March 11, 2006 - 7 Day Magic

[CBEB]

DH, DD8(9 by cruise time) and I can't wait for our fourth March Magic cruise! We've been home from #3 for less than a week and are having severe withdrawal!

[CBEB]

bump!

[kcarl021]

We are cruising these dates too. In fact, we decided to get married on the cruise! :bride: We are still trying to get more people to join us, but for now its going to be the two of us and my daugther, along with my parents. I can't wait! I've been having withdrawl since we got back from our March cruise too! I'm a little curious to see how different this cruise is given the one extra port. I love the days at sea! I also read on here that the Hercules show is being replaced. I missed it last time but heard I didn't miss too much. It should be nice, our wedding is scheduled on board at 5:00 the Thursday of the cruise, which is also the semi-formal night.

When did you sail last?

[CBEB]

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

We last sailed 3/12 on the Magic Western. We've done the Eastern twice - this was our first Western. Lots of fun! Although we probably prefer the Eastern, our sailing dates are dependent on DD's spring break dates.

How old is your daughter?

[kcarl021]

My daughter will be 6 by cruise time next year. I was curious why you liked the Eastern itinerary better?

[CBEB]

On the Western, it seems you do less sailing and more sitting in ports. We stayed in both Key West and Cozumel until around 10p. On the Eastern, we were back at sea by 5 or 6 after each port.

Guess it all depends on what you like. We really enjoy our time at sea!

[lovinaz]

We will be going on this cruise also! This will be our first ever cruise, and since I have heard nothing but praise about Disney cruises, I think we made the right choice. It will be myself, my beau, my son (9) and daughter (6). We can't wait! :flower:

[kcarl021]

This March was my first Disney Cruise too. You will have a great time and make sure to schedule plenty of alone time for the two of you because I promise, you will never see the kids!

[lovinaz]

How was the weather in March? Was the water warm enough to swim/snorkel? I realize it could be completely different next year during the same time, but I am curious...

[kcarl021]

Well we did the Eartern last year so the Western may be different. It was chilly in Florida and on our first sale date but once we got to the Islands it was warm and definitely good to swim and snorkle. With the exception of Castaway Cay, that was too cold. I was in my jogging suit that day.

I think the days we are in Florida or near Florida (Key West and Castaway Cay) may be cooler, but Mexico and Cayman should be warm!

Just pack some jackets to be safe!

[CBEB]

We've sailed 3 times in March (DD8's spring break). For the 2 Easterns, the weather was definitely warm/hot. On the western, it was a bit too cool for me to swim (but not DD8) in FLA, but Grand Cayman and Cozumel were plenty warm. Castaway Cay was cool in the morning, but fine for swimming in the afternoon.

[lovinaz]

How does everyone go about meeting other DIS people when they get on the cruise? Does everyone e-mail each other, send pictures, etc through this board before the cruise? I am new to all this, so any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated!

kcarl021, I notice you have a DD6? Does she like the club? My DD6 is a little shy at first, but warms up pretty quickly. I think it would be great for her to meet a friend so she'd have a familiar face when she went to the club. My DS9 is extremely independent and outgoing, so I am not worried about him at all...

Amy

[kcarl021]

My daughter is very shy. I honestly didn't expect her to spend any of her time in the club and planned most of my activites around her and chose things we could do together. After a day or so, I couldn't get her out of the place. I was actually getting a bit upset because I wanted to spend more time with her and she didn't even want to leave to come to dinner with us. Ultimately though, she had a great vacation and that is what matters (although I did have to bribe her a few times to get her to leave!) :)

I don't know what they do to the kids in there....

[MickeyMania]

Anyone booked for this one?

-Woo-hoo!
Only eight months and a week to go!

[TammyAlphabet]

Hey! Yoo HOO!!!! Count me in! It will be me,(40ish), DD8 and DS14, All of us for our first cruise experience!!! We love Disney so it should be great! I am with you, eight months and a week to go!!!

[TammyAlphabet]

We are on this cruise too!!! DD8, DS14 and me, their mom. This will be our first cruise. I wonder what the cruise will be like in March, I mean weather and all? Is it late enough to swim in the ports?

[CBEB]

This time slot the last 3 years has been plenty warm for swimming. Last year was a bit cool on Castaway Cay, but still warm enough to have a great time.

TammyAlphabet, my DD will have just turned 9. Maybe our girls are close enough though that they'll buddy up? My DD is a bit shy on her own, but outgoing if she can find a friend!

Come on March!

[TammyAlphabet]

Hey CBEB, My DD will be eight going on 18, Ha Ha!! They grow up so fast! I think it would be great for my daughter to have a friend on the ship! As time gets closer we will have them exchange emails and photos so they will recognize each other when they get there. I am keeping this a secret until about February, then I am springing it on the kids. However, I am not sure how I am going to explain the passports we have to get? Hmmmm! Anyway, let's get this party started!!! Wooo!!!

[TammyAlphabet]

I have talked my neighbor, the sweetest lady in all the world, into taking her daughter and grandson on the same cruise!! Now, to get her booked and on the cruise meets board!!! :rotfl2:

We going cruising!! :banana: Gotta love that banana man!!

[TammyAlphabet]

Okay, where are all the Spring Break cruisers? :confused3

[Disneyjamie]

My boyfriend and I will be on this cruise - its my last spring break for law school (I will hopefully graduate in May)!

[TammyAlphabet]

Hey DisneyJamie!!!

I am in graduate school too! I am in Accounting, so kinda related...with a stretch. This will be my last spring break as a student too! I have never been on a cruise but I am looking forward to it!!

I am ready to get this party started!

[Mortlives]

DS14!

Excellent! Nice to know my DS won't be the only 14 year old on board. I'm sure they'll meet up in the Stack.

Kungaloosh!
Morticia.

[TammyAlphabet]

As soon as i get some new pictures from my upcoming trip to Vero Beach, i will put a couple in my signature and I encourage you all to do it too, when you can. That way we will recognize each other when we get on the ship. I am so excited.

[bcswebco.com]

We are booked on this cruise ... travelling with brother's family and this would be their 3rd Disney cruise (recommended it to us).

Looking forward to a great time!

[Mortlives]

Welcome aboard! And a-dis-board!

[bcswebco.com]

Thanks!

This site has been a great for getting extra info ... didn't even think about the need for a passport until seeing a thread here.

[CBEB]

Welcome bcswebco.com! My DH and DD8 will be along for the ride - our 4th cruise. You'll absolutely love it!

[bcswebco.com]

Thanks CBEB!! Know we are in for a great time! As mentioned above this will be #3 for my brother's family (actually DW's brother). They absolutely love it and talked us into going this time. Didn't really have to twist our arms too much!! They have a DS that will be 18 at the time, so picked this particular date to fit in with his spring break.

No other kids tagging along with us - we did our "bit" and DD left the fold a few years back. This will be some wonderfully selfish US time!!

[bcswebco.com]

bump !

[MickeyMania]

I noticed there were a few 6 year olds going. My son is 6 as well. We also have a 3 year old. I am pretty sure they will love the clubs.

Curious - are they incredibly structured at the kids' clubs? If my son wanted to play some video games instead of a movie - would they be flexible about that? (He tends to get very focused on one thing - and may not transition well!)

I guess I don't need to say - but this is our first cruise as a family!
(I did one years ago - on Costa Riviera. Me, 22 other highschool girls and four nuns! LOL)

I imagine this will be a different experience!

[bcswebco.com]

Sure they will love the clubs, and being Disney would make a guess that they are flexible to meet the needs of all the children. You might want to ask this question on the main cruise line thread (if you haven't already) ... more folks reading that area than this cruise specific one.

Beginning to wonder if we are the only ones booked for this date? LOL!!

[MickeyMania]

And if we are the only ones - that means more pool space, plenty of comfy deck chairs and guaranteed good company! :rotfl2:

I swear - I can't wait to get on that ship!

[Mortlives]

Currently, we have 8 Dis families, we might end up with more, there's still time to book. I would imagine this cruise will end up being packed to the rafters. It's March break for school kids, here anyway.

Is anyone doing the tuxes for formal night thing?

[bcswebco.com]

Am certain this will be packed - the spring break thing is a definite factor. Was just kidding about being the only ones since this thread has been a bit slow.

I swear - I can't wait to get on that ship!
You and us both! My wife didn't think I was very excited about the cruise, but watches me on the board here gathering info and she sees otherwise.

Is anyone doing the tuxes for formal night thing?
Not us (2 families).

[lovinaz]

Sorry I haven't been around in a while...

I think everyone has kids that are the same age as mine but opposite sex! I have DS9 and DD6. But I don't think they care at that age, do you? I will try to get a recent photo and post it. I can't wait, this will be our first cruise ever!!! :cool1:

[TammyAlphabet]

I am glad to see this thread picking up a little, but, we have a long way to go and I think after Christmas a lot more people with this cruise booked will be cruising the boards as the excitement builds. I am headed out for a week at Vero next week so I will check in on you guys after I get back.

[otoole]

March will be my family's first cruise. I have a son who will be 6 and a daughter who will be 4. Am presently driving my husband a little crazy by trying to find out everything about a trip 7 mos. away. I am a teacher so I figure that once September arrives I will be too busy to read the posts, etc..I booked the cruise for my family for next March Break through the Magical Rates so I don't have a room assignment and am presently scheduled for the 8:30 seating - can't believe that the earlier seating was filled 7 months in advance - but am on the waiting list so hoping for the earlier time. I figured that if we don't get the earlier time I could always consider visiting Disney again because I can't imagine my children lasting through dinner. :)

[bcswebco.com]

Welcome otoole !

I've been going through all the post too - gathering information - etc. ... not because I won't have time later ... just so excited about the cruise :earboy2:

[MickeyMania]

It's nice to see the board picking up a bit! I mean my goodness - doesn't everyone post daily six months before their cruise!? :rotfl: (Yes - I do realize it is more like six months and three weeks - but who's counting? :teeth: )

I am originally from NY - moved down to Orlando two years ago.

Traveling: Me (did one cruise 14 years ago) DH, DS (6) and DD (3)
No one else in the family has done a cruise before!

Next...

[otoole]

Thought I would reply to your question about where we are all from. I am still trying to book a reasonable flight for the cruise - hoping that Southwest posts their fares for March soon. I have a husband and two children, son aged 6 and daughter 4 (at time of travel). :cool1: :Pinkbounc

[Mortlives]

I wonder how many of us are going to end up being from Toronto.

We're driving down, since we discovered a few years back that we prefer that to flying. Not afraid to fly, it's just cheaper and more scenic to drive, and we don't have to take off our shoes and empty out our pockets before getting into the car. :rotfl:

[MickeyMania]

OToole - what cat did you book? With a 3 and a 6 yo I was nervous about the verandah.

Other folks have said - as long as you move the furniture off the deck - there are no worries... I say, other folks obviously have not met my kids - who I believe are part monkey! My daughter takes every opportunity to show off her skills! :eek:

So - we settled for a cat 9 porthole. I really shouldn't say settled - since I would have even taken an inside cabin just to get on a cruise! :sunny:

Have you thought about what kind of excursions you might do? I want to take my 6 yo son on a horseback riding trip or swim with the dolphins - but haven't found something that allows his age. Have you had any luck? :confused3

Hope you all have a great day!!

[lovinaz]

Wow, driving from Toronto?!? I am ready to claw my way out of the car driving to our property in northern AZ (3.5 hours)...

I am also going to book Southwest the minute they start taking reservations for March. The have a direct flight from Phx to Orlando and they are still the least expensive. ::yes::

Otoole, I would be embarrassed to tell you how many hours I spent on the boards looking at all the info when I booked my cruise a couple months ago! I had to stop because I was getting too anxious to go!!! :hyper:

My kids (DS9 and DD6) are very excited, they have been practicing snorkeling in the pool already!!

[Mortlives]

Wow, driving from Toronto?!? I am ready to claw my way out of the car driving to our property in northern AZ (3.5 hours)...

Well, we take frequent breaks, and do it over a couple of days. It's not that hard, espcially when you're driving through West Virginia, and you have all those mountains to gawk at. Also, because we are usually driving in late winter, we get to watch a rapid version of the change of the seasons, as we go from winter (boo!) to spring (pretty!) to summer (huzzah!). Then we get to watch it in reverse on the way back, but that's a little more depressing. :cold:

[Mortlives]

By the way, my confirmation/itinerary finally arrived yesterday. Looks like we're not going to have all that much time in Grand Cayman, but we should be able to manage a fair chunk of evening time at Carlos 'n' Charlies in Cozumel.

[otoole]

I booked through the Magical Rates at the end of July so we have a Category 12 room (although from what I have read that it will end up being a category 11 since there are four of us). This is our first cruise and I figure we won't be in our room much - although you never know we could upgrade before March.

I am driving myself crazy checking the Southwest website daily to see if they have posted flights for March. I have even called to see if they know when they will be posting the March schedule (they have no idea). Flights can be quite expensive from Toronto ($2000+) and even from Buffalo a direct flight (essential with young kids and a boat that will leave without us) on other airlines is ~$1500-$2000. Driving isn't an option - I am a teacher and cannot take time off directly before or after March Break (truly the Board will not allow us). So let's hope Southwest comes through!

I have a question about arriving the night before. We have paid for transportation between the airport and port with DCL bus. If we arrive the night before to stay at a Disney hotel then the Magical Express will get us to the hotel. Can I then get the DCL bus to take us from the hotel to the port instead of from the airport to the port? Flying from Buffalo or Toronto won't allow much time for delays, etc. in the morning of the cruise so I would feel more comfortable arriving the night before and airport hotels seem similar in price to POR.

Finally, someone asked about excursions. I think we will stay on the ship in Key West (since only day 2) however, I am thinking about the dolphin excusion in Cozumel for the family. I visited a site about Chankanaab National Park (where the dolphin encounter occurs) and it also appears to have a great beach, shops, etc. I know my children would love to interact with the dolphins especially my son (6). They aren't old enough to do a dolphin swim which you can arrange on your own. I also think we will do a snorkeling excursion at Stingray City in Grand Cayman (possibly not my daughter). We will see how comfortable my son and daughter are with snorkeling before Dec.. My husband and I used to be diving instructors for years and I would really like to expose my children to the underwater world while young. Although I would love to go for a dive while away (haven't been since having kids) I can't imagine leaving the kids on board - even with everything I have read about how great the Oceaneer Club is - especially if we were diving.

