August 7, 2004 Magic...who's going?

[gometros]

We're on board the Magic heading for Castaway Cay and just booked the August 7, 2004 Magic going to St. Thomas and San Juan. Three of us DISers from this cruise (jeanneg and wendym) will be on it and we're party people, so let's hear who else will be joining us.

You can keep up with all your fellow cruisers by going to this link:

August 7, 2004 DIS Cruise List (http://www.canettifamily.com/August%207th%20DIS%20Cruise%20List.doc)

[MickeyMouse418]

dad i cant believe you started a thread for the next cruise before you even got off the ship! oh well i hope there are gonna be a lot of kids my age...ill be 16 and if anyone has any kids my age I would love to get in touch with them. one of my friends from the cruise we just finished will be there with me, so thats going to be a lot of fun!

[jellybean87]

I might be going on that cruise!! Right now i am trying to talk my aunts and uncles into coming with us. But if their not going then my mom and dad will take me and my brother,sister and cousins hopefully. im going to be 17 on that cruise, my sister will be 20, my brother will be 15, and my cousins will be 11, 13, and 14. Keep your fingures cross that i will be joining you!!

[MickeyMouse418]

If you will be on that cruise, I would love to get in touch! It's nice going on the cruise knowing someone my age already! For the cruise we just got off of, I had talked to a girl my age (disneygirl421) and we became good friends before the cruise, so it was great to meet her. My older sister will be almost 20. If you want, my aim sn is bubblicious418! I hope you will be coming on the cruise with us!

[jellybean87]

hey!! my mom said that there is a really good chance that we will go on that cruise,even with all my aunts and uncles!! If they all go there will be 19 of us total. They still need to talk it over sometime with my aunts and uncles, so that should be really soon. my sn is dlphnbean2787 and hockeybean87.

[EPCOTgrl1]

I cant beleive this... It is like a July 5 cruise reunion. Mea whatever. I am gonna be there. But i cant go into CG.. i will be to old. I am very sad right now. But they are looking at a new room for 17 to 20 year olds or it may be 18 to 21. I cant remember... I cant wait elane... Renee and Katty and Jarrod (sp?) are going to be there... :) i am exicted!

I also know that Wendy and Nan (her mom) will be there... We were talking about it at dinner!

[gometros]

I've already started a DIS Cruise list for August 7, 2004. I'll place the link up at the top.

[MickeyMouse418]

Oh no you wont be able to go into common grounds!! How sad...maybe since you are so special they will make an exception for you lol. It's cool how so many of us will be returning...I'm trying to beg Laura to come! I hope we get a lot more teens on this board than last time, because it was so cool meeting you and Laura! Either way I can't wait!!!

[jeanneg]

Ha-ha, I see you've got the cruise list up and running already.....no point wasting time,eh?
I've got some more info to share: Our cabin is 6108 (hey, if we were on the other side of the ship, we'd be neighbors!) and you might want to update the ages of the kids....Jenni will be 20 and Jason will be 19. (And this time we're ALL going to Palo!)
I could kill you for starting this thread......you know I'm not gonna let it wither away.....Grrrrrrrrrr.......

I actually booked the 10/2 cruise earlier today. The rates are actually much, much better than the 8/7 one and I'm afraid that if we have to cancel August due to the kids going back to school, I'll be left without a vacation! The rates for 10/2, however, were SO good (they honored the "book while still on your cruise" rates because we only got off 3 days ago) that even if we did keep the 8/7 reservation, I'd be hard pressed to give this one up. I booked a category 7 since it would only be the 2 of us and I got a nice deck 7 cabin w/navigator's verandah. I'm still hoping we can do the 8/7 one, but the rates were not as good as I had hoped them to be and if either of our other 2 kids are home, we probably wouldn't be able to take them along. In any event, I've got rate protection plus the $400 credit on both cruises, so when I decide which one it's going to be I'll just roll over the deposit from one to the other and have even less to pay.

[musicalSaranader]

Is it true they're gonna have a room for 18 to 21 year olds?? That would be so great. (Hi I'm gometro's other daughter, btw.) On this cruise I was too old for the teen stuff and too young for the adult stuff, so I was stuck hanging out with the only group of 18-year olds I could find, half of whom I couldn't stand. When we go next August I'll be a few weeks before I turn twenty, so it would be great to have the opportunity to meet a bunch of people my age. Well if anyone on this board wants to chat, my aim screen name is the same as this one.

See y'all in a year! ;)

[luv2boys]

Sara - How's your sunburn? Jared says hi.

Elana- Tell me how to do instant messaging.

Sandy - I'll be there in spirit, especially after following this thread for a year.

Hey Judy and Seth!!!

Amy

[musicalSaranader]

Hi Amy! My sunburn is mostly turned into a tan by now (nice and dark, and I never tan!), and peeling like crazy. Hi to the boys!

[eye R.N.]

Reality bites after the great time we had with all of you!

Sara, I talked to the cruise director at the Castaway Club party. There is to be a conference call in about three weeks to discuss the 18-21 yr old issues. As he had his 18 year old daughter with him, I guess he knows there is a need. Maybe there is a consultants job there for you.

I miss you guys. I would never have experienced the 80's party without you.

[MickeyMouse418]

Amy..of course I'll help you with the instant messaging! I just need to know if you already have AOL instant messenger downloaded yet. After that it's pretty easy!

[MickeyMouse418]

Amy~ I tried to PM the directions for instant messaging, but it was too long. Do you have an e-mail address I can send it to? If not I will just post it on this thread.

[EPCOTgrl1]

Just download AIM and then when that is done choose new user and get a screen name from there... it isnt that bad.

[musicalSaranader]

Yeah just go to www.aol.com, download AOL Instant Messenger, and it will give you directions from there that are easy to follow.

[gometros]

Guys, I have an idea you may or may not want to consider. I don't know if any of you already use a TA, but I've transfered my reservation to Dreams Unlimited. they gave me an instant $200 rebate on top of what I've already received for booking on board. If DU has eight or more staterooms on the same cruise, they give you a gift in your stateroom. Since there are already five of us and I'm working on my parents joining us, it shouldn't be too hard for them to get to eight.

[jeanneg]

What happens to the $400 credit? Also, what are the penalties if you cancel? We probably won't know for sure if we'll be able to go until March when Jason makes his final decision regarding college. BTW, I just got my confirmation from DCL yesterday and there's no mention whatsoever of the shipboard credit...did you get one also and if so, what does it say?

[gometros]

You still get the credit. No penalties if you cancel up to 60 days before.

I didn't get my confirmation yet, but I'll email DU and double-check about the credit.

Remember - tell Jason COrnell is the place to be and then August 7th will be safe or you for sure :)

[gometros]

We just added a second room to our reservation. My parents will be joining us.

Looks like you're right around the corner from us, Jeanne.

[sbennett]

Hi Sandy et al.
We're in cabin numbers 6016 and 6018. There may be a chance that a good friend of ours might be coming with us too. Depends on his busy schedule and when they go back to school in WV where he teaches.
How long before we can expect to get our Castaway Club info...any idea? I'll be emailing you the stingray city pictures tomorrow from work...fpc@hamptons.com is my work email just so you know.
Shelley
Gotta figure out how to add the countdown timer to our stuff.

:Pinkbounc :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :Pinkbounc

[eye R.N.]

I got the secret porthole room for the kids with non adjouning rooms this time. I did transfer the ressie to DU and got $75 for each room.

Looks like we may go down to one room though. Chelsea was talking to a manager at Innovations and she may be a presenter there next summer. Depending on where she can stay (if would have to be with friends of ours)

[jeanneg]

Denise, Sandy,
Is there a specific of window of time I have to transfer the reservation? Also, why did Sandy get a $200 credit and Denise only $75? Please advise.....
Jeanne

[eye R.N.]

The amount you get back depends of the amount you spend on the cruise. Since I have a 9 and 11 I get less than the higher catagory staterooms I am not complaining. Andy figures it a 20 some conk coolers.

[gometros]

I like the way Andy thinks.

There is no window for the credit.

[jeanneg]

I am not understanding this at all. If there's no window for the credit, what does the 7/31 deadline refer to? Please advise, I can't help being blonde!

[wendym]

Dear All
Mum and I arrived home today - surrounded by luggage and exhausted but what wonderful memories we have! It was so great to meet up with everybody and we cannot wait until next year. Jeanne, I am delighted you have another cruise booked. Chelsea you would be so proud of me - I won a disney trivia quiz at Disneyland! Already stocking up on Cadbury's for you all.
Sandy - I am away to search for your live report to save me typing up a report for my family!!
Love to all
Wendy

[gometros]

Wendy - welcome home! I was thinking of you today. I watched Celtic beat Boca Juniors 1-0 this afternoon. Okay, okay, it wasn't Aberdeen, but they aren't touring the states right now :)

No fair stealing my report. You'll have to write one of your own.

[wendym]

Sandy
Hope it was a good match. And as for stealing your trip report, well I am lazy! Anyway you write far better than me - crawl, crawl!

[sbennett]

Hi all,
Finally I figured out the countdown ticker.....now if the tag fairy would just come around and change me from .."Welcomed Guest"
so I'd feel like part of the crowd!!

[gometros]

Shelley -- I 've been looking for a tag fairy thread. Ever since I changed my title, I need to get back some color.

[jeanneg]

Shelley,
I'm not sure, but I think you'll stay as a welcomed guest until you have 75 posts at which point you will become a Dis Veteran and can then request a visit from the tag fairies. That being said, I believe that Sandy added his new title himself, so you may want to check with him how to do it.

[sbennett]

anybody booked at the Radisson yet for the night before the cruise?

[sbennett]

Hi Jeanne,
Did you get the pictures? I emailed them to John's email address and sent them via snail mail.

Sandy,
Did you get the pictures I emailed you? And how did you change your name....I tried but it still came thru as "Welcomed Guest"

Did everyone get their "Dole Whips" at WDW? I wish the Pineapple juice was either frozen or at least really cold.

:smooth:

[gometros]

Shelley - I got the pictures and already have them in my trip report online. I'm glad you sent them, since my pictures still need to be scanned. Thanks.

As far as changing your tag, you can do it by going into your profile. Go to the main Discussion Boards page and clinck on User CP. Then click on Edit Profile. About half way down the page is an option for Custom User text. You can enter it in the space that says "New Title".

I never got my Dole Whip, since every time we were in MK, it was right after dinner and I was too full.

We will be staying at the Radisson this time, since we probably will not be doing WDW before the cruise and will plan to arrive the day before we sail. But I can't think of booking just yet. It seems so far away.

[jeanneg]

Shelley,
Yes, thank-you so much! The photos arrived yesterday and I was just about to send you a pm letting you know I got them when this post came through. They are really great! I also got the ones you sent via John's email....that close-up of the guide with the stingray's underside is spectacular!!!!! When I saw that the photos took up nearly 1200k, I realized that's why it kept getting rejected. I think my email only holds 2000k of space in total! Thanks again!

About the Radisson......now that's really being prepared! To be honest, I'm not even thinking of that yet. This last time I only made my ressie about a month or so before so I don't think there's any urgency about being locked out or anything. That whole DIS meet thing was a bust. Did anyone ever find out if that little girl ever had her party there? The funny thing is after sitting in a hot car for over a week, the boxed wine was still perfectly good. In fact we still have it in our fridge at home and it tastes fine. They must use some kind of vacuum seal and it stays fresh very long....made a believer out of me!!!!!! Did you use the Radisson shuttle? We had initially planned to but then we just bit the bullet and took our car to the port and paid for the parking. It would have been a minor inconvenience getting there, but it seemed to be a major one returning. I think Wendy(AOPI) and Anna ended up coming to the same conclusion as well.

