Looking for Nov 9th ~ 7 Day Western Magic Cruisers!

[Shercara]

We will be taking our 2nd DCL Cruise (DH, DS13 & DS8, and myself) on 11/9/02. Is there anyone out there joining us ?

[themousemademedoit]

We will also be on the magic 11/09/02. This will be our second cruise too. Just the two of us, no kids.:smooth:

[bjspalding]

We will be on the November 9th cruise also! My DH, DD (8), my mother, and myself. And we are so excited. This is our 4th cruise (3rd with DCL). Everytime DD watches our videos from our last cruise, she cries because she can't wait to go again.

See you in November!:Pinkbounc

[dis4me]

We will be there too. DH, dds( 7 and 6) and I. This is our 3rd Magic cruise 1st western. I can't wait.

[Shercara]

Looks like we are a bunch of DCL Veterans so far and we all seem to be from the NJ/NY/PA area too! Will Nov. ever get here?


We are leaving on 11/2 and driving to VA to get on the auto train, and will spend 11/3-11/8 at the Swan or Dolphin(crossed fingers) with the $99/nite pre-cruise deal!

dis4me - where are you in NJ? we are near Ridgewood/Paramus area

Any tips on how you all are counting down?

[dis4me]

Shecara we are in Monmouth County-Central Jersey. We are planning on driving righ now(UGH) depending on what is going on in the world. We flew at Christmas time and just felt is was more hassle then it was worth. We will probably go to Disney for a few days before also.
AS for counting down I try not to mention it in from of the kids. I am pregnant so we are counting down that first.We do things in terms of significant dates.Like after Halloween it will be time for the cruise.It seems so long away. I can't wait

[Shercara]

dis4me - congrats on the upcoming addition to your family - when is your due date?

We seem to be NJ neighbors, but not next door! Check to see if DCL is still offering the pre-or-post cruise special at the Swan/Dolphin -- we booked it in Jan for $99/nite - but last I heard it's now $149/nite - which is still a good deal!

My 13yr old DS wants to know if there are any other 13 yr olds cruising with us?? Anybody else!

P.s. bjspalding -- I cry when I see the commercials too!!

[Shercara]

Any more of you out there?

[Diva of Dragons]

Hi!
I've been away from the DIS for about 5 months:( ....But, we are currently booked on the 11/9 cruise also!! DH and me! This is our 4th DCL cruise. We've done : 4-day Magic, 7-day E.Car. Magic & a 4-day Wonder! Providing the $$$flow works out, hopefully we'll spot some fellow DISer's on board!!

[Shercara]

Greetings Diva! Hope all goes as you've planned! Sending lots of pixie dust your way!

I've been looking (lurking!) here at the boards this week and checking out any info those wonderful and lucky 5/11 Western Cruisers were so kind to post! I'm the compulsive planner and I'm trying to figure out which dining rotation would work best, and the best night to do Palo's. Also been "eating" up all the input on the excursions!

So glad they all seemed to have had a Magical Time!

[Shercara]

any more out there?

[Shercara]

Here's a bump to bring this to the 1st page -- Go ahead and add your name Donald's best pal -- and anyone else out there.

Matt - when was your first cruise?? Magic or Wonder??

[peagreenid]

I just booked. Me, DH and Mutt and Jeff my 14 year old boy/girl twins. We are from Boise, Idaho. I thought the ship would be crowded with folks from NJ :-) (we've been to WDW twice over Veterans day) But, it doesn't look too full yet.
We can't wait to go.

smiles Patty

[dis4me]

Peagreen
The week before is the NJ teachers convention so it shouldn't be too bad
BTW we Njians are not all that bad a boat full of us would be fun.LOL

[peagreenid]

:-) :-) REALLY............. Its just that the ENTIRE state goes on vacation at the same time. LOL. Thank goodness that the Magic can only hold 2500 of you. We'll have a great time, no matter which state you are from.
This is the second DCL cruise for us. We went on the 9/28 last year and made many friends. Looking forward to meeting all of you.

smiles Patty

[dis4me]

Patti I know what you mean though. There is nothing worse than paying $5000 to get away and then running into people from your town on vacation.LOL
I look forward to meeting new pwople especially disers.This is our 3rd cruise. The second one we met some people at the sailaway party.It was fun to put faces with names.

[DuncanLL]

Well, as of this morning, it looks like we'll be joining all of you on the 11/9 cruise. This will be our 5th Disney cruise, but our first time on the Western. I'm looking forward to researching all the new ports, etc. We are Myself (39), DH (42), DS (6) and DD (9).

We are also from NJ - South Jersey near Philadelphia. I am now on a mission to find CHEAP airfare. I missed the Delta sale last week while we were making up our mind about going so the hunt is on.

Linda

[HAKOONAMATATA]

HI ALL,

JUST BOOKED MYSELF AND FAMILY ON NOV 9TH CRUISE. WE ARE FROM NEW JERSEY TOO. BOOKED THIS WEEK BECAUSE I THINK THIS IS WHEN KIDS ARE OUT OF SCHOOL FOR CONVENTION, HOPE I GOT IT RIGHT.

LISA

[HAKOONAMATATA]

HI,
I WAS JUST CHECKING THE BOARDS AND FOUND THIS LINK CHECK IT OUT I'M GONNA BRING MY KIDS USED CLOTHES AND MAYBE SOME DOLLAR STORE ITEMS, ANYONE ELSE IN???
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=231108
I'M NOT REAL GOOD AT THIS TRANSFERING OF INFORMATION SO I HOPE THE LINK WORKS
LISA

[snelsonbrown]

SHERCARA ------------
I had no idea and maybe you mentioned it, BUT I HAD NO IDEA YOU WERE GOING ON THE WESTERN - Listen if you have never been ---you know Norm and I are 4 generation conchs and know the ins and outs of KW - too if you want I will send you some stuff that I got while in Key West and also he and I will be going again in october and I will get more goodies and share them with you - do you intend to do anything particular in KW? Let me know or email me ok.
How great you are coming down this area again - will have to bake a pie for you - hummmmmm Key Lime at that to get you and yours started.
Take care and God bless you and yours super good.
Love
Shirley

[HAKOONAMATATA]

HAD TO CHANGE MY RES TO 02 NOV DUE TO KIDS TIME OFF OF SCHOOL SO WON'T BE CRUISING WESTERN AFTEALL
LISA

[dis4me]

Hi Lisa I was going to tell you that. Our kids have off from school Nov 7,8 and11th of Nov The first two are teacher's convention. Unfortunately veteran's day fell the next week this year.Do you have the whole week off?

[Shercara]

Hi everyone! Welcome Aboard peagreenid & DuncanLL!
So sorry you won't be joining us Lisa -- My DH and I have decided it's our 20th Anniversary - and we want our boys with us -- so they will end up missing some school - but we feel the experience and family time is both educational and priceless.

I can't believe it's only about 3 & 1/2 months away! It will be here before we know it!

Shirley! you found our post! -- and no we have never been to Key West, and I haven't planned anything for us to do there yet!

We just got back from a week in Myrtle Beach SC - one of our favorite vacation spots, and I will begin giving our itinerary serious thought soon - I've been reading your wonderful post "back from Key West..." and when things settle down here a bit - I'll be e-mailing you for some of the info you were so kind to collect for us Dis'ers! How did you know I was going to ask you if you could include one of your Key Lime Pies in the basket I will be ordering!!;) You and Norm are such sweethearts to help us all out:bounce: Sending Pixie Dust and God's Blessings to you both!
Sherri

[peagreenid]

We too, are also pulling our children from school. I know that the teachers must HATE us, but, I wouldn't do it any other way. Our family Vacation time is very important to us as well as the extra money I save by going off season. They both do well in school, and they have to make up their school work.

Mutt and Jeff had such a wonderful time last year, they don't want to go back to WDW anymore. We are looking forward to the new itinerary as we didn't care for St. Maarten although we loved st. Thomas. We may be joined by a friend of ours and fellow cruiser that I met on my last cruise with DCL. Can't wait to meet all of you......

smiles Patty

Are any of you staying at the Rad the night before?

[Tiiiigergirl]

Hi Patty! Looks like you found a new fun group. But you will be missed and if you decide to come with us, you will be most welcome. I hope the elk are happy!

[DuncanLL]

Our kids will be missing 2-1/2 days of school for the cruise. We didn't think that was too bad. We'll tell the teachers right at the start of the school year. Our kids go to a Christian school and it is their teacher's convention. The public school convention is the week before.

110 days and counting...

Linda

[peagreenid]

I don't think that the Elk are going to be happy.......
we had to change our dates, because DH plans on hunting them.
And I think he is planning on shooting 1.....;)

I don't really care.....venison is not my favorite, but if he enjoys it, what can i say.

maybe we can cruise again together......
smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

We have never met........but I would love to get some info on KW....... We don't plan on doing an excursion here, but I would love to know what we can do. We are 2 adults and 2 14 year olds.

Thanks Patty

[marty Jay]

Hi Everyone,

We have just booked our first cruise ever for November 9th and I am soo excited. This will be our second trip to Walt Disney World. We were there two years ago in November and had such a blast we decided to come back again this year and added the cruise into our vacation. I'd be most grateful for any tips or information on planning for the cruise. We booked a cat 11 cabin for my husband , daughter and son and have received the early dinning seating. Has anyone heard if they are changing the times for dinner on this particular cruise as well? We live on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada and was wondering if there may be any other Canadians on this cruise as well.

Have a wonderful day

martyjay

[peagreenid]

Welcome....
I haven't heard about any dinner time changes. Sounds like most of our fellow cruisers are from New Jersey...... :D
We cruised last year in September and had a wonderful couple from Nova Scotia dine with us nightly. We had a great time.
Haven't heard from too many fellow cruisers on this thread... I think everyone is a little shy.
To say the least.......THE GREEN GANG isn't!!! We sailed last year on 9/29/02 with a great bunch of fellow Disers. We set up dining partners, a group brunch and a sail away party.

I have boy/girl twins that are 14. DH is a Fireman. I am an electronics technician/ PT travel agent. We are booked for late dining. If you have any questions......Fire Away...
smiles Patty

[bjspalding]

Marty Jay,
I believe the dinner time changes were just for the 3 and 4 day cruises, and are going to end in September. It is just a trial.

See you in November!!!

[themousemademedoit]

How many of you 11/9 cruisers are staying at the Radisson the night before the cruise? Hope to see you there!!!:cool: :cool: :p :cool: :cool:

[marty Jay]

Well after having a chance to go view some of the other threads regarding excursions, dinner rotations , shows etc. for this cruise I may start to panic. Firstly I hadn't realized there was a formal and semi-formal dinner. Does this mean that you need ball gowns and tuxes? I read through the Disney Brouchure on cruises and it only mentions dresses and jackets. I just don't want to show up for dinner and find myself seriously under dress for it. Which of the restaurants will this be in? Where would I learn more about the dinner rotations and do you pick it or does Disney assign them to you when you board?

Hope any of you experienced cruisers can give me some feedback.

Thanks

Marty Jay

[peagreenid]

Dinner rotations are assigned. As far as the Formal night- The Green Gang does it to the hilt with tuxes and gowns. What a wonderful picture opportunity for our family, I hadn't seen my husband look that great since our Wedding day :smooth: and my son......was SOOOOOOOOOOO handsome.
I really had to drag my husband into the Tux, but, I think he is looking forward to it this year.

Formal/Semi-Formal nights are at all restaurants in the rotation, you just go to your assigned restaurants. Mickey and Minnie are dressed to the nine's and we got great pictures of our kids with them. We also got pictures with the Captain, at the Captains Gala.

Any more questions- Fire Away!
smiles Patty

[dis4me]

Marty Jay
Just to give you another perspective
This is our 3rd disney cruise.Although I agree Tuxes and ball gowns look terrrific.My dh wore a dark suit for both formal and semiformal night.I did however wear a long gown. This year I am not sure DH is definaely not bringing a tux but I have to see what fits before I make a decision( just had a baby in May(. Many people wear suits and dresses so if you feel you don't want to get dressed to the nines don't feel like you have to.
I must agree with Peagreeid though It is a lot of fun and produces excellent pictures.We used last years formals of the girls in their formal with Minnie for Christmas cards
Toni

[DuncanLL]

Welcome Marty Jay.

Well, we're now less than 100 days from sailing!!

We're getting excited and starting to get our excursions planned. We've decided to do the Conch Train on our own in KW, the Stingray City Tour through DCL on GC and we have ourselves on a list for a Dolphin Swim in Cozumel. They don't have a swim scheduled, but I suppose if enough are interested, they might add one. We'll book Dolphin Encounter through DCL if it doesn't pan out.