[lovinaz]

We are flying in the day before and staying at the Crowne Plaza by the airport. We also got Disney transportation. We are going to take the hotel shuttle back to the airport in the a.m. and catch the Disney transportation from there. I will keep checking Southwest every week or so and post it when they are available (maybe you can do the same in case you find out before I do!)

For Key West, there is a pirate museum and a wine place I want to go to. Other than that, nothing too exciting for little ones. From what I've heard it is mostly shopping, dining and bars. Maybe we'll put the kids back into the clubs and sneak back off the ship for a few cocktails! ;)

Grand Cayman we are doing the Stingray snorkeling.

Cozumel we are spending the day at a beach club.

Castaway Cay we will just hang out on the beach and play it by ear!!

[Mortlives]

I think I missed something, what are Magical Rates? Mine were not so magical. :maleficen

[Disneyjamie]

I keep second guessing my rates too - for GTY 12, is 1935 for two good? I know March is prime time, but just wondered. I posted this before and was told it was okay, but still second guess everything.

[Mortlives]

Excursion plans: We have nothing concrete yet, but, at a guess:

Key West - on foot, maybe do the pirate museum and trot down to Hemingway House.

Grand Cayman - shipwreck snorkelling? Other snorkelling? Lots of snorkelling!

Cozumel - take a cab to Chankanaab, and snorkel, snorkel, snorkel.

Castaway Cay - I hear they're putting in a Stingray City here, so we'll probably skip the one in Grand Cayman, in favour of this.

[lovinaz]

I think I missed something, what are Magical Rates? Mine were not so magical. :maleficen
:rotfl: :rotfl: I didn't think my rates were too magical either!

We are paying $5728 (oh, that looks AWFUL in b&w!!!) for 2 adults, 2 kids in a Cat 8. I will bargain hunt with the best of them, but since this is our first cruise and we are stuck with the Spring Break date, I knew we'd be paying a little extra and wasn't too worried about it. I did check with Dreams Unlimited and Travelocity and they couldn't do any better so I think I did as good as I could! Don't keep second guessing your price, you will go nuts! :crazy2:

[TammyAlphabet]

I found out about Magical Rates from www.mousesavers.com. I believe that they are only available on Category 12. We paid 2519 for two adults and one child and booked with www.cheaptickets.com. I am assuming that when the boat is not selling out as quickly as some computer program has planned, they introduce the "Magical Rates" for up to 50 cabins in a category 12 for reduced rates. Now, there are only 13 cabins in this category so a significant portion are going to get upgraded. But that means that other categories would need to get bumped also, I would assume.

[otoole]

We booked Magical Rates through the Disney Cruise Line website at the end of July. It was listed under Special Offers and had a few cruises available - one of which was obviously the March break cruise (I couldn't believe it). I actually discovered the offer the last day it was available while searching for a Land/Sea package and couldn't pass up the savings. I did have to book a Categroy 12 guarantee room though (not preferred) but saved ~ $2000.

[Mortlives]

Thanks for the answers. So Magical Rates wouldn't apply to us anyway. DH is somewhat claustrophobic, so I wanted him to have a verandah to make it easier for him. He does so much for me (including agreeing to go on this cruise when he has different vacation priorities), that I want to make sure he's as comfortable as possible.

So who else has excursion plans, is/is not wearing a tux, is wondering if they might not be happier fore or aft?

[CBEB]

We haven't decided on excursions yet. We did this itinerary last year and did our own thing (walking) in KW, then the Turtle Farm and Stingray swim at GC and then the beach break at Cozumel. They were all great, but we'll probably pick something different just for the variety.

My DH rented a tux that was delivered to our stateroom (cruiseformals.com I think?) and it was perfect (did it twice). Last year we didn't go quite so formal. Not sure what we'll do this year, but you'll see plenty of people dressed anywhere from nice outfits to over the top formal. You won't feel out of place no matter what you decide!

Anyone following the thread of the Magic coming back home? Boy I sure wish we could have done one of the repo cruises - what an experience! Unfortunately for us Texans, both cruises were while school is in session - Boo!

Come on, March!! :cool1:

[otoole]

I was just on the Disney site checking to see if we have received the earlier dinner seating yet and noticed that Magical Rates are listed for the March 11th cruise once again. I don't know if these compare to the rates I booked in July because the only available cabins left for a family of four that I could see were Cat. 10. If interested just click on "Reservations" and then "Special Offers" and scroll down to the 7 night Western.

On a separate note: I am so tired of waiting for Southwest to post their flights for March. Checking every day is driving me crazy and inevitably it will be posted on the day I don't check.

[MickeyMania]

As much as I love a bargain - even I don't bet on disney for a real bargain! :rotfl:

We booked way back in January!! So we did get better rates - but the waiting has been killing me!

We haven't decided on excursions yet. I would really like to do the dolphin excursion... and would like to do a horse back riding one - but I haven't found one that will allow my 6 year old to go. Anyone come across one for kids that age?

Walking in KW is our plan. and some extra ship time!

Not decided on tux for dh yet... anyone else?

[Mortlives]

We're back from Universal and St. Augustine, and I'm surprised at how little activity there's been here since we've been gone.

I don't think DH is going to tux, but he has his clan tartan kilt, and will probably be showing his colours formal and semi-formal nights.

[MickeyMania]

Okay - so I find out today that one of our major conferences at work falls on... March 12 - 15! :sad2: :sad2: :sad2:

Well - what the heck am I to do? It is the week of Spring Break - the only week we can go. This event is always the last week of February - so I didn't even worry. In fact - I thought it would be a great break after a crazy week.

I called DH and his immediate reaction was -"well, they'll miss you this year!" :rotfl: I agree. So - I sent a note to my manager and now I am waiting for the response.... :confused3

I actually write the speeches for some of the folks who present at the conference - so I can do it before hand -and just hand the rehearsals to someone else.... (while I am enjoying a mickey bar :mickeybar and the drink of the day! :drinking1)

Please end pixie dust my way! :grouphug:

[Mortlives]

I'm sure everything will be fine with you at work.

Meanwhile, does anyone know if they do anything special for St. Pat's, since we'll be on board that day?

[MickeyMania]

Maybe we will have green beer!! Or perhaps I can practice some of my Irish stepdancing moves! :rotfl:

[Mortlives]

So, we'd had it for a while, but we finally got around to watching the DCL DVD last night. I was almost finished watching it with DS when DH got home. DH isn't much for planning, but he watched it all over again (not that DS and I minded).

DS's response was that the cruise was going to be a lot cooler than he had thought. I'm still not sure whether that means he thought it was going to be good or bad before. We're all really looking forward to it, in spite of having just gotten back from a rather fabulous vacation.

Anyone else really enjoyed the DVD?

[lovinaz]

Where do you get this DVD? I think my kids (DD6 and DS9) would love to see what they have to look forward to.

[Mortlives]

The disneycruiseline.com website has a link for getting a planning dvd on the home page. Because I'm in Canada, I had to call, but it was no big deal. It comes in a book with info, and stickers for the young ones. I ordered it the same day we booked. :blush:

[MickeyMania]

If you go to their disneycruise.com site - you'll find a place where it says order dvd...

I ordered one and dh "accidentally" tossed it! :confused3 I'll be getting another!

This is not to say he is not excited - but maybe I am just a little too excited - we still have a while - wait - it's less than 6 months away!! :banana: :cheer2:

When should I start packing??? :rotfl2:

As an aside - I spoke with my managers at work - and they completely understand my situation. There will be no re-booking the cruise! :worship:

Hope all are well! Anyone know how many days away we are?

[Mortlives]

Anyone know how many days away we are?

http://www.stepmonster.ca/vacations And add 2 days to get actual cruise time. It's set from the time we leave the house in Toronto, 48 hours prior.

Glad to hear you'll be joining us, MickeyMania!

[MickeyMania]

Thank you, Morticia! :flower: I couldn't resist looking at some of your vacation pics! I love the story of the drunkest woman in the world! I will make sure NOT to compete for that title on the cruise! :rotfl2: :drinking1 :drinking1 :drinking1

[Mortlives]

Thanks for the kind words. I'm hoping to get our latest TR up there in the next couple of weeks. We had a fabulous time at Universal and St. Augustine. And I did have an evening where I was a little close to entering that competition myself, but no one got hurt, and no one got arrested, and I felt fine the next day, so it's all good.

I blame it on your generous Floridian bartenders. ;)

[Mortlives]

Hey, Everyone.

I thought we were going to have to sign up for an expensive excursion to go snorkelling in Grand Cayman, but check this out: George Town Snorkelling (http://grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com/GrandCaymanSnorkeling.htm)

[fcrouch]

wondering if there will be anything fun for St. Patrick's Day - no doubt green beer? we'll be on third DCL trip - second 7 day Magic (western again - simply because of dates we can go). Our daughter will be 5 (almost 6) at the time of crusie - and she loves the clubs and I'm looking forward to her being in an older group

[CBEB]

Hi Everyone!

I was just reading about the drydock upgrades (especially the giant outdoor movie screen) which got me excited all over again about our cruise! That should be awesome watching movies outside in the middle of the ocean!

[Mortlives]

We got a booklet yesterday, with Western shore excursions and other interesting bits of trivia. They mailed it just before we cancelled our booking with DCL. (It's okay, we rebooked through CAA, but can no longer access our reservations through the Disney site). We had to downgrade to a Category 9 room, which I'm sure will be just fine. My guess is that we wouldn't have used the verandah enough to justify the expense anyway.

Anyway, it looks like they've added a few excursions. I don't remember the pirate museum excursion for Key West when I looked before. I don't think we'll book through Disney though, I'd imagine it's substantially cheaper to just go ourselves.

Anyone else get a booklet?

[lovinaz]

We got the booklet this week, but I haven't had a chance to look through it yet. I still need to order that DVD! I'm sure my kids will be even more excited once they see that...

[sk8ingmom]

We're going! We're going!

Me(early 30s), DH(mid 30s), DS7 & DS5. MIL & FIL are joining us. Booked almost 2 years ago so we got 2 of the secret porthole rooms!

We live in Alaska, so I'm billing this as "The great thaw of '06".
We were on a 4-night about this time of year in 2004 and it was hot the entire time - not like I live in AK so everything is hot - like upper 80's and 90's hot.

Anyway - I'm glad I found you guys!

M.

[Mortlives]

Welcome Aboard!

[lovinaz]

Southwest now has flights up until the end of March!!! I was so excited, today was the first day to make reservations that far in advance. However, my excitement was shortlived since ALL the special rates from PHX were unavailable. :sad: It would have cost almost $2500 for 4 tickets! So I just booked on America West, which has been the same price for months... I had to do something before prices start spiralling out of control! Hopefully someone else will be able to get a good rate on Southwest!

[MickeyMania]

Haven't posted in a while - but we are getting so close! For those of us who booked this cruise back in January - 5 months is really close! :rotfl:

I had my attention diverted for a few weeks with a last minute trip to Hong Kong and India... busy - but a real nice way to be distracted! There were soon-to-be Magic Cruisers on my plane back home to Orlando. They had just found out their cruise was rescheduled from a Western to an Eastern - thanks to Wilma.

I wonder what state our ports will be in when we head down there?

I had the excursion booklet waiting for me when we returned - which was a lovely surprise. And I also got the latest Birnbaum book... which is exactly like the 2005 version. (Boo!) ;)

Can I start packing yet??? :bounce:

Have a wonderful Halloween all!! We are headed to Mickey's not so scarey Halloween Party tonight!

[sk8ingmom]

I think I am going to buy my plane tickets today. They are actually below $500 each, which is a bargain from up here.

MickeyMania - ditto on "Can I start packing yet?" Our high today is 28 degrees, yet I find myslef dreaming of sundresses! I also plan to hit the costume shops for bargain pirate costumes next week.

M.

[fcrouch]

Yes, the SW prices were up through March - I'd been checking everyday then was out of town for a couple of days - so didn't see them until Monday - about $400 more for our family (3 of us) than last summer and last spring - when it had been averaging $600 round trip for the three of us from Kansas City. I figured it would go up and imagine the delay in posting rates was SW trying to figure out fuel prices into the future. I'd read that many of their large hedging contracts on fuel expired in January, so they'd have to enter into new ones - and so figured on some price hike. It was still cheaper on SW for us than other airlines. Even those that weren't non-stop. We're having to stay over the Saturday night after the cruise and leave very early on Sunday AM to get the cheaper flights - so we'll probably spend what we save on one last night in Orlando - but figure that is more fun than just flying home.

[fcrouch]

A reply to Mortlives: we've enjoyed Verandahs, but in the end (esp. on Disney I think) find that there's plenty of quiet adult space and we didn't mind inside with no window. Don't know the deck you're on, but no doubt you've read of the secret deck on 7 and a smaller on on 8 - and there always seem to be lots of available deck chairs on 4 - plus the adult pool/quiet cove area - so your H should have plenty of quiet places to relax. My wife always reads several books in the course of a cruise.

We're probably going to do Captain Marvin's in GC - assuming he's still in business - need to check on that.

[MickeyMania]

Who is doing the happy dance?!?! :banana: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :banana: :Pinkbounc :bounce:

I finally got my ticker factory to work and everything!

Okay - so can I start packing now?!?! :earboy2:

Now - I have read some trip reports and it seems some of these groups are very very organized. Has anyone here ever been to a dis meet onboard? played tag fairy? Just curious! :cheer2:

[kcarl021]

I'm back. Canceled the wedding on the cruise, decided to get married in September instead. And I meant September 2005, so we will actually be on our 6 month anniversary when we sail.

Also added my best friend, her husband and their daughter to the cruise, so now we have two 6 year olds. Checked out the stateroom and there are NO CAT 6 left right now! I am sure towards the end of December there will be some cancellations but expect a full ship!

