~ Mickey's Magical Matey Tour ~ November 6-13, 2010 Eastern Magic

[Davids-Coco]

Welcome to the *new* thread for the November 6-13, 2010 Eastern Magic Cruise! See the old thread here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1988131

This thread will hold the information for the cruise. More information will be added as it is organized and/or becomes available. Please subscribe to this thread.


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Itinerary & Activities

Saturday, Nov. 6 - Port Canaveral -
Time: EST
Reg Rotation Dining - Welcome Aboard Show

Sunday, Nov. 7 - At Sea -
Time: EST
Formal Night (Prince & Princess Menu) - Villains Show

Monday, Nov. 8 - At Sea -
Time: EST +1 hr
Reg Rotational Dining - Twice Charmed?

Tuesday, Nov. 9 - St. Maarten -
Time: EST +1 hr
Pirates Night (Pirate Menu) - Movies/Pirate Party

Wednesday, Nov 10 - St. Thomas
Time: EST +1 hr
Reg Rotational Dining - Variety Show

Thursday, Nov 11 - At Sea -
Time: EST +1 hr
Semi Formal Night (Captain's Menu) - Dreams Show

Friday, Nov 12 - Castaway Cay -
Time: EST
Till We Meet Again - Remember the Magic Show

Saturday, Nov 13 - Port Canaveral -
Time: EST




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Roll Call

*Please post in this format*
Disname
Adult Names
Child (Age), Child (Age), Child (Age) *at time of sailing*
Stateroom / Early or Late Seating

David's Coco
Corey & David (DH)
Joey (4), Charlie (19 months)
Early

Sftnslky
Rebecca (44) & DH Earl (43)
DD Jennah (14), DD Macy (11), DS Kaleb (9), DS Kasey (9)
DBrother-in-law Mark (51)
Cabins 6120 & 6122 / Late

GoofyFD
Mark & Emily
dd Carey (12), dd Jenna (9)
Early

schwenksvillemouse
John & Kirsten
Evan (9), Tara (5)
Early

Sinderelly
Jim & Kathy
7041 / Early

PrincessFAN2006
Kim & Jason
DD (17), DS (13), DS (9)
2635 & 2637 / Early

Rocadonismom
Carolyn (34)
Steerage / hoping for late dining

Ajtour
Ajtour (celebrating 35th bday) & DH (36)
DS (6), DD (4)
2106 / ?

hattiedog
Bill & Keri
Kailey (9), Alyssa (7)
2608 /early

JustinsMommy07
Maria & Mark
Justin (3), expecting Joseph (10 mo)
8518 / early

Reedi
Heather & Robert
DS Tre' (10) & DD Ari (5)
Early Seating

LUVMICKEY & STEAMBOAT209
Michele & Cal
6072 / Early

leelip1982
Lee (27) & Ashley (24)
Getting married onboard

TonyaH
Tonya & Jim
DD Rhianna (13) & DD Kathryn (5)
7574 / Early

JORo
Greg and Lisa
dd Josephine (4), ds Robbie (2.5)
Nana Kathie
8526 / early

LisaG520
Lisa (43) and Darrell (45)
Late seating

AdventureLover67
Amy & Don (47)
late

Cbettencourt
Christine & Jorge (DH)
John (DGP) & Judith (DGM)
Sarah (4.5)
7122 - Early


Yunchman
Stacy (25) & Dave (28)
6608 / Late
Getting married at CC

Casana
Ana & Frank
Sofia (6)
6632 / Late

gwoman100
Cheryl (40)
Mallory (6)
6321 / Late

nhpgator
Ron & Natasha
Isabella (7yo) & Mackenzie (4 yo)
7518 for now

farynaed
Emily & Craig
Ellie (8), Hayden (5)
7537 / early

mickeysgirl1129
Jennifer & Ross
5639 / Late
Celebrating 5th Anniversary

Adie's Mama
Elizabeth & Aaron
Aidan (4), Zachary (10 Months)
2112 / Early

dmsprung
Denise & Larry
Zach (7), Jeremy (4)
Cabin 8556 first seating
10th Anniversary

leelip1982
Lee & Ashley
6628 / Late
Getting Married

tiggerliz
Liz (55) & Bruce (56)
GTY6 /Late

Just Cruisin'[b]
me, my DH
DD (10), DS (7)

[b]jewels9582
Me (35) & DH (41)
DS (12), DD (9), DSS (9), DS (7), DSS (7)
Make a wish for DS (9)

Spaingirls
Mom & DH
DD (11), DD (7)
6524

cjhecelaya
Colin & Jenn
Hanna (8), Emmalee (6)
8044 / Early



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Fish Extender Participants

Member / Room #

Cbettencourt / Christine, Jorge, Sarah (4.5) / 7122
gwoman100 / Cheryl (40), Mallory (6) / 6321
farynaed / Emily, Craig, Ellie (8), Hayden (5) / 7537
JoRo / Gustin, Josephine (4), Robert (2.5) / 8526
GoofyFD / Mark, Emily, Carey, Jenna / 2606
JustinsMommy07 / Maria, Mark, Justin (3), Joseph (10 mo) / 8518
LisaG520 / Lisa & Darrell / 6098
leelip1982 / Lee & Ashley / 6628
Tonyah / Tonya, Jim, Rhianna (13), Kathryn (5) / 7574
nhpgator / Ron, Natasha, Isabella (7yo), Mackenzie (4 yo) / 7518 for now
Casana / Ana, Frank, Sofia (6) / 6632
Spaingirls / Mom, DH, DD (11), DD (7) / 6524
cjhecelaya / Colin, Jenn, Hanna (8), Emmalee (6) / 8044

(JoRo will announce any changes outside her door so please contact her for changes - room 8526)



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MEETS!

Welcome Meet: 3:00 pm ~ dock side of the boat near Palo

Ducks/Huskies Football: TBA ~ Diversions


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Other Stuff

Kid's Thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2302844



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[Davids-Coco]

Holding in case we need more space for info...

[Davids-Coco]

So my suggestion for name is Magical Mickey Tour (playing off The Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour"). I think it would be easy to play with the stuff that is already out there and make some cool graphics... and DH and I do have enough graphical experience to get it done (I think ;) ).

[sftnslky]

So my suggestion for name is Magical Mickey Tour (playing off The Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour"). I think it would be easy to play with the stuff that is already out there and make some cool graphics... and DH and I do have enough graphical experience to get it done (I think ;) ).


Love the Name.... :thumbsup2 Thank you so much for starting a new thread. You rock!!! One of my DD's wanted me to let you know she likes the group name "Mickey's Magical Matey's Tour". Just thought I would throw that out there. On a side note, I know most of you have little kids, but on our last cruise the older kids started/had their own "kids only" thread. So my DD started one http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2302844 Hopefully some other folks who join will have kids who can use the thread. :goodvibes It made it so much easier for them to have instant friends on board instead of feeling all alone. :hug: Well, I need to get doing some never ending laundry. Happy Saturday all... Big :grouphug:

Here is our information that you will need. It won't let me edit your post.sorry.

Sftnslky
Rebecca [44] DH Earl [43]
DD Jennah [14] DD Macy [11]
DS Kaleb [9] DS Kasey [9]
DBrother-in-law Mark [51]
Cabins 6120 & 6122
late Dinning.

[Davids-Coco]

Sounds good. I will have to edit the original to add info. I have also added the kid's thread.

I say we go with Mickey's Magical Matey Tour (Matey's tour is too many possessives, lol) How's that?

[GoofyFD]

I see we moved!
Our info

GoofyFD
Mark and Emily
dd Carey 12 dd Jenna 9
early seating

this will be our 5th Disney cruise

[schwenksvillemouse]

John and Kirsten
Evan - 9
Tara - 5

Early dining too. Our first cruise period.

[Davids-Coco]

Mark, congrats on almost being gold!

John & Kirsten, I hope you love it!! We really enjoy cruising although it is something we don't get to do very much.

[Sinderelly]

I'm so glad to see so many new posts! Thank you David's Coco for starting the new thread and posting all the information. :flower3:

Sinderelly
Jim and Kathy
Cabin #7041/Early Seating

[sftnslky]

I'm so glad to see so many new posts! Thank you David's Coco for starting the new thread and posting all the information. :flower3:


DITTO to Both :worship::worship: Can't wait till we all start planing all of the dis stuff. Here is a list of things our dis group has done in the past. Any other ideas, suggestions, thoughts??

dis met and greet
dis cabin tour..one diser on our last cruise had the Roy suite. :lovestruc
dis printed name tags
dis custom made rubber braclets with group name & sail date on them.
fish extender gifts
secret Mickey gift exchange..had a $25 limit.
dis PJ breakfast
dis adult cocktail/dance party

We don't have to do all of them, but it is fun to do some of them. And I would be willing to head up a few of them if need be. :goodvibes

[Davids-Coco]

I definitely like the ideas... a meet and greet should be easy enough. I love the PJ breakfast idea too (although could pose an issue for our "bare" sleepers! ;) ) I would think that things like bracelets would depend on the number of cruisers we have. Name tags would be uber easy. Great ideas - keep em coming!

So where is everyone in planning? We have some general ideas and are looking at excursions and the like but will probably only do minimal stuff off ship with such a little one. I am really hoping to hit up the spa at least once! Our budget is in order and savings are coming in... and Disney Reward Dollars racking up. We know where we WANT to stay pre-trip but don't know how availability will be at 7 months - DVC resort and not our home resort. So, general ideas are there, but the specifics are still a bit up in the air. I'm a massive planner though - we are be planning our next vacation and quite possibly making the reservation during this trip (12 month window DVC home resort)!!

[sftnslky]

So where is everyone in planning? We have some general ideas and are looking at excursions and the like but will probably only do minimal stuff off ship with such a little one. I am really hoping to hit up the spa at least once! Our budget is in order and savings are coming in... and Disney Reward Dollars racking up. We know where we WANT to stay pre-trip but don't know how availability will be at 7 months - DVC resort and not our home resort. So, general ideas are there, but the specifics are still a bit up in the air. I'm a massive planner though - we are be planning our next vacation and quite possibly making the reservation during this trip (12 month window DVC home resort)!!


Warning Massive Planner here as well..:rotfl:

We are renting ATV's in St. Marteen for the day and ridding all around, going to the beach etc.. This past time we went on a 3 hour ATV tour with 15 other dis'ers it was awesome. And they have double rider atvs so our girls each got to come with us.

In St Thomas we are doing the sail and snorkle tour through Disney. Hubby and the boys will do something else.. DH dosen't swim at all, and the boys would just go look for sharks :rotfl: and try to get eaten :lmao: Gotta love 8 year olds :thumbsup2

I would also like to jet ski somewhere other then Castaway key..they are $190 for 1 hour for 2 people. :scared1: This time on Castaway Cay we might do the stingrays and rent a waterbike. And try real hard to get a spot with shade.

As for pre-stay we are most likely doing the New Residence Inn in Port Canaveral..they have a great price on a 2 full bedroom suite. Or stay in Orlando at Hilton Grand Vacations Club and do a Disney Dinner show the laua one or the Mid Evil Knights show...we did the Knights on in Los Angeles and it was awesome.

As for stay after the curise..due to flight schedules we are going to try to stay at the Hyatt [?] at the air port. Makes life much easier.

Right now we have $400 OBC...$200 for booking on board for each room. Gonna transfer to Dreams for an additional $200 each room for a total of $800That typically covers all tips and one spa treatment. After I make final payment I start putting away $100 a week till we leave for all the other purchases we make...Its surprising how fast things add up..and we don't drink any alcohol, can't imagine if we did drink how much it would be :eek::scared1::laughing:

Well can't wait to hear from everyone else. Big :grouphug:

[Davids-Coco]

Rebecca, I know how you feel. We aren't big drinkers but even a couple really really add up quickly.

[GoofyFD]

I want to go now!!!! It was a very long day. I need a Rum Punch....pirate:

[Davids-Coco]

Happy Thursday... is it the weekend yet??

[schwenksvillemouse]

We have not decided on where to stay before or after quite yet. I am the planner, and this is our first cruise. We will probably stay close to the airport on Friday night, and somewhere at Disney on the next Sat night. We are DVC members so we will probably stay at a DVC property.

As far as excursions I think we will keep it simple in the islands, and hit some beaches. On Castaway Cay I think we will do the stingray adventure.

[GoofyFD]

On Castaway Cay I think we will do the stingray adventure.

This was wonderful!!!!! We did this last time and ALL of us had a blast. I would recommend also renting a bike and riding the bike path first thing before it gets to hot on CC. We have done this the last two trips and had a great time.

[PrincessFAN2006]

We are booked on this cruise too.

Kim and Jason (NJ)
DD 17 DS 13 DS 9
rooms trying to switch but for now 2635 2637
Early Dininig

This will be our third Disney Cruise first Eastern. We are excited We are planning on doing Disney the week before


Kim
:cheer2:

[rocadonismom]

My parents just returned from this cruise (7 day Eastern) and booked for me while they were onboard. I'd love to "meet" some other diser's before we sail.

Rocadonismom
Carolyn (34)
unknown room #, category; Steerage/hoping for late dining.

As for excursions...I'm hoping to find kayacking or horseback riding somewhere. I've done both of these on the Western stretch.

[hattiedog]

We just moved our cruise from Oct. 2010 to this one. We're goin with a group and thiswill be or 3rd cruise. Can't wait.

[Davids-Coco]

Welcome Bill, Keri, Kailey, and Alyssa!

[ajtour]

Hi All! Just off the Magic today where we had a Western cruise:) We booked this cruise on board and looking forward to joining in. Our weather this week was no so great so I sure hope it is much better next November. We booked stateroom #2106 (we were in 2132 this cruise and too noisy in the aft). So sad that my cruise is over but happy to have a new cruise to plan:banana:.

At time of cruise-
Ajtour (celebrating my 35th bday on board)
DH (36)
DS (6)
DD (4)

[sftnslky]

:) Hello everyone, sorry that i've missed out on so much. Between home schooling 4 kids, just getting back from our cruise, and working on two dramas...DH and I are in our church's worship arts team..and are in the Drama team. We just finished putting on a BIG worship night, and now I am in the middle of memorizing for a big drama on Saturday for the Divorce Recovery conference...and to top it all off...I have been sick with bronchitis. :sick: The kids are all getting excited about Halloween. On Friday we have a harvest festival with our Charter School, and on Saturday our church puts on a REALLY big Costume Carnival. We typically have about 500-700 kids attend. :yay: I am thrilled to see we have several new folks joining us....WELCOME :goodvibes Well, I need to go finish up the laundry..joy oh joy :rotfl: bye..

