11/22/2009 3 Night Wonder Cruise

[MissMousey]

We'll be on this cruise and are looking for others to join us. This is the early part of the week of Thanksgiving (Sun-Wed). Come on along!! We have kids in the 9-14 yr range and they are hoping to find some friends to pal around with. princess: pirate:

[dceks cruisers]

We are hoping we can do our bounce back on 11/22. If the bounce back is offered for this sail date, we plan to be on it. We have DD9 and DS14.

We just did the 2/7/09 Western. It was our first ever cruise and we loved it!

[MissMousey]

That would be great! The kids will be so excited to have some new friends to hang out with onboard. Hope you're able to book it :cool1:

[dceks cruisers]

We'll be on this cruise and are looking for others to join us. This is the early part of the week of Thanksgiving (Sun-Wed). Come on along!! We have kids in the 9-14 yr range and they are hoping to find some friends to pal around with. princess: pirate:

We'd love to be on this cruise but re-evaluated and switched to the 12/17 3 night cruise. It works out better for our schedules.

Have a super time!

[MissMousey]

Aww, that's too bad. But I wish you all a wonderful voyage pixiedust:

[Momfromva]

We have booked this cruise to (hopefully) use our bounce back offer. We are cruising on the Magic this Saturday. Unless Disney blacks out this cruise for use with our offer, we'll be there with you! We have two sons, ds6 and ds5.
We will be combining the cruise with a few days at the MK where we'll celebrate Thanksgiving.

[MissMousey]

OMG I can't believe how close we live. I'm about 45 minutes east of you in Western Loudoun. How funny!

Anyway, hope you're able to use your offer on this cruise. And WOW, you leave this Saturday? Which cruise are you going on? I'm so jealous ;) . Have a great trip and make sure to tell us all about it :wave2:

How did you get a bounceback offer??

[nydisfan]

We will be going on this cruise too. This will be our first cruise with disney. We have one child (DS 5) that will be coming with us. We are doing the Land and Sea package plus adding 7 days post cruise. Can't wait.

[MelissaE1]

Hi everyone,

We just booked this cruise also, so unless the bounceback offer suddenly has restrictions tomorrow (official first booking date), we'll be joining you. :)

It will be myself, DH, DS15 and DD11 (at time of cruise).

We are planning on spending some time in the parks afterward.

MissMousey, the bounceback offer was a special deal available to those who sailed on a 4 or 7 night on certain weeks in Feb and Mar 09. It is a voucher for a $99 per person 3 night cruise between mid-August and mid-December 09, in whatever category you booked on the longer cruise (except suites). You also have to pay taxes and fees of around $40 pp.

Hi Momfromva! How goes the adjusting to being back to real life? I don't like it! :laughing:

[MissMousey]

Oh how exciting to log on today and find two more Dis'ers on this cruise :woohoo:.

the bounceback offer was a special deal available to those who sailed on a 4 or 7 night on certain weeks in Feb and Mar 09. It is a voucher for a $99 per person 3 night cruise between mid-August and mid-December 09, in whatever category you booked on the longer cruise (except suites). You also have to pay taxes and fees of around $40 pp.
MelissaE1, Thanks for the explanation! It sounds like a Great deal :thumbsup2

Look forward to chatting with you all in the months remaining before our cruise :goodvibes

[MelissaE1]

Darn, we were not allowed to book this with the bounceback offer. We ended up with December 10. I guess it saves me money since we won't be able to book 4 days at the park afterward (can't take DS15 out of high school for a week).

Hope you all have a great cruise and vacation!

[nydisfan]

Man, every time I get excited about more people booking this cruise it turns out they can't. Must be this is going to be a really popular cruise since Disney won't let you use the bounce back offer on it.
Oh well, we are still definitely going. Can't wait to hear from more people (oh and the cruise too).

[MissMousey]

We're still on too! Although now I'm kinda wishing it was a 4 night cruise so we could enjoy a day on the ship. Oh well, at least we're able take a cruise :cheer2:

We have a DD 13 and a DS 10 (at time of cruise). Look forward to meeting you guys nydisfan!

[nydisfan]

We're still on too! Although now I'm kinda wishing it was a 4 night cruise so we could enjoy a day on the ship. Oh well, at least we're able take a cruise :cheer2:

We have a DD 13 and a DS 10 (at time of cruise). Look forward to meeting you guys nydisfan!

Yeah we are starting to wish it was longer too.
This will be our first cruise with Disney, and we thought we would start small and make sure we like it before we go fo a lot of days, but the more I read about it (especially here at DIS) the more I wish it was going to be longer.

At first I thought three days would be plenty of time, but it is really going to be more like two days, and one will be at Castaway Cay so we will end up just getting a taste of what DIsney cruising will be like.

Oh well there will be lot's of time for more cruises.:woohoo:

[MelissaE1]

Crossing fingers... it looks like DCL may be going to let us have this date after all. I saw where some people had had their reservations honored if previously told it was OK by a CM, so I called back and politely asked if they were doing this for people, and if so would they honor mine? The people I spoke to were incredibly nice and a supervisor called me back the next day and they have switched it back. Now I just have to wait and make sure they apply my voucher, which I mailed Wed.

So you all might be stuck with us after all! :goodvibes

[nydisfan]

Good Luck Melissa. I hope you get the cruise you want. I have read on some other threads here, about some other people who have successfully done exactly what you are trying to do.

[MelissaE1]

Good Luck Melissa. I hope you get the cruise you want. I have read on some other threads here, about some other people who have successfully done exactly what you are trying to do.

Thank you nydisfan. :goodvibes It looks we are officially on with you. :) They applied our voucher today to this date and it shows up that way on the DCL site. Yay! It's such a relief since we have that week off. I used to not mind taking my kids out of school, but with DS taking a heavy load of weighted classes next year and really wanting to get into a difficult college, it's suddenly a whole different ball game.

Hopefully as time goes on we will get even more people on our thread. I'm hoping people might be interested in FE's, we've never gotten to try them.

Anyway, SO excited to be on this cruise!

[MissMousey]

Welcome Back to this cruise :woohoo: Glad it all worked out the way you wanted. I know it's a short cruise, but I think it would be fun to do a Fish Extender exchange too :thumbsup2 I think more will book this cruise as time goes on and people start to make plans for later in the year.

[MelissaE1]

Hey Michelle and Deb (at least I am assuming it's Deb... could be Mike! :laughing:) Just checking in to our thread. :)

How is everyone? I have been so busy (mainly doing the pics/setup for the yearbook at DD10's school and also my DH is the local soccer commissioner so I inherit lots of jobs there, lol) but mostly the spring projects are finished for now, yay. :cool1:

We have booked POR for the rest of the week and are now trying to decide where to eat on T'giving. MVMCP doesn't seem to be available that week, only on the Friday before, so we will probably come down then and stay Fri/Sat at WDW as well. Kind of our own land and sea. What are you guys doing for Thanksgiving? We've never seen the parks or the ship decorated for the holidays, so that's pretty exciting!

We surprised DD10 on the last cruise, and that didn't go over so well, lol, so this time she's in on it, and the MVMCP as well... but not the park stay after the cruise. We are not letting that one out of the bag yet for either child.

Is this both of your first Disney Cruise? Have you cruised other lines? I never thought I'd be able to say this, but this will be my family's fourth and my fifth Disney Cruise. Ask away if you have any questions you can think of.

[nydisfan]

Hey Melissa, it actually is Mike :). Although Deb is here right now.

I have been real busy to. I have been traveling for work. I will be on the road during weekdays for the next month, Deb's not loving that right now.

We are doing a land and sea package and then staying in POR for the next week also, we are staying until the 2nd. For the land portion before the cruise we are staying at the Polynesian we arrive on the 18th. We are planning on going to MVMCP on either the 19th or 20th, but we haven't decided yet, there is a MVMCP on the 29th if that fits your schedule. What a coincidence that we both have similar plans.

We have heard that Liberty Tree Tavern does a really good Thanksgiving Day meal, so we are tentatively planning on doing that. Although if anyone knows of a better place let us know.

This will be our first Disney cruise, I have been on a day cruise before but never an overnight one. Deb and Sean have never been on any cruises before.