We were going to use DCL transfers, but are going to save a bunch by renting a car just to drive to Port. $40 each way. Our flight doesn't arrive until 11:30 Fri. night so we're staying near the airport instead of driving out to the Radisson that late.

I've talked to some of the people going on the Aug. 3 Western and asked them to be sure to post trip reports.

This our 5th DCL cruise, but 1st Western - can't wait.

Linda

[dis4me]

Linda
I guess you found airfare.Did you ge good prices Are you going out of Newark or Philly. We still haven't found anything under 220.We may have to drive. YUK
Toni

[DuncanLL]

We booked Delta out of Philly for $190. I was afraid to wait too long. If a big Delta sale comes out, I'll try to get a credit. We're saving $250 from our original ground transportation/Fri. night hotel plans, so we're in active savings mode.

Linda

[Diva of Dragons]

Hi All!!
I posted near the beginning of this thread that we (DH & I) will be on the 11/9 cruise depending on $$$. The update is....we'll be there!!! (4th DCL cruise, 1st Western) I guess we're the odd balls, in more ways then one, 'cause we're from Southern CA:smooth: !! We have late seating and my be traveling with 4 other people.

marty Jay:: The formal night is Monday, semi-formal is Thursday in all restaurants. Also, where on Vancouver Island? My Great Aunt and her husband lived in Nanaimo forever! It's so beautiful up there!!!


Looking forward to meeting everyone!! And, no, we're not shy
:jester:

[peagreenid]

Well that Makes us both Odd Balls..........I'm from Idaho!!!
We too have late dining.

We can't wait to put faces to names........

smiles Patty

[marty Jay]

Hi Everyone

Thanks for the great welcome. I'm excited to get to know everyone going November 9th. I had a chance to go through a whole wack of pictures from the Western Cruise that a fellow cruiser posted and it all looks to good to be true. Have most of you gotten all your excursions reserved already? I'm also still debating as to wether or not I should try and switch our dinner seating to the late one. My kids are 7 & 9 and it may be too late for them to wait, but on the other hand I've heard that there are snacks available for them through out the day. I just wonder if an early seating will make us feel rushed after the shore excursions. I'm sure this won't be my last decision to make regarding this vacation.......

Anyways

Lisa , We actually live in Nanaimo as well. It's amazing what a small world it is. We have lived in Nanaimo for five years now, (having lived in Vancouver most of my life) and have enjoyed it every day. It rains an awful lot but you do get used to it. The rain keeps everything ( trees, bushed , lawns etc) looking nice and green. We live within a five minute walk to the ocean and have a beautiful view of the mountains. On our last trip to Disney World I remember how flat Florida was and how when we were standing on the top of one of the slides at Blizzard Beach you could see for miles all around.

:cool:

Talk to you all again soon,

Marty Jay

[Diva of Dragons]

Hi!
I thought I'd bump us up being that we are only 94 days away from setting sail!!! I paid my balance on our cruise today!!! :Pinkbounc How excited am I? I think we can start booking our excursions on 9/10!

peagreenid: We'll wear our odd ballishness proudly and in lime green!!! LOL!!!

Marty jay: We are hoping to get back up there next year! I really love it. My Great Uncle is still living there, jusy across the road from the water. He's like 95 years old!!! Must be the lifestyle!! My first time to Canada was for the Expo in '86. What a blast! I think I could handle the rain for all of the fresh air. :smooth:

[peagreenid]

What a small world-

"we've been to Southern California"

LOL!!!!!;)

smiles Patty

[dis4me]

We've been to southern CA too but we are from the dreaded NJ

Does anyone know what they are going to do on the islands?Anyone going on their own?

Toni

[peagreenid]

Has decided to do Captain Marvins at Grand Caymen, and I think we are headed out on our own in Key West. In search of Cool Bars with Great T-shirts....... Of course I have to get a Hard Rock T-shirt, I would also like a Crabby Dick's t-shirt and the Hog's Breath Saloon sounds pretty cool too!

We are undecided on Cozumel, but are searching for great ideas if anyone has any. The tarzan tours sounded pretty good, but I don't think I want to do an ALL day excursion.

smiles Patty

(and dis4me, I never said NJ was dreaded.....!, I think I just said your entire state goes on vacation together in November ;) )

[Shercara]

Hi everybody -- Hope all of you and your families are well - looks like our gang keeps growing and time is flying by - on Sat it will be LESS than 3 months away!!

I've been busy planning our pre-cruise trip to WDW ~ we got the Swan or Dolphin. We haven't been in over 5 yrs -(pre Animal Kingdom) so I want to make sure we see as much as we can during our stay(ACS - Almost Commando Style) - and then relax a little on the cruise.

As far as excursions - I am awaiting a package from Shirley at the Perfect Gift with Key West info - and probably won't be taking any DCL tours.

I'm not sure about Grand Cayman -- Swim with the stingrays are a MUST -- but not sure if we will do on our own or with DCL -- we want to "go to Hell" and to the Turtles too! I'll have to see what past cruisers have done if the booked the Stingrays on their own- if you folks have any ideas - I'd be glad to hear them.

As far as Cozumel - not too sure - I've printed out all the choices, and we will probably have a family meeting to see what DH & DS's might want to do - but again - I'd love to hear your plans and ideas!

We have main (early) dining which was what we had last year on the Eastern - and I checked with DCL today - and right now the new dining hours are only until Labor Day - they do not know if it will continue. I am trying to figure out what dining rotation would be best and tryng to plan when we will do Palo's for Dinner -- right now I'm thinking Wed. - since there is no show that evening - and we can join the Mexicalifragilistic..... deck party after dinner -- this worked well on the Eastern Tuesday night.

Marty Jay - as far as the dress goes - don't panic -- some folks wear tuxes and gowns - which is great for those who choose too! Others (like us :D ) opt for long dress slacks for the boys, and nice dress shirts -- DS 13 would not opt for a jacket - he looked very handsome with the slacks and shirt - DH did have black dress slacks and a black jacket - dress shirt and tie, and I wore long dressy dresses that had a shear matching over blouse - something I would wear to a very nice - but not formal wedding. Wear whatever you and your family will be comfortable in - unless you show up in teeshirts and shorts - I don't think you will feel out of place. The fancy clothes do make nice photos.

Is anyone else staying at the Swan or Dolphin pre-cruise?

Oh - I almost forgot -- Yes I'm from New Joisey -- No I've never been to California (Southern or otherwise) Never been to Idaho either.... and my only experience with Canada has been Niagara Falls -- Does that count??

ARE WE THERE YET??
Sher:bounce:

[peagreenid]

What a coincidence- I'll bet you've eaten potatos though haven't you....;)
Chips and Chips- Thats Idaho. Potato chips and memory chips.
You've probably got both in your house this very minute.
If it makes you feel any better, I've never been to New Joisey! And as close as I am to Canada, I can't say that I've been there either.

well got to go to sleep............
smiles Patty

[Shercara]

Just a bump - we were back on page 4!

Patty - yes we do have / eat/ and love potatos!

Small world huh?? LOL
Sher

[dis4me]

Page 4 That's terrible.
Shecara I am so happy you have the cruise countdown I am too lazy to do it myself so I just keep checking your posts. I can't wait. We are on deck 8 Anyone else?
Is anyone else using flounder's nursery?This is our 3rd trip but first with an infant.DS will be 6 mos when we sail.He is our delayed souvenir from our August cruise:smooth: :smooth:

[Bob Noble]

We are Disney Vets but new to the DCL, Me DH 43; DW 40; DS 14,and DD's 10 and 9. This has been great info reading the do's and Don'ts. Have booked Cptn Marvin for GC and most likely will self tour at CZML. We Live in N.VA and will be flying in Fri early for a park day before the cruise.:smooth:

[peagreenid]

Mutt and Jeff my 14 year old boy/girl twins would love to meet other 14 year olds. Glad to hear you will be on board. I am always worried there may not be as many kids when you are traveling off season. We are booking Capt. marvins too. What trip did you decide on? I'm thinking about the 1/2 day as we would like some time to shop too.
Feel free to ask any questions. It appears that most of us have cruised DCL already.

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

how many of us are Pre-cruise at the Radisson at the port?
We will be arriving there on Thursday.

smiles Patty

[Shercara]

Dis4me - no Flounders for us - but congrats on your new little one - I thought you said you were expecting in your earlier post! That's some souvenir! ( Glad to be of help with the countdown timer -- I did that months ago - and I have no clue how!!)

Welcome Bob Noble and family! We have a DS 13 1/2 and DS 8. What made you decide on Capt Marvins on your own - I've been trying to make a decision - on our own - or DCL? - We also want to go to the Turtle Farm - and my 8yo can't wait to go to HE-double toothpicks! I was leaning towards the DCL pkg - since it includes all 3. Any input would be appreciated.

Peagreenid - no we will not be at the Raddison - we took advantage of the $99 -Swan/Dolphin Pre-Cruise deal - and will be there from the 3rd to the morning of the 9th.
Looks like there are at least 4 in the same Teen age group so far -- If one of your kids (yours too Bob!)would like to e-mail my son - Nick - his e-mail is Godofwalruses57@aol.com - just put "Disney" in the subject line - and he'll answer it --

Have any of your kids gone back to school? -- we don't start until the begining of Sept - but FOOTBALL has begun!! -- Practice is M-F 6-8PM and Sat 9-11AM - have yet to get the game schedule - I'm thinking about setting up a tent at the field - seems like we will be there quite a bit!!

I'm sure you all read the good news on Tinkerbells Magic's August 17th post -- That mouse is really something -- and I'm sure all the prayers and pixie dust helped! So glad things worked out for her and her family.

Happy Monday night to you all - Have a GREAT week!
Sher

[Bob Noble]

Patty and Shercara
Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum. I am a cert. SCUBA diver and want to maximize our water adventures, so we signed up for the full day with Captn. Marvin. The Conch dive and appetizer sounds like too much fun to miss. I am not a big tour guy unless I am the organizer, LOL, so going on our own was not a tough decision. Also, the shopping will be better, so I am told, in Cozumel and we will have more time there for it as well. I have Nick's email and will pass it on to my Bobby. He will actually turn 14 on the 2nd of November. Our home email is temporarily out of commission so it may be a few days before he can have access.

Have you guys set a plan on Palos, We were thinking about Tuesday night as it would be the forth day of rotation so we would skip the restaurant that we would hit three times. We are on the late seating as we eat late at home anyway.

Hey how do you get those cool symbols next to your names on the posts?
Thanks again,

Bob:)

[DuncanLL]

Hi everyone! Our family has been on vacation for the past week in Cape Hatteras, NC so I've been catching up on the boards this morning.

Bob - We have a DD9 who would love to meet your DD. She's a DCL veteran - our 5th cruise - and she has really enjoyed her time in the kids clubs. We also have a DS6. We are also in late seating and it has worked out well for us in the past.

We're flying on Delta - I'm hoping they come out with a fare sale soon and we can get a credit. If anyone hears anything, let us know.

I'm looking forward to some Aug. 3 Western cruisers' trip reports!

Linda

[Bob Noble]

Thanks Linda,
My DD's love to meet new friends. They are into Dance and all the NOW CD's. We go to WDW most every year and they are quite anxious about the cruise ( almost as much as Dad) We are flying on freebe frequent fliers on Delta out of Dulles. Cape Hatteras is beautiful, I have a Tuna fishing trip there planned with the guys in October.

Bob

[DuncanLL]

Bob - We took several fishing trips in Hatteras last week. Caught Dolphin (mahi Mahi), Wahoo, Amberjack and Spanish Mackeral. We kept busy catching spot, croakers and pompano out of the surf, too. My brother arranged a Tuna charter for January while we were there.

Emily loves to listen to Radio Disney and really enjoyed the music on the ship and the Oceaneer Club's karaoke party.

