October 22, 2005 Roll call

[scrapperjill]

::yes:: I know it's early...but just wanted to see if anyone else was out there. I skimmed through the other cruise meet dates and didn't see one for 10/22/05 yet...if there is one out there just direct me in the right way.

Any how...just booked our family of four for the Disney Magic Western cruise....onboard our modifyed western cruise. Since we were not able to stop at any of our planned ports....we had to redo and pick the western once more.:teeth:

Our sailing party inclueds...myself scrapperjill (aka Sandi), DH Jesse, DD 11 and DD6

Can't wait to see who else is saling....Kathy and Jim...are you out there.....:wave2:

[amgpmg]

Hi Sandi!! Unless something comes up with work we will be joining you! We had such a blast on this last cruise, we could not miss another opportunity to sail Disney. Maybe we will get to the Western this time:) . If not, I know we will have a good time regardless;)

I think we might be a little early, but what the heck........Let's get this board started!!

(Jesse could say he told us so:hyper: )

Kathy, Jim(DH), Anthony(DS 8) & Peyton (DD 5)

[TiggerzFan]

Sandi-
Count us in! :wave2:
We just enjoyed our second "Wonder" cruise last week and rebooked onboard for our first "Magic"al cruise.
There are 12 of us in all (4 staterooms) - Me, DH and DD3 plus friends and family (DISers "Kaykels" and "Higgie").
Last cruise we booked 9 months out and that wait nearly did me in..... this time, with 13 months to go, I'll be downright insane!:crazy2:

[kaykels]

Count me in. I'm with Tiggerz and the Higgies. Last time we didn't meet up with any Dis'ers. This time we'll have to set up a meeting place or possibly do Palo in the private room???? Hey, only 9000 days left. I'll be dreaming about the white chocolate mousse every day until then!

[scrapperjill]

Ohh..look here...there are people out there:D It's not to early after all. This should make the wait go by a little faster...(I hope)...anyone who just got off the ship... still fell like there rocking back and forth...cuz I am. Not all the time but at the moment...it's pertty bad. It just kind of hits me here and there.

Well I better be going...I need to whip the help around here in shape...the servers just are not keeping up...the laundry is in a pile, dishes to be done, and floors to be cleaned...what is one to do....Where is Conrad and Nick when you need them...I already checked under the bed...and they wern't there.:( heee heee hee

[amgpmg]

Hi Tiggerzfan & kaykels! I am with you, this wait is going to kill me! Or my marriage - I spent all of my extra time on here before our last cruise and we just got back and here I am at it again!!

I strongly urge people to at least go to the dismeet! I am so glad we did and met some great new friends!

Kathy

[amgpmg]

Bump....don't want this to get totally lost on the boards.

Anyone else joining us yet?

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

Dosn't look like anyone else has found us yet. But if we wright it they will come...hee hee hee.:tongue:

So what dose everyone think of all those storms....I for one can not believe how many there have been. One right after another. I just can't imagine next year being anything like this year....I believe there has just about been every record in Hurricane and tropical storm history broken in the past month.

:crazy: Looks like we only have around 389 more days to go :teeth: Yea....were getting close:p

I need to get busy making my list of what NOT to pack or bring. I can't beleive we brought so much extra with us. One would have thought we were going for a whole month. We even had someone in the airport say...Don't tell me your only going for a week...Can you belive it. I have to keep telling myself...that yes we did bring alot...but one whole bag was Sydneys medical things...another was her special food...and another was the snorkel gear. I couln't believe how much room the flippers and stuff took.

With eveything...the one thing I wish we would have packed was the two way raidos...they would have been handy...with Alexis running around so much...but heck who would have known.

Well I can't wait to see who else finds their way to the meet board. :)

[ThreeSmiths]

Hello All! I found my way here, now that we've officially booked our 10/22/05 cruise!

I can't believe that two weeks after getting home I'm still surfing around on these boards! Eric (DH) laughs at me all the time!

Sandi and Kathy, can't wait to see you again! Sandi, I saw your post about the Bahama mama recipe.....girl, you do need a fix!!!!::yes::

Stacy

[amgpmg]

Only 379 days to go!! I know it is still very early, but hopefully if we keep bumping this to the top we'll get others to join.

Kathy

[amgpmg]

Bump!! Anyone else joining yet?

Kathy

[davenkaren]

Hello All,

We booked way back in May this year, first on board maybe? It will be our third trip to the US - we wish it could be every year. This trip is for our 25th wedding anniversary and we will be leaving our one and only daughter back in the UK to look after Charlie - our Cocker Spaniel.

We are staying at the Holiday Inn adjacent Downtown Disney first, off on the cruise and then rounding it all off in style at the Grand Floridian.

We are beside ourselves even this far in advance. The cruise looks and sound fantastic. This forum is brilliant and is a massive source of info. By September next year we will probably be fit to burst!

[scrapperjill]

Hi all :D And welcome davenkaren, kaykels, and TiggerzFan
to the cruise meet..and of course a big welcome to threesmiths aka Stacy and Eric. I'm sooo glad you decided to join us. Only 365 days, 5 hours and some odd min until we step onto the Magic....I'm getting excited.

Stacy and Kathy you'll be happy to hear I finally got the burned cd's off in the mail today. So be ready...there's aprox 1000 pics comming your way :teeth: I was a little disapointed with the photo lab...I had 10 rolls of 35mm film that I took in to be developed and put onto cd's....but when I finally got around to burning the disks I realized she only put 5 of the 10 rolls on the cd's. I'd complaine more but the developer is a friend...and she only charged me for 5 of the 10 rolls....so I guess she just didn't burn the 5 I didn't pay for. If I would have know..I would have offered to pay for the cd's. I'm really liking the photo swap idea...seeing everyones views.

Well I need to start getting organized and setting $$ away for the trip. Jesse and I also need to get working on our wedding plans...it's still up in the air about the disney wedding on the ship or CC or a wedding before we go and just celebrate honeymoon style on the ship. We were kidding around earler this week saying if we just ran down to the courthouse at the end of the week or the begning of next week...we could celebrate our 1yr anniversary on the ship...and do a vow renewl...I guess it's an idea. In a way it would be ironic...because one of the reasons we've waited this long is to avoid a courthouse wedding.

Well I better not get started spending hours a day in the chat area...this far away.

[amgpmg]

Welcome Davenkaren! Congratulations on 25 years. We celebrated 10 years this year with a cruise. Next year is just for fun :D .

365 days to go!! YEAH!!!

[Skallywag]

Hi everyone,

We are booked and cant wait to get going. There will be 4 of us. It is our 40th Anniversary in June 05 and we plan to celebrate on the cruise.

[Skallywag]

Think I may be the last one - a whole year to wait it seems ages. Have so many questions to ask and will have to do a list. First cruise.

[ThreeSmiths]

Hello everyone! Welcome to our new Brit friends! :wave: Our dinner mates on our 9/11/04 cruise were from Manchester, England. We had lots of fun chatting with them and learned a lot about England!

Sandy and Kathy, got the photo CDs today....you guys must be working on the same timeline! I can't wait to look at the photos!

Sandi, we'll be celebrating whatever you and Jesse are....be it wedding, honeymoon or anniversary! It'll be fun!::yes::

Kathy, I didn't know that you and Jim were celebrating your 10 year anniversary! How did I miss that detail? We'll treat you to some 10 year anniversary drinks this time around!

Well, gotta go look through the 100,000 photos friom the scrapper-girls!

Stacy

[amgpmg]

Welcome Skallywag - although this will be our third cruise, we have not done the Western yet. We were scheduled for the Western on 9/11/04, but due a Hurricane we were re-routed to the Eastern (sort of). I am so excited to be doing the Western, but with our past experience, I am not going to get my hopes up again. Wherever we go, I will be happy with it. We had a blast even with the changes.

Stacy, I am glad you got the pics. Enjoy, I had fun doing them, looking at them again made me miss the Magic! We actually celebrated our anniversary a little early, it is October 1, but we planned the trip partly to celebrate it. I was going out of town to scrapbook on our real anniversary:D And don't worry, I am sure that there was a round of drinks bought sometime during the cruise that could have been for our anniversary;)

Talk to you all soon!

Kathy

[Skallywag]

Nice to hear from everyone going on the same cruise. We wanted Western because we went to Sint Maaren for 2 weeks last year and want something different. Also want a good look round Key West - did it on a day run from Fort lauderdale a few years back.

We have cabins 7074 and 7076 - hope they are good ones.
Already looking forward to a few glasses of bubbly on the balcony.

[Skallywag]

Looks as if we will be drinking the bubbly on our own this cruise.

[tiggerfantoo]

Hello . . . We just got back from our first cruise on 10/23/04, and loved it so much that we rebooked while still onboard. The 10% discount and $200 stateroom credit helped me make the decision. :-)

My DH, DS (27 at cruise time) and DD (30 at cruise time) will also be on the cruise.

My hubby and I renewed our vows last week at Castaway Cay. What a perfect place to do the vow renewal to celebrate our 30th anniversary!

I know this is probably way too early to ask the question, but will anyone be taking orders for the doorsigns? It was nice to walk down the hallways and see all of the DIS members' doorsigns on the last cruise we took.

Gotta go finish doing dishes . . . I miss the service on the Disney Magic! Remember the old slogan "Calgon, take me away?" Well, right now I wish the Magic would take me away!

~ Gloria

[amgpmg]

Welcome Tiggerfantoo! Welcome back from your cruise. Congratulations on your wedding vow renewal! When we went, people had made their own door signs. I did not, but friends of ours did (scrapperjill) and they looked wonderful! I have a year to plan, so hopefully I will find some time to do them this time.

Kathy

[Skallywag]

Glad to hear that there will be other sons and daughters on the cruise. Our two daughters 30 and 32 will be travelling with us also. Good to know there are others of their age group.

[scrapperjill]

You guys are already planning your door signs? I better get busy...Hey maybe I'll just get some magnet numbers and put them over the top of the old door sign to change the date :) ...Hee Hee Hee...No maybe I'll use one of the MANY photos I have from this last trip...yea...that's what I'll do. I guess I better get to work on planning it...it looks as if I only have 350 some days left....not much time now.

I wish I could figure out how to post the pic of it on the board...I was going to do that many moons ago after I first finished it.

Well off and running gotta go get Sydeny's flu shot...Shhhh she dosn't know yet.

[Skallywag]

Can someone tell me how to do my countdown on the bottom of my posting please.
Perhaps it will make it come even quicker.

Thanks to everyone.

[scrapperjill]

Here is the thread to the countdown timer...It should give you simple steps on how to set it up.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?threadid=381216&goto=newpost

Oh...I hope I gave you the right one:teeth:

Oh it is the right on....go to the very first page....the very first message...then click on the link at the bottom of the first message...

It looks like...

Click here to get your countdown :teeth:

[ThreeSmiths]

Hi Brenda,

Check out the Technical Support board. There is a thread called "get your countdowns here!" where you can easily make your countdown clock.

Good Luck!

Stacy

[ThreeSmiths]

Ooops! Looks like Sandy beat me to it! Imagine that! We're on the board at the same!

Eric just said that we're both losers for being on the boards on a Saturday afternoon!

Stacy

[scrapperjill]

Hey there is no better way to spend the Saturday afternoon...we may be losers...but were informed losers :p

[Skallywag]

Thank you to everyone for their help will try and set up my countdown clock - Just fancy all the losers on one trip perhaps.

[Skallywag]

have followed all links and they just come up as error. think I will have to borrow someone elses countdown clock for the time being. Never mind.:mad:

[pdarrah]

Howdy Everyone!

We just got back last night from our first DCL Cruise - the 10/23/04 Western. On board we booked the 10/22/05 Western so we will be joining all of you! We had a great DIS group for this cruise and it looks like another great group is forming here already. We are a family of three DW (myself) soon to be 40, DH will turn 39 on the next cruise and DS will be 6.5 for the cruise. He LIVED at the club on this cruise. He made freinds at the sail-away with a 6 yr old girl (older woman!) from our DIS thread and they had a wonderful time together. It also looks like my parents will be joining us.

For our just completed cruise, I had put together a website. The "Links" page has tons of info on the Western ports (includes both Grand Cayman and the alternate Costa Maya) if anyone is interested. It is at www.bwdarrah.com/dcl. Should I put something similar together for 10/22/05? The "Who's going" page was really useful for keeping straight all the different families. I remembered names much better than I usually do since I was able to start learning them ahead of time.

We just got back - the laundry isn't even done - and here I am planning the next one! I'm clearly insane!!! :crazy:

Pamela

[scrapperjill]

Welcome... pdarrah to the group. So tell us how was the weather on your cruise? We went back in September...along with a couple other families...that are on this chat group for next Oct. We were all scheduled for a Western cruise...but were rerouted to a modifyed Eastern due to Hurricane Ivan then Hurricane Jeanne. One of the reasons we picked October for our next cruise...was to avoid the hurricanes. I was guessing the weather is still wonderful in October. I would actually love to do a December cruise...and see the ship all a glow with christmass decor. Oh well...maybe in 2006. Oh...i was also going to say I tryed your link to your info site....and it showed it was unavailable.

Skallywag...Keep trying the countdown link...I'm guessing there server is just having problems of some sort....it sometimes dose that then you can't get to all the links or pages. After I posted it I gave it a try to make sure it worked...and at that time it did...but I just tryed again...and now it's hung up...so just keep trying. Ive found if your online durring a real prime time you have more trouble getting around...their servers just can't handle the volume of members at certain times.

[pdarrah]

Hi Scrapperjill,

We had wonderful weather. The closest we came to "bad" was a 1/2 hour rain at Costa Maya in the late afternoon and it was a little overcast (no rain) and windy on Thursday at sea. I actually liked the overcast - not quite as hot (still warm) and easier on the eyes and skin. We had gorgeous weather for Key West, Cozumel and Castaway Cay and most of the day at Costa Maya was also good. The first night as we sailed to Key West, the seas were a little rough - bothered a lot of us a bit - but after that is was mostly smooth. Maybe a little rocky on the very windy day at sea on Thursday.

We are re-doing the Western because of missing Grand Cayman this time and we had a wonderful time in Cozumel. We booked our own snorkeling trip and will do the same with the same company next year. The only port we didnt' thoroughly enjoy was Key West and it wasn't terrible or anything, just not as much fun as the others. We may just stay onboard and enjoy the ship next time for Key West.

Maybe I typo-ed the website - it seems to be up and running. Once again, it is at http://www.bwdarrah.com/dcl

Now I really should quit browsing the boards and go start unpacking!

Pamela

[amgpmg]

Welcome pdarrah. Wow! Your sight is wonderful! I put together the dismeet list for our last cruise and it did not compare in the least to what you had put together. Scrapperjill, we must be thinking alike. I am trying to figure out how I can get Jim to go for booking in Dec. 2006 :smooth: Here I go, I have not even been on our next cruise (almost a year from now) an am planning 2006. Stacy, tell Eric that we may be losers, but how much fun would he have had on your last cruise if you did not live on the Disboards! I keep reminding Jim of the same thing.

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

amgpmg I think your right...we must be thinking alike. :D I like the stops there making in 2006 also...so many of them have two days at CC...wouldn't that be great!!

pdarrah..I've never been to Key West...but that port is at the bottom of my list for picks of ports on the Western. I'm not sure why...but it was and still is my least fav port were stopping at. We were looking first at doing late to mid november instead of the Oct 22....because they skip Key West on the Western and hit CC twice...but then we found out it was Thanksgiving week...and didn't think that would be the best pick of times to go. I rechecked your site...looks good. I like how you have soooo much information all in one place...I don't think anyone of us would not like to have a handy info site to head to for our cruise.

Should I put something similar together for 10/22/05?".... I say go for it..."

[ThreeSmiths]

Welcome pdarrah!:wave2:

I'm going to check out your site right after I post this. Sounds great! Who did you book your Cozumel snorkel through?

Kathy -- Eric is a "loser" himself, because I have caught him scoping out the boards a couple times since we've been back from our cruise. He's definitely a cruise addict now....he just cannot wait until 10/22/05. And I do remind him quite frequently of the fact that we might not have met our "cruise buddies" were it not for the DISboards.

Well, gotta get off the boards and go to bed....this daylight savings time change is killing me!

Stacy

[Skallywag]

Strange how little things make some of us excited. Just wait until I actually get to the port. Wonder if my clock will work now.

[amgpmg]

Stacy - That is too funny! Jim has not yet started searching the boards, he leaves that up to me. I am on them sometimes long enough for the both of us.

Pdarrah, we are from the Chicago area too. We are in the South Suburbs, are you North or South?

Skallywag, It doesn't look like your timer is working yet. Did you test it on the Tech board? That is where I got my countdown. They may be able to help you if you cannot get it working.

Kathy

[pdarrah]

Hi amgpmg,

We are actually from the far Western suburbs. Since our town has a rather confusing name of "West Chicago" which most people want to interpret as "west side of Chicago" and we are actually 30 miles west of the city, we usually just say "Chicagoland" and avoid the confusion! My DH is originally from the South Suburbs (Park Forest) and his Dad is in Palos Park.

On the Oct 23rd cruise this year, we made friends with another DIS couple that lives less than 10 miles from us! We all had such fun together we plan to continue the friendship now that we are home. It seems so strange to go on a cruise to meet people that live so close!

I have started working on our trip report for this year's Oct 23 Western - it looks like it is going to be very long... When it is finished, I'll let you folks here know since at least some of it should be similar to next year's cruise.

Pamela

[amgpmg]

Pamela,

I know exactly where you are at. We are in Oak Forest. Our last cruise we had another couple from the North Suburbs cruising, but did not get a chance to meet them.