Again, I think you've got to reach the 75-post threshold, before you can get anything under your name. That could be the reason it's not taking.

[eye R.N.]

I booked the Radison during the blizzard when I really needed to concentrate on warm and sunny. I do want the two king bed suite again.

As for transportation, it worked out well for us. Andy dropped us off and then had no problem hopping a shuttle since he had no luggage.

I was expecting a long wait on the return trip, but he got on the shuttle, got the car and was back in about 20 minutes.

Next time if we do a meet we should make it make it for somewhere other than the pool. At least this time we'll know what each other looks like.:p

[lancerguys]

hey all,
great news, I think there might be another family coming. I am 15 and have a twin bro and mom and dad. we just got back from the 19-26 western and had a blast. my mom called them up yesterday, booked the 7th, and wouldn't you know it but there's already a thread. I can't wait to go. the only thing is, we might start school, so maybe we cant come, but I HIGHLY doubt it. anyway, I look forward to meeting you all and getting to know you.

Kraig
p.s. T-Minus 373 days, which is roughly 8,952 hours!!!

[wendym]

Welcome Kraig - it will be great to meet you and your family.
Jeanne, I am glad the wine survived and you are enjoying it. We probably won't be staying at the Radisson - I'll see if my travel agent is offering the free room again at the Oceanside.
I'll have to start thinking what else we will be doing next year - it will be the first time in about 8 years that I will actually be celebrating a birthday at home!
Off to trya nd finish my trip report I am only on castaway cay and I still have another 2 weeks to go!
Mum sends her love to you all.
Wendy

[gometros]

Welcome aboard, Kraig. Interesting spelling. I've never seen it spelled with a K before.

If you read through the thread, you may realize that we all know each other from the July 5th cruise. I started this thread, because basically, I'm obsessive.

[lancerguys]

Yeah, it's kinda strange. My dad and his five brothers and sisters all have the initals KLK, except not the girls have differnt last names. so then my parents decided to sort of carry on the tradition by naming my brother and I both with K's.

I guess we are all obsessed here. if we weren't, boards wouldn't work. p.s. once I have all the info I will give it to you and then we can be added to your list.

[sbennett]

Kraig: Interesting spelling, our son's name is Kristofer. It's a Scandinavian type of spelling. Welcome aboard!!

Wendy: Glad to know you're home safe and busy. Tell Mum hello from all of us. The kids are still eating the candy you brought them.

Jeanne: Enjoy the wine! Next year we all need to meet at the Radisson. We could have a great pre-sail away party.

Denise: We just want to focus totally on the next cruise. That's why we're looking to book early! You know us!

[jeanneg]

You're in luck......there are several teens already signed up that are just about your age. You'll have over a year to know each other a little better.

Denise,
Please help me out with the shuttle protocol. I tried to get an answer on this board just before I left and all I got was confused!
When Andy dropped you off, who was holding his documents? If you had them, could you also check-in without him being present?Was he allowed to show other photo ID to get past security. When we inquired at the Radisson, they said ther first opening was the 11:30 shuttle even though we told the girl it was a single passenger and no luggage. From what I later learned, there were so many cancellations he probably would not have had a problem getting on an earlier one. Incidentially, we did not have the "port parking" room rate but the desk clerk said there was never a charge for leaving your car there as long as you were a registered guest before the cruise. Our base rate was $85 (internet special) so that may save you some money next time around. Just think of it as more free conch coolers!
If we ever do another DIS meet at the hotel, we'll need to be more specific about meeting time and place. It will also help if it isn't July 4th and fireworks all over!

[gometros]

I think it will help now that some of you have stayed at the Radisson and know the layout somewhat.

[sbennett]

Thanks Sandy...Let's see if I changed my tag...

We're going to stay at the Radisson the night before but we'll be a WDW for 3 or 4 nights before that...going to try to stay at Boardwalk Villas this time...we were a little disappointed with the Beach Club Villas..staff wasn't as friendly as they had been at Boardwalk, and parts of the villas weren't as clean as they should have been--- dusty lamp shades and tops of TVs (really surprised me) plus there's more going on at Boardwalk for the kids.

[wendym]

Must remember to add candy to the list for next year!
Managed to brave a visit to school and had over 1000 emails to delete, met some friends for lunch and all I spoke about were you guys!
Determined to get the trip report finished tonight, I'll put the cruise part on the boards but if anybody is really bored and wants to read the rest PM me with your email and I'll send it to you!
Wendy

[eye R.N.]

Here is what happened to us. When we went to check out we asked about the shuttle. The lady at the desk said we should have made reservations when we checked in. Wouldn't it have been nice if someone told us that? Anyway, we told her that it would be one person with no luggage. They said they had a spot on the 10:45 shuttle. He dropped us off and I gave him his paperwork and passport. BIG MISTAKE

I got in line to check in and realized that I didn't have any of his stuff. Fortunately he was able to hop an earlier shuttle and got in before I had checked in.

Next time he'll have his photo ID and I'll have all the paperwork.

On the way back, he got the shuttle and was back to pick us up in about 20 minutes. It was very painless, again because it was one person no luggage.

Wendy, you are a better woman than I am. I really need to finish the trip report.

Welcome Kraig. There is a 14 year old guy in this family (who is now sporting five stitches on the bridge of his nose) Life is always exciting with teens.

[wendym]

Denise - only managed it because I have this wonderful woman who does the washing and ironing - wonder who that would be!!!
And what on earth did Taylor do?
Wendy

[jeanneg]

Sandy, Wendy, Denise:
You are all truly amazing for posting such wonderful trip reports!
I don't know where you found the time to write such detailed accounts. I've been shirking my duties today just READING them, never mind the time it must have taken you to WRITE them. It's so nice to have such a vivid reminder of our fabulous vacation!

Denise: OK, I think I finally have it, but just one more question:
If you had gotten to the front of the check-in line before Andy returned and you were holding his documents, could you check him in or would he have to be physically standing there at the time?

[wendym]

Jeanne
Lets just say that I haven't been sleeping much the last couple of nights! I know how much I appreciated other peoples reports so want to reciprocate. I am lucky in that I am not back to school yet. Anyway these duplicate as my journal and letters to friends back here.
Next year it will be your turn to do them as I return to school on the Monday after the cruise - boy will my colleagues suffer!
Wendy

[sbennett]

Guess the Disboard gremlins were acting up today....couldn't get on for a while....had withdrawal !!

I've got to read all your trip reports....

Denise:
How'd you like the Wilderness Cabins? What happened to Taylor? and when does Chelsea find out about being a presenter at Innovations? Jay just found out that his assistant principal has been made acting principal beginning 8/15....he's VERY happy.
She's very supportive of the music program (so was the last principal, but this one even more so) Does Andy know anything about Kid's Peace in PA?

[eye R.N.]

First, don't worry Wendy it wasn't too serious. The kids swim team went to a local swimming quary where they have a tarzan like rope swings. You swing on a seris of ropes from one end to the other. Well he was on the first rope when the knot on the second hit him right between the eyes.

Jeanne, Yes, as long as I have his documents it's good.

Shelly, Chelsea won't know for sure until sometime after the new year. She will need to find a place to stay that I approve of. Right now there are only two famlies that I would be comfortable with her renting rooms from. I do think she would make an excellent presenter.

While I liked the Wilderness Cabins I don't think we will be returning. The transportation system left a little to be desired and it was about half a mile walk from our cabin to the bustop (.4 actually, andy measured it with the car's odometer.)

Andy says he hasn't heard anything about Kids Peace yet. Right now he is busy using his vacation days before he loses them.

[wendym]

Denise
Glad that Taylor is ok but being the person I am I can picture him doing it and giggling like mad!
I echo that Chelsea would make an excellent presenter! And tell Andy to make the most of his vacation days.
Wendy

[gometros]

Denise - glad Taylor's okay. I just got back from picking up Elana from rehearsel. She's in a theater camp this summer. They're doing a junior version of CInderella and she's the Fairy Godmother. They do the play from soup to nuts in two weeks and it's amazing what they accomplish. Tomorrow night and Saturday anre the performances.

Next week they're starting on Pirates of Penzance.

[sbennett]

Sandy:
Congrats on having such a talented daughter....tell her to keep up the good work. Wish we had seen the talent show on the ship, maybe next year!
Jay was just asked to come back to Southampton College to be the Musical Director for their November performances of "Company" by Stephen Sondheim. Rehearsals start in Sept and performances are the first 3 weekends in November. They'll also be doing Sondheim's "Follies" in the Spring.....Cruise money!!
He's worked with them before on "A Chorus Line" as musical director and had a blast. It's put on by "The Southampton Players" not just college students, they travel into NYC to learn the choreography from professionals and Jay teaches them the music...lots of work but very rewarding professionally for him (works with elementary students during the day and college/adults at night!)

[jeanneg]

Congratulations, everyone, on the wonderful accomplishments of the kids and spouses!
What exactly does a presenter at Innovations (is that the same as Innoventions?) do? Could she possibly get temporary housing at Disney?

[eye R.N.]

Presenters are the folks who do the tours of the House of the Future, ride the Seg-way, do the stuff with TAPI, (the forest thing) most of the presenters are currently being cross trained to the new mission space ride.

I know I need to cut the apron strings, but I have some issues with her going straight from high school to a job 1000 miles away AND living with strangers. So it is dependant on her renting a room from people I at least know.

You can start calling me overprotective any time now;)

[sbennett]

Not over protective.....a very loving, caring mother who wants the best for her children.

[wendym]

Definitely not overprotective, just very sensible - and that is coming from somebody with no children.
PS I add my congratulations to everybody.

[jeanneg]

Nope, if it were my daughter I would feel exactly the same way. We mothers are simply programed to worry. I do hope you can work something out....it sounds like such an exciting opportunity!
BTW, do you have an extra "Pirates" poster? I'm sitting here drooling with anticipation! Thanks much!

[eye R.N.]

I picked up about five posters.

My boss leaves for Purtero Rico today to visit family. I asked him to bring back info.

[gometros]

Excellent on both points. Looking forward to that info on Puerto Rico.

Elana's play was last night. Sold out house. Of course, she was wonderful (if I do say so myself :) On Omday, they cast for Pirates of Penzance. How appropriate, considering the popularity of Pirates of the Caribbean.

[jeanneg]

Congrats on Elana's performance! I'm sure you and Judy must have been bursting with pride!
I have been to Puerto Rico several times and although the last time was 3 or 4 years ago, I may be able to answer some general questions. I know that many of the larger hotels have casinos which might be a nice way to spend a few hours if the heat gets too intense.

[sbennett]

We're on the hunt for info on PR too. The builder who built our house has a vacation home there and goes all the time plus one of Jay's fellow teacher's wife is from PR and they go there all the time, so after school starts we should get some advise/info. And once our builder comes to fix some minor problems at the house, we'll corner him and see what he has to offer...

[gometros]

Okay, I have a real stupid question. Everyone who has a counter is off from mine by five hours. I assume they are considering the start of the cruise from when it sets sail. My daughter asked me why mine was different. My thinking was that the cruise starts the minute I board the ship. Doesn't that make sense?

the way I see it, I'm having five more hours of fun than the rest of you :teeth:

[sbennett]

I don't know about Denise.....but we plan on getting to the port early again we weren't too far behind them, Jeanne was after us, we're just going by official DISNEY time. The thing that messes me up is the fact that these postings are all listed in GMT. Great for all those that live in that time zone.....sometimes I feel as if I'm in a different time warp myself. A year from Thursday!!!!

Sandy, make sure you let us know how Alana makes out with auditions. Jay & I are meeting Wed. with the director of our next "gig" in November it's an Evening of Rogers & Hart or Rogers & Hammerstein or something. Last year we did Gerschwin.