We don't have any questions right now but I am sure some will come up. :hippie:

[TinkerKat]

I am tentatively planning on being on this cruise as well! Fingers crossed.
Does anyone know if the ship will be decorated for the 22nd? I'm so used to all decorations being done by Thanksgiving Day. Not a week before.
I will be making my calls tomorrow and will update my trip status:)

[MissMousey]

Is this both of your first Disney Cruise? Have you cruised other lines? I never thought I'd be able to say this, but this will be my family's fourth and my fifth Disney Cruise. Ask away if you have any questions you can think of.

Hi MelissaE1, we actually took a 7 day cruise back in 2004 (Western) but it didn't go well for us. So we waited a while for the kids to get older and now we're trying again, we're gonna start with a 3 day :confused3

[MissMousey]

Does anyone know if the ship will be decorated for the 22nd? I'm so used to all decorations being done by Thanksgiving Day. Not a week before.


I'm really not sure. But when we did our western DCL cruise back in 2004 (same week Nov 20-26th) the ship was all decorated and so was Castaway Cay! I just finished looking through my pics of that cruise because I couldn't recall from memory. I can post a few of them if you are really interested. I do vividly remember getting back on the ship at Castaway Cay though. They put out a snowman and snowwoman (resin/plastic) near a big giant sleigh and they were making real snow :santa:

Hope you can join us on this cruise :banana:

[MelissaE1]

Hey Melissa, it actually is Mike :).

Oops, sorry Mike. :blush: That's what I get for assuming, lol. My DH is traveling quite a lot lately too, so I can sympathize with Deb. :)

Michelle, I hope this one goes better for you. Were your kids just too young for you to properly enjoy it? Our first one, my DS was 8 and he would have almost nothing to do with the lab... he stuck to us like glue for the whole time. After reading up on the kids never wanting to come out of the activities we were pretty surprised. The next time we went we prepared for him to be with us, and he surprised us again by doing the total opposite! Kids keep you on your toes, don't they?

As far as the holiday decorations, according to some threads here, the ship should be decorated, but Castaway Cay is supposed to be decorated for the first time for the Magic's stop on the Friday after T'giving (so Sat. would be the first Wonder cruisers to see it). Not sure if it will be the same this year, though. Maybe we'll get to see it, too!

TinkerKat, keep us posted. :)

[MissMousey]

Our first one, my DS was 8 and he would have almost nothing to do with the lab... he stuck to us like glue for the whole time. After reading up on the kids never wanting to come out of the activities we were pretty surprised.

That's exactly what happened to us. Neither of the kids wanted to leave our sides for 10 minutes. We wanted to do galley tours and other activities that they weren't old enough to participate in. It was so disappointing. My DH wanted off the ship about the 3rd day. My daughter was terrified of all the characters and ran out of the restaurant alone one morning, the list goes on and on. Reality just didn't match up to our expectations!

As far as the holiday decorations, according to some threads here, the ship should be decorated, but Castaway Cay is supposed to be decorated for the first time for the Magic's stop on the Friday after T'giving (so Sat. would be the first Wonder cruisers to see it). Not sure if it will be the same this year, though. Maybe we'll get to see it, too!

We visited Castaway Cay the Friday after Thanksgiving, so that must be why it was already done when we were there last time. Oh well -- it's a beautiful island even without the decorations!

[nydisfan]

Oops, sorry Mike. :blush: That's what I get for assuming, lol. My DH is traveling quite a lot lately too, so I can sympathize with Deb. :)


No need to apologize, after reading a lot of the boards here I am getting the felling that I am in the minority (seems to be mostly women posters).


That's exactly what happened to us. Neither of the kids wanted to leave our sides for 10 minutes. We wanted to do galley tours and other activities that they weren't old enough to participate in. It was so disappointing. My DH wanted off the ship about the 3rd day.

That is what I am nervous about. We are taking DS5 and are hoping he will go to kids club. He has seen the promotional DVD and is excited about the stuff he has seen, but who knows what will happen once we are there.


TinkerKat, welcome to the thread, keep us posted.:woohoo:

[MissMousey]

That is what I am nervous about. We are taking DS5 and are hoping he will go to kids club. He has seen the promotional DVD and is excited about the stuff he has seen, but who knows what will happen once we are there.


From what I have read, it really is not the norm that this happens with kids. We really shouldn't have been surprised because our kids are pretty much like this at home too. We just figured with so much to do, they would be engrossed in the fun. This time though they are 5 years older and will be able to roam together without us for short periods of time (with pagers/walkie talkies of course). And they are really excited to have a little freedom. Hopefully a few years will make a world of difference. I would just prepare for the worst and then you won't be disappointed. :thumbsup2

How did it go TinkerKat? Were you able to book?

[stitch and co]

Our family will be joining all of you! Moved from the 10/22/09 sailing to this cruise since the kids now have the whole week of Thanksgiving off. After the cruise we are splurging and going to stay at the Poly :woohoo:.

The kids don't know yet that they are going as this is a graduation gift for the oldest who has always wanted to take a Disney cruise. They probably won't know until July when they make me tell them why they are getting passports.

[MissMousey]

Welcome to our thread and the cruise! :cheer2: So glad you will be joining us!

[MelissaE1]

Our family will be joining all of you!

Welcome! What an awesome celebration for your DD! :)

[MelissaE1]

Hi everyone,

Just checking in. How is everyone's weather? We had a LOT of rain yesterday, but otherwise have been having nice early summer weather... low 80's and sunny.

We've been spending a lot of weekend time on the bay (some friends of ours bought a hurricane-demolished piece of property and are fixing it up). They have a small sailboat and little motorboat out there, plus kayaks, and kids my kids' age, so that's nice. Gives us something fun (and free!) to do.

Anyone have any summer plans? We spend 2 weeks in Michigan around 4th of July, my DD does sleepover camp in June and both kids do soccer camp, plus we have a few people coming to visit us (they love the beach). Looking forward to being busy... it's fun, and it will make the cruise come faster! :)

[MinnesotaMouse]

Just saying HI--we cruised on the Wonder in February 09 and then joined DVC onboard. We have a free 3-night cruise coming (it was one of the incentives at that time) and I am hoping to go with all of you on 11/22. Then planning to check out our "home resort" Bay Lake Towers for a couple of nights after we get off the boat. Can't quite get my husband to commit yet to these dates so I haven't called for reservations. It would be my DH, DS15 and DD13, and me. We have cruised on the Wonder twice before and we all loved it! Can't believe we have the possibility of a third cruise in two years--something we never expected to do! I'll let you know when and if I get all of this planned.

PS--If we stay at BLT on Thanksgiving Day, where is the best Disney restaurant to find a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner?? (gotta think of the important things you know--like food! Ha!)

[MelissaE1]

Hi MinnesotaMouse. :goodvibes

Hope everything works out for this week for you. A free cruise is awesome! Do you know if there are any restrictions? I ask because we are also sailing on a promotional offer ($99 each) and we had a pretty tough time getting this date. It might be a good idea to call and check just so you can plan accordingly. :)

I've been checking out the Thanksgiving options myself, Liberty Tree Tavern in MK seems very popular, but there is also one at Epcot (Can't remember the name) and several resort restaurants (Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge is one) that seem to get mentioned a lot, too. I've seen a couple of threads on this over on the WDW trip planning board. There are so many choices!

Good luck with your planning!

[MissMousey]

Just checking in. How is everyone's weather? We had a LOT of rain yesterday, but otherwise have been having nice early summer weather... low 80's and sunny.

We've been spending a lot of weekend time on the bay (some friends of ours bought a hurricane-demolished piece of property and are fixing it up). They have a small sailboat and little motorboat out there, plus kayaks, and kids my kids' age, so that's nice. Gives us something fun (and free!) to do.

Anyone have any summer plans? We spend 2 weeks in Michigan around 4th of July, my DD does sleepover camp in June and both kids do soccer camp, plus we have a few people coming to visit us (they love the beach). Looking forward to being busy... it's fun, and it will make the cruise come faster! :)

Oh my gosh, we're drowning up here in VA. We've had about 7 days of rain. Today was on and off showers with a few dry hours. But we're expecting several more days of rain to come. Where's the ark??