[hattiedog]

Sorry I didn't catch the format

Bill, Keri, Kailey, Alyssa
#2608
early

[Davids-Coco]

Welcome to the new people! I have updated you all in our list with as much info as I could.

Rebecca, I feel you on the illnesses... although none of us have bronchitis thankfully! We all got hit this weekend. I've been beating my head against the wall with a little one with croup, another sick one, myself being sick... and of course DH being fine. Ugh.

Is anyone else going to do MNSSHP before the cruise? I haven't even gotten through this halloween and have been thinking really hard about how to dress everyone!

I guess I should add... I've been working on the image and replicating the whole beatles "magical mystery tour" logo with a little kick. I'll put something up when I'm happy with it!

[JustinsMommy07]

Hi everyone! Haven't been back to the thread in a while because there was never any activity. Glad to see the new thread!! We are booked on this cruise...our first 7 night. We have been on the 4 night twice before. It will be:
Me (Maria) DH (Mark) DS(Justin age 3 at cruise time) DS(Joseph arriving in February 2010 age 10 months at cruise time) I will have to dig out our reservation because my brain is mush, but we are either in 8518 or 7518. We had to switch cruises when we found out we were expecting #2. We have early dining.

Looking forward to meeting everyone and we would love to participate in the activities. The FE exchange is the only thing we have done so far. We probably won't be booking any excursions, but that may change.

[Davids-Coco]

Welcome Maria and congrats! We are traveling with another family who is expecting their second little guy at the end of December. Having two boys is wonderful!

[sftnslky]

Wanted to drop in and say Hello. Hope everyones halloween was great. As usual we took all the kids to our church's Costume Carnival. Since the boys are older I was finally able to work one of the booths. So I got to help out with the face painting. 3 solid hours of bending over little ones caused my back to remind me i'm no spring chicken. LOL who knew 44 could be considered old. Speaking of which :lmao: I actually have an older daughter [who isn't in my siggy line] I had her when I was 17 so she is 26 now. Well, she has one little girl "Heaven" who will be three the top of Feb, and she is due again the top of March. Well, we found out on Friday that she is having a little boy :cheer2: I can't wait. As soon as we found out we hit all the nicer thrift stores and childrens consignment stores in town :goodvibes and boy did my wallet feel it :rotfl: Hopefully one day she will be in the position to take her little ones on the cruise with us. That or when all of our other ones are older and have left home I can take them on one...but then they would be teenagers then...not sure if they would want to go...what am I saying my Jennah is 13, will be 14 when we sail again and she LOVES :lovestruc DCL. Well, gotta get dinner started, and wanna bake some homemade cookies for DH to take to work as a treat for everyone. Hope you all have a great night. Big :grouphug:

[GoofyFD]

People we are under a year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :banana::cheer2::thumbsup2pirate:

[PrincessFAN2006]

I can't believe its less then a year

:cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:

:grouphug:

[schwenksvillemouse]

I just booked our Friday night stay before the cruise. We are staying at the Marriott World Center just outside WDW. We are hoping to fly down early on Friday morning, and maybe hit a park or two on Friday.

[GoofyFD]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[Reedi]

Reedi
Heather & Robert
DS Tre' (10) & DD Ari (5)
Early Seating

This will be our second cruise on the Magic. We can't wait!! Our kids absolutely LOVED the kids clubs! See ya in November!

[schwenksvillemouse]

Reedi
Heather & Robert
DS Tre' (10) & DD Ari (5)
Early Seating

This will be our second cruise on the Magic. We can't wait!! Our kids absolutely LOVED the kids clubs! See ya in November!


It's nice to read see you in Nov and know it's the same year. We booked this cruise in Dec, 08, and it seemed like an eternity. It's finally starting to feel like it will happen soon.

[Sinderelly]

It is starting to feel "real" now that it's 2010 :goodvibes

I was wondering when this thread will get a little more active. I've been doing some research trying to decide where to stay and what to do before the cruise. We are flying in on Nov 3rd. We are considering a night at POFQ then 2 nights in Cocoa Beach.

[IrishCowboy]

Have a great cruise!

[Davids-Coco]

Still working on the graphic! The name is proving a little long if we wanted to do those silicone bracelets. Things have been insanely busy and crazy around here.

It looks like we may have even one more family joining my group - right now we are 8, we may become 12!

Seems like this is a small group, but hopefully more disers will add! ;)

[GoofyFD]

Happy New Year everyone! Only 296 more days!!!!! :thumbsup2

[LUVMICKEY]

Please add us to your list

LUVMICKEY & STEAMBOAT209
Michele & Cal
SR 6072
Early Seating

This will be our 5th Disney cruise and we can't wait to go. Haven't made any firm decisions about the excursions we want to do, but I know we'll keep it very simple. We are already booked at BLT for 8 nights after the cruise. This will be our first time staying there.

[Davids-Coco]

Okay, I'm officially losing my mind. I thought about packing. Seriously! What is wrong with me, lol.

In the last couple weeks, we have booked our air tickets (thankful for miles), bought our theme park tickets, and booked our transport. While there is still a lot up in the air, I'm feeling as though the basics are coming together. I am still a little freaked out that we haven't booked our hotel - but we can't do that until April 2nd. So for now, I am hoping it all works out!

Oh and after struggling against the graphic (wasn't happy with it)... I started over and am almost there!

[schwenksvillemouse]

Okay, I'm officially losing my mind. I thought about packing. Seriously! What is wrong with me, lol.

In the last couple weeks, we have booked our air tickets (thankful for miles), bought our theme park tickets, and booked our transport. While there is still a lot up in the air, I'm feeling as though the basics are coming together. I am still a little freaked out that we haven't booked our hotel - but we can't do that until April 2nd. So for now, I am hoping it all works out!

Oh and after struggling against the graphic (wasn't happy with it)... I started over and am almost there!


We have booked our hotel for Friday night, and that's about it. Right now we are staying at the Marriott World center on Marriott points. We are still deciding on if we want to squeeze in a park day on Friday - Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party if they will have it into Nov. I'm also still thinking of staying local on Friday night instead.

We will book Southwest when they open up their schedule for Nov.

[Sinderelly]

We are also waiting on Southwest's schedule to come out. I just booked our hotel in Orlando for 2 nights after the cruise on Priceline. We are staying at the Buena Vista Suites and Spa. I've been trying Priceline for Cocoa Beach for 2 nights prior to the cruise..no luck yet. :confused3

[Davids-Coco]

Wow, I didn't know southwest came out so late. Alaska is who our miles are through and there are only two daily non stop flights, so we had to do it quick.

We have to wait on hotel because it is DVC at a resort we do not own at.

I'm getting jazzed. Our third family booked today. Our ressies are linked and everything is good to go. So now we are a party of 12!

[schwenksvillemouse]

Wow, I didn't know southwest came out so late. Alaska is who our miles are through and there are only two daily non stop flights, so we had to do it quick.

We have to wait on hotel because it is DVC at a resort we do not own at.

I'm getting jazzed. Our third family booked today. Our ressies are linked and everything is good to go. So now we are a party of 12!

Congrats to you. It could be summer time before Southwest opens up thier schedule for November.

[Davids-Coco]

Congrats to you. It could be summer time before Southwest opens up thier schedule for November.
Learn something new every day!

[leelip1982]

Lee 27
Ashley 24
Getting married on the cruise. Add us to the FE list.

[Davids-Coco]

Lee 27
Ashley 24
Getting married on the cruise. Add us to the FE list.
We don't officially have a fe list yet... just a list of who's going. Watch for details of when we get there.

[Reedi]

Lee 27
Ashley 24
Getting married on the cruise. Add us to the FE list.

Congrats in advance!!

[TonyaH]

Please add our name to Roll call
Tonya & Jim
DD Rhianna 13 & DD Kathryn 5
7574/Early

This is our 6th Disney Cruise, new to Dis Board

[IrishCowboy]

Have a great cruise!

[hattiedog]

9 months 2 days 17hrs 6mins and 20secs. till our next Disney Cruise. It's 30degrees and snowing here on Cape Cod. I sometimes think I can smell the sands of Castaway Cay, Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

[schwenksvillemouse]

Has anyone used Bernard tours on St. John's or St. Marrten? I can't remember which right now. I've read good things about their private tours over on CruiseCritic. I'm thinking about booking this. He hits the beaches, and will go by the beach where the planes land in the afternoon. I know my 9 year old will love this.

[Sinderelly]

We have a tour booked with Bernards on St. Marten. He confirmed via email.

[schwenksvillemouse]

We have a tour booked with Bernards on St. Marten. He confirmed via email.

I haven't researched him very much. Are there different tours to book, or can you create your own itinerary?

[Sinderelly]

You can create your own personal tour or do the group tour. I emailed him about prices-$35pp group tour & $300 private tour. It takes him a couple days to respond. It is now 84 degress in St Martin (sigh). It's sleeting/snowing here.

[schwenksvillemouse]

You can create your own personal tour or do the group tour. I emailed him about prices-$35pp group tour & $300 private tour. It takes him a couple days to respond. It is now 84 degress in St Martin (sigh). It's sleeting/snowing here.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to send him a note.

[Davids-Coco]

On talk of excursions, any suggestions for things on St Maarten? I'm not sure what to do with two small kids. I don't really want to have to travel far either since there are no car seat laws - but the laws of physics still apply.

We are planning the butterfly farm and skytram thing in St. Thomas.

[schwenksvillemouse]

On talk of excursions, any suggestions for things on St Maarten? I'm not sure what to do with two small kids. I don't really want to have to travel far either since there are no car seat laws - but the laws of physics still apply.

We are planning the butterfly farm and skytram thing in St. Thomas.

I had bought the 2009 Passporter to get an idea what was available. We are a beach family, and our kids will be 9 & 5 when we cruise. I really don't want to spend a lot of money on excursions so I think we will do the beaches at all three stops. The only place I may do a tour is with Bernard Tours in St. Maarten. I really want to see the planes land. :woohoo:

[Davids-Coco]

I had bought the 2009 Passporter to get an idea what was available. We are a beach family, and our kids will be 9 & 5 when we cruise. I really don't want to spend a lot of money on excursions so I think we will do the beaches at all three stops. The only place I may do a tour is with Bernard Tours in St. Maarten. I really want to see the planes land. :woohoo:
I'm waiting to buy the new passporter 2010 version at the moment. However, I could have sworn that I heard the beaches are all a good ride from port... :confused3

[schwenksvillemouse]

I'm waiting to buy the new passporter 2010 version at the moment. However, I could have sworn that I heard the beaches are all a good ride from port... :confused3

I'm not sure, but I think the beaches are a drive. I'd prefer my 5 year old be in a booster, but we'll go with a regular seat belt if we take the trek to a beach.

[Davids-Coco]

The littlest one would be my concern - since he is only going to be 19 mo.

[Sinderelly]

I think the Bernards webiste mentioned car seats. The vans are equipped for them but they are not required by law. Maybe you could email him and ask if they could provide a car seat?

[schwenksvillemouse]

I've been going back and forth on what to do pre-cruise. We haven't bought airline tickets yet - waiting on Southwest to open up.

I'd like to do MK for the day on Friday with a Cindarella breakfast or lunch. I was looking at the cost of park tickets for one day, and add the character meal, and it's really out of site for a family of four.

Right now I'm just booked at the Holiday Inn by the airport for Friday night. I've also thought about staying out by the port in Coaco Beach.

Has anybody else firmed up thier pre-cruise plans?

[Davids-Coco]

Our pre-cruise plans are generally pretty set. We get in on the 2nd and have a local friend bringing dinner (and my groceries). Then MK the 3rd, Epcot the 4th, MK on friday (just like you!) with the other family arriving the night before.

[JoRo]

I thought is was kinda quiet so I decided to check the boards and found this new link ;)

JORo
Greg and Lisa
dd Josephine 4 ds Robbie 2.5
early seating

This is our first disney cruise - first cruise with kids actually - I was worried about them being pretty young but I think that is why we are going with Disney


When to book Palo
When to book child care
Better to book through Disney cruise for the Hyatt or separately?
Any recommendations on tours with small kids, or just enjoy the towns/beaches - might be easier?
Bring a stroller?
Bed rails for the bunk - for small kids or just put them on the floor?


We are flying in on Friday from Seattle (arrive 5-6PM) and then when cruise is over we are going to WDW DVC for 3 nights because we just cant get enough disney. I am thinking the Mickeys Christmas Party might be going early Nov so we hope to do that one night and if not that is ok too...

Looking forward to meeting some/all of you!

[JoRo]

Just reading more - looks like we would need carseats for the little ones on tour too - ;( hmm well I will have to do a litte more "port" research too - and see what is walking distance and just enjoy the boat. When they are older we can do more in ports .....hmmmm......

[schwenksvillemouse]

I thought is was kinda quiet so I decided to check the boards and found this new link ;)

JORo
Greg and Lisa
dd Josephine 4 ds Robbie 2.5
early seating

This is our first disney cruise - first cruise with kids actually - I was worried about them being pretty young but I think that is why we are going with Disney


When to book Palo
When to book child care
Better to book through Disney cruise for the Hyatt or separately?
Any recommendations on tours with small kids, or just enjoy the towns/beaches - might be easier?
Bring a stroller?
Bed rails for the bunk - for small kids or just put them on the floor?


We are flying in on Friday from Seattle (arrive 5-6PM) and then when cruise is over we are going to WDW DVC for 3 nights because we just cant get enough disney. I am thinking the Mickeys Christmas Party might be going early Nov so we hope to do that one night and if not that is ok too...

Looking forward to meeting some/all of you!

Our kids are a bit older, but we probably still just do some basic tours. I've read good things about Bernards Tour on St. Maarten. It's only $35/person, and I believe it's for six hours. It includes touring, shopping, and a beach stop. On St. Thomas I think we will do the Magen's Beach day.

[Davids-Coco]

I thought is was kinda quiet so I decided to check the boards and found this new link ;)

JORo
Greg and Lisa
dd Josephine 4 ds Robbie 2.5
early seating

This is our first disney cruise - first cruise with kids actually - I was worried about them being pretty young but I think that is why we are going with Disney


When to book Palo
When to book child care
Better to book through Disney cruise for the Hyatt or separately?
Any recommendations on tours with small kids, or just enjoy the towns/beaches - might be easier?
Bring a stroller?
Bed rails for the bunk - for small kids or just put them on the floor?


We are flying in on Friday from Seattle (arrive 5-6PM) and then when cruise is over we are going to WDW DVC for 3 nights because we just cant get enough disney. I am thinking the Mickeys Christmas Party might be going early Nov so we hope to do that one night and if not that is ok too...

