Booked for 3/20/04!!!!!

[strawberryblonde]

:Pinkbounc I'm so excited I can barely stand it! I thought the 20th would fall on a Friday 2004 but I forgot about leapyear :( Threw off my planning just a touch. Had to decide if I wanted to begin or end my cruise on my ann. I decided to begin it :cool:

[Cheryl-Lynne]

So glad to see that I'm not the only one that books so far in advance! We are sailing Dec. 06, 2003 (just a couple of months before you). I think the anticipation of the trip is just as exciting (well almost as exciting) as the trip itself! Is this your first cruise? Hope you have a great time.

:wave:

[mrsltg]

Cheryl-Lynne! My DH and I are booked on the same cruise as you!!! I was thinking I wouldn't see any fellow cruisers until a few months from now. I guess great minds think alike!

And congratulations on booking your trip StrawberryBlonde!!!

Erin :Pinkbounc

[strawberryblonde]

Thank-you both for sharing my excitement even if we aren't sharing the same cruise (too bad!). In my haste to post (cranky kids needed me) I forgot to mention it will be the 7 day eastern to celebrate our 10 year wedding ann. With our big extended families, planning ahead is quite needed :rolleyes: inlaws already have the 4th of July for next year sewed up for a family reunion.

[BarbOKW]

I'm in the process of booking March 20, 2004 and March 27, 2004. I'm not sure what my kids spring break schedule will be so I'm not taking chances and am going to book both weeks. Unfortunately I'll have to cancel one as soon as the schedule comes out. If spring break is the 20th I'll see you on board!

It's nice to know there are others that book vacations this far in advance. My husband was amazed when I told him about the early booking discount!:cool:

[lookingforward]

I am so excited, I just reserved the 20th of March 2004 too! It is much, much to far away for my liking but it gives me something to dream about.

[iluvorlando]

Darn!! I am looking at March 13th!! I will "warm" up the ship for you!:)

[Cheryl-Lynne]

To MrsItg

I am so happy to hear from another fellow cruiser to finally talk to - my husband is getting tired of me talking about this cruise!! I am soooooooo excited :bounce:
I noticed you will have a daughter celebrating her 3rd birthday, my daughter will be 4, perhaps they will meet. I also have a son that will be 9. Do you know what deck you will be on? We will be on Deck 6.

[mrsltg]

Cheryl-Lynne, we'll be on deck six as well! Cabin 6634 as a matter of fact! I know what you mean about husbands! My DH is SOOOOOOOO sick of me telling him about everything DCL. I keeps asking if we could PLEASE get through our November trip to WDW before worrying about a trip that's 18 months away!!! Sorry babe, no can do! I'm too excited to wait 18 months!!!!

And welcome to all the other early planners! The nice thing about planning this early is that we know we paid WAY less than everyone else and we get to be excited for so long!

Bring on 03-04!!!

Erin :Pinkbounc

[Cheryl-Lynne]

Hi Erin
We will be in cabin 6060, we will not be neighbours, but perhaps we will see you in the hallway! I have already started packing (pretty bad, eh!), I purchased some snorkel gear, a new bathing suit for my daughter, along with some new shoes.
We were on the Wonder this past December, and our kids are still talking about it - even in great detail.
It has been so nice hearing from you! Hope you have a great trip at WDW,
Take care,
Cheryl

[strawberryblonde]

Barb, It would be really great to have you on the 20th :) but on the other hand I am hoping spring break will be one week later. It would be nice to have the Mickey pool alittle less crowded for the kids ;). Hopefully the big crowds will be near Easter which I think is April for 2004.

lookingforward, Yippee!!!! 3/20/04 is a long while to wait but I think it will be worth it. Can't celebrate my 10th until I have been married for 10 years anyway ;), that helps alittle for me. Do you have kids and if so what are their ages? Mine will be 4(girl) and 7(boy). I like to be able to tell hubby I'm not the only one booked so far in advance.

[BarbOKW]

Hi Strawberryblonde!

The biggest spring break time is the week after Easter followed by the week before. After that it depends on the school, but the last full of March and the partial week of March/Arpril are also pretty popular.

I have 4 kids...at cruise time they will be DS (15), DS (13), DS (10) and DD (8). Boy it's hard to believe they will be that old in just one and a half years.

I told a very good friend of mine here at work about the 2004 bookings becoming available. We've been talking about the fact that we both were planning on going over spring break 2004. So I wanted to make sure she got the best deal. But now her and her husband are thinking they don't want to go then because they don't want to cruise with "someone from worK". I can understand that but this is a good friend of mine we have lunch together just about everyday. I told her we wouldn't be eating together and she could get her rooms on a different deck and probably wouldn't even run into each other (at least not much). She said their going to think about it. Oh well, as I see it, since I've booked already they'd be joining my vacation, not me joining theirs, so I'm not going to feel guilty.