For whoever was waiting for 1st dinner seating, check back in December, but honestly, we booked this cruise while we were on our cruise last year, and we chose second dinner seating on purpose. There is always way too much food to eat and there are still so many events going on that the earlier one is too hard to catch and you either cut your shore time short or miss the dinner. Do the later seating, if you are worried about the kids, the kids area feeds them earlier anyway, and trust me, its not like you can't find food at any given moment!

I am SURE they will do something cool for St. Pats!


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[sk8ingmom]

Now - I have read some trip reports and it seems some of these groups are very very organized. Has anyone here ever been to a dis meet onboard? played tag fairy? Just curious! :cheer2:

There was a Dis meet on our 2004 Wonder cruise. I think it was at 2ish on embarkation day in the Promenade Lounge. I was excited about going, but then I became event more excited about everything else on the ship and didn't make it! Heck we almost forgot to each lunch the first day!

If we want to meet up, I suggest somewhere outside - maybe the starboard or port side of the goofy pool deck or something like that the afternoon of embarkation. It seems like many of us have kids in the same age range so it would be fun to meet up!

Any thoughts????

[sk8ingmom]

It's getting close to booking time for spa, palo etc!!
I'm SO excited!!! :Pinkbounc

[Mortlives]

Hey! I'm in double digits until we leave for Florida! :cool1:

[sk8ingmom]

OHH I forgot about the double digit milestone! Ours is today!!!! Dance with me! :bounce:

We are leaving 3/9 - I'm not takng any chances going completely across the continent! I wanna be the first person in a deck chair drinking a fruity drink with an umbrella in it.

[kcarl021]

Wish it were sooner, its so cold and wintery here!


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[Mortlives]

I'm back. Canceled the wedding on the cruise, decided to get married in September instead. And I meant September 2005, so we will actually be on our 6 month anniversary when we sail.


Wow, I feel observant! Congrats on your marriage. All the best.

[Mortlives]

I wanna be the first person in a deck chair drinking a fruity drink with an umbrella in it.

I wanna be the first person in the hot tub with a fruity drink avec umbrella. :dancer:

[sk8ingmom]

Wish it were sooner, its so cold and wintery here!


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Tell me about it! Our high for the week is 5 degrees!

Mort- good call on the hot tub! We have one at home, but it will be nice to tub without my hair turning to ice in the process!

Is anyone else stressing about Palo/spa ressies? Sure wish I knew my dinner rotation!

When is everyone dining? We are second seating.

[kcarl021]

Tell me about it! Our high for the week is 5 degrees!

Mort- good call on the hot tub! We have one at home, but it will be nice to tub without my hair turning to ice in the process!

Is anyone else stressing about Palo/spa ressies? Sure wish I knew my dinner rotation!

When is everyone dining? We are second seating.


I am not stressing. I cruised this same time last year, BEFORE the online reservation system and BEFORE I was a castaway club member, so I had to take my chances when on the ship. A bomb scare at the port put me on the ship close to last and I still got the spa reservations I wanted. I didn't try Palo and plan to this year because of our 6 month anniversary and all, but the food is so good everywhere else that I don't care if we don't get it!

We are second seating BY CHOICE! I can't imagine eating early seating. I never felt like I had to cut any activities short, and you also get to sleep in a bit when you disembark!

[kcarl021]

Did anyone else get the flier about the new things on the cruise this year? Apparently they just added a new kids area, some additional spaces to hang out, added a stingray adventure at castaway cay, expanded the spa and fitness areas, and put up a huge theatre screen outside of the family pool. looks cool! i just can't tell which spaces are new.

I also noticed they changed the january sail itineraires to avoid cozumel. wonder what it will be like in march. not that i really care!

[Mortlives]

We're second seating, which is fine. We won't have to hurry back from most ports to eat dinner.

We're not stressing about reservations either. The spa (except maybe the rainforest room) doesn't really interest us, and all the regular rotation menus look good enough that we wouldn't want to skip one to go to Palo.

I'm just looking forward to being somewhere warm in March, and getting some snorkeling in.

[Mortlives]

I just realized, shouldn't everyone who doesn't live in Florida be double digit dancing by now? :dancer: or at least :drinking1

If we go to Cozumel, I'm considering doing the Xcaret tour instead, because I've been to Cozumel a few types, and DN says Xcaret is great. Oh well, I suppose I've still got a tragic amount of time in which to decide. Does anyone else think it's kind of awkward that our balance is due Boxing Day?

Of course, if we end up going to Costa Maya, I'll have to rethink that.

[MickeyMania]

I just realized, shouldn't everyone who doesn't live in Florida be double digit dancing by now? :dancer: or at least :drinking1


Mort - why can't those of us in Florida do the double digit dance?? :confused3 :guilty: I want to do the double digit dance too!

Now - I must say I am in NY tonight and the only dance I am doing is the chilly pants dance! :cold: :cold:

[Mortlives]

Because I forgot what day was what. :teacher: Guess I need to go back to school. Yesterday was double digits from the cruise, not today. Today is 14 weeks. The assumption, of course, is that you wouldn't have to leave the day before the cruise unless you were coming from outside of Florida, although I suppose the farthest reaches of FLA might also require leaving before. But, of course you can double digit dance. My comment wasn't actually meant as a restriction. :blush: I just figured you'd be leaving the morning of and lost track of what day it was.

NY? Hope you brought a parka. Hot chocolate is good for what ails you, too.

[Mortlives]

Saturday night, and it's so cold outside, I'm sitting at my computer playing the DCL DVD. I need to get a life. -- But I need it to be a warmer life.

[Mortlives]

It's sounding like we won't be going to Cozumel after all, and even if we do, a lot of the things we might have planned may not be available. I only just found out that Chankanaab was destroyed. That's really sad, it was a wonderful place to go snorkeling. There are threads on the main cruise forum about this, and it's beginning to sound again like it will affect us. It's kind of sad if we don't put into port there.

I was on Cozumel during cyclone Gilbert back in the '80's. There was nothing more humbling than coming out after the storm was over, and seeing all the islanders stoically picking debris off the beaches, and cleaning up the public areas first. This wasn't because their homes were intact, but because tourism is the lifeblood of the Cozumelian economy. Because of that, I'm hoping we can drop in and spend a little cash.

But I can understand why DCL might not want to do that just yet.

[kcarl021]

Where did you hear that? I saw that the last cruise in January was rerouted to Nassau but didn't see anything past that. I am curious because I just booked my Palo reservations this weekend and I was shocked to see how dates and times were already taken!!! My first choice was Thursday, because it is our final day at sea and also my 6 month anniversary but I couldn't get the time I wanted. I checked a few other dates and a lot was already gone! If they re route us it might change our day at sea. I would hate to miss a theme night in the dining rooms.

[Mortlives]

The thread (from the main cruise board) has since been updated to state that things weren't as bad as was first thought. So, it's looking more like we will probably be going to Cozumel.

As far as Chankanaab being destroyed, that's from
http://www.cozumelmycozumel.com

[kcarl021]

I guess that is good to know. I have mixed feelings on going there. I wouldn't mind being rerouted as long as it didn't affect our days at sea. The cruise that was recently re-routed to Nassau, it did change things for them. I wouldn't mind somewhere else in Mexico either, althought the shore excursion in Cozumel is the one I am looking forward to the most. I just don't want to go somewhere that is a complete wreck either.

[sk8ingmom]

Frankly, it doen't matter much to me where we go! DSs are too young for most of the excursions, so our plan is to do a bit of sightseeing and hang out at the beach. We were in Nassau on the Wonder 2 years ago, it was nice, but I don't feel the need to rush back to Atlantis.

I'm with kcarl021 in hoping that our days at sea schedule doesn't get messed up. I booked Palo and spa based on sea days.

I guess I won't complain too much though - it will be warm and I will be on vacation with the aformentioned drink with an umbrela in it!

[Mortlives]

I just found out that anyone wanting hep A and B vaccines to be effective before they go should get the first shot real soon, because you need to wait 6 weeks after the second shot to be protected. Sorry, I should've posted this earlier, but I was running around trying to arrange ours.

[MickeyMania]

Just wondering if anyone here has made their reservations for either Palo or the spa or excursions? I suppose you would have to be concierge level or a castaway cay member - of which I am neither :guilty: Of course when I cruise again in December 06 I will be! :banana:

Did you have any trouble getting the reservations you wanted?

Thanks!! And Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! Happy Hannukah and Happy Kwanzaa as well!! ;) :flower:

[kcarl021]

Just wondering if anyone here has made their reservations for either Palo or the spa or excursions? I suppose you would have to be concierge level or a castaway cay member - of which I am neither :guilty: Of course when I cruise again in December 06 I will be! :banana:

Did you have any trouble getting the reservations you wanted?

Thanks!! And Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! Happy Hannukah and Happy Kwanzaa as well!! ;) :flower:

I didn't book a spa appointment this year but didn't seem to have trouble getting what I wanted last year. Of course, last year you couldn't make reservations on line or in advance so that might make a difference.

I did book my Palo reservation and did have trouble getting the time and date that I wanted. I ended up getting the date, but not the time, and there are 6 in my party and all of the large tables were completely taken for that evening. I ended up booking a table for four and one for two and maybe they will be able to put us together.

I had no trouble with the shore excursions and usually you don't have problems with those.

Hope this helps! Oh btw, I am a Castaway Club member so the concierge level got to book before me.


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[MickeyMania]

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and Hannukah. I usually am a little disappointed when all the excitement wears down after New Years - but since we have the cruise to look forward to :sunny: - I guess the disappointment will have to wait until March 18! :rotfl2:

Can I start packing now??? (Oh by the way - took advantage of the sales yesterday and got some great evening wear!!)

[sk8ingmom]

I made my ressies the first day it was available for CC members. Couldn't get the time I wanted for Palo brunch for 4, but got my first choice Palo dinner for 2 and couples massage times.

I agree with MickeyMania - it is nice to have something to look forward to during the post-holiday funk! There is still ALOT of winter left up here.

[MickeyMania]

...but not for the time that I hoped (or day for that matter!) I seriously woke up at 2:55am and kept refreshing my screen until it let me make reservations at exactly 3am! :crazy2:

There was only one day for brunch left open - Sunday I believe. So I took it. And while I got my Thursday dinner at Palo - it's kind of late. But I am not complaining!

SK8INGMOM - how old are your kids? I know you mentioned it here on the board before - but I can't find. Mine are 3 and 6. (girl and boy)

[kcarl021]

We were so excited on Christmas Eve! We are leaving a tad bit early, but on Christmas Eve, we were 2 months, 2 weeks, and 2 days away from the cruise!

I am enjoying the holidays because come Jan 1 it's diet time! Fitting into a swimming suit in March is just torture!


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[sk8ingmom]

Amen to that! DH & I ate whatever we wanted when we were "home" in Ohio for Christmas - now there is no more eating until the cruise! Also, we'll be easy to find...we'll be the glow-in-the-dark-white family by the pool the first day!

MickeyMania - My boys are 5 & 7 so they can go clubbin' with your 6yo!

[Mortlives]

Happy Holidays, everyone!

I was actually getting a bit nervous, because Monday and Tuesday were statutory holidays up here, and our final payment wasn't made by CAA until today. However, I guess Disney's used to that. We managed to get our reservations for Xcaret, so I guess we're good to go! Past the point of no return, and all that. :maleficen

Aside from that, I'm debating doing Grand Cayman on our own, or trying the Stingray City Snorkel Sail (say that 5 times fast).

How's everyone's planning going? Excited now that we're PIF?

[sk8ingmom]

Stingray City Snorkel Sail Stingray City Snorkel Sail Stingray City Snorkel Sail Stingray City Snorkel Sail Stingray City Snorkel Sail :rotfl:

I guess "cut and paste" made it easy!

We aren't booking anything for Key West- been there many times and know where we are going. We also have friends who are stationed there, so plan to hook up with them. I think we are heading to Paradise Beach for most of the day in Cozumel (assuming we dock there) & I'm thinking about one of the submarine-thingy tours in Grand Cayman. Those are only 1.5 hours so I'm not sure what else we will do there.

My cruise plan is to RELAX. We are going to WDW for 6 days after the cruise and we are sort of a 'commando family' in the parks!

[Mortlives]

Hope everyone had a smooth and joyous transition to 2006. :wizard:

[xandra]

Hey all.. Just thought i would stop in to this thread :)..
Im going on the cruise same day.. very excited *weee*
My names Alexandra.. Im 15 from Ontario ({-- Just felt like sharing :P)
Hope everyone has a great new year

[CTG]

:cool1: Just found the thread, first Disney cruise!! Me, DW, DD(4),DS(2.5)....

[sk8ingmom]

Welcome xandra and CTG !!

[xandra]

Ha thanks :)
This will be my second cruise with disney :).. But last time i was on the Wonder :Pinkbounc

[Mortlives]

Welcome Aboard to our new shipmates!

Won't be long now... Just seems like it. :teeth:

[tross]

Ahoy there mates! We just booked this cruise today. We like to plan ahead but just didn't get it done for this year's spring break. We have 3 DS 9, 12 and 14. The Palo and sea day spa reservations are completely gone as are some of the excursions. I guess we are lucky to have a room! Maybe we will be lucky with the reservations after boarding.

[Mortlives]

Welcome aboard!

I'm sure you'll manage to find lots to do to keep you busy! Out of curiousity, which excursions are all booked up?

[sk8ingmom]

Oh, I'd like to know which excursions are book up also! MIL & FIL are joining us on this trip and MIL is convinced they can just walk onto the ship and sign up for an excursion like they did 15 years ago on RC! This new-fangled interet thingy is surprising her!

My family leaves in 60 days (3/9) !! YAY!

[Mortlives]

60 days for us as well. :cool1: We swing by DS's school and hand in his assignments for the Thursday and Friday, and then we head to the border. :maleficen

I was tempted to leave the night before as we usually do, but this way, DS doesn't fall behind in his schoolwork.

Hey! I better update our countdown! We were originally leaving later on the 9th.