I'm glad to hear that you guys have been able to enjoy some nice weather though. It's sounds like a great time on the water :cool2:

We are traveling to NYC in June for 3 nights using Marriott Reward Points. Then in August we managed to trade a week of DVC points to stay up in Vermont for a week. We're really looking forward to that trip!

Just saying HI--we cruised on the Wonder in February 09 and then joined DVC onboard. We have a free 3-night cruise coming (it was one of the incentives at that time) and I am hoping to go with all of you on 11/22. Then planning to check out our "home resort" Bay Lake Towers for a couple of nights after we get off the boat. Can't quite get my husband to commit yet to these dates so I haven't called for reservations. It would be my DH, DS15 and DD13, and me. We have cruised on the Wonder twice before and we all loved it! Can't believe we have the possibility of a third cruise in two years--something we never expected to do! I'll let you know when and if I get all of this planned.

Hope it all works out for you! Hope to see you onboard :sail:

Hi MinnesotaMouse. :goodvibes
Hope everything works out for this week for you. A free cruise is awesome! Do you know if there are any restrictions? I ask because we are also sailing on a promotional offer ($99 each) and we had a pretty tough time getting this date. It might be a good idea to call and check just so you can plan accordingly. :)

I've been checking out the Thanksgiving options myself, Liberty Tree Tavern in MK seems very popular, but there is also one at Epcot (Can't remember the name) and several resort restaurants (Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge is one) that seem to get mentioned a lot, too. I've seen a couple of threads on this over on the WDW trip planning board. There are so many choices! Good luck with your planning!

We will be staying at SSR the evening of Thanksgiving but will be visiting and eating dinner at my in-laws house (about 2 hours north of Orlando) for most of the day. Then we transfer over to BLT for 2 nights. Can't wait to check out the new resort. :cool1:

[stitch and co]

Hi everyone,

Just checking in. How is everyone's weather? We had a LOT of rain yesterday, but otherwise have been having nice early summer weather... low 80's and sunny.

Anyone have any summer plans? We spend 2 weeks in Michigan around 4th of July, my DD does sleepover camp in June and both kids do soccer camp, plus we have a few people coming to visit us (they love the beach). Looking forward to being busy... it's fun, and it will make the cruise come faster! :)

Weather has been great this week mid 70's to 80, which is much nicer than the snow and rain of the last 5 weekends.


Summer is looking very busy for us. The girls will be going to Chicago in July to visit their cousins for the first time since they moved there two years ago. We also have to try and squeeze in a couple of out of state college campus visits for the oldest, and that looks like we will be going to California right now but last month is was Kansas City, so that trip is up in the air right now. Middle DD is a cheerleader :cheer2: at high school so that means cheer camp, team practice and tumbling classes during the summer plus fitting in drivers educations classes. The youngest aspires to do anything the middle DD does so it looks like swim lessons and tumbling classes for her (she is so easy right now :)).

Looking at what I just typed, I need a vacation! :rotfl:

[TinkerKat]

Hope you guys have a wonderful time! I tried for this cruise, but it was sold out for my codes... I'll be sailing on Dec. 10th instead. Have a great time!

[ilovecraigandcooper]

YAY for cruising! this is our date and even though its forever away i am beyond excited! :goodvibes

[MissMousey]

Hope you guys have a wonderful time! I tried for this cruise, but it was sold out for my codes... I'll be sailing on Dec. 10th instead. Have a great time!

Sorry you won't be joining us, but hope you have a WONDERful cruise in December!

YAY for cruising! this is our date and even though its forever away i am beyond excited! :goodvibes

Welcome to our cruise meet thread Shanon!

[nydisfan]

We just got our passport so we are now officially ready to go on the cruise. I can't wait, even though it is 5 month's away.



Welcome to the cruise Shannon and family. <><

[ilovecraigandcooper]

THANKS GUYS! we havent gotten our passports yet. i did get the paperwork to fill out, i just havent done it yet.

my plan for paying for this cruise was to count the weeks until final payment due and make a small payment every week so it wouldnt hurt so bad HOWEVER i have only made 2 small payments :sad2: i'll end up waiting until the last minute and then have to come up with the whole thing at once, sometimes my stupidity amazes even me :scared:

[ilovecraigandcooper]

im now following you on blogger! (i heart blogs and trip reports)!

We just got our passport so we are now officially ready to go on the cruise. I can't wait, even though it is 5 month's away.



Welcome to the cruise Shannon and family. <><

[nydisfan]

THANKS GUYS! we havent gotten our passports yet. i did get the paperwork to fill out, i just havent done it yet.


Just to let you know, it took us exactly 4 weeks to get our passports. So no big rush just yet.

[bekkio]

We'll be going! Myself, DH (who's probably going to be parked on our veranda the whole time), DD-14, and DD-11. This will be our first cruise; we all can't wait.

[MelissaE1]

Good morning everyone, and welcome Shannon and Bekkio! :goodvibes

How has everyone been? It's been a little crazy around here, when we got off our cruise in March it was to find that my husband's contract here in FL (he is contracted to the military) was cancelled while we were on the cruise and he didn't have a job here! He's been working out of his head office in NH for a couple of months now so we've only seen him a couple of times since then. They are assigning him temporarily to another job here for a few weeks while they finish trying to get his contract renegotiated, so we're pretty glad to be getting him back. :) His new contract is still not formally approved, so keep your fingers crossed for us.

Guess I should be thinking about passports, too. DH and I have them, but the kids don't. I know they can technically sail without them since it is a closed loop cruise, but I think it's better if they have them, just in case. That way we are covered no matter what. :)

Hope everyone is enjoying beautiful early summer weather and activities!

[bekkio]

Hello, and thanks for the welcome. :)

We're still in school here - just another week, so we're waiting for the girls to be out of school before we go get their passports. I have mine already and my DH needs to renew.

I'm still debating between paying the extra for the regular passport vs. the cheaper passport card. We don't have any international trips planned for the next few years. Which one did you guys choose and why?

Bekkio

[MelissaE1]

I'm still debating between paying the extra for the regular passport vs. the cheaper passport card. We don't have any international trips planned for the next few years. Which one did you guys choose and why?

We are going for the full passports, and here's my thinking. The main reason we are getting them for our kids is in case of emergency. Since you can still technically cruise without one, and the Bahamas is unlikely to deny my kids entry (at this point, of course that could change) the real issue for me is if we had to fly for some reason (i.e. home in an emergency, etc.) Because the passport cards are good for land/sea entry only, we are going to get the full deal for that reason. Also, we do have another Caribbean cruise planned in November of 2010, so that adds to the decision as well. Not sure I'd be doing that if we had to get four instead of two and I didn't have any definite future travel plans. :)

[ilovecraigandcooper]

i know its early but is anyone interested in doing the fish extenders exchange? (is that what its called?) since this is my first disney cruise i have no experience but after reading about them they sound like fun! and im all about the fun :banana:

[disneypoor]

Hi, everyone! Just wanted to let you know that we will be joining your cruise. There are 29 of us, and this is the second time we've done a "group" cruise. My husband and I have taken our two children on many DCL cruises. We did the double dip last November, and it was fabulous!:goodvibes My name is Susan, my husband is Brian, my daughter is Brianna (age 14), and my son is Brandon (age 11). We are cruise junkies and absolutely love Disney Cruise Line! We have kids of all ages going on this cruise.

We all just booked our air Tuesday morning. I also bought tickets to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party that will be taking place at Magic Kingdom on Friday, Nov. 20th. We did it last year, and it was the best experience we've ever had at the parks---NO LINES! My kids stayed on Splash Mountain and rode several times in a row! We are flying in early Friday morning in order to go to a couple of parks.

I briefly read through all of the other posts and will read them more carefully later. Let me know if you have any questions about cruising at Thanksgiving time. We just did it last year, so I may be able to help out. We did a huge fish extender gift exchange on our last cruise as well.

Can't wait to get to know you all better and am really looking forward to this trip! I'm currently working on my master's and will definitely need a break by November!:thumbsup2

Susan

[disneyfan03]

My friend and I are going on this cruise and we can't wait. This will be my 2nd Disney Cruise and her 1st. We are so excited!!!! I'm trying to get my parents and sister to come but my mom's afraid to be on a ship. So we'll see. Look foward to cruising with yous.