Looking forward to meeting some/all of you!
Welcome!

our little ones will be 4 and 19 mo on the cruise, so we are there with you. Funny enough, we will be flying Tuesday out of Seattle (after a commuter from PDX). Do you have the alaska direct flight? Time sounds right...

We aren't sure when we are going to book palo or babysitting yet. I'm thinking a brunch would be easier since I want to experience all the dinners. We don't really see ourselves using much babysitting for the small one beyond palo time and some spa time IF we both go.

Our tours we are looking at right now are both on st. thomas: butterfly farm and skyride to paradise point. Both have open times, so we can go as necessary based on the kids' schedules. We will probably wander around port in St. Marten and then hang at the beach at CC.

We will have our stroller because we will be at disney world prior but I don't anticipate using it much on ship - especially since it is a double and there isn't much room! When wandering around, I'll probably pop the little one in the carrier (highly recommend an ergo/beco) even on the ship... since I am less off balance than just carrying him.

I would be apprehensive about the 4 yr old on a top bunk personally... but your comfort is what is important. There is a rail on it already. I'd much rather put the older on the couch one with a rail and put the younger in a pnp. You *should* be able to still do this at 2.5.

Hope that helps some!

[LisaG520]

Hi,

We're on this cruise too :banana:

Lisa (43) and Darrell (45)
Late seating

We live in Jacksonville, Fl so will probably just drive down the morning of the cruise.

This will be our 8th cruise - all have been Disney :cool1:

This is our first Eastern so all new ports for us (except CC).

Looking forward to it :)

[AdventureLover67]

Hi everyone!
My husband Don (47) and I (younger than him, but not by much:rolleyes1) will be joining everyone on the cruise! We just booked yesterday so of course I had to look for the thread!
This will be our second cruise and we will be joined with some friends (actually our dinner mates) from the first cruise!:woohoo:
Kind of in a hurry today but I look forward to chatting with everyone over the next 8 months!
Have a Magical weekend all!:grouphug:
Amy

We will have the late dining.

[JustinsMommy07]

Hey Everyone,
Just checking in while I have a minute...DS#2 made his debut during a blizzard on 2/10 and has been a handful ever since...I can't even remember what sleep feels like:confused3 I was able to check and our cabin is 8518 everything else is the same. So much to do in the next couple of months it's gonna be crazy...we will really need the relaxation of the cruise. Hope to get to know everyone a bit before the cruise.

[JoRo]

So curious - I was probably looking in the wrong place but how did you see where your cabin was assigned? Dont see anything on the disney cruise planning page about cruises or available tours/times.

Maybe just need to dig around a bit more!

David - Coco so fun to have neighbors with small kids going on the cruise with us - Yes we only do direct flights to FL - some think its easier to have a stop over but we like to just get there!!

We are really excited about our first disney cruise! A little shakey about leaving the kids with the disney care - I am sure its safe but I worry about our 4 year old off playing around the boat (if that is what they do) at least the little one would be confined to one big room. We are not plainning much except maybe one dinner at Palo - the rest of the time we are looking forward to playing with the kids!

[JoRo]

Ok MIL decided she wanted to go, this was a free incentive cruise for buying DVC last summer so I called to see how much to add her and got two different prices about a $400 Difference between the two cruise sales folks - but we got upgrade to verandah room about $175 pp plus cost of extra person and its assigned we are so excited now...

Of course I was mama bear and was asking all kinds of questions about the locks on the sliding door (for our crazy 2 year old ) and about the employees in the kids club - so feeling pretty good and really excited so I thought we would share...

[skylynx]

Hi, Everyone
I'm usually the first one to join or start a DIS cruise list, but "missed the boat" on this one.

DH and I are taking this cruise alone, sans our teenagers. This will be our 12th Disney Cruise. We've also been on the Norwegian Pearl once, to Alaska, last summer (with kids). We tend to take the Wonder cruises with kids and the Magic ones without.

Cruise 11 is coming up this July...a four night Wonder with the kids. We also have a 5 night booked on the Dream in June of 2011 to celebrate DD's high school graduation.

We are looking forward to this Eastern itinerary...we've been on it once before, and then tried again in 08 but at the very last minute (literally morning of departure) our itinerary got switched to a Western to avoid fallout from a hurricane. So we've been on three of those.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!


Here's our stats for the list:

Skylynx
Chicagoland and Storm Mountain, Colorado
Denise (50) John (54)
Cabin 6078 Second seating

[Sinderelly]

Hi, Everyone
I'm usually the first one to join or start a DIS cruise list, but "missed the boat" on this one.

DH and I are taking this cruise alone, sans our teenagers. This will be our 12th Disney Cruise. We've also been on the Norwegian Pearl once, to Alaska, last summer (with kids). We tend to take the Wonder cruises with kids and the Magic ones without.

Cruise 11 is coming up this July...a four night Wonder with the kids. We also have a 5 night booked on the Dream in June of 2011 to celebrate DD's high school graduation.

We are looking forward to this Eastern itinerary...we've been on it once before, and then tried again in 08 but at the very last minute (literally morning of departure) our itinerary got switched to a Western to avoid fallout from a hurricane. So we've been on three of those.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!


Here's our stats for the list:

Skylynx
Chicagoland and Storm Mountain, Colorado
Denise (50) John (54)
Cabin 6078 Second seating

Weclome aboard!:goodvibes

[AdventureLover67]

Hi, Everyone
I'm usually the first one to join or start a DIS cruise list, but "missed the boat" on this one.

DH and I are taking this cruise alone, sans our teenagers. This will be our 12th Disney Cruise. We've also been on the Norwegian Pearl once, to Alaska, last summer (with kids). We tend to take the Wonder cruises with kids and the Magic ones without.

Cruise 11 is coming up this July...a four night Wonder with the kids. We also have a 5 night booked on the Dream in June of 2011 to celebrate DD's high school graduation.

We are looking forward to this Eastern itinerary...we've been on it once before, and then tried again in 08 but at the very last minute (literally morning of departure) our itinerary got switched to a Western to avoid fallout from a hurricane. So we've been on three of those.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!


Here's our stats for the list:

Skylynx
Chicagoland and Storm Mountain, Colorado
Denise (50) John (54)
Cabin 6078 Second seating

Hi Denise!
This is only our second cruise and we are doing as you are....just hubby and me! We will be meeting our table mates from our last cruise who also are leaving their daughter behind for the first time. It sounds as if the adults may out number the kids on this cruise! ;)
We took the Western last May and are in love with DCL now. My husband put off a cruise for years and really wasn't very excited last time but now he's a cruise junkie!
Look forwarding to meeting you!:goodvibes

[hattiedog]

Well purchased the airline tickets today:banana:. Amazing how much you have to spend on airfare (almost as much as the vacation). Flying Jet blue non-stop. We're flying down on the 5th and wondering if we should just stay at the Hyatt at the airport again, or maybe book a one night stay at the Nick hotel :confused3. I know it's still a half a year away, but really excited to be working out the details already.

[Sinderelly]

I was beginning to wonder if we were going to be the only ones without kids...just me and DH. We are just as excited about the cruise as two kids could ever be. We will be flying down on the 3rd and going to Epcot on the 4th. We haven't booked air yet, waiting patiently :rolleyes1 on Southwest.

Welcome aboard!

[skylynx]

We love our cruises with and without the kids...they are "differently wonderful."

On our adults only cruises, we dress up a lot. The tux and gown come out more than once, along with the rhinestones and glam shoes that hurt ;-) We stroll on the deck at night. We drink a glass of wine on the verandah before dinner. And sometimes after dinner. We rocket straight for Serenity Bay and the hammocks on Castaway Cay day, never looking back at the family beach. We go to the late night shows, and hang out in the sports bar. We have room service coffee and croissants on the verandah most mornings (ok, before heading up to the "real" breakfast with Mickey waffles and bacon!) We drag along our Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel white bathrobes that make us feel like millionaires even though they take up half a suitcase each. We do a Palo dinner and brunch. We go to the wine tasting. We'll get free stuff at the DVC member event. We bring our elaborate pirate gear. And we STILL line up for pictures with the characters even though we sometimes get strange looks.

When we are feeling lonesome for our own kids, we'll go to the atrium during a meet and greet and watch the interactions between the characters and the smaller children. Even though ours are teenagers now, we still love to watch the 3-6 year old set in awe of the princesses or Goofy or the main mice. Once we were lucky enough to see a photo shoot of Cinderella cozying up with someone's golden retriever guide dog. Those pictures are still floating around the Disboards someplace, but watching Cinderella in her immaculate white gloves cuddle this gorgeous dog was a true Disney moment!

In contrast, on our upcoming July cruise with kids, we'll dress up less, and probably spend an inordinate amount of time waiting for them to come in at night before we can really fall asleep! We'll set up "pirate camp" on the family beach as a rendezvous point, but still sneak off to Serenity Bay and the Castaway Air Bar for some Jimmy Buffett music and Landsharks! The big bulky bathrobes will stay home as the room is crowded enough. We will all dress up as pirates. We'll still have a Palo dinner. And we'll probably coerce the kids to at least a Jack Sparrow photo. We will enjoy spending time with them with no Xbox or texting. Probably will still have to endure the iPods.

The best tradition of all on either cruise is meeting with the onboard rebooking lady to book another one, no matter how far in the future. It takes all the sting out of walking off the ship when you have another cruise booked on the horizon, even if you know you are going to change the date.

We'll be delighted to meet everyone! Let us know if anyone is looking for two well-behaved tablemates for second seating...

[Yunchman]

Hello everyone!

My family and I will be on this cruise and my Fiance and I will be getting married! Woo-hoo! Just wanted to chime in for roll call! Any plans for this cruise for FE or meets, etc?

Stacy

[AdventureLover67]

Hello everyone!

My family and I will be on this cruise and my Fiance and I will be getting married! Woo-hoo! Just wanted to chime in for roll call! Any plans for this cruise for FE or meets, etc?

Stacy

Welcome aboard Stacy!
Congrats on the upcoming wedding! Does it take place on the ship?

From what I've read on the board so far, I don't think many events have been planned yet. It's most likely to far out yet.:confused3

By the way, LOVE your pug pic!!

[AdventureLover67]

I know I just posted but wanted to say I'm glad to see so many adult couples are going! People have asked DH and me why on earth we would go on a Disney cruise if it's just us.........if they only knew!!!:lmao:

[Yunchman]

Welcome aboard Stacy!
Congrats on the upcoming wedding! Does it take place on the ship?

From what I've read on the board so far, I don't think many events have been planned yet. It's most likely to far out yet.:confused3

By the way, LOVE your pug pic!!

Thank you! We are getting married at CC on 11/12. We are super excited! You are probably right it is still six months out.

Thanks again! I love this pic of my pug when he was a baby. He is going to be seven years old in a month and half, I can't believe he will be a senior pug! I am amazed how many people on the disboards have pug pics as their avatars, cool people just love pugs I guess :laughing:

Hopefully this thread heats up a bit once it gets closer to sailing :thumbsup2

[AdventureLover67]

How wonderful to get married at CC! :lovestruc
It looks like you could consult Skylynx for ideas of how to get the most out of your cruise. After reading their plans for the trip it sounds like they have it down to a science!:goodvibes
Is anyone else having a special celebration?

[casana]

Hello everyone! Just discovered this thread, and definitely want to join in! Here's our info:

Casana
Ana & Frank
Sofia (6)
SR6632 Late seating

I've sooooo much to study up on for planning :scared1: since its our first cruise ever but at least I've got the summer for that. We're considering arriving on the previous Wed or Thurs & staying at WDW for a day or two, so I've got more planning... plus airfare shopping eeck.:surfweb:

[Davids-Coco]

Ok ladies and gentlemice... I've been slacking (heck I have two small children and things have been *interesting*) but everyone is updated as best as I could. Please let me know if something is wrong. Thanks.

As for us, we have our before and after hotels now. I was up at 6:00 am on the phone with DVC member services to make sure we got what we wanted/needed. All flights are arranged. All travel insurance is taken care of and we have our park tickets. Cinco de Mayo is my call date for the first half dining. All the money to pay off about 90% of our vacation is in the bank earning interest. It feels good to have something going "right" in life right now.

[AdventureLover67]

Hello everyone! Just discovered this thread, and definitely want to join in! Here's our info:

Casana
Ana & Frank
Sofia (6)
SR6632 Late seating

I've sooooo much to study up on for planning :scared1: since its our first cruise ever but at least I've got the summer for that. We're considering arriving on the previous Wed or Thurs & staying at WDW for a day or two, so I've got more planning... plus airfare shopping eeck.:surfweb:

Welcome Ana!
The disboard is a fantastic way to help plan your trip. You get a chance to "meet" with experienced cruisers who can cover everything from kid's activities to a romantic evening for the parents!
We have only cruised once and the disboard was the most useful tool ever and really adds to the excitment of the trip.
So glad you found the thread!:goodvibes

[skylynx]

Hi, Everybody

Happy May Day! On Tuesday, DH and I are about to celebrate our tenth anniversary of meeting each other at a 3 day corporate training event at Disney Institute in its heydey where Saratoga Springs now is. We will be celebrating by going out to our ranch-to-be in Colorado and building some buckrail fence and spending time doing nothing but sitting and enjoying our mountains!

Felt good to pay off our July 29 Wonder cruise, now we have to get started paying for this one!

One of the other things we like to do, particularly on a day at sea, is go up to the front of the ship where it is really windy and stand at the very center looking out to sea. A couple times coming back from Cozumel, the Magic was cooking along at top speed and it was absolutely life affirming to stand at that height, watching the ocean whipping away on either side of us and flying fish leaping, drawing in great lungs full of freedom. My hair looks pretty bad the rest of the day, but it's worth it. Sometimes if it's toooooo windy, DCL will block you from going up there, but when you can go it's pretty neat!

[Yunchman]

BTW I am 24 and my DF Dave is 27. Right no we are on late seating, but wait listed for early. Also our SR is on Deck 6, not sure of the exact cabin number. We also have a bunch of family going including both our moms and dads, my bro, my cousin, his two sisters, his BIL, and two of his nephews. Possibly more to come soon! :goodvibes

[shannon1025]

Hi All! I wanted to say hello and introduce myself. Me, my husband, and daughter (18 months at cruising time) are sooo looking forward to DCL. My husband and I have cruised Carnival in the past but we are ready for a change (and from what I hear Disney is hard to beat!). We'll also be spending a few days after the cruise at WDW. Looking forward to meeting all you!

Shannon and Chris
Kiersten (18 months months at cruising)
Late Seating

[schwenksvillemouse]

We don't usually purchase travel insurance, but I think I'm going to for the cruise. Any input on carriers woul dbe helpful. I'm starting from ground zero. What is a good price, and what coverage should I expect. Any help is appreciated.