I look forward to reading your report.

Kathy

[tiggerfantoo]

I thought I'd "bump" this back to the first page.

It is supposed to get down into the single numbers here tonight. It's hard to believe that three weeks ago I was soaking up the sun on Castaway Cay. Only 300+ more days to go!!!

Are any of you going on a cruise between now and next October 22nd?

I can understand why cruising is so addictive. I really enjoyed the top-notch service we received while on the Magic. My 3 year old granddaughter keeps telling me that she wants to go on the Disney boat again. Only 300+ more days . . . . . . .

Gloria

[Skallywag]

Nice to see you have managed to bump this back on the front page there must be more of us going. Got my countdown working and will soon have to look up prices for flights. Need to do this early to get best prices.

Less than a year now - can I start getting really excited yet. Dont think so we have damp cold winter to contend with first.

[scrapperjill]

Speaking about booking flights?....anyone know how early we can book? I've been looking here and there and have found some GOOD rates...but it all seems to have a 2-3 mo fly out range...in other words most of the real good deals I have found have to have the travel before January.

pdarrah.. were you still thinking of getting one of those awsome infomation site going for the 10/22/05 cruise? I know weve got a little time....only 11 months to go...well if you are just let us know when and what information you need. :)

[pdarrah]

Hi ScrapperJill,

Yes, I'll get a website together for us pretty soon. I was out of town on another trip (just DH and I for a long weekend at WDW - he had a business conference in Orlando this week). My trip report is nearly done. The first 3 segments are posted over on the Cruise Trip Report board.

Now, I just need to make it through the next few days and life may become somewhat "normal" We have 12 people coming to our house tomorrow night for cheese and wine at 7:30pm and I get home from work at 5:00pm! Then on Sunday we are going to visit the in-laws and try and fix their computer...

I'll probably just "borrow" a lot from the site I did for this year's Oct 23rd cruise, so it should be quick to throw it together once I get started.

Pamela

[pdarrah]

If anyone is interested, I have posted my VERY long trip report from this year's cruise. Since it is the same week (Oct 23rd this year) and is the Western itinerary, I thought you might be interested. Due to the damage to Grand Cayman, we went to Costa Maya - but the other ports are the same.

This link will take you to Part 1 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=679266)

Pamela

[SCDizneyDawn]

Hi, we are planning to book this date on Nov 22. We are DVC members and you have to wait until 11 months out to use your points for a cruise.

I am Dawn, 37, my DH is Brian and he is 41.

I am taking my parents on this cruise as a gift for my mother's 65th birthday. She will turn 65 in March and Daddy is a few years older than her! There names are Wes and Mary Lou. There is a chance my older Brother, his wife and thier son may decied to book with us eventually also, but they are still undecied.

We have a couple of other trips planned in the mean time, but I am VERY excited about our first 7 day Disney Cruise!

[amgpmg]

Welcome SCDizneyDawn! We are starting to grow!!! pdarrah, I have not gone to look at your trip report yet, but will do so after this post. Let us know what information you will be needing for the list and I will send it out.

Thanks!

Kathy

[tillfamily]

We are thinking of booking for October 2005 on the 4 day cruise to Bahama's and 3 days in Disney. We have already done the Magic in February of 2003. It was amazing and I even cried the day we left.

[Skallywag]

Hi Dawn,

Good to know we are not to be the only 60+ passengers on this cruise. We are also travelling with our two daughters and are excited already.

[scrapperjill]

Welcome, welcome, welcome. It's nice to see our group growing :p

pdarrah...I read through your trip report...your correct...It is long...but it sounds like you had a great time. I'm thinking positive...that everything will go as smooth when we go in 2005.

[pdarrah]

Hi Everyone,

I've changed/edited the website I did for our 2004 cruise - so it is now a "October 22, 2005" website! :bounce:

The address is : http://www.bwdarrah.com/dcl

I can easily add you to the "Who's going" page if you would like. To be added, either post here requesting it, send me a PM, or send me an email at pdarrah@sprynet.com. However, if you have posted the same info here but haven't specifically requested to be added, I won't be putting you on. I don't want to risk upsetting someone by adding them to the list if they don't want to be. :eek:

The home page of the website tells you the type of info to supply. Feel free to give only the info you are comfortable with. If you don't want to give a stateroom number, maybe just the cabin category or deck number would work for you. If you don't want to give your age - that is fine also. (It is nice to have ages on the kids since they tend to be all interested if anyone else their age is going.) If you want to include a picture, just email it to me and I'll make sure it is sized correctly (I can even crop it if you would like.) If you only have partial info right now, that is OK also - send what you have and then send whatever changes you would like later on.

If anyone has any suggestions for the site or ideas for new links, just let me know. Most changes only take me a few minutes.

Pamela

[rocadonismom]

Hello all. I just got off the ship on Saturday and have signed up for cruise #4.

My name is Carolyn, and I'll be 29 when we sail. This will be my second "solo" cruise. So far I'm in a category 12 GTY - and it usually stays that way up until the documents come out. I'm glad to see that there are so many others already on this thread. I'm looking forward to "meeting" some of you before we sail.

My parents are also cruising at this time. I'm sure dad will post soon because he's a DisAddict. His screen name is hyandui and they are Ralph 56 and Sherry 50. They live across the street from me and would miss me too much if I left them for a week (LOL) so they tag along :tongue: :tongue: . I think this is their 9th Disney cruise.

Okay, I'm off to read the thread from the beginning and start learning names.

[pdarrah]

Hi Carolyn,

I just added the info you sent to the website. Let me know if it is OK or you would like it changed around. Also, please check for typos - I try but sometimes I just don't see them!

If you would like to add a photo(s) of you and your parents, just email it/them to me and I'll add them to the listing.

Pamela

[amgpmg]

Welcome everyone! pdarrah, great trip report! It sounds like you got alot in on your trip. With this snow today, I sure am missing the Magic!! Ugh, we got about 3 inches and my parents (which I will be going to tomorrow) got about 6 inches.

Glad to see our group growing!

Kathy

Happy Thanksgiving!!

[rocadonismom]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Hope all who are traveling have a safe trip.

[pdarrah]

Oh No! :eek:

We're almost off the end of page 2!!!!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving - is anyone done with their Christmas shopping yet? I've barely started....

Pamela

[marnight]

Glad I found this thread, Thanks pdarrah for telling me about it on another thread.

I just booked this cruise yesterday. My last disney cruise was the land/sea package 2 yrs ago. This time we're looking forward to the 7 night cruise. My daughter will be 11 and my son will be 10 by the time we sail. They loved the "club" last time. This time alot more family will be joining us. My parents, and my sister, her husband and 2 small children. Plus my sister-in-law's family. I can't wait!

Unfortunately, I will be the only "single" in the group (minus kids of course). Any other single parents out there?

[rocadonismom]

Hi all - done with Christmas shopping? Surely you jest. I'm trying but, the harder I try the more things I think of that I should really get. I did get alot done on Black Friday though. All I have to say is thank goodness for ebay and online shopping. I don't get many days off at all and I'd be lost if I actually had to go get everything myself.

Marnight - I am also going as a single, but my children are four legged and furry and I'm afraid that Disney would frown upon me bringing them. I have to admit though - I love cruising Disney as a single adult. It's a great vacation, either way you look at it.

Okay, the rest will have to wait until tomorrow. Pizza is in the car and getting cold. Time to sign off the computer and go home.

[ThreeSmiths]

Hi everyone! I've been away from the boards for about a month! Looks like I fell off the wagon though, because here I am again! ::yes:: Travelling for work and preparing for the family onslaught at Thanksgiving kept me pretty busy last month. I must admit, I've had a great time catching up on the board activity this morning!

Welcome to all of our new friends! It's great to see the board growing!

Pdarrah ... LOVE THE WEBSITE!!! I just emailed our info to you. I bookmarked the site and can't wait to go through each and every link! Thank you!

Christmas shopping? All I can say is thank goodness for online shopping! Especially when you can get free shipping! I don't have too much shopping to do this year as we are taking a family trip to Sedona, AZ in lieu of exchanging gifts with our extended family. We're looking forward to it, especially me, since I have never been west of Illinois, except for a layover at the airport in LA on the way to Australia. But that doesn't count....you've seen one airport....

Good luck to everyone who's facing the shopping crowds this weekend!

Stacy

[Cavecats]

Woohoo I am coming on board too.....and I can't believe tiggerfantoo is going to be on this cruise too.

Gloria it Cavecats.....aka Barb and Cathy...yep we've booked the western cruise last week. Wished we had known we were going to do it so we could have booked before leaving the ship too.

Hello everyone else. I'm Cathy, my Mom is Barbara from Ottawa Canada and we were on the 10/16/04 Eastern Cruise.

We actually arranged and met a good portion of our fellow dis board members on the secret 7 aft deck at a pre-determined time. We all brought a bottle of wine from home and ordered crackers and cheese on board. It was a really good time.

Gloria was it you who stole all those paint chips from Home Depot. They made great name tags.

I'm looking forward to chatting with all you mates over the coming 10 months.

:cheer2:

[scrapperjill]

Looks as if I've fallen off the wagon also... :earboy2: It's been quite some time since my last post...First off I'd like to say Welcome to all the new cruisers...glad to have you aboard.

Threesmiths...sounds like a great time for Christmas. We had talked about doing some sort of trip durring that time...but never got around to planning anything. AZ will be a great change and should make for a good vacation....as long as you get along with your extended family :rolleyes:

Well not much new happening on this end...just wanted to welcome all the new folks.

only 315 some days to go. YEA!!!

[Cavecats]

Pdarrah - you are quick. Thank you for getting me even more excited about this upcoming cruise.

For the rest of you pdarrah is putting together a fabulous Website for the October 22, 2005 cruise: http://www.bwdarrah.com/dcl and now I'm part of it.

Check it out and don't be shy

[ThreeSmiths]

Welcome Cavecats! :wave:

Glad to have you aboard! I like your portrait on our "official" website. It's fun to watch it grow!

Scrapperjill - yes, the AZ trip should be fun, and I do get along with Eric's family, but it will be a hurried trip. I think I'd actually rather spend the time off work at home catching up on everything I never have time to do.

Hope everyone is having fun holiday shopping!

Stacy

[scrapperjill]

Yea...spending time at home is always nice also...being able to catch up and just do some relaxing. Jesse has the whole week before Christmas off...he was hoping to be able to spend it using his season pass....snowboarding...but so far there not open...not enough snow..yet. Well they had a lot this past week and were hopeing to open today..but due to rain..most of the snow is now gone. So if it dosn't snow enough by then...we'll all be spending the time around the house...I don't see us relaxing but just around the house. Jesse's mom is suppose to be comming for a visit this next week...I haven't talked to seen her since this past summer when we had a big blow out....I'm intrested to see how it goes...Knowing her it won't go well at all...She'll spend her whole time at his brothers and Dad's house..then our girls will get upset that Grandmaw isn't spending any time with them...I'm thinking of putting in for additional hours at work..just so I won't have to be around.

[ThreeSmiths]

Sandi,

I saw your photo on our "official 10/22/05 website" and I love it! The girls look like absolute angels! You and Jesse look great too! I just love the website! Pdarrah is awesome for undertaking such a project!

:cheer2:

[scrapperjill]

Yes she did do a great job on the site...I'll have to check it out now that we have our photo on it...I saw yours and kept thinking I need to dig up a photo of the four of us SOOOON...but then I kept putting it off....Finally I took some time and found one....Notice Captin Tom spacing off at something else in the photo. :earboy2: I guess after the ships photographer took a photo....something else caught his eye while they took a pic with our camera. I'm going to try and get a photo of my parents asap to post on there also. I know it's till over 300 days away...but I'm getting excited. :rolleyes:

[Cavecats]

My Mom, Mickey and I want to wish you all a safe and Happy Holiday. I also wanted to see if I could actually post a picture. :rolleyes:

http://www.cavecats.com/Cathy/images/MomMickMe.jpg

[marnight]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from wet and cold Pennsylvania! Is it October 22nd yet???? Oh, the anticipation :cool1:

[scrapperjill]

Well with Christmas over...and the New Year on the way...I think it's time to do some cruise planning. :D Were down to less than 300 days to go...and they can't get here soon enough for me.

Anyone thinking of any cruise plans? I started to think about our door signs and dis pins.....but haven't gotten very far on the thinking process. I am wanting to get them done sooner than later just incase some sort of delays come about.

Well...I better get going. I really just wanted to bump our thread up so id didn't get lost in the many other pages.

:jumping4:

[American Scrapper]

I AM BACK amgpmg)!!!! OK, after trying and trying to get my password reset, I finally decided to just create a new screen name. I lost all of my history, but at least I can finally get logged back in and post. Boy, was I having DIS withdrawl!! Now I have to go back to create my countdown!

Anyways, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! We are finally in '05 and less than a year till sailing. Has anyone started packing yet??? Just thought I'd ask. Ha! Ha! Welcome to all of our new cruisers. OK, I need to get caught up to become a Mouseketeer again!

See you all in October!

Kathy

Kathy (DW), Jim (DH), Anthony (DS8), Peyton (DD5)

[Cavecats]

Happy 2005 to all.

Funny you should ask if anyone is packed American Scrapper. I never unpacked from my last cruise...lol.

Actually I still have some of my Mom's stuff in my closet. Told her I'd keep it until we leave again.

[scrapperjill]

American Scrapper..:wave:..So glad your back "on-board"...hahaha. No really...i'm glad your back...I've been busy sticking my nose (and opnion) in all over the boards....so you need to get busy.

And yes I just finished packing yesterday...you know we only have 40 some weeks left. hee hee hee. :cool1:

[rocadonismom]

Hello all! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I sure did. My parents gave me a computer (never expected that) and I just had the internet hooked up so I can visit the outside world from my house now!!!!!! (I used to go to the office whenever I wanted to be online).

American Scrapper - glad you got back into the disboards. How is the post building going?

[American Scrapper]

Scrapperjill and rocadonismom, I am trying to build up my posts. I have been responded to everyone's posts LOL!! People are going to think I am a lunatic, but oh well, I am addicted what can I say.

rocadonismom, congrats on the computer, you will be on these boards all the time now.

Gotta go post some more!

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

American Scrapper....Lol.. You go girl...Build it up. Your a Mouseketeer at heart.

I think I am a lunatic...because I'm replying to posts left and right...either that or I'm just real lonley. :guilty: Maybe I need to get out more.

Post away...

[MelissaE1]

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to introduce myself. My family will be joining all of you on the Oct 22nd Western. :) We are Melissa (me), DH Darrin, DS10 and DD6 (11 and 7 at cruise time).

Two years ago this month we cruised the Eastern itinerary on the Magic and loved it... so we are back to do the Western.

Don't know how much time I'll have to post this early on but I wanted to say hello. :)

[scrapperjill]

Hi there...Melissa...glad to have you and your family join our group. I also have a DD who will also be 7 at sail time. I know there are a couple other girls close to that age sailing with us also.


You'll have to check out our special web page dedicated to our cruise..pdarrah (another fellow cruiser) is putting together a fabulous Website for the October 22, 2005 cruise.

http://www.bwdarrah.com/dcl

Well just wanted to say Welcome to our group. :earboy2:

[MelissaE1]

Thank you for the link... that is a great website! What a neat idea.

It looks like you were rerouted due to Hurricane Ivan on your last cruise? Funny, we were at WDW that week - to escape same. The upstairs of our house was "rerouted." LOL. Thank goodness DH and DFIL are handy!

Last time we cruised we met a family on the DIS Boards who had a daughter the same age as ours and the girls sent some "snail mail" back and forth a couple of times pre-cruise. It was nice because they felt like they had a friend on the ship when they got there. When the time gets closer if you or anyone else is interested in doing some kid "penpalling" let me know. :)

Thanks again!

[Timon]

Hello fellow DIS cruisers! While we haven't officially booked yet, hubby and I decided on dates for our vacation this year and we will be joining you all on the October 22nd sailing.

We've been on the Magic before for an Eastern Itinerary and last year we sailed on RCCL's Explorer of the Seas for a Western Caribbean cruise. Looking forward to getting back to the Magic! ::yes::

You can check out my website at http://www.cassworld.ca/ to find out all about us and to read all of our trip reports! :rolleyes:

I am a huge Disney freak and I've turned my husband into one too! I've been part of the DIS since 1997 when it was one great big thread index (wow how it's changed!) and on our last Disney cruise, we dined (unintentionally) with DISers and we had a DIS meet during the sail away and it was great seeing familiar faces all over the ship for the entire week. Hopefully we will meet some more great DISers this trip!

pdarrah,

I saw your site, great job! I will send you our info soon so you can add us and if you need any help at all, let me know!

*sigh* How many more days till October ????? :rolleyes1

[marnight]

Hi Padarrah,

Sent you my info for your site. Let me know if it didn't come thru ok. Can't wait till October. Your site looks great!

Maria

[American Scrapper]

Welcome MelissaE1 & Timon, I was on that cruise with Scrapperjill in October and although we were rerouted got pretty luck, not to mention we had a blast! My DD will be 6 at the time of sailing and will be glad to know that there will be other girls close to her age sailing. They will have a blast in the club.