[Mortlives]

Come to think of it, maybe we should create a comprehensive list of who is going to be on the cruise, and ages, etc. If you're interested in being on the list, pm me, and I'll edit this post to add you. :sail:

I'll start off:
Morticia (me) 40 (okay, so I'll be 41 by then), DH 42, and DS 14.
tross (Tammy) and DH also 40somethings, DS14, DS12, DS9
MickeyMania (Colleen), Andrew, DS6, DD3.
sk8ingmom (M.) 33, Steve 34, DS7, DS5, MIL (Evelyn) 59, FIL (Wayne) 60
CastawayStowaway (Jennifer), Ben, DS9, DS5
fcrouch (Fred), Maureen, DD5
CBEB, DH and DD9
I'mWong (Laura), Greg, DD9 and DS6/7 (cruise birthday boy!)
otoole, DH, DS6, DD4
kcarl021, DH, DD6, DM, DF, GF, GFDH, GFDD5 party:
DisneyPinDiva (Leslie), Joe
Choople (Katherine)49, Mark 45, DD17, DD15
Mickey&JoshNut (Elaine) and Margaret

[tross]

Several asked which excursions we found unavailable. They were the sting ray/beach adventure combination in Grand Cayman and Snorkeling at Chankanaab National Park. Many others are available. I'm thinking we can do the National Park on our own anyway and we booked the Sting Ray without the beach.

[Mortlives]

Several asked which excursions we found unavailable. They were the sting ray/beach adventure combination in Grand Cayman and Snorkeling at Chankanaab National Park. Many others are available. I'm thinking we can do the National Park on our own anyway and we booked the Sting Ray without the beach.

It may be that Disney is not offering the Chankanaab excursions yet. It isn't scheduled to reopen post-Wilma until February, and Disney may want to evaluate it before sending its customers there. We were initially going to do Chankanaab on our own as well, but decided it would be less iffy to just book Xcaret. And we've never been to Xcaret (we have been to Chankanaab), but our niece has, and she couldn't say enough about it.

Which Sting ray did you book: the reef and stingray, or just the sting ray? And which time? (just wondering if you'll be with us).

[tross]

Morticia

We are canceling the Disney if we can get Captain Marvin because the only Disney available is the sting ray only. I've received very favorable comments from the boards about Captain Marvin.

Tammy

[Mortlives]

Both reef and stingrays are maxed? Wow! I never figured that would happen so quickly. Too bad you're not coming with. It would have been cool to know someone in advance.

[tross]

Morticia

I agree that would have been fun but maybe we will see you elsewhere. Captain Marvin's snorkel tour does 2 different reefs plus the sting rays so I am hoping we are confirmed. It is also a little cheaper (every bit helps with 5 :) and within walking distance of disembarking so we should still have fun.

I have a post on the Cruise Forum board about Western excursions that has received some good feedback if anyone is interested. That is where I find out about Captain Marvin. I am so appreciative of the boards for helping me with this. Hopefully I can return the favor to someone in the future.

[MickeyMania]

The holidays beat me down! With in-laws in our house - kids home from school - and just general craziness - I am soooo glad we have the cruise to look forward to. EVEN better NOW! Since I just upgraded to a verandah! After much thought - we figured with two kids in tow, we might be back in the room earlier than we like in the evenings... and wouldn't it be nice to sit on the verandah? :flower: :flower:

Mort - I am going to PM you - if I can ever figure out how! :eek:

One question (yeah right!) - I know my 6 year old son would love a dolphin excursion of some sort (as would I)... any advice? I didn't sign up for any excursions other than parasailing at CC. Since the kids are young - I figured they would have more fun with a quick trip to the beach or staying on the ship. But a dolphin encounter would be very very cool! :cool1:

Thanks in advance!

[tross]

There is a Dolphin encounter excursion in Cozumel but I haven't heard any comments either way from previous cruisers.

Does anyone have a teenager planning to attend the Stack that is interested in precruise emailing with my DS 14? He has younger DSs to hang out with part of the time but is looking forward to meeting some new teen friends. If so send a PM. I;ve read on other posts where that added to the enjoyment of the cruise for some teens.

[kcarl021]

[QUOTE=MickeyMania]The holidays beat me down! With in-laws in our house - kids home from school - and just general craziness - I am soooo glad we have the cruise to look forward to. EVEN better NOW! Since I just upgraded to a verandah! After much thought - we figured with two kids in tow, we might be back in the room earlier than we like in the evenings... and wouldn't it be nice to sit on the verandah? :flower: :flower:


You are going to love the verandah. I know a lot of people say you don't need it because you don't spend much time in your room but it really was just heavenly sitting out on the verandah at night with a bucket of beers and watching the ocean go by!

Of course my daughter was sick last year so I had more time than I wanted doing that, but this year, I plan to again! Order up the cheese tray too. How relaxing! The clubs are nice but especiallt the first night, it's nice to relax.

Plus, in case you haven't read the other threads, you can't keep you kids by themselves in the kids club the first night anymore. Its now family time and the parents have to stay. So plan on an early first night if you have kids!

[Castaway Stowaway]

I cant wait. We just booked last night for our third DCL 7 day. This is definately what we need!! We actually tossed around the idea of sailing with another line but imagined how bummed we would be if we were at port with the Magic and heard the when you wish upon a star ships horn. Yes its WAY more money, but its Disney! Youre guarranteed a great time and its a much more family friendly environment! That being said, will they let me bring my own liquor on bord? I forget. :confused3 :cool1:

[kcarl021]

I cruised last year and did not. I really regretted it and will be this year. Apparently DCL is one of the few that still let you. There are a few rather long threads about this, even giving tips on how to travel with it etc. I would bring some - my alcohol bill was huge last year! (yes we are partiers!)

Glad you are joining us!!!

[Mortlives]

Welcome aboard, Bennifer!

Everyone, don't forget, if you want to be on the roll call, pm me with the details you want on the list. I haven't heard from very many yet.

[Castaway Stowaway]

I cant wait! How many more days do we have? Ive already started shopping! I have got to get a new formal dress. I wore the same one for the last 2 cruises!! GASP :eek:

[Mortlives]

We set sail in 52 days. Don't worry about the dress. None of us have seen it, so if you tell us it's a new dress, it's a new dress. :teeth:

I've been sending a picture of the day to DH, counting down working days. Today was 36 working days to go. I started with shots of the drive down to Florida, and added in current weather info for the location of the picture. Today's was the Cocoa Beach pier, and tomorrow's will be our hotel. Then, I'll start with pictures of the DCL terminal, etc. until the last picture of the terminal (after pictures of the ship, Key West, Cozumel, etc) signals that we leave the next day.

[Castaway Stowaway]

thanks mort, but We are so lazy that out cruise pix are out family photos!! So sad i know. I know i am really excited about this cruise!! I had a nightmare that i forgot to pack everyones stuff except mine!! I didnt pack a darn thing for my dh or dss! Crazy. i know

[tross]

I think I got my countdown to work so we can check out the days if I managed to do this right. This should be set for the day before we sail as that is when we are leaving.

[tross]

Castaway
I noticed you have cruised both the Western and Eastern and rebooked the Western. Did you prefer it or was it just a matter of timing convenience?

Mort
What a great idea with the pictures for your DH. I bet he looks forward to it every day. We would love to see one of your favorites if you could add to a post. Not that I would know how :teeth: but I see on the boards other folks do.

[Mortlives]

Actually, tomorrow's is a picture of the outside of the terminal from the DCL picture of the day thread.

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10223461&postcount=1773

For those whose last day of work is Wednesday, March 8, we have 34 working days left, and those leaving on the Thursday before the cruise have 7 weeks to go today.

It is currently (8:16am) 66F, with a high of 78.

[sk8ingmom]

For those whose last day of work is Wednesday, March 8, we have 34 working days left, and those leaving on the Thursday before the cruise have 7 weeks to go today.

It is currently (8:16am) 66F, with a high of 78.


33 WORKING DAYS ??? Aaaarrrhhhh. That is really stressing me out right now. I think I have about 300 days worth of work to do before I can leave.

Outisde my window it is currently (2:29 pm) 3F, with a high of 5.

OK, maybe I can just leave all this stuff on my desk and get on a plane!

[Castaway Stowaway]

tross, I really like the western more than the eastern. Just our preference. It was warmer and i absolutely love Grand Cayman. 7 mile is the most beautiful beach ive ever seen. i cant wait till our next one. my fam and i have been watching all of our videos of our las cruises. Has anyone made a door sign? Know how?

[kcarl021]

Has anyone made a door sign? Know how?

I made one last year and will probably do so again this year, but I need to start thinking about what I am going to do! It is pretty simple, just google for some free Disney Clip Art and make your sign in Microsoft Word. You can buy magnetic paper from Walmart and it goes right through your printer. I had read that they don't like people taping things on the doors and will remove it if they find it, but they don't care about the magnets.

Very few people on my cruise decorated their doors but I liked it because it made it easier for me to find our room. It's easier for the little ones too - all of the doors look exactly alike and there are just rows and rows and rows of them!

[I'mWong]

We are going to be on the cruise with you. There are four of us Me(39), DH(49), DD(9) and DS (will turn 7 on the cruise!). We were on the wonder twice in 01, but our first 7 nighter. We are so excited! We are making our signs pretty soon. We are going to do everything we can think of to make this our best vacation ever!

[Mortlives]

We are going to be on the cruise with you. There are four of us Me(39), DH(49), DD(9) and DS (will turn 7 on the cruise!).

Welcome aboard! I've added you to our roll call, and I couldn't resist trying the new smily. :sail:

[DisneyPinDiva]

Just booked this cruise this afternoon!!! This will be our 6th cruise on DCL, but first Western. Well, we went WAY west last May... but not these ports. We were holding out for the rumored 2007 itineraries but I need a DCL fix before that!
Can't believe how easy it was to catch up... only 10 pages??? Okay people LET'S TALK!!!
OH... cruising will be me... Leslie and Joe my DH. That's it.

[tross]

Welcome aboard Disneypindiva. MK fireworks from your yard. How cool is that! We love the MK. I'm assuming from your name you are a Pin fan. My DSs have some from previous vacations and want to to take them on the ship for trading.

[Castaway Stowaway]

Welcome aboard Disneypindiva!! this will be our third 7 day on dcl. I am soooooo ready for this. we booked kind of last minute too. only about a week ago! Last time we were in cat 4. now we are going back to cat 9. cat 4 was waaay to much $$$. what do you guys think the chances for an upgrade at the port are?

[DisneyPinDiva]

Hi Everyone!
Yes, I am a pin addict!! The last two cruises I was on .. there was not too much pin trading between the guests. A few sharks onboard and that's always discouraging. I encourage kids to trade with the CM's. They have pin trading all the time.. any time you see a CM with a lanyard... they will trade with you. One of the nights in the atrium they have the officers all come out with lanyards too. That's always fun. If there are any special limited edition pins released on our cruise (the artist choice of the month or Captains Choice) they will only be sold during "pin trading" time usually 7:30 each night in the atrium. They may have a special one for St. Patricks Day so keep an eye on your navigator!

As far as upgrades go... the only time we ever got one was from a 12 to a 9. It wasn't really an upgrade per se. About 4 days into the Repo cruise they said our room steward reported a plumbing problem... something they had to tear the wall out in our bathroom to fix. They moved us to an outside room for the remainder of the cruise. I never noticed anything wrong with the plumbing but I wasn't going to argue! We've never been upgraded at the port. This time we have a gty for an outside room ... so we'll see what they come up with. Cat 4 is fabulous. We've seen all the catagory staterooms but never stayed higher than a 9, most of the time we go for 11 or 12. I'd rather have more cruises! Never spend that much time in the room anyway. When we booked yesterday... they said all the inside rooms were booked.

Okay... gotta go.. it's STEELER time!

[kcarl021]

think the chances for an upgrade at the port are?

Last year we booked a Cat 8 and were upgraded to a Cat 4. Of course now we are spoiled and had to book at Cat 6 this year because the rooms are the same, just a deck lower. I really don't know how they decide who gets upgraded. I assume if there are rooms available they will try, but I thought this cruise was pretty booked already. Some people think it depends on how long ago you booked and that the first to book are the first to get upgraded, but we booked a March cruise in December last year and still got a good upgrade. Other think if you are a new cruiser they try to upgrade you to get you to rebook again. I don't really know what the system is.

Me I am hoping to not get upgraded. We booked adjoining rooms with my parents and my girlfriend is only 4 staterooms away, same floor. We linked our reservations so I don't think they would upgrade us unless they ugraded us all which is even more doubtful.

Just cross your fingers and see but even if not, you still made the cruise!

[I'mWong]

Hi DisneyPinDiva. My kids and DH LOVE pin trading. They weren't yet into it when we cruised in 01. Are there announcements about the pin trading events you were talking about? I know they would love to trade. Sorry to be so out of it, but when you say "Sharks", what are you referring to? Just curious! Want to know who to avoid. My kids are pretty shy and unassuming.

About the upgrades. Our first cruise, we booked a category 11 and were upgraded to a room with a veranda on the 7th floor. Not sure what that category would be, but we found out about it when we went to the desk to check in. It was on the Wonder in January, so there was probably more availability. I too have heard this cruise was pretty much sold out. I tried to book back in November and was told there was not anymore room in the children's programming so we wouldn't be able to sail. I kept calling and either people have cancelled, or more counselors became available. Either way, lucky for us. We are going! See you there!

[DisneyPinDiva]

WOW.. those are some great upgrades! :thumbsup2 I think I would fall over if they told me at the desk I had been upgraded like that! :faint:

Sorry about the pin lingo. "Sharks" are what can be catagorized as unscrupulous adult pin traders who take advantage of newer traders, young ones in particular and will try to make an unfair trade for something the newer trader has but may not know it would be an unfair trade. :furious: Does that make sense?? Like offering a younger trader an open stock or "rack" pin for one of DCL limited pins that may be available. Or get you to BUY them the LE pin in trade for something simple they have that a child might want. A lot of these people try to get as many as they can to then sell on Ebay. :sad2:
You just have to watch out and especially with kids, make sure they check with you before they trade anything, espcially the special cruise pins.