[JoRo]

We have gotten and actually had to use Access America - no problems -just hold onto your receipts! We honeymooned at WDW with a cruise in 2005 when Hurrican Wilma came through, they covered everything including the extra air, extra nights at WDW because our cruise was cut short.

We will only be getting insurance with them for our air this year. My understanding is Disney Cruise will provide rooms, if they have to cancel days....that is what they told me on the phone.

[TonyaH]

Hello, hope everyone is well. Just thought I would check in. We just purchased our airline tickets and will be leaving on the 5th from Portland, OR. Still trying to decide on hotel the day prior to cruise. We thought maybe we would stay near the airport.

Do you normally rent a car or take Disney transportation. This is our 6th Disney Cruise and we normally rent a car and park it in the lot. last year we took the Disney's bus and we arrived at the port late in the day. So I think we might rent a car.

Everyone talks about the FE's, but did you make your FE or did you buy it? Is someone could get back to me on this.

Also my husband and I are celebrating 16th year anniversary this year, so we have decided to renew our vows on board. Our children are excited! My husband retired from the US Navy a few years ago, so this means so much to our family.

Take care,
Tonya

[Davids-Coco]

Tonya, congratulations! We talked about renewing on the cruise too (we have survived a really hellish year and felt it was time) but won't be for financial reasons. Oddly enough, we are also from the Portland area! We fly out a few days earlier.

[Adventurelover'sDH]

OK...sounds like this is turning into the "Love Boat":goodvibes I have a great idea...why don't we ALL renew our vows onboard...sort of like the Moonies and their mass weddings...:dance3:

Sorry for being so glib (not really)! Just thought I'd pop on since I see my better half has been posting. By the way...Happy Birthday Amy (Adventurelover67):flower3:

Ciao for now all. I am looking forward to meeting everyone.

[skylynx]

It would be completely grand for this trip to be like a Love Boat voyage, just without the bad 70's fashion including ultra tight short shorts on the crew and wing flap lapels on the gentlemen's jackets and shirts.

DH and I are Love Boat junkies and have all the series on DVD. We watch them when we need a cruise (or 70's) fix. We make sure we have MANY what we call LBM's (Love Boat Moments) on our actual cruises, including watching the moonlight from the top deck railing and wearing lots of rhinestones.

Last year while we were on a Cruise Critic forum before our Alaska cruise on NCL, the REAL Captain Stubing (Gavin McLeod) joined in for a couple of posts to answer questions. Way cool.

[JustinsMommy07]

Hey Everybody,

Checking in real quick. We just got back from Disney, where it was ridiculously hot and crowded. Never experienced that during the first week of May. It didn't help that DS#1 had meltdown after meltdown with no rhyme or reason to them. :confused3 Alot has happened to him in a couple of months..he got a new brother and lost his bottle and binky so that may have something to do with it. I am hoping his terrible two phase will end when he turns three in August, but I had heard somewhere that a three year old is just a two year old with experience! We are trying to decide on pre and post cruise plans. We want to stay near the port the night before. Last year we stayed at the Radisson and DH wasnt crazy about it. Does anyone have any suggestions? Also we want to hit Disney for a day or two, but not sure whether we want to do it before or after the cruise.

[leelip1982]

How wonderful to get married at CC! :lovestruc
It looks like you could consult Skylynx for ideas of how to get the most out of your cruise. After reading their plans for the trip it sounds like they have it down to a science!:goodvibes
Is anyone else having a special celebration?

getting married on deck 7

[JoRo]

Jsut sharing we are so excited!

We decided to fly in Thursday night instead of that Friday because Airfare was almost DOUBLE from Seattle. So we lucked out with DVC and get to stay at the Boardwalk (1st time) then be best part - I didnt know that the food and wine festival would still be going on so that will be so FUN and the Mickey Xmas party Thursday or Friday - which I think we will skip this time - then off to the cruise, already trying to decide on tours...

Is the Kayaking fun? We are thinking about sending Nana and DH on it - any feedback?

Then probably just the butterfly farms since we have small ones and I am still worried about carseats/no carseats...

Well really excited about our trip - hope to meet most of you !

[AdventureLover67]

My goodness is the board hopping!! :woohoo:
What a wonderful surprise that my awesome hubby made such a sweet post yesterday regarding my birthday on top of the surprises he had for me. I really love you bub!!:hug:
I love his idea of the "Love Boat" theme. New marriages and celebrations of old ones (that doesn't sound quite right but what the heck!). Hey Don, do you have any Moonie contacts? Would I still get a bonus ring?!?:rolleyes1
I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone on the board and sharing ideas/experiences and the excitement of our trip!
As far a Fish Extenders go, you can make it yourself or you can even order them off of ebay! If you opt to make your own just google the directions for it or check the disboard for postings of dimensions and materials, that way it will fit nicely on your door.:goodvibes
Have a great day all and thanks again Don! I really would marry you all over again!:lovestruc

[AdventureLover67]

getting married on deck 7

Congrats!!!!:woohoo:

Have you already selected the date?

[Adventurelover'sDH]

What a wonderful surprise that my awesome hubby made such a sweet post yesterday regarding my birthday on top of the surprises he had for me. I really love you bub!!:hug:
I love his idea of the "Love Boat" theme. New marriages and celebrations of old ones (that doesn't sound quite right but what the heck!). Hey Don, do you have any Moonie contacts? Would I still get a bonus ring?!?:rolleyes1
I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone on the board and sharing ideas/experiences and the excitement of our trip!
As far a Fish Extenders go, you can make it yourself or you can even order them off of ebay! If you opt to make your own just google the directions for it or check the disboard for postings of dimensions and materials, that way it will fit nicely on your door.:goodvibes
Have a great day all and thanks again Don! I really would marry you all over again!:lovestruc

Well...I guess it's fairly easy to keep the spousal-unit happy!

I still don't know about the whole Moonie thing though. If I were to wear a toga-type outfit and attempt to sell flowers and other assorted trinkets to the other passengers, the crew, not to mention the other passengers, could possibly take exception...

As far as the whole Love Boat thing goes...I suppose I could go sans haircut for the next 6 months, wear REALLY big sunglasses, find a leisure suit, and borrow a pair of my daughter's shorts to complete the ensemble...:hippie:

[TonyaH]

Tonya, congratulations! We talked about renewing on the cruise too (we have survived a really hellish year and felt it was time) but won't be for financial reasons. Oddly enough, we are also from the Portland area! We fly out a few days earlier.

It was alot to spend, I hope it is worth it. We just moved to Kalama, WA about 8 months ago. We moved from Chicago, due to a job transfer. My husband is from Washington State and we love it here. It is so nice to be back, and I love Portland!

[TonyaH]

Congrats!!!!:woohoo:

Have you already selected the date?

No date yet, just a confirmation that we can have the ceremony on board.

[leelip1982]

Congrats!!!!:woohoo:

Have you already selected the date?

Im pretty sure they tell us the date we get married. I know leagally married is nov 6 before you leave port. But dis tells you when you can have the ceramony.

[AdventureLover67]

Tonya and Lelip-
I am so excited for both of you! :goodvibes
What a wonderful way to both start and refresh a marriage!
I looked up the packages after reading the posts and Don and I think maybe for our 25th we'll renew on board! We never had a real wedding so it will be very exciting if we really do it. Pretty sure we'll at least do a cruise.......:cool1:
I hope you both continue to post your updates. Just gotta love those fairy tail endings!!:wizard:

[leelip1982]

Thanks adventurelover67!!! We are very excited!

[TonyaH]

Congrations Lelip! I can only imagine how excited you are to be starting a new chapter in your life. I hope you have a long & happy marriage.

We have been working with Shanda @ Disney to see if we can have the VR ceremony on deck 7 as well. She indicated when we booked the ceremony we could have the ceremony on deck 7, now she sent me an email last Friday that Disney will only allow 1 ceremony on deck 7 due to daylight savings time. So the ceremony would take place @ Cadillac Lounge. They provided pictures of lounge and we are not sure this is what we want. We are thinking $2500 is alot to spend to have a VR in a lounge. So we are still contemplating. What do you all think?

So much has been going on in the home front. I have just been offered a position at MetLife Home Mortgage. I start June 1st. I'm so excited! I have had almost a year off with my children and I think everyone has adjusted to the move, so it's a perfect time to go back.

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day!
Tonya

[leelip1982]

:Congrations Lelip! I can only imagine how excited you are to be starting a new chapter in your life. I hope you have a long & happy marriage.

We have been working with Shanda @ Disney to see if we can have the VR ceremony on deck 7 as well. She indicated when we booked the ceremony we could have the ceremony on deck 7, now she sent me an email last Friday that Disney will only allow 1 ceremony on deck 7 due to daylight savings time. So the ceremony would take place @ Cadillac Lounge. They provided pictures of lounge and we are not sure this is what we want. We are thinking $2500 is alot to spend to have a VR in a lounge. So we are still contemplating. What do you all think?

So much has been going on in the home front. I have just been offered a position at MetLife Home Mortgage. I start June 1st. I'm so excited! I have had almost a year off with my children and I think everyone has adjusted to the move, so it's a perfect time to go back.

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day!
Tonya

That is a hard decision. We really wanted deck 7 because I wanted it outside and I didn't want it at cc because we love that port so much I justed wanted to be able to hang out on cc. When we booked in Dec we were on a waiting list for deck 7 and then we got it. However, if deck 7 was not available we were still going to get married in the lounge because I really did not want to wait any longer ( we have been together 7 1/2 years!!!! and our official anniversary is 11/14/02 unofficial 8/31/02 ). For a VR if you really want it on deck 7 then maybe I would wait until you can have it there. In the end you have to do what is right for you guys!!! I know some people have had there weddings/VR in the lounge and it has been beautiful but I know what its like to have your heart set on something. Good luck!!!:love:

[AdventureLover67]

Congrations Lelip! I can only imagine how excited you are to be starting a new chapter in your life. I hope you have a long & happy marriage.

We have been working with Shanda @ Disney to see if we can have the VR ceremony on deck 7 as well. She indicated when we booked the ceremony we could have the ceremony on deck 7, now she sent me an email last Friday that Disney will only allow 1 ceremony on deck 7 due to daylight savings time. So the ceremony would take place @ Cadillac Lounge. They provided pictures of lounge and we are not sure this is what we want. We are thinking $2500 is alot to spend to have a VR in a lounge. So we are still contemplating. What do you all think?

So much has been going on in the home front. I have just been offered a position at MetLife Home Mortgage. I start June 1st. I'm so excited! I have had almost a year off with my children and I think everyone has adjusted to the move, so it's a perfect time to go back.

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day!
Tonya

I'm so sorry to hear deck 7 isn't available for your VR.:sad2:
I tend to agree with Lelip in regards to waiting if it really isn't what you wanted. It would be a shame to spend the $2500 if it already feels like you might be disappointed (keep in mind I'm a tad bit on the frugal side normally!). On the other hand, maybe they would have more options available and you and DH could find something equally special? :confused3

Congratulations and good luck starting you new job! I hope you love it and get great co-workers, too!

[Reedi]

Just wanted to let y'all know that we will not be sailing with y'all after all. But have no fear, we'll make sure that the ship is ready for you, 'cause we bumped our trip up two weeks. :banana:

I hope y'all have a fun and safe trip.:thumbsup2

[Yunchman]

Does anyone know if the rotation as far as what night is formal night, casual, etc. is still the same as it was a few years ago, just trying to figure out what night to do PALO and what night will be semi formal formal pirate or casual?

[leelip1982]

Does anyone know if the rotation as far as what night is formal night, casual, etc. is still the same as it was a few years ago, just trying to figure out what night to do PALO and what night will be semi formal formal pirate or casual?

not sure? do you know what day you are getting married.

[Sinderelly]

Is this thread dead?

[Davids-Coco]

No, not dead. I've been MIA though. I can catch up the main post this afternoon. Things for me have been hard, so I'm just starting to be above water again.

[AdventureLover67]

Hopefully the thread will start picking up more now that we are getting closer to the cruise date!:goodvibes

Has anyone picked out shore excursions yet? Any recommendations?

[casana]

Anyone planning on taking a day or two in a Disney hotel prior to heading to the cruise?

We were toying with the idea, but of course its Jersey week and there's NO discounts other than perhaps AAA and I'm having a heck of a time finding cheap airfares down to Orlando... :worried:

This is our first cruise, how much prep work do we need to do prior to the cruise? Feels to far away to start working on details yet. :confused3

[JoRo]

Hi we are here, I watch every post...we are really exited, just a quiet thread.

We are doing a couple of days before excited to do one day of Food and Wine Festival and a few days after...

This is our first disney cruise, just got our little girl another little summer dress for the "dinners" ...love having a girl.

I have no idea what the little boy (2.5) will wear he really likes his disney tshirt and shorts.

So can anyone tell me are the disney dinners pretty casual? Other cruises seem to be a little more dressy.

[schwenksvillemouse]

Hopefully the thread will start picking up more now that we are getting closer to the cruise date!:goodvibes

Has anyone picked out shore excursions yet? Any recommendations?

We were originally booked on the Western cruise that leaves on 10/16. That cruise thread was hopin'. They'd have eight pages in a week. It was hard to keep up.

I think we are going to keep it simple on occursions. I think we'll do beach days on all three stops. I gotta decide soon as 8/23 will be here fast.

[casana]

What happens on 8/23?? Is that some sort of deadline?

[schwenksvillemouse]

I thought we can start making excursion ressies on 8/23

[Davids-Coco]

Does anyone know if the rotation as far as what night is formal night, casual, etc. is still the same as it was a few years ago, just trying to figure out what night to do PALO and what night will be semi formal formal pirate or casual?

I do! I just got it from concierge yesterday. (I'll put it in the main post too)

7 Night Eastern Caribbean Cruises
Night 1 - Reg Rotation
Night 2 (at sea) - Formal
Night 3 (at sea) - Reg Rotation
Night 4 (St. Maarten) - Pirates Night
Night 5 (St. Thomas) - Reg Rotation
Night 6 (at sea) - Semi Formal
Night 7 (Castaway Cay) - Till we meet again

Hopefully the thread will start picking up more now that we are getting closer to the cruise date!:goodvibes

Has anyone picked out shore excursions yet? Any recommendations?

We had picked them but now that we will be tendering into St. Thomas and the butterfly farm there is closed, I don't know what to do. I don't really want to take a taxi or walk a long distance... lol. I think we may end up doing the butterfly thing in St. Maarten instead (though I'm not crazy about the 1 1/2 hrs of driving total time with a 19 mo old on my lap)

Anyone planning on taking a day or two in a Disney hotel prior to heading to the cruise?