Timon, I agree, the DIS meet is such a good time. We met some wonderful people at ours and some are sailing together again this time. I encourage everyone to at least attend. I have been a member of the DIS boards since our first cruise in January of 2003 and have learned so much from these boards. The one thing I did not know though was DO NOT FORGET YOUR PASSWORD. I tried several times recently to have my password reset before I finally gave up and created a new DIS name. It would be no big deal, but I am a DIS addict and needed my DIS :earboy2:

TTFN - gotta go post some more :D (Scrapperjill, I don't think I will ever catch up to you - you know you can be scrapping instead :rolleyes: )

Kathy

[ThreeSmiths]

Welcome to all of our new friends! :wave: Glad to have you with us!

MelissaE1: We have a 7 year old daughter who will be just 8 at the time of sailing. She will definitely like to email your daughter. She emailed back and forth with Scrapperjill's daughter before our Sept. 11 cruise and they became fast friends. They even sent photos of eachother and recognized one another in line at the terminal! I think it was probably the best "preplanning" activity that I did. It definitely benefitted us more than all of the shore excursion planning and booking that I did....as we never made it to most of our scheduled stops!!!

Well, it was 74 and sunny here in Charlotte, NC today....we're having a heat wave!!! It made DH and I long for the warm and sunny carribean!!! :sunny:

Happy 2005 to all! :thewave:

Stacy

[Timon]

http://www.cassworld.ca/images/jantemp.jpg

We are in the middle of a cold snap!!

And that's in CELCIUS!!!!!! :cool:

Come on October!! :rolleyes:

[ThreeSmiths]

LOL!!!! Too funny! I wish I could send some warm air up to you, Timon! I like the unseasonably warm weather. However the ski buffs are not sharing my enthusiasm! My friend had a ski trip planned this week, and it's in the 60's in the mountains....can't even make snow. I got enough cold and snow at the Grand Canyon last week....37 degrees and 20-30 mph winds made it too cold for my bones!!! I had always thought of Arizona as a hot, airid climate. I didn't take into consideration the elevation! I prefer sea level on the Carribean Sea! :boat:

American Scrapper, glad to see you back on! I was organizing some photos today and decided that I might just try my hand at the scrapbook thing....not like I have time, but I need to do something with all these photos!

[American Scrapper]

Timon, I thought we had it bad! We are expecting 15 inches of snow by the Thursday, mixed with ice storms. I am hoping that it passes us by, but it does not look good right now. I just noticed that you are also a scrapbooking addict. There are several of us here. Last cruise some of us started a photo swap. It was a nice way to get other pictures or ones that you did not think of taking. It worked out great!

Threesmiths, welcome to Scrapbookers Anonoymos (sp?)! We are glad that you can join us! LOL!! I am sure that you will find some time to do some scrapbooking. I am way behind, but it does not stop me! My goal is to start our last cruise before we go in October. Right now it does not look to good. I have to do one for my DMIL for her BD at the end of this month from our Disney trip in July. She is always looking at my books and I think she will appreciate one of her grandkids.

Kathy

[American Scrapper]

Timon,

I just took a look at you web site. Great job!! I noticed that you have a link to other DISers photos and mine is one of them (amgpmg - now American Scrapper)!! That was on our first 3 night cruise in 2003. It was nice to glance back at them real quick, especially with all of our snow on the way!

Kathy

[Timon]

ThreeSmiths: waiting on that warm air! Any time now....:rolleyes1

American Scrapper: Cool, we'll have tons of scrappers on our cruise! So, when we see people with the camera permanently attached to their face, we'll know who we are!! I can see it now...it's 5 am, everybody is sleeping except the scrapbookers trying to get photos of the sun rising :rolleyes: LOL

Well, my last WDW trip I took over 2500 digital photos plus a few water cameras so this being my first DISNEY MAGIC cruise having a digital camera, wellllllllllll, there's no telling how many pictures I will take! :crazy2:
And I am a good sharer so, mi photo su photo :teeth:

[Timon]

Kathy,
Oh yeah, about the DCL link, I kept seeing a post on the DCL board about photos so I thought it would be nice to have a page where you could access a whole bunch of them at once! Plus I also got fed up of looking everywhere for some DCL photos when I needed my fix :)

I remember seeing your photos before, I almost e-mailed you to ask permission to use some of your kids photos from Castaway Cay when I was putting my www.digitalscrapbooks.ca website together...great photos!

[scrapperjill]

Wow...I go to work for one day and everyone gets chatty :D . Photo swaps...again...I'm all for it. I have to say it worked out so nice...to see everyones views and the diffrent places eveyone went.

Welcome to the cruise meet board timon :D glad to have you join us.

Mellisa how was WDW durring the hurricans??? We were suppose to go there for a week before the cruise..but it ended up being cancled because the place we were staying was closing durring the hurricane waves...we were very very bumbed..it was going to be our first time....Maybe...just maybe we can squeeze in a couple days this go around.
I'm sure my DD would love to pinpal again...she is still talking about her new friend from last time (ThreeSmiths)...and keep bugging us to help her call...but of course everytime she asks it's late here...so even later back on the east coast. But back to pinpals...It had to have been the BEST pre cruise planning we did...It turned out so wonderfully.

ThreeSmiths...you have got to be kidding about the weather...I can't beleive it. We finally got some snow up here...a whole 3-4 inches :cool: ...and our heat wave it gone...it was a nice 18 degrees when I was comming home tonight. Oh...and thats a GREAT idea to try your hand at scrapbooking...youll love it...and be hooked before you know what hit you.

I'm just about finished with my Sept cruise albums...I'm sooo bad. I knew I was in trouble when I filled the first album with the first two days.... I've had to go through 5 albums to get the week finished. It's a good thing we weren't on a 10 day cruise. I ended up doing two albums of days at sea...and three albums ...one for each port. :earseek: Jesse said were going to have to cut back on vacations...just because of the after costs of putting my albums together. :guilty: lol lol

[scrapperjill]

Oh...American Scrapper... I know I could be spending my time scrapbooking...but after working so hard on the 5 books...I hate to say it but I got scrappers block. I just didn't have the drive to get my stuff out...but I'm getting the itch again..and have been thinking of working on that last album...it's CC so it'll be fun. I think the block was caused partly from having all the holiday decor out...I can't stand clutter..and the decor and my scrap stuff was just to much to handle. Now that the tree is down and all the other things are out...It's time to make a mess of the table again. So after my couple days of work this week...I think I'll get it out...and get back to work on the important stuff.

[scrapperjill]

Timon...I just checked out your site...Loved it. I quicky browsed through your trip report with pics...I'll have to take time next time to read some of it. It's getting late tonight so maybe tomarrow. Oh...also looked through your scrapbook area...Glad to see someone else is crazy about mats. Awesome pages.. Love the "Robs gift album" that was sooo cute...and with the engraved tag.

American Scrapper...aka amgpmg...looked through your pics also...the kids...so cute...they look sooo little and sooo young. One question??? what time were you at the terminal to get those shots with out anyone else in the background??? Like the one of the model ship...there is no one around...then the other one with the huge Mickey ears doorway. Where is everyone??

[Timon]

scrapperjill,
Thanks! Do you have any of your layouts posted online anywhere? I'd love to see some! We just sold our house and my scrappin stuff has been packed up for about 2-3 months now so I just started to scrap digitally. I actually LOVE it, it gives me way more freedom. We move in 3 weeks so after all that crazyness is done, I think I am going to sit down and digitally scrap my RCCL cruise and start doing my chronological albums digitally, starting with 2005. :)

[American Scrapper]

Timon,

You are more than welcome to use any of my pics if you still need to. It was actually cold that day on Castaway Cay, but you'd never know by the pictures. My DH & DD were the first ones on the beach. I love the picture of her just wandering ahead of him all alone on the beach. My DS & I joined them later, after my DS woke up. He slept in that day, since he decided he needed to order food from room service at 2:00 in the morning after coming back from the club.

Scrapperjill, we actually got to port before they were open because the space shuttle was scheduled to take off. We had found out about it just the day before, so it was a special surprise. It was our second launch we saw in Florida and was such a beautiful way to start our cruise. It is amazing how pretty it is when it launches, kind of sends chills down your spine just watching it. Needless to say, we did not know at the time that this would be the ill fated shuttle that crashed upon reentering earth. How very sad it was. There is a special section in my SB that mentions it. It is not as hectic as boarding the Magic, for some reason people don't get as crazy boarding the Wonder - at least that is what I have heard. We were about 10 people back in line.

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

Kathy..aka american Scrapper I remember talking about the shuttle launch with you...I guess I just never put two and two together... That would be something else to see. I'm sure Alexis would LOVE it.

Timon...I've been some looking into digital scrapbooking for a while now...but haven't gotten around to giving it a whirl. I get enough **** for being on the computer so much as it is...but then again it sure would cut down on the scrap clutter around the kitchen table. I know what it's like to have your things packed up for some time. Right before our last cruise....we tore my scrap room down and converted it into a bedroom for our oldest daughter...since then I've had alot of my stuff packed in the garage. Of course I have all my tools and essentials out and handy...but alot of stuff is still stored in my cabnets and drawers that are now held up in the never ending pile in the garage. But heck...whatever I can't get to in the garage...I can find at the store :cool1:

I don't have any of my layouts posted online anywhere...I have actually never even thought of doing it. Gives me something else to work on..I guess.

TTFN :wave:

[ThreeSmiths]

Timon,

I saw your website, it is so cool!!!! Because I am considering taking up the scrapbook thing, I checked out your scrapbook section. It is so awesome! I think my main obstacle is going to be creativity.....I was born without that gene!

So scrappers, where do you suggest I begin?

American Scrapper, I saw your 2003 photos....OMG Anthony looks so LITTLE!!! He sure did grow up a lot in a year! Payton looks so cute and small and sweet! They grow up too fast!!!!

Well, gotta go get DD ready for bed. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!!!

TTFN

Stacy

[scrapperjill]

Stacy,

Start small...scrapbooking can become overwhelming when your just starting. I'd suggest picking what kind of album you want to start on first...ie...a general family album, a vacation album (like the cruise), a DD album. Thne start getting your photos that go with your album theme together. Since your just starting..you have lots of choices. You can do your albums in chronological order...or just get your photos in an album in any order that works well for you. I'd also suggets starting current...and work on back tracking as you have time...That way you can try and stay up to date with your new photos...People just starting get real overwhelmed when they get going then realize how many years of photos they have sitting around.

[ThreeSmiths]

Sandi,

Do you use ALL of your photos? Do you know of any good online resources that will help me along?

Thanks!

Stacy

[Timon]

Stacy,

I agree with scrapperjill, it can be VERY overwhelming. Start with one project, like a trip. That way you only feel like you have to finish that one, not the rest of your life in photographs :)

You are going to want to use all your photographs, DON'T!! Just pick the best ones that showcase that moment in time. You don't need to be overly creative, really! My advice for each layout is pick your photos, mount them on cardstock, make a journaling block (this is what scrapping is all about, to record your memories and thoughts) add a title and that's it!

When you feel more at ease with the whole process, add some stickers or
some die cuts. You will find after awhile, that you have your own style and just go with it...some people hate stickers, some love them, same with printed papers or embellishments etc.

If you are totally clueless, just check out some layouts online and you can even "scraplift" from them until you find your own style.

Some great sites for layout ideas are:
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/
http://www.dmarie.com/layouts/

You can get tons of great tips from the SB board here on the DIS
There's tons of great ladies (and the odd gentleman :)) over there and they are all so helpful and friendly!

Here's the FAQ
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=136038

Actually, that's how I started! I checked out that FAQ, read some posts on the SB forum, bought some supplies at Michaels and off I went. Now I post regularily on the SB forum and find great inspiration from all those post on that board!

Good luck and have fun! BEWARE, it's highly addictive! :rolleyes:

[ThreeSmiths]

Thanks Cass! I'm so excited to get going. Now to find the time....it certainly won't be this weekend! I had no idea that DIS had a scrapbook thread! I wil be heading there shortly. And to the other sites you suggested.

On the subject of our Cruise....DH considered (only for a fraction of a second) rescheduling our cruise. His cousin and family (whom we've been trying to get to go on a cruise with us) called and said they were going to book for our week. DH was ecstatic. Then they called back and said that they had a conflict for that week, so could we reschedule for the following week. He was so disappointed that he almost said "yes." But then he realized that I would kill him and he wouldn't get to go on any cruise at all....and made the right decision. No, actually, he said he considered it for a second and then told them that we already had plans with cruise friends for that week. Wise decision, don't you think?

Okay, gotta go scan the SB sites. Lucky for me I don't have to get up early tomorrow!

TTFN!

Stacy puckerup:

[American Scrapper]

Stacy,

I second Cass & Sandi's replies. Work small and try to complete that then move onto bigger things. If you have a local scrapbook store in the area, check and see what types of classes they offer. Sometimes they are free others there is a small fee for. They usually have a beginner class to help with the newbies. I actually still take classes because I like to learn new things and it gets me out of the house for a bit. The other thing you could do is look for a local creative memories consultant. Alot of people start out with their products because it is quick and easy. They will teach you the basics. Some people stay with their way of scrapping and others expand. Don't get overwhelmed by the magazines, they can be intimidating. Remember, everyones first pages are not going to be the best, but it is neat to see how your style changes as you learn new things.

Have fun!!! I think you will like it.

Kathy

ps tell Eric that we would have come looking for him if he had chosen to rebook!! LOL!!

[scrapperjill]

Stacy....Yep...You'll have to let Erik we would have been out after him...if he rescheduled. :crazy2: What was he thinking...He must have gone blank for a moment.

When I started to scrapbook...it was determind to do it on my own. Then a friend talked me into going to a Creative Memories SB class...and from that moment on I fell in love with there product. The tools are excelent...for cutting and cropping... Like Kathy said CM is fairly basic and a great place to start. After you have the bacis down you'll start to develop your own style...and find out what "you" like and don't like.

A few basic things to get you started...would be an album...(they come in alot of sizes.) I started out in a 12x12 and love it...you can get more photos per page and you have a little more room to be creative. I've done a 8x10 for Alexis once...and it turned out real nice. I was actually real happy with the results...but then again I didn't have a lot of photos to work with on that partiular album. I also have a 12x15 that I have been working on...I like how it is turning out...but it is a real speclized album...it's documenting Sydneys life with CF. Overall...I really like the 12x12..but to each their own.

Check you PM box. I sent you a few other ideas. :smooth:

[American Scrapper]

YEAH!!!!!!!! I am finally a mousketeer again!! :earboy2: WHEW, what work that was!! Now I can rest easier or go scrapbook my DMIL's album of our Disney trip last year with the grandkids. It is for her birthday at the end of this month! OMG, I dont have much time do I? Oh well, off to work on my other addiction!

I'm a mouseketeer! I'm a mouseketeer! I'm a mouseketeer! :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc

Oh the littlest things make us happy! ;)

Kathy

[ThreeSmiths]

Congratulations Kathy!!!! :cool1:

You certainly earned your ears! Thanks for the scrapbook advice. I think I will try a class, because I am definitely overwhelmed by all that is available.

Sandi, thank you, too, for the advice. It's good to have so many "experts" to get advice from!

I'm glad to hear that you guys would have hunted Eric down had he changed our date. I'll be sure to let him know that the DIS Swat team will be after him if he decides to get squirrely on us again! I need to keep a little fear in him! :scared1:

Did I mention that everywhere I look the spring clothes are coming out? I have even seen a few bathing suits! It gives me the cruise shopping bug!!! I guess if I spend enough $ on scrapbooking, I won't have money for crusie shopping. What a great way to sell the SB expense to Eric...."Eric, of course I'm not spending money on cruise stuff. I need the money for scrapbooking!"

:teeth:

[American Scrapper]

No problem Stacy, anything for a fellow soon to be scrapper! Somehow I think that spending $ on scrapbooking could add up to much more than clothing for your cruise :) At least it does for me. I am a compulsive buyer and always MUST have the latest in gadgets. Sometimes I think my cousins scrapbook with me just to use my tools! LOL! No really, they are not as addicted as I am. They enjoy the basic stuff, whereas I enjoy all of the toys.

Keep that fear in Eric! We will come after him if he has another momentary slip again! We want you on that ship with us!!

Kathy

[pdarrah]

Hi Everyone,

Sorry about being missing for so long ... the holidays were hectic and then we got new PCs at work and I have been fighting my way through setting them up. I ran into TONS of trouble with the new security settings in Windows XP Service Pack 2.

I have at least kept up with the website for our cruise! All of the info that has been sent to me should be up there, so if you sent stuff and it isn't there, please let me know. My mailbox (at my ISP) was corrupt and it took them 13 days to fix it - I don't think I lost anything, but how would I know if I did?

Scrapbooking: Wow, I am usually doing well just to get the photos stuffed into photo albums. I have made all of ONE scrapbook - it was last year and I made a short scrapbook (6 copies of about 10 pages each) for a group of friends that we traveled with for a weekend trip. It took HOURS of work and I swore I wasn't going to even attempt it again! However, I have been looking at digital scrapbooking. I already do a lot of "processing" on my digital prints, so it would just be taking that a little further .... I did our door magnets and DS's cruise T-shirt digitally for our last cruise and found I really enjoyed doing that type of thing.

Well, I better get back to the computers. We bought 2 new ones which are for my father and myself. Our "old" computers are being moved to my mother and our 1 employee and then my mother's "old" computer is moving to DS5 for him to play games on when he comes to the office after Kindergarden!

Pamela

[American Scrapper]

Hi Pamela, welcome back! Those darn computers, they can be a wonderful thing as well as create havoc when something goes wrong. The web site looks great! How did you like our 64 degree weather today?!?! Too bad it isn't here to stay. Friday we will be back to the cold. I am so not ready for it now that we were teased today.