Pin trading is a lot of fun, and I hate to see someone's experience be ruined. I try to watch out for kids especially and guide them away from someone who may take advantage of them. Sticking with the CMs is their best bet. Feel free to email me with any questions.. I know this isn't the forum to get into the intricacies of pin trading!!
Pin trading times will be announced in the personal Navigators that you receive in your stateroom each evening for the next day. From my experience, it's usually around 7:30pm each evening in the 3rd floor atrium, in the sitting area by guest services. If there are any special limited edition pins.. that's usually the only time they will be sold... from a cart they bring out. The regular open stock pins and some pins from WDW are sold in Mickey's Mates. The CM"s in Mickey's Mates always have lanyards on for trading too! :yay:
Okay enough pin rambling. :teeth:

On to other fun topics... Will everyone be dressing up for Pirate Night?? pirate:

[kcarl021]

On to other fun topics... Will everyone be dressing up for Pirate Night?? pirate:


I didn't dress up last year and didn't see many who did. What do you suggest? I wish we were leaving TODAY!!!

Another question - I need more FREE CLIP ART!!! Any suggestions, I keep getting the same old pictures and I really want a Micky and Minnie either in wedding gear or kissing or something sweet!

[Castaway Stowaway]

My boys definately want to dress up!! I d rather dress for that than the formal night. pirate: We are gonna go to a party supply store and see what we can find. also in the oriental trading co. catalog, they had some cute stuff.ditto that kcarl. i wish we could leave right now, but as the great Willy Wonka said"the anticipation is terrible, i hope it lasts." The cruise will go by so quick. I really want to enjoy every bit of the anticipation!OH... i cant wait for the vista spa!! And i need some serious help making door signs. I have absolutely NO idea what to do!!

[I'mWong]

Thanks for all the pintrading info DisneyPinDiva. We will stick to the CMs. I cannot wait for this cruise. I teach school and everyday is so busy that it flies by! That is the good part! I have been on about 7 cruises before, even DCL twice, but I'm more excited about this one than I have been about the others. My family is made up of disney fanatics! Last June we went on the Carnival Pride out of Long Beach and at one port in Mexico (can't remember which one) we were docked beside the Magic. It really bummed me out to be so close...and yet so far away! Everyone on the decks of the two ships started singing back and forth M-I-C from one ship and K-E-Y from the other. It was really funny! I decided then I would be back!

Castaway Stowaway my DS and DD are planning to dress up for sure! We have been looking for things and haven't had much luck. I am going to try the Oriental Trading Co. online tomorrow. I didn't think of them. Thanks for sharing. My son has a Captain Hook costume from a trip to WDW, but need to see if it still fits. We were talking about it today and DH and myself aren't quite sure what to wear. If all else fails, could go tropical. That is usually easier to find. Good luck in your search!

[DisneyPinDiva]

Well you will also need Tropical stuff for Tropicalifragilistic night!!

Now wait a minute... I hear you all talking about your KIDS dressing up... but what about YOU! DH and I always dress up! It's so much fun! All the cruise staff gets dressed too and it's great for pictures with Pirate Mickey and Minnie! pirate: We get a little more elaborate with each cruise! You can always start with some sort of Pirate tee shirt and rolled up jeans. Get a cheap eye patch, you'll have your bandanna from dinner to tie around your head! I always figure it this way.... you are probably never going to see any of these people again... so really get into it and have a good time!! ;)

Don't forget your polyester and tye-dye for 70's night!!

[I'mWong]

What are the other theme dress nights? I LOVE the 70s! I was in grade school, but my husband was in high school and we both love the music, the dress, all of it! I didn't know there was a tropical night too. I guess I will have to rethink this pirate thing after all!

[I'mWong]

By the way DisneyPinDiva, your dogs are awesome! I love the picture of you and your lovebug too!

[DisneyPinDiva]

Thanks... Our Goldens, Woody and Tink (all our dogs have had Disney names) are our babies. Now that our human kids are grown and out of the house... these two are the "kids" They are littermates and were born in our bedroom.. so we've had them since birth. :love: The only drawback to cruising is that we have to leave them behind :sad: 70's Night is actually in the nightclub. :woohoo: It's hilarious and not to be missed!! Pirate night is the big one for dressing up, and Tropical night. On the Repo cruise we had a Mickey Mouse Club night that was really great.... don't know if they have continued that.. but they should! Of course Formal and Semi Formal. The cruise is usually the only time DH and I get that dressed up..so we do the whole tux/gown thing!

I can't wait to see what changes they made to the Magic during drydock! The Dumbotron should be a great addition to the deck parties!

[Castaway Stowaway]

We havent cruised since 11/03. When was the Magic in drydock? Anyone know what changes were made?

Imwong, I like how you oh so casually threw out there that you were in grade school in the seventies! :lmao: :rotfl2:

pindiva, do they do the Mexicalifragilisticexpiolidocios deck party AND the pirate party? I thought the one replaced the other :confused3 I dont care what they do, i just wanna go right now!!! :woohoo:

[otoole]

We can't wait! I haven't posted in a long while as I too am a teacher and have found the fall to go by very quickly - now I am just hoping that the next 6? weeks whiz by. This is our first cruise - we went to Disney last March Break and I am now determined to travel every March Break so we booked the cruise last June and it is finally close enough to warrant excitement. We are still on the waitlist for the early dining time - although I just read a post that outlined positives to late dining so we will see what happens.

Me, DH, (DS - 6),(DD - 4)

[Mortlives]

otoole, I added you. Our list is growing, slowly, but still growing.

Remember, all you have to do is ask. :teeth:

[DisneyPinDiva]

That's so funny... we are on the waitlist for late dining!!

We had both Tropicalifragilistic Night and Pirate Night last May and Dec 04.. but of course we had a lot more nights to fill.

The drydock changes were big ones!! It went into drydock when it came back from California in September.
They relocated the fitness area and expanded the spa. Supposedly some sort of private treatment rooms. :cool1:

Installed a virtual game something or other for kids down on deck 2 where the old conference rooms and library were. Sorry I don't have more info on this but since it doesn't concern me I didn't pay too much attention to it at the time. Just hope it doesn't ruin deck two. We love staying on deck two because no one goes down there unless they belong... now... I wonder if there will be kids running the halls.

Installed a hugh "Dumbotron" on the stack above the Goofy pool... they will project the deck parties and supposedly have Movies under the Stars etc.

I don't really care where we go or what nights they have. We've done most of them several times and this cruise we just want to do nothing and relax in the rainforest room!! :cloud9: Wish they would have expanded THAT! We'll probably do more of the Navigator or Entertaining series programs too or sit in the chairs on Deck 4 and people watch while eating Mickey bars all day long...:mickeybar

[sk8ingmom]

Kcarl021 - I found some great clip art sites through the "t-shirt design" sub-board here. I have some bookmarked on my home computer, I'll try to post them tonight.

We are dressing for pirate night. We were all going to be pirates, but DS5 announced this weekend that he wanted to be Peter Pan...I figure close enough! DS7 has a Capt. Hook costume. DH has an awesome brass button jacket that looks very much like a pirate captain would wear (old drill uniform from military college), however it is heavy and WOOL, so we will be leaving it at home! DH & I plan to dress up, just not sure what we are wearing yet.

otoole - Your DS is right between mine (5 & 7) !!

I want to go gown/tux for formal night but DH is fighting me on it. FIL doesn't want to rent a tux and my boys are wearing nice suits. DH doesn't want to be the only one in a tux and the only one he owns is a uniform (he's a Coast Guard officer). It seems silly to pay $100+ to rent a tux when he has one hanging in the closet! We went formal for Palo on Wonder 2 years ago and it was a lot of fun. The Captain even noticed the Coast Guard uniform and stopped to chat for a while. I'm sure there were also a few guests who thought he was a crew member! Anyway, I have a lovely dress that I won't wear unless he wears his dinner dress uniform (tux equivalent).

Stay tuned. . . (of course I realize you probably don't care that much!!!)

[kcarl021]

I can't wait to see the changes. I tried to start a thread about this but got little response. I had heard about the stuff that the publicized (like the Dumbotron and the new areas) but I wanted to hear about what they didn't talk up too much. I found out Scoops is now more wraps and sandwiches than ice cream although we can get self serve soft serve if you want it. Of course the Hercules musical was replaced and some of the menu items changed. The biggest thing people were upset about was that you can no longer drop your kids off at the clubs the first night - they have to be with a parent or guardian unless they are of an age where they can sign themselves in and out. So a lot of people who booked spa treatments, palo, etc. weren't too pleased. But I don't really know what else had changed, so maybe not much than was already listed.

I can't wait to see the clip art sites! Thanks so much!

[Castaway Stowaway]

Im with you Disneypindiva!! The first time we went, I never knew of the rainforest spa, the second time, i learned about it half way through the cruise. This time, its gonna be the first thing i do!!All i wanna do is.... nothing. I dont even know if we are going to get of the ship!! I went online to book Palo and it said there were no reservations left. Unless i can book that on the ship, i guess i wont be doing that either.I do want to go to brunch though. Do you have to make ressies for that? The chocolate torte is to die for!! :cheer2: Im getting so excited!!

Hey Mort, where can i see the list?

[sk8ingmom]

kcarl012 - have you tried these clip art sites?
http://members.tripod.com/~jillsmickimouse/jills2.htm
http://clipart.disneysites.com/

I think I may have stumbled on a fantastic coping mechanism for a day with a predicted high temp. of 0F. Swim suit shopping!! I got back in my car and it was -15F. 45 days to go!

[Mortlives]

The roll call list is here:
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=11096640&postcount=124

We're down to 31 working days, I really can't wait. We leave 6 weeks from tomorrow. I'm even looking forward to the drive down.

[kcarl021]

[QUOTE=Mortlives]The roll call list is here:
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=11096640&postcount=124

Oh I am not on here! What do you need? We have 8 in our party:

Me (32)
Husband (28)
Daughter (6)
Mother (52)
Father (54)
Girlfriend (32)
Her husband (39)
Their daughter (5)

[kcarl021]

ok dont know how I did that but those little dancing people in my reply are super cute! I guess you just type the word party with a colon after it. Dang, that is cute!

party: party: party: party: party: party:

[Mortlives]

That's a lot of people! At first, though, I had to admit that I read that it was your father's girlfriend and her family that were going. :lmao: Oh, the complexities of the modern family!

6 weeks from right now, we'll be on the road, heading to the border.

[Castaway Stowaway]

Wow kcarl21, thats a lot of people.. You are going to have soo much fun. We booked kind of last minute, so we werent able to get any of our friends to go with us. We are the only ones of all of our friends who have EVER been on dcl. Can yu believe it!! Im starting to work on my door signs today. Anyone have any luck finding pirate costumes? AAAARRRRGGG! pirate:

[kcarl021]

It is definitely going to be fun! I wish more of our friends and family could have made it, but not too many people at the spur of the moment can just plop down over 6K!

You won't have any trouble finding us though. We will be the ones at the adult pool having beers at 9:30 in the morning!

[I'mWong]

It's is only us going as well. My MIL usually cruises with us, but this time she decided to stay home. My DS and her kids will be at WDW this week. I tried to talk her into going on the cruise instead, but the difference in money was too great! She has three kids, so has to get one of the cabins for 5. They are a pretty hefty price. We did sail together in 01 with my MIL as well as my parents. It was a great trip, but sooooo cold! Whoever says it doesn't get cold in the sunny Bahamas was never there in January! IT was BONE CHILLING! However, I am not sure SK8tingmom would agree coming from Alaska! :rotfl:

I haven't started my door sign or my pirate costumes yet. I better get with it, or I will end up running out of time and regretting that I don't have one! :sad: Keep me posted on where and what you find for the costumes.

I booked Palo for the first night, and then found out there was not kidsclubs that night. :confused3 I am hoping that we will be able to change once we get on the ship. There was no way to change it ahead of time. We have sailed twice before, but this will be our first time at Palo. I have heard and seen (from pictures here) that it is not to be missed.

[DisneyPinDiva]

I'm not on the list either ... just myself DisneyPinDiva (Leslie) and DH Joe are going. From Coral Springs FL. We're both uh.... 40 somethings.....yeah.. that's my story and I'm sticking to it!! :earboy2: Right now they have us at early dining but we are on the waitlist for late dining.
Palo dinner is great... but we prefer brunch. You can experience the georgous view ... which you cannot see at night! Unfortunately they only do the brunch on sea days... and since we only have 2 of those this cruise... the brunches are booked solid as is the high tea.:sad: I'm going to do the ressie rush on the ship and see if there is anything left though... sometimes they hold out a few for us late comers. ::yes::

[DisneyPinDiva]

pirate: Ahoy Mateys! if ya really want to get into the spirit of Pirate Night.. get yourself a Pirate Name.pirate:

http://www.stupidstuff.org/main/piratename.htm

There are other Pirate Name generators out there too.... just google "Pirate Name generator" Try several and pick the name you like best!

We had a lot of fun with this on Pirate Night... someone at our table made little place markers with our pirate names and we made the servers call us by our pirate names thruout dinner!! We had a blast!

[sk8ingmom]

Too cool! I'm going to go try that next.


Anyone have any luck finding pirate costumes? AAAARRRRGGG! pirate:

I had pretty good luck just shopping in the junior dept. at JC Penney! I bought a black peasant-like skirt and an off white crinkly top with some gold trip. I just need some type of scarf to tie around my waist and a bandana. I think I'm going for the "propper lady who was kidnapped and became a pirate" look. More to the point, the whole thing was $20.

[sk8ingmom]

pirate: Ahoy Mateys! if ya really want to get into the spirit of Pirate Night.. get yourself a Pirate Name.pirate:

http://www.stupidstuff.org/main/piratename.htm

He we are:
Captain Eye Gouger (DH)
Iron Leg Henson (DS7)
Wild Eyed John (DS5)
The Lone Drinker (Me) - although I'm thinking kcarl012 will drink with me! You know those fruity drinks with umbrellas are much more appropriate breakfast drinks!