Linda

[peagreenid]

I was looking at the full day trip, but DH thought a 1/2 day might be better. I think he wants to make sure that we get some shopping in, so that we can purchase more "LIQUID" souvenirs to take home. Of course we have a lot left from our last trip, we just used all of the Flavored rums. I made at least 20 flavored rum cakes for christmas last year. They were AWESOME!
Mutt, Jeff and DH all had frequent flyer miles on Delta. That is why we are flying out on Thursday. They had no available flights for Fridays departures except one that left Boise at 8:00 a.m. stopped in Salt lake city, Stopped in Atlanta (with two stops in between) then onto Orlando. We arrived around Midnight I think. NOT! So we had to fly out on Thursday morning and return on Sunday morning. We have opted to stay at the Hyatt at the airport, as our flight leaves @ 7:00a.m. I hope you have better luck getting your tickets, if you haven't gotten them already.
We took the kids fishing on the Oregon Coast a month ago. We had a wonderful time and everyone had their limit of Rock Fish in about an hour.
By the way Mutt and Jeff, as we call them, are Tommy and Julia. They will be starting 9th grade in 1 1/2 weeks. Love music, video games, skiing and snowboarding. Tommy runs x-country and Julia plays volleyball. If you ever saw them together you wouldn't even know they were related, let alone twins. They are very close, and you won't often spot one without the other.
Well gotta scoot-

smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

Thanks for the reply, we did get our tickets booked, we land in Orlando at 930am Friday and will be headed for, dare I say the "U" word. Bobby is a big coaster fan and rides dueling dragons all day. Staying on site so front of the line privileges will allow time for two parks in the same day. We leave late saturday post cruise at 8:45 PM so will most likely do a WDW water park for the day. I hear you on the liquid. I had to laugh when I saw a request for a budget check on another thread and they had 100.00 budgeted for on board drinks, one a day I think it said. I kept my mulitply by 10 comment silent. ;)

[peagreenid]

When you booked Capt. Marvins- did they discuss issues about what times you could get there. There is a thread running on this board about arrival times. Evidently Disney booked excursions are allowed off of the boat first and since they are tendering it is difficult to make some of the earlier excursions. Just Curious?

Thanks Patty

[Bob Noble]

Patty, I did speak with Linda and Ruth at CaptN Marvins. They indicated that we should have time. Also there is no charge if yuo can't make it due to the tender delay. I have read the thread you mentioned, but there is another thread that I cannot find now (several weeks old) indicated that if you are at the tender desk by 7AM you will be off with the first few boats. They said that not only did they get there in plenty of time walking, but they had time to go to a local pastry shop after they checked in for the trip. Bring your own towels from the ship. They also have perscription masks in case there are any four eyes like me on the trip that do not want to wear contacts in salt water. :cool:

Hey Linda sounds like you guys hit the seas hard on your vacation. Where in SJ do you live. We lived in Medford for 4 years before moving here in 97.

Looking forward to meeting all of you.

Bob

[Shercara]

Bob,
Hey how do you get those cool symbols next to your names on the posts? Not at Technical Wiz here - but - if you check out the Technical Board - they have instructions on how to insert that "stuff" into the signature in your profile -- as to the "bouncing Tigger" I have under my name - that is also done in your profile - it's called and Avatar? ( I think!) Hope that helps!


Try this link:


Good Luck!
Sher:smooth:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2770

[peagreenid]

I wish that the Green Gang could be joining the rest of you at the parks pre-cruise but, DH and I are going to be checking out some of the communities that we've read about as Retirement Prospects. He has only got 8 more years to go, (firemen get to retire at an earlier age) and we are looking at other communites. We have enjoyed florida the few times we've been, but, would like to look at smaller communites.
so the 1 1/2 days pre cruise will be looking from Port Canaveral South to Vero Beach and the 1 day post cruise we will be looking at Clermont, Florida and other communites around Orlando. (WOOHOO! WHEN I RETIRE, I MIGHT GET A JOB WORKING WITH THE MOUSE)
smiles Patty

Shercara- DD (jeff) says she will be sending your son an e-mail. WATCH OUT!!!

They had their physicals today and register for school on Thursday. School starts for them on the 26th. I will be back to day shift on September 4th. (aaaaah to walk among the living)

[peagreenid]

I can't believe it- There are HRC's in Key West, Cozumel and Grand Cayman. Now to make plans to visit them all. I've got to keep my t-shirt collection going!

smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

As a Parrot Head I have to suggest a Buffett T shirt in KW as well.
Capt Tony's or Louis Back Yard are also on the top ten list.

Shercara, thanks for thr link on the clip art. I'll try and figure that one out.
Bob:cool:

[peagreenid]

in key West we were thinking about
Crabby Dicks and the Hogs Breath Saloon!
We may take mutt and jeff in for a while to see the sites, but
ditch them later in the evening.

by the way Bob and Shercara- jeff wants to know if your children will be signing up for the teen dance on Cozumel. I believe that it is $35. She said she is afraid to join early before they board, if no one else is going to attend, but doesn't want to be left out if they can't get a slot after they board.

Last year they were the last 2 into the Castaway Cay teen excursion. Their entire group almost went except for a couple. They didn't want to go until they found out that EVERYONE else was going and by then it was almost 2 late. They actually only had 1 slot left when I signed them up, so they had to create another slot.

Just something to think about, I would imagine we should be getting excursion information soon.

smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

Thanks Patty,

Bobby has expressed interest in the teen cruise too, so I am thinking of signing him up when we hit our 60 day window. I think it is September 11th of all days :( if I counted correctly. Worst case we loose $35 if he skips it which I will recoup in Lawn mowing, LOL.

As far as a pub crawl in KW, Mary and I are all for it. Our kids will want to see Margaritaville early on but I would imagine we will ditch them too later in the day. I think we will do the Trolley as it makes more stops around the town. If you book on line you save 10% on either the train or trolley. I'll wager a bet we can collect a bunch of T shirts be fore the cruise is over:cool:
Bob

[Bob Noble]

PS.
I forgot to ask how did Mutt and Jeff like the Teen cruise?
Bob

[Bob Noble]

[http://www.disgalaxy.addr.com/Stories/Alladin/iago02.gif]

[Bob Noble]

[imghttp://www.disgalaxy.addr.com/Stories/Alladin/iago02.gif/img]

[Bob Noble]

http://www.disgalaxy.addr.com/Stories/Alladin/iago02.gif

[Bob Noble]

Not the sharpest tool in the shed but think I finally got it. Thanks for the links,
Bob

[Shercara]

Patty -- I was so glad you cleared up my Mutt & Jeff question -- I didn't want to be rude and ask if those were their real names or what you affectionatley call them!:jester:

I don't know about Nick on the Teen Excursions -but if your 2 teens and/or Bob's son want to talk him into it -- it's fine with me -- His first response to me a few weeks ago was no - but being a Mother - I'm used to that! :rolleyes:

I've been reading through the wonderful packet that Shirley from the Perfect Gift sent me with Key West info -- we were thinking about the Trolly or Train on our own and just general sightseeing -there is a shipwreck museum that looks interesting. We might do some jetskiing too - so many decisions!

The Pub Crawl sounds fun too Bob! Glad the link helped - great choice - I love Iago!

Well I'm off to the field to watch the end of football practice!

TTFN
Sher:smooth:

[peagreenid]

Last year when we went they cancelled the Teen Explorer cruise and we left St. Martin at 7:00 pm... i believe due to the fact that it was only 2 weeks after 9/11 and Security was very tight.
The one that Mutt and jeff did do, was the Castaway Cay teen excursion, it included, biking, snorkeling etc. They really seemed to enjoy that one and I think want to sign up for it again.
The teen explorer doesn't start until I believe 7:00 pm and goes to 9:00 pm. And they are on some type of party barge off of the ship at Cozumel. I'll have to see if it is the same type of deal as last year If I can find someone on the Western that has done it.
They loved the Murder game they played on board as well as the pizza parties and raiding the kids clubs in the wee hours of the morning. We usually had them in by 2:00 a.m. and MADE them come eat dinner with us every night. They are getting really excited.

smiles Patty

by the way Shercara- it be mutt and jeff, fric and frac, romulus and remus.........whatever suits the moment. generally Mutt and Jeff works. I called one night from work and I couldn't tell which one I was talking to on the phone, when I asked who it was, Tommy responded "MUTT"............

YES PUB CRAWL- Last year we often managed MARGARITA's on the pool deck.........while the men smoked their cuban cigars....
I brought on all the margarita supplies including a pitcher and salt in my bags.
But I can see the headlines now..........irresponsible parents left on Key West after an evening DRUNK!!

[peagreenid]

Fury Catamaran Teen Cruise (13 - 17 yrs)

It's a totally teen scene! Teens can enjoy a party on this 65-foot catamaran
excursion, including a DJ spinning the latest tunes, snacks and beverages.
Dance, hang with new friends and just enjoy some fun time away from the
parental units.

Cost per person: $35.00 13 - 17 yrs
Meet 6:30 pm, lasts 2 hours

Patty

[Bob Noble]

Sounds like it's going to be one fun cruise I'll be sure to pack extra tylennol. I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. All the room service I read about like snacks, mickey bars etc. is there a charge other than tip?
Do you guys ever do the Palo's brunch? I was thinking about Thursday at sea possibly. Is there room under the beds for luggage storage or just the closet? I am wondering how cramed in we will be with the 5 of usin a cat 4. This planning is too much fun.

Bob

[peagreenid]

you will have plenty of space in the cat 4. We were in a cat 5 last year and the Cat 4 is the same with the exception of the extra footage necessary for the murphy bed in front of the sliding glass door to your balcony. There is a large closet for suitcases....
Also in case you haven't seen it posted on here previously, You may want to purchase one of the Vinyl over the door shoe holders. Has about 20 pockets. Everyone puts them over their bathroom door to keep, cameras, film, room cards, sun screen, toiletries, all the things that you will lose (if your kids are like mine they start winging things ;) )
The only room service charge is the tips. Guy and I had munchies late one night and just ordered a plate of chocolate chip cookies. LOL. Plus the pizza, hamburger, chicken strip, taco etc..etc..etc... place is open all the time although not all night.
Palo's brunch is only open on at SEA days.

By the way- I've got a post on the Fury Catamaran...there have been a lot of positive comments on it........
smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

Jeff sent your son an email and it was returned.... permanent fatal errors in the email address..... This is the one that we have......
godofwalruses57@aol.com

Has it changed......
smiles Patty

Anyway... maybe this isn't the place to post the kids addresses. I will pm mutt and jeff's to you and bob.....

[Shercara]

Patty I sent you a PM -- no it hasn't changed - but it had some blocks on it so it he couldn't receive e-mail from non-aol users - I am going to fix that.

I HIGHLY recommend the over the door shoe thing -- I take it with us whenever we travel now - so much easier - less clutter and neater!

The Palo's Brunch is AWESOME -- and IMO not to be missed - we are hoping for Sunday morning before Key West. Not sure about which night for Palo' s. Thinking about Tues or Wed -- Tues -because its the regular menu - and we are hoping to get the LAP rotation - But then there's Wed - which doesn't have a show (I don't want to miss anything) - We did Tues on the Eastern - since there wasn't a show - AND Parrot Cay - Tropical Night - So many decisions!

Well - good night all - Got to Go - DS 13 - want's his turn on the computer...
Take care,
Sher

[DuncanLL]

I'll second that the Palo's Brunch is AWESOME! It's been one of the highlights of our previous cruises. In fact, with so many great Italian restaurants here in NJ, it's the only Palo's meal DH do. That way we don't have to give up another dinner or eating with the kids.

I'm hanging on every bit of info Western cruisers are posting after they cruise...

November couldn't come soon enough for me.

Linda

[Bob Noble]

Hello to All...
Thanks for the answers to the questions that botherd me so :).
I'll be sure to add the shoe rack to the list of things to buy and pack.

As this is our first family cruise I think we would hold off on the Palo brunch until Thursday so we don't ditch the kids the first day. It's OK if they ditch us. Wednesday is the late night in port and I think it could easily be a liquid dinner at Carlos and Charlies holding off until a Mexican feast on board later that night. So that makes Tuesday look good as we leave relatively early from GC.

Shercara, to say I am a bit confused on the meal rotation is an understatement. I think I get the rotation assignment thing which depends somewhat on the ages of your group, but have seen conflicting info on what menu nights are when. So if you can provide any clarity on this I'd greatly appreciate it.

Patty, If you haven't been following the Western cruise trip report by Ryan ( it is a hoot) he gives a thumbs up on getting off the ship with the first tenders as long as you are there early. So we are counting on that for our full day with the fish and Capt'n Marvin.

Thanks again for the help,
Bob

[peagreenid]

Sher- Do they offer Palo's on Sunday? I didn't think they would since it isn't technically an at sea day? I could go for Sunday though-
Stuff my face and then drink all night. DH says the pub crawl sounds good!
By the way Bob- DH lived for the ESPN mug. $10 I think and the beer refills were @ $3 each. Not bad for a 20 ounce mug.

too much food and drink to think about. Ah... my kids will get over it.