Kathy

[ThreeSmiths]

Bump :flower:

[scrapperjill]

Hey everybody....only 277 more days to go. :cool1: :cool1: :cool1: :cool1:

[Timon]

Woo hooo! I am official! We just booked with Dreams and got a fabulous deal!
Cat 9 for $400 less than what the DCL site quoted! Last time we were in a Cat 11 so I am looking forward to having a window this time!

[Kim&Chris]

I'm really excited because this cruise coincides with my birthday (which will help me forget it's my ^$%#@ birthday!!). Looking forward to a great time (although I'm trying to convince Chris to upgrade to a different catagory room) - wish me luck :)

Can't wait!

[ThreeSmiths]

Welcome Kim&Chris!!! :flower1: Glad you'll be sailing with us! What a great birthday present. My birthday is November 4, so we'll be fresh off the cruise on my birthday. However I am more than willing to celebrate mine along with you, if it makes you feel any better!

Congrats on a great deal through Dreams, Timon! That rocks! :rockband: (Heh, heh, I've always wanted to use that smilie!)

Anyone else freezing your buttocks off? I know we can't compete with the low temps of our Canada and Chi-town friends, but my thin North Carolina blood cannot deal with 16 degrees! Brrrr...

[Kim&Chris]

Yup, here in Philly it's EXTREMELY chilly. Very depressing, since we had temps nearing 70 last week!

Just sitting here at my desk dreaming of sitting in the warmth of the Castaway Cay sun........ :cloud9:

[American Scrapper]

Welcome Kim&Chris! It is 19 degrees here, but feels much, much colder. Oh these wonderful Chicago winds!! I am ready for the Castaway Sun to shine down on me!!!

That is great news Timon!! Ony 275 days to go!

Kathy

[marnight]

Hey Kim&Chris,

I'm an hour from Philly (Chester County). It's snowing!!! What happened to the warm weather from last week?!
Is it October yet?


GO EAGLES!!

[Kim&Chris]

Hey Marnight,
One of my co-workers is from Chester County....it's a small world (afterall :earboy2: ).

Well, we just heard that 95 is closed in both directions....ugh. Don't ya just love Philly in the winter?

Anyway, GO EAGLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[scrapperjill]

Welcome, welcome welcome...Kim & Chris...I'm so happy to see new people joining our cruise. Have you seen the special web site that pdarrah has done for us. It's filled with all sorts of information....

Today we had wonderful Spring like weather. Matter of fact all of our snow has melted since yesterday...but now we have weather advisories out for flood warnings. Last night we kept checking out side because from in the house it sounded like a major rain strom...but it was just all the snow melting from the roof.

Well just wanted to say "welcome aboard"

[disneyfan551]

Hi all! We have a group of 4 families that will be sailing with you! :boat: Our family consists of myself (37), dh (37), and dd (4). Our friends/family that will be joining us are... Sethsmama (hmmm :scratchin ...today's her birthday, and I'm thinking she's 31? :bday: ), ds (5); the Crawfords - dh (40ish), dw (40?), ds (4); the Snyders - angelgirl0512 (?) (40ish), ds (18?), dd (4). With the exception of Sethsmama & ds-Seth, we all cruised on 11/30/03 for a 4 nt. cruise. It was wonderful, just too short to do everything!

[American Scrapper]

Welcome disneyfan551 and friends. Don't forget to visit the web site that Pdarrah has put together.

We are getting SNOW again! UGH! They are calling for another 9 inches by Saturday. Oh how I wish it was spring!

Welcome Aboard!!

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

Welcome disneyfan551...and many friends. Our cruise meet group is growing :D

Lucky us were having some spring like weather. mid 40's to 50's...well maybe not spring like...but it's alot warmer than freezing.

All of our snow is gone!! Which is'nt a real good thing...seeing that our seasons passes at the ski resort...can't be used. :guilty:

[pdarrah]

Hi Everyone!

I am finally making it through setting up all the new computers (and moving all the old ones around!) at work. Hopefully, I'll get back to being a "regular" here on the board....

Welcome everyone! I'm off-line for a few days and we get tons of new folks :)

As has been mentioned, we have a website for our cruise at www.bwdarrah.com/dcl. If you would like to be included in the "Who's going" page, just let me know. Even if you list info here in the forum, I won't add you to the site unless you give me the go-ahead.

We are having another snow storm here in Chicago. It started snowing around 5pm and they are predicting 6 to 10 inches. Hopefully, they are wrong since I have a music lesson at 8:15am tomorrow and DS5 has Karate at 9:00am!

Pamela

[American Scrapper]

Pamela,

Unfortunately, I don't think they are going to be wrong about this snow!!! I have been praying all day that it would blow past us, but no, it is hitting us head on!! My DH is in Mississippi and I have to get DD to dance tomorrow morning, then head out for a stampin up show in the evening. I went out and did some shoveling tonight (I have not idea how to work the snowblower) :( It does not even look like I did anything and it is only 11:00 PM. Thank goodness I have 4 wheel drive!!

Oh, I need the magic!!

Kathy

ps. the web sight is looking great!!

[ThreeSmiths]

Welcome Disneyfan551!

I hope all of our Philly and Chicago friends are doing well. I see that you have been (or are now) getting absolutely dumped on. Luckily the temperature stayed just enough above freezing that we just got rain all day. No snow. However it is supposed to get very cold and windy tonight which often means that the wet roads will freeze and make a big mess of things for tomorrow. The great thing about snow and ice in the south is that almost everything shuts down (no work! Yeah!) If we get an inch of snow, you can bet there will be no school for at least a day. Even when that inch melts, the slush on the roads freezes overnight making it impossible to get around. So snow usually means shut down for two to three days. The awful thing about snow and ice in the south is you risk losing power. If the ice collects too heavy on power lines, SNAP! Once when it was so cold that our pipes froze we were without water for a day. And you're pretty much house-bound because there is very limited snow removal equipment for the main roads, and the plows don't even come into many neighborhoods. It's hazzardous to try to drive anywhere.

I hope you are all safe and warm!

Stacy

[American Scrapper]

Stacy,

You are correct, we have been getting dumped on big time!! We have pretty close to a foot (or more) of snow in some places. The worst part is that it is very windy also. So, the snow keeps blowing over the roads and the plows cannot keep up. Now that it is night time, it is getting colder and the roads with snow covering them can be very dangerous with ice under the snow. Unfortunately, as we are used to this type of weather, we will not be closing down. The airlines are pretty behind and some businesses are pretty slow but basically it is business as usual in most places. Now it is getting pretty cold also. Brr!

Thanks for thinking of us!

Kathy

ps I am sure that you dont miss this weather huh?

[marnight]

We got about 12 inches of snow this weekend with 3 foot drifts blocking my driveway, but.......

the EAGLES are going to the Superbowl!!!!!!!!! :cool1:

[scrapperjill]

I better keep DH away from the boards...if he catches wind of all the snow everyones getting... :jumping3: Oohhh he'd be mad. As of now ALL of our snow is GONE... the ski resort is closed... and there is NO forcast of snow in our area for this week. Bad thing about it is...he's a snowboarder...and we have seasons passes....which as of now it looks like the season was a whole week 1/2 long this year. Not to happy about that. We forked out quite a pertty penny for the passes...and to only have a week and a half of use...Well It SUCKS. It was bad enought when DH took the week before Christmas off to spend up at the resort...(which didn't happen due to no snow) but now the later part of January...and still no snow. :rolleyes:
We've been stuck in the mid 40's...and for the last two days fogged in bad.....matter of fact it's sooo foggy right now I can't even see the street light out in front of our house.

Hmmm.

[American Scrapper]

Oh Sandi - if I could send some of this snow to you I would! Tell Jesse that the snow is melting as fast as it came. Maybe he will feel a little bit better.

Kathy

[ThreeSmiths]

Hi Everyone!

Sitting here awaiting our first winter storm of the season and wishing I was sitting on a beach in the Caribbean instead! Well, TGIF anyways!

Has anyone ever stayed in a cabin right off of the elevators before? Is it noisy? We are staying on deck 6 right off of the midship elevators and my only concern is noise from the elevator lobby. If enough people are of the opinion that it is noisy, I will need to go ahead and change rooms.

Hey, I like some of the new smilies! Especially this one :banana: !!!

Stay warm everyone!

Stacy

[American Scrapper]

Hey Stacy-

Hope your storm is not too bad! It has been pretty cold here this week. Only 265 days to go!!

We have stayed in a room right off the midship elevators both times we cruised. We loved it! It is a great location, especially to get to and from the kids club. We were hoping to get the same room this time, but they were all booked. What room do you have? Did you switch? I thought you were located closer towards the front. They were not noisy at all. You heard some hallway noise, but I don't think any different than if you were located down the hall away from some of the busier traffic.

Kathy

[ThreeSmiths]

Hey Kathy,

We did change....before we were close to a laundry, which once I found out, I expedited the change. We are now in 6562 which is right off of the midship elevators. I wondered if that was going to be any better. I'm glad to hear that you did not have issues with it. I guess anything is better than the noisy, vibrating room we had last year.

I need to get off these boards and go to bed!!!!!

Oh, did anyone see the thread about the $50.00 stateroom credit for rebooking? Anyone looked into it? I emailed our TA to see if we are eligible. I don't even know if the cost of our cruise has gone up to make it worthwhile to rebook.

Okay, going for real now!

[scrapperjill]

Hey Stacy...
Just wanted to second you on the smile... :banana: Is my fav now. :p Still no snow :guilty: around here...but we have had ALOT of fog :rolleyes: ....and a BIG chemical fire in the area :firefight Luckly it's not to close to us...but still close enough to have me worried with Sydney and here respiratory issues.

Gotta go...to many project to get done. :earboy2:

[ThreeSmiths]

:banana:
I love the dancing banana! Sandi -- we've got snow! Not too much though, not even enough for the kids to go sledding. It's really more ice than snow. I'll box some up and Fed Ex it right over.

Eric cannot stay inside. He gets so excited when it snows.

I'm thinking of getting some photos together to start a scrapbook page today since I'm housebound. I think I'll start with our Sept crusie photos!

[Timon]

ThreeSmiths,

We stayed in 7543 for our first cruise which is the first inside cabin near the elevators and I was also worried about it then. We didn't hear a peep from anyone except our neighbours across the hall.

We also stayed very close to the elevators on our RCCL cruise and again, no noise really.

I loved being close to the elevators, nice and handy!

I just booked our cabin last week and got Cat 9 on deck 2 very close to the elevators, so I am happy! We got the DCL $50 discount plus a $75 shipboard credit from Dreams and they got a great rate for us! I don't know how cus I checked DCL and other TA's and Dreams got us a savings of almost $400 U.S.D. !!! :jumping1:

We were almost thinking of just staying in Cat 11 again but decided at the last minute to go for cat 9. Well, we booked a cabin for our friends at the same time and the cost for our Cat 9 was less than what a Cat 11 was on the DCL site! So I was happy!!! :rotfl:

By the way...we've had awesome weather lately! It's been about 40º to 55º F here for over a week!!! Which is great for us!

Is it October yet??? :hourglass

We just finished moving, took us a week to get office organized and internet up! Grrrrrr! Now we REALLY need a vacation!!

[American Scrapper]

Congrats Cass on your move!

Aren't you on vacation now with that weather you are having?? Sounds like a heatwave for you! LOL! I have been to Canada in December and know how cold it could get, although the weather is beautiful in the Summer! I have relatives that own a small fishing resort in Morson, Ontario and used to spend my summers there when I was in HS.

Stacy, I think you will very happy with your room location. It was the perfect location for us on both cruises. Especially at 2:00 am when one of us was carrying a sleeping child back from the club! :) You will be able to sleep in while we are pulling into the ports, unlike like your last cruise.


Kathy

[afoss]

Just booked! It's my 1st Disney cruise. Thanks, Kathy, for letting me know about this place. I'm sure as time gets closer, I'll have some questions for you all. I'm saiing with my DH, DD (2yrs) and DD (will turn 4 while on the cruise). I'm probably crazy for taking such young kids but I'm such a cruise fan!

[scrapperjill]

Afoss...Welcome :) This is a GREAT place to get answers...I know I had a ton when we went on our first Disney crusie...And I'm sure I'll come up with even more as we get closer to the sail date. Taking young kids on any old cruise may be crazy....but I don't think so on a Disney cruise....there is sooo many activites for the little ones....I'm sure they'll have a blast


Stacy :banana: The cruise photos are a perfect place to start. One event...that was fun and memorable. And what better time...seeing that your house bound ;) I can so picture Erik...As youve guessed...Jesse gets real excited when it snow also..

Were still in the upper 40's to low 50's now....It's looking alot like spring :sunny:

[ThreeSmiths]

Welcome Afoss! :wave2:

Thanks everyone for your sharing your elevator lobby experiences. We've decided to stay put. Eric (DH) and I are sooo longing to be on the ship. More than usual....maybe because of our wintry weekend. We have been looking at all the excursions (even though we still have them committed to memory since last cruise) and planning out how we'll be spending our time at port. Actually, we found that there is a new Scuba Dive excursion offered on CC...jackpot for Eric. Although he is torn because it is such a great day to just hang on the beach with the fam.

Also, I'd like to report that I organized our cruise photos for my first scrapbook and even organized them with some layout ideas. It sure is taking me a long time to get going, but I feel I have made a big step in the right direction.

Okay, gotta go watch Trading Spouses and 24.....big night planned!

Stacy :banana:

[American Scrapper]

Welcome Afoos! :teeth: I know what you mean about having alot a questions, I felt the same way our first cruise and was totally greatful for these boards! Now that we are headed on our third cruise, I still depend on these boards to keep me updated. We are all here for your questions!


Stacy,

Sounds like you have a great start on your scrapbooking! I have not even looked at my stuff since Christmas :confused3 . I just canot get motivated. It goes in spurts like that sometimes.

Kathy

[afoss]

Thanks, everyone for the welcome! It's good to have a group to share the excitment with...my DH is still freaking out about the $ and we hadn't told the girls yet because I don't want to hear "are we going today, mom?" everyday until Oct.

I am also a huge scrapbookers. I just bought a bunch of Disney princess stickers so I'll be ready when we get back.

I got some good advice about waiting to book the airfare for a few more months in hopes the rates will go down (from Indy or Chicago). Any recommendations of a new but not too pricey hotel at the port we can stay the night before? We currently have the Disney transport booked but I think we may find something cheaper and come in the night before.

Anyone have a 3 or 4 year old going? Abby and Paige would love some company in the nursery/club :)

[American Scrapper]

afoss, I have not stayed near the port before. We usually get in late Friday night and stay near the airport then take a towncar to the ship the next morning.

I would love to be able to keep a secret and not tell the kids, but I am terrible at keeping secrets!!

I am sure that there will be several kids Abby & Paige's age, my DD will be 6 when we sail.

Looks like we have a lot of scrappers on the ship!! We could share ideas!!

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

Hey there...It does sound like were going to have alot of scrappers onboard....But that just means the photo swap will be that much better. I can't wait. I loved doing it this last cruise....We all got so many more photos..and were able to share and see what we all did....plus there is always the "I wish I would have taken a photo of..." with doing the photo swap...most of those were taken care of by someone. I do still wish I would have taken more pics aroud CC... Well I guess I did get a TON in the water...but I would have liked to get more around the beaches and stuff. I'm going to have to stock up on batterys for the camera...for this trip. I just didn't realize using the digital underwater was going to use up the batteries sooo fast....Now I know. I kept wanting to take some time on the ship and wonder around and just take pics....but I kept putting it off...thinking..I have all week...I'll do it tomarrow. Well now i know...There's to much to do so If i'm wanting pics around the ship...I just need to go out and get them....

Well I've gotta get going...Need to head to Starbucks :goodvibes for my daily fix.

[pdarrah]

Hi ScrapperJill - could you tell me more about the "digital underwater" and why it ate batteries? We have a canon digital camera and received the "underwater case" for xmas - I have just assumed that it would use batteries at its usual rate underwater.... Was your's this type of thing or a separate camera that you only use for underwater?

Hi Afoss - We stayed at the Radisson at the port - it wasn't exactly "cheap", but it still cost us less than Disney transfers by doing that and renting a car. Also the peace of mind that we wouldn't miss our cruise was great. I believe there are other hotels near the port and some people have gotten real deals using priceline (I'm just an obsessive planner and can't cope with the idea that I'm not choosing my own hotel...) On the other hand, last October with Port Canaveral getting smashed twice before we arrived - many of the other hotels were closed and the Radisson came through pretty much unscathed.

This year, we will probably stay near or at WDW for a day or two before the cruise and just get up early and drive over the morning of the cruise. It is an easy drive (only about 1 hour or so) and the rental car places all run shuttles to the terminal.

So why am I still sitting at my computer at nearly 11:00pm? Aargh - I'm addicted to the DisBoard!! :)

Pamela

[ThreeSmiths]

Afoss,

We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard last September. It was $75.00/night for a king room. There was also shuttle service available for $3.00/per person to the terminal, and since we drove to Fla, we were able to leave our car there for free all week....sure beats the cost of parking it at the terminal! We had originally planned on staying at the Quality Suites, but due to Hurricane Ivan, it was closed. We were actually very lucky to find a room at all, and were very pleased with the Marriott.

I have also heard about people getting great deals thru Priceline....like $25 or $30 per night! But I, too, am a compulsive planner and could not be suprised about my hotel!

On a sad note :sad: , it turns out that the scuba dive excursion that we found online is an OLD excursion that used to be offered but is no longer. I guess we happened upon an outdated web site. Oh well!

