Can't wait to keep my eyes open and possibly meet some of you in less than 50 days!!!

-- Patty, Chris, and Jasi

Welcome! Exciting... lots of people to speak German with on this cruise. :)

Marla, we should definitely plan a group meet.

[mc2]

Can't wait to keep my eyes open and possibly meet some of you in less than 50 days!!!

46 days (?) ....not that I'm counting....:rotfl:

We would love to meet everyone as well - any ideas?

I'll be at the pier with my suitcases waiting to get on as soon as it docks again from the cruise before us - gotta get every possible second out of the cruise! :thumbsup2 Ok, so maybe not THAT early, but for sure aiming to be on the boat as soon as we possibly can :woohoo:

For those of you who are familiar with the PC area, is there a Disney store nearby? Also (and more importantly!) are there any stores nearby where you can buy a) summer clothes for kids, or b) summer clothes for women? Does the Walmart nearby stock summer clothes (and summer items like water shoes) all year long? Believe it or not, January is not the easiest time to try to find said clothes in rural (60 cm of snow last week) Nova Scotia! :confused3 :rotfl2:

Thanks in advance for your help!

[DMMarla07860]

Welcome! Exciting... lots of people to speak German with on this cruise. :)

Marla, we should definitely plan a group meet.

well I know on the cruise after this one the group I'm with is having a meet at 3:00pm and that is usually when others I have went to have been so if that is good with people then that can be the time. at the promenade lounge if that is good. Or if someone else wants to suggest a different place and or time I'm ok with that it could even be depending on when everyone has dinner before or after the dinners or stuff

[stacieps]

For those of you who are familiar with the PC area, is there a Disney store nearby? Also (and more importantly!) are there any stores nearby where you can buy a) summer clothes for kids, or b) summer clothes for women? Does the Walmart nearby stock summer clothes (and summer items like water shoes) all year long? Believe it or not, January is not the easiest time to try to find said clothes in rural (60 cm of snow last week) Nova Scotia! :confused3 :rotfl2:

I don't think there is a Disney store in the PC area, but there is one in MCO if you are flying in there. In the Cocoa Beach/PC area there will be lots of shops with water shoes and such (beach kinds of stores, swim suits, bargain t-shirts, etc.). I haven't been to a Walmart over there, but if there is one, it should have summer type wear.

[DMMarla07860]

everytime I see a picture pop up on my computer I get more and more excited about this trip:goodvibes :goodvibes :cool1:

[Dave and Micha]

Hi Everyone... how are y'all today? It is -17° here and snow on the ground... sun and sand sound SOOOO good right now.

As for a Meet & Greet... on most of our cruises we found the most successful M&G's happened after the drill as the sail away began... usually on the starboard side of the ship (the side that sails past all the waterfront bars) on the deck overlooking the pool. Most of our cruise board groups also did funny things like silly hats or party favors, etc. We just got a bag of whistles to bring... also we like to bring bubbles for the sail away...)

The other good thing is to do a second, later M&G in the main bar around 10:30... that way anyone who missed earlier can hook up again later.

Not sure how well that will work on Disney, though. What do you all think?

Paganoni... all you have to do is tell your exchange student that the cruise is like the Aida... but Disneyfied. Cruising has been getting big over here for the past couple of years. When I first moved here in 99 everyone I encountered thought cruising was stuffy and elite... but Aida is the German Carnival and they have been very successful at developing the market.

Is anyone bringing anything to dress up for the pirate party?

[DMMarla07860]

Hi Everyone... how are y'all today? It is -17° here and snow on the ground... sun and sand sound SOOOO good right now.

As for a Meet & Greet... on most of our cruises we found the most successful M&G's happened after the drill as the sail away began... usually on the starboard side of the ship (the side that sails past all the waterfront bars) on the deck overlooking the pool. Most of our cruise board groups also did funny things like silly hats or party favors, etc. We just got a bag of whistles to bring... also we like to bring bubbles for the sail away...)

The other good thing is to do a second, later M&G in the main bar around 10:30... that way anyone who missed earlier can hook up again later.

Not sure how well that will work on Disney, though. What do you all think?

Paganoni... all you have to do is tell your exchange student that the cruise is like the Aida... but Disneyfied. Cruising has been getting big over here for the past couple of years. When I first moved here in 99 everyone I encountered thought cruising was stuffy and elite... but Aida is the German Carnival and they have been very successful at developing the market.

Is anyone bringing anything to dress up for the pirate party?

I like the idea of two meet and greets the first day/night then if anyone can't make it too one they have another one people could show up for as well. Could be earlier if 10:30 in too late for some people right, but that is a great idea. Rockin' Bar D is my home at night for two weeks anyway so I'd be there

[DMMarla07860]

So after watching my dvd's from past Disney Cruises I got more excited.

question for you all, anyone who has been on Disney cruise before what cruise staff do you hope if on this cruise?

[Dave and Micha]

Mickey, Winnie, Tigger, and Peter Pan :rotfl2:

Have a great day everyone... oh...

and WAKE UP!!! The 28.2 board is rocking... this one needs some energy...

[DMMarla07860]

so, does anyone else on this cruise like basketball? I'll be trying to watch a few games in the two weeks on board, I can't wait:goodvibes :cool1:

[paganoni]

Actually our exchange student is THRILLED and EXCITED to be going on a cruise. She knew she was coming to the USA, but getting to see other countries too is a bonus. :yay:

I also like the idea of 2 possible meet ups. I have no idea what we will be doing once we board since we will sort of leave it up to our student. We do plan on dressing up for pirate night though pirate:

Can't wait!!!

[Dave and Micha]

I'm sure she is! We have two really nice girls in our neighborhood who would love to do an exchange program in the US for a couple of weeks. How did you get interested in this program?

[DMMarla07860]

So Dave, we will have to meet on this cruise since this will be the first week on vacation:goodvibes :cool1:

[DMMarla07860]

I want everyone to do this and help out please
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=29591958#post29591958

[Dave and Micha]

So Dave, we will have to meet on this cruise since this will be the first week on vacation:goodvibes :cool1:

Absolutely! We aren't sure our cabin number for this week yet, but have one for the following. On the turn around day in Port Canaveral I have arranged a little get together with my old Florida pals in Rusty's Seafood and Oyster Bar which is right there. What do you guys have planned for that day?