I don't know if you should be so worried about your kids on Sunday Bob! It is amazing how quickly they ditch you. And it is even more amazing that they never get lost.

I know we can hardly wait
smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

Since this is your first time... Did you get the 1st time $50 credit applied to your stateroom in the form of a stateroom credit? You will need to call your Travel Agent and tell them that a past cruiser gave you a referral card.... code REF..
Thats all there is to it.....except sometimes you get unknowledgeable cm's that don't know about it...and you have to call back.
smiles patty

[Bob Noble]

Does this work with AAA ? we are getting the free soda mug deal through them as well as 10% off rentals on Castaway Cay and certain purchases in the on board gift shop. I am also a Dis Club card member and I think there may be a credit there as well. Most times though it is a one or the other deal.
Thanks

[Shercara]

Patty – Yes I do believe that Brunch is offered on Sun morning – I’ll try to do a search to confirm when I get a chance. The dessert pizza is unbelievable!

Bob – I’ll try to e-mail you my excel spread sheet with the 3 possible dinning rotations, and my notes for what is going on each day. The rotations are assigned – but you can put a request on your reservation – as long as you understand that there are no guarantees. We did request PLA for our Eastern Cruise – and were lucky enough to get it. I used the sheet to plan out all possibilities, and also had it handy while standing in line to board, this way I was prepared to do the “ressie rush” to Palo’s to book Brunch and Dinner, and the Spa to book the Surial Bath, since I pre-planned the “what if’s” before hand. (Talk about a compulsive planner!) Also – if you would e-mail or PM me with your son’s e-mail address – if it is not AOL – I’ll have to add it to my DS’s “accept e-mail from” list.

Linda – I agree with the great restaurants in NJ – but I’d still like to have dinner one night at Palo’s – the atmosphere and view are amazing – although dinner there is not a MUST do like Brunch!

Have a great day all!

[peagreenid]

16 of us did brunch together at Palo's in my last group. We had the little room in the back. We had the most awesome server (salvatore') who brought EVERY pizza imaginable to our table. No one ever ordered one... so we were stuffed to the gills.

I think that Palo's is only as good as your service. We went for Dinner...in celebration of our anniversary...which I politely reminded them of when I made our reservations. And again the day of our reservation. We also requested Salvatore' for our waiter since he was so awesome. Well someone really dropped the ball, we didn't get Salvatore' which I can understand can happen, but they also did nothing at all for our anniversary. I was really upset, as I guess I was counting on the service I had heard about and had seen during our brunch. Our waittress never even offered a suggestion as to what to order, brought nothing extra to try and well was pretty much non-existent except to bring the entree's. I was not impressed to say the least. I gave Salvatore' $20 extra for our wonderful brunch service.... I paid nothing more than the $5 each for the dinner.
My husband didn't really understand why we had even come there for dinner that night and didn't spend it with our friends we ate with nightly at our normal rotation. I'm not sure if we will book dinner there again. We may just try for the Brunch and I'd like to get High Tea if i is still offered.
By the way......Santa Clause 2 is being released on 11/1/02. Maybe we'll have the opportunity to see it on board.
Shercara-
If you want to set your sons email up to accept emails from mutt and jeff I'll tell jeff to try and send it again. They are hit and miss on the instant messenger.
well i'm off to bed late......ugh! Only 2 more weeks of nights...... Woohoo!

smiles patty

[ChiTwnFam]

We will be on the 11/9/02 Westrn Cruise with dd-6 & dd-4! Can't wait but still a little unsure of what to do at the different ports with 6 & 4 year old girls!

[Shercara]

Welcome aboard ChiTwmFam! Sorry but I can't help you with te girl thing -- my DS's are 13 & 8 -- I'm sure you'll find lots of info on the boards though.

Patty, My search revealed that brunch is offered on Sun/Mon/Thurs 10:30 - 12:30.

I have that dining schedule available in Excel if anyone would like me to e-mail it to them just give me your address and I will.

Hope you all had a good weekend,
Sher

[dis4me]

wow you guys have been busy while I was away LOL

ChiTwnFam -Welcome I have 2dds ages 6 and 7. Not sure what we are doing for the ports yet as we also have a ds infant.This is our 3rd cruise and on the last ones we went snorkeling which the girls enjoyed.Do your girls like the ocean?

[peagreenid]

I actually scanned the Cruise Critic board last night and saw that you posted over there for fellow cruisers. But, you'd already found your way here. This is much more FRIENDLY!!!

Well I think that we are on for Brunch for Sunday morning. (although Pigging out at palo's and walking all over Key West doesn't sound appealing right now :) )
Anyone care to join us. If we can get a group together we can try for the little room again. It was WONDERFUL there and since it doesn't take away from the rest of the restaurant, it is pretty easy to get reservations unless they have another group booked. In which case I will be running to Palo's for Brunch Ressies.

Let me know if you are interested. It was a lot of fun meeting everyone there and dining together....childless......... ;)

and Sher- I'm PMing you with my email address, I'd like your spread sheet.
smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

bump-bump-bump

[Bob Noble]

Shercara,
Thanks for the spreadsheet on the dining rotation. On sheet two you noted that the LAPLAPL seemed like a calmer environment. Was this an early or late seating?
Bob

[Bob Noble]

Hey check out the 8/3 western Navigators on ealrier thread. Seating times are 5:30 and 7:45 PM. Glad We are on the late seating. 5:30 seems way too early. I realize these are trial and may switch back but you never know.

[peagreenid]

Last year...and we loved it because Lumiere's fell on Formal night
which is nice when you don't want to have to wear the suggested jacket to Lumiere's plus dress up.... I hope we get APLAPLA this time.... just for the same reason.

Bob- The earlier times you read on those navigators is an experiment that Disney is trying. It is supposed to end by the end of September, Unless they decide to keep it.
We love the late dining times. Especially since mutt and jeff don't roll out of bed until late every morning. They were talking the other day that they only made breakfast 1 time the entire trip.

smiles Patty

[DuncanLL]

Well, we made our final payment this morning. We wanted to make sure all that was taken care of so we can start to focus on what to do in port. I talked to someone at the DCL Excursion Reservation # to confirm that we can pre-book on Sept. 10th. Still thinking we'll take the kids on the Conch Train on our own and then look around Key West. We're trying to figure out which DCL Stingray City excursion to do in Grand Cayman. In Cozumel, we'll try to book the Dolphin Encounter, but also have our names on a waiting list for the Dolphin Swim directly with Dolphin Discovery. We're hoping for the swim. Our DD* loves dolphins and would be a big surprise.

If any of your kids want to "meet" our DD8 and DS6, just PM me and we'll exchange email info.

Linda

[peagreenid]

Made my final payment this evening too..........WOOHOO!

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

Excursion information from DCL yet? I haven't heard anything.

Just curious

smiles Patty

[DuncanLL]

Patty,

We booked through Dreams Unlimited. They emailed the excursion info after we made final payment.

Linda

[peagreenid]

From my understanding DCL was supposed to be sending out hard copies of excursion information. It sounds like Dreams handles it a little differently.

Smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

Before SEPT 11th so I can read thru everything and decide.

Not sure which night we will be doing Palo's. I will be celebrating my birthday on the Cruise and although I would like to
spend that night at Palo's, I don't think my kids would appreciate it much.
smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

I WANT ONE!!!!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I'm really going to miss our balcony this year........but we have a window. But, if they gave me the Roy or the Walt suite.....I would never ever complain!!!

smiles Patty

patty who checks the dcl website every day 5 or 6 times to see if she's gotten an upgrade!

[DuncanLL]

Someone who went on the Western earlier picked me up an excurion form. It is just the one for Grand Cayman and Cozumel. There are at least 4 excursion thet go to Stingray City. I'm having a hard time figuring out which one to do.

Has anyone ever seen a website or brochure about Chankanaab Park in Cozumel? I've seen it mentioned on other Cozumel websites, but haven't seen one that shows a map of the whole thing and all of its amenities. Let me know if anyone stumbles across one.

Linda

[peagreenid]

I've read a lot of positive comments about Capt. Marvins-
that is who we've decided to go with. We just want to visit the stingrays and go snorkeling. I've read some great things about
Chankanaab- and some not so great things.....I'm at a loss for excursions in Cozumel.

websites that I found
http://www.cozguide.net/chankan.html
http://www.travelnotes.cc/cozumel/links/todoreviews/chankanaab.html

You may have these already.........

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

I found this website that I had too......has some great pictures of Chankanaab at the very bottom of the page and maps of Cozumel...so maybe if you look around you can find what you need......

http://discovercozumel.net/ArticleSite.cfm/PageID/62962607

smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

Hello to all,

The count down continues, Ive got my DD 10 telling me day to day already! She is really excited.

Patty, thanks for the input on the rotation. I think we will take what comes our way and have a blast regardless of the order.

We are locked in for the full day with Capt. Marvin and still figuring out Coz.

Linda the Key West web site offers 10% off all online resies for Conch train, Trolley museums etc. Big savings over the excursion prices DCL has listed on the DCL site.

Same goes for the trips on Coz. We were thinking of the Fury trip but after a full day out on Tuesday we are considering a self multi beach/snorkle tour by taxi. Also if the DS does the evening Fury tour ( which he say he wants to) it would be too much for him I am sure. Coupons are available for free ice cream or margaritas on MrSanchos.comSanchos is just past the Chankanaab park which is easy to do on a self tour as well.

[dis4me]

Hi All
we just paid our final payment.
Does anyone know how difficlut it is to do things on your own in Grand Cayman or Cozumel. I know most Disney excursions don't alow for an infant except for the beaches and I would hate to pay al that money to sit on the beach if I could get there myself. What beaches are nice??
Thanks

[peagreenid]

I'm going to PM you with Mutt and jeff's email addresses. In case your son wants to email them.

Sher-
Your son should have received an email from Jeff (julia) unfortunately she re-sent the one she already wrote, and didn't put anything disneyish in the subject.......so he probably read it and thought WHO COULD THIS POSSIBLY BE!!!

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

I posted some links to Cozumel on the last page.....you may want to check them out.
I had a client tell me yeah....on going at it alone in Grand Cayman............but Nay on Cozumel unless you are going to hang around public places.

so much to decide

smiles Patty

[dis4me]

Thanks Patty

[bjspalding]

Hi everyone!
Just made our final payment on Saturday. YEAH!!!!! I'm getting more excited, and there's still 79 days left!
We're going shopping today, to check out the summer clearance sales (things for the cruise), since all the fall merchandise is in the stores now.
We're still trying to decide what to do at the ports. DD7 does not like beaches. May let her stay with Grandma on the ship (she loves the waterslide and hot tub), while DH and I explore the islands.
Have fun with all you trip planning! But don't get overwhelmed!!!

Bonnie :cool: :cool:

[Bob Noble]

Hey Patty, please send the email. We have finialy diagnosed our Dell home PC as having a bad hard drive so they are scheduling a home visit to replace, so.... hopefully we will be back up on AOL soon. Just paid off the balance too for our cruise.

Is anyone doing banana boat or parasail on castaway cay?

Other than those and the Teen Cruise, I think these are the only DCL sponsored excursions we are considering for now.

[peagreenid]

Mutt and Jeff did the Teen Excursion on Castaway Cay last year. I believe it was $35 per child. They were gone most of the day. They biked, snorkeled, swam at the teen beach etc. It included all of their equipment. They had a kick doing it.......and at the time it was the ONLY teen excursion since they cancelled the dance at St. maarten. They want to do it again. So let me know if your son would be intereted.

DH and I just snorkeled at Castaway Cay.....then ate lunch....went back to the ship and hung out in the adult pool with all of our NEW DIS friends and finished off the pitchers of margaritas before we went home the next day. (boy were they getting strong in the end.......we were running low on mix....)

smiles Patty

email addresses are on their way

[Bob Noble]

Thanks Patty,
I'll talk to DS and that could be an adder, I'll let you know. We are having a family plan night soon before school starts. Most likely over labor Day weekend.

DW has a few questions...
1. How does the talk about radios ( like motorolla ) work as far as reception. I have seen them mentioned on the boards but not sure of range through deck etc.
2. How does the refillable mug thing work. Do they have to trek the mug everywhere they go? Do they get lost? Do you bring a marker to put names on? Do they ever get cleaned? LOL
3. When you are on shore having fun, like say Key West/Cozumel do you ever say the heck with the ship meal and eat on shore. realizing the ship is free but the island may be more fun?