Stacy :banana:

[afoss]

Thanks for all the hotel advice. Sounds like we should get a decent deal at some hotels near the Port. This is the time I wish I was still in the hotel industry for employee discounts.

I read somewhere that someone had rented a car and it "came" with a car seat. I think it was from Budget. Anyone ever heard of this? We'd love to rent a car to save some $ but not excited about lugging 2 car seats around for a week. We have been to all the ports before so not doing any excursions that would require us needing them for a cab ride.

Sometimes I wonder if the Disney transport is worth the extra cost because everything is done for you and there are no worries.

We have only snorkeled, never scuba dived but if I hear of any good places/deals at any of the ports, I'll post them. I really enjoyed Stingray City at Grand Cayman and eating Key Lime Pie at "Kelly's" in Key West. I actually called them to make sure they would be open in Oct. They close in the fall to do repairs/remodeling, etc so the last 2 times we have been there, they were closed. Yep, they will be opened this year! YEAH!~

[ThreeSmiths]

Afoss,

Maybe one of those vans that have the built-in car seats? I've never heard of a car rental co. not charging for car seat rental. I understand what you're saying about not dragging the seats around all week. What a hassle! Our DD is 7, so she's only required to be in a booster seat, which is really just a car seat without the back. MUCH easier to transport.

I'm glad you mentioned "Kelly's" for Key Lime Pie....DH is a Key Lime Pie freak and since we didn't get to stop at Key West last time, he got none. Now I have an idea where to take him.

Awaiting winter storm #2 tonight....keeping our fingers crossed that it misses us!

TTFN

Stacy :banana:

[pdarrah]

Afoss: We were also able to use a booster seat for DS5. Depending on the size of your DD4, you may be able to do that for her - we bought a basic one for travel at Walmart and I think it was only about $20. We just use it for trips and when he has field trips at school (I don't think it would be too comfortable for him to ride in all the time.) The advantage for travel is that it is small and easy to just strap onto one of the suitcases. For flying, we just packed the cushion and they taped the luggage tag right to the plastic. At the port, we used a piggy-back strap from one of the suitcases and connected it to the case and it came through OK. In the stateroom, we stuck it under the bed for the week.

Another option if you don't need a seat for getting from home to the airport, is that FL laws are much looser than IL. "All children 5 years of age or younger must be properly restrained no matter where they are sitting in the vehicle. Children through age 3 must be secured in a separate carrier or a vehicle manufacturer's integrated child safety seat. For children aged 4 through 5 years, a separate carrier, an integrated child safety seat, or a safety belt may be used. (FL Statute 316.613)." Therefore, legally, your DD4 could just use the seatbelt in the car for the trip from Orlando to the port.

Of course, you would still have to lug a regular seat for your other DD or arrange to rent one with the car, but at least it would only be one!

Pdarrah

[afoss]

Hey...good info to know. I'll see about renting a car seat from the rental company and then using the seatbelt for DD4. If not, at least one seat to carry is better than one.

The Kelly's restaurant is owned by the actress Kelly McGillis (I can only remember her from Top Gun). She was actually there once working the bar.

Hope the winter storm misses you. It's suppose to warm up some here (low 40s).
We always get a couple of bad snow storms in Feb and one in March. The ground hog saw his shadow so looks like we are all in for a few more winter weeks.

[scrapperjill]

pdarrah...Our digital camera is a Sony DSC-T1. Love the camera...and normally it dose just fine with the batteries... We also got the underwater marine pack/case to hold it. Let me say I was more than a little nervious to take it underwater...but it worked wonderfully. The problem with the batteries was with the case on...you couldn't "shut the lense"...to turn off the camera between shots. They make a power on/off button for this reason on the camera..and it works just fine with the case in place...but with the reflection of the water, camera, and case...it was hard to tell if the camera was on/off. So as it turned out I kept the camera on (most of the time)when we were out snorkling. My camera dosn't have a viewfinder...just the LCD screen...it got to the point with the reflection of everything...I couldn't see anything on the screen...and just did point-n-shoot takes... and hope I got a shot.


afoss...have you looked into getting a towncar for your transportation? It would be more than a rental car...but they do have car seats and boosters available at no additional cost. Also once aranged...they pick you up and drop you off at the terminal doors...no worries about getting the car back to the rental company. You could also stay at a hotel closer to the airport...which I think is cheeper...then be picked up first thing Saturday and taken to the port. That's what we did...we stayed at Embassy Suites near MCO....they have a shuttle that will pick you up at the airport. They also have a managers reception every evening with FREE drinks, soda, mixed drinks and beer. Tne in the morning they have a FREE cook to serve breakfast. I don't remember for sure what we paid...but it was under $50...for the four of us. And since it's a Embassy Suites...all the rooms are suites...which worked out great for getting the girls to bed in the bedroom...as we (DH and I) stayed up repacking our bags. But anyways...we had the car pick us up after breakfast and take us right to the port. Just an idea I wanted to mention. Also alot of the cars that the rental companies have do have the built in carseats...so you may want to ask. The only thing....most rental companys WON'T gaurentee what car you get. Oh...another thing about the towncars... depending on how many people you have with you it is usually or can be cheeper to get the towncar service than the disney transfers. I think any more than 3 or 4 passangers it ends up being just as much or cheeper....and you tell them when you want picked up...so you don't have to wait on someone elses schedule.

[ThreeSmiths]

Where did you guys get your underwater boxes for your digital cameras? Sandi -- I loved how your underwater photos turned out (SO much better than those disposable underwater 35 mm cameras), so we're definitely wanting to get one to use in October.

Stacy :banana:

[rocadonismom]

Wow, I finally made it back onto the boards. Hope all are doing well - ThreeSmiths, did you get hit with the latest storm? I just got internet access back yesterday. We lost power here on January 9th due to a nasty ice storm and were without power for 9 days. Since everything was so wrecked it has taken a long time for the various service companies to get to everyone and my internet cable had been laying in my neighbor's front yard. Anyway... it's back up and I can once again be a part of the outside world!

I'm so excited to hear that the are other scrappers going on this cruise. I love to collect supplies and make paper piecings. Unfortunately my ambition stops there and I have tons of photos that need to make it into the albums. Maybe that can be my goal for the year. I purchased the coloring books on my last cruise to use as paper piecing patterns.

As for key lime pie at Key West... we went and had frozen, chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick at Kermit's (?). I'll have to look through my papers and find out the name. It was quite good.

[Timon]

So...
I have a question about the photo swap thing. Do you just swap the generic type photos like photos of the ship etc or do you swap ALL your photos?

The reason I am asking is because I take a LOT of photos. Last year, we were in WDW for one week and on a RCCL cruise for one week and I took well over 2500 digital photos and then on top of that, I had 3 underwater cameras and two disposable cameras. So I can't see anyone wanting all 2500+ of my photos. :rolleyes1

Plus I plan on getting my Canon Digital Rebel before our trip, so of course, being the shutterbug that I am, I will easily take more than 2500 photos since, well...because I can :rolleyes:

So how does that work?

[pdarrah]

Hi ThreeSmiths,

I put the waterproof box for my canon camera on my Amazon wishlist before Christmas (after our October cruise) and didn't really expect anyone to buy it, but I was trying to have a wide assortment (from about $5 to close to $200!) Well, my MIL hadn't come up with anything to give us for our 15th wedding anniversary last June, so she decided to go all out on our Xmas gifts. She gave us the box as a joint gift (along with a few individual gifts each)!

Our is made by canon specifically for our model (and a couple others that have the same dimensions) but I know that there are some "generic" ones out there also. Since I didn't really expect to get it, I really didn't do much research. I am looking forward to using it - but I am a little nervous about it also!

Pdarrah

[scrapperjill]

Timon...I was just looking and doing research on getting the Cannon Digital Rebel :goodvibes . I want it soooo bad. I was soooo tempted to get it in January. One of the shops here had a $50 instant rebate...and their web site had an additional $100 mail in rebate. Unfortunetly it ended on the 31st.

The photo swap...ThreeSmiths, American Scrapper, and myself swapped photos or should I say CD's burned with our photos with one another. I also took a TON of photos, if I remember right had to send 3 CD's each...just to fit all the pics. I sent pretty much all my pics...It seemed to take me sooo long to get things organized when we came back from the cruise...I didn't want to keep putting off burning the photo cd's and ended up just selecting all rather than going through and picking this one or that. It was so nice to view each others photos. We all spent time together durring the evenings...but with the photos we could actually see what we all did and where we went. So it's up to who ever is swapping as to what they want to send...all or selected photos. There was one other gal who particapated in the photo swap on our last cruise. She sent only generic photos of the ship and around. Only one pic included her daughter...and I think she only sent that one because my daughter was in the photo also..other than that no one from their family was in any of the pics for the swap. Which was her choice...and it was still great to get more photos...and to see things from someone elses point of view.

ThreeSmiths...We ordered our waterproof camera box direct from Sony...since our camera is a Sony. When we got the camera it came with a list of additional acessories... that's where we learned about the marine pack and got the idea to get it for the cruise. Jesse and I figured if we wanted to get it we better go with the one that was made for our camera...from the same company rather than a generic. The camera was sooo new on the market at that time i also don't think anyone else was making one at that point. We also felt more assured it would hold up and keep the water out. Like I said I was VERY nervious to take it under the first time. It's turned out to be real handy though...we took it up snowboarding with us both times the mountian was open this year...and were able to get some great shots in the snow...and while in action. I figured after taking it down the water slides at Atlantis...going down the slopes should be just fine also. :goodvibes

Timon... "I will easily take more than 2500 photos since, well...because I can :rolleyes: " I just wanted to say...I love it :cool1: . My thoughts exactly.

[Timon]

Scrapperjill,

Yeah, I've had my eye on the Rebel for awhile. I love my digital but I HATE the lag it comes with!! I have missed so many great photos because of that lag!!!!

I think hubby is trying to get it for me for my b-day in March but I don't know if we will be able to afford it then. After buying the camera itself then you need an extra battery, a case, high speed flash cards and then some lenses!!!
But I WILL have it before our cruise ...hopefully :rolleyes1

On our last trip to WDW, I was using 3 256MB flashcards that I would fill and take to Walgreens every 2-3 days to D/L onto CD. Most of the time one flashcard would fit onto one CD but sometimes, there would be 2 CD's.

When I came home I had 12 envelopes of CD's, some with 1, some with 2 CD's.

It was only $4 to D/L onto CD at Walgreens, so that was great. But on the cruise, they charge you $15, so I might invest/borrow/beg/steal in bringing along with me a lot of CF memory.

As scrappers, you guys may appreciate all 2500+ of my photos, but still, that's a lot of photos, and you may get bored :rolleyes: So perhaps I will go through them and sort them out before I send them out ;)

[American Scrapper]

Timon,

I did sort out my pics, but sent most of what I took that looked good. I did not sent my pics of Castaway Cay with me in them! They all saw enough of me in my swimsuit and did not need to scare them anymore! :teeth:

I see that I am not the only one with their heart set on the Rebel! It looks amazing and from the pics that I have seen taken with it - WOW!! I did not take as many photos as scrapperjill, even though I seemed to be always snapping away. I did have alot that I took that did not turn out due to the dark!

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

American Scrapper...Your looking at the Rebel? I want it sooo bad. I'm still laughing on your CC comment :rotfl: . Since I was the picture taker...I didn't end up in many of our pics... :goodvibes...I'm sure if I did I would have pick out most of them...prior to sending.

I'm so kicking myself for not finding the $$$ some place in January and getting the deal with the $150 in rebates. It was a Rebel package deal that came with 2 batteries, a case, lense, and memory. I also found the memory cards on a super deal at Costco. 512mb for around $35.

We took 4 of the 256 cards and one small card on the trip and used our laptop to download each night....it worked out soooo good.

What kind of card do you use? I'm sure if your memory card work in our laptop...you could bring some cd's, and burn them off your cards with our laptop durring the cruise....that would save you a ton from what shutters charges. Did you end up going to shutters to make cd's durring your last cruise? Just wondering if you did...if they charged $15 per card...or was it per cd...and what if you had sooo many pics on a card it took more than one disk to empty?...do they charge you twice? Just wondering...I know you can fit a good amount onto a disk....and depending on what size card you have and what settings your using you can fit a range of pics per card.

[ThreeSmiths]

As for key lime pie at Key West... we went and had frozen, chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick at Kermit's (?). I'll have to look through my papers and find out the name. It was quite good.

OMG....that sounds like Heaven on a stick!! I'm so there!!!

:goodvibes :mickeybar

Rocadonismom:

This time last Saturday we were pretty much housebound. I awoke that morning at about 8 a.m. to DD saying "mommy, it sounds like Pop Rocks outside!" She was referring to the ice and sleet hitting the house, trees and ground. (It was a pretty good analogy, because that's exactly what it sounded like!) So I threw on some clothes, went to the grocery store (like all good southern folk do when the snow comes) and got a couple essentials just in case. It took me about an hours to get three items because the checkout lines were crazy. The roads got pretty icy...lots of vehicle pile-ups on the highways...but by noon Sunday it was gone! We thought for sure that we'd lose power, but we never did, thank goodness.

I'm sorry to hear that you did not fare so well. I know how you feel, though. We've been without utilities for a few days before and it is miserable. Especially when you can't leave the house without risking your life!

Glad to have you back!

Stacy :banana:

[ThreeSmiths]

Thanks everyone for the info on the camera boxes. I will definitely look into Amazon and Cannon. I thought the photo swap was great! It was so interesting to see photos of things that we saw and places that we visited, only from another person's point of view. I must say that Sandi is an excellent photographer. There are some photos that I swear she should enter into a photo contest!

I would also like to report that while working at a Brownie Girl Scout food drive this morning, some other moms and I decided to get together for a Scrapbook club to meet on Friday nights. We will rotate houses and share equipment (which is good for a newbie like me so I can use things before I decide to purchase them). I'm so excited! The other moms have already been scrapbooking but all said they have a hard time motivating to do it. I think making a fun, social event out of it will be great. I will report back when I have actually started.

Kathy, I'm cracking up about the CC photos as well! Like Sandi, I was the one taking the photos, so my cellulite is not on film. If it were, I would not have sent you those photos either! However DH was a little unnerved when he found out that I sent photos of him on the beach! Awww, who cares! We're all friends, right? :flower:

Stacy :banana: (love that banana)

[scrapperjill]

Stacy...Thanks :blush: . (about the photo praise). I just love taking pictures...and would rather do that any time..than what I actually do.

That's so good about finding some other gals to scrap with...I'll be a ton of fun. I love getting together with others and scrap the day or evening away. It is such a nice social time. Plus you can get soooo many ideas from others. I'm sure you'll love it. And sharing tools...that's the way to go....then if you find a tool you just can't do with out you can add to your collection little by little.

[American Scrapper]

Staci,

It is great that you have found a group to meet with weekly. I am lucky to get together with someone every few months. We all have such different schedules that, while we mean well, we dont get together as often as we intend to.

I have to second your comment on Sandi's photos! She does take wonderful pictures. I am very excited about the photo swap!! I love looking at others photos and to see things in a different perspective than mine (or jims).

Kathy

[Timon]

awww shucks guys..now I want to see some of Sandi's photos!!!

Do you have any posted online Sandi??

I hadn't realized until recently that you three cruised together before! :cool1:
How cool is that? And you all booked the same date together on purpose again?

[scrapperjill]

Yea....Our three families met on the last cruise...Well before the cruise here on the boards...and just hit it off. Threesmiths DD and our DD are close to the same age..and became e-mail pen pals prior to the cruise...Which made it sooo nice. But after well all met onboard...we just really hit it off and by the end of the cruise decided how nice it would be to do it all again. So here we go.. :banana:

I do have some of my scrapbook layouts online...on two peas....but other than that none of just my unscrapped photos. My two peas album is under the "Disney" catagory...and I'm listed as "Scrapperjill" over there also. That reminds me...I was going to upload some more pages...I have two more cruise albums to add to the site.

I saw over on the scrappbook fourm you were looking into the HOF contest from Creating Keepsakes..Did you ever do it? The dead line is comming up soon I think. I tryed to find the area where you posted the question...to see if you entered...but I couldn't find it.

[Timon]

Well, that's great! Now you know each other really well and get to share another cruise as friends! :banana:

I will have to take a peek over at 2 Peas a little later on...

Yeah, I entered the HOF contest but I don't expect to be chosen for the final 25. All my layouts were digital and they normally don't choose digital scrapbookers, in fact, I don't think they ever have, not for the HOF anyway. I was just passing some time and was getting some practice in for my DSB business. :smooth:

[scrapperjill]

Timon...You never know...they (Creating Keepsakes) have been publishing ALOT more computer generated layouts in the past few months. Even comming out with the special book full of computer layouts and tips on how to. So you never know.

Good luck. :teeth:

Are you just starting a DSB bussiness? How long have you been doing DSB? I've really been thinking of giving it a try...but I'm not sure what programs I need. I heard on the 2peas site there are quite a few free demos out there to try...I just haven't taken the time to search.

[ThreeSmiths]

Sandi,

Just checked out your Disney scrapbook at two peas....so cute! The New Friends pages with Sydney and Kaylee brought tears to my eyes....but I'm emotional anyways!

Let us know if/when you post the photos you took in San Juan. Your photos of the scenery there (esp the ones you took in the cemetery and on the streets) are really great.

As I float around these boards and read about other people's experiences, I think of all the different things we're going to do this time around (not to mention some things we'll do differently.) Can't wait.....but have to :sad2:

[afoss]

Upgrade opinions. We are thinking about going from our Cat 9 to a Cat 6. Is it really worth the extra $1200? The veranda would be nice for somewhere to go while kids are napping/bedtime and if I get motion sickness. (helps me to be out in the wind looking at the horizon). It's so much money though..