[gometros]

That should be great. I love Rogers & Hammerstein. I have the special edition set with all of their better known musicals (Carousel, South Pacific, Sound of Music, Oklahoma and State Fair)

[jeanneg]

Shelley,
You don't need to keep it set to Greenwich time. Go to your personal user control panel and click on "edit options". Under the topic "set time" you can choose to have the posts clocked in under whatever your own time zone is. Everytime you log in it will display everything in relation to your time. Sometimes if I check the boards without logging in, it defaults to GMT again and it's just too confusing. Save yourself the math and edit the panel!
Jeanne

[sbennett]

Does anyone remember the brand/name of the soap you got in the shower on the cruise? Not the pouches of shower gel and lotion and stuff but the bar of soap? I loved the smell of it and I can't remember what brand it was....I've written to DCL to see if they'll tell me but I was hoping that someone was like me and made a "collection" of the sample stuff, I've got everything except the bar soap. I'd love to get some for home.
Guess it's just another way to relive the cruise.

Got my Castaway Club card yesterday .... I feel like I "belong" now. Of course they misspelled my name...oh well...I asked them to please fix it.:( :Pinkbounc

[jeanneg]

Shelley,
I just about ALWAYS take any unopened soap or shampoo, so I checked and, unfortunately, you're out of luck. I think we had accummulated so much other "junk" over the course of the cruise I didn't want to pack a single thing extra! If one of us can't help you, just post a request to the upcoming cruisers.

[gometros]

Hey guys, only one more year until our next cruise
:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[sbennett]

We've got our reservation for August 6th at the Radisson
Why don't we meet by the pool on the opposite side by the kiddie pool instead of by the bar....too crowded and nobody found anyone there this year...of course we all know what each other looks like this year....however Jay and I will be much thinner hopefully.....major diet started. Hopefully we won't have a stressful year (that's when I eat!!)
:bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc

[gometros]

That sounds good. Maybe I'll go and make the reservations already. That's one reservation that at least doesn't cost anything in advance! I've added to meets to the cruise list - one for the Radisson and one for aboard ship.

I'm with you guys, I started (I hate to say the 'd' word) watching what I eat more carefully and Sara and I have been walking two miles every morning (except when it's raining).

[sbennett]

Sandy:
I'd like to swim in the morning before going to work...but lately it's done nothing but rain...now the pool's a little chilly!!
Did you stay at the Radisson this year? Someone said something about a really nice "local" restaurant down by the pier for dinner, think we'd rather try that than eat at the hotel ...even though the food was good, we'd like the atmosphere of eating down by the water. Maybe a group of us could do that!!!

[gometros]

No, we came from AKL.

The restaurant you may be thinking of may be the one that Veranda Man recommended. It's called the Crossroads and is supposed to have pretty good seafood. I think either Denise or Jeanne ate there.

[eye R.N.]

It was nice, but of course very crowded on 4th of July. Since I'm am basically cheap, the fact they had a 10% off coupon for out of towners on their website made the difference.

The menu is mostly grilled seafood, but you can get non seafood items.

[wendym]

No Denise, not cheap just canny! Funny but we had that coupon to but decided to be lazy and just go to the Perkins next to the hotel. Not sure of our plans yet but if they offer us a free night again at the Oceanside we will go for that as I am cheap!
Wendy

[martinez03]

We just got back from the 08/02/2003 7-day and we booked along with all of you for the 08/07/2004. It will be myself, my DW, my DS (9), DD (7) and my DMIL. We can't wait to get back on the ship. I'm glad to see there is already a Thread for this trip. I'm looking forward to chating to pass the time.:jester:

[gometros]

Welcome aboard. One of the families cruising with us is from Annapolis and my daughter goes to Towson.. What part of Maryland is Davidsonville?

If you check the first page of this thread, you'll find a link to a cruise list I've been maintaining. Five of us met on the July 5th cruise, but have been chatting with each other since February. We're a great bunch of people and you'll have a great time.

[wendym]

martinez03
Welcome! Glad you found us. Just think less than a year to go!
Wendy

[jeanneg]

OK, I'm back again. Tuesday night we had a horrendous storm and the lightning zapped my phone lines. We have dial-up so I had no internet until Friday morning. Then we took off Friday afternoon to take Jen back to Lehigh and swung over to NYC to bring Adam home for a week before he heads back to LA. And to top it off, Jason starts school tomorrow....er, make that today! I have tons of stuff to catch up with!
Shelley, Sandy: you guys are too funny!!!!! Already planning for the Radisson meet....it just cracks me up! Darnit, I promised myself I wouldn't get all excited until I knew the 8/7 cruise was definitely a reality but you guys are just pulling me in! I'm going to be devastated if we can't make it. I was the one who went to Verandah Man's favorite restaurant.....It's called Dixie Crossings and it's in Titusville which is about 10-15 minutes from Port Canaveral. If you go to their website you can access all sorts of neat info including the menu and directions. I wouldn't mind going there again and it might be a fun place for DISers to meet. Lots of time to work out the details on that one, though!

[martinez03]

Thanks to all for welcoming me to the official 08/07/2004 thread! For the last cruise we booked about 30 days out now for the next one is just less than a year away. This will be a long wait. My name is Cay (pronounced like Kai), my DW is Linda, DS son Tyler (9), DD Tayelor (7) and DMIL Karla (can't say her age). We live in Davidsonville, MD which is about 5 minutes from Annapolis, MD. I look forward to chatting with all of you. How do you do the countown?

[gometros]

First off, if you're going to cruise Disney, you must understand that you'll have to change the pronounciation of your name from Kai to Key (as in Castaway Cay :teeth: )

As far as the countdown goes, you can read all about how to do it here (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=3987172#post3987172)

[martinez03]

I must admit it was weird being on the cruise and everywhere we went my name was. Cayman Island-Castaway Cay. I guess I am popular in the Caribbean. Ha Ha:jester:

[sbennett]

Welcome to the group Cay!!

We have a DD - Courtney who'll be 10 by the time we cruise again, a DS - Kristofer who'll be 11 and another DS - Corey who'll be 15 the next time. Our two youngest informed us that they'll be spending more time in the Oceaneer Lab next time than with us.....Do you have a cabin number assigned yet so Sandy can add it to the list? Sandy's our official record keeper.

Well we have over 100 kids between the ages of 4 and 12 for Vacation Bible School this week here at the church....lots of exciting fun stuff going on....keeping me busy!! Corey's helping out with the recreational part of it. All kinds of fun games for the kids, real animals too....today a bunny visited everyone, future guests will include a chicken, piglet, baby goat, a an artificial cow!

[martinez03]

Thank you, it will be nice to communicate with you all in the next year leading up to the cruise. We will be in #1051 and #1053 all the way at the bottom. Does everyone fly in the day before? We did last time and stayed at the Radisson and it was great.

Cay

[gometros]

We've learned the hard way never to arrive the day of the cruise. Too many things left to chance. SOme of us will be staying at the Radisson and we are already talking about a meet on Friday.

[martinez03]

Just let us know if where everyone is meeting and we will be there. How soon can you make ressies for the Radisson? Does anybody know? Also flight ressies.

[gometros]

I made my ressies right on their web site. Check out http://www.radisson.com/capecanaveralfl

The cruise list will have all meeting information both at the Radisson and on board the Magic.

[wendym]

Ok you lot are far too organised!!! I cannot even book the flight yet so haven't made any other plans but I have thought about excursions!!
Cay, it is just Mum (she'll be 70 by then but I think everyone would agree she doesn't look like it or act like it) and me (34). We'll be in a category 11 on deck 7 midship.
VBS sounds fun but a lot of work. I started a teaching course today - totally demoralised me but then our exam results came out so I felt much better as at least my pupils did extremely well.
Jeanne hope you have managed to keep sane!
Wendy

[martinez03]

My biggest problem is that I just got off the cruise on Saturday and can't stop thinking about the next time. It's going to be a
Loooooooooooooong time!
Cay:bounce:

[sbennett]

Cay,
Relax.....you're not alone.....we think about the cruise all the time and how absolutely spoiled we were on it...

Wendy,
Do YOU have Ferdinand's email address, he took ours and the kids were so anxiously awaiting hearing from him while he was home on vacation, but we've heard nothing so far. Denise doesn't have it, thought you might have gotten it. The kids loved him and Leeroy.

Still looking for the name of the soap they left in the showers... Cay do you know??? I picked up the samples of everything else but didn't get the bar bath soap.....I loved the fragrance.
MUST FIND OUT WHAT IT IS
:Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc

[eye R.N.]

Can't book the Radison yet. Seems one of the merchants in Mexico sold my credit card number.

So I am without plastic for the next week. Disney Visa was very prompt in catching them. Only two bad charges went through.

[wendym]

We didn't get it either, sorry. We hoped to meet him at the airport but we got an earlier flight so missed him. Probably his wife is keeping him far too busy!
Sorry we didn't keep any of the soaps either - have plenty of the moisturiser though!
Thank goodness school is keeping me too busy to spend all my time missing the cruise LOL
Wendy

[wendym]

Denise
What a pain about the card - thank goodness they caught it so quickly. I'd be lost without my cards.
Wendy

[martinez03]

Denise, I was just in Mexico and was just wondering if they figured out exactly where the store was that did this. Also I am right around the corner from you in Davidsonville.
Cay

[mmouse37]

The thing with the credit card happened to us in Puerto Rico a few years back. We found out the hotel front desk clerk was selling CC #'s to locals. We noticed when about a month after our trip there was a $500 charge for sporting goods on our card. Our friends who were travelling with us also had a $500 charge on their card as well and the only place we both used our cards was for the hotel check in.

Luckily the CC companies knew they were suspicious charges and we were not liabel (sp).

MJ

[sbennett]

That's really upsetting....I wonder how many other people had that happen to them.....thank goodness we only used cash on shore!

[jeanneg]

Wow, Denise, I'm so sorry for you. We used our card several times in Mexico also. Now I'm going to be sweating it out until all the new bills arrive. Do you have any idea where it happened?
Last year someone charged a $600+ restaurant bill to my Discover card number but as in your case, they were the ones who picked up on it. They wiped it off my account and reissued all new cards, but it was very upsetting to know that people can be so deceitful.

[musicalSaranader]

Hey Cay, like my dad said, I'm right near you at Towson (during the school year, anyway). Need a babysitter?? :p

[eye R.N.]

We charged at three different stores. Two were on the approved shopping list. The third store I didn't like at all. The guy whined about the agreed on price when andy pulled out the card saying that credit would cost him more money. I'm betting that is the store that sold our number.

[gometros]

First off, who is Ferdinand?

Denise - sorry about the CC troubles. Judy and I can relate, since we recently had similar problems when someone lifted her CC in a local Pathmark. It was before we got the DIsney VISA and were using Wells Fargo and they were very quick in catching the error and we weren't liable for a penny.

I know the only place we used our card in Cozumel was at Mr. Sanchos, and they already got enough money from me :)

[sbennett]

Sandy:
Ferdinand was our server from the Philippines. He was wonderful, the kids loved him and he loved "The Princess" aka Courtney. He asked for our email address so he could write to the kids while he was home on vacation, but he never gave us his email and the kids haven't heard from him and are somewhat disappointed. They wanted to ask him questions about customs and his country.

[gometros]

I have some good news (finally). remember that job I thought I had, but found out I didn't have when I got back? Well, it finally came through. I've been working on it for the past two weeks now and was reluctant to say anything until it was definite. Well, I just got the signed contract today and I start Monday. What's cool about is is that the company I'll be working for is based in Houston and I'll be working from home. They're shipping me a fully-loaded laptop.