[DisneyPinDiva]

Good job on the Pirate finds at JC Penney! They do have the bare essentials on the ship in Mickey's Mates.. eye patch, etc if you can't find them. Party City is a great place to find small stuff like that too.
They will give you a bandana at dinner... pirate: If you are going to be at WDW prior to the cruise... the shop in the MK by Pirates of the Caribbean is a great place to get things for a simple costume.... tee shiry. eye patch, hat. etc

[DisneyPinDiva]

Great Pirate Names!!! pirate:

Last year mine was "Can't Remember Where the Damn Treasures Buried Jen" :rotfl2: A bit long but it fit me to a T!! I can't remember anything and just laughed hysterically when that one came up! I think I'll get a new one.....
DH is Capt'n Cutthroat Jake Smyth

[Castaway Stowaway]

Hey Sk8ingmom, I cant even remember the last time i bought something in the juniors dept!! Dont be a lone drinker!! Pick me PIck me!! Ill be more than happy to have a drink with yee!AARRGG pirate: :crazy: I gotta get on this stinkin door sign. I really want to make one, but i STILL cant figure it out. Ok dont yell at me, but i cant figure out how to make the letters in an arch, like around a pic. I really need a vacation!!!

[sk8ingmom]

Well...OK...I guess you can drink with me! :drinking1 :drinking1
Anyone else wanna join us?

I don't shop in the junior dept. on a regular basis - but combining a few trends made for a fine pirate outfit! It actually made me laugh, I was thinking pirate: all along, but the girl who rung me up thought it was a very cute outfit! I also found the coolest belt (for a costume). It looked like it was made of giant gold coins. I hope it goes on sale before we leave - not paying $28 bucks for an ugly (IMO) belt!

[MickeyMania]

pirate: Had I known there was drinking discussion going on - I wouldn't have stayed away from the board so long!

This has been me for the past few weeks.... :surfweb: and unforutnately I've been doing real work :mad:

I am getting soooo excited. Some questions:

How many people are dressing in pirate gear? :pirate:

Ladies: how many pairs of shoes are you packing? At this rate - I've got flip-flops, sandals, 2 pairs of nice dinner shoes and sneakers. That's FIVE pairs. How does anyone get away with less? :confused:

Oh - and for repeat cruisers - is there apple juice at the drink station? do you have to pay for apple juice? (oh - and to be clear - sk8ing mom - this is not the drink I was talking about!)

I am so excited!!!!

[Mortlives]

Well...OK...I guess you can drink with me! :drinking1 :drinking1
Anyone else wanna join us?


Count us in! :drinking1 :drinking1 (Well, the adults anyway).

[Castaway Stowaway]

I must have smelled the appletinis flowing, cuz i cant seem to stay away from these dang boards! I have got to get a life. Every time my DH comes home from work, Im sitting here on the dis boards. Poor man, he doesnt even ask me what im doing anymore :teeth: . I can not remember if there was apple juice on deck 9 . I should, my ds5 drank tons of it when he was three. I AM SO EXCITED!! We are gonna have a blast. :bounce: :crazy: (me) :sad2: :rolleyes2 ( my dh) :hug:

[MickeyMania]

I must have smelled the appletinis flowing, cuz i cant seem to stay away from these dang boards! I have got to get a life. Every time my DH comes home from work, Im sitting here on the dis boards. Poor man, he doesnt even ask me what im doing anymore :teeth: :bounce: :crazy: (me) :sad2: :rolleyes2 ( my dh) :hug:

I'm in the same boat! (pun intended!) party:

My dh will come up to my office and just roll his eyes! Especially when I joined the boards - about 7 months ago![I] :rotfl: Now he's gotten into the spirit of things and will throw me a question every now and then - like the apple juice one! But now that someone said appletinis.... :mickeyjum :mickeyjum :mickeyjum :mickeyjum

[DisneyPinDiva]

:drinking1 LOL.. are you kidding?? :drinking1 My new Pirate name turned out to be............drum roll.............

Rum Drinkin' Red Ethel. :rotfl:
Very very twilight zoneish... I LOVE rum... have red hair, and my mom's name was Ethel!!!

No apple juice at the drink station on deck 9 that I can recall. Soda, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, milk and I think a Hi-C type fruit punch. At continental breakfast time I think they had juices up there... you might be able to stock up for the day then...

As for shoes, hmmmm... black strappy sandels that can be used with anything I wear to dinner and Tevo's for the rest of the time. Water shoes for the beach and snorkel fins. Guess that makes 4 but I'll wear the Tevo's on.
Let me give you one BIG tip. Put everything you think you want to take out on the bed. Pack half of it!! Check out the list of tips on the sticky.... there are a lot of great tips there. The over the door shoe holder being the best thing you can take on a cruise... and it has nothing to do with shoes!

Now... on the subject of appletini's, or martini's in general... the Martini Tasting.. (or whatever they're calling it now a days) is a blast! I never had a martini in my life until we did this on the last cruise... and I was hooked!!! Chocolate martini's are to DIE for!! :drinking1

[DisneyPinDiva]

oh MickeyMania... where are you in Windermere... that's where my MouseHouse is!!! :mickeyjum

[sk8ingmom]

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3]:As for shoes, hmmmm... black strappy sandels that can be used with anything I wear to dinner and Tevo's for the rest of the time. Water shoes for the beach and snorkel fins. Guess that makes 4 but I'll wear the Tevo's on.

SNORKEL FINS count as shoes???? :rotfl:
That just made my day!

Lots of shoe packing here :thumbsup2 Mostly flip flops though (nice leather ones) so my 4 pairs of flip flops takes up less room that DHs shoes. Of all things, my dinner dresses all match my silver strappy sandals. Most people go with black or white, nope not me! DH is the shoe hound...he'll have 2 pairs of dress shoes, sneakers, sandals, flip flops, boat shoes... :rolleyes2

I think my new pirate name should be: Drinks with Plank Mates (board friends), instead of The Lone Drinker !
:lmao:

[Castaway Stowaway]

I need help picking our official pirate names
Me-fancy pants pete or bloody jenny vane (i like the latter AARRGG!)
dh-frosty seabass
ds9-deadeye rackham or Musketball Ted

ds5-eric the enforcer or Captain Bart Snaggletooth (i vote latter!!)
Oh and while i was cleaning behind my ds 5 dresser yesterday, I found his eye patch we bought him at DTD in California!! woohoo!1 one less thing for my to buy! ( which means more$$ for :drinking1 :rolleyes1 )

Ive got a question, We are flying from Va on friday,staying at the hyatt, and getting disney transfers, how in the world am i gonna bring alcohol on the ship? Im certainly not gonna lug a case of corona from va!! MMMM ice cold corona sounds good. you think its too early to start? NNNAAHH! its 5 o clock somewhere!!

[Mortlives]

Arrrrrrrr! I be Black Mary Rackham. pirate:

ETA: I'm a huge fan of Corona, too. Although, I don't know how you can bring it, I think you can buy it on the ship, or in Key West.

[DisneyPinDiva]

:tink:Good Morning Cruisers!!
Only 43 more days until we sail!!:sail:

Key West is a good alternative for buying stuff that you forgot or don't want to lug... although things are pricey there. Unfortunately no Wal-Mart. Locals have to go to Marathon to stock up I guess!!

Refresh my memory... where is the Hyatt? Is that on Hotel Plaza Blvd? If that's the case you can get your Corona at Goodings... or Lynx it down to the Wal-Mart Supercenter on 535...probably worth even a cab ride since Goodings is such a ripoff price wise.

Castaway... here are my votes for your pirate names
Bloody Jenny Vane
Frosty Seabass??? I'd try again for DH on that one! pirate:
Deadeye Rackham
Capt Bart Snaggletooth
Aarrrrgh! pirate:


:thumbsup2 Yes, for me, snorkel fins count as shoes.. they take up too much room to begin with! I think CC might be a bit cool for snorkeling, but Grand Caymen is supposed to have some great sites within walking distance of the tender pier... so I'll have to bring them along. Luckily after so many cruises I pretty much have the packing down.

[Castaway Stowaway]

I know!! My poor manly husband gets frosty seabass!! I really gotta find a new one! I could just name him Johnny Depp and have a real great cruise!! :blush: :love:

The Hyatt is at the airport. It seem to be the easiest thing to do. Its what weve done in the past. BUT, the busses dont leave for the port till like 12:00.
I really wish we could get there earlier. Maybe i could get a towncar. but id be so worried that they wouldnt show up, or be late! Any suggestions?

[sk8ingmom]

(insert best Homer Simpson voice here)
MMMMMM CORONA !

Frosty Seabass might be appropriate for my DH ! Actually he loved "Captain Eye Gouger" - he got a promotion! He's 2 ranks below Captain in real life.
Oh, and he agreed to go with his dinner dress uniform for formal night! (I know you were all really worried about that!) Anything to make me happy - it's good to be a princess!

Those of you with DSs, what are they wearing for formal night? I think I'm going to just have mine wear their suits with a white shirt and tie for formal & colored shirt and tie with no jacket for semi formal. What are y'all doin'??

Useless trivia for the day - there is a temp. difference of 117 degrees between Fairbanks, Alaska and CC today! Thank goodness we aren't in Fairbanks. Only a 72 degree difference between the high at my house and CC.

Can I start packing yet?? (not counting snokel fins as shoes!)

[DisneyPinDiva]

I think you can safely start packing. Not much use for cruise wear in AK at the moment I wouldn't think!! :rotfl: I think it's great that your DH will wear his dress uniform for formal night.... I think they look stunning, and you should be very proud.

Are you sure your DS's are going to want to come out of the clubs to eat with you on formal night?? From what I've heard... the kids love the clubs so much they never want to come out. Dressy shirt and pants is even fine if you don't want to bring a suit. If they have one, then that's fine but I wouldn't go out and buy anything.

DH and I usually dress up but it's only because it's the only time we get to do it. He may not bring his tux this time though... it may not fit at the moment...LOL It's not a big deal for me to throw the dress in the suitcase... it packs well and should still fit by Monday night...;)

Hmmmm Hyatt at the airport... and then Disney picks you up? Interesting. I would compare the price vs a towncar from Happy Limo or other service. They will usually make a stop for you too.. Wal-Mart near the port comes to mind.... :thumbsup2 Just make the pick up for earlier. They are usually pretty reputable and timely.

[Castaway Stowaway]

I havent started packing yet, but i put a big rubbermade tub in my room and as i think of things ill need on the trip, i just toss it in there. So far all ive got is disposible cameras. I went bathing suit shopping. :sad2: thats enough to make me wanna eat a box of Krispy Kreames(sp)!! Oh well I figure nobody knows me and nobody really cares anyway. Now im in the market for a really good sarong!! Ill have to check out a car service to the port. It has always been really nice to not deal with our luggage. Disney always did it for us. But i don think it will be so bad this time. We have no carseat, no stroller, no diapers, and no pacifiers! Life is good!

[otoole]

We are also staying at the Hyatt and are booked with Disney bus to the port since we are flying in at 8:00 the night before and wanted to avoid shuttles to nearby hotels if our flight was late. One of the main reasons we booked with Hyatt is because Disney told me that the Hyatt has a Disney booth and we can simply go down to the lobby anytime after 9:00 a.m. and they will let us know when the bus will be departing. I figured this also avoids us waiting at the airport the next morning for the bus but assumed that this meant that the bus would be leaving relatively early - I don't want to wait around until 12:00.

I was very disappointed tonight as well because we had booked Buffalo (we are from Toronto) to Orlando with Southwest months ago and tonight, after months of being a ding fanatic, a $49 Ding fare appeared while I was online but the dates we need were already unavailable!

I haven't begun to pack but have written a list of things needed to purchase and essentials to take. I still have to pull out my summer shoes to remind myself what I own.

Tracey

[Castaway Stowaway]

Otoole, We are flying in at 8:00pm too! Are you passing through Norfolk on the way? We stayed at the hyatt last time, and yes there is a Disney booth at the airport. What happened for us is Sat morning, we Had our luggage outside our room by 9:00am. Then we had breakfast and there were Dcl reps in the lobby of the airport. We were assigned groups, and then went on the bus. I remember getting to the port and there being really long lines. (thank goodness we are cc members) Im seriously thinking of getting a towncar there. And our flight is @ noon on the way home, So maybe well get a towncar on the way back too? I dunno, havent figured it out yet. I dont care how i get there, just get me on that boat! :cool1:

[kcarl021]

First get this, my pirate name is:

Horse Hung Harry!!!!???

Lordy!

We are flying in the day before but decided to take a car service to Port Canaveral and stay the night there. That way we can get on the ship early. We get in around noon on Friday though so that works out ok for us. We booked with FL Tours and they can get all 8 of us, including luggage, and a grocery stop, for $210 round trip. We are staying at the Radisson and they will shuttle you to the ship the next day. The only issue is the fact that we have to lug around our own luggage but with 6 adults, we should be ok!

[Choople]

Hello All...I have been reading the thread for a couple of weeks, wasnt sure of the shortforms I was reading but what the heck....we are a family of 4 from Ottawa Canada, second disney cruise..Hubby and I and two great teeanage girls. Wonderful info on different subjects on the thread...

One question: What Pirate night??...I didnt read about it on the site...

Counting down :hourglass

[Mortlives]

Welcome aboard, Choople!

We seem to be getting quite a few Ontarians on the trip. Now it turns out otoole is in Toronto, like we are.

DH is dear husband, DW dear wife, dd dear daughter, ds dear son, etc.

6 weeks today, people! :hmghost: :maleficen

Someone was asking about formal night. Our ds will probably just wear pants and a shirt, I can't see buying a suit or whatnot for someone in the middle of a growth spurt. DH is planning on wearing his kilt, and I have a floor length purple velvet gown that's dying to see some action. Although maybe I should just wear my little black dress...

Pirate night is usually Cozumel night. People dress up as pirates, and there's a deck party, and food, and pirates. Should be a blast.

[Choople]

Thanks Mortlives..we are really looking forward to this cruise...we gave the girls the choice of cruise lines and they wanted to go back on Disney even at 17 and 15 years of age, which is great, we are disney fanatics

Another question, in one of the other postings, they talked about the long lineups at the port for boarding and that they were glad they were CC members, what advance does that give you in boarding??