Also, the only reservations left for a Cat 6 is a GTY. This makes me nervous but I have heard that sometimes this is a good thing because you could end up with an upgrade?

[scrapperjill]

afoss...GTY's arn't bad...you'll get a cat 6 for sure..with the possablity of an upgrade...but for sure the cat 6. One thing to think of is...Where is your cat 9 room? and where are the possable cat 6 rooms? Looks like the cat 9's are on decks one and two..and the cat 6's are on either deck 5 or 6. We had a cat 8 on our last cruise on deck 7 and thought of doing upgrading when we rebooked...but decided to save the money and use it towards excursions...and souviners. It's alot of money. I'm sure we'd LOVE a room with a verhanda...but it's alot of money...and would probley want to keep booking rooms with verandas from then on...

But it's really up to you...I'm sure you'd love it..but you can alos get all the deck "open air" feel on decks 9&10 24 hours a day....+ having the rooms with the windows (cat. 9) you'd still get to see the horizon.

I'm sure others will be able to help you out a little better..seeing that we have never had a room with a verhanda....so I'm not one to say if it's worth it or not. We did venture out on American Scrappers verhanda one evening...and it was REAL nice.

[afoss]

Good news! Just as we were thinking about getting a veranda, our TA e-mailed me saying a better cabin on deck 2 Cat 9 opened up. It's mid-ship yet closer to the aft stairs to up straight to the restaurants and Flounders Reef.

Maybe we'll try the veranda on a different cruise line sometime. Disney just charges so much compared to others I have been on (RCCL, Princess, Carnival. etc) Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they are wonderful though :)

[American Scrapper]

Timon - Good Luck on your entry for HOF! That is great, we will keep our fingers crossed for you. Think positive. With so many scrappers going to digital, they will need to eventually take them into consideration. After all, you put just as much work into it as any other person.

Afos, you will get alot of different replies about the Veranda. I personally love it, but we booked a veranda on our first cruise, and cannot do anything less now. I guess I am spoiled. We do use it often. My DH goes out there in the mornings with his coffee and I spent a good 45 mins or so out there in the evenings after a long day. It was very relaxing for me. I would spend time sometimes before dinner also.

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

Just wanted to say I posted some more of my layouts on the two peas site...I'm in the middle of the Puerto Rico section :goodvibes .... It's still listed in the "Disney" catagory...under "Scrapperjill" @ Two Peas.

Afoss...I'm sure I'd would be in the same place as American Scrapper..."can't do without it"...If we ever booked a verhanda room...It happened with the room we had last time...we booked a Cat 12 gty and recieved an upgrade to a cat 8 on deck 7...now we can't do anything less...we loved the big window...We had REALLY thought of doing a verhanda this time...but knew if we did we'd never want to go back.

[American Scrapper]

Sandi,

Great pics! I just took a look at your album and they are looking good!! I especially liked the Senor Frogs pics (with Tarzan!) :rotfl:

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: Yea...I decided to leave the shot of Tarzan at Atlantis out of the online book...It was a bit more "personal"...(with him and is gal friend...smooching in the pools) :earseek: .

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: I can't stop laughing now...just thinking of the guys everytime "Tarzan" walked into a room...or on deck...or in the bar...or..well anywhere. I wonder :rolleyes: what Tarzan thought everytime he saw us. :rotfl:

[Timon]

scrapperjill,

I checked out your layouts on 2peas. Great job! Looking at all your pages made me remember how fun it was to scrap my Disney Cruise in 2002! It also got me even more excited about our cruise in October looking at all your great photos!

A few months ago we talked our friends into going with us, it will be their first cruise :). I gave them the DCL DVD and an itinerary and I printed out menus and excursions for them since they haven't been all that excited about it yet. Well they FINALLY watched the DVD the other night and my friend called me and said Cass!!! We are SO EXCITED!!! :banana:

scrapperjill & American Scrapper,

Thanks for all your well wishes for the HOF thing, but I won't hold my breath :rolleyes: I haven't been digitally scrapping for very long, only since October and well, I haven't really done that much, I've been busy with selling the house and moving. I started the business (http://www.digitalscrapbooks.ca) in December but I haven't really done any advertising or anything, so I'm not sure how much effort I really want to put into it yet. After our cruise, hubby and I want to start a family
but it's going to be tough since I have Lupus and need to find a different medication to control my pain but with being able to get pregnant on since the meds I am on now, I can't have kids, so it's going to be a tough year ahead of us (one of the reasons for the cruise) and I'm not sure how much time I will be able to dedicate to it.

I've been watching the Perfect Proposal shows this week, and to see the Magic on TV is soooo cool! I can't wait! I've gotten back to working out (finally) and this week I've been doing my Elliptical while watching PP on TLC, so it's given me lots of motivation!!! Need to lose weight so I can eat all those chocolate croissants on board!! :rolleyes1

[ThreeSmiths]

:rotfl: Sandi -- Just saw your San Juan layouts! I know Kathy really likes the fact that she will forever be close to Tarzan....well, at least in your scrapbook! I'm so jealous ;) !

I really had a lot of fun looking through your pages...it brought me right back to the cruise. I now see just how valuable the photo swap is to the scrapbook process. Keep us updated as you post more!

Timon, so exciting that you have a new business going and that you have plans to start a family. We are trying to have another. I actually think I need to take a break otherwise I'll be too pregnant to cruise! I wish you lots of luck in both ventures!:cheer2:

[American Scrapper]

Sandi, you are right! Everytime I see him or think of him, I think the same thing. The guys were not discrete in any way when it came to noticing him! I still think about him and his girlfriend dancing in the bar that night! Too funny!! :rotfl2:

Stacy & Timon, I will keep my fingers crossed for you both. It is great that you are both planning on starting or adding to a family. Timon, just imagine how much you will scrapbook then!!

Timon, it is great that your friends will be joining you on the cruise. I think it makes it more fun when you know someone sailing with you. Although Sandi, Stacy & I did not know each other before sailing (other than chatting here) we knew alittle about each other. The cruise meet made it possible for us to get to know each other more, which made the cruise that much better! I am really glad we met and hit it off so well. It made it even better that our DH's hit it off well too. Maybe too much!!!! :teeth:

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

Timon...I checked out your business site...Very cool. Where did you come up with your idea of starting a DSB? Jesse and I had seriously discussed me starting a scrapbook business...the traditional way with paper and stuff...but I could never decided how to price it. This was YEARS ago...and now I see there all over the web. (well not all over...but theres a good number of them out there) I'd still love to do it...but I wouldn't know where to start....
I can't beleive some of the prices people are charging for having albums done. But then again...that was one of the reasons I couldn't figure out what to charge. I know what goes into them...time and money.

ThreeSmiths..American Scrapper...Did you guys notice all your photos...in my album from the swap? We spent sooo much time at the cemetary in San Juan...that by the time we made it up to El Morro...we decided to no go in. It was very deceving from the entrance...it didn't look like you could roam around so much...everything looked blocked and roped off....after seeing the ropes and what not...we didn't even ask what the admission price was...I read some where not to long ago what it was...and I was VERY suprised on how little it was. After seeing all your guys pictures...I was wishing we went in. But that's one great thing about the swap...We were able to see in El Morro from your eyes...(camera)

:banana:

[scrapperjill]

Kathy,

We must have been posting at the same time.

:rotfl: :rotfl2: :rotfl: :rotfl2: TARZAN....I can't stop laughing. The bar dancing was to much. :rotfl: :rotfl2: :rotfl: :rotfl2:

Everytime I need a good laught I just have to think of one word...TARZAN...then I just can't stop...

Stacy...I see your light is green... You must also be on the boards some place. Sydeny and Kaylee need to start e-mailing one another again...Sydney keeps wanting to call her...But by the time she askes it's always too late in the day...We've told her it would be good to do sometime on the weekend...Since it free air time all weekend long...and they'd have all day...not just limited to after school.

[Timon]

scrapperjill,

My husband has been bugging me for a couple of years now to start my own SB business (regular SBing). I even went as far as making up a flyer and passing it around but there were no takers.

I did a lot of math with the pricing and for me to do it, I would have to charge quite a bit.

I didn't think it would work out for the following reason:

I figured there's two kinds of people:
Scrappers and Non-Scrappers

Scrappers will do their own scrapping. They know how much money supplies cost and know how much time a layout can take and they willingly invest their time and money maybe because it's also a hobby and it's fun!

Non-Scrappers (targeted clientele) have NO idea just how much money we scrappers actually spend and how much time we dedicate to scrapping. While they go on and on about how wonderful our SB's are, when they find out how much $$$$ it will cost them to have the same thing, they start thinking hmmm is it really worth it? And I think most people would say no, it's not worth it.

I can't remember exact figures now but I couldn't justify doing a 12x12 album for less than $15 per page, (plus the album cost) since it would cost me about $5-$6 per page for supplies, that leaves me with only an hourly rate of approx $10/hr, which unless you are doing a lot of albums, isn't all that great for your own business as you have other costs too like consultation with the clients, advertising, upkeep and care of your SB tools etc.

So..even for a basic 12x12 SB with just the 20 pages, no refills (which to me is a little too small) you're looking at about $320-$350 MINIMUM, more like $400 if you wanna make any money at all.

The reason that I started the digital SB was because my friend asked me for a wedding SB right after I packed my SB supplies so I tried a DSB, which she loved and showed everyone at work and a LOT of people asked her where she got it from and how they could get something like that.

I punched out the numbers and figured I could do a DSB for a little less than a traditional one and then I just went for it. Like I said, I need to work on it a lot more than I have and I'm not sure how well it will work out but I figured might as well try, since it's something I can do at home and it's something I love. :rolleyes:

[American Scrapper]

Wow Cass! I just checked out your business. What a great job you have done on it!

OK Ladies, I have started to check out the Rebel and just am not sure what I want to do. The one thing that I do not like about it is that you have to look through the view finder to take a picture. I guess I am just spoiled with my other digital that I feel like I am going back a step. I just did a quick look at it, now I really need to find someplace that will answer all of my questions about it before I take the plunge.

Kathy

[disneyfan551]

Cass...Great job on your digital scrapping! I have been dying to get into it for about 3 yrs now, and have done a few things. I just don't have the time to do it! (Only when I'm at work... :teeth: ) However, I finally purchased the DIP program and am so excited, I can't wait to get started! Your work is great! I've pm'd you before about your traditional scrapping, because it was always great too! I hope your business does well.

American Scrapper... Regarding cameras, have you checked out a few review sites, such as dpreview.com? I have found the message boards there invaluable when selecting a camera! You will hear the good & the bad regarding each camera, from novices to professionals!

Hope everyone has a super weekend! We'll be heading to Atlanta for a weekend getaway, celebrating our "new" anniversary! :lovestruc (My dh surprised me with a vow renewal on Valentine's Day last year! :love: ) Our sweet little angel princess: (in reality..wild child :hyper: ) will be staying with her grandparents!

[pdarrah]

Hi DisneyFan551,

Just a quick question for you. Do you and your group want to be added to our cruise website on the "Who's Going" page? You can post as little or as much info as you like. It's just kind of nice to be able to look at that page and see all the DISers that are going!

It looks like your group has a lot of 4 and 5 year olds - is that their ages for the cruise or will they be mostly 5 and 6 by then? My son will be 6 for the cruise and asks me nearly every day if there are any kids his age going on the cruise with us. He had a wonderful time with a DISer girl his age on our first cruise.

Pamela (pdarrah)

[Timon]

Kathy,

I went to dpreview, ( I used this site to decide on my last camera) and according to them, the Rebel does have an LCD. Here's a photo:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/CanonEOS300D/Images/sidebyside02-001.jpg

Here's the in-depth review of the Digital Rebel
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos300d/

[scrapperjill]

The rebel does have an LCD...but it's only for viewing the pics...it does not show what is in the viewfinder prior to clicking the shutter. I was somewhat disapointed with that also..I find our Sony so easy to use...by looking at the LCD screen and taking the shot. But the more I've looked the more I've found that alot of the SLR Ditials you have to use the viewfinder....For various reasons....like it holds the camera steader...Your able to "focus" on your subject with the AF spots...Zooming with the lenses, and not a zoom in/out button...and auto focusing. The more I think of why you would have to look through the viewfinder...the more it makes sence.

I finally did it...I broke down and purchased the package "kit". I think it was somewhat of a good deal...The price was average of what I was finding just the camera body and lense...but it also came with a real nice cannon camera bag that says it'll hold a couple SLR's and lenses, two batteries, a battery charger...and various cables...oh and Photoshop elements...which I already had :rolleyes: I'm still kicking myself for not buying it the week before...when they had the $150 rebates....But so far I really like it. I couldn't decided between the Rebel or the new D20...But in the end went with the Rebel...I figure I can always trade it in towards the D20 at a later date if I decide.

I haven't printed any pics yet...I really haven't had much time to really go out and play to much with it...and with Valentines Day comming I'm sure I won't have time this weekend. But I think the following weekend is a 3 day weekend...so maybe we'll take a day trip someplace.

I went to a few camera shops in Seattle Tuesday and priced acessories and diffrent lenses...WOW :earseek: I couldn't beleive the prices of the lenses....I don't remember my Minolta's additional lenses being so costly...But it has been quite some time since I last bought a lense... maybe I just don't remember how much I put into them....and maybe it was the lenses I was looking at.

[Timon]

scrapperjill,

Ooooh, I had no idea! Hmmm, yeah I am used to using my LCD screen as well. It took me months to get used to NOT looking at a viewfinder!

You will have to let us know how you like your new camera!! :teeth:

Have fun with it!! :cool1:

[scrapperjill]

I didn't realize either...until after I purchased the camera...I saw the screen...and just assumed you could see your shot through it..I don't think anywhere in the research I was doing it ever mentioned the screen was used only for viewing pics after they were taken. But like I mentioned in the other post...the more I though of why....it made sence.

It took me a long time to get use to the LCD on our sony...It just seemed so odd to just hold the camera up away from your face...and take pictures. Seeing that I've only been using that one for a year....I don't think It'll take me to long to get use to the viewfinder again...but it does feel strange now.

[American Scrapper]

Oh Sandi, you have to tell me how you like it! I am still hesitant, and Jim thinks I am absoultely NUTS to be considering buying a camera for that much money. I am just afraid that it will all be too much for me. I have been very spoiled with my cameras that I have owned in the past. They have been very good to me!! I don't even think that I would consider it, if it wasn't for the poor quality of my photos in dark situations. I just hope that if I do buy this camera, it eliminates that problem.

The sales clerk showing me that camera did say that the veiw finder would defeat the purpose of an SLR. I will have to do some research. Thanks Disneyfan551. I will check out that site.

Only 252 days left to go.

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

American scrapper...what did she mean by it would defeat the purpose of the SLR?

I love our sony so much...with how easy digital is...I've been a BIG photo/camera person forever...and didn't think I'd like the digital...But with how easy it is to get prints made and remade...and to see the pic right then...no waiting..I love it. But like you, our sony didn't do so well in darker places..like some indoor shots. If it wasn't for that I probley wouldn't have been looking either. I'll have to send you a pic that Jesse took in our living room, at night with only a couple table lamps on..maybe I'll take one with my sony so you can compare the diffrence...I couldn't beleive how well it turned out.

Let me know what the sales person ment I'm courious

.

[Timon]

Okay, yeah, that makes sense now. Because the Digital Rebel is an SLR camera, what you see in your viewfinder is the exact picture you are taking. In a regular digital camera, what you see in your viewfinder is only an approximate view of your actual photo. And so, in an SLR, you would only see the photo in the LCD AFTER the microprocessor sends it to the LCD, therefore, you could only see your photo after you have taken it.

This is taking me back to my Visual Communications Class! Whew, that was WAY too long ago! :teacher:

[scrapperjill]

Hey there...just had to jump in and make a post...we were getting pushed back to page two...

Happy Valentines Day... :love:

[ThreeSmiths]

:Pinkbounc Bump! :bounce:

[pdarrah]

Wow - we were almost at the end of page 2!

Now I know that I am a planning nut - I've just setup out excursions for Grand Cayman and Cozumel! :sunny:

For Grand Cayman, we are going with Capt. Marvins for the "Half day Stingray & Snorkel" from 10:00am to 1:00pm (www.captainmarvins.com). We had signed up for this last year and of course couldn't do it after Hurricane Ivan closed down Grand Cayman. DS5 is really looking forward to this, so I hope it works out this year. (Capt. Marvins was great last year when it had to be canceled -sent a nice email that showed our reservation was canceled and even answered an email from that DS5 had me send asking if the stingrays were OK.) For anyone who is interested, they take your credit card info when you make the reservation, but that is just to hold your spot. When you get there, you either pay with cash, travelers check or credit card. Of course, if the ship docks on time at Grand Cayman and you just don't bother to show up, they will charge your card! They do not charge you if the ship can't dock there or docks so late that you can't make it to your tour.

For Cozumel, we have arranged to snorkel with Eagle Ray Divers (www.eagleraydivers.com) which is exactly what we did last October on the same cruise! We had such a wonderful time snorkeling with Chellie that we are going to do it again. They do a 2 reef snorkel or a 2 reef snorkel with lunch or a 3 reef snorkel with lunch. However the 2 reef and 3 reef with lunch options cost the same! We found this out because we would like to do the 3 reef, but don't know how DS5 will hold up. Chellie suggested we start out with the 2 reef snorkel with "lunch" and then if there is time and DS5 has the energy, we'll go ahead and do a 3rd reef. (The reason I am putting quotes around the "lunch" is that it will probably be rather late - like around 2 or 3 in the afternoon.) One of the reasons we loved this excursion last year was that it was so personal - we were the only group snorkeling that day, so it was just the 3 of us and Chellie (there were some others on the boat, but they were doing Scuba). I know that they limit the groups so that even if others are snorkeling with us, it will only be 10 or 12 people - much better than the excursions where they move people around in herds!