It's interesting how it came around. I was really upset about it and the recruiter wasn't clear on how it turned sour. So I called the hiring manager two weeks ago to make sure that there wasn't something I did or didn't do that screwed it up and to let him know I was still interested in working for him if the opportunity came up. He reassured me that it had been a real job, but due to project rescrambling, their resource needs had changed. Two days later I got a call from the recruiter that I was back in. Of course, I wasn't goping to get too excited until I could be sure it was for real this time. So now I can start saving up for next year's cruise while I pay off this year's cruise :p

[sbennett]

We want to be the first to say Congratulations!!!

I was wondering how things were with the new job.....exactly what will you be doing (unless it's top secret stuff!! Then I don't want to know)

Again ....Congrats!!!

[eye R.N.]

This is great news. We are all very happy for you. Persistence does pay off.

Jeanne, I mailed the poster today so you should be getting it soon. Let me know what side you decide to put up.

[gometros]

My background is Software Quality Assurance. Ironically, I'll be working for the company that indirectly made me unemployed to begin with :) I was working at Prudential Financial in Human Resource Systems, when they outsourced us and made our whole area redundant (I learned that term from my British friends, Wendy). I'm going to be consulting for the company they outsourced us to and on the Prudential project!

Denise - did I forget to give you my address for the poster (I did ask you, didn't I?)

[wendym]

Sandy
Congratulations! Mum and I are absolutely delighted that everything has turned out right and you have the job - you certainly deserve it.
Wendy

[gometros]

Btw, one thing this break did for me was got me looking at getting back into my first love. Before Judy and I got married, I was a sports photgrapher and I'm looking at leveraging that background into a new business using digital technology. It's something I can do on the side and who knows what might happen if it proves fiscally succesful. Only problem is, the start up cost. Professional digital cameras run a few grand with the lenses and accessories. Any of you want to help finance an up and coming business? :teeth:

[wendym]

I would love to Sandy but you know how poor teachers are and I have a Disney addiction to support!!!

[sbennett]

Ditto for us (Wendy's reply) :rolleyes: We can all be the people that say "We knew him when....."

[jeanneg]

I always knew things would work out for you!

Thank-you, Denise! I'll be anxiously awaiting it!

Shelley: When you stayed at the Radisson, did you also do the shuttle? Denise has me convinced that maybe we should give it another try and a thought occurred to me..... If we all leave for the port at the same time maybe the men could return to the hotel and take a cab back together. It couldn't cost more than a buck or two each and we wouldn't be at the mercy of the shuttle schedule. Plus, we could send the kids to hold our place on line and all be together while we're waiting to board.
Let me know what you think of it. And put me down fo the wine again......only this time we're gonna drink it!

[martinez03]

Do all of you rent cars or drive down? I rented a car from MCO and then took it back Sat. morning and then they shuttled us to the port and that worked out great. I am sure all of you are more experienced than us, so I will go with your advice.

[sbennett]

Jeanne:
We drove ourselves to the port and parked the car there...we had sooo much stuff and didn't want to be at the mercy of the shuttle when we got there or when we wanted to leave so we payed the $70 and parked at the port. It was great...got right near the entrance to the terminal and terrific porter packed the car when we returned. I refuse to take as much stuff the next time....I know what I need and don't need now. Don't think we doing the Tuxedo thing next time...for 5 people it's another big suitcase full of clothes plus shoes that you don't wear any other time. We'll just wear our regular nice dinner clothes.

Cay:
We drove our own car down....Jay's not thrilled about flying....of course 22 hours in a car with 3 kids is frightening too!!

To All:

We need your prayers again...Corey has to go see the Pediatric Cardiac Electrophysiologist on Monday. He had another Holter Monitor done since we've been home and it's showing many
APC's and irregular rhythms. We're probably looking at him having a cardiac ablasion done soon. They've increased his heart medication to twice daily. We'll keep you informed. Thanks in advance for your prayers.
:(

[martinez03]

Shelley, my prayers will be with you and your family. Thanks for the advice on the trip.

Cay

[gometros]

Shelley - you know you have our prayers too. Between us and the rest of the crew, you have most of the major religions covered :)

Cay - we take the auto train. My wife is also a non-flyer, although this time she may go on the train with one of the kids while ther rest of us fly down. I suspect that with work schedules, we won't be able to take the extra time off needed to train down.

By the way, Shelley, have you guys ever tried the auto train? It's not necessarily cheaper, but it's less stressful that driving all the way. We love it.

Since we'll already have a car with us, we're flexible of how we get to the port. If we leave out car at the Radission, I'm open to your idea, jeanne.

[wendym]

Shelley - you most certainly have our prayers.
Cay - what a lot of people do is take the car to the port to drop the luggage and most of the people off. Then one person takes the car back to the car rental place or Radisson and they only have 1 person to fit in the shuttle with no luggage. I think the cab back is an excellent idea.
Wendy

[eye R.N.]

Sandy, got your e-mail so the poster will be on it's way soon.

Jeanne, I love the taxi idea. I wonder what disney would do if we brought any leftover wine to consume in line;). Think, we might start a new tradition, the DIS pre-board party.

Cay, we usually drive down, it's about 14 hours from Annapolis. Depending on who goes this trip (not sure about husband and one daughter) we might do the Auto train. We normally have 5 people so air fare and the cost to go back and forth to the airport get pricey.

Shelly, prayers are yours as always. Let us know what is happening.

[sbennett]

Okay...I know Sandy's on 5 hours ahead of us because he's using the 12 "get on board" time vs. the 5pm Sail time.....but Cay when does your time start.....you're 12 ahead of Sandy!

Sandy:
One word response....."derailments" .
Plus, my parents took the auto train when it first started what was that about 25 years ago...and their car bumpers (remember the olden days of chrome bumpers" got so banged up and scratched plus since the auto train didn't have the right of way or top priority they got "sided" alot and sat on the siderails waiting for freight trains that were hundreds of cars long etc. We figured it only cost us about $60 in gas and one nite at a less expensive motel $65 to get to FL from NY. plus roadside food McD's or whatever. Overall the drive was good, DVD player for the kids plus gameboys kept the fighting to a minimum!

[wendym]

I admire you all for driving so far. We drove 66 miles last week to visit relatives and we had to stop for coffee and the toilet (for mum!!) enroute.
Cay, my mum and I are from Scotland so we combine the cruise with WDW and often other places. We usually drive down the night before.
Wendy

[gometros]

Shelley - from what I've heard, the auto train is miles better from when it started out. Except for occassional delays, we love it.

[jeanneg]

Shelley: So sorry to hear about Corey.....of course you can count on us for prayers.
We also paid to park at the port because we were basically a little confused about how it would work out and the terminal parking just seemed so hassle-free. That said, however, I can't help but think of all the conch coolers that $70 would buy!

Denise: Leftover wine? With this group, are you kidding! Maybe we can all bring water bottles and I'll divey up whatever is leftover....that way we can be "discreet" when we party while waiting on line! Hmmmm....the happiest place on earth just got even happier!

Cay: we've been doing WDW for years but this was the first time we ever drove and it was EASY. After Richmond, there are no major cities to drive through until you reach Jacksonville, FL. Compared to everyone else, our trip is relatively short (about 10 hours). I have no qualms about flying, but the nice thing about driving to a cruise is that you have lots of room to bring all the things you probably didn't need in the first place! When we go to WDW it's just t-shirts and shorts for all of us, but since you have to dress for dinner every night onboard I find myself packing way more than I ordinarily would.

[wendym]

We all act "mad" without the wine - think what we would be like with it to begin with!!!

[wendym]

Jeanne
Mum is asking what and where is the equivalent of Carlos and Charlies in San Juan!!:p
Wendy

[eye R.N.]

I would hang out at a bar with her anytime!

Jeanne, us "discreet"????? Think of the embarassment factor for our kids. "Yep, that my mom at the front of the line downing the wine." Now I'm sorry I didn't pick up more of the plastic Mickey tiki mugs at WDW.

[wendym]

Aren't I cruel to her! Still never manged to get her in that place anyway. I am sure we can think of some great ways to hide the wine!
Wendy

[martinez03]

I have my countdown set to 12:00 am that is probably why mine is of compared to everyone else. I will be wide awake at that time and technically on vacation so that is why I used that time. I think I will check out the auto train as well. As far as driving I don't know. We went to WDW Easter of 2002 and drove. We left to come home at 3:00 pm one afternoon and did not get home until 10:00 am the next a.m. Straight through except for the usual Mcd's stops. Traffic was so bad that I could not even pull over to a rest stop to catch some ZZZZZZZZZ's because they were jammed packed AND every hotel room was booked all the way up 95. NIGHTMARE!!

[sbennett]

August traffic shouldn't be as bad as Easter Traffic when everyone is trying to cram their vacation into the school break.
July traffic this year wasn't too bad. Just had some tie ups near St. Augustine/Jacksonville area due to construction.

We have a computer virus on our laptop at home....pray for it, it has ALL of our cruise pictures on it!!! Jay's trying to figure out how to get rid of the virus by using Norton's help. It's the backdoor flood or something virus....ugh!!!

[jeanneg]

Hee-hee, if I ever see lime green water bottles at the dollar store I'm buying a dozen of them! No one but us will ever know! Don't worry, Denise, my kids are past embarassment by now.....it seems I've always excelled at being a bad role model!

Wendy&Doreen: Most of the times I've been to PR have been "professional" trips so I wasn't able to seek out the local watering hole. I still can't get over what went on at C&C's! Another one for "been there, done that". I do know of a very nice waterfront bar in St Thomas!

Shelley: sounds like you're not having a very good week. Several people in Raleigh have had their computers attacked by that new virus also. I'm not sure if they were able to recover everything but I'm sending a prayer up right now that all goes well for you.

[gometros]

I think Jay and Shelley had a little more to worry about than a virus last night :)

We were lucky. We got power back at 8:50pm.

[sbennett]

Sandy:
We lost our power at 4:12pm and finally got it back at 4:15 this morning!! Muggy nite, Courtney and I were sitting on the deck watching the stars and she got stung by a HUGE hornet. Poor thing, she screamed like someone was killing her. I felt sooo bad, I killed the hornet. She had those liquid glow in the dark bracelets on her ankles and I think it was attracted to them.
Kids were thrilled they had lots of ice cream for dessert last night!! and they all "camped in" in the family room. They thought about sleeping outside until Courtney got stung.
Of course we have well water so we had no water either. Luckily we have a pool so we could grab a bucket of pool water to flush.
Jay's father is on 24 hour oxygen so they had to convert him to the portable tanks because the oxygen mixer requires electricity and he didn't want to go to the shelter they had set up at the Senior Citizen center because there'd be too many people there they wouldn't be able to sleep....they could have socialized though!!

So what do you think.....baby boom in 9 months or what?

[wendym]

Sandy and Shelley
We were thinking of both your families last night and delighted you both have power back now. I hope Courtney recovers ok and that Jay's father coped well enough.
I certainly think there will be a baby boom!
Wendy

[gometros]

Baby boom maybe, but not in our house. With my youngest being 15, I'm not ready to get back into diapers again :)

[jeanneg]

[i]Originally posted by sbennett [/i

So what do you think.....baby boom in 9 months or what? [/B]

Hee-hee, Shelley and Jay, just rememebr there's an age requirement for infants on the cruise. I wouldn't want you to do anything to jeopardize your 8/04 sailing!

[wendym]

I'll be good and not add any more comments about babies!
Just a heads up - I've just read a thread about the Radisson and they allowed somebody cruising on the 10/11 crusie to prebook their shuttle times. I know previously you could only do that when you checked in.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?threadid=416212
Off to try and get organised for tomorrow - 1st day of school nerves and that is coming from the teacher!
Wendy

[sbennett]

Rest assured there will not be any babies in the Bennett house...it would be an absolute miracle if it did happen since all three of our children are adopted because even with the help of IVF we weren't able to have our own!! Plus at 46 and 47 who wants another baby....I'm counting the years til they are all in college and married and have their own children.