Thanks,
Bob

[peagreenid]

We took our walkie-talkies but didn't use them too much. When we did use them the reception was fine. I can't ever remember them being out of range. I can't ever remember needing them too much though either??? ;) (this is one of the times I didn't want my kids to find me :smooth: ) Actually as far as my kids.... I had an update it seemed from everyone we knew- about my kids. It was great. In our group of Disers we had the Oldest more unsupervised kids. I always knew where they were all the time. The other adults always filled us in.

The refillable mugs- Yes you have to lug them with you wherever you go. Each stateroom is equipped with a MUG WASHER!! It is in the corner of the bathroom. You lift the lid, insert mug and HOLD ON TIGHT!!! If you do not hear a really loud noise and Air rushing past your ears it isn't working right. (really Bob- I'm just kidding) We didn't buy mugs. We brought a case of Diet Pepsi on board. We are thinking about buying 1 this year and letting mutt and jeff split it. Sodas are free at dinner.
DH did invest in the ESPN beer mug. It was 22oz glass mug. They exchanged it each time he turned it in for a refill and gave him a frosted one. The Soda mugs you have to track...so a marker would probably be in order. :p

We ate at HRC last year in St. Thomas. Well we ate munchies at lunchtime and had a drink and then dinner on board. You can also shop and drink, go back on-board and drop of your purchases, eat and go back out again.

I will probably stay away from food and/or drinks in Cozumel. I've heard a lot about people getting sick. We may take Bottled water on the ship this time, to make sure we have plenty.

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

DIS4ME- this might be a great site for you because of your little ones............

http://www.cozumelmycozumel.com/Pages/Kids.htm

smiles Patty

[dis4me]

Thanks Patty It looks like the beach is all the baby can do.Maybe dh will take the girls to the ruins.
Chankanaab looks good for the young ones.I appreciate your help Having an infant makes it difficult to do research.
Toni

[peagreenid]

BABIES LOVE TO SHOP!!!!

smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

Hey Patty thanks for the feed back, I can't wait to see that mug cleaner!;) Sounds like the marker is the way to go. We get the mugs for free through booking with AAA. Maybe I can get them to fill mine with Bud.LOL

Bob

[peagreenid]

I have to tell you if you have never experienced the "MUG CLEANER" on the ship watch out. You need to make sure you close the lid before you flush.......;)

It sucks everything floating free in the room into it, if you don't.

My kids at 13 flushed and ran like he**!

The mugs will be a nice feature.

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

smiles Patty

[Shercara]

Final payment made yesterday here too! I'm printing out the 8/3 Navigators from Barb's site tomorrow to do some more "planning"

Did you all see the discussions about the possible dinning time changes.

Bob - my note on the end page -- (didn't know I sent that too) was a quote I got off of these boards -and I'm sorry I don't remember if it was about early or late seating.

Patty - thanks for the great websites - we haven't decided on excrusions yet.

Hope you all had a great weekend!
Sher

[peagreenid]

Sher-
It was fun chatting with you this evening...we'll have to do it again. And thank you for the wonderful picture of your sons.
I was thinking about what you said about the Dining rooms being very BUSY....and I noticed your last sail date. I really don't think that it will be as busy in November as when you sailed Last July. Our cruise last year had many kids, but it really wasn't that busy. Mutt and jeff's age group 13-15 only had a total of about 20 kids or so total.
I am still showing most categories available with room assignments. When we booked last year, at 4 months out everything was a guarantee only.

We are still trying to decide on excursions in cozumel. I think that we are only doing 1/2 day snorkeling in Grand Cayman, just to give us shopping time.

talk to you all soon........
smiles Patty

[DuncanLL]

Sher/Patty,

As far as the ship being crowded, we sailed on the 7 night Eastern this same week last year. Our 2nd seating was only about 1/2 full. There were lots of empty tables. Our servers only had two tables. We sailed the Wonder in August once before and it was much more crowded.

Linda

[Bob Noble]

Hey, sounds like our passenger to staff ratio will be better than average.

Heard back from the AAA TA, and she confirmed our Disney Club $50 credit .

Good news on home PC we are back on line so DS should be sending emails soon.

Bob:)

[peagreenid]

We sailed last year 2 weeks after 9/11 and they were down about 650 passengers. Second dining was pretty sparse then also. I know it never seemed like there were almost 2000 people on board until we got to Castaway Cay....:D and everyone got off the ship at the same time.

Has anyone got Excursion info from DCL yet?

smiles Patty










still hoping for the UU.....(ultimate upgrade) to the ROY or WALT suite!!!!

[peagreenid]

There is ALWAYS plenty of STAFF-

Less people means

1. more beer
2. more mickey bars
3. more margaritas
4. more beer
5. more LOBSTER TAILS
6. more jumbo shrimp
7. more beer
8. more room in the pools
9. more opportunities for ressies at Palos
10. more beer
11. more shorter lines :p
12. more crab legs
13. more beer.........................

you've got to get your priorities straight.........;)

smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

I can tell we will get along just fine. I like the way you think ;)

[dis4me]

I Hope you are all drinking the more beer because that will leave all the Bonvoyage drinks for me. Sorry I am a strict frosty drink kind of Gal.
Patty Did you book through dreams. We got an email about the excursions. It is very discouraging for me as they do not allow the baby to do much. I guess he and I will have to shop while the rest of the family does all the "fun " stuff LOL
Is anyone doing a trip to the ruins that isn't with Disney?

[Bob Noble]

Hey Patty
PS I forgot to mention I loved your post on the surreal bath thread. LOL, better yet the eye poping Mickey's :)

Too Funny

Dis4me, my DW and I will make a dent in the drink of the day category as well I am sure. Can't wait to try the Konk Koolers.

As we get closer we will have to plan a group meeting if it is not scheduled already.

Bob

[DuncanLL]

Dis4me -

DH and I are the frosty drink variety, too....

Bob -

Konch Koolers are terrific! On our last two cruises, the ship has missed our call to Castaway Cay. Thankfully, they served the KK's on the ship that day instead or there would have been a mutiny!

Linda

[Bob Noble]

Bummer, on the missed call. Heres to getting into port this go around.

[peagreenid]

No, I did not book with Dreams........... by night I am an Electronic technician.........by day I am a travel agent ;) , so I got to book my own. :smooth: :smooth: :smooth: My very first booking on DCL....:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

(well I guess that all changes......after next week, when I switch back to days, and then by day I will be an Electronic Technician and by NIGHT I will be a travel agent)

smiles Patty

I was able to download all of the brochure for excursions off of Barb's site and print it.

Hey Bob- I think we are toying with the idea of a Discover Scuba trip in Cozumel. I think the kids will really enjoy it.....and DH and I both wear SCBA's on Land.....so why not the water???

KONK KOOLERS are to die for............but the mugs look a little "ODD" to say the least

My favorites were the 2 for 1 margaritas............woohoo!

[peagreenid]

DH likes the beer! We did the Pirate show in Orlando one time on a trip to WDW. DH's Aunt and Uncle took us. Needless to say we were on the BLUE team......and well DH was the ONLY beer drinker on that team......and they must have poured 10 pitchers.

He was a HAPPY PIRATE!!

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

Dis4me- you may want to check out this site.......

shoretrips.com

I think that they may have excursions you could take the entire family on.....I would certainly check into it.
smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

Hey Patty, sounds like your DH and I will get along REAL WELL.

I am certified NAUI/PADI and would love to go diving but want to be with the family, DW has done an intro to SCUBA at Molokini crater in Maui. While she enjoyed it, the experience was a bit confining for her taste, so has no desire to do again. I was checking our a Coz web site with pictures of Chankanab that showed a platform with what appearded to be bubble hat style dive helmets. I am guessing these are tethered to an air hose and safety lines for very shallow depth excursions. I'll check out the site you mentioned above for other options but it looks like a beach day at Mr. Sanchos so far. They have a trampoline which my kids will love and the banana boat/water sports sound less expensive than at Castaway Cay. Also looking forward to the food. We are fortunate that we introduced our kids to different foods very early and there is not much they have not at least tried. My DD now 9 has been slurping oysters with me since she was 4.;)

Bob

[peagreenid]

Somewhere in my searches on the computer, I came across some website for diving/snorkeling, where they did a combo on the same trip. So divers and snorkelers can be together.
OYSTERS..........EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

It would take more than a lot of beer and a boat load of margaritas to even get one of those in me.
DH is always looking for a beer drinking buddy........Are you into the cuban cigars?

smiles Patty

I thought the Discovery Scuba class would be a great way to get the kids introduced. I can see MUTT really liking it.

[peagreenid]

What dates did you sail when you missed Castaway Cay.......

Hopefully not NOVEMBER!!!


smiles Patty

[DuncanLL]

Patty,

In 2000, DH and I did the 7 Day Eastern in April without the kids for our anniversary. The ship had an engine problem in St. Thomas - Capt. Hans turned the key and nothing happened when we were supposed to leave. They had to fly in a part from somewhere and we were about 10 hrs. late leaving St. Thomas. That didn't give us enough time to stop at Castaway. We had barely enough time to get back to Port Canaveral.

In 2001, we didi the Eastern with our kids the week of Nov. 10. The current was moving too fast at Castaway and we tried several times to dock, but kept drifting past the inlet. It was horrible to see Castaway and realize we weren't going to make it. The Capt. even left and came back several hours later to try again, but no luck.

I'll just let you imagine how some people handled the news on these trips. It was really quite interesting to watch. We were disappointed, but knew we couldn't really do anything about it and made the best of another day at sea.

I'm praying we get there this year!!!!!!!

Linda

[Bob Noble]

Linda, you mean they wouldn't let you jump in and swim to Castaway Cay???
;)

Even with all the bow and stern thrusters on the Magic, when mother nature intervenes, there is nothing you can do but go along for the ride.

But not this time, it will be calm as a cucumber.

[peagreenid]

I might be disappointed.........BUT, I can drink Konk Koolers anywhere................
:)


We actually went snorkeling for a while and the kids did the Castaway cay day........we ate lunch and went back on board early. Met all of our friends at the adult pool and finished off the
margaritas............

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

received Shore Excursion info from DCL yet? I called DCL and they should alredy have been mailed, but, I still haven't received mine. But, Of course since i'm on the other side of the world LOL
it could be a little delayed.

Just checking.........

by the way........you can start calling on 9/10 to book your excursions.......

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

There is one heck of a thunder storm starting up........time
to shut down the ole 'puter........

night all.........

smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

Hey Patty,
I hope the storm did not do you any harm.

Did you guys see the latest on the dining times. Looks like we will wait and see what they have in store for us when we get there. Seems they are adjusting in increments of 15 minutes later. More time for cocktails. :cool:
Bob


Hey Shercara

DS should have sent an email to the walrus god by now:) Arn't teenagers fun....NOT

[peagreenid]

I got DH birthday cake all baked, and the steaks are marinating. Gifts are wrapped and cards are signed. Time to go to bed.... Too bad I'm going to miss the party!!! :(

Last week on night shift.....WOOHOO! :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:
That is just about what I look like after my 4 month rotation!!!

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

you know small world........
I just checked out Centerville on our Atlas..... my company just bought a plant in Manassas......and many of my co-workers have been relocating there this month..... I'll miss each and every one of them.......but, I'll let them all know that people in Virginia Drink beer too!!!!

smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

Please do, Hey I hope you have not given up on Marvin's...

Their reviews have been the best by far.

[DuncanLL]

I had thought about Capt. Marvin's for us, but the kids are really excited aboutthe turtle farm, too. The DCL excursion covers both. Capt. Marvin's doesn't offer that right????

Linda

[Bob Noble]

Thant's right Linda,
Marvins is just water tour only. The big advantage is the smaller boat going to several locations. From what I have read the turtle and post office from ____ thing did not get rave reviews, so that led us to look for something else. In any case as you know it is what you make of any trip that counts, so do your thing and enjoy.

Bob:D

[D. R. N.]

Hi! My husband and I will be sailing with you. We are very excited about our first Disney Cruise. We will be celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary. I must say we are a little concerned since we do not have children. We are, however, HUGE Disney fans and visit WDW 2 to 3 times per year. We have cruised before but on other lines. I think we will have a great time since we really are kids at heart and appreciate "Disney Magic". However, I have gotten mixed reviews from people who have traveled on DCL without kids. Any advice?