[DisneyPinDiva]

:banana: Happy Saturday Cruisers!!! :banana:
In six short weeks we will be enjoying that embarkation buffet!! LOVE those giant shrimp!!

All of you people staying at the Hyatt should consider getting a van service to the port together. We did that a few years ago with some people from The DIS and it worked out great!

Question of the day: Will anyone be at WDW before or after the cruise?

[DisneyPinDiva]

HI Choople.. Welcome Aboard! CC members have a separate line for check in... but not really any preference in boarding. Most of the time the CC line is longer than the regular line since DCL has so many return cruisers!

Pirate night is a themed dinner night and then deck party afterwards. It's a lot of fun, a lot of people dress up like pirates.. but it's not required. You don't want to miss the deck party though... there are lots of surprises!

[sk8ingmom]

Welcome aboard Choople :wave2:

RE: formal night
My DSs LOVE the "fancy dinners". Last cruise they were 3 & 5 and absolutely loved getting dressed up and hanging with the grown ups, even with the late seating...the Shirley Temples, the fancy food..this is the life! We are mean parents who enforce table manners at home, so it is not that big a deal to them to hang out at the table while we linger over coffee. In fact, I encouraged them to at least look at the adult menu and they both ordered the roast chicken every night. When DS3 requested "roast beef chicken" for his birthday dinner a few months later it took me DAYS to figure out what he meant! I wouldn't buy suits for just the cruise, but they each have one for Christmas/Easter. I'm a sale shopper - $15-$20 each.

RE: Question of the day
ME ME ME. We are spending 6 days at WDW after the cruise. We had originally booked SOG, but DH still has a FL driver's license so we were able to book CBR for about $5 more a night. We arrive in Orlando Thurs. before the cruise and plan to go to Kennedy Space Center on Friday. We'll be at the Radisson (Hi KCarl012!). I wanted that 36 hour buffer since it takes 3 flights to get to Orlando, it is winter, and we have a pesky volcano up here that is closing the airport periodically.

Gee Mortlives - your DH in a kilt, my DH in uniform...how ever will we find each other??? :confused3

[kcarl021]

You are all making me feel so bad! I have to dress up almost every day for work and I am so sick of it. I haven't even thought about what I am planning to wear and haven't even thought about shopping! I am just looking forward to wearing dress-DOWN clothes for a week!

[DisneyPinDiva]

Ohhh Don't feel bad kcarl021!! The whole point of the cruise is to relax and have a good time! You NEVER have to get dressed up if you don't want to!! There are always alternatives to the formal dining rooms, and then there's room service!!! :thumbsup2

Sk8ingmom... wow.. 3 flights? That's going to be a looooong day! Coming that far I guess you would want to make the most of it though!! :cheer2:

[kcarl021]

[QUOTE=DisneyPinDiva]The whole point of the cruise is to relax and have a good time! ...there's room service!!! :thumbsup2

I will say some of my favorites nights were sititng on the verandah with a bucket of beer and the cheese tray, just relaxing! I seriously can't wait!

It's been unseasonably warm here in MO, 2 straight weeks of temperatures in the upper 50's lower 60's and a few days in the 70s! It's making me long for the cruise even more! At least its decent motivation to get into shape, can't hide under my bulky winter clothes in this weather!


http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10732;128/st/20060311/e/2nd+Disney+Cruise%21+/k/8751/event.png
(http://www.TickerFactory.com/)

[Castaway Stowaway]

Im with you Kcarl! We dress up all the time for religious meetings and We have always done the formal night on the cruise. This time i really want to just relax! I still may dress up, and my dss both have lots of suits. My dh and i started the South Beach diet yesterday. We wanna get in "cruise shape". It lasted till lunch :confused3 :lmao: . We drove by Cheescake factory and said hhmm, maybe well start our diet on monday. You know, new week & all. :smooth:

[Mortlives]

Gee Mortlives - your DH in a kilt, my DH in uniform...how ever will we find each other??? :confused3

We tend to be even easier to spot than you're thinking, I think. :lmao:

But seriously though, my question for the day: is a train too much, even for formal night? Ummm, dress train, not choo choo.

[Mortlives]

For all the Corona fans, I just pulled one from my freezer, and if it was any colder, it'd be slushy. Cheers! :drinking1

Meanwhile, 6 weeks from now, we'll be in Key West. Oh, I can't wait. It's odd, though, I've been delaying the arrangements for traveling this time around. I only finalized my hotels on the way down yesterday, and printed out the maps today. We've decided to wing it on the way home. I don't think I've ever gone anywhere without reservations in my adult life. This should be interesting.

Who's planning on hitting the rainforest room?

[Castaway Stowaway]

oh Mortlives, i plan on being in the rainforest room everyday, if my dh and dss cooperate!! amen on the Coronas!! I just had a bottle of wine, Shared with girlfriends and a shot of very good milago tequila, so i am a HAPPY girl right now. I am soooo excited. i do still need to make ressies for the Hyatt on Friday. Its soo much money. any suggestions on finding a better rate than 179.00 a night? Oh and i booked an towncar for on the way to the port and back. That solves my Corona dilema. Mortlives, ill save one just for you!! Happy SAiling everyone. Have a great night. I know i am! :drinking1 :hippie:

[I'mWong]

I love reading this thread! You are all so funny! I am going to be looking for a kilt and a military dress uniform on this cruise to find my fellow disers! We are dressing up. My husband bought a tux a while ago and the ONLY time he ever gets to wear it is on a cruise. My DD LOVES dressing up! We bought a dress on clearance the other day from Penneys (it was leftover from Christmas, but doesn't look too Christmasy) and we always buy DS a suit for Easter, so we will get it a little early this year! I was in a wedding last year and the dress is actually nice enough to wear somewhere else and not look like a bridesmaid! :rotfl2: It would be nice to get a little more use out of it with the price I paid.

We too are staying at the Hyatt on Friday. I am a little confused about the transfers. :confused3 I thought you were able to get out of there pretty early from what we were told by the DCL rep. Is noon the earliest? I have already paid almost $250 for the transfers. Changing to something else is not an option unless I can get my other money back. Does anyone know if that is possible?

BTW...we actually found some pirate goodies at the local Party City. They had an entire section of stuff. They had costumes too, but we didn't get those. Would rather try to piece things together that could be worn again! DS has a captain hook costume already and as he said, "Mom, you can't get much more piraty than that!" pirate: Good advice from a 6 year old!

[I'mWong]

One more thing...tell me about the rainforest room. Do you wear your swimsuit or what? Is it coed?

[kcarl021]

Is anyone else just getting more and more excited about this every time someone posts something new???? I am just about DONE with talking about it and ready to get going! :banana: I think I am going to have to wait to try everything on until the week before and then spend the weekend before buying everything I need and packing. Seems like the more I try to get things done early, the longer away the trip seems! Soooo.... if anyone is more organized and has a good packing list, please POST IT! :thanks:

Sorry I had to try out this goofy!

:goofy:

Ahhh, but I did get all of the door signs done (for three doors!) and they are pretty cute!

And don't you all forget that it will be St. Patrick's Day when we are on the ship! :shamrock: I promise to pinch you if you aren't wearing green!

Oh the train on the dress question.... I am sure it won't be too much but I seriously do NOT recommend it. It's hard enough walking around on the ship when its moving, even in heels, much less with a train. The movement never bothered me at all, but the dining areas are on the lower levels and you could tell! Especially in the adult nightclub area, one night I almost ran into a wall and I was wearing flats (still don't know if it was the ship or the beer that caused it!!!!) That was my theory though, when I was sober, I walked funny, when I was drunk, I walked straight

[I'mWong]

I am so excited! I can hardly wait! I haven't started packing, but think that the time is near. I have been "thinking" alot about packing...does that count!? :rotfl:

[I'mWong]

[QUOTE=kcarl021]First get this, my pirate name is:

Horse Hung Harry!!!!???

Lordy!

That is one heck of a pirate name there! Ours came up pretty dull. I am going to try again tomorrow and see if we can get something a little spicier!

[Castaway Stowaway]

ImWong, I just cancelled my my ressies for the dcl transfers. I booked through here(fltours) a towncar, and for my fam of 4 we saved $66. Its not much but ill get there much sooner. I wanna be there early. Plus they will make a grocery store stop on the way and ill be a ble to get my "mommy and daddy juice" :rotfl2: :lmao: . Dcl will refund your money no prob. Anyone else do the dreaded bathing suit shopping yet? :scared1: I really dont want to!!! How many more days to go!!?? :cool1: :thumbsup2 :banana: pirate:

[Castaway Stowaway]

ph and the rainforest room is a bunch of different rooms with aromatherapy, steam, dry sauna. and yes, please do wear a suit!!

[otoole]

We too have booked our transfers with DCL and are staying at the Hyatt. I had figured I would be able to pick up some beer, wine at the airport or simply in Key West. Does anyone know what Disney's corking fee is? Is it worth purchasing your own wine or should be simply get the wine plan? If you bring beer can you take these around the ship or must you drink in your cabin (which I can't imagine we will spend much time)? Last year we were at Disney for March break and my husband and I didn't even touch the beer we had purchased because we were so tired after a day at the parks so I am not sure how important these questions are. I can imagine having a glass of wine at dinner and possibly a drink in the afternoon - although the wine and beer tastings sound good.

I read somewhere on the boards that Disney changed their boarding policy - guests no longer board first come but instead they read out room numbers and guests board accordingly - has anyone else heard of this? If so, I am not sure that I care how early I arrive - I would hate to get their early only to have to wait while others board. I am also wondering how they determine who boards the buses upon departure - we have a 12:45 plane and want to board an early bus back to the airport - if this will be hard to arrange then I might consider cancelling the DCL transfers - although I would rather not have to deal with someone else and I know the kids will be more excited boarding a DCL bus with other kids for the drive to the port - also we won't have booster seats for a car.

I too am not planning to dress up much - on formal night my husband will wear a tie and jacket for formal night, my son a button down (and maybe a tie if I can convince him and believe me convincing will be required), my daughter and I will wear dresses - every other night will be fairly low key.

My daughter is sooo excited for the princesses - she received Disney princess nailpolish and lip gloss at Christmas and refuese to use them because she wants to give each princess the lip gloss and nailpolish with their picture on it. I want to make pillowcases for the kids and have them signed. We made a calendar yesterday counting down the days until the cruise and my kids cross off each day - it is closer than I thought!

[sk8ingmom]

I've been bikini shopping (mostly via Internet - not much choice here. All I can find up here is jr. dept. string-y things...not good on a 30-something mom!). Here is my theory: tan skin looks less flabby than pasty white skin. What do you think? Maybe I'm just kidding myself, but it makes me feel better!

My favorite clothing in the world is a sundress and flip flops. So that is basically what I am wearing for 7 days - casual during the day, dressier in the evening. Life is good!

Beer/wine question: On our Wonder cruise, we carried on a few bottles of wine an a 12-pack of beer. I did see people drinking from beer cans on deck, but we poured ours into insulated cups to take up to the pool - stays colder that way. I asked the steward for 2 wine glasses & we would pour a glass of wine to take to the shows or carry while strolling around before dinner. No one would know that it was from our room and not one of the bars. We also bought the wine package. Plan to do that again this time. We gave the wine package to MIL & FIL for Christmas...so we don't have to share !

Yikes! I really sound like a lush! Never got trashed, or even remotely drunk - just relaxed!

Fight you for a tile lounger in the rainforest room!!! We'll be there.

[DisneyPinDiva]

You guys have been BUSY!! :chat: Good to see!
Last that I know of.. the corking fee was $15. You are much better off keeping the bottle in your rooom, pouring a big glass before dinner and taking it with you. Either ask for wine glasses from room service or bring on a couple of your own. We did that and just put those little charms on them so the servers knew they were ours. We have uh.. very large wine glasses....so it would last us thru dinner. :drinking1 The wine plan is pricey... but if you can afford it.. go for it but then you only get to drink it at dinner. We always bring our own because DH is picky and we like to have it in the room.

I know there is a new boarding policy.. but I did not think it was by room number. Concierge and handicapped get to board first. Then I believe you recieve a boarding "group" number as you enter the terminal. Sort of like how Southwest Airlines does it I'm told. Then the call the groups. That way people supposedly don't line up. My guess is they will line up anyway. I know a few people on the cruise in February so I'll get the scoop from them.

The rainforest room IS coed... and PLEASE wear your bathing suit!! :rotfl: I'll be in on that fight for the loungers...LOL I plan to pretty much live in the rainforest room! I wish I could find a spa that had those loungers somewhere around here... with that kind of set up.. of course then I would never be home!!

As for the train on the dress... it might be hazardous! Esp at dinner where quarters are sometimes tight and I wouldn't want anyone stepping on it or pushing their chair out on it and ruining your dress. It's definately not too much... you wouldn't believe some of the dresses I've seen..... We had a woman on our Christmas cruise in 2004 that had 27 pieces of luggage. She had a different dress each night.. Formal or not... she wore a hugh southern belle type dress.....It took up half the room!! She had wigs to match everything too.. it was hilarious. We got to calling her Cinderella....:rotfl2: Every night in Shutters she spent hundreds of dollars on the portraits of her in the dresses. So if you want to wear the train.. go for it.. just be careful. The one dress I'm thinking of bringing has sort of a flounce down the back but I don't think it trails behind.. I'll have to check...LOL

Was anyone able to book a Palo Brunch or High Tea?

[MickeyMania]

Leslie - Your story about the woman and her 27 pieces of luggage is hysterical. You see - that's the kind of entertainment I would pay money for! :rotfl2:

I was able to get brunch - but in all honesty I do not remember what day I got! I want to say Sunday - but that can't be right. I don't think they do brunch at port days. :crazy:

I know I wasn't able to get the times or dates I really wanted - but I've never cruised Disney before - so it's all new and fabulous! :love:

:woohoo: This is how I feel! Even my kids are dreaming about the cruise now!

[DisneyPinDiva]

LOL... your brunch will be on Monday or Thursday... they only do it on sea days...:) It is FABULOUS! You probably won't want to eat anything for the rest of the day!! We booked so late that everything was taken for online booking, but we're going to try once onboard. The high tea is great too... the pastries are to DIE for!