[stitch and co]

Hey all!

Just got a packet yesterday from DCL with a folder with little booklets. :banana: Now I feel like the cruise date is finally getting closer.

Anyone else get one?

[disneyfan03]

Does anyone know if this cruise will be decorated for the holidays?

[ilovecraigandcooper]

Hey all!

Just got a packet yesterday from DCL with a folder with little booklets. :banana: Now I feel like the cruise date is finally getting closer.

Anyone else get one?

i did! i was so excited (even though i had read all the same info online i went through and read it all again)! woo hoo! i love it to get home and find a disney envelope in the mail! :banana:

[nydisfan]

Hi everyone, we also received our packet and was very excited...means the trip is getting a little closer... :cool1:

Disneypoor....welcome to the cruise...wow 29 of you that will be fun for you all! You mentioned you have been at Thanksgiving...we are wondering where the best place to have Thanksgiving dinner is...we have heard Liberty tree tavern and heard Chef Mickey's too....perhaps you could give us a bit more input.

We also are doing the Very Merry Christmas on the 20th as well :santa:

disneyfan03...welcome to the cruise as well :yay:

I am also wondering if the ship will be decorated for the holidays? :santa:

Hope you are doing well and hey we are under 140 days now :dance3:

[kelly_green_eyes_23]

Hey everyone,

I will be cruising for the first time ever on the 3 Night leaving Nov 22. My friend and I will be celebrating our 30th birthdays!

We're just wondering if there will be any other single Christian people cruising.

Hope to year from ya!

[kelly_green_eyes_23]

What are they and how do these work?

[ilovecraigandcooper]

hi kelly-green-eyes! welcome to the meet! im a Christian but married! :goodvibes

lots of info on fish extenders can be found on the disney cruise forum but basically its like a holder that you make or buy and then hang outside your room and before hand if your group (here on the meet thread) decide to do an exchange someone organizes everyones names, room numbers, etc and then you bring small goodies (apparently anything from pencils to candy to homemade scrapbooks ANYTHING really) and you pass them out at some point so on your cruise, so that its fun, you come back to your room and get to check your fish extender to see if you have any surprises!

[prettypixie]

Hi:flower3:

We are sailing for our first ever cruise this time too. It will be me, DH, DD (12)princess: & DS (7)pirate:

I am new to sailing but not new to the boards or to Disney. Me and my kids go once or twice a year, DH is not so much of a Disney fan :rolleyes1 but he is looking forward to a relaxing vacation on the cruise :rotfl::rotfl:

There are so many things I think I need to understand before we sail any volunteers out there willing to hold my hand and walk me thru the process?

I am still trying to plan my before and after stays, I wanted to come in early Friday 11/20 to do MVMCP but I don't think we'll be able to swing that due to school, DD is starting Middle school so I think it may be a little tough for her to miss this day especially since it's the Friday before their week long Thansgiving break. I'm assuming the teachers will be testing at least that's how it was when I was in school...anyway we are planning to arrive on Saturday and stay at AKL, we are DVC members, for one nite then drive to the port on Sunday. After the cruise I wanted to come back to Orlando but all the DVC resorts are booked and I really don't want to spend money on property so we are planning to snag a room in Cocoa Beach on Priceline or Hotwire for a couple of nites before heading back home.

We have been fortunate to travel quite a bit this year, I did a solo "mom mental moment" trip to WDW in Feb, I took the kids to WDW in June, all of us drove to St. Louis a couple of weeks ago, I have a class reunion trip planned in Sept and we also won free tickets to US/IOA that we would like to use in Sept and finally the cruise in Nov. Needless to say my vacation budget has been streched to the limit this year :scared1: so I am looking for ways to save money on the US/IOA trip and the cruise.

I am only budgeting about $2000 for both the US/IOA and cruise trips for the 4 of us which is excluding any vacation items that I may need to purchase before the trips. The bulk of that I will be using for the cruise maybe close to $1200 for the cruise, does that seem like enough? :confused3 Since my husband wants a relaxing vacation on the ship we are not planning any excursions but I do intend to get off the ship in Nassau to explore a bit with or without him :laughing: We are bringing adult beverages and water on the ship with us so I am not planning to spend money on the drinks of the day...btw anyone know how much the drinks of the day normally cost ;) I am giving my kids a spending allowance of $50 each is that enough? :confused3 They typically will buy a small mickey/minnie to commemorate their trip (they have quite the collection going) and maybe something else ship related. Other than tips what else should I expect to pay for on the cruise. Oh photos, we are bring our camera and I know the ship's photographers will take pics for us after they've done their's but is that everywhere? What about the photo when we are getting on the ship and in the restaurants will they take a photo with our camera too? I know we won't have the fancy overlays but I'm sure there are some scrapbooking supplies and frames for sale onboard. What about those special background shots can we use our camera with those too?

TIA
Kim

[MelissaE1]

Hi everyone. :) Hope you are all having a great summer. We have been so busy, for the last 7 weeks we have either been on the road or had company at home. We are hosting a British soccer coach this week for my kids' soccer camp, and then we will be done for the last 3 weeks of summer and can just "hang out". Although we have had a great time traveling and hosting, I confess I am looking forward to that. :cloud9:

We got our tickets for MVMCP for the 20th also. We've never been to WDW around the holidays, so I'm looking forward to seeing it!

If DCL follows their usual method, the ship will be decorated for the holidays, Castaway Cay will not. :)

I'm definitely in for fish extenders! :yay:

Kim, I think your budget is more than enough for you to enjoy yourselves. We usually budget $1,500 for a family of four on the 7 nighter, and that includes souvenirs, onboard activities, bingo, pictures, DH's coffee, other incidentals, and a small to moderate amount of alcohol. Any excursions are usually figured separately.

As far as pictures go, they will usually either take your picture with your camera or at least allow you to take one against the backgrounds, unless they have changed that. Certainly with the characters. You can get scrapbooking kits in the gift shop that are cute. I am an avid photographer and take a ton of my own shots, but you might want to leave yourself the budgeting option of purchasing some of the "lifestyle" portraits that they shoot against a white background. They are awesome shots, you have no sitting fee, and for $20 you can get an 8X10 that you are allowed to copy at Walmart or wherever as many times and in any size you like (you can download a free copyright release online). It's the best deal going in professional portraits IMHO. Last cruise we brought a white photo mat, asked for it to be signed by the main characters, and are using it to frame our picture of us with sorcerer Mickey taken against the white background. Definitely worth the $20 investment. :) We have a couple of great "lifestyle" family shots and shots of our kids as well. They discount if you get multiple shots, also.

Less than four months to go!

[prettypixie]

Thanks Melissa for the information...

I am already looking at rebooking next year...lol

[disneyfan03]

Melissa - I hope you have fun at MVMCP. WDW during the holidays is one of my favorite times. Be sure to check out the different hotels they are all decorated and it is beautiful.

I too am in for the fish extender exchange. I just finished making my first fish extender I am not a sewer so I followed the no sew directions and it came out pretty good. It's not as fancy as some I have seen posted but I was happy with it as it was my first try.

Kim - I too think your budget is enough and your kids should be fine with their spending allowance, I was even able to find some things on sale at the gift shop on the ship.

We're almost to the 90 day mark! :cool1:

[MissMousey]

Hi all,

Sounds like several people are interested in doing a Fish Extender gift exchange. Has anyone organized one of these in the past? If so would you help us get it started? I have no idea how to begin the process or what's involved, but I willing to help with organize. Any volunteers to help?

We're getting really close to our 90 day window :cool1:

[prettypixie]

Anyone traveling with girls who are almost 13 and not too excited about kid's activities? My DD will be 13 in May '10 and whenever I try to get her excited about the OL activities for her age group she frowns. My DS, who will just have just turned 7, is totally excited about going into the OC. I'm sure DD will change her mind about the OL once we are onboard but I really want her to be excited about this new adventure! Pre-teens are such a joy...lol

[MissMousey]

My DD will have just turned 13 before the cruise. While she doesn't really get excited about the 'kids activities', she is excited about the cruise itself. Maybe we could introduce them once onboard. And really, since this is such a short cruise with no days at sea, they will be pretty busy if you guys are planning to get off the ship at the ports. We will be getting off at both ports which will really only leave the first day and then some evening hours to 'hang out'. My DS is 10 and they are thinking they will check themselves in and out of the OL and explore together.