[DuncanLL]

Welcome DRN. Glad you'll be joining us. My DH and I have taken two DCL cruises without our kids and two with our kids. They're different experiences, but equally good. When we went alone, we really enjoyed the adult programming in the morning on "at sea" days like Art of Entertaining, Disney Behind the Scenes and the Navigators series. We also got to enjoy the Quiet Cove pool which is a far different experience than the Goofy or Mickey pools. The clubs have an adult (still PG-13 Disney) shows with comedians, etc. and themed parties to enjoy. We got to spend our whole day at Castaway Cay on the adult beach and did the cabana massages. Too wonderful to describe...

We are big Disney fans and really got to appreciate the finer points without the kids - like all the Disney touches incorporated into the decor and architecture. We also met some other "grown ups only" couples on the ship and had a good time comparing notes.

Of course we've taken the kids with us on two DCL cruises too. It was fun to share it all with them too.

You'll have a great time. We've done RCCL and Carnival before and liked our DCL cruises without the kids better than either of them.

Linda

[D. R. N.]

Thanks for the info... Please tell me more about the open air cabana massages. I had planned to treat myself to a massage but I wasn't sure if I should use the on board spa or the cabana's at Castaway Cay. Is the cost the same? Which do you recommend?

Can't wait...

Denise :Pinkbounc

[DuncanLL]

Denise,

I don't remember the cost. DH and I did the couples 1/2 body massage. The cabana massages go fast so you need to get to the spa before it opens for reservations when you get on the ship. People start lining up. It was a great experience though. We were on two side by side massage tables - each with our own masseusse. You lay there and look out the open window over the beautiful water off the adult beach. It's heavenly.

Linda

[peagreenid]

glad to see that you will be joining us. As far as adults with no children..... We ate with two couples last year, neither had kids. (they were both kids at heart and had both sailed with DCL previously) We had a great time and they were great with my teens. Disney has many activities for adults only....

talk to you all soon.........


smiles Patty

2 more nights and counting

[Bob Noble]

Welcome aboard D.R.N.

I am sure you guys will have a blast on you own and kid less, You luck ducks, DINKS I believe the official term is (dual income no kids) :)

See you on board,
Bob

[peagreenid]

I think that maybe we could pawn some Teens off on D.R.N.....


I WANNA BE A DINK FOR A WEEK!!!

smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

Right back at ya Baby....:smooth:

Have a great Labor Day weekend, I'm starting early.

[peagreenid]

MATTER OF FACT..... I JUST WANT TO START!!!

I'm fading fast, so I need to go to bed. The weather is really cool here so it won't be as tough. Really cloudy and wants to rain. I'm doubting that mutt and jeff will be tubing the river this weekend...

Did I tell all of you.........ONLY TWO MORE NIGHTS!!!!

smiles Patty


It was funny......... DH and I often blame each other for the decision to have children.....:smooth: He always names all the toys he could HAVE had.......LOL. I always name the toys I did have and that my children broke :(

[peagreenid]

Who is up for a meet before the Sail-a-way Party? Last year
we met in the ESPN club about an hour before the Sail-a-way Party started. Great time to purchase that brand new iced Beer mug and the first of the frosty drinks.... :tongue:
I had loads of bubbles left over from my sisters weddings for everyone......... they worked out great for the adults and the kids.
Of course those of us that stayed at the Rad, met the night before by the pool. And it was amazing how we were able to pick each other out of the long line of people waiting to board the ship.

Well, I just mailed my SASE to Shirley.......for all the Key West info.........

time to go to bed...........

g'night
smiles Patty

[Shercara]

Happy Friday Everyone!

Welcome D.N.R.,
And pre-congrats on your 4th Anniversary! We will be celebrating our 20th, in October, and are using it as an “excuse” for a week in WDW, and this cruise! I’m sure you will enjoy yourselves, even being DINK’s!
Last year my Parents and sister-in-law, and her boyfriend (40ishes) joined us on the Eastern and had a GREAT time! Mom & Dad loved SESSIONS, and had “their seat” by this big round window. They also loved the comfy deck chairs on deck 4. We always knew where to find them if the “went missing!” The Disney MAGIC is truly magical and you will have a Blast!

Bob, My “Walrus God” did get your DS’s e-mail and tells me that he sent a response (when I asked “What did he have to say ?” the response was “nothing” – so next time, please tell your DS to write something in his e-mail!! LOL – Just kidding I’m sure he did, but like Patty said – I’ve got a Teen for Rent …CHEAP, if D.N.R. is interested! Also I can locate an 8yr old with an attitude if they’re interested too! I LOVE them both dearly and wouldn't trade them for the world… but an hour or so could be arranged!

Patty, a sail-away meet sounds good to me – tell me where and when and we’ll be there!

Hope all you folks have a GREAT Labor Day weekend! We are attending a friend’s wedding on Sunday night, I’ll be the one with the Cosomopolitan in my hand!

Take care,
Sher

[dis4me]

Now I have a better variety for DNR if they are interested. My dd who is 7 going on 15 may be to busy at the kids club however dd 6 or ds 6 mos willl keep them equally busy. As a matter of fact I will even let them share the cabin with them as that will mean I can downgrade to a cat 6 and save money;) ;) .Isn't that nice of me.
Actually though DNR I am sure you will have a great time.Most of the cruise we forgot we had kids as they didn't spend a whole lot of time with us.Only meals at our insistance and their dismay.

I can't believe the 60 day mark is almost here.I can't wait until November.Is anyone else taking their kids out of school???Mine our missing 7 days UGH I am sure there teachers will be thrilled.
Toni

[Shercara]

Ok now folks – we may never see or hear from D.N. R. again – they probably won’t show up at the sail –a- way meet - for fear of having kid’s thrown at them!!

I know we are all just joking, myself included, so have no fear D.N.R. (unless of course you are interested, we could work something out!)

Yes Toni, I am taking the boys out of school. DS 8 will miss 3 full days & 5 half days, and DS 13 will miss 6 full days & 2 half days, since we will be in WDW the week before. I can’t wait to tell the teachers either, but feel strongly that family time is MORE important sometimes. They will ALWAYS remember these days we will spend together as a family, and the will have many more school days ahead of.

See ya,
Sher

[bjspalding]

I feel really stupid! I just wanted to add a reply to this thread, but posted a new thread. I was wondering if anyone has gotten their excursion info yet? We haven't gotten anything yet. But last year, we never got any info before our 10/01 cruise. We are considering the Dolphin encounter at Cozumel. DD8 says she would like to do it. But this is the child who, while we were at the beach for 5 days in August, never once got in the ocean. She just played in the sand. She loves swimming in a pool, but will not get in the ocean.
TONI, DD8 will just be missing 3 days of school! Her school is closed Nov. 11 and 12 for parent/teacher conferences. I guess we'll have to schedule our conference for a later date.
Have a great weekend.
Bonnie

[peagreenid]

What do you mean an HOUR.....! I'd gladly give mine up for the duration..........

TONI-
How big is that cabin? Mutt and Jeff are great Babysitters.....maybe we can work something out.....;)

School-ShMOOL....... Mi kidz dont need no skool!
Mutt and Jeff are missing 6 days. They are out of school on the 8th, I couldn't get tickets that day with their frequent flyer miles so had to move it up one day so we are flying in on Thursday. I give the teachers advanced warning......the teachers always give me grief :rolleyes: Last year they only missed 4 days and I had teachers REFUSE to give them their homework. I believe that it is family time as well. They do okay in school. (my kids, you will see doing homework during the cruise... they hate us)

well woke up, to tell the kids to be quiet......back to bed again.
smiles Patty

[D. R. N.]

Thanks so much for all of your advice - and all of your children! However, my husband and I will have to pass on your kind offers - we would like to continue to enjoy our "DINK"hood just a little longer. :cool: (hopefully not too much longer!) Now I am certain we will have a wonderful time especially surrounded by such a nice croud.

Thanks for all of your tips... They have been very helpful.

As for shore excursions, we pretty much have decided to go on our own at Key West, go w/Capt. Marvins in G.C. and visit Xcaret in Mexico.

Counting down the days too,

Denise

[marty Jay]

Hello Everyone,

We are eagerly counting down the days to the cruise, and we haven't received any excursion info yet either. Could be because our final payment isn't due until Sept.9th.

We are also taking our kids out of school for 10 days and I plan on letting the teachers know right away so that they can prepare . My kids are DD(7) (also going on 15) and DS(9) and they both do well at school so I'm not too worried about taking them out of school. Two years ago we went to WDW in November and I had all these plans to have DD do some homework and journaling but by the time we got home from all the parks each day it was way too late. I'm not sure what the teachers this year will expect them to do, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Mind if I ask a couple of quick questions?

1) Do most parents take there kids on excursions. And if you leave the boat and leave the kids in the Club how would they contact you if they need you for anything?

2) Can anyone recommend some good family excursions that we just should not miss?

3) I'm wondering if there is a possibility of not getting reservations at Palo's if you're not fast enough. Do they ever run out of room.


Anyways , hope you all have a great Labour Day Weekend. We will be out on our new boat ( THE GUPPY ) trying to catch some crabs. Wish us luck.


Marty Jay

[peagreenid]

I don't think we've talked.... so Just wanted to say.....Hi...glad to see you have joined our group.

It is very unfortunate, BUT, Palo's does run out of room. When we cruised last September I tried to get Ressies for Brunch, Dinner and the High Tea. We got there before 1:00 on embarkation day.........and the High Tea was already all gone. Remember that all Concierge suites and AMEX white glove folks could already have their ressies in at this point. There were also many brunch and dinner times completely wiped out as well. They limit everyone to 1 brunch and 1 dinner reservation so that everyone has an equal shot and you can put your name on a waiting list for any other available times and they will call your room and leave a message if they have openings. Many people book them, and then don't follow thru and cancel out due to other conflicts and they do have openings. The first Night, Palo's is very easy to get into. They let folks have two dinner ressies if they visited Palo's on the first night.
Good luck with the crabs. I've got a freezer full of Dungeness legs and Rock fish we caught on the Oregon coast last month. Dying to have some more.
By the way, I posted some links for excursions 1 or 2 pages back.

The big thing for Grand Cayman is Stingray City. I've heard it is not to be missed.
There are numerous things to do on all the islands, from snorkeling, kayaking, boating, just hanging out on the beach. If you like horseback riding they have that too!

talk to you all soon.....
smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

ONE MORE NIGHT...................AND COUNTING!!!!!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

I leave you alone for 1 night.............

1 MEASELY NIGHT............ and we end up on the 3rd page.........


WOOHOO! I am officially back on Day shift. I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. We are Headed to Dinner. It is our 18th Wedding anniversary.......and DH had his birthday a couple of days ago. (I really could use a margarita.........)


talk to you all soon.........
smiles Patty

[dis4me]

Happy Anniversary Patty and Happy Birthday to your DH
By now you are probably having that Margarita:Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc Lucky you.
It is miserable here. Some labor day weekend at the Jersey Shore. It has rained all weekend so far. Tomorrow we are bbqing so hopefully it will clear up.BTW thanks for those sights on the beaches they were great.I definately think whatever we do it will be on own own.Unless Dh and and the girls do an excursion with DCL. Shopping sounds good to m.Although my sister just got back from Grand Cayman and said the prices were outragewous. She swam with the stinrays and hated it. She is a bit squimish anyway.
Have a great anniversary.
Toni

[peagreenid]

for the Well wishes......We had a nice dinner......and 1 margarita that went straight to my head.

As far as shopping goes, it doesn't look like it is very good on the Western as compared to the Eastern. The spending limit is much higher on the western and you could bring back an entire BAR with the alcohol limits. From what I'm reading the limit is 1 bottle per person on the Western. As much as I love Tequila.....I don't do anything with WORMS in it.......and they are big on that in Cozumel. So we may just make our alcohol purchases on the ship.

You know, maybe you let DH and older kids do the excursion and you check the baby into the daycare for an hour or so and get a "REWORK" at the spa. :smooth: All new moms deserve to be pampered. There is nothing that says you have to get off the ship. Then when everyone is done with their excursion.... head off to the Hard Rock and do a little shopping in town.

There are so many things I would like to do, Just haven't been able to pinpoint that 1 THING I know I would love. So, Because I've always wanted to Scuba dive I think that maybe we will try that.
Talk to you all soon........


Please everyone.........Throw out ideas for a get together for the sailaway party if you are interested. It doesn't sound like too many people are staying at the Radisson, so a meet there woudn't be too great. Would like to get all the kids to meet if possible, at least then they will know someone.

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

You are going to have to start POSTING at least 1 time a day, so that your countdown clock is always visible. :p That way I don't have to keep searching the pages to find it......:smooth:

smiles Patty

[Shercara]

So sorry Patty, and all who "count" on my Countdown Timer!
Happy Anniversary to you and your hubby and a Happy B'day to him as well! ( Congrats on getting back to days too!)
A sail-a-way meet sound great - let me know when and where!