Think we've rid the computer of the virus.....still communicating here from work since we don't want to take a chance on losing any of the vacation pictures until Jay can get them all transferred off the laptop safely. He was on the phone with Gateway for about an hour last night.

RE: Corey - we took him to the doctor's yesterday and of course the EKG while he was there was perfect....he didn't have his chart from the other cardiologist because they sent it to his other office...so after a 2 1/2 hour trip up there....we still know NOTHING! The new doctor did call us yesterday afternoon and said that he got the chart from his other office and he'd review it and get back to us in a couple of days....obviously not too concerned! Will keep you posted.

[gometros]

Well, if he's not too concerned, that's good news. Btw and fyi, I always carry my latest EKG in my wallet. I Xerox it so it's small enough. This way I always have a baseline to show the doctor if the need arises.

I just odered a new computer yesterday, a Dell 8200, 2.8ghz of power baby!!! I bought a wireless router so that Elana can use this one in her room. Of course, I made the mistake of telling her and now she's gloating to her brother and sister that she is getting her own computer before they did (they got new ones for college). I told her if she keeps it up, I might just change my mind :rolleyes:

[sbennett]

Hi Sandy,
Great idea re: EKG

We LOVE our wireless connection, Jay takes the laptop all over the house (and outside on the deck too!) We have 3 computers hooked up to the internet and they work great with the wireless connections (laptop and the kids computer in their playroom)
We can all be doing something on line at the same time and it doesn't interfer with any phone lines or whatever!

Now if we could just figure out where we got that darn virus from... only the laptop had it. I got an email from someone in England (not Scotland Wendy...don't worry) and it took forever for it to open up.....I'm wondering!!!!!

[wendym]

Shelley
Thank goodness the virus didn't come from Scotland - see those English! Cannot believe your children are adopted - they look so like you both. I am so glad you were able to adopt.
I am sure it will continue to be good news about Corey.
Wendy

[mom2missmous]

Wow! I am "new" to this site (been lurking for quite some time though) , finally decided to sign in to say HI! It looks like a lot of people from this board wil be on this particular cruise! We will be sailing with our DD who will be 20 at the time. Although we all had fun, DD was stuck with only us for company this past cruise since she was too old for CG , not really into the club scene with the "parents', and a little shy about approaching others who MIGHT be her age. Hopefully we all will get a chance to meet up with some of you from this board (it would be nice if DD could actually MEET some people her own age on the ship- that new area purposed sounds great! If they need another voice advocating the need for such a place count us in!!!)

[wendym]

Welcome!
I am sure there will be some people around your daughter's age and I know Chelsea aka Epcotgirl is desperate for the new area. Sandy aka gometros has a list on the first post of this thread which you can look at - it links to a word document.
Looking forward to meeting you.
Wendy

[eye R.N.]

Sandy, Jeanne and I all have kids that will be too old for the teen club.

Welcome to our little family.

Wendy, hope your first day went well, first day for kids here is tuesday. Hope goes in Monday for her orinetation to Middle School. Needless to say emotions are running a little high here.;)

[wendym]

Denise
Please tell everybody that I am asking for them and I'll be thinking of Hope on Monday - I'm sure she will enjoy it.
First day was ok apart from a TV almost falling on my head:p !
At least the rest of the session can only get better.
Wendy

[EPCOTgrl1]

Hi Wendy! I hope that you had a great trip home. You know me so well..... I do need a new place on the cruise ship. I hope that when they bring it into dry dock they will put a place for the older "teens". Otherwise there is nothing for us to do!

[wendym]

Hi Chelsea
I hope you get a new venue too as I want to hear all about it from you!
We had a great trip home - we both loved Disneyland - I won a trivia quiz there on Disneyland's 48th Birthday. I can't wait to see you up on Who wants to be a mouseketeer!
Good luck at school!
Wendy
PS "Nan" sends her love to you all

[eye R.N.]

If she makes it on stage, she can take her sister! Now that should be interesting;)

[wendym]

I want to witness that definitely!!

[Animemouse]

Hey everyone, I'm mom2missmous's daughter. Should've known my mom would chat away as usual. She is right I was 19 this last trip and to be honest I didn't really feel like disney had a place for people my age. It'd be cool to meet up with other people who are my age and like disney unlike my DB who is 23 and is disneyed out! It'd be nice for disney to make a place where people my age can hang.

[jeanneg]

PLEASE tell us your real first names......your screen name is an awful lot to type!

As Denise said, several of us have older kids. My own DD will be 20 if she accompanies us on the cruise. Right now it's kinda iffy because she had to be at school by 8/11 this year and may not be able to make the 8/7 sailing next year. It could very well happen that my older daughter (she'll be 22) will join us in Jen's place. And if none of that works out, hubby and I will be sailing on 10/2/04, just the 2 of us (and missing all our good buddies!) But at this point it's all up in the air.......

Good luck Wendy, with the new school year. Here in the South, the kids go back so very early! Jason began on 8/11, so tomorrow will mark the beginning of his 3rd week already. Back North, most schools begin after Labor Day which means they don't start until September. Jen actually begins her college classes tomorrow, but had to arrive 2 weeks early for training (she's a resident advisor) and to assist with move-in.

Sandy: Hope you're enjoying your new computer. We'll be expecting all sorts of amazing things with the new cruise list!

Shelley: Hope all is well with Corey. John and I were both surprised to learn that your kids were all adopted.....they really do resemble both of you!

[Animemouse]

Okay my real name is Becca, my mom's name is Donna. Hopefully we can meet some or all of you. I start later on after labor day. my mom usually starts teaching the last week of August. I myself will be 20 by the time of the cruise.

p.s we are new DVC owners at BCV anyone else DVC members?

[jeanneg]

That's so much easier!

Yes, we've been DVC members at OKW since 1992. We cruised twice using our points!

[mom2missmous]

Nice to "meet" you all! I see my daughter already "introduced" us to you! I guess a lot of us will be busy will school-related issues in the next few weeks. As DD said, I start teaching on weds(in service day on tues), then my grad class starts in sept-yuck! Thank goodness for disney-its nice to have a place to go (if only online to talk with friends) where one can think only zippity- do da thoughts!

[gometros]

Donna/Becca - Welcome aboard! I also have a daughter who will be two weeks shy of her 20th birthday when we cruise. Her name is Sara. I also have a son who will be 22 - if he cruises with us Depends on school/work schedule. I've added you guys to the cruise list. If you care to, please shae with us where you live and what stateroom you have and I'll add that too.

Jeanne - didn't get the new computer yet. It should be coming sometime this week or early next. I fear it, because of all the work I'll have to do to get it set up just like the one I have now. My whole life is practically on this computer.

Oh Look! My tag has color!

[wendym]

Another teacher - yippee!!
Welcome Donna and Becca.
Good luck to everybody going back to school - 1 week in and it already seems like I have never been away!
Wendy

[gometros]

Sara went back on Saturday and as I type Seth, Seth is busy packing up his car. Very soon we're going to have an empty (almost) house again :(

[mom2missmous]

Hi Sandy! We live in East Hartford, Conn. Our cabin number is 7120- an obstructed view veranda- aka cat5 for price of cat 7(more in our budget, but still a "room with a view" hee-hee). Our Becca is getting ready for school too, but no packing here (at least THIS semester- she is "rethinking " her potential career/college path as we speak) but for now she is attending a local college and living at home.

Wendy- WOW, back a week already! Time (and summer) sure flies! I have a split teaching assignment this year (budget cuts) - half day teaching 3rd/4th grade spanish, the rest of the day teaching remedial WHATEVER subject is needed gr3-5, so will be an interesting year!

Jeanne- I hope I get everyones name right! You are correct, names are easier. I guess my screen name is a bit long, but I wasn't feeling overly creative when I signed on, so just adapted beccas nickname she has had since she was a baby -"miss mouse" lol!

[sbennett]

Hi Donna & Becca
Welcome aboard from the Bennett's...we live in East Hampton, NY, "just across the pond" from CT. My husband's a teacher too, he starts next Tuesday 9/2, our eldest son starts 9/3 and the other two start 9/8 (ughh....their school has superintendent's conference days the entire first week that why they don't go until 9/8)

Where does everyone's kids go to college??? We have friends who have kids going to NC Wilmington and University of Richmond. And my neice is in her final year at Elon.

Jeanne:
Kids are really enjoying the inflatable rings in the pool. They're using them as diving rings....Courtney clears it all the way around, the boys.....well that's another story.

Shelley

[gometros]

Seth is in his last year at Cornell's School of Engineering.

Sara is a second year Music Education major at Towson University in Maryland.

Thankfully, Elana starts college the right after Sara graduates :)

[wendym]

Donna
My Mum, Doreen, and I live in Aberdeen, Scotland. I am a high school biology teacher - I couldn't do what you do as I need to know what I am doing! So strange to see the term remedial being used - we are so PC here that we refer to it as support for learning and the pupils don't have special needs but additional support needs!
We have 7 weeks off but it just disappears so quickly - wish the cruise was now.
Wendy

[mom2missmous]

Hi Wendy! Yes. things get real PC around here too! For example, I don't teach foreign language , I teach World language. And our "special" students are referred to as students WITH special needs! My "second"job doesn't really have a title, remedial is what I will be doing.. but I believe my official title will be ..."Basic Skills Ehancement teacher"?! (and overall I am an elementary ed teacher- politics! lol

[jeanneg]

Shelley: Glad your kids are still using the rings....i picked them up at the dollar store and didn't expect them to last the day at CC!
(AND if your room steward had given them to you in the morning you would have had them for CC!)
About the kids colleges......
Adam, my oldest, graduated from NYU's Tisch School where he majored in filmmaking. He's now in LA doing his second year of a graduate program at AFI (American Film Institute) and will end up with a masters in cinematography. BTW, I hope everyone periodically visits the AFI exhibit at MGM.....it's so awesome!
Nikki, my older daughter, is presently a senior at NCSU School of Design majoring in graphic design. She plans to study business in graduate school next year but we're not sure where. That way if she ever wants to start her own business she'll know what she's doing.
(And I bet you thought all my kids had "J" names!!!!!)
Jen is a sophomore at Lehigh University in PA. She's also studying business and swims in the Patriot League.
Jason is a HS senior and is the process of deciding where he wants to go next year. He is the only one of the 4 who didn't have an overwhelming passion about any particular school so he could end up anywhere.

Donna: check out Sandy's list and it will give you everyone's real first name. You can write them down and keep it by your computer until it becomes second nature.

[eye R.N.]

Tell Sara to feel free to come down and visit us if she need a place to hang out. We are only about 1/2 hour from TSU.

The kids are all in school today, yipee! I actually got to take a shower without anyone flushing :earseek:

I stayed home an extra 10 minutes just enjoying the quiet.

[musicalSaranader]

Thanks, Denise, I'll keep that offer in mind. ;)

And by the way, I hate to be a nag, but Towson is now just Towson University, the "State" isn't in the name anymore, so it's just TU.

[eye R.N.]

I remember it when it was Towson State Teachers College. In fact an old flame was once head of the radio station there so I knew that part of the campus well.

Yes, chelsea is right I am OLD!!!!!

[gometros]

Sara - picky, picky, picky. Of course you might have a problem getting there :)

Oh, and that thing in your signature fits you to a 'T'

[wendym]

Denise
I was glad you were able to savour the peace this morning!
Donna, glad you have to put up with the politics too! It's a wonder we get time to teach.
Jeanne - we both love the AFI exhibition at MGM.