So, we are still 8 months from our cruise, and I've finished planning excursions! (At Key West, we'll go it on our own - last year we went to a lovely garden which we might do again.)

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend - we have a mix of snow/rain/hail/freezing-rain/etc going on today and this afternoon we have to drive to my MIL's house (it takes about 1.5 hours in good weather even though if you could fly like a bird it is only about 35 miles away - a case of "you can't get there from here!")

pdarrah

[Timon]

pdarrah,

Hello! From one nut to another
:upsidedow

I booked our Grand Cayman Excursion with Native Way already for the Stingray and Island Tour for $40. We did the Stingrays with them in Oct 2003 (they didn't have the stingray/island tour back then) and it was so much fun, so we booked with them again.

In Cozumel, we plan on doing the Fury Catamaran but from the research I have done so far, it's actually cheaper to book it through Disney than on your own, so hopefully it won't be sold out!

Just like you, we are doing Key West on our own. We want to visit the Southernmost Point of the Continental USA (we visited the Southermost Point of USA in Hawaii in 2000 and that was pretty neat!) then we want to do some parasailing and just walk down Duval Street and maybe buy some Kino's.

Scrapperjill,

So, how's your Rebel??? Have you used it much? I would love some feedback about what you like/dislike! By the way...I just noticed on Pamela's site that your name is Sandi...I assumed it was Jill :rolleyes1 silly me! SO...how did you come up with "scrapperjill"???

[afoss]

Hi! My best friend just got off the Grand Princess last week and she did the snorkel/sting ray excursion with Captain Marvins and she LOVED it. She said the best thing was, besides the price, there were only a total of 9 people on the boat and 4 of them were crew. She said it was wonderful and haf so much interaction because it was such a small group. She said as they were leaving, the cruise ship excursion for this was arriving and she guessed there was 40 people. She just laughed. :p

We aren't sure what we're going to do. Probably stay on the boat in GC. Already did the stingray excursion and the shops are pretty expensive.

Key West on our own. Get some Key Lime pie and go visit some B&B's we have stayed at before to say "hi".

Cozumel is up in the air. We would like to book something but I'm not sure how to work it with Flounders. For sure go to a beach.

We have pretty much decided that this cruise was not going to be packed with appointments of any kind since we aren't sure how the kids are going to do.

Weather here is yucky too. Rain, snow, wind, etc. Typical IL weather. Can't wait for that sunshine. Eight more months to go!!!! :sunny:

[scrapperjill]

:teeth: So far I'm enjoying the Rebel...I haven't had much time or good weather to go out and play to much with it...I did get to the park today...but haven't loaded the images to see how they turned out yet....I did do a couple sample shots for American Scrapper...to show the diff with my sony and the cannon..in low light and no light settings...I was amazed. The inablity of my sony to take good shots in low light areas was really the only reason I even considered another digital...I love the Sony...it's so small and easy to use...and takes GREAT photos (out doors and in good lighting). There is alot to learn...with the diffrent modes and how to switch between things...but over all I'm loving it.

As for my name...scrapperjill :goodvibes a few years back I was in the mists of doing a business plan to open my very own scrapbooking store here in my town ..and..I was going to name it ScrapperJack's...not sure why...but that's what I decided on....anyways...when I was setting up my e-mail account...I tryed Scrapperjacks..and low and behold...it was already taken. :confused3 ...so I went with Jill...scrapperjill...ie Jack -n- Jill. Anyway...scrappersandi...just doesn't have the same ring. :blush: But that's okay...most people do think my name is Jill because of that...but all is good. :earboy2:

As for excursions...you guys are really planning early... We booked the Capt. Marvians last year...but because Ivan was doing his thing...we didn't even get close...so I'm guessing well go with them again this year. I'm not sure about Mexico...we had talked about doing the Dune Buggie thing...but before that we were talking about a beach day and more snorkling...so that's still up in the air somewhat....as for Key West...We were going to rent the electric cars...I heard if you mentioned Shirley's name you could recieve at 20% discount. We thought it could be fun to bop around in one of the little cars...and see the town on our own... But I really hadn't given it much thought yet.

[afoss]

You have to rent one of those cars in Key West. We rented one back in 1999 when we were there and it's so fun. We called it our "egg car" because it looked like a yellow and white egg. Too cute. As long as it doesn't rain (the sides are open), you'll have a blast in one. We also rented scooters one year. Fun too.

[scrapperjill]

Just wanted to say...I put some more layouts from our last cruise on the two peas site....(Sept 2004)..I think there was about 6-8 new layouts from today.

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/album_display.asp?album_id=29423

If that link doesn't work it's on the Two peas site...in the Disney catagory under Scrapperjill :)

[American Scrapper]

WOW! Some of you have started booking your excursions already! I have not even thought about it. I am thinking we will book the same excursions we had planned last year. We were doing Captain Marvins in Grand Cayman, the Dune Buggy excursion in Cozumel and we will be doing our own thing in Key West. We are huge Jimmy Buffet fans, so we will definitely be headed to Margaritaville :drinking1 for some souviners. Those cars sound like fun too.

Scrapperjill, I took a look at your pictures! They are looking great!!

Kathy

[pdarrah]

Happy Monday everyone! I'm the only one in the office today and I'm having trouble getting motivated to work :)

ScrapperJill and American Scrapper - are you considering the "half day" trip with Capt. Marvin? - it would be cool to have an all DISer group!

One of the reasons I can't believe I've booked excursions already is that last year at this time we were still just starting to think about maybe taking a cruise - we didn't even book it until early May and I don't think I started planning excursions until July or August.

pdarrah

[scrapperjill]

I think last year we booked the 1/2 day also....so I'm sure we'll stick with the same thing.

Too funny American Scrapper..that we both booked the same excursion last year...and didn't even know it.

[pdarrah]

Hi Everyone,

I just discovered that I had some broken links :confused3 on the "Useful Stuff" page on the website. If anyone has been trying to get to the dining chart or the itineraries, they now work! :blush: :badpc:

pdarrah

[American Scrapper]

OK, I was two clicks away from ordering the Canon Rebel last night when I discovered that a newer version is coming out in a little less than a month from now! So, I did some more research and have decided to wait. It has all the same great features as the original, with a few upgrades. I am sure I would be happy with either one, but might as well go for the bigger one since it is only a little more than I was planning on spending anyway. But unless something really changes my mind in the next month, I will be the proud owner of a Canon Rebel by the end of March!

We had actually booked the shorter Capt Marvins last time, but I think we are going to do the 1/2 day this time. I was a little concerned about time and getting some shopping in, but think we will be OK to still do both.

Thanks Pdarrah, I haven't looked at the links is awhile, but I am sure as time gets closer will be visiting them often. The sight looks great!

[scrapperjill]

American Scrapper....where did you get information on the "new" rebel...I didn't find anything when I was looking...Just on the new D20. Tell me about the new rebel... :) Jesse and I talked about the fact of the rebel being out so long...that we had a idea a newer version would be out soon...the fact that there were so many sales on them in January...and the big rebates also...but we didn't find any information on it anywhere...Maybe the info just wasn't out then..I guess that was almost a month ago now.

[Angel51201]

Hi All,
Thanks for the invite, pdarrah! I'm glad you found me (to invite me to this thread). I'm a single mom and will be bringing my (then) 4 yr old DD & 18 yr old DS on the Oct. 22 cruise. We're part of DisneyFan551 & Sethsmama's group. There will be 11 of us total.

As I haven't been able to read all the posts here yet, could someone please direct me to the list of Oct. 22 cruisers? Thanks!

Diane

[American Scrapper]

Welcome Angel51201! Here is the link to the 10/22 cruise list that Pharrah has been putting together. Just send your info (if you haven't done so yet) and she will add you and your crew on. http://www.bwdarrah.com/dcl/

Scrapperjill, I actually saw it first last night on the Yahoo site when I searched for the Rebel. They were taking preorders for the new XT. I then went to the Canon site and did some research. It was just announced on 2/17 (last week). I talked with a camera shop last night to see if they were taking preorders and the guy I talked to didn't even know yet. But it is now on the Canon Site. But now I will have to wait a little bit longer before I can play!! We don't have anything coming up that I would like to have it for so it is not a big deal. It was just that I finally made a decision and then this came up, but it is a good thing.

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

Hmmm. I'll have to check out the cannon site. Thanks.

And...WELCOME Angel51201! Glad to have you aboard :)

[afoss]

Welcome Angel51201! Are you a first time Disney cruiser? This will be our first Disney cruise and we can't wait! I wanted to let you know that our DD will turn 4 while on the cruise so your DD will be in the same club if you choose to take her there.(Along with tens of other kids) Her name is Abby and she is ALL about the princesses. princess:

Welcome to the board!

[ThreeSmiths]

Welcome Angel51201! :wave: Glad you're here!

Stacy :banana:

[scrapperjill]

Hey...just added more pages to my album on the two peas site....I think I added 11 more double page layouts. Just finished up...out and around Atlantis Hotel and Casino....Next will be the waterslides...then Castaway Cay. :) ...The link to the page is added down in my signature.. :cool1:

[American Scrapper]

Hey Sandi, just to let you know, the link is not working.

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

Kathy...try it again...I just tryed it twice and it was working fine.

But I think the two peas site was having some sort of problem today. :rolleyes: ...I was trying to look around there earler...and every page I was looking at didn't work :guilty: I didn't even think about my link not working then matter of fact I didn't even try my link today (until now...)...but yesterday when I put it on there it was working just fine :) ...and I just tryed it again t (twice)...and it's working now ;) ....so I think it was a problem on their (two peas) end. :smooth: ....anyway...it's up now :banana: YEA!!!

[American Scrapper]

Yup, it must have been the Two Peas site. Very nice!

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

Yea !!! After months of trying...then giving up...I finally figured out how to post a pic :banana: :teeth: :banana: ....not bad for my first one.... :goodvibes

[Cavecats]

Wow
The last time I posted was on page 6 and now we are on page 15? Just thought I'd have a Saturday morning coffee and check up on all of you.

One thing I have noticed....I think we have a lot of cat lovers on board. At least I get that sense when I see the AVATARS...lol.

Can I brag a moment? Too bad cause I going to anyways :earboy2:
Considering I live in the Great White North (Canada's Capital) and we are in a deep freeze at the moment, I'm pretty excited about now...hubby and I are planning a late spring vacation to South America which just may have us ending up visiting the Galapagos Islands. :banana:

And just to let you all know, I am very spoiled....no wait...I'm not spoiled, I'm loved lol.

Oh dear, my coffee is finished and my vacuum cleaner is flirting with the mop. Must run.

[scrapperjill]

ohhh..how fun..That's definately something to brag about...:)

It's nice to be loved... :love:

[American Scrapper]

Oh Cavecats! That sounds wonderful!! What a great thing to be able to "brag" about! ::yes::

And yes, it is nice to be spoiled, oops, I mean loved!! :lovestruc

OK, my time to brag!! We paid off our cruise the other day!! and we booked our trip to WDW, we will be going for Fourth of July! I cannot wait, I have heard that it is pretty crowded then, but think it would be neat to see the fireworks show that they put off on that day! :banana: :banana: Now I have to start looking for decent airfare for both trips.

Kathy

[afoss]

Looks like several of us can't wait until Oct to vacation....my DH and I just booked 3 nights at the Hyatt Coconut Plantation in bonita spr, fl. in Mar! It will be our first "childless" vacation 2 years. It's a quick one since we don't really have any sitters but my sister is driving up to help out this this one. :banana:

Just wish it was Disney!

Has anyone booked a hotel for the Oct 21st yet? Where and is there any super rate code out there yet?

Thanks a bunch
Amy

[Skallywag]

We are probably luckier than many as we have booked to arrive in Florida one week before the cruise and are staying at Mariotts Cypress Harbour on a timeshare exchange. Our daughters who are joining us on the cruise fly in on the Wednesday and we are going to arrive in style we hope by limo.

Really need to shed a few pounds before then but am spending so much time in front of the boards reading and looking forward,

[pdarrah]

We are taking our annual "spring" vacation to WDW in April this year. It was the only time we could fit it into our schedule! I was hoping to be able to go in March since my grandmother's cousin will be celebrating her 100th birthday on St. Patrick's Day in Ft. Myers. Unfortunately, DH can't be out of the office in March, I couldn't be out at the beginning of April, and we have a concert to sing in on April 16th. DS's birthday is May 1st and he wants a birthday party with his school friends (last one before he "graduates" from the montessori school). The next 2 weeks of May are taken up with our annual Garden club plant sale and then we are into Memorial day and we don't go anywhere near WDW during holidays! So the result of all that is that we have 1 weekend available over the entire spring for our vacation :)

Life is certainly hectic - but it also a lot of fun!

We are currently planning to fly down on Wed. night or Thurs. morning before the cruise and spend a couple days at WDW then. DS is just barely too short for Space Mountain now and we are hoping he will grow that extra inch by October! We'll probably stay at a moderate or even a value resort since we'll get plenty of luxury once we are on board ship. Also, since 2 days is a REALLY short WDW trip for us, I suspect we will spend nearly every waking moment at the parks... We are still considering going back to WDW for Saturday after the cruise - this is most likely if there is a MNSSHP on that Saturday since we have never been to that. (We've been to the christmas party several times, but have never been there during the halloween party)

I haven't even started looking at airfare for October. Usually, the airlines do not discount anything this far in advance. I think they figure anyone booking airfare 6 months before their trip is a paranoid overplanner who will pay whatever is asked!

pdarrah

[Angel51201]

Goof Monday Morning All,

Can someone explain the Flounders setup to me. My DD will be 4 years old at time of cruise and I definitely want to have her do some excursions with me, but I'd like to include her in the club for a bit of adult time. I've been looking at excursions and would like to book, but I don't understand the club enough to book anything yet.

Afoss - My DD will be 4 in May & DN will be 4 in Sept. so they'll be there in the club with your Abby. Maybe Brianna & Kendall can help her celebrate her 4th birthday (I can just picture a lit'l Princess party while on board) :bday: !

ThreeSmiths - where's Huntersville? We're in western NC in Sylva (right at the foot of the Great Smoky & Blue Ridge Mountains).

Pdarrah - I'm emailing you sometime this week a info for the list. Thanks!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Diane

[Angel51201]

Regarding previous post - I think I'm trying to put my daughter back into the small kids & infants club - Flounders? She'll be all of 4 years old in Oct. - that's Oceaneer's Club (vs. Flounders), right? Sorry, just got the name wrong. Does anyone know how Oceaneer's works? I need info to help me plan/book excursions.

Thanks, Diane

Going Disney cruisin' on Oct. 22 :earsgirl: :earsboy: :crazy:

[pdarrah]

The Oceaneer's club is open most days from fairly early in the morning (I think the latest was 9:00am) For exact times you can probably check some of the on-line navigators. They are then open ALL DAY until around midnight or even 1:00am. There are some times when the club is in "transistion" which means they are moving from one location to another and during those times you cannot check in/out of the clubs. As long as you watch the kid navigators pretty closely, you can work around those times - they are usually only 15 minutes or so.

When you board (I've heard that you may be able to do it before boarding now) you go to the club and get them signed up. We went in the afternoon the first day (after Palo ressies & lunch) and it wasn't that crowded and only took a few minutes. They give you a pager for the trip and your child gets an arm band (which can also be used if they get lost on the ship to get them back to you!). Whenever you come to the club, you check them in at the front desk (unless it is a VERY busy time, this only takes a few minutes). When you come back to get them (or they page you) you just check them out at the desk - again it is usually only a few minutes.

My DS was in the 5-7 group so I can't tell you much about the 3-4 activities. There are some kid navigators on-line which would give you some idea what they do. In the evening (like 9pm or so) they put on a movie and put mats on the floor. Most of the kids settle down to watch and many of them fall asleep there. Kids that don't want to watch the movie can go into another small room where there are games.

If you have any other questions, just ask!

Pamela

[Timon]

I did some checking on hotels for the night prior to the cruise. The cheapest right now for the Radisson is $129 for a Caribbean Room or $159 for a King Whirpool suite.

I also e-mailed Ron Jon Resort and got these prices for Oct 21st:
Studio $150
1 Bedroom $200
2 Bedroom $240

We need two rooms so I may priceline it, seeming how there was talk of a new 4 star resort popping up soon.

Yup, pretty excited about the cruise!!! :banana: :banana: :banana:
I started Oprah's Bootcamp last week and I hope to shed some pounds ( okay, I hope to shed a LOT of pounds!)

Got my passporter ( although it doesn't have much more info than what I've learned on the DIS already, but the leather book is cool!) and I bought my friends one too, which will come in super handy since it's their first cruise and they have a million questions!

Welcome to those who posted recently...we're gonna have a great cruise! We got such a great bunch of DISers!! :cool1: :cool1:

American Scrapper,
Thanks for the heads up about the Rebel XT, looks like an awesome camera, here's hoping I can afford it before our cruise! :goodvibes

[afoss]

Thanks for the hotel rate info. At least they are cheaper than the Hyatt at the Orlando airport. I'm waiting to book my flights in hopes that the airfare will go down some. We were considering a later flight in and stay at the Hyatt but now I'm thinking an early flight and staying at the Radisson is a better deal.