This is our first cruise, how much prep work do we need to do prior to the cruise? Feels to far away to start working on details yet. :confused3

We are already planned on staying at BLT before and BCV after. It is a 8-9 hr travel time from airport to airport for us, so we are going to be there two total weeks to compensate for having two small kids.

I'm not sure that there is a ton of prep work with a cruise. Realistically, our prep is mostly on things like making sure we have the right luggage stuff figured out, flight, hotel prior, trip insurance, and what we want to book for excursions/spa and when. We can book on Thursday night (120 days out) so I need to figure out the final details of what excursions we want.

[poizenivey]

We are also waiting on Southwest's schedule to come out. I just booked our hotel in Orlando for 2 nights after the cruise on Priceline. We are staying at the Buena Vista Suites and Spa. I've been trying Priceline for Cocoa Beach for 2 nights prior to the cruise..no luck yet. :confused3


We just came back from a week's vacation in Cocoa Beach...can I suggest renting a room at Ron Jon's Cape Caribe Resort? It's right across the street from the ports..they have a great pool area w/ water slide, zero entry area's and they also have a beach area, close to a fishing pier where we went out and saw dolphin, manatee, and sea turtles!!! Inside they have a wonderful indoor playground. We had wonderful time..it's set up like a timeshare so there is a kitchen or kitchenette in every room...I know there are usually folks trying to rent their's for a night or two if it's something you are interested in.

[schwenksvillemouse]

Here are our pre and post plans:

Flying down on Friday morning and staying on DVC points at the Boardwalk. Will be taking Happy Limo to port on Sat morning.

After the cruise we are renting a car and driving to Orlando. We will be staying CL at the Yacht Club for the night. We have always wanted to try SAB, and we got a good PIN for CL. We'll be flying back on Sunday morning.

[Yunchman]

I do! I just got it from concierge yesterday. (I'll put it in the main post too)

7 Night Eastern Caribbean Cruises
Night 1 - Reg Rotation
Night 2 (at sea) - Formal
Night 3 (at sea) - Reg Rotation
Night 4 (St. Maarten) - Pirates Night
Night 5 (St. Thomas) - Reg Rotation
Night 6 (at sea) - Semi Formal
Night 7 (Castaway Cay) - Till we meet again




Awesome thanks! Do you know if the menus are still the same, like night two was golden mickeys (but i know the show is gone so is that different?) and then night 6 the Captains Gala menu? I know the other ones will be the same.

[poizenivey]

We can't wait!!!! This is our second DC! Our first was this past April and we loved it so much we are going again in Nov!! As of now, there are 4 families in our group! (yes, I've talked them all into coming!)

Me (Ivey) DH (Jason)
Kennedy (DD 7) and Karsyn (DD 5)
?cabin/late seating

121 Days!!!

:dance3::dance3::dance3::dance3::dance3::dance3::d ance3::dance3::dance3:

[AdventureLover67]

Hi we are here, I watch every post...we are really exited, just a quiet thread.

We are doing a couple of days before excited to do one day of Food and Wine Festival and a few days after...

This is our first disney cruise, just got our little girl another little summer dress for the "dinners" ...love having a girl.

I have no idea what the little boy (2.5) will wear he really likes his disney tshirt and shorts.

So can anyone tell me are the disney dinners pretty casual? Other cruises seem to be a little more dressy.

Disney dinners are pretty casual except no shorts. Maybe they could overlook a 2 and half year old, though!:)
I brought 2 fairly "dressy dresses" and only wore one the night we ate at Palo's. Since this is your first DCL cruise I'll share with you that it is well worth the extra $15 pp for the meal. The food, service and ambiance were wonderful! It is for ages 18 and up only, though. If you decide to go you can reserve a spot for the children at Flounder's nursery.;)


Thank you everyone for your suggestions regarding shore excursions! Don and I are excited to start deciding soon which ones to try. I do love to squeeze in at least one snorkel adventure but I have to make sure I leave time to get my anniversary gift from Don. Does anyone know if one port is better than another regarding jewlery? Not the gigantic stuff but better quality fair priced items? He would be just devastated if I didn't get a ring while we are there!!!:laughing:

[poizenivey]

Disney dinners are pretty casual except no shorts. Maybe they could overlook a 2 and half year old, though!:)
I brought 2 fairly "dressy dresses" and only wore one the night we ate at Palo's. Since this is your first DCL cruise I'll share with you that it is well worth the extra $15 pp for the meal. The food, service and ambiance were wonderful! It is for ages 18 and up only, though. If you decide to go you can reserve a spot for the children at Flounder's nursery.;)


Thank you everyone for your suggestions regarding shore excursions! Don and I are excited to start deciding soon which ones to try. I do love to squeeze in at least one snorkel adventure but I have to make sure I leave time to get my anniversary gift from Don. Does anyone know if one port is better than another regarding jewlery? Not the gigantic stuff but better quality fair priced items? He would be just devastated if I didn't get a ring while we are there!!!:laughing:

I agree that Palo is well worth it!!! YUMMY!!!

I went to St. Martin (Dutch side) in the 90's and it seemed to be a big place for jewelry...plus they give you Heinken to drink while you shop (BIG plus for hubby!) :rotfl2:

[Yunchman]

Does anyone remember what time the stage shows are usually? IS it like 5:30 and 8:30? I can't remember!

[Yunchman]

not sure? do you know what day you are getting married.

We are getting married Friday at Castaway Cay :) How about you?

[gwoman100]

Cheryl (40)
Mallory (6)
Late Seating
Philadelphia, Pa

Not sure what DD DH and all those mean???? This will be my second cruise and I loved the first one! I will be traveling with my daughter so it would be nice to meet up with other single parents. Is there anyway to get the Navigator early? On my last cruise I had already booked excursions and they conflicted with some stuff we wanted to do on the ship. Thanks!

[JoRo]

Thanks for the tip about dress code! I am hoping to get into Palo however we are not return cruises so we arent first on the list to call but we are hoping to get to go at least one night!

Love the nightly agenda too thank yoU!

ALso not sure about the shore excursion where we have a 4 year old and 2 year old on the bus all that time to see the butterfly farm...maybe if we all go together we can take turns leaving the small kids at the back of the bus HAHAHA....didnt know that other butterfly farm was closed.

So looking for things that dont require car seats like most shuttles, either that or beach time with the kids sounds great too...

Nana wants to do the kayak trip ;)

[Davids-Coco]

Thanks for the tip about dress code! I am hoping to get into Palo however we are not return cruises so we arent first on the list to call but we are hoping to get to go at least one night!

Love the nightly agenda too thank yoU!

ALso not sure about the shore excursion where we have a 4 year old and 2 year old on the bus all that time to see the butterfly farm...maybe if we all go together we can take turns leaving the small kids at the back of the bus HAHAHA....didnt know that other butterfly farm was closed.

So looking for things that dont require car seats like most shuttles, either that or beach time with the kids sounds great too...

Nana wants to do the kayak trip ;)
While it doesn't sit well with me, we are considering taking a taxi to the butterfly farm on St. Maarten. It's about 30 minutes each way. The only other thing we were thinking was the trip to Orient Beach, but that excursion is spendy and can also be done on your own if you get a taxi.

I don't know. My husband is still being very "go get 'um" about the whole trip and I just don't know that I really care to go crazy with excursions... especially with little ones since their temperaments can change at a moment's notice.

[Yunchman]

Does anyone remember what time the stage shows are usually? IS it like 5:30 and 8:30? I can't remember!

Anyone?

[AdventureLover67]

I agree that Palo is well worth it!!! YUMMY!!!

I went to St. Martin (Dutch side) in the 90's and it seemed to be a big place for jewelry...plus they give you Heinken to drink while you shop (BIG plus for hubby!) :rotfl2:

I LOVED Palo's!!:goodvibes

I had to laugh about the beer......get em' good and liquored and the "rocks" magically grow!!!:rotfl2:

[AdventureLover67]

Anyone?

I may be wrong but I think they have 2 shows per night that alternate with the dinner times. Does anyone else remember?

For the first time cruisers, the shows are fantastic and are geared for both the children, mixed with some humor the adults can appreciate. For the repeat cruisers, there is a new "Villian's" show that looks like it will be great!

[poizenivey]

I may be wrong but I think they have 2 shows per night that alternate with the dinner times. Does anyone else remember?

For the first time cruisers, the shows are fantastic and are geared for both the children, mixed with some humor the adults can appreciate. For the repeat cruisers, there is a new "Villian's" show that looks like it will be great!


They do indeed have 2 shows per night..one for early dining and one for the late...we were in late seating and LOVED it! We saw the new Villian's show in April and it was a very good show...We missed the Golden Mickey's last time but heard it was great...so we will def. be there this time! The entire family (even dad) enjoyed the shows!


Who's doing pirate night? pirate:

Can we leave next week? I'm getting into planning mode!

[skylynx]

Glad to see this thread is starting to hop...we're in the midst of planning for our Wonder cruise with the kids July 30, so that's kind of taking precedence for us right now.

We're renting a car again in St. Maarten as we did on our last Eastern cruise. DH is a big airplane fan so we are going to hang out on Maho Beach when the big jets come in to Juliana airport. There used to be a really cool bar there called Sunset Bar. It was shut down, but might have reopened. You could drink reasonably priced beers, have a burger grilled over charcoal, and have planes kick serious sand in your face if you wanted to stand that close! You may have seen those pictures that look like jets are landing on people's heads. The one caveat we learned about visiting Maho that is there is a drawbridge connecting the Juliana airport area with the port and it goes up every day around 4 or so for quite a while, suspending all traffic. The traffic aftermath when it finally comes down could make you literally miss the boat, so you have to leave Maho EARLY and get across before the drawbridge drops. In driving around the island we found the traffic by Marigot to be really really slow. We probably won't do the whole grand tour again this time.

In St. Thomas we'll likely do the St. John beach excursion again. The last time we were VERY glad we'd booked it through DCL even though we know we could have done it cheaper ourselves. Our shuttle bus back from Trunk Bay was late and when we got to the marina, the boat back to St. Thomas had already left. The DCL crewmember with us radioed it, and it turned around, came back and picked us up. We often do our own shore excursions, but this is one we'll pay the DCL extra for the insurance of not being left behind.

[skylynx]

Hey, Gwoman100...DH, DD, DW, DS and the like can mean two things. I have always read them as Designated Husband, Designated Daughter, etc. but have also seen them mean Disney Husband, Disney Daughter, etc. It's just a generic term for who you are hauling along with you without naming their names or writing out long-ish words like "mother-in-law."

Watch for the trickier ones like DDIL, DMIL (Designated/Disney Daughter in Law or Mother in Law! DGD is Designated/Disney Granddaughter.

[gwoman100]

Hey, Gwoman100...DH, DD, DW, DS and the like can mean two things. I have always read them as Designated Husband, Designated Daughter, etc. but have also seen them mean Disney Husband, Disney Daughter, etc. It's just a generic term for who you are hauling along with you without naming their names or writing out long-ish words like "mother-in-law."

Watch for the trickier ones like DDIL, DMIL (Designated/Disney Daughter in Law or Mother in Law! DGD is Designated/Disney Granddaughter.

Thanks!!

[LisaG520]

Has there been any talk about FE yet?

Sorry I've been MIA - we're cruising in Oct so I've been concentrating on that one right now but since its PIF and I've booked Palo time to move on to this one for planning :cool1:

We've never done the Eastern before. Are there any good excursions for seeing nature/wildlife or learning history/not invloving snorkleing or beaches?

As for the booking date - there are a lot of different one.
First time cruisers book at 75 days
Silver Castaway club members book at 90 days
Gold Castaway club members book at 105 days
Platinum book at 120 days (I think)

Everyone needs to be PIF in order to book regardless of when they can book

[GoofyFD]

Hey hey hey all! Wow you miss a few months you miss a lot. We can't wait until Nov. My wife and I just got back from a wonderful day at Disneyland just the two of us. The kids were in girl scout camp for the week.

[Adventurelover'sDH]

Anyone planning on taking a day or two in a Disney hotel prior to heading to the cruise?

We were toying with the idea, but of course its Jersey week and there's NO discounts other than perhaps AAA and I'm having a heck of a time finding cheap airfares down to Orlando... :worried:

This is our first cruise, how much prep work do we need to do prior to the cruise? Feels to far away to start working on details yet. :confused3

We are planning on leaving our home on Tuesday (driving), spending the evening in GA and arriving in Orlando on Wednesday. We will be staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a couple of nights and then driving to the port on Saturday morning.

In regards to the expensive flights: have you tried other airports within a reasonable distance from your home? The prices from one airport to another can be wildly different. For instance, if I fly to Colorado Springs from Richmond, VA., the round-trip cost is $1400. If I drive two-hours north to DC, the cost is $400. However, if I want to fly to Orlando, it's $250 from Richmond and $500 from DC. Long story short...it may be worth the time to drive to another airport if the savings are significant enough.

OK...I've contributed my quarterly post. I guess it's time to fade back in the shadows and watch the posts...(although I may sound a bit cavalier, I am actually REALLY looking forward to the cruise!)

Ciao for now!!:)

[nhpgator]

we just booked on this cruise - can't wait. My DH, 2 DD 4 and 7 years old will be sailing with you all. We'll see how it goes this time - we are in a GTY room so don't know our room number yet. But we would love to do a FE if anyone is up for it.

[AdventureLover67]

nhpgator-Welcome aboard!:goodvibes

I've been meaning to put my two cents in lately but seem to be in a constant hurry.....surely the same for many of the cruisers!

For the first time cruisers a FE is a "Fish Extender" that you hang from outside your cabin door (yes, if you google it you WILL find it and for those who are "craft challenged" just go to ebay and order one:goodvibes). For the people who sign up, they take turns putting little goodies in each day. Kind of like a secret Santa kind of thing but you usually know who the gifter is for the day. We did it last cruise and got everything from little candies to a really cool pirate bag! Some other things were pens, pencils, stickers, magnets, handmade picture frames, a CD with "cruise music", travel size soaps and lotions. You name it, it was in there!:woohoo:
We had a lot of fun both giving and getting goodies and I think those with children really enjoy it.

I think it's about time to nail down our choices for excursions and one we are strongly considering is in St. Maarten's the Downhill Mountain Trek (or something like that). Has anyone heard anything positive or negative about it?