[Kimickey]

Hello Fello Dis-Cruisers!

DH, DD (5) and I just got back from WDW on the 21st of August and to try something new we've decided to cruise next summer with Disney on the August 7th Cruise. SSHH! thought it's a surprise for my DD. Since this is her first official year of school and with our new baby on the way we figured what a great way to celebrate! We are in the process of booking the cruise now so, I don't have many details, but we are definitly going and are very excited. This will be my family's first cruise ever, so pardon me if I get giddy at times. I hope to see some of you there!

[gometros]

Kimickey - you will love it! It's so different from the parks, much more relaxing, yet it rtains the same Disney Magic. We're all expereinced cruisers so far, so if you have any questions, please feel free to fire away and will be glad to help.

Meanwhile, check out the first page for a link to the list I've been keeping of all your fellow cruisers.

[gometros]

Do you guys realize we're just shy of a year away and we've already doubled the number of families cruising with us? We're up to ten families and if I can convince Andy and Rae and everyone looking at the August 21st cruise to join us, we'd have a heck of a cruise. We could even take over the whole ship!

[Kimickey]

gometros - Thank you!

My travel agent is telling us the same thing about how relaxing it is. She says the cruise totally spoiles you, so we look forward to that!!! I took a look at the list of who's cruising and I just wanted to give you some info on us: DH (James), DD (5) Amani, and unborn Baby DD or DS (8 months when we cruise) Amaya or Jordan and my name is Kim we are from Landover, MD.

[martinez03]

Kimickey, we are also from MD. You will absolutely love the cruise. We had been to WDW many times and we decided to something different as well. We took our first Disney cruise 08/02/2003 and had so much fun we booked again while we were on board. What also makes it fun is the time that leads up the cruise. Yes it is a long ways away but the people on this website are so helpful and fun to chat with. Welcome!

[gometros]

Wow, we have a lot of MD folks in the group. Denise (eye R.N.) is from Annapolis. My daughter, Sara, goes to Towson University.

[Kimickey]

Wow! I guess we picked the right cruise then. Fun people on the cruise as well as the boards, I'm excited already!!

[wendym]

Kim
Welcome! You will have a magical time - the cruise is such fun. What lovely names for your children.
Wendy
PS Sandy we have definitely got to try and get Rae and Andy to join us!

[gometros]

It's been mentioned on this thread. Maybe if we all peep in and invite them over, we'll overwhelm them :p

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=4073664#post4073664

[sbennett]

Welcome Kim and Family:
This will only be our 2nd cruise with Disney(many more to follow) but we fell in love with the last one 07/05/03. Now we feel it's the ONLY way to go. I hate to say this we were soooo spoiled on the cruise that when we went to WDW afterwards, we were disappointed!!!

We heard from friends of ours who cruised in August that Disney will be adding 2 more ships by 2006. Did you notice in your post cruise survey how they asked about "Alaska".....wouldn't that be nice!

I'm still trying to find out the name of the soap in the shower.....

I'm very impressed by the college-age children and their upcoming vocations.... You should all be very proud of them!! Congrats.

Sandy: If you daughter wants to talk music ed with anyone have her contact Jay...he's got lots of contacts...as a matter of fact his best friend from college is an excellent well-known music teacher in WV. He has an extremely high standard of excellence for his students. They've won all kinds of awards from all over. Very high ranking chorus and ensembles.

[jeanneg]

Glad to have you join our party! I love the countdown timer for your "bundle of joy"......if only mother nature were really that predictable!

Denise: just curious.....I mailed you a little something a week ago Wednesday by Priority Mail. Please tell me whether or not it made it to you. I hope I had the address right!

Shelley: loved your little email about being a mom.....boy, did that hit home!


I want to be back on the Magic!!!!!!!! Anybody start thinking about excursions yet? Back in '77, John and I snorkeled at Buck Island off of St. Thomas and it was the most fabulous snorkeling I've ever experienced. We had a guide who directed us around an actual underwater trail (with signs in the water and all). Afterwards, we snorkeled on our own at Turtle Cove. If I could be sure they were going to include the underwater trail, I would definitely do that again. Anybody have any info on that?
I'd also like to try parasailing, but I hate to give up valuable CC time!

[gometros]

We'll probably head over to St. John again. We love it there. Such a beautiful island and some of the most gorgeous beaches you'll see anywhere.

Do try the parasailing. I'm going to do it this time. Seth did it this last cruise and had a blast. He took his camera up with him and got a great shot of the Magic from the air.

[sbennett]

Sandy:
Do you have the picture Seth took on your website?
We'd love to see it.
We're chicken to try the para sailing.

Computer virus really did a number on our computer. Got into my online banking ....ugh what a mess we've got to clear up.
Also they hacked into my credit cards....oh the sites that charged things on my credit card!!!! Credit cards have been great about deleting those charges....so not only stores in Mexico sell your credit card numbers.

checked out "Grills" restaurant at the port for dinner looks good to us www.visitgrills.com love their comment about .."if you like fried fish we recommend Long John Silvers...ours is grilled!

[DVCLady]

As soon as the 11 month window comes around to book with pts:) Yeeee Hawwww almost time!

[gometros]

Welcome aboard, DVClady. Looks like we've got the start of a real party here. That'll make 10 families with plenty of time to go.

Shelley - I don't have those pictures up yet. I'm hoping that when I hook up the scanner to the new computer, I'll be able to tell whether it's the scanner or not (hopefully not). I have a lot of pictures I want to add to my web site that weren't digital.

Sounds like you had a real mess on your hands with that virus. I found out why it's taking them so long to send me the laptop. The company put halts on sending out any laptops for a while, since they got bit by the virus too and had to clean all computers before releasing them.

[wendym]

Welcome DVCLady!
Please don't speak about viruses - I am in the middle of cleaning my PC at the moment. Just makes this week complete! However I did get a nice bottle of wine as a thank you from an ex pupil and a lovely card.
We'll probably be heading to St John also. As for parasailing I am sure mum will be up for it anytime!
Wendy

[jeanneg]

The 11 month window isn't too far away!

Shelley: I 'm so sorry for all your recent trouble. Thank goodness they found out about it fairly quickly before your entire credit history was tarnished.

OK,Sandy, sounds like a plan......as soon as we're allowed, let's book the parasailing for the same time so we'll all be on the same boat. We'll get Doreen (the EXPERIENCED one!) to join us for moral support! John wouldn't do it for a million dollars and Jason is probably just as chicken, but I'm sure I can convince (bribe?) Jenni into going tandem with me.

[wendym]

She's all yours!!
Wendy

[eye R.N.]

Gald to have you join us.

Jeanne, Yes!!!! it did arrive, but I had to go to the post office to collect it, then they had no power so they weren't open. Got it two days ago. Thanks, they are so cute.

Shelly, I am so sorry about your computer, we added some extra protection, anti spy ware downloads and a firewall recently hoping to keep our info safe. We do have some video of your daughter and Ferdinan I'll try to reproduce it for you if you've lost all your pictures.

Kimickey, we are another family from Maryland. Hope you've had power all week.

I WANT IN ON PARASAILING!!!! I tried to book it this year and missed out. If I do it I need lots of friends (and no laughing children) on the boat with me.

Taylor and Andy have done the snorkling at St. John, while Hope and I did the snuba at Coki beach last trip. I think I'd like to see St. John this time.

Wendy, I'm sitting here with a glass of red wine. We needed some for a dinner and as you remember Andy doesn't like reds. He on the other hand managed to recreate a very respectable Conk Cooler. :p

[wendym]

Denise
Bet you enjoyed the red wine after this week and I am sure Andy relished the conk coolers. How did Hope get on?
Mum and I did the snuba at Trunk Bay last time and loved it - we were the only 2 in the group so mum had the instructor to herself. She still thinks that is the most gorgeous beach she has ever been to.
Computer is virus free - there never was any! Seems the emails telling me I have been sending a virus have been hoaxes. I was very lucky and have now updated all the anti virus software.
Have a good weekend everybody.
Wendy

[jeanneg]

Denise: Sorry you still had to deal with power outages in your area....I thought those had already been resolved last week. We've been lucky so far. We've had a few brownouts but nothing major. We're in the midst of the hottest days right now, however, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
PLEASE do join us for parasailing! The more people that sign up, the less likely I'll be to chicken out! Of course, we'll all hit up Doreen for moral support! I don't know how many are allowed on a boat, but if we all sign up for the same time, we should be able to do it together or back-to-back. Right now I'm the only one in my family that's a definite go. We might even be able to have one person make the ressie for everyone (I'll volunteer) so we're sure to be together. That way we'll get to photograph each other white as a ghost and looking panic-stricken! Especially now that we have our own "in-house" photogragher with Sandy! Oh no, he's going to be doing it himself, right?!!!!
I'm glad that everybody's computer seems to be back on track. We installed a firewall the last time we updated our security and virus protection and the thing worked so well we ended up disabling it! It wouldn't let us get to any of our regular sites and turned into a major pain. It probably needed some individual tweaking which we apparently did not know how to do! The one thing we are not is computer savvy!
Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!

[musicalSaranader]

I'm in on the parasailing!!! Maybe I won't have toasted shoulders this time :p

[sbennett]

When you go parasailing .....do you have to devulge your weight??? All of you saying that you're going has really peaked our curiosity. If we can drop the weight we want....we might actually consider doing it.....

What's "snuba"?

[wendym]

Mum is really excited by the parasailing. I cannot remember them asking about weight - I think they judge by looking at you and I am sure everybody will be ok. Snuba is like scuba but you don't have the tank on your back - it is on a raft. It is easier and good fun.
I forgot it was labour day weekend so have a wonderful holiday weekend!
Wendy

[jeanneg]

You raise a good point, Shelley. I know there has to be a maximum weight but I haven't the foggiest what it is (We may have to post a question to the general cruise board). I'm sure we'll all be able to do it solo, but I'd like to go tandem with somebody else and that's where the weight issue may come into play. Good for you, Sara..... let's work on Jenni now! She's my only hope; John and Jason are both yellow-bellied chickens!

[DVCLady]

Castaway Cay Parasailing. Must be over 8 years old. over the weight of 90lbs but no more then 375lbs.

[wendym]

DVC Lady
Thank you so much for the information. I am not going to depress myself further by checking my weight - it is a long time till next august so I am sure we will all be ok!!
Wendy

[sbennett]

I just had my annual physical and the Dr. broke the news that I had high cholesterol and he wants me to diet and exercise! Oh well, I guess we'll all be watching our food intake between now and next cruise! :D I hope all is well with you and your Mum.

All the best to all our Cruise friends! :bounce: :Pinkbounc

Jay
(DH of Shelley)

[eye R.N.]

Wendy, I'm glad your computer is virus free and has been, but installing the virus protector is still a good idea.

Hope is adjusting nicely. She did have an unexpected day off the second day of school. Thunder storms have been playing havoc with our power for a couple of weeks now. Her school was out on Wednesay, we found out when the bus never came to pick her up. The lights went out at work on friday, thank goodness we weren't doing surgery. We have back up power but it still makes things stressful for everyone.

Snuba is a hoot! There's a twenty foot airhose attaching you to the the tank that rides on a raft above you. You don't have to be dive certified to do it. You can go down to the limit of the air hose if you want. Hope had some trouble clearing her ears so she stayed near the surface most of the time. It was a great bonding experience for the two of us.