Had a great time being adults at our friends wedding last night, and am too suffering with a rainy NJ weekend Toni. At least we are not at down the shore, but we had hope for one more swim in the pool!

Welcome Marty J, hope you had some luck catchin' crabs - Yum!
Love the name of your boat too! We didn't do DCL excursions on our Eastern, but both boys, then 12 & 6 went with us to the beaches we visited.

We are going to book DCL's stingray city and island tour in Grand Cayman, and probably do things on our own in KW & Coz.

As far as Palo's we arrived at the ship before boarding began and went straight there, and were able to get the ressie we needed.

Well school starts on Wed. here, time to check and double check our supplies! Have a good week all!
Sher

:smooth:

[peagreenid]

I appreciate that Countdown. Woohoo! Everytime we hit a milestone.........90 more days......or 80 more days.....we are now under 70.....almost time to book excursions.

smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

The Kids are back in school.... :) :D :) :D

Hey hope everyone had a safe long weekend. It was a bit wet here on the east coast. Welcome Marty J. Hope the crabs were many. We ate our share (but from the restaurant)

Put over 180 nautical miles on our boat this weekend, a three night three marina tour. Weather at the mouth of the potomac was quite rough on Saturday, we endured 4-5 foot waves crossing to our Sunday night stay. Fortunately is was much smoother Monday for the return leg home. The treat of the weekend was a large school of dolphins we watched for about 15 minutes. Came within 15-20 ft from our boat. Beautiful sight. We have never seen them this far north.

Our kids will miss six days too for the cruise, I doubt much home work will be done until after we get back. They will do just fine.

Patty the pre-sailaway meet sounds like a plan at the ESPN club. We hope to be at the port by 10:30, I'll be dropping the troops and taking a rental back to Avis.

Shercara, DS said the same thing when I asked him if he got a reply. He said yes but it didn't say anythng :) Too funny, typical 14 yr olds. DS is big into chatting with his buddies on aol IM. he typically has four boxes going at the same time. Too much information for me to process at one time.

All the best...
Bob

[peagreenid]

We can plan for a meet at the ESPN club......time will be decided soon.
That way all you beer drinkers can get your mugs EARLY!


smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

We will have to program our talk about radios to the same channels. Mine will be on Beer Thirty. :smooth:

[DuncanLL]

Hi Everyone,

It's been a crazy weekend with my parents moving, my great-grandmother dying and trying to get the kids ready to start back to school tomorrow. Whew! I'm almost glad to be back at work today. We're so looking forward to this cruise!

The ESPN meet sounds good before the sailaway party. I can't believe we can book excursions next week!!!! Has anyone gotten the official forms from DCL yet? We have a summary of the excursions from Dreams and a fax form, but I want to check the times offered and make sure there's nothing new to consider.

Linda

[Bob Noble]

Hey Linda my TA from AAA just phoned to let me know that the booklet has arrived. I'll pick it up after work and would be happy to confirm any info you would like. Are you an aol user. We can set up a chat this evening if it works for you or anyone else for that matter. Home email is Fruitcks@aol. If I can wrestle my DS away from the screen for a while I'll shoot to be on about 8 PM EST.

Bob

[peagreenid]

I am so sorry to hear about your grandmother....... Yes, my dear..... It sounds like you need a VACATION.........


Bob- Beer thirty............or Margarita forty works for me.......

smiles Patty

[D. R. N.]

Hi everyone... Meeting in the ESPN skybox sounds good. I would love to meet you all. We should be arriving at the peir at about 11:30 am or so... We will be driving up from Miami that morning. I am going to try to get there a little earlier since I will be making a mad dash to Palo's to get a reservation for our anniversay. I would be really disappointed if we didn't get it...

Talk later..

Denise

:cool:

[Bob Noble]

Hey guys,
I picked up the tour packet today. Leave me a post if I can confirm anything for you.

Later, Bob

[dis4me]

Linda sorry to hear about your great grandmother.

Bob are there any new excursions being offered?

[marty Jay]

Linda , I'm sorry to hear about your great grandmother. I hope you are doing okay.

Patty, Meeting at the ESPN lounge sounds good to us too. ( Assuming us new cruisers will be able to find )LOL. We will be trying to arrive at Port around 10- 10:30 and will have to drop off our rental car first. I too will be making the dash to Palo's to get dinner and brunch reservations ( Again assuming I'll be able to find it and not find myself in the engine room) So what time was everyone thinking about getting together? I'm looking forwards to meeting everyone.

Bob, Are there any different excursions than what has been listed alreadyon the threads? Does the package mention dinning times?
I'm so excited to receive mine, but I'm guessing it will still be a while for it to reach me here in Nanaimo.

Take care everyone

Marty Jay

[peagreenid]

:smooth:

We could just tell all the NEW cruisers that Palo's is on Deck 1, and that way it wouldn't be so crowded up there.

smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

Hi guys, nothing But...

There are several excursions that are being offered twice that I did not have off the web site page. I'll try and list the additional times here...
KW no changes noted. GC Beach Break also offered at 7:25 AM, 7 mile sail and snorkel also offered at 12:40 PM, Seaworld semi-sub also offered at 8:10 am, Stingray City Snorkle and discover Cayman tour also offerd at 7:50 am. Grand Cayman Island tour also offered at 1:25 PM

Coz Golf now at 10:20 vs 10:10, Dolphin Discovery now offerd three times at 10:20 am, 12:00n and 1:00 Pm, Snorkle at Chankanaab also offered 9:45 am, Fury Teen cruise time now 6:00 Pm was 6:30 PM. Ocean view explorer also offerd at 11:00 am.

Castaway Cay The Wild side now at 9:00 am was at 9:30 am.

That is about the extent of the differences I noted between the official DCL web site list of excursions and the list that came with the package.

Hope this helps, I am off on business til next Monday so keep us bumped up :)

Talk with you later
Bob

[marty Jay]

Patty,

I didn't know you had such a devious mind!!!! I guess I better make sure I memorize that boat from top to bottom? LOL


Marty Jay

[peagreenid]

My Dear you haven't even SEEN ...DEVIOUS!!!!

:smooth: :smooth: :smooth: :smooth: :smooth:



And if I can keep Palo Brunch all to myself................

[DuncanLL]

Just bumping us up from page 3. I had DCL fax me the excursion information so we can make our final decisions over the weekend. Looks like we'll do Conch Train on our own, Stingray City and Discover Cayman Tour and Dolphin Discovery just as a back-up in case we don't get the Dolphin Swim we're wait-listed for.

Linda

[peagreenid]

That peeves me to no end. I just called last night and was told no....they couldn't send or fax me one, and when I wanted to book I could just call dcl and they would describe the excursions to me over the phone.............NOT!!

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

now I call and they tell me that they are sent after FINAL Payment is made and since mine was so close, I probably wouldn't get one? WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT? Does that even make sense. I had my payment made a couple of weeks ago.

She said she will try and reissue them............

smiles Patty

[KLDESQ]

We did the open air massage last year and honestly you'd be better off doing a massage on the ship (perhaps on a day at sea). Don't get me wrong, the massage was GREAT but you are laying down NOT admiring the view the entire time, sans the first min or two when you walk into the 'hut.' The initial view really is something but as I said it only lasts for a very short time. We also had a massage on the ship with the same masseuses and it was nearly as enjoyable. Bottom line is that there is SOOO much to do in paradise (Castaway Cay), why 'waste' your time with a massage that you can easily do onboard.

That's my .02..

Kyle

[dis4me]

Does anyone know the price of the massage on the ship?I would love to have one but fear that I will become addicted.LOLWhat other spa treatments are worthwhile.I have heard about the surial bath:smooth: :smooth: But I don't think that is my thing.Plus I rather leave the baby with DH while I take some Mommy time.

[D. R. N.]

Full body is $89

Half body is $59

If you go to the DCL website, they have a list of treatments and prices. Look under Onboard activities - adults - spa treatments.

[dis4me]

Thanks thst is pretty reasonable.Now if I could just figure out how to get that chocolate soufle without going to Palo I'll be set.LOL

[peagreenid]

Reservations are set

Capt. Marvins 1/2 day snorkeling for 10:00 am
Eagle Ray Divers Discover Scuba for noon

I think we are set!

Now I need to decide which of the teen exursions Mutt and Jeff are going to do.

Bob, Shercara- Did you your kids decide? Mutt and Jeff would like to do both.

smiles Patty

[DuncanLL]

When we book our own independent excursions in either Cayman or Cozumel, is there a difference in DCL time vs. local time? If it says ship gets in at 10:00, is that local time or do we need to adjust something????????

Linda

[Bob Noble]

Hey Linda I am quite positive that the times listed for ships arrival are local times. That is why we do the clock forward/back routine. Not all lines do this and it is an advantage to be on local time.

Patty, My teen wants in on the Fury cruise, so I will call it in on Tuesday the 10th. He, and we, are not sure on the wild side as it is an early start, he loves to sleep in, and if the in thing is to go we will try and sign him up on board. We want to do the banana boat rides on CC also.

I'll play catch up on the boards a bit tomorrow,

Bob

[DuncanLL]

Welcome Back, Bob!

Hope you had a great trip.

Linda

[Shercara]

First, I'd like to tell you I'm sorry to hear about your Great Grandma Linda, I was blessed to have had my Great Grandma in my life until I was 20 yrs old. I have said a prayer for you and your family.

So sorry I've been away from the boards. My Grandpa who has been ill in the hospital, passed away on Friday night. He was 84 years old, and he and my Grandmother would have been married for 64 years at the end of the month. They have 5 children, 16 grand children, and 11 great grand children. It's a very tough time for our family and just so hard to believe he is gone. We were so blessed to have had him in our lives. The wake is tomorrow, and the burial is Tuesday. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

I'll try to remember to call for excursions, but not sure if I'll have time on Tuesday. I'm signing Nick up for the Teen Fury, but not the Wild Side, he's not sure if he wants to do that - you are right Bob, it's kind of early to be up and functioning!

Take care all!
Sher

[dis4me]

Shecara I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved Grandfather.Our prayers and thoughts are with you.

[peagreenid]

I am so sorry to hear about your Grandfather, It is very difficult when you lose someone so close. I will keep you in my thoughts......



The only Disney Excursions I guess that we will be booking is the Fury Catamaran and the Castaway Cay excursion. I still don't have a lot of details on these, do we pay for them now?

As far as the Castaway Cay excursion, it was at a different time when we actually went than what was on the info, Which was Summer times. I believe they met at 10:00 a.m. when we went last September. Actually the time they have listed the teens all meet at Topsiders to eat breakfast together and then get off of the ship together about an hour later. We didn't see the kids until they came by us when they all went snorkeling.
Off season times the teen navigators are VERY different then the ones you see listed on the different websites. When we went off season last year Common Grounds didn't even open up until Noon or 1:00 pm.

Well gotta scoot......I'm on the ole Monday - Friday Schedule for the next 3 weeks.... (they are trying to Educate me again!! They'll never learn I guess)

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

Welcome home........Hope you had a wonderful time!!

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

I am going to give you my FAX # in an Email. If you want to Fax me your excursion list, I can fax it with mine before I go to work on the 10th.

smiles Patty

[DuncanLL]

Sher -

So sorry to hear about your loss. Am praying for you and your family. My great-grandmother who died last week was 94. She was a pistol! It's a difficult time, but it is also a good time to remember all the great things about him. Make sure you tell your children everything about him and the way he shaped and impacted your family. I'm sure his life was a heritage for your family to treasure.

God Bless.

Linda

[Bob Noble]

To Linda and Sher,

My deepest sympathy goes out to you both on the loss of your Loved Ones.

Patty, no payment required according to the booklet. Just goes on your stateroom account. They will not let you pay even if you wanted to.

Good to be back ( to the boards that is LOL). This will be a strange week with the anniversary of 9-11.

Good news on the weather channel today regarding the hurricane season. Basically the team that predict the storms has reduced the total named storm count to 8 and only three of which to become actual hurricanes. The last storm is predicted to be gone by the end of September. Lets hope this becomes reality.

All the Best,
Bob

[marty Jay]

Sher,

So very sorry to hear your Grandpa past away. It sure sounds like he was a big part of your family and will be greatly missed. I'm sure he will always be there in your memorys. Our thoughts are also with you and your family.