[disneyfan03]

Less Than 90 Days till our cruise!!!! Is anyone as excited as me!:woohoo: Still wondering if anyone knows how to get the fish extender exchange started? I've never done something like this but it sounds fun. It seems like our cruise is pretty full, I'm hoping more people join our cruise meet. Have a great start to the new school year everyone. Can't wait to cruise with all of you!

[nydisfan]

Less Than 90 Days till our cruise!!!! Is anyone as excited as me!:woohoo: Still wondering if anyone knows how to get the fish extender exchange started? I've never done something like this but it sounds fun. It seems like our cruise is pretty full, I'm hoping more people join our cruise meet. Have a great start to the new school year everyone. Can't wait to cruise with all of you!

Yes, we are very excited as well....getting under that 90 day mark was a huge thing...it feels like it is not so far away now...:banana: I have no idea about the fish extender, as this is our 1st cruise...

Look forward to seeing you all soon :cool1:

[disneypoor]

Hello! I posted quite some time ago but haven't had much time to be on the DIS since our Thanksgiving cruise last year. We have a rather large group sailing on the Wonder this year--28 of us to be exact. We're looking forward to it and are so excited that we have reached our 75 day mark! I'm going to try to keep up with this thread now that we are getting closer. I'm a technology teacher at two elementary schools, and I'm just about to finish my master's degree in Instructional Design and Technology, so I barely have time to sleep these days.:)

We have done the FE's in the past. If you need any ideas or anything, please let me know. Hope everyone had a great long weekend!

Susan

[mike0035]

We will be there also myself, wife and 2 daughters 11 and 7. Just booked CS for Atlantis on 11/23. This is our first Disney cruise and kids first overall. Wife and me have been on other lines. Oldest daughter not too excited about kids clubs while younger daughter cant wait. I guess its just the age.

[disneypoor]

We also booked the CS for Atlantis. We've done it every time we've gone to Nassau, and my family LOVES Atlantis! Glad to have you joining us! :goodvibes

Susan

[MissMousey]

I guess we do this right here in the cruise thread? Here goes my first attempt to organize the exchange :)

If you wish to participate please provide...

Stateroom Number (if you have it)
Names and gender of Adults in your cabin
Names, gender and ages of kids in your cabin

I think we will probably have to cut off sign ups a few weeks before the cruise so that we all have time to get the gifts in order. So please sign up before November 8th if you would like to participate.

[disneyfan03]

I guess we do this right here in the cruise thread? Here goes my first attempt to organize the exchange :)

If you wish to participate please provide...

Stateroom Number (if you have it)
Names and gender of Adults in your cabin
Names, gender and ages of kids in your cabin

I think we will probably have to cut off sign ups a few weeks before the cruise so that we all have time to get the gifts in order. So please sign up before November 8th if you would like to participate.

I've never done the fish extender as this is only my 2nd cruise, but I am very excited about it. Thanks so much for getting it started, if there's anything I can do to help you let me know and I will try. Do you want us to just post our info. on this thread or PM you. Thanks again for getting this started.

[MissMousey]

Good point. Maybe we should do this via pm so that we maintain some privacy? So feel free to send them to me and then I will pm a final list after the cut off date to everyone who has signed up. :thumbsup2

[bekkio]

Hey everyone!

I hope you're getting as excited as we are, less than 60 days to go. We still don't have our stateroom assigned according to our reservation, but I booked Palo for DH and I on Sunday night, and booked excursions for Nassau for all of us. DH is doing the Scuba trip while the girls and I will be going on the Blue Lagoon Island excursion.

We've got our passports all ready, and are counting the days. Can't wait!

[Live4FW]

Hey Everyone,

We will be joining you for this cruise.

Our group consists of :

myself (DH)
DW
DS (17)
DS (13)
DD (11)

DGD
DGM

We may also have DMIL along.

This will be DW and my second DCL cruise and everyone elses first cruise.

[Live4FW]

Bump

Anyone out there? I also posted on the cruisecritic MB and it is silent as well.

Are there that few folks on this cruise???

[disneypoor]

I'm still here.:) We just booked the Alaskan cruise, so I've been focused on trying to figure out all of the details for that--I'm in unfamiliar territory! We're looking forward to our Thanksgiving getaway and are starting to count down the weeks!:thumbsup2

Susan

[Live4FW]

Yea, glad to hear from someone on the cruise. We were just looking online a few days ago and a couple cat 12's popped up. Not a whole lot of time to plan:eek:

DW and I did a 3 night last year and we have been trying our hardest to find a reasonable trip for the whole family. I also heard that the Christmas Decorations should be up. :cool1:

[disneypoor]

Yea, glad to hear from someone on the cruise. We were just looking online a few days ago and a couple cat 12's popped up. Not a whole lot of time to plan:eek:

DW and I did a 3 night last year and we have been trying our hardest to find a reasonable trip for the whole family. I also heard that the Christmas Decorations should be up. :cool1:

We cruised on the Magic last Thanksgiving, and the Christmas decorations were up. They were building the gingerbread house during the week while we were sailing. The decorations are beautiful, and it's neat to see Christmas decorations on Castaway Cay.:santa:

I can't believe there were cat. 12's available. Maybe that means they've upgraded my entire group? LOL! The last time we had a large group sailing, they upgraded all of us from cat. 12 guarantees to cat. 9's. They were even all together on deck 2. I think we received some pixie dust on that trip! I'm hoping for an upgrade but not getting too worried about it. We've never stayed in an inside stateroom, so I'd almost like to just to see how we like it. However, I'm sure not going to complain if I find out we've been upgraded.:goodvibes

You are right--we don't have much time left to plan things. I cannot wait for this trip! I'm deep into my master's degree, and I'm in my final two classes. They have been the hardest classes so far, so I will be ready to leave my computer at home and relax by the time the cruise gets here! We are doing Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party before the cruise. We did that last year, and it was wonderful! My kids got to keep riding on Splash Mountain without even getting off because there wasn't a line. We're hoping for the same this year!

Susan

[nydisfan]

Hi Everyone....we are under 50 days now :yay: and very excited....we have 2 excursions all booked....going to play the rest by ear....we also are doing the very merry christmas before the cruise, it will be our 1st time for being at disney during the holidays :santa:....and this is our 1st cruise as well :banana:...our son will turn 5 the day we set sail so that will be a very exciting birthday for all of us but esp him :woohoo:....see everyone soon!

[disneypoor]

Hi Everyone....we are under 50 days now :yay: and very excited....we have 2 excursions all booked....going to play the rest by ear....we also are doing the very merry christmas before the cruise, it will be our 1st time for being at disney during the holidays :santa:....and this is our 1st cruise as well :banana:...our son will turn 5 the day we set sail so that will be a very exciting birthday for all of us but esp him :woohoo:....see everyone soon!

You are going to love the Christmas party at WDW! We have been to the parks many times, but that has been our favorite so far. No long lines and free hot chocolate or apple cidar as well as cookies or apple slices. My son ate so many cookies he was about sick.:sad2: It's a great time to do Magic Kingdom! The parades are spectacular as well.

We have booked Atlantis through Comfort Suites and that's it for now. We love Castaway Cay and will probably ride bikes and snorkel, but last November the water was a bit chilly for me, so I'm waiting until I get there to check out the water temp first.:) My whole family enjoys the bike ride though.

Less than 50 days--that sounds so good! I need this trip and cannot wait!:cool1:

Susan

[Live4FW]

I don't think we are going to plan any excursions. However, my oldest DS wants to do the Sea Lion encounter. Other than that, I think we may rent some bikes and snorkel equipment at CC.

My parents are going along so if we do anything all together, we need to keep it pretty mild.