Jay, sorry about your cholesterol numbers, fortunately, diet alone can make a big difference. Who know you may become a fan of cherrio's or oatmeal. I've learned to love 1% and even fat free milk. Now if I could just give up french fries.;)

[sbennett]

Guess where we spent our Sunday Evening of Labor Day Weekend!!! Southampton Hospital Emergency Room. THe kids were out bike riding around the neighborhood and Courtney fell off her bike and ......broke her right wrist....she's right handed too.
As you may know Labor Day is a very busy time in The Hamptons.
We have the Shinnecock Indian Tribe's Annual Pow-Wow and the East Hampton Classic Horse Show going on so traffic is crazy since there's only one major road out this way. There were rodeo accident victims in the ER, some guy that had apparently overdosed on some hallucinagenic drug and all his friends hanging out.....and 2 very pregnant ladies in labor...they were happy to see a normal family come in with only a broken arm!! She'll be fine and in a cast for 4 weeks, the doctor's one that we know he set Jay's dad's arm while we were on the cruise when he fell and broke it and he had set Kristofer's broken arm last year when he broke his.
Hopefully tomorrow's a nice quiet day...then back to school on Tuesday for Jay, Wednesday for Corey and then finally on Monday for Courtney and Kristofer.....hurrah!!

HAPPY LABOR DAY TO EVERYONE!!!

[gometros]

Oh Shellley, so sorry to hear about Courtney! It's no fun starting school in a cast, I know - I broke my arm right before fourth grade. I was lucky though, since it was my non-writing arm.

Wendy, I don't think you have to worry about the parasailing. I can assure you that you're under the maximum :teeth:

Finally got my new computer up and running. Today I have to install the router so that I can get Elana connected to the internet on my old computer. Moving some of the programs over from my old computer is a pain, since there are differences in the way XP works. And I can't find my old Quicken install disks!

I don't think we're going to be able to convince Weranda Man to join us. It seems that the August 21st cruise is cheaper than the 7th. I think cruising with us is worth the extra cost, don't you think?

[wendym]

Aren't computers supposed to make our lives easier!! However just think we would never have found each other without them.
Shelley, I am sure Courtney will cope so well with the cast. I broke my right arm in 6th or 7th grade - spent the whole time reading books.
Denise, hope the power is fully restored although a day off school sounds great at the moment!
Sandy, I think you are right about Verandha Man but yes we are worth the extra cost!!
Wendy
PS Mum sends her love to everybody - after my last few scares with the computer she is even less likely to go near it now!

[jeanneg]

Wow, Shelley, you just keep getting hit from all angles! Keep the faith, you're most certainly due for a change in fate! I hope courtney isn't feeling too bummed out. Cheer her up by letting her know the kids down here are already starting their 4th week of school tomorrow!
I agree......although it would have been a hoot to sail with the Andy/Rae bunch, we'll have a plenty good time with our own little group! Besides, think of the down-side of sailing with that crowd: there will be so many DIS-educated cruisers, it will significantly reduce the impact of all our own advance knowledge!

[luv2boys]

Happy Labor Day everyone.


Amy

[gometros]

Hi Amy! Now I know why they call it Labor Day. I've been working on the computer All Day

[charles1011]

Greetings Everyone,

We have just booked our first Disney cruise on this voyage. We are all new to Disney cruises, though some of us have cruised other places on other ships and some of have been to WDW.

There are 14 of us.

Ed and Genelle (the parents and grandparents) are from San Luis Obispo, Caifornia.

Andy (the youngest of Ed and Genelle's children) and Cheryl are from Sparks, Nevada (near Reno).

Don (Ed and Genelle's middle son) and Sabrina are from Foothill Ranch, California (near Los Angeles). They have two kids: Zack (8) and Madison (6). Kyle (20), Don's son from an earlier marriage will also be with them.

Charles (me, oldest son) and Barbara are from San Mateo, Calfiornia (near San Francisco). We have two girls: Emily (10) and Jennifer (17).

It looks like we are traveling with all the veterans. We picked this cruise because we lived in Puerto Rico for 3 years back in the 1960's when my father was stationed there. It looks like you all picked it because you get a new destination.

I'll be reading all of your other posts for helpful advice.

Charles

WDW Polynesian August 2000
Carnival Spirit Alaska June 2002
RCCL Splendour Europe August 2003

[jeanneg]

Boy, did our numbers just increase! I hope Sandy (our official list keeper) has his computer up and running cuz you just gave him lots of info to enter. Don't forget to let us know which dining seating you have and your cabin #s if you already have them. I look forward to meeting all of you!

[martinez03]

Shelley, I hope your daughter is doing better. Well guess what? The week before that my son did the same thing. He broke is right radius (wrist) while bike riding also. We were supposed to go to the beach for Labor day weekend and he was looking forward to the ocean. We went to the doctor to have an x-ray done again last Friday to make sure it was healing ok. Well come to find out the cast was loose and my son did not tell us. They were going to take that one off and put on another one. So, my son actually slid the cast right off. But the kicker is, underneath the cast was an arm full of poison ivy GREAT!!!!!!!!!!! So the past week he has been in a splint with an ace bandage so we can take it off everyday and let it breath and dry out. Never a dull moment in our lives. Hope all is well with everyone and welcome to the new families.

Cay

[wendym]

Hi Charles
Welcome! We may know a little about the cruise but you will know about Puerto Rico so we will be able to pick your brains.
Amy - lovely to hear from you.
Shelley - hope Jay and Corey survived school!
Wendy

[sbennett]

Cay: Hope your son's doing better, I can't imagine having poison ivy under the cast. Did he complain that it was itchy? God works in mysterious ways by having that cast too loose you were able to find out about the poison ivy....

Charles:
Welcome to the group....boy are we all going to be picking your brain about Puerto Rico!! Of course we can do our own excursions or find out what Disney's going to be offering. What
do you feel is the definate MUST SEE/DO.

Wendy:
Jay's been appointed Liaison for the elementary music department (he's very happy...new "non-paying" position but it does show that the principle and the fine arts coordinator for the school district likes him and thinks he's doing a good job.
Corey liked his first day of school...and I didn't get any phone calls re: behavior....so that's a positive thing!

Jay's parents will be celebrating their 63rd Wedding Anniversary on Sunday, we'll be bringing over take-out Seafood....it's what my father-in-law wants and at 88 .....he can have whatever he wants!! Wish we could go out, but their not able to, so we'll eat in....but at least we don't have to cook it!

[gometros]

Charles - welcome aboard. I echo everyone else when they say that you will be a valuable resource for Puerto Rico information. I've updated the cruise list. Boy, did you give me a challenge trying to figure out how to list the family hierarchy!

Cay - I've had a few broken arms and know how itchy it can get without the added weight of poison ivy. Has your son reached for the coat hanger yet?

Shelley - that sounds like great news!
And happy anniversary to your in-laws. Mmmm, Long Island sea food. What time should I come over? :)

Elana started school today and seems to like her teachers. Of course, being the youngest she gets to be Seth/Sara's sister and as expected does have some of the teachers her older siblings had. Fortunately, they were liked by their techers? ;)

[charles1011]

If you count the names, you will find only 13 not 14. :confused:
We had thought that Kyle or Jennifer might be bringing a friend (and it still might happen), but there are only 13 right now.

Sandy -- It looks like you deciphered the family tree properly. Thanks.

We were considering making this an "official" family reunion with the Disney t-shirts and photos. Has anyone ever tried this option?

I'm happy to share my memories of Puerto Rico, but please be advised that they all come from the 1960's when my father was stationed at Ramey AFB on the other (northwest) corner of the island.

Charles

[Kimickey]

Charles-Welcome aboard! Like you our family too is embarking on our first cruise. So this should be fun for us all :)

All- PLEASE HELP! My family and I are all spun up on the Disney World reservations. You know... when to call for a reservation and all of that good stuff. But we are totally ignorant to the Disney Cruise excersions and other activities while cruising :confused: If I can solicit your help in telling me when we need to call and what other activities we have available to us, it would be a great help. We are a very adventerous family and want to make the best of our vacation. Thanks for any help you can give us!

[sbennett]

Kimickey:
DCL will send you a brochure with the excursions and then if I remember correctly....60 days prior to the cruise you can start booking the excursions, either on line, by phone or fax.
Some excursions you may want to look at booking outside of Disney it'll save $ if you don't have to pay upfront.
Last cruise a bunch of us booked the Stingray City excursion on our own and saved quite a bit of $.

I read somewhere on the Disboards I think that you may be able to book spa appointments and Palo reservations on line in the future....that would be fantastic!

[Kimickey]

Thanks sbennett -

Since we just booked, I do remember my TA telling me that she will send us brochures on excersions. I must have had my selective listening turned all the way to "loud", during that time. Can you or anyone tell me about other excersions other than the ones offered by DCL. Is there a web link that you guys use, I don't mind doing the research?

[gometros]

Charles - is my count correct in the list? I didn't leave anyuone out, did I? Also, since you're almost all from California, are any of your family running for governor? It seems almost everyone is out there :)

Kim - When we last went to St. Thomas in November 2001, we did a Disney excursion. But here are some web sites I've bookmarked from suggesstions from this board:

http://www.st-thomas.com/week/ferries.html
http://bareboats.com/view/
http://www.st-thomas.com/

[wendym]

Shelley
Please pass on our congratulations to Jay - I know how much it means to get the recognition. I am sure Corey will continue to do as well.
As for the excursions we tend to do our own, we'll go to St John definitely. As for Puerto Rico I fancy the rainforest but we'll see what the 70 year old (yes she will be that old :p by then!!) wants to do. We will be booking the parasailing at Castaway Cay though.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could do the Palo's reservations online - Denise could get a lie in!!!
Wendy

[gometros]

Wendy - Is that a typo or an axpression I've never heard (re: a lie in).

Is anyone up for a group dinner this time around? Might be nice, since we don't have to keep interrupting conversation to get our food :)

[wendym]

Sandy
A group dinner would be lovely.
A "lie in" is an expression we use a lot in Aberdeen to describe having an extra hour or two in bed. I suppose it could mean different things but we use it a lot here! For example I am desperate for the weekend to get a lie in - not having to get up at 6.30am for school.
Wendy

[sbennett]

We're up for a group dinner....
sounds great plus the kids always wanted to have dinner in the Oceaneers Club anyway, or grab a burger by the pool without us around.

I think we should plan on doing a club one night just to harass the comedians...tell them we're all related...brothers and sisters!

I wonder if the menus will change by August!!!

Anyone have the recipe for the Cocoloco drink......I could really go for one of those right now....

[charles1011]

Sandy -- yes, we are all running for governor. In fact, to simplify the process, we have decided to put all the residents of California on the ballot. Whoever has the biggest family, gets the most votes and wins. (Sometimes, it can be a little embarassing to admit that I live in this state.)

Charles

[jeanneg]

Congratulations, Jay, on your well deserved recognition!

Count me in for the group dinner, provided it won't interfere with our ability to get a Palo ressie for another night when we can go with our 2 kids. Last time they wouldn't let Jason go because he didn't turn 18 until the week after we got back, but this time he's certifiably an adult! Jen gave up her spot last time because she didn't want Jay to have to eat alone, so we promised them that next time, they'll definitely get to do it.

[Kimickey]

Gometros - Thank you for the links. I see you are from Suffern, NY my mom is from Nyack. My grandparents as well as a few aunts and uncles still reside in Nyack.

[eye R.N.]

We are up for a group dinner, hopefully we can do another night to take Chelsea.

You know, some of our kids are old enough to do a "young adult Palo event."

As for harrassing the comedian, I am still editing the video of Andy's efforts. I nominate Sandy this time.;)

Kimickey, you might want to try cruisecritic.com to see what others have done in the way of booking their own excursions. I love reading other peoples reports.

Hope and I will be doing the banana boat again on Castaway, and I will be parasailing. As soon as I get a new calander I'll circle the sixty day mark and be on the phone early. How many do they take at a time and what time do we want?