See you on the ship!!:Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc

[Goofy Girl]

I've been whining about waiting until next May to cruise! But I'm cruisin' soon, compared to you! Enjoy the anticipation! You can learn an enormous amount of details from these boards; you'll be a pro by the time you go!:smooth:

[BarbOKW]

Hi Goofy Girl,

I've already learned a tremendous amount from these boards, that's why I knew to book the 2004 cruise as soon as they became available. We do have a long time to wait, but since we just cruised in March 2002 and we're going to WDW in March 2003, the wait won't be too bad. Although I haven't told my kids, they'd drive me crazy wanting to go NOW!

[strawberryblonde]

Barb-

We are going to WDW March 2003 as well! We honeymooned there 3/94 and took our DS when he was 2 for our 5th ann. 3/99. Of course, I already have this trip all planned out (that is why I'm onto planning for the next year, lol) and it should be a great time.:jester:

[dvcmomdeh]

Bar, I hope your spring break turns out to be the 20th. My kids would love to have others the same ages on the cruise. We sat down the other day and discussed parasailing at Castaway and all the shopping we plan to do in St. Maarten and St. Thomas. It is still so far away but I can just feel the wind on my face.

Happy Holidays to all.

[lookingforward]

My kids will be 13, 11, and 5 when we cruise 3/20/04. I can't wait.

[Cara]

We will also be cruising on the 3/20/04 Magic with our friends. Between us we have three children, who will be 9,9, and 5. It will the first cruise for all of us!

Cara:D

[TootyJane]

Originally posted by strawberryblonde
....Hopefully the big crowds will be near Easter which I think is April for 2004.

FYI ~ Easter falls on April 11, 2004.

[mobetsy]

I'm Cara's friend, coming with my dh, and (then to be) 9 and almost 6 y.o. sons. This will be a first cruise ever for us, and we can't wait! My dh also is very glad for me to have someone else to obsess about the details with for the next 14 mos :p I don't think it's too early at all to be planning!

Lookingforward, you mentioned you have a 5 y.o...son or daughter? Our younger son is on the slow-to-adjust side for new experiences, and we are hoping to find another child or two his age to get to know a bit beforehand, so that he will think he already knows them!

[Cara]

Wow, there are several of us who are EARLY planners. :p Six families that I counted! I am obsessive about my vacation planning, and I am really looking forward to cruising with mobetsy's family!

Barb, did you guys figure out which week you would be cruising?

Cara

[heart]

Seven (I'm sure more) families are early planners!

We're booked for the Western March 27th. I don't want to wish my life away--yet I'm counting the days! Planning is SUCH fun!

[MickeyMagic]

417 days to go!!!!!!! I am also booked for 3-20-04. I was on a 3-day cruise in October and received $200 in shipboard credits if I booked another cruise while onboard. I just couldn't pass up a deal! :teeth:

I was guessing at spring break dates when I booked, and so far it looks good! The dates I picked have been marked for spring break pending board approval. I also booked a room for my sister and her 2 children. We are still waiting to see if her spring break will be the same time (it normally is).

My DD will be 12 by then. My sister's DS will be 14 and her DD will be almost 2!

I did the Eastern cruise 1-19-02 and loved it. I would have liked to try the Western, but I have no problem doing the Eastern again. I really like the sea days, so we get an extra one.

This is so funny! Last week I thought posting to see if anyone else was going March 2004. I looked on the cruise calendar and I think I only saw strawberryblonde, so I thought maybe it's too early. I guess not.

We will have SO much fun planning for our cruise. I'm convinced that planning really is half the fun!!!

[mobetsy]

It's such a delight to see that other people think the planning is a big part of the fun! And nice to know there are some veterans to help us figure it out, too :-)

My ds's will not be on spring break; that's the week before Easter for us, not a feasible time. So, they'll be getting a week off of school...can't imagine it will break their hearts!

[strawberryblonde]

:Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc

People are posting about March 2004 now :teeth: , I'm so glad! I was very excited when I booked our dates and now I have settled down a bit because it is still over a year away. Once it gets under a year away I expect I will be planning more in earnest. My son will be freshly 7 and my daughter will be 4. We would love to bump into some disers with children on our cruise (and those without children are lovely too :p )

[Cara]

Hey, it's nice to know I am not the only obsessive psychotic "must always have a plan" Disney fanatic! (That is a compliment, BTW!) I look forward to meeting you all in March 2004!

Cara :p

[dvcmomdeh]

I hope this thread keeps going for a while. My DS (15) was discussing our pending cruise and was saying how it isn't going to be any fun because he won't know anyone. I told him not to worry that all the people on the boards are friendly and that we could hopefully get him to chatting with teens his age that are also going on the March 20 (EASTERN).

Looking forward to seeing you all.