My DH just laughs at me for doing so much for this vacation. He has no idea how much planning, negotiating and research it takes! Could you imagine what kind of vacation it would be without that? :sad2:

Amy

[ThreeSmiths]

ThreeSmiths - where's Huntersville? We're in western NC in Sylva (right at the foot of the Great Smoky & Blue Ridge Mountains).
Diane

Hi Diane!

Huntersville is just north of Charlotte on I-77. I know Sylva...my brother attended the community college there...I don't remember the name. He lived in Otto while attending the school. He's also lived in Franklin, and different parts of Rabun County. He used to live in one of the little old cabins on Peek's Creek (sp?) that got washed away last fall from the torrential rains that the hurricanes brought. His friend's mom was still living in one of the cabins and was killed when the water smashed the cabins. I was so relieved that he was not living there. He is now living in Charlotte.

We go to Asheville to the Grove Park Inn and Biltmore Estate a couple of times a year and are only about 1 hr. 15 min. from Blowing Rock. We love the mountains....we just stayed at the Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock last weekend.

We would love to live in your area, but my husband owns a swimming pool business, which might not be as profitable in the mountains! We've always wondered what people who live there do for a living?

Timon-- I read about the Oprah BootCamp in the recent "O" magazine. I would love to do it, but I don't think I'm disciplined enough to stick to it. Although it is obviously working for her....she looks FABULOUS! I've been doing the low carb thing, but kind of (okay, REALLY) fell off the wagon over the weekend....I need to get back on ASAP! Good Luck with it! Let us know what you think of it as you go! You might just inspire me!

But for now (since I'm still off the wagon) I must go enjoy some yummy Fannie May Trinidads that my dad sent me from Chicago...tomorrow's another day!

Stacy :banana:

[ThreeSmiths]

One thing I have noticed....I think we have a lot of cat lovers on board. At least I get that sense when I see the AVATARS...lol.


CaveCats....I am a cat lover for sure....3 indoor and 2 indoor/outdoor cats are members of our family.

I am so envious of your upcoming trip! It is a dream of mine to go to the Galapagos Islands! You certainly have bragging rights! Have a GREAT time!

Stacy :banana:

[American Scrapper]

"But for now (since I'm still off the wagon) I must go enjoy some yummy Fannie May Trinidads that my dad sent me from Chicago...tomorrow's another day!"

Oh Stacy - I have been staying away from Fannie May and it has not been easy. I drive right past one two times a day on my way to the train and back home from work, and Trinidads are my FAVORITE!! I have not been good at all, and really, really need to get my rear doing something. I have been really busy at work, so sitting at my desk for just about the whole day has really had my bottom spreading out even more than it was! UGH!!

Timon, you will have to let us know how the boot camp goes, I do WW but have not been good at all lately! I cannot wait to get my XT! I am just glad that I did not get the original Rebel when I first started to talk about it because I would have been upset that a new one came out right afterwards. Although the way the electronics business is, you can never get ahead. They are always coming out with something new before the old ones are even on the shelf.

Kathy

[pdarrah]

Yes - more cat lovers here! We now have 5 (yes five!) indoor cats!!! We had 3, but then one of DH's outside cats (ferile cats that roam the neighborhood - he catches as many as he can and gets them spade/neutered & then releases them - but there are always a few he can't seem to catch...) had kittens. He had trouble catching the first batch and didn't get them until early fall. The second batch were easy to catch since she got hit by a car in front of our house when they were only about 5-6 weeks old. Once he had the little ones, the 2 that had survived from the earlier batch were caught. He was able to get the little ones into one of the local shelters to be adopted, but couldn't find a spot for the 2 older ones. He kept them in the garage for about 6 weeks and then gave in and brought them in! They are sweeties, but it is a little crazy having 5 cats. :eek:

pdarrah

[Timon]

Stacy & Kathy,

This is my second week at Boot Camp and I love it! It is TOUGH but I already see results and normally it takes weeks for me to even lose a pound!
I've lost 2 pounds in 11 days and I feel really good. I just put on a pair pants that I couldn't do up 12 days ago! With this program, I've really challenged myself and it's hard some days but I think it's going to pay off for me in 12 weeks!

The toughest is the double workout days and using 8 pound weights for my strength training ( I was using 3 lbs & 5 lbs before I started this program!) but I actually look forward to my workouts now. Before I used to find every excuse in the book to avoid them!!

My goal is to be in good enough shape so that during our week at WDW before the cruise, my feet, back & legs don't kill me after a day of theme parking!

Oh and another cat lover here. We have two cats and one dog! You can see pics of all my boys HERE (http://www.cassworld.ca/myboys.htm)

[scrapperjill]

Only one cat here...but poor thing just broke his tail :( . The vet thinks he was up under a car sleeping when someone started their car...and his tail got caught in the fan...Now it just hangs there limp...with bald areas where the fur was scalped from the fan blade. Oh...I feel sooo bad for him..Now we have to give him antibiotics twice a day for the month...and just wait and see if his tail heals. Vet said it could take 2-3 months...and that he had a 70% chance of recovery :) Cross my fingers that he heals up well..

Yep only one cat...but now were expecting puppies. :teeth: Well at least were hoping we are...

I know what you mean American Scrapper....about waiting for the XT...I could kick myself for getting the Rebel now. But I had an idea when I got it...that they may be changing it soon...since there were so many sales and rebates on it...and since it had been out in the market sooo long. But I thought when the D20 came out...that may have been it...didn't expect them to bring out another digital SLR this year.

Just wanted to add with the kids club...you don't need to rush in and sign your kids up...you can even wait to sign them up the first time you go to drop them off. And if you didn't know there are no additional fees for the lab or club like there is for Flounders.

[American Scrapper]

Great Job Timon! We are going through a conversion at work and it has been so hectic. I swear since taking this management job I have packed on pounds that I lost while on WW. I am eating on the run, at my desk or not at all then pigging out in the evening. UGH!! I am going to really have to get diciplined since this conversion is not going away anytime soon!!

Scrapperjill, I am sorry about your cat's broken tail. Poor thing!! So, since your dog is having puppies does that make you a grandma!! LOL!!

Kathy

[ThreeSmiths]

Poor Kitty! Sandi, I'm so sorry your cat is hurt. I would be devastated! However I have heard of cats getting hurt much more seriously in that same situation. Our backyard backs up to a nature preserve, and we have lots of wild critters and stray cats around (hence, I have 5 cats, Inky, Simba, Ginger, Dottie and Shawn). On cold mornings I'm always afraid that I'm going to start my car and hear a terrible scream! I hope I never have to be on either end of that experience. My cats and I will say a prayer for a speedy recovery for your kitty!

Cass,

You rock! I am so impressed that you have stuck to the boot camp for 11 days! I know it's tough, that's why I haven't decided to start it. I'm glad that you're seeing results....it really keeps the motivation up! Keep up the good work and report back soon! :cheer2:

TTFN!

Stacy :banana:

[scrapperjill]

:goodvibes LOL...I guess so... if Abby's (our dog) is having puppies I'm a granny...But then again that would mean I became a granny this time last year...when she had her first litter. :goodvibes

I just wonder with Mr. Whiskers (our cat)...if someone around here did start their car and he was up under it...did they see him, or hear him...and did they know where his home is? We don't have a whole lot of neighbors...and most of them park in their garages...so that leaves only a few. But then again it was Saturday evening when it happened...and someone could have been visiting someone..The strange thing..is it was fairly warm out...and it happened perty early in the evening...when the sun was still out...and the weather was good. We've been getting up to the 60's over this last week. So I just can't see him up under someone's car. And he's not one to really explore around...he got totaly freaked on night when he saw another cat across the road at the neighbors. But then again...he is growing up (almost a year old)....and maybe he's getting out more and seeing what else is around.

What's this Boot Camp? I haven't heard of it?

[American Scrapper]

Bump... we are were getting pretty far down on the list. Needed to bump us up again.

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

Hey..all...How's everything going... Our boards been real quiet lately. I guess everyones been busy. We've been enjoying the wonderful weather that we've been having...high 60's to low-mid 70's. It's been great...But I have a feeling well be paying for it this summer...HOT. HOT. HOT. And DRY!!! In case anyone is wondering...our cat, Mr. Whiskers, has been doing better. He's getting around just fine...not hiding out so much. But his tail still just hangs limp. But then again...it's only been a little over a week. From the sounds of it (according to the vet) He's pertty luck to still be alive...I guess most animals that get caught in car fans...don't make it out. Anyway...he's jumping all over and getting around real well. I haven't seen him outside the fence since then....but that's alright.

[American Scrapper]

That is good news about Mr. Wiskers, Sandi! Boy, I wish we would have some nice weather here. We did get in the 60s on Sunday, which was wonderful, but that was short lived. We have been back in the low 30s the last couple of days. Although it has been sunny which makes a difference.

Hope everyone is well!


Kathy

[pdarrah]

Hi Sandi,

I'm glad your cat is doing better. We live in a town and have always had our cats as indoor only - but there are a lot of ferile cats in the area and I always worry about one of them getting into the car engine. I'd feel terrible if one of them got hurt.

One of our cats (he just passed away at the age of 15) had a tail injury when we first found him. He was still a very young kitten and you couldn't see anything wrong, but 1/2 of his tail was totally limp. He lived with that his entire life and it never seemed to bother him much except that he was a little more "klutsy" than our other cats. He just wasn't quite as gracefull and agile as most!

I hope your cat continues to improve and hopefully he will never get into another car!

Pamela

[scrapperjill]

:) American Scrapper...I just had to let you know that the Mountian blew :earseek: Yep tonight around 5ish. As soon as I heard...You popped into my thoughs. :) Now we have ash warnings through out the night. Our biggest concern is Sydney...and if we should keep her home tomarrow or what...Only thing with that is it's class picture day...I may just have to have the school call me...then run her down there when it's her classes turn. I'm sure if I just sent her to school...she wouldn't want to wear a mask all day ....but then again...maybe i'm getting ahead of myself. For all I know the ash plume could pass us by...or all drop before it gets here.

ThreeSmiths....I heard NC got some big wind Tuesday...did you guys get any of that or are you inland far enough? I hope all is well.

[Skallywag]

Hi Scrapperjill,

Just read your post about the mountain blowing is this the one that has been threatening for some time. Sorry to be vague but here in England we do not always get what I feel is the important news just political talk.
Hope all is well and your cat is improving. Wish we could have some of your warm sunshine it has been so bitterly cold and drab here with the snow and rain for over 2 weeks and we need some sun.

[scrapperjill]

Yep that's the one. It's been having activity for some time now....they thought for sure it was going to blow sometime in the fall (around October)...but over the last few months there hasn't been much activity at all. Actually they said yesterday after the fact....that they had no indication of any activity happening...until just as it went.

We didn't get much ash at all...just a VERY SMALL dusting. :teeth: ...Nothing like in 1980 when we had FEET of ash everywhere.

Weather is still beautiful outside...I'd say were going to get up to low 70's today....And Mr Whiskers is improving everyday. I still have my fingers crossed that his tail will heal...and he'll be able to move it. :)

[ThreeSmiths]

Hi everyone! :wave:

Sandi, glad to hear that Mr. Whiskers is doing better! Sounds like he used up one of his 9 lives! I worry about my indoor/outdoor cats as well. Actually, only one of them really ventures away from the house.

Yes, we did have some high winds yesterday! Monday was very pleasant...70 degrees, warm and sunny. Then the cold front came through Tuesday morning and brought rain and really bad winds. There was speculation that a tornado might have touched down in Charlotte because there was some structural damage in one neighborhood, however the news is saying that it was probably caused by a powerful wind gust. On my way to work there were construction barrels rolling across the highway and the rain was coming down sideways! It moved in and out pretty quickly though. By 10 a.m. it was sunny again! However it has gotten chilly...back down into the 40's & 50's, and snow in the mountains. I am SO ready for spring. I'm hoping that this will be our last cold snap.

I'm glad to hear that you did not get burried in ash! I remembered all of the talk about it in the fall, and I just heard about it on the news. I hope Sydney made it to school for picture day!

Cass, I hope you're doing well on the bootcamp! I've fallen off the wagon and now it's so far off in the distance I'll never catch up!!!! If I can just get on my treadmill on a regular basis I'd be okay!

Kathy, I used to always think (when I lived in Chicago) "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." That helped me get through some brutal winters. Not much longer, hang in there!

TTFN!!!

Stacy :banana:

[American Scrapper]

Scrapperjill, I was thinking of you last night too when I heard about Mt Saint Helen. I hope Sydney was able to go for her school pics. How is everything now with the ash? It has to be hard for Sydney to have to stay inside, especially since it has been so nice out by you.

Threesmiths, I know what you mean about March in Chicago, but boy is it cold here right now! :cold: :cold: They are calling for a 50% chance of snow tomorrow! :sad2: I wish it would warm up already!! Oh well, it will come sometime. I just hope we have a better summer than last year. We had a pretty cool summer and were not able to enjoy our new pool too much.

Well, I gotta go help Anthony with his homework. I guess we never are really done going to school! (although with what they are learning so much earlier than we were at his age, he will be teaching me things eventually! )

Kathy

[scrapperjill]

We went ahead and sent Sydney to school today...since we really only got a slight dusting of ash..if you can call it that. We hardly got any...you really can't tell if it's ash..or just dirt/dust. Anyway...Sydney's doing great.

I was slightly wrong about our weather today...it got up to 75 :earseek: I even have my plants outside cropping up.

Well I gotta go..Jesse needs something.

[American Scrapper]

Yipee!! I just got an email stating that my camera order has been shipped!! It will be here by the 15th. That is over a week sooner than they said the camera would even be available. I cannot wait!!

Kathy

[ThreeSmiths]

I'll do a little "early camera delivery" dance for ya, Kathy :cool1:

Our digital camera that we've had for about 2 years is acting up. It might have something to do with the fact that it got kicked off a ledge by a 4 year old kid who was running around like a banshee with no parental supervision. But I'm just guessing....

I don't think we'll be buying that super-fancy camera that is all the rage with the scrapper-girls though! We'll definitely have to buy one before the cruise though!

[Timon]

Hello cruisers!

I thought I would check in and bump up our thread. :cool1:

Kathy, I am so happy for you! The Rebel XT looks like a great camera and I can't wait to hear how you like it! I'm going to try my hardest to save up for it in time for our October vacation but it all depends on how the next few months go.


Sandi, glad to see that your cat is feeling better. I've always been afraid of starting my car with a cat under there. We lost a cat that way when I was a kid and it was VERY upsetting.

Stacy, This is the beginning of my fourth week in Boot Camp and it's been tough. Last week, I actually gained almost 2 pounds which kind of was discouraging but I know that I need to hang in there. I do feel a lot better, I feel stronger and healthier. We went bowling last week for my nephew's birthday and most other people I bowled with were quite sore the next day, hubby had a sore arm and mom-in-law had sore shoulders but I was fine!! Which is amazing since I have lupus and a lot of joint problems after I do something physical but not even my wrists hurt and I am sure it is because of the strength training I am doing. :banana:
I think after the 12 weeks are done I am going to get back into aquacizing in addition to my daily workouts since I really miss being in the water!

Anyone else getting a tad bit excited about the cruise??? :goodvibes
:banana: Couple more months and I am going to have to start shopping :rolleyes:

[ThreeSmiths]

Cass,

Keep up the good work!!! It sounds like you're doing some great strength training. Just keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat, and last week your body might have been adding muscle weight, and desperately trying to hang onto the fat. Don't be suprised if this week or next you experience a larger than normal weight loss. This has been my experience many times. I'm glad you're feeling great too! I have a friend in Chicago with lupus and I've seen her go through the ups and downs that come along with it.

I just picked up the new "O" magazine and it had the follow-up article on the boot camp and her four staffers that went through it with her. One lost 30 lbs in 12 weeks! It also has some questions from readers about their biggest obstacles and how to overcome them.

I'm really excited about the trip myself! I keep thinking that I can't wait until October, but at the same time I am going to make a point of having a long, leisurely summer this year. Kind of contradicting, huh? :crazy:

I am debating on adding the REAS package...I am having trouble justifying the cost of the spa treatments as compared to what I would pay for the same treatment at a resort spa here. I recently had a hot stone massage and paid almost half as much as the DCL spa charges for the same amount of time. Plus I wish there was a wider selection of spa services to choose from when booking the REAS. I only have 7 months to decide..... :hourglass

TTFN!
Stacy :banana:

[TiggerzFan]

Today our family decided to move up our cruise from this October 22nd cruise to the May 7th cruise! So, while we won't be sailing with you all, there are now 2 SPH rooms available as of about 4pm, in case anyone is interested! One was 5024, the other one was one of the 55's.
Happy Sailing everyone! :cool1:

[American Scrapper]

TiggerzFan, WOW, great for you!! We will all be thinking of you in May when we still have 5 months to go.

Congrats!

Kathy

[ThreeSmiths]

Tiggerzfan--I'm totally envious! I have been dreaming of vacation non-stop for the past week or so and keep thinking "7 months is soooo long". How nice of you to give a head's up on the SPH rooms! I'm sure they'll go fast! Have a great time in May!

Stacy :banana:

[American Scrapper]

Wow - we were almost all the way to page 4! Needed to bump it up again. I am sitting at home with a nasty cold and just wishing that it would finally get warm outside. The sun is out right now, but they are calling for rain until Friday. Oh well, at least the weekend is supposed to clear up.

Happy Easter everyone!

Kathy