We are also trying to keep costs down. This was a sort of last minute change in vacation. We were supposed to go to Fort Wilderness for the whole week (with no Disney parks - we have passes to Sea World). I was comparing Carnival 5 nights at nearly 2K so this one was just a little bit more and everyone preferred going on DCL. My oldest (17 year old) didn't even want to go on Carnival (he has never cruised before). Go figure.:rolleyes1

I have heard a lot of rumors that they may be adding Ocean Quest during Dry dock. Sure hope this is true. That was the first thing my DD asked about.

[disneypoor]

I don't think we are going to plan any excursions. However, my oldest DS wants to do the Sea Lion encounter. Other than that, I think we may rent some bikes and snorkel equipment at CC.

My parents are going along so if we do anything all together, we need to keep it pretty mild.

We are also trying to keep costs down. This was a sort of last minute change in vacation. We were supposed to go to Fort Wilderness for the whole week (with no Disney parks - we have passes to Sea World). I was comparing Carnival 5 nights at nearly 2K so this one was just a little bit more and everyone preferred going on DCL. My oldest (17 year old) didn't even want to go on Carnival (he has never cruised before). Go figure.:rolleyes1

I have heard a lot of rumors that they may be adding Ocean Quest during Dry dock. Sure hope this is true. That was the first thing my DD asked about.
Some friends of ours did the Sea Lion encounter in the Bahamas while cruising with another cruise line. They said it has been their best vacation highlight so far!:thumbsup2 They all loved it and plan to do it again.

Susan

[Live4FW]

We had our rooms assigned tonight. :cool1:

Unfortunately, We didn't get any upgrades. Still cat 12s.:sad1:

[nydisfan]

Well we are in the 30 day window :woohoo: getting so excited and we are having cold days so the warm weather will feel even so much better! :banana: we are prob. half packed already....not like we can wear our summer clothes anymore....see you all soon :cheer2:

[disneypoor]

We are also experiencing colder than normal temps for this time of the year, so I think we'll be even more excited as the cruise gets closer. We are sailing with a total of 28 friends and family. We all booked Cat. 12 Gty's, and when we got our rooms assigned, they were all cat. 11's (because most of us have four in our family). We were sort of bummed because last time, they upgraded ALL of us to cat. 9's. I've decided it's okay because I've always wanted to know if we'd be just as happy in an inside stateroom.:goodvibes

At this point, I don't care what room we have as long as we are on that ship! Come on November--I can't wait until you get here!:cool1:

Susan

[disneyfan03]

At this point, I don't care what room we have as long as we are on that ship! Come on November--I can't wait until you get here!:cool1:

Susan


I totally agree. I have been counting down the days for to long. I can't wait for it to get here! :yay:

[disneypoor]

We just added another one to our reservation. We are now up to 30 people in our group.:goodvibes One of my husband's friends just booked two nights ago. He will be bringing his six year old little girl. I was surprised they were able to book because Disney had told me the children's programs were full last week, but he booked through a travel agency. Anyhow, we're glad he's coming and cannot wait for the next 24 days to fly by!:cool1:

Susan

[MissMousey]

Anyone else interested in participating in the fish extender swap? There's still time to join, and you don't have to get elaborate with the 'gifts'. Simple tokens are just fine :)

Also, let's plan a Dis Meet the first afternoon right before the sail away party near the main stage. Anyone interested?

[nydisfan]

Hi Everyone....we are getting close now...and we received our cruise documents a cpl. days ago so that just make it real and now are even more excited....:yay: it will be so nice to get to warm weather and sunshine....and some time for fun and relaxation....hope everyone has safe travels and see you on the ship!! :dance3:

[MelissaE1]

Hi everyone,

Wow, where has the time gone? We ended up with two British kids (soccer coaches) living with us for the last 2.5 months, plus both my kids are playing travel soccer for the first time, so boy have we been busy. Haven't really even had time to think about vacation... a first for me! :eek:

The vacation planner (me) hasn't planned a thing... no Palo, no excursions (with the exception of a AAA rate reservation at Comfort Suites for Atlantis), no ADR's for T'giving. I am actually looking forward to just taking it as it comes. My dd has space camp in Huntsville Nov. 18-20th, so I'll be driving up and taking her home Thurs night (6 hours) then driving Friday a.m. to WDW (7 hours) for MVMCP that evening. Did I say that my husband is in Nevada for work that week and we're not sure when his flight home will be? Should be interesting, lol.

Now that things are quieting down I am ready to gear up! If there is an FE list we'd be happy to participate if there's still time.

Can't wait to be aboard the Wonder and see all the decorations, etc.!

[aliron]

Hi Everyone,

We just booked on the cruise :cool1: and all are excited to go. I can not believe they were still booking rooms on the ship since it was Thanksgiving. :cheer2:

It will be our 2nd cruise as we did the 7 day eastern in Oct 2009. Only 3 more cruises to move up.

Joining you on the boat will be me (Ron) pirate:, my wife (Alison) :bride:, and my daughter (Laurin, 9) :hippie:

Ron

[aliron]

All,

I am normally a lurker but the wife has inquired about the FE exchange. Since I am just "earning my ears" I can not PM just yet.

Miss Mousey, are you still organizing the FE Exchange? It will be our first also.

[pomlover]

We are also experiencing colder than normal temps for this time of the year, so I think we'll be even more excited as the cruise gets closer. We are sailing with a total of 28 friends and family. We all booked Cat. 12 Gty's, and when we got our rooms assigned, they were all cat. 11's (because most of us have four in our family). We were sort of bummed because last time, they upgraded ALL of us to cat. 9's. I've decided it's okay because I've always wanted to know if we'd be just as happy in an inside stateroom.:goodvibes

At this point, I don't care what room we have as long as we are on that ship! Come on November--I can't wait until you get here!:cool1:

Susan

Lol for some reason when you said "We all booked Cat. 12" I thought I read "we even booked the cat". Wow I'm getting old.

[MissMousey]

All,

I am normally a lurker but the wife has inquired about the FE exchange. Since I am just "earning my ears" I can not PM just yet.

Miss Mousey, are you still organizing the FE Exchange? It will be our first also.

Yep, there's still time to sign up. We have a small group for FE, but it will still be fun! Feel free to post you info here in the regular thread since you can't PM. We just need your cabin number and the cruisers in your cabin. I'll send/post a list on th 8th.

Hi everyone,
Now that things are quieting down I am ready to gear up! If there is an FE list we'd be happy to participate if there's still time.

We're working on the list, please PM me your info and I'll add you to the list! :thumbsup2

[aliron]

If you wish to participate please provide...

Stateroom Number (if you have it)
Names and gender of Adults in your cabin
Names, gender and ages of kids in your cabin


So here goes..

Stateroom is 2072
Names: Ron pirate: (Male), Alison :bride: (Female), and Laurin princess: (Female, age 9)

[disneyfan03]

So here goes..

Stateroom is 2072
Names: Ron pirate: (Male), Alison :bride: (Female), and Laurin princess: (Female, age 9)


We're right across from you 2071 :)

[disneyfan03]

Just got off the phone with DCL and here are the list of movies the cast member said would be playing when we sail.

Toy Story 1 & 2 in 3D
Bolt 3D
Hannah montana Movie
Earth
Up 3D
The Proposal
G-Force (I think 3D, not sure)
Surrogate
Christmas Carol

It will be here before we know it. :cool1:

[MelissaE1]

Just got off the phone with DCL and here are the list of movies the cast member said would be playing when we sail.

Thanks for the heads up! Looks like several we would enjoy. :)

[MissMousey]

I just sent the Fish Extender List via PM. If for some reason, you didn't get it please let me know.

See you all on the Wonder in TWO weeks!

[aliron]

I got the list. Thanks. Looking forward to doing our first FE exchange.

Did anyone want to do a meet before the sail a way party?

[aliron]

I am a little bummed. I thought the movie 51 would have been on the boat since it is released the Friday before we leave. :sad1: Still hopefull.

[kreedham]

I am a little bummed. I thought the movie 51 would have been on the boat since it is released the Friday before we leave. :sad1: Still hopefull.

It's not a Disney movie!