Oh yes, for those with little ones, I know somewhere on the official Disney Cruise line site there is a tab or dropdown area that lists appropriate ages for each excursion along with activity level (easy, intermediate, advanced).
By the way, only 105 days till we cruise!!:banana::banana::banana:

[AdventureLover67]

They do indeed have 2 shows per night..one for early dining and one for the late...we were in late seating and LOVED it! We saw the new Villian's show in April and it was a very good show...We missed the Golden Mickey's last time but heard it was great...so we will def. be there this time! The entire family (even dad) enjoyed the shows!


Who's doing pirate night? pirate:

Can we leave next week? I'm getting into planning mode!

Thanks for update on the show! We can't wait to go see it!:yay:

I know our travel mates will do pirate night. They go 100% decked out.pirate:
Not sure yet if we will or not. Don's kind of like a cat with water playing dress up!:scared1:

[nhpgator]

we always do pirate night - some cruises full out-others just pirate shirts but costumes for the girls

[poizenivey]

Pirate Night Disney Magic 4/2010

Here's a pic of our pirate costumes from our cruise in April...cannot wait!!!

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i135/poizen11/Girlspiratenight.jpg

[AdventureLover67]

poizenivy-Cute pic! I love the little "pirate skirt"!pirate:

[skylynx]

Argh...have to jump ship. Old job ending and luckily have a new contract to go to but can't be gone that week in November. Lucky to be able to make the change before the paid in full date! We'll still go down to WDW in November, but just for a long weekend. We moved this cruise to a 7 night Mexican Riviera on Wonder in February. Hope you all have a wonderful time!

[AdventureLover67]

Argh...have to jump ship. Old job ending and luckily have a new contract to go to but can't be gone that week in November. Lucky to be able to make the change before the paid in full date! We'll still go down to WDW in November, but just for a long weekend. We moved this cruise to a 7 night Mexican Riviera on Wonder in February. Hope you all have a wonderful time!

Hope you have a wonderful time and best of luck with the new contract!:goodvibes

Safe travels to you and your family!:littleangel:

[JoRo]

Hi

I was looking at cruise critic boards and found these tours on the island of St Maarten Bernards and Joyces - so questions?

Has anyone taken one with/out small kids, we like the private affair...like to stop at local stores and get local liquors, spices and sauces - everything else too...

Anyone want to join a family of 5 and go with us that has small kids, Ours are 2 and 4 but should be "ok" without nap.

We thought this might be more fun then a cruise tour.
They are suppose to have buses so we "shouldnt" need car seat

Thoughts?

Lisa ;)

[JoRo]

ok more

Looks like we might be able to do all of these things with Joyce - with in reason want to enjoy the day

Butterly Farm, Maho and Orient Beaches, ....then below is quote from Cruise Critic

"French side in the craft market. The curry is excellent! I also walked to the ruin fort that overlook the bay on the French side.
I mentioned to Joyce of my love of hot sauce and local rum. She took me to a local shop not near the tourist area. The woman running it some of the best homemade hot sauce (very, very hot :eek:!) and the local rum in colorful handpainted bottles were a big hit as gifts.
I mentioned that I wanted to eat lunch somewhere with a local flavor. Ms. Joyce took me to a small restaurant next to a supermarket (that supermarket had great prices on liquors too!). The goat curry,fried plantains, rice and peas were good!!!"

[Cbettencourt]

Hey All! This will be our second cruise but we are bringing my parents this time and they have never been anywhere! Should be interesting!

Cbettencourt
Christine & Jorge (DH)
John (DGP) & Judith (DGM) ~ not sure what Grandpa and Grandma short forms are but these were my best guesses! :)
Sarah (4.5)
7122 - Early

[gwoman100]

nhpgator-Welcome aboard!:goodvibes

I've been meaning to put my two cents in lately but seem to be in a constant hurry.....surely the same for many of the cruisers!

For the first time cruisers a FE is a "Fish Extender" that you hang from outside your cabin door (yes, if you google it you WILL find it and for those who are "craft challenged" just go to ebay and order one:goodvibes). For the people who sign up, they take turns putting little goodies in each day. Kind of like a secret Santa kind of thing but you usually know who the gifter is for the day. We did it last cruise and got everything from little candies to a really cool pirate bag! Some other things were pens, pencils, stickers, magnets, handmade picture frames, a CD with "cruise music", travel size soaps and lotions. You name it, it was in there!:woohoo:
We had a lot of fun both giving and getting goodies and I think those with children really enjoy it.

I think it's about time to nail down our choices for excursions and one we are strongly considering is in St. Maarten's the Downhill Mountain Trek (or something like that). Has anyone heard anything positive or negative about it?

Oh yes, for those with little ones, I know somewhere on the official Disney Cruise line site there is a tab or dropdown area that lists appropriate ages for each excursion along with activity level (easy, intermediate, advanced).
By the way, only 105 days till we cruise!!:banana::banana::banana:


Do we sign up for the FE in here?

[Yunchman]

My DF and I are getting super excited about the cruise! 3 months PEOPLE!! WAHOO!! We cannot wait to get on board and relax, plus we are excited about getting married on CC, yay! I am most looking forward to the wedding of course but also the activities and as I said relaxing and looking at the beautiful view! Another thing I am looking forward to is, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE to cook, but I also love not having to cook on the cruise for seven days and eating delicious food that looks as pretty as it tastes delish!

Anyways I was just feeling super excited today realizing there are only three months to go so thought I would share my giddiness! :cool1::cool1::cool1:

[JoRo]

So it was "hot" here in Seattle area about 85 today and it made me think about how much I like the shade...so that made me think about the cruise ;)

Having never taken a Disney cruise to Castaway Cay are there enough sun umbrellas for everyone? I am sure its first come first serve so what do you recommend, have the DH get off the ship first thing and run ???

Thoughts?

[Cbettencourt]

I second the question... do we sign up for FE's here?

Let me know!
Christine

[Davids-Coco]

FE: Absolutely, sign up here... Just put that you want to participate and your room number, and I will start a list on our main page/post!

I am going to work right now on updating our cruise list as well...

EVERYONE! Please check that I have your correct information for the roll call and let me know if there are any changes. Thank you.

[poizenivey]

So it was "hot" here in Seattle area about 85 today and it made me think about how much I like the shade...so that made me think about the cruise ;)

Having never taken a Disney cruise to Castaway Cay are there enough sun umbrellas for everyone? I am sure its first come first serve so what do you recommend, have the DH get off the ship first thing and run ???

Thoughts?

There were PLENTY of chairs and umbrellas..if you want close to the water, though...you may want to send DH out as soon as we dock! We got there late, as we were in no hurry..but still got chairs and umbrellas just not water front. We went and played in the water with the girls for a little while and then they wanted to go over to the kids club on the island and play so we took them over there and they had a BLAST! SUNSCREEN, SUNSCREEN, SUNSCREEN!!!!

[gwoman100]

Is tomorrow the date we can start making reservations for excursions and spa appointments? Can we do it at midnight or is there a specific time during the morning we can do it?

Please add me to the FE list. I am in cabin 6321.

Thanks!

Cheryl (40) :flower1: Mallory (6) :tinker:
Late/6321

[AdventureLover67]

Is tomorrow the date we can start making reservations for excursions and spa appointments? Can we do it at midnight or is there a specific time during the morning we can do it?

Please add me to the FE list. I am in cabin 6321.

Thanks!

Cheryl (40) :flower1: Mallory (6) :tinker:
Late/6321

From what I understand, as long as this isn't your first DCL cruise and you are paid in full then yes, today is the day you can begin booking excursions, Palo's and salon appointments.:goodvibes

Has anyone ever ordered one of the "goodie baskets" from the ship? Are the robes nice or chincey (sp?). Since it's just the two of us I thought it might be nice to do but then again I'm concerned about just wasting money. Any input would be appreciated!:woohoo:

[gwoman100]

From what I understand, as long as this isn't your first DCL cruise and you are paid in full then yes, today is the day you can begin booking excursions, Palo's and salon appointments.:goodvibes

Has anyone ever ordered one of the "goodie baskets" from the ship? Are the robes nice or chincey (sp?). Since it's just the two of us I thought it might be nice to do but then again I'm concerned about just wasting money. Any input would be appreciated!:woohoo:

Thanks! I made my spa appointments and my Palo reservation at midnight last night. Hopefully I can find another single parent to join me at Palo! I also ordered my FE from ebay! Can't wait!!!!!!

[nhpgator]

Definitely add us to the FE - but we do not know our room number yet -

got our brunch and dinner at PALO booked - still trying to figure out what to do at St. Thomas and St. Martin - last time we explored St. Thomas on our own -will probalby do the same for st. martin this year - but are thinking about a catamarand sight seeing in St. Thomas - any suggestions for good companies.

[farynaed]

Hello All! I'm finally getting my act together and posting here! With reservations opening today, it reminded me that I need to get some planning done for this upcoming trip! Anyway, here's our info:
farynaed
Emily (me) and Craig (DH)
DD (Ellie, 8) and DS (Hayden, 5)
stateroom 7537/early

Oh, and we'd like to be part of the FE festivities! :yay:

Emily

[JoRo]

Definitely add us to the FE - but we do not know our room number yet -

got our brunch and dinner at PALO booked - still trying to figure out what to do at St. Thomas and St. Martin - last time we explored St. Thomas on our own -will probalby do the same for st. martin this year - but are thinking about a catamarand sight seeing in St. Thomas - any suggestions for good companies.


Hi

We just booked with Joyceprince.com, however I have read great things about
http://www.bernardstours.com/

We have done non cruise tours before and you can usually find great feedback about them on cruisecritic.com boards, ports...

Oh and Congrats on getting Palo I am hoping something will be left on the 23rd when we get to book ;(

[JoRo]

There were PLENTY of chairs and umbrellas..if you want close to the water, though...you may want to send DH out as soon as we dock! We got there late, as we were in no hurry..but still got chairs and umbrellas just not water front. We went and played in the water with the girls for a little while and then they wanted to go over to the kids club on the island and play so we took them over there and they had a BLAST! SUNSCREEN, SUNSCREEN, SUNSCREEN!!!!

Thanks for the response about the umbrellas, I appreciate it!! Also we purchased LONG sleeve swim shirts for the kids they have been wearing this summer so that should help a little. We have very fair skin living in the seattle area rain rain rain ;)

[mickeysgirl1129]

Hi Everyone! I wanted to finally join the thread! We are celebrating our 5th anniversary on our 5th cruise!

mickeysgirl1129
Jennifer (me) and Ross
5639/Late dinner

[Adie's Mama]

You can add us, too!! ;)

Adie's Mama
Elizabeth & Aaron
Aidan (4), Zachary (10 Months)
2112 / Early Seating

[Davids-Coco]

Welcome to all our new cruisers!

FE's: I still need to know if you want to be part!

We are starting to get really close! I would love to start really thinking about it but it seems like there is so much we need to get done before that. With my older one turning 4 in 10 days and then school starting right after that, I am hoping that mid september/early october gives me some time to get my head together!

I'm a bit frustrated that my DH keeps saying we need to have a bunch of excursions and back up excursions too... even though we could book back in July! I just don't know that with the ages they are I am really interested in doing much off ship. While hesitant about getting a taxi, we may do that and head up to the butterfly farm on St. Maarten on our own (assuming naps or whatnot don't get in the way!)

I think I'm probably more jazzed about hanging out with our friends!

[TonyaH]

Hello all, just thought I would check in. Looking forward to the trip. Just went back to work in June and have been working 12+ hours a day. Yuk! I need a week off!!! Anyway, we are still trying to decide what excursions to do. I think everyone just wants to spend time at the beach. My hubby's only request is to find a Harley store.

Just wondering when we will find out more information on the FE's. Does everyone participate? I have read several posts on this and do we give one family gift and then lots of little gifts throughout the week?

Hope everyone is having a great summer.
Tonya

[AdventureLover67]

Today the travel channel was showing the DCL ships, destinations and dry dock routines........we were getting excited just looking at Castaway Cay! :cheer2:

It's nice to see so many new people have joined the thread and that there is more posting happening!

So far we plan on going on the Mountain trek hike for an excursion in St. Maarten's. Still waiting to see which one we'll do in St. Thomas but I'm hoping it will involve snorkeling!:goodvibes

The last thread I joined was as a first time cruiser and I know there are just a few on this thread so I thought I'd offer one of the suggestions (and a great one in my opinion!) that someone offered before. If you have little ones or several people in your cabin, pick up one of those cheapy plastic over the door shoe holders (clear is better) and put it up in your cabin to hold the smaller items like sunglasses, sunscreen, flip flops, cameras, etc. to free up your drawer space and cut down on the time you would spend looking for it. It's also great to throw in your hairbrushes and stuff, too.

Have a great day, everyone!:yay:

[mickeysgirl1129]

We usually do not do much excursion-wise. Normally we just walk around town and take pictures of interesting buildings, trees, and artwork. This time however, we are going to do the 12 metre regatta excursion in St. Maarten. I am very excited to learn how to sail a boat! For St. Thomas, I think we are going to walk up to Blackbeard's Castle. Has anyone been there before?

[schwenksvillemouse]

Since this is our first cruise we can't do any reservations until Monday 8/23. Anybody have any insight if anything will be still open at Palo? I think I want to try the brunch versus the dinner.

Still a bit undecided on what to do with excursions. I think we will just do the beach.

[Davids-Coco]

In terms of FE, having been that I have never done one prior, I am holding to the general idea that everyone who decides to participate would deliver a little something at some point in the week. You don't have to participate at all. You can choose if you want to give a family gift, a gift for individuals, and if you want to do one gift or little things throughout the week. I see it as very flexible to fit differing needs.

[Davids-Coco]

Since this is our first cruise we can't do any reservations until Monday 8/23. Anybody have any insight if anything will be still open at Palo? I think I want to try the brunch versus the dinner.

Still a bit undecided on what to do with excursions. I think we will just do the beach.
I have learned from the main board that they hold and open more palo seatings for each of the openings. It may mean that the "prime" times are given to the 120s, and then less "prime" from there down, but I have no idea if that is really true. They may just hold a certain number at each time for each group. But you should be just fine.

[mickeysgirl1129]

Since this is our first cruise we can't do any reservations until Monday 8/23. Anybody have any insight if anything will be still open at Palo? I think I want to try the brunch versus the dinner.


Right now there are still reservations available for dinner at Palo. Brunch and Tea are currently booked. If you don't find what you want on Monday, keep checking. Sometimes people change their dates and times before sailing or even on the ship on embarkation day and you might find availability that way! I have done that once or twice and was able to get a dinner reservation for the nights I wanted after I boarded the ship.

[dmsprung]

We are booked on our 1st Disney Cruise Nov 6th
My hubby and our two sons (4 and 7) will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniv....

HOPING to get Palo......