Well I make final payment on the cruise today, so I'm going into my TA and will ask when I should recieve my excursion package. I'll see what she thinks. Going to see if she can find out about any upgrades seeing how so many people have received one on other threads. (keeping fingers and toes crossed)

Bob,
Welcome back and I hope you had a great trip.

Everyone,
Have a wonderful day and remember to spend a little moment day dreaming about the cruise, the sun and the margaritas.

Take Care

Marty Jay

[Bob Noble]

Thanks Marty Jay, we are closing in on the 60 day strech !!

Pretty exciting if you ask me. I hope everyone gets the excursion resies they were hoping for starting tomorrow.

Good Luck,
Bob

[Bob Noble]

Hello people, I leave work and we fall to page two!!!

Bump O La

[D. R. N.]

Linda and Shercara,

I am very sorry to hear of your losses. We will certainly have you and your families in our prayers...

Patty, looks like we will both be on the 1/2 day excursion with Capt. Marvin's (don't know how many boats do the same trip). I haven't booked yet but I will do it this week together with the Xcaret tour through DCL.

Well, I am hoping for a peaceful 9/11. Since then we have had more than a dozen bomb threats in my building and we even had one anthrax scare - NOT FUN! But, what I have gone through is NOTHING compared to the folks in New York and D.C. ... I can't complian.

Good to hear from all of you,

Denise

[marty Jay]

Denise,

Just wanted to let you know that we went to Cancun a couple of years ago and did Xcaret and I really enjoyed it. Especially the underground river. They had waiters wandering around the beach taking orders for drinks and burgers. ( Oh, how relaxing it was). I'm sure you will have lots of fun.

For all you Americans, I just wanted to say that as a Canadian my heart and thoughts will be with you on the anniversary of Sept. 11. That horrific event touched the lives of many of us across the country.

Take care

Marty Jay

[Bob Noble]

Hello everyone,
Just an update to let you know that I was able to book the excursions that we wanted with no problems this morning through the special services desk.

Patty and Sher, after talking more with DS I went ahead and booked both the Fury Teen cruise and the Wild Side for him. Worst case we loose the $35 if it does not work out. Other than that the only DCL resi I made was for the five of us on the 2:00 PM Banana Boat ride on Castaway Cay.

We have independently booked the full day trip with Capt. Marvin for Grand Cayman and are going to wing it with Taxi to the beach in Cozumel, (Looking forward to Mr Sanchos and renting wave runners there).

We also plan on booking directly on line with the Key West Trolley to save 10% as well as the Ship Wreck Museum.

Let me know how you guys make out.

All the Best,
Bob

[DuncanLL]

We were able to get everything we wanted this morning, too.

We got the Stingray City Snorkel & Discover Cayman Tour and Cozumel Dolphin Encounter.

We also bought our Key West Conch Train tix online and saved a few dollars.

Seems like all's done but the waiting...

Linda

[Bob Noble]

We have to work hard at being able to consume mass quantities of food and alcohol, not necessarily in that order:smooth:

We had the two DS 's in the community pool on Sunday practicing mask and snorkel techniques. If you have kids that have never done this before I think the practice will pay for quality time with the fish.:Pinkbounc

Bob

[peagreenid]

I sent my fax in first thing this morning before I went to class, and had a confirmation fax when I got home for lunch. Mutt and Jeff are booked on the Wild Side and the Teen Fury Cruise. Things are looking up!!

only 60 days to go and counting............



smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

Hey Patty that is great, I hope our DT's hit it off OK.
I booked the Trolley, Ship Wreck, and Aquarium in Key West direct and saved $54.00 for the family. I also printed a free beer coupon at the Green Parrot Bar and Grill :bounce: :smooth:

Let me know if you find any other freebies

[peagreenid]

In Key West
http://www.crabbydickskeywest.com/coupon.htm

smiles Patty

Mutt and Jeff are pretty likeable kids....... :earsgirl: :earsboy:

[peagreenid]

About Key West. I think we will just stroll around town. Is everything pretty much within walking distance? The "nighttime graveyard" excursion looked pretty cool, but.... I be doing the pub crawl after dark. ;)


Mutt and Jeff I'm sure at that point will want back on the "BOAT". They loved our sea days last year and are really disappointed that we have 1 less this year. They spent almost an entire day playing a murder mystery game. It was fun to watch.

smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

Hey Patty,
Thanks for the coupon link :)

As for the DT's I am sure they will get along just fine.

So is it official are we all meeting atthe ESPN Club?

We will go with the flow as it is our first DCL and first family cruise. Should we pick a time slot?

[peagreenid]

Exactly what time is the Sail- Away Party...... (i've had a blonde moment....they are trying to teach me too many new things in one day....;) )

I say we meet at ESPN 30 minutes or so prior to the Sail-Away. That way, everyone will have time to get on-board and duke it out for SHRIMP and PALO RESSIES........ And we can calm down with a DRINK!!!!

smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

Too Funny on the Blond moment. Our DS 10 is a Blondy so I know what you mean

;)

Sounds like a plan I'll line up my crew.

[Bob Noble]

Hey Patty,
The sail away is at 4:30 and the boat drill is at 4. All ships services are suspended from 3:30 to 4:30 so we may want to shoot for 4:30 as a kick off to Saila Away, let me know as you have BTDT.

PS I have been know to have a Bud Light moment !:teeth:

[peagreenid]

those wonderful men that I work with love to remind me of my Blondness often........... they don't like it when I refer to "us" as the BLONDE LEADING THE BLIND! I have also been known to have a "PATTY MELT DOWN" (aren't they so clever) Usually when I do something really BRILLIANT..... I let them all know how BRILLIANT I must be because I have so many things working against me.......
I'm
1. Blonde
2. Polish
3. Female

But I've managed to overcome it all!!!!

Anytime is good. We can meet right at 4:30 grab the coldest beer mug you can find and the Frostiest drink.

smiles Patty

[dis4me]

Hey Patty
I am blond Polish female, AND from NJ LOL That is way over three strikes.

[peagreenid]

you're RIGHT..........I concede.......You beat me hands down....LOLOLOLOL ;)

I don't think that has ever happened before..........


smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

I am ready. I have perfected the 20 ounce curl. :cool:

[peagreenid]

I guess it's time to get DH practicing as well........

smiles Patty

[dis4me]

bumping from Page 2

[DuncanLL]

Here's a funny story. The other day, DS (1st Grade) came home from school. I asked him how his day was and he said it was a "Day at Sea". I asked him what he meant and he told me it was a "Day at Sea" because he didn't have any special stops, like art, gym or music that day.

Nobody around here's getting excited about the cruise!!!!!!!

Linda

[Bob Noble]

Linda that is hilarious!

Lets here it for eight weeks!!
:Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce:

[Bob Noble]

Just A Bump

[dis4me]

Linda That is too funny Your ds is a kid after my own heart. My dds(1st and 2nd grade) were warned not to mention it in school because I haven't gotten the guts to speak to their teachers yet.

[DuncanLL]

Dis-

It's our kids' teachers convention week so they will only miss 2-1/2 days of school. I mentioned it to the principal, but haven't talked to the teachers yet.

Linda

[dis4me]

Our convention is the 7and 8th. We are keaving on the 2nd so my dds will miss 7 days.I know I am a BAD mother.:rolleyes:

[peagreenid]

that is too cute.... I wished that my kids said "CUTE" things again.... instead of "OBNOXIOUS" things.

I hope that everyone is having a great weekend!


Sher- Hope that all is going well with you!

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

Went back into the Avis site and rebooked my car reservations. The rate for the 2 days prior to cruise had dropped by about $25 total. And the lower rate was with my DH wizard card, so we can bypass the counter at the airport. (I just love that)

Had a dream last night........... We were upgraded to a CAT 3. I had a cabin number and everything!!!! When I woke up this morning I logged onto the DCL site just to check. I really thought it was true....... :( sniff...sniff....sniff.... no such luck.


Where is SHER....and her countdown clock........ I'm being too lazy to count.......

smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

and I thought I'd share some of what I found with all of you.....

smiles Patty

http://www.cometocozumel.com/
http://www.carlosn-charlies.com/news3.htm

[Shercara]

Hi folks, I'm back and here's your clock! It's so nice to be missed, even if it is to save you guys from "doing the math!"

Linda, your DS's comment was adorable, my DH laughed out loud!

Thank you all for your kind thoughts, wishes and prayers on the passing of my dear Grandpa. We were truly blessed to have him for 84 years. He will be missed, but always in our hearts and memories.

Patty, remember this is DISNEY, so I do hope your DREAM of an upgrade will come TRUE!

Are any of you fellow crusiers staying at WDW pre cruise? We will be at the Swan or Dolphin, with the $99/night deal, and were wondering if any of you will be there too?

Did you see that post by Shirley about the Manatees? I'm very tempted to stop on our way to the port!

Hope you are all having a good weekend!
Take care,
Sher

[peagreenid]

We have 2 days pre cruise at the RAD....

THE GREEN GANG........WILL BE FEEDING MANATEES


smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

so we don't get lost lost lost..........

smiles Patty

[Bob Noble]

Hey Patty,
I hear you on the obnoxious comment thing. Speaking of which, DS sent the email last night to your DT's. Hopefully it was not Obnoxious.:rolleyes:

In any case we are kicking off count down week # 7

All the best:smooth:

[peagreenid]

I'll let them know so that they check it tonight.
Getting more and more excited.


Talk to you all this evening.......
smiles Patty

[peagreenid]

I got in my mailbox today........


2 sets of Disney Excursion Brochures.........

1 official, mailed on 9/12
1 unofficial hand written mailed on 9/13

woohoo.......maybe that means I can go twice

smiles Patty

[Shercara]

Here's the official count down timer!
Happy Monday night Gang!

Bob, DS said he got your son's e-mail, I don't think it was obnoxious, since when I asked what he had to say the reply was "nothin' much!" (so typical) LOL

Patty, you've got to get Mutt to "CHAT" these guys up!
(No you can't go twice!)

Have a good night all!
Sher:smooth:

[peagreenid]

Mutt won't be the talker here..........that would be JEFF....;)
Aren't all girls that way?

home for lunch....gotta scoot......

smiles Patty

[Shercara]

Silly me - I was confused -I guess I meant Jeff!! See if she can get this group talking!

Hope you've all had a great day!
Sher

[peagreenid]

I just realized that we leave Boise in 50 days.........woohoo!

smiles Patty

[Shercara]

How many more days? !!!

DCL came through for us! We are booked pre-cruise at the SWAN~OR~DOLPHIN for the great rate of $99.00. I requested in December '01 "if possible" we would like to stay at the Dolphin (laundry, 24hr convenience store, larger hotel = more rooms = better chance of an upgrade, with my Starwood’s Perferred Guest Membership) Well, much to my dismay, I called DCL the other day and was told we were booked in the Swan, who I contacted, and was told they were all booked, but the Dolphin had rooms available.

Boy was I confused & disappointed, so that’s what I told DCL. I know it was only a request, but it was made in Dec, and the Dolphin had twice as many rooms as the Swan, and my DS 13, does not want to stay in a hotel called “THE SWAN!”

They said they would see what they could do, and I guess they worked some of that Disney Magic, and now I’m “doing the Dolphin Dance!”

If any of you are going pre- or post cruise to WDW – did you see that Early Entry is back as of Oct 1st?

Did everyone get the excursions they wanted?

Have a good Thursday!

Sher

[ChiTwnFam]

I only have two questions:

1) Should somebody call Disney and have them stock up on the beer. I'm worried they may not have enough after following all the above posts!

2) Never been on a cruise b4! I hear most people Tip above the recommended amount to all the different CMs & Servers. In a dollar amount, how much should I plan on tipping if I tip at 50% over the recommended amount????

I know...Math questions suck but I have no idea how many CMs & Servers we're talking about and what the "recommended" amounts are.

We're getting closer and it sounds like we have a pretty fun crowd on board! Can't wait!!!

[peagreenid]

tipping is certainly at your discretion.

suggested tips $24.50 Dining room server
$17.50 Dining room Asst. Server
$ 6.00 Dining room head server
$24.50 Stateroom host/hostess


These are all per person......................72.50 per person
or $217.50 if you go the extra 50%.

And you are probably right about the beer......LOL.

smiles Patty

[Uncle Edgar]

We've been sitting in the shadows reading this thread, and finally signed up.

DW and I will be along for the trip. Second time on the Wonder. Hope it will be as good as the first.

The Formal and Semi-formal nights are finally clear. I've heard of some 50's and 70's dress-up nights. Is this just for the adult areas, or for dinner as well?

Jay