[MelissaE1]

Hello everyone. :-)

MissMousey, got the list, and thank you. :)

Anyone packed yet? Haven't even started here. Hurricane/Tropical Storm Ida has decided to pay us a visit, so probably won't get much done in the next two days since my kids are home from school. So glad the 3 night cruises are casual since I don't want to deal with formal wear! Probably will pack matching outfits for a Christmas card pic as the company who does the portraits will allow you to copy them.

Can't believe we are leaving in a week and a half for WDW!

[disneypoor]

Lol for some reason when you said "We all booked Cat. 12" I thought I read "we even booked the cat". Wow I'm getting old.

No cats in our house.:rotfl: We do have a couple of boxer dogs. Think Disney would mind if we brought them along? LOL!

Susan

[disneypoor]

Hello everyone. :-)

MissMousey, got the list, and thank you. :)

Anyone packed yet? Haven't even started here. Hurricane/Tropical Storm Ida has decided to pay us a visit, so probably won't get much done in the next two days since my kids are home from school. So glad the 3 night cruises are casual since I don't want to deal with formal wear! Probably will pack matching outfits for a Christmas card pic as the company who does the portraits will allow you to copy them.

Can't believe we are leaving in a week and a half for WDW!

We are thinking alike, Melissa! I just went yesterday and bought some shirts for our family picture/Christmas card that I plan to have done on the ship. We've always done the family pictures, and they always turn out so good. I just can't let a cruise go by without making the family take a picture. They'll love me for it some day, right?:rotfl2:

[MissMousey]

I was just wondering if anybody is planning/hoping to upgrade once at the port. If so, how will we be able to communicate this to each other for purposes of the fish extender? Hmmm...anyone have any ideas? Anyone hoping to upgrade?

[MelissaE1]

I just can't let a cruise go by without making the family take a picture. They'll love me for it some day, right?:rotfl2:

LOL, that's what I keep telling mine anyway! :laughing:

Week and a half left to wait!!

[disneypoor]

I was just wondering if anybody is planning/hoping to upgrade once at the port. If so, how will we be able to communicate this to each other for purposes of the fish extender? Hmmm...anyone have any ideas? Anyone hoping to upgrade?

I don't think anyone will be upgrading for this cruise.:sad2: After we got our room assignments, we tried to call to pay for an upgrade if one was available, and they told us the ship was sailing full and there were no rooms left for our family of four. I called again yesterday for something else and decided to ask one more time just to make sure, and I was told the same thing. It sounds like we'll be sailing at full capacity. I don't care as long as I am on the ship. I need a vacation BAD. :thumbsup2 It's almost here!!!!!:cool1:

Susan

[MelissaE1]

I was just wondering if anybody is planning/hoping to upgrade once at the port. If so, how will we be able to communicate this to each other for purposes of the fish extender? Hmmm...anyone have any ideas? Anyone hoping to upgrade?

I had actually thought about asking, although it sounds like it would be a moot point. Kind of glad actually, for two reasons. One, we would be trying to upgrade to a suite, and I'm afraid if we tried one my DH would never go back! :laughing: Second because I tried to take my DD's best friend on this one with us and her mom said no, much to our surprise (she's know us since she was 3, but mom hates Disney). It's horrible that she hears us talking about cruising all the time. But her mom said we could book one on the Dream for 2 years out and she could go, so I think I'll be putting down a deposit on that instead. Just a quickie with myself, my DD and her friend, but I want to take that kid so bad! Who hates Disney?

If for some reason someone does get an upgrade or a change in cabin assignment at the port, they could just put a note on everyone else's door maybe?

P.S. How funny is it that with the infrequency we all post here, you and I posted one minute apart!

[MissMousey]

One, we would be trying to upgrade to a suite, and I'm afraid if we tried one my DH would never go back! !

That's too funny! Those are my thoughts exactly--my DH keeps asking about the Roy Disney suite. Uh, no thanks. That's probably like three years worth of vacation money we'd blow all at once.:eek:

If for some reason someone does get an upgrade or a change in cabin assignment at the port, they could just put a note on everyone else's door maybe?!

Sounds like a good idea. Glad someone's thinkin' :idea:

P.S. How funny is it that with the infrequency we all post here, you and I posted one minute apart!

I didn't even notice, but what a coincidence. What are the odds?

[Live4FW]

P.S. How funny is it that with the infrequency we all post here, you and I posted one minute apart!

I have been on a few other cruise meet threads and have been shocked by how few people have found this thread and that the posting is so infrequent. Especially given how full the boat is. Must be alot of DISuninitiated folks on this cruise

We probably would have joined in on the FE but at this point we will be lucky to just get to the boat on time.

We booked cat 12 and actually were assigned cat 12 so we are still remotely hoping for an upgrade and may check at port. I guess that since the ship is so full means that probably won't happen.

Just so darn happy to be cruising again in a little over a week!:cool1:

[MelissaE1]

I have been on a few other cruise meet threads and have been shocked by how few people have found this thread and that the posting is so infrequent. Especially given how full the boat is. Must be alot of DISuninitiated folks on this cruise

Definitely interesting for a cruise so close to a holiday... especially if we are sailing full. Only thing I can think of is maybe many of the DIS folks are more likely to book on T'giving itself? Who knows. We actually weren't even supposed to have access to this date, we just got lucky. :)

Also I sent you a PM... thought I would mention it here because mine are acting different... it used to be that it would pop up a message when I got a new one, but now it doesn't and I just have to notice the tiny print up in the right corner. Could take me months, lol.

[disneypoor]

Is everyone else working on packing this weekend? I'm so excited that it is almost here! Our flight will be leaving Kansas City at 7:55 a.m. next Friday morning.:cool1: We're staying at WDW and doing Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Friday night and then doing some of our favorite rides at the other parks next Saturday. I have a friend whose family is just now flying back from WDW after being there for a week. She said the weather has been quite warm. We all sailed on the Magic last Thanksgiving and when we went to MVMCP, we had to wear jackets and gloves. I'm hoping for a little warmer weather this year.:goodvibes

Hope everyone is getting as excited as I am. I NEED this vacation!:worship:

Susan

[disneyfan03]

I just finished my Disney Cruise Line House Party and now I can finally start packing. I have so much to do I can't believe we leave in a week. After todays party it made me even more excited. :cool1: Hope everyone has a great week. See you on the Wonder!

[bekkio]

A week from right now, our plane would have just landed and we will be on our way to AKV! We're all getting excited for the cruise, we've been obsessively checking the current weather in both Orlando and Nassau.

We've got our plans all set, now we just need to get through this next week of school and work. Can't wait!

[disneypoor]

A week from right now, our plane would have just landed and we will be on our way to AKV! We're all getting excited for the cruise, we've been obsessively checking the current weather in both Orlando and Nassau.

We've got our plans all set, now we just need to get through this next week of school and work. Can't wait!

It sounds like we have a lot in common! I've also been telling my family, "A week from now....."!:rotfl: I, too, have been checking the weather for Orlando and Nassau multiple times per day. I did notice that they took the rain out of the forecast for next Friday and Saturday.:cool1: We are doing MVMCP Friday night and then park hopping on Saturday, so we were hoping for good weather. Last year, we about froze at MVMCP, but it looks as if this year is going to be much warmer.

Like you, we just need to get through four days of work and school, and then, IT'S VACATION TIME!!!!!:worship:

[MelissaE1]

Good morning everyone! :)

My laundry is pretty much done, car is clean, starting my packing. I have to be done by tomorrow night because of going to space camp with my DD at 5:30 Wed. morning. :eek: In 5th grade my DS went to space camp at Kennedy, that would sure be a lot easier than Huntsville! DH is leaving tomorrow morning for Vegas and flying directly into Orlando and meeting us there, so it will be a lot of driving by myself but so worth it once we get there. Really looking forward to MVMCP and seeing the holiday decorations and Osborne lights since we have never been at this time of year.

How is everyone else doing on their preparations?

P.S. Live4FW, my DD is really enjoying the correspondence!

[disneypoor]

I have the house cleaned and all of the laundry done (until the kids get home from school;)). I haven't really started officially packing yet, but I have gone out and bought all of our travel stuff and have laid out some of the clothes we'll be wearing. I'll probably pack last minute--late Thursday night. Our flight leaves bright and early Friday morning. MVMCP--here we come!!!:cool1: It's snowing here today, so I can't wait for this trip!