[dmsprung]

where are you renting the ATV's from????
our boys are 4 and 7 and would LOVE that!!!

[AdventureLover67]

I'm by no means an expert on DCL (only one cruise before) but the first time we went, it was slim pickings for Palo's, but we did get in for dinner. It was well worth it other than the fact that was the one night poor Don was NOT feeling well. I was not able to book a brunch or high tea. If you really want it, keep checking the ressie's section as there are cancellations and if that doesn't work, call Palo's when you get on the ship.

When we did the FE, we had about 10-12 families join. There were enough people that some days you got "deliveries" twice! The way we did it was that each family signed up for a specific day and only gave goodies once. I signed up for a morning delivery because that worked best for our schedule. It made it easier for everyone to print the schedule before leaving and we also had posted a deadline date to sign up. It also helped that the ages and genders of the children were included to help shop for items.

I'm getting more and more excited as the days go by!!!:goodvibes

[GoofyFD]

We are so excited only a few months!!!!! :banana:

Please add us to the FE list. We are in cabin 2606!

Thanks, Mark Emily Carey Jenna

[JoRo]

Ok we are keeping our fingers crossed for Palo ...I will be up at midnight waiting for my big moment ...I think that is when I can book West coast? Any ideas? or would it be 9 pm for East coast hours.

Also hoping to get child care for the little one ...he is very close to potty trained but want to book it just in case...

Also we just saw the new Rapunzel dress at the disney store so since we only have one girl I get to spoil her.... she needs a new dress or two or three for her first cruise ;)

Please sign us up for FE now I just need to come up with something to hang on the door...

FUN!

[mickeysgirl1129]

Ok we are keeping our fingers crossed for Palo ...I will be up at midnight waiting for my big moment ...I think that is when I can book West coast? Any ideas? or would it be 9 pm for East coast hours.

I was able to book shore excursions and Palo at 9pm Pacific but could only access online check-in forms at midnight Pacific.

[poizenivey]

On our last cruise we booked Palo prior to rec'ing our dining rotation and on the night we booked, it was the night we were to be in Animator's Palate. We simply mentioned it to our head server/dining room manager and she called Palo immediately and changed our dinner to a prime time on the very next night. If you can't get it now...just remember to ask...every crew member wants you to have the BEST vacation possible and we found that they truly bent over backwards to make that happen!!

Great suggestion on the over the door hanger..we got our last time from the Dollar Tree..it was a HUGE space saver!!! Also, we put our luggage under our bed and that saved alot of space too!!

For those with little girls...don't forget to go to the main desk upon boarding to get your tickets for Alice's Tea Party! It's free and a fun little outing!

[JoRo]

Alice's Tea Party HUH?? First I have heard of that how fun thank you! Going to look it up now!

[hattiedog]

Well booked all excursions, Palo dining, and even a couples message:woohoo:, feels so close and yet still a little bit away:hourglass. Can't wait to get on the boat again. I've been you-tubing Disney magic and watching old videos cause I just can't wait. 74 more days!!

[dmsprung]

I could not get a 6 pm or 6:30 pm palo (only the first and last nights were open)

8:30pm is just tooooo late for us

and the only massage I could get any day at see at 7 pm

I was up until 1 am last night with the system locking me out

I have NEVER said this before but I am horrified:sad1: at Disney's customer service

[schwenksvillemouse]

I could not get a 6 pm or 6:30 pm palo (only the first and last nights were open)

8:30pm is just tooooo late for us

and the only massage I could get any day at see at 7 pm

I was up until 1 am last night with the system locking me out

I have NEVER said this before but I am horrified:sad1: at Disney's customer service

The DCL website is embarrasing. I waited up until midnight, started booking Palo and excursions, and then on my last one I got booted out. Had to wait until 1:10 am to get back in. I can't believe it took almost 20 minutes to book for items. I could have taken a nap inbetween waiting for the screen to refresh.

We were able to book Palo on formal night, but only at 9 pm. We also booked the sting ray adventure, and a beach trip on both St. John's and St. Maarten.

No massages for us. I pay $60 for an hour at home. I can't stomach almost double that for only 50 minutes.

[JoRo]

YES it was a long night started at 9 pm PST waiting through PAINFULLY slow loading pages only to have the palo and nursery reservations I had spent the last hour booking crash. Kept trying again until midnight went to bed. DH spent the better part of the morning trying to get us booked for Palo and Nursery and CS was having problems... good news is his place of work is going to call DCL and see if they can help with Server Upgrades - it is stupid how long this takes and then doesnt work...ok my rant is done.

So we only had the first night and last night available for Palo so took the last night. CS said when we get on board check first thing for reservation. So if we dont get something better we'll skip it ...I am assuming the last night is fun and we want to do it as a family.

So I found this website - it helps me with my need to know now problem..
http://www.******************* listed the menus for the different nights and more.

Now I just need to figure out when the show times are.

See you soon!

[hattiedog]

I could not get a 6 pm or 6:30 pm palo (only the first and last nights were open)

8:30pm is just tooooo late for us

and the only massage I could get any day at see at 7 pm

I was up until 1 am last night with the system locking me out

I have NEVER said this before but I am horrified:sad1: at Disney's customer service

I booked the Palo as early as I could when it became available, but was having trouble booking the other stuff cause my computer is tired and slow:surfweb:. I kept getting locked out, but thought it was something I was doing wrong. Booking the excursions was a little confusing cause I selected my excursions then found out they weren't confirmed and lost what I wanted. Said I had to click submit but there was no submit button only "Save itenirary".

[dmsprung]

I used shoretrip.com and booked a dune buggy trip... (two doubles)
it tours the island and spends 1 hour at the beach
we have two young sons age 4 and 7
we thought they would get a kick out of them!!

ok will try to list Disney experience (thought I am sure I will miss one)
2001 Wilderness lodge
2005 Wilderness lodge villas
2007 Saratoga Spring
2008 Animal Kingdom
2008 Old Key West
2009 Beach Club Villas
2010 Boardwalk

[poizenivey]

Alice's Tea Party HUH?? First I have heard of that how fun thank you! Going to look it up now!


They don't advertise it..but we straight to the front desk when we got on board and asked for tickets (tip I found on the discussion boards). It was one afternoon when we were at sea and it's Alice and the Mad hatter having a tea party..tables are set w/ tea pots (w/ apple juice) and cookies for their guests (us)..it was a cute little skit and we got to have our pic made w/ them!

[dmsprung]

this is our FIRST Disney cruise! thought we have been to Disney numerous times!!!

please tell me more about the fish extender....


Denise and Larry - celebrating our 10th anniv :lovestruc
Zach (7)
Jeremy (4)
Cabin 8556 first seating

[AdventureLover67]

It's nice to see so many posting!:goodvibes

I also struck out for Palo's and became frustrated with the web site! We did get our shore excursions planned though. For St. Maarten's we are going on a down hill trek and St. Thomas the Doubloon sail and snorkel.
As far as Palo's goes we will just try again once we are on board. Since we will be a party of four it may be a bit more difficult.:confused3

The Alice's tea party sounds great for the little ones! Another tip I was told before is if you bring a new pillowcase with you and take it to customer service on the ship they will have Mickey and the gang autograph it. We don't have little ones but for those who do, it might be fun.

Hope to keep seeing more posts!!:woohoo:

[LisaG520]

Please add us to the FE too:

Lisa & Darrell - 6098

[LisaG520]

We got Palo for dinner but no brunch so we'll be trying for that once we board.

No idea on excursions yet - maybe the tour over to St John.

[TonyaH]

FE: Absolutely, sign up here... Just put that you want to participate and your room number, and I will start a list on our main page/post!

I am going to work right now on updating our cruise list as well...

EVERYONE! Please check that I have your correct information for the roll call and let me know if there are any changes. Thank you.



Count us in: Hudson/7574

[poizenivey]

We've booked Palo for dinner..doing a full day of boating in St. Maarten w/ Captain Alan's charters..now to figure out St. Thomas...I'm soooo excited! Has anyone heard if they are giving 20% off the Med. cruises on board?

67 DAYS :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

[JustinsMommy07]

Hey Everyone,

Haven't been here in awhile...these kids are keeping me busy...just wanted to update real quick while they are asleep...we are in 8518 and definitely want to participate in the Fish Extender Exchange!! We have early dinner seating...no excursions booked for us...gonna play it by ear...hope to catch up with everyone soon:)

[Yunchman]

Yunchman
Stacy (25) & Dave (28)
6608 / Late
Getting married at CC

[JoRo]

just curious does anyone know the times of the shows? They all look like lots of fun but I am worried about the small ones not being able to stay up that late?

[leelip1982]

Count us in for FE

Lee & Ashley
6628/Late
Getting Married

[LisaG520]

Count us in for FE

Lee & Ashley
6628/Late
Getting Married

Congratulations!! Are you having the wedding on the ship? We've seen one on deck 7 and it was beautiful!

[poizenivey]

just curious does anyone know the times of the shows? They all look like lots of fun but I am worried about the small ones not being able to stay up that late?

There are 2 shows per night...one for early seating and one for late. The first shows start 6p and the second around 8:30. Generally the first show is for the folks that are assigned to late seating and the later show is for those that are in early dining...not that there are those rules set in stone nor are there ticket police at the door!

[tiggerliz]

Liz (55) Bruce (56)
GTY6 - 7132
Late Seating

[AdventureLover67]

We've decided we are going to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for 3 days prior to the cruise. I can't wait! :goodvibes
Has anyone stayed there before? Any recommendations regarding the restaurant on site or transportation tips?:confused3

Just for the heck of it I looked at the booking for our cruise again and it looks like it's just about booked full. We've never visited Disney World this time of year and assumed it wouldn't be very crowded. Hopefully we won't get a bad surprise!!:scared1:

[JoRo]

So I went to fabric store and Michaels today looking for patches and/or pockets for fish extender - it was a bust. I dont sew ;(

THen I found this photo looks like some folks go all out (fun)... so do fishes still existout the door for us to hang something on? I am thinking about just getting a $1 door hanger and having the kids decorate.

Last question - any idea how on many are playing?

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/alikat99/SSMC05door.jpg

[JoRo]

Ok I know I should read everything and then post but I get excited about our cruise...

I found this link it talks about FE, how to make and the room doors - magnets are ok.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-cruise-line/meets.htm

[mickeysgirl1129]

We've decided we are going to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for 3 days prior to the cruise. I can't wait! :goodvibes
Has anyone stayed there before? Any recommendations regarding the restaurant on site or transportation tips?:confused3

Just for the heck of it I looked at the booking for our cruise again and it looks like it's just about booked full. We've never visited Disney World this time of year and assumed it wouldn't be very crowded. Hopefully we won't get a bad surprise!!:scared1:

We are staying at Kidani Village the night before. I have stayed there and at Jambo House before. It is a really beautiful resort! I love to sit out by the firepits and talk to the culture reps while watching the animals roam around. All the restaurants are delicious, but then again, my husband and I really enjoy flavorful and occasionally spicy foods. Boma is probably one of my favorite restaurants on property.

As far as transportation, I have never had to wait more than 10 minutes for the buses to and from the Lodge.

[AdventureLover67]

We are staying at Kidani Village the night before. I have stayed there and at Jambo House before. It is a really beautiful resort! I love to sit out by the firepits and talk to the culture reps while watching the animals roam around. All the restaurants are delicious, but then again, my husband and I really enjoy flavorful and occasionally spicy foods. Boma is probably one of my favorite restaurants on property.

As far as transportation, I have never had to wait more than 10 minutes for the buses to and from the Lodge.

Thank you for your response!
We are so very excited to stay here. I think (but will have to check) that we will be at Jambo House. We are using some DVC points for the stay but stuck with the studio/Savannah View. Any input you may have would be greatly appreciated!
I had no idea about the culture reps! How exciting!:woohoo:
Does Boma serve breakfast?

[mickeysgirl1129]

Thank you for your response!
We are so very excited to stay here. I think (but will have to check) that we will be at Jambo House. We are using some DVC points for the stay but stuck with the studio/Savannah View. Any input you may have would be greatly appreciated!
I had no idea about the culture reps! How exciting!:woohoo:
Does Boma serve breakfast?

We are also staying on points- AKV is our home resort. I love the savannah view, and would have booked that if we were staying longer. This time it is just the standard view for us.

The culture reps are awesome! We love to talk to them about their homes in Africa, their culture, and the animals. They are all here on a year-long International program. They also have all kinds of educational programs. My mom attended a program on African folktales last time we were there.

Boma does have breakfast. If you go for breakfast, make sure you order their special fruit juice- it is passionfruit/guava/orange I think and made fresh daily. If they have leftovers, they will often serve that at dinner too if you ask.

[AdventureLover67]

We are also staying on points- AKV is our home resort. I love the savannah view, and would have booked that if we were staying longer. This time it is just the standard view for us.

The culture reps are awesome! We love to talk to them about their homes in Africa, their culture, and the animals. They are all here on a year-long International program. They also have all kinds of educational programs. My mom attended a program on African folktales last time we were there.

Boma does have breakfast. If you go for breakfast, make sure you order their special fruit juice- it is passionfruit/guava/orange I think and made fresh daily. If they have leftovers, they will often serve that at dinner too if you ask.

Our home resort is SS but we've never stayed there. One of these days we will! LOL!

We have wanted to stay at the AKL for quite a while now and since this is our LONG overdue "honeymoon" it worked out well that we were able to secure a room with the Savannah view. To find out they have cultural events is a wonderful surprise! I'm starting to think we may not spend much time away from the hotel prior to the cruise.:goodvibes
If you think of any other tidbits of info to share, please feel free to do so!
Thanks again!

[JoRo]

Hi I was curious to see if Disney Cruiselines was different then anyother cruise for juices...not really. Here is what I found about...our kids dont drink soda so if they get something other then water its usually juice...

Here is response from cruiseline:
There is a 24-hour complimentary beverage station located on the port
side of the ship close to Mickey's Pool on Deck 9. There you will find
Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Diet Sprite, Pink Lemonade, Hi-C Fruit Punch,
iced/hot tea, milk, hot chocolate, coffee, and water (filtered not
bottled).

Fruit juices are available free of charge at any of the full-service
restaurants onboard and Topsider Buffet.
Fruit juices are available for purchase at any of the bars/lounges
onboard, bars on Castaway Cay and room service.

Fruit Juices are from concentrate and include:

Orange Juice
Apple Juice
Grapefruit Juice
Cranberry Juice
Pineapple Juice
Prune Juice
Tomato Juice
V8 Juice
Clamato Juice

Juices are not freshly made or squeezed onboard. Fruit juice is not
offered at Cookies BBQ/Look Out Cook Out on Castaway Cay.