On the home front this week Jay will be happy to hear that Chelsea is busy picking out the music for "Severna Park Sings" it will be a Christmas fund raiser for our local food pantry. The high school ,middle school, and elementary choirs all sing seperately than they do a final big group number. The choir director has left it to her to choose what the high school will sing. Between that and Band, do expect to see much of her on this board till after the holidays.

Wendy, Andy is joining you in the teacher ranks yet again. This time he will be teaching two nights a week a the local Community College. I am so happy that the cruise fund has another contributer.:bounce:

My sympathies to all those in cast's. I remember when Chelsea broke her wrist falling off a horse. I was about a week before a Disney trip. If I remember correctly I was taking stitches out of her and Andy while we were on vacation (long story)

Sandy, I have not forgotten you, I just found were DH hid the extra pirates posters:eek:

Charles and Kim welcome to our little world, we really do have a lot of fun here.

[gometros]

Originally posted by eye R.N.

Sandy, I have not forgotten you, I just found were DH hid the extra pirates posters:eek:


Funny you should mention that. A package in a poster shaped container came for me yesterday and at first I thought it wa from you, until I noticed the return address - Animal Kingdom Lodge. You guys would appreciate the story behind it, which I had posted to the Resorts board:

Another testament to Disney's commitment to service quality. We visited WDW in July, staying two days in Coronado Springs and two days at AKL prior to taking a 7-day Western Cruise aboard the Disney Magic. This past Saturday afternoon, my 15-year old daughter woke me up from my afternoon nap with phone in hand, telling me that it was Animal Kingdom Lodge calling. Now I'm thinking "what would Animal Kingdom Lodge be calling me about". I took the phone and spoke to Jim Croft of Lost and Found, who asked me if I had left a camera tripod (actually a monopod) behind when we stayed there. Now to be honest, I didn't even know I hadn't come home with it, since I hadn't used it since we came home. I was totally blown away by the fact that someone from Disney took the time to track down the owner of a lost item to return it to them. They must handle loads of lost items every day. If you lost anything anywhere else, it would just get swept up in a big black hole, never to be seen again.

Jim verified our addressa and will be sending it back to me and actually APOLOGIZED that because of the Labor day holiday, it wouldn't be sent until Tuesday. Needless to say, if I wasn't already a die in the wool Disney fan, this would have solidified it for me.

[wendym]

Sandy
Cannot believe they would phone you - that is truely amazing service!
I am sure I have read about other people getting 1 couple to make reservations at Palos for 1 night and the other couple another night so they could go twice. Jeanne, Jason certainly deserves his dinner at Palos - well you actually deserve it more!
Denise, tell Andy that I have a job lined up for him here any time. They have just advertised for our new school rector (the equivalent of principal) - the advert is hilarious and we decided that they were looking for somebody the exact opposite of who we have now. Please wish Chelsea luck with her choice of song.
Definitely Sandy's turn to harrass the comedian!
Charles - the Governor's race has certainly livened up politics - we even see it over here!
Wendy

[jeanneg]

Sandy, Sandy, you've got some revising to do! You all know our 8/7 booking has been up in the air for awhile now. We had several concerns, but one of the main ones was that we were due for a "family" vacation in 2004 to celebrate Jason's HS graduation and I personally didn't see how timewise and moneywise we'd be able to do both. Some developments have come up that will make coordinating everyone's schedules extremely difficult, if not impossible, and so we basically just decided to postpone the big family trip until 2005. Jen will still probably have to report to Lehigh on 8/14, but we'll deal with that somehow. We'll just have to high-tail it off the ship and get our butts back to NC so she can drive to PA the following day!
Anyhow, here's the good news: Nikki, our older daughter will actually be able to accompany us on this trip! This will be her first cruise and she is very, very excited about finally getting the opportunity to come with us. I just got off the phone with DCL and modified our ressie. It must have been meant to be because the cat11 cabin directly opposite ours was still available, so we moved all the kids into that one and John and I will get the cat 6 all to ourselves! (I feel like Verandah Man, I'm so thrilled!!!!!) Finally, we'll have a cabin that won't look like it's been hit by a tornado! So, Sandy, please add Nikki to your cruise list. She'll be 22 when we sail and the kids will now be in cabin 6109.
And Wendy, I checked, and we're still tied for dinner......you'll love Nikki, she's alot nicer than Jen (ha-ha)!!! (While I was typing this, Jen just called....she got my message and is thrilled to be having her sister come along.)

[jeanneg]

to congratulate Sandy on getting his tripod back. Now if they would only call and say they found his contacts!

[wendym]

Jeanne
That is wonderful news! Suppose I should really get round to checking with our TA that the booking is ok - we haven't heard back from them but the same happened last year and everything was ok so I refuse to worry about this.
Wendy

[wendym]

Not sure how many of you have been following the inspirational threads on Nate Page. His family boarded the Magic today and a very special member of this thread helped to make their trip extra special. Each time I read of this remarkable family I count my blessings.
Wendy

[DVCLady]

We are booked on the Aug 7th cruise. We have a category 6 #6534. We have late dinner seating. Now I need to add another countdown. Is that possible?

Yahoooo!!!!!:bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce:

[gometros]

Jeanne - when I started reading your post, I got scared and thought youwere going to tell us you weren't joining us this trip.

Unfortunately, I think my contacts are at the bottom of the ocean along with Andy's glasses. There are some fish with better eyesight swimming around.

wendy - does anyone know who the benefactor is?

[wendym]

DVC Lady
That is wonderful news - looking forward to meeting you all.
Sandy - Verandha man will know I am sure but is keeping it secret. I love the way how so many people, like Denise, have got involved thinking of things to do. It really makes me grateful for what I have and how lucky I am to be a part of such a special "family"
Wendy

[sbennett]

Wendy: Thanks for your post...we didn't know anything about Nate until I read your post then I began searching the story out.
Our prayers are definately with this wonderful family...it is amazing what we take forgranted in this world. I pray they have smooth sailing...the tropical storms down that way make me a little nervous this time of year!!

Welcome DVCLady to the friendliest cruise!

Sandy & Andy.....I know the Lion's Club in NY collects eyeglasses to give to needy people...didn't realize the fish needed them!! Those poor fishermen...now the fish will be able to see the hooks and bait!!

[wendym]

Finally got round to checking with my TA about our booking. I knew fine there would be a problem which is why I was putting it off! Our TA is super and always gets me a good deal but the poor guy always has problems dealing with DCL. Anyway this time DCL are saying the shipboard credit is only $200 not $400. I have the flyer I picked up which says about the $400 credit but has anybody got any other proof? I know a few of you have switched the booking over to Dreams - did you have any problem getting the $400 credit?
Wendy

[gometros]

I may still have the documentation, I'll check. I had checked with DU when I transfered the reservation and the agent assured me that the $400 credit was still there.

[jeanneg]

Wendy, I just checked all my papers and I don't even have the flyer that you have. The ones that list the $400 credit do not include 8/7 as one of the applicable dates, but I do know that Candace said it was $400 because I asked her. None of my confirmation documents list the credit either. When I called last week to change from one cabin to two I asked about the stateroom credit and was told we still had it on the original room but not the new one which is perfectly understandable. Unfortunately, I don't recall specifically confirming the amount of the credit. I thought very seriously about switching to DU, but because so many things were up in the air, I felt alot more secure leaving it with Disney. We also booked the 10/2 sailing in case we were unable to do the August one and I know that credit is $400 because it's on the sheet. And I almost didn't get that one because I booked it on the 15th, 3 days after we disembarked. After a little back and forth, they checked with Candace who confirmed that she told me that. I'll be happy to call DCL and find out what the credit is, but first I'd be interested in knowing if anyone else has "hard" proof. Wendy, please check your flyer and see if the 8/7 date is listed...it's not on mine.

[wendym]

Hi Sandy and Jeanne
Thank you for your help. The way I read the flyer and I know it is the way Candace sold it was that the $400 was for any of the new cruises but the rates on the flyer were only valid for the 9/4 sailing. Confusing isn't it! I haven't heard back from my TA - I am not home during normal working hours and I do this through my home email which I cannot access at work, any way I am sure it will all work out. I am glad to hear that I am not the only one that doesn't have all the right pieces of paper!
Thanks again
Wendy

[martinez03]

When we booked for the 08/07/2004 cruise we were on the ship, 08/08/2003 and we were told that we would get the $400 CREDIT PER STATEROOM for the trip even though it was not on the flyer. It is for the new itineraries when you book on board.
Cay

[DVCLady]

I just wanted to post and let you know what our real names are, lol


DVCLady is Mechelle, Hubby is Rob, DD Leena 6 (will be 7 on the Aug 7th cruise) and DS Ryan 2 (will be 3 on the Aug 7th cruise)


:bounce: :Pinkbounc

[wendym]

Mechelle (I am going to try my best to remember!)
That's exactly what I remember - if I get any hassle I am going to email DCL the link for this!!!
Thank you
Wendy

[DVCLady]

Wendy is a easy name to remember. I just have to think about Peter Pan and Wendy, lol.

[wendym]

Mechelle
It's quite applicable as I never plan on growing up!!
Wendy

[sbennett]

Wendy....we don't think your "mum" is going to grow up either...she's got more energy than some of us.
True "Disney Lovers" never grow up!!!

[wendym]

She certainly will never grow up and I wouldn't change her for the world!
Some good news the $400 stateroom credit has been confirmed now we just need to get the price sorted out!
Wendy

[sbennett]

Wendy:
Congrats on the credit....Enjoy your mother everyday you have her. I lost my mom to ovarian cancer 3 years ago and my dad 10 years ago to Liver/Pancreatic cancer neither one ever smoked or drank a day in their lives. I have a huge void in my life....we were very close...as they were with everyone who knew them. They would have loved the Disney Cruise and meeting all you great people we've met so far.

[wendym]

I understand the void so much - I would be truely lost without her. I lost my dad 13 years ago and we all still miss him. It was also to cancer and he never smoked either. He would have loved the cruise too and meeting everybody.
Wendy

[wonderlandaddict]

I am posting here because I could not on the official check-in list. My family, which consists on myself, husband, daughter-19, daughter-15, daughter-10, daughter-9 (ages on cruise date) will be taking our first cruise on August 7, 2004!!!!!!!!!!!:Pinkbounc

[DVCLady]

Welcome wonderlandaddict!!

[sbennett]

Wonderlandaddict:
Welcome, make sure you give us your real nanes and cabin numbers, where you're from and dining seating so our official
chart keeper..Sandy can add you to the list.
We have a daughter who'll be 10 on the cruise - Courtney!
she'll be thrilled about having other girls her age onboard.

[gometros]

Welcome aboard, wonderlandaddict. Just curious, which list were you trying to add your name to that you had trouble with?

Four daughters, huh? I hope you have at least two bathrooms :teeth: I also have two daughters who will be 20 and 16 when we cruise.

[wonderlandaddict]

I was trying on the "See who is cruising" post. I am at work & I think it is this computer. I will try at home when I have time.
YES, we have two rooms on deck 6. We always HAVE to have 2 bathrooms or my husband would never get to use it. HA! HA!
My girls names are Katie-19, Alex-15, Mallory-10, & Macy-9.

They are so excited. We have been to WDW every year for about 9 years, so I wanted to try something different next year.
Do you miss going to WDW when you cruise? I have been concerned about that.

[sbennett]

Wonderlandaddict aka ???

You will LOVE the cruise, we did the cruise and WDW (in that order) this year, and we were disappointed at WDW since the cruise was sooooo good, we were totally spoiled.
Next year we're doing 3 or 4 days at WDW first and then the cruise.
We're DVC members since 1991. Want to stay at Boardwalk but have to book at Old Key West first and then transfer to Boardwalk if available when that window of opportunity opens up, I think it's 6 or 7 months prior.