[Live4FW]

Good morning everyone! :)

How is everyone else doing on their preparations?

P.S. Live4FW, my DD is really enjoying the correspondence!

Well, we started getting ready this weekend. Spent all weekend running errands that had been put off for the last couple of months.

We are still trying to decide when to drive in. We are going to Tampa first to pick up DGM and then head over to port first thing Sunday. We are trying to decide whether to brave the traffic Friday night or head out early Sat AM. The kids want to go to Busch Gardens on Saturday. We are going to hit Sea World on way back to Tampa Wednesday

We will make it come heck or high water!

DD is thrilled to correspond with your DD. Every few hours this weekend I was given a new update on what things both of them lilked together. :rotfl2: Should be really fun for them.

We actually paid for an upgrade on one of our cat 12's this weekend ($100 now cat 11 gty). We were going to do both but only one available

[bekkio]

We're leaving for Orlando early Saturday morning, so that left this weekend to gather up the last of our needed supplies. Of course my DD11 waited until Sunday to tell me that her preferred bathing suit was too small! She'll just have to deal with the wedgies, since it's too late to order anything new. :)

I don't know if I missed it, but is there a meetup planned sometime during the cruise? I'm afraid I'm way too disorganized to participate in the fish extender exchange, but I always like meeting new people.

[MelissaE1]

I don't know if I missed it, but is there a meetup planned sometime during the cruise? I'm afraid I'm way too disorganized to participate in the fish extender exchange, but I always like meeting new people.

I don't think we ever got around to organizing that, but having done it a few times I can say that the thing that worked best out of the ones I've participated in was 3:00 on boarding day, deck 10, on the side where the port building is. Everyone is usually done with their initial running around and you have a little bit before you have to go back for the drill. It worked great for us!

Anyone interested?

[MelissaE1]

Every few hours this weekend I was given a new update on what things both of them liked together. :rotfl2: Should be really fun for them.

:lmao: This continues at my house. It's all I hear about, lol.

[bekkio]

3:00 on boarding day, deck 10, on the side where the port building is. Everyone is usually done with their initial running around and you have a little bit before you have to go back for the drill. It worked great for us!

Anyone interested?

That sounds good to me!

I've been checking the weather report and I'm bummed to see that scattered showers are forecast for Nassau on Monday! I'm hoping that it will change, since it's still pretty far out. Keep your fingers crossed.

[MelissaE1]

That sounds good to me!

I've been checking the weather report and I'm bummed to see that scattered showers are forecast for Nassau on Monday! I'm hoping that it will change, since it's still pretty far out. Keep your fingers crossed.

Try not to worry about it yet. Living in a subtropical climate here I can tell you that even if the forecast stays that way we may very likely see no rain at all. Nearly guaranteed it will change a few times before then, though! A day or two out it gets slightly more accurate, but even then it can be dead wrong, and if it does rain it often blows through in half an hour. Here's hoping for full sun, though! :sunny:

[MelissaE1]

:scared1: UH OH! :scared1:

So guess what? I'm packed for space camp, finishing packing for DCL/Disney, leaving tomorrow at 5:30 a.m., return midnight Thursday and leaving Friday a.m. early. No time left to shop. Got some little stuff for our FE exchange and just realized: I DON'T HAVE AN FE! Yup, no place to put any stuff we might get. So anyone participating, you might just see a Walmart bag hanging off our fish. :rotfl2:

[Live4FW]

: Got some little stuff for our FE exchange and just realized: I DON'T HAVE AN FE! Yup, no place to put any stuff we might get. So anyone participating, you might just see a Walmart bag hanging off our fish. :rotfl2:

Maybe we should get a Publix bag so no one gets confused:cool2::rolleyes1

Who would have ever guessed it would be such a rollercoaster just getting to the Disney boat....

[disneypoor]

At this time tomorrow, we'll be on a plane heading for Disney World!:cool1::banana: I haven't even started packing yet, and we have to leave for the airport around 4:45 in the morning. I guess I work better under pressure.:confused3 Need to get through work and school today, and then the stress will begin followed by a relaxing vacation.:cloud9: See you all on the ship!

Susan

[pursuethekingdom]

Just got off and had Petar and Pikual as our servers. Awesome. Also saw Cesar serving too. He was our server in 2001. Got pictures of them to add to our scrapbook. I regret not getting a picture of Julie who tends bar in teh Promanade lounge. If anyone can snap a pic of her I'd love to add it to the collection.

Thanks.

[SKAA's Mom]

Hope you are all having a great cruise.

[disneyfan03]

Hope everyone had as much fun on the cruise as I had. Thanks for all the great Fish Extender Gifts!!! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, I'm watching Sailor Mickey at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade wishing I were still on the ship!

[MelissaE1]

We also had a great time, if way too short. We are at WDW now for a few days (leaving tomorrow) and wow, is it crowded! Missing the relaxing time on the ship!

We had an amazing serving team (Mladin and Sandra) and cabin steward (Glen). Glen put princess sheets on our dd's bed one night and came in another and taught our kids to make towel monkeys. What a guy!

We LOVED all the FE gifts, what fun. Thank you to everyone. Aliron, where did you get the post its?

Anyone else book a future cruise? We were previously booked on the T'giving cruise on the Dream, and we added the 3 day before it. We figured we could cancel if we change our mind, or transfer it to another date.

Here's hoping everyone had a great time and and wishing you all many happy future travels!

[aliron]

Our thanks to you all too! Everything was AMAZING! Our first time doing FE was awesome. We'll definitely be signing up on future cruises. And yes, we did book a future cruise (or 2 or 3):-)
We booked the same three day (before Thanksgiving) for next year. We were going to do a back to back and stay on over Thanksgiving, but changed to a 7 day at Christmas time. And then also booked a 5 day in Dec. 2011. Can't wait.
MelissaE1 - we got the post its on board. That was why your FE gifts didn't come until the second day.....we wanted to pick up a few things on board. It was just a large cube of post its that happened to have 10 different colors....it was perfect. Also perfect because I had forgotten tags or a note to tell you all who they were from:-)

Don't know if you saw our other post on the main board, but we were chosen as a "Magical Family" by Zoe in guest services. We met her when we turned in my daughters pillowcase for signatures and then had a letter in our room later on that we had been chosen. It just meant a few extra treats each day (cookies, cakes in the stateroom, tickets for gear on C Cay, a stuffed Mickey for my daughter) and we also got to attend the Concierge Reception, which was nice. It made for a great trip and one that will be hard to beat.

You all were so generous and made the cruise even more special. Hope you all had safe trips home and a Wonderful Thanksgiving!

Thanks again.

[MissMousey]

We too had a great cruise. If any of your are adventurous and haven't done jet skiing on Castaway Cay, you MUST do this. It was the highlight of our trip. :thumbsup2 But the cruise was way too short! Future Cruise? We waited in line at the advance booking desk, but were told we can't book using DVC points there. So we're scouting out dates and will call member services once we make a final decision. There's a 5 night cruise on the Dream over New Year's that we're considering in 2011 :)

Thanks to everyone for the FE gifts! We got lots of neat goodies to bring home and even shared some candy, etc with family over Thanksgiving. :goodvibes

[aliron]

MissMousey (Michelle) - the 5 day on the Dream over New Years is one we made reservations for (I think)! It would be great to do the FE with you again:-) (Of course we'll have to up our game to keep up with you).
Alison (posting on Ron's behalf)

[IrishCowboy]

subscribing

[MissMousey]

MissMousey (Michelle) - the 5 day on the Dream over New Years is one we made reservations for (I think)! It would be great to do the FE with you again:-) (Of course we'll have to up our game to keep up with you).
Alison (posting on Ron's behalf)

Oh my gosh! How cool is that? I'll let you know once we decide for sure on that cruise. And, of course we would do the FE with you again--it was fun sneaking around at night leaving goodies for everyone :)

[aliron682]

Hi - it is Alison. I set up my own account and had to get some posts in. Still thinking about the cruise and how wonderful it was (and wishing I were headed back soon). I did join the meets thread for the 2010 pre-thanksgiving cruise on the Wonder so I do have that one to look forward to.
Happy Holidays everyone!