I hope this information has been helpful. If you require further
assistance in planning your visit, please feel free to contact us.

We look forward to sailing with you!

[farynaed]

If anyone is still looking for a hotel for the night before the cruise, I just got a great deal for the Radisson at the Port. I booked a night on the hotel's website for $138.33 and then took advantage of their "best price guarantee." I saw on priceline that the same room was $119.26, so I submitted a claim. Per their guarantee, the lower price was honored, plus a 25% discount. So we got the room for $89.48. Not too bad for a decent hotel, free parking for the week and the shuttle to the port! Hope to help someone!

Here's the email:

Thank you for taking the time to write.

We appreciate your submission of a best online rate guarantee form. We
have researched your claim and found you are correct in finding a lower
rate on another website. We have confirmed the lower rate less 25% for
you. Your rate is now $89.45 per night plus tax. This email will serve
as your confirmation for the best online rate guarantee. Your
confirmation number of XXXXXXXX will remain the same. Please keep this
information for your records.

Cancellation Policy: Advance payment of 100% full stay plus tax is
non-refundable.
Please note, reservation cannot be adjusted or canceled without charge.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to assist you.


Regards,

Jennifer
Corporate Customer Service Specialist
2433985
Earn free nights, airline miles and more with goldpoints plus, our hotel
rewards program. Not a member, join now at goldpointsplus.com


Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Brand name: Radisson.com
First name: Emily
Last name: XXXXXX
Email: XXXXXXX@XXXXXXX.COM
Phone: -XXX-XXXXXXX x
Confirmation Number: XXXXXX
Hotel Code: FLCOCOA
City: CAPE CANAVERAL
Arrival Date: 11/05/10
Number of Nights: 1
Number of Adults: 2
Number of Children: 2
Name on OwItinerary: Emily XXXXX
Reserved Rate: 138.33
Lower Rate: 119.26
Lower Rate Source: priceline.com
Date Found: 09/17/10
Comments:

[TonyaH]

Please add us to the FE list:
Tonyah/Tonya, Jim, Rhianna (13), Kathryn(5)/7574


Thanks
Tonya

[Davids-Coco]

Ok, I think I got everyone up to date. Please let me know if something is wrong or if you want to be on the FE list. At this point, the list is small enough that everyone participating can gift for each room.

As for us, I am excited but so busy! October is going to be filled with things, so excuse me if I am not quick. If you guys need anything, please PM me.

I think we are set except for the packing and finishing of all the small items.

[casana]

Adventurelover - enjoy your stay at AKL! We stayed there a couple of times and loved it. And even though this time we're trying out a new resort we're seriously considering a treck back to BOMA for dinner (depends if we rent a car or not), we miss it so!

We decided to stay at the Yacht club for a couple of nights before the cruise, never stayed there before but looking forward to discovering a new place. We never get to enjoy the hotels all that much, so this time we are not planning on visiting the parks, instead we'll just enjoy the ambiance of the resorts. Never been to the Boardwalk, looking forward to the experience!

Now we just need to figure out transport from the Yacht club to Port Canaveral... what's everyone doing?

[schwenksvillemouse]

We are staying at the Beach Club Friday night before and Yacht Club the Saturday night after. We're using DVC points at Beach Club and a Pin number we got for the Yacht Club. We have never stayed at either place so I'm looking forward to checking out these new to us resorts even if for one night.

[poizenivey]

Adventurelover - enjoy your stay at AKL! We stayed there a couple of times and loved it. And even though this time we're trying out a new resort we're seriously considering a treck back to BOMA for dinner (depends if we rent a car or not), we miss it so!

We decided to stay at the Yacht club for a couple of nights before the cruise, never stayed there before but looking forward to discovering a new place. We never get to enjoy the hotels all that much, so this time we are not planning on visiting the parks, instead we'll just enjoy the ambiance of the resorts. Never been to the Boardwalk, looking forward to the experience!

Now we just need to figure out transport from the Yacht club to Port Canaveral... what's everyone doing?

We stayed at the Yacht Club prior to our Disney Cruise this past April. We loved it!! We had recently been to the parks, so we did not feel the need to rush through them and "do" everything. But we did just enjoy wandering around MK and Epcot with no real desination in mind. The Yacht and Beach Club are right at the back entrance of Epcot which was really neat just to walk up to the back door and walk in! The Boardwalk at night was FUN! We rented a 4 seater "bike" and rode around the lake, watched magicians, and just enjoyed the area. For breakfast, we would ride the water taxi across the 'lake' and grab a quick breakfast at the bakery. The hotel was beyond clean with all of the usual Disney fanfare!!

At the Beach Club, they had a jumbo tron put up on the beach and showed movies there each night, which was accessable from the sidewalk from the Yacht Club.

ENJOY!!!!!

[AdventureLover67]

casanaThank you! We have heard so many good things about AKV and Boma's. I can't wait to get there!!:woohoo:

For you and schwenksvillemouse, we did not stay at the YC but have stayed at the BC. The BC is BEAUTIFUL and since the two are kind of but not really, attached they share an awesome pool...I won't spoil it for you!;)
I know folks who have stayed at the YC and loved it!

Make sure you both try the Cape May Buffet in the BC. It is buffet style but the food is excellent and the service superb. It is one of our favorite places to eat at WDW.:cloud9:

[casana]

Thx for the Cape May Buffet recommendation, we may try it this time around (and save Boma for next time).

Since you stayed at BC last time, did you take the Disney transport to the cruise from there? How'd it go, do you recommend it?

[rocadonismom]

Hello all!

I haven't been here since I signed up for the cruise, so almost a year now but am looking forward to catching up with everything.

If you are still taking sign-ups for the FE, I would be interested. I'll be in cabin 7627 and late seating for dinner.

Plans have changed slightly. I'll now be on the cruise with my parents and then going to Disney; Port Orleans - Riverside for a few days on my own after the cruise.

Looking forward to getting to know everyone. We're at 44 days!

--Carolyn

[AdventureLover67]

Thx for the Cape May Buffet recommendation, we may try it this time around (and save Boma for next time).

Since you stayed at BC last time, did you take the Disney transport to the cruise from there? How'd it go, do you recommend it?

We did not take a cruise when we went to BC, it was just a week stay there and this time we are driving to WDW so we'll drive our car to the port. We did use the DCL transport from Orlando Airport once and it was very, very convienient. I have heard positive things from others who have used the DCL transport service and I think they will even pick your bags up from your room and load them on the bus for you.
I would not hesitate to use the service again!:thumbsup2

[nhpgator]

we just got our room assignment - so for now we are in 7518 - but we may upgrade - please add us to the FE - it is my kids favorite thing to do - is someone heading the exchange up - ie keeping room change info or putting together final list -

can't wait - I am working almost every weekend till our cruise- so it will be a welcome break - heading off to work my first night of Howl-O-Scream - hope it is not to dangerous or crazy - I am more of a Not So Scary girl - who knew the Supervisor of Education would have to work with werewolves, vampires, crazy vindictive rocker chics and such.....

for the FE
Ron, Natasha, Isabella (7yo) and Mackenzie(4 yo) - 7518 for now

[Davids-Coco]

we just got our room assignment - so for now we are in 7518 - but we may upgrade - please add us to the FE - it is my kids favorite thing to do - is someone heading the exchange up - ie keeping room change info or putting together final list -

can't wait - I am working almost every weekend till our cruise- so it will be a welcome break - heading off to work my first night of Howl-O-Scream - hope it is not to dangerous or crazy - I am more of a Not So Scary girl - who knew the Supervisor of Education would have to work with werewolves, vampires, crazy vindictive rocker chics and such.....

for the FE
Ron, Natasha, Isabella (7yo) and Mackenzie(4 yo) - 7518 for now
Um, yeah, I've been keeping an ongoing list with everything in the very first post for quite some time. Everything you need should be there. I can only update what is given to me though...

I am thinking that I will probably close the FE at 1 mo before unless there are objections so that those people making things have time to do so.

[casana]

I forgot to add my name to the FE list as well! Thx!

[nhpgator]

Um, yeah, I've been keeping an ongoing list with everything in the very first post for quite some time. Everything you need should be there. I can only update what is given to me though...

I am thinking that I will probably close the FE at 1 mo before unless there are objections so that those people making things have time to do so.

cool - thanks for doing that - we are hoping to upgrade at the port again - if there are still rooms- if we do I'll get you our room change -

[Davids-Coco]

cool - thanks for doing that - we are hoping to upgrade at the port again - if there are still rooms- if we do I'll get you our room change -
Hrm... not sure how I would be able to tell everyone about the change. I don't want to spend my vacation calling people to let them know... so if anyone has any ideas for expediting, let me know.

[LisaG520]

Hrm... not sure how I would be able to tell everyone about the change. I don't want to spend my vacation calling people to let them know... so if anyone has any ideas for expediting, let me know.

In past cruises a white board has been used. We could decide on a cabin everyone can go to to list changes and everyone would just need to check one spot to find out if anything changed.

[nhpgator]

In past cruises a white board has been used. We could decide on a cabin everyone can go to to list changes and everyone would just need to check one spot to find out if anything changed.

That is how we did it on the 3 cruises we were on 0 that would be great.

[Yunchman]

We got our documents today! Wahoo!

[AdventureLover67]

We got our documents today! Wahoo!

Our's came, too!:woohoo:

Don was out of town so I'm waiting to open them when he gets home today. It just makes it more fun that way!:goodvibes

[LisaG520]

Our docs came yesterday too

[schwenksvillemouse]

Our docs came yesterday too


Stupid question, but what docuemnts? I thought I printed off at home everything I needed after filling out the forms on line.

[AdventureLover67]

Not a stupid question!:goodvibes

Your documents will be a booklet of information, room confirmation, general info and if you are flying/using DCL transport it also comes with all of the paperwork (voucher type coupons) you will need.
Oh yea, you get luggage tags, too!!:woohoo:

[mickeysgirl1129]

I got ours today too! They look much nicer than they used to :)

[JoRo]

ok nana and I spent Monday working on our FE and its really cute! Just need to get super duper fabric glue because minnie and mickey keep falling off ;) Also working on decorations for the door...the kids are going to love it!

So I know this is not nice but has anyone every had there FE stolen? Do you leave it out most of the day?

Thoughts?

OH also got our Magic Express Luggage Tags so its a start..so excited!

[LisaG520]

ok nana and I spent Monday working on our FE and its really cute! Just need to get super duper fabric glue because minnie and mickey keep falling off ;) Also working on decorations for the door...the kids are going to love it!

So I know this is not nice but has anyone every had there FE stolen? Do you leave it out most of the day?

Thoughts?

OH also got our Magic Express Luggage Tags so its a start..so excited!

We use zip ties to attach it to the fish so someone would have to cut it off.

[Davids-Coco]

About a week left before I am closing the fish extender list. If someone can please offer up to take care of a white board with any changes, that would be great. I am not going to be able to do it.

We got our docs today. And tomorrow begins what is going to be one insane month! We have at least one big thing that requires planning every single week. At least there is a reward after I survive this month... a cruise!

[AdventureLover67]

ok nana and I spent Monday working on our FE and its really cute! Just need to get super duper fabric glue because minnie and mickey keep falling off ;) Also working on decorations for the door...the kids are going to love it!

So I know this is not nice but has anyone every had there FE stolen? Do you leave it out most of the day?

Thoughts?

OH also got our Magic Express Luggage Tags so its a start..so excited!

I've seen the threads where people posted they had problems with this.:sad1:

We did it last year and no one bothered ours nor did anyone mess with our magnets. We did leave ours out the entire cruise.:goodvibes

[gwoman100]

cool - thanks for doing that - we are hoping to upgrade at the port again - if there are still rooms- if we do I'll get you our room change -

Is it cheap to upgrade at port?

[nhpgator]

don't know that cheap is the right word - but it is cheaper than upgrading before you get to the port - if that makes sense....

[gwoman100]

it does...thanks! last year they upgraded us for free...guess they're not doing it this year!

[Sinderelly]

We received our cruise docs, luggage tags etc yesterday. Did anyone receive an upgrade? I think we have decided not to participate in the FE this time. On our last cruise we had an entire suitcase filled with FE stuff. This really stressed DH. I really enjoyed the FE exchange but I think this time we are going to be "lazy". lol I am going to bring some surprises to slip in the FEs without officially signing up. :goodvibes

[tiggerliz]

We received our cruise docs, luggage tags etc yesterday. Did anyone receive an upgrade? I think we have decided not to participate in the FE this time. On our last cruise we had an entire suitcase filled with FE stuff. This really stressed DH. I really enjoyed the FE exchange but I think this time we are going to be "lazy". lol I am going to bring some surprises to slip in the FEs without officially signing up. :goodvibes
We received our docs on Friday the second. We did get an upgrade, from Cat 6 to Cat 5. I'm so excited - 35 days from this moment my plane will be halfway to MCO. Yeah!

[tiggerliz]

Did anyone else notice that Daylight savings time ends on Nov 6? That is our first night. I will be starving by the time late dining rolls around. I have my fingers crossed that I don't eat all afternoon to make up for that :lmao: Fortunately we have a couple of days to recover before our first crack of dawn excursion at 7:45. :yay:

[AdventureLover67]

Did anyone else notice that Daylight savings time ends on Nov 6? That is our first night. I will be starving by the time late dining rolls around. I have my fingers crossed that I don't eat all afternoon to make up for that :lmao: Fortunately we have a couple of days to recover before our first crack of dawn excursion at 7:45. :yay:

You mean you actually sleep on the cruise?!?:lmao::lmao::lmao:

[dmsprung]

Our documents are at the travel agent... next time I will be booking DIRECT with Disney
We are staying at a Marriott near the Port.... so excited!!!!

[Davids-Coco]

I didn't realize about Daylight Savings.. Man, our kids are going to be crazy from all the time changing!

Anyone want to man the white board for FE changes? Please? I can't do it...

[Snowwhyt]

Voyagers on the fresh and clean Magic, help! I've looked at the Navigator pages. But some will not come up on my screen and the ones that will are kind of old. I was wondering if a few of you could bring back your Navigators and post them or maybe email me a copy.
Were leaving Nov 20. My DH wants to know exactly what our 11 yr old will be doing while we are at Palo(as it stands right now I cant go:maleficen)
The activity on the ship(on the older navigator 2009) shows Dodge Ball:scared1: I haven't even told my DH or DD about that one. I'm hoping that 1 year later things changed.
Maybe if I find something of interest(not Dodge ball that's for sure) and where my DH approves(structured, not just free time) I could pick a different day to visit Palo if possible.

Could you also tell us about any changes you found on the boat?
Feel free to PM me. I love DISboards!