I dragged the bathing suits out this afternoon. :scared1: Living in FL you would think I would be tan and in bathing suit shape. NOT SO!! We have pools in the yards here ... so no one else ever has to see us in our bathing suits.... so it's anything goes....:rotfl2: I'm still working on getting the Repo cruise weight off.... loooooong story there... having to do with a horse incident in Mazatlan. LOL Perhaps we'll all laugh about it over drinks around the pool one evening.... or in the rainforest room...;)
ANYWAY.....
sk8ingmom... I guess it IS kind of tough to find a bikini in Alaska in January....:rotfl2:We have them year round down here ... but I go more for the tent type suit....:rotfl:

Everytime I think about that woman and those dresses I laugh. It's so much fun to just people watch on the cruise too. You sure see ALL kinds.
We'll.. I'm off to cut out a pattern for a buccaneer shirt for DH for the cruise. His last pirate shirt is getting a bit tight....LOL

ONLY 39 Days 14 Hrs 24 Mins 50 Secs to go!!!

[I'mWong]

Everytime I read something here I laugh out loud! I can just picture that "southern belle" in all her glory! :rotfl:

I was able to get all three ressies at Palos, but our problem is that now there are no kid's activities on the first night, so we are going to have to try to change our dinner to another night. We thought it would be nice to go the first night, relax after the stress of getting on the ship and the transfers, blah, blah, blah. Once we discovered there wasn't a supervised place for ds and dd, it was too late to change. Oh well...if it was meant to be, it will work out. If not, we will survive! :cool1: I just can't wait to get on that ship! :woohoo:

Glad to find out more about that rainforest room. Everyone on this site can't say enough great things about it! Must be pretty great!

I am making some tshirts and pillowcases. My husband's business is embroidery and I saw a really nice pillowcase on another thread that had the child's name, sail date and ship sewn in the middle and then all the signatures in different colors around it. It was really nice. It would be nice to frame and hang on the wall.

Keep sharing your ideas. I am getting excited and inspired each time I log in. :teeth:

[kcarl021]

I think I need to stop coming here - it is making me too excited!!!!! I am such a planner but I am so excited I just want to throw some junk in a suitcases and pay full price for ship alcohol if it gets me there NOW!

[MickeyMania]

Any new names? :yay:

Does anyone want to get a meet going on the first day? I have NO idea how they are organized - has anyone done one before? Is it too hectic to try to meet the first day? :bounce: :crazy: :bounce: :crazy: :Pinkbounc :crazy: :Pinkbounc

I would normally just pass - but you guys are really starting to sounds like too much fun! I would hate to miss hearing Leslie's long horse story over drinks?! :lmao:

Well I am off to dream about the cruise... maybe it will be the really good dream where the cruise is tomorrow and I've lost 40 pounds.... :cloud9:

Good Night!

[Mortlives]

Come to think of it, maybe we should create a comprehensive list of who is going to be on the cruise, and ages, etc. If you're interested in being on the list, pm me, and I'll edit this post to add you. :sail:

I'll start off:
Morticia (me) 40 (okay, so I'll be 41 by then), DH 42, and DS 14.
tross (Tammy) and DH also 40somethings, DS14, DS12, DS9
MickeyMania (Colleen), Andrew, DS6, DD3.
sk8ingmom (M.) 33, Steve 34, DS7, DS5, MIL (Evelyn) 59, FIL (Wayne) 60
CastawayStowaway (Jennifer), Ben, DS9, DS5
fcrouch (Fred), Maureen, DD5
CBEB, DH and DD9
I'mWong (Laura), Greg, DD9 and DS6/7 (cruise birthday boy!)
otoole, DH, DS6, DD4
kcarl021, DH, DD6, DM, DF, GF, GFDH, GFDD5 party:
DisneyPinDiva (Leslie), Joe
Choople (Katherine)49, Mark 45, DD17, DD15
Mickey&JoshNut (Elaine) and Margaret


This is who we have so far. I know we're missing some.

If anyone else wants on the list, please let me know.

[DisneyPinDiva]

We've done DIS meets a few times either before sailaway or AT sailaway. 3pm used to be a good time up on deck 10... but sometimes people with the late transfers wouldn't get there early enough to eat and get there by 3. Heave forbid we don't want anyone to miss that Embarkation buffet!!! :teeth:
We could meet during sailaway (5ish) up on Deck 10 Starboard above the Goofy pool. It does get kind of hectic though. Ya'll have little ones to worry about so we are flexible. Sk8ingmom.. we should be hanging out with your MIL and FIL!! :rotfl:

[sk8ingmom]

I might just GIVE MIL & FIL to you by about day 3 !! They are great people, but we've never vacationed with them, so I am a bit nervous.

I think it would be fun to met up early in the cruise. There seem to be lots of 5-7yo kids here. I'm thinking it would be nice for the kids to have familiar faces in the club. Besides, I would hate to get back on this board after the cruise and have one of you write about the tile-lounger-hogging-pasty-white-corona-drinking-woman in the Rainforest room. :blush:

The place you describe is exactly where we watched the sail away party on our Wonder cruise. Perfect spot. Any suggestion on how to find one another?

"Excuse me, are you, per chance, Horse Hung Harry?" {SLAP} :rotfl2:

I know some groups have used the lime green Disney paint samples from Home Depot - I have no idea HOW they used them, just that they used them. Of course we can just look for other people holding Coronas!

I just read on the main board that the Feb. 11 sailing just found out they are not going to Cozumel. I wonder where we will end up . . .

[Castaway Stowaway]

Sk8ingmom, Great suggestion. Well all grab a Corona and meet above goofys pool on Deck 10. forget paint samples!!! Beer sounds much better. Man, i sound like a lush :rolleyes1 . Nearly all of my posts are regarding alcohol! I AM SOOOO EXCITED!! We should all grab our digi cameras and post a pic of ourselves. (come on ladies, we can do this) That will make it really easy to find each other! :thumbsup2

[kcarl021]

Sail away party for sure! I like both the Corona and the green Mickey Mouse paint sample chips. Whee! It will be fun to have a whole group of people dancing away at the sail away party!

But where on the deck???

If I remember correctly, they cover the pool and they use the main stage for the performance, and the covered pool for the dancing. There are two small round side stages where the band plays when the pool is open. Last year they were empty. I remember because my poor daughter was so sick that she just sat there by herselg and looked miserable while the rest of us partied (this was when we thought she was still milking it, I'm not as horrible of a mother as it sounds and I still feel terrible about it :guilty: )

Would that be a good spot?

[DisneyPinDiva]

Well MY picture is right there in my sig... I don't know why you wouldn't recognize me!! :rotfl2: Of course we would all have to wear DIS green! That way we are well prepared for St. Pattys day as well! :shamrock: Deck 10 overlooking the Goofy pool is a bit less hectic than being down on Deck 9 around the deck. You can see better and then you can hang over the side when we pull out and wave to the people along the shore.

Since I don't actually drink Corona... sorry.. I'm a rum or wine lush...:drinking1 I'll be the one with the innocent looking Disney cup with unsuspicious looking cola in it..... just don't light a match near it...pirate:

[Mickey&JoshNut]

Just booked this cruise this afternoon!!! This will be our 6th cruise on DCL, but first Western. Well, we went WAY west last May... but not these ports. We were holding out for the rumored 2007 itineraries but I need a DCL fix before that!
Can't believe how easy it was to catch up... only 10 pages??? Okay people LET'S TALK!!!OH... cruising will be me... Leslie and Joe my DH. That's it.


WOW...you guys sure have been talking since Leslie joined you!!!! 3/23/05 - 1/21/06 10 pages....1/21/06 - today 6 pages!!!!!!

You guys are going to have a blast with Leslie and Joe....we had the privilege of cruising with them on the 14 day REPO cruise in May 2005 and am pleased to consider them good friends....I wish we could join you guys on this cruise but I have no vacation time left :sad:

Leslie...I'm glad you are able to laugh about your horse incident in Mazatlan....I know it was a scary time and if you need a Canadian fix during your cruise, I understand that Otoole is Canadian and lives not far from us!!!!

Hi Leslie :wave2:

[DisneyPinDiva]

:wave2: Hi Elaine!!!
Sure wish I could talk you into coming with us!! Nothing like a crazy Canadian to add to the fun. Otoole will have to fill in for you I guess. :sunny: Maybe I can corrupt her into getting tattoos too.....:rotfl:

[sk8ingmom]

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3]Since I don't actually drink Corona... sorry.. I'm a rum or wine lush...:drinking1 I'll be the one with the innocent looking Disney cup with unsuspicious looking cola in it..... just don't light a match near it...pirate:


Flammable beverages...EXCELLENT !!! Where do I sign up??

[MickeyMania]

So deck 10 it is... at 5pm! Lime green clothing, coronas and flameable beverages. Got it. (How do we post our pics?)

Okay - so I have to share this story! Yesterday - I played hookey from work. :cool1: My husband is a stay at home dad. :goodvibes After we dropped the kids off at school - we headed to MGM for an afternoon of fun!

But of course our real mission was to play Who Wants to Be A Millionaire! We've played twice before and have come close - in fact my husband was the top scorer once, but it was the end of the game :sad2: So we saddle up to out seats... Forget the fastest finger part - too hard. We knew that going in. The first lady get up... and my dh and I are very competitive. Okay - me much more so. He's just naturally good at this kind of stuff. :love:

Sure enough - by the time the first woman misses her question - my DH is #1!!!! I went nuts. Fueled by the thought that perhaps we could win a 3 night cruise! :banana: :banana:

Well - he did very well! Not cruise well - but he does have a millionaire hat, 10 pins and a polo to show for it! :bounce: :Pinkbounc And for Disney Geeks like us - that is way cool! He made it to the $125,000 question. By the way - did you know that lightening reaches a temperature of 50,000 degrees F? Neither did he.

So - we planned on playing twice (that's about as much time as we had before my daughter needed to be picked up from school) But since he had won, I gave him the option of bailing... and soaking in the glory of his win. But he said - no way. I was in the top 10 and he thought I should try one more time...

So off we go. I am forgoing even trying the fastest finger. Did you know more people in the world speak Burmese than Indonesian? Neither did we.

So I play my little fingers off while the guy in the hot seat squirms away. By the time he loses - guess who is in the #1 spot! :banana: :banana: :bounce: :Pinkbounc

So I make my way to the hotseat! Now - I would love to say I got a 3 day crusie. But not even close. I did however get a hat and some pins. I made it to the $32,000 question. And I feel like a fool for getting my answer wrong... I am sure many of you know that Mt. Etna is in Italy. Heck - I am sure a seventh grader knew that. But you know how you get a thought in your head - before they reveal the answers. Then you see your answer. And you think - well it must be... :furious: So - after a 50/50 - just to be sure... my answer was still there. With a fair bit of confidence - I say Spain. :furious: :furious: I later learn spain doesn't have any volcanos. :rolleyes1 This is my theory: DCL has to do that European cruise - because I need a great geography refresher!

So now - we can play again on March 3. You have to wait a month until you can get back into the hotseat. And since dh has a polo shirt... the challenge is on! :woohoo: :woohoo:

Have you ever had this moment of clarity when you realize "I'm a bit of a geek?!?" :cheer2: :cheer2: Seriously, up until yesterday I was always the cool one - a bit manic, but still cool. :cool2: :hyper2: (Or so I thought!) And the next thing you know I am wearing a purple millionaire hat and sharing my sad little story with anyone who will listen! :rotfl2: :rotfl2:

Oh - I am not complaining - it was just a moment of clarity! :flower:

[I'mWong]

OK! Deck 10 wearing lime green. I will be there with my other three in tow. My ds falls in that 5-7 category too. My DD is 9, so hopefully there will be other 9 year old girls in our group. I too am questioning Cozumel. When you call or check on line, they say we are there, but I think it might be iffy! I want to book these off road vehicles, but am not sure we will be able to dock there. I know they give your money back, but if you read about other travelers that have had to cancel, it seems like it is not an easy feat to get it back. I would book with DCL directly, but they won't allow my DS (too young)

PinDiva question for you...you said you were making a buccaneer shirt for your DH. How hard is the pattern? I am not a great seamstress, but I would like to make one for my husband if I can get an easy pattern. I looked at the local fabric store, but wasn't sure I could do the one they had there. What would you say your skill level is? Apparently, men's pirate shirts are just not in fashion these days! :confused3 If your pattern is an easy one, will you send me the number off the pattern? Thanks!

Looking forward to meeting all of you and enjoying a great time together.

MICKEYMANIA: Congratulations on the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire successes. I have never even made it on the screen! What is the secret to getting to the #1 spot?

[Mortlives]

No lime green for us, I'm afraid. However, we should still be recognizeable. There's lots of pictures of us on my vacation website. http://www.stepmonster.ca/vacations

[sk8ingmom]

MICKEYMANIA - Very cool story. I would so go to MGM just to play WWTBAM if I lived close enough. I pride myself on being the queen of useless knowledge. I've been in the #1 spot TWICE when time was up. Talk about frustrating!

OK, so we all know each other's drink preferences...I thought I would start asking random questions to get to know each other.

Get to know you question of the day: What is your favorite sport?


Mine are football - GO BROWNS...uh...next year (I can't believe I've been chatting with Steelers fans here!), hockey (everyone in my family plays), and figure skating (once upon a time I was pretty good). It's going to be a great few weeks - Super Bowl then Olympics then vacation. I am a total Olympic junkie.

Who wants to ask a question tomorrow??

[Castaway Stowaway]

Uummm, is shopping a sport? I really like that :thumbsup2 I enjoy swimming. Enjoy watching a really good football game. We are definately a COWBOYS family. I also enjoy basketball. I am sooo not athletic, but i dont mind watching other people play sports! :rotfl2:

[I'mWong]

Good idea, Sk8tingMom. I actually love ice skating, but only watching, not participating. I enjoy watching my son play soccer. He is on the 6yr. old YMCA team. Doesn't get much more exciting than that! ha ha :cheer2: I LOVED watching our beloved Astros play in the world series last year. Was sad with the end results, but proud of the accomplishment. They are a great team made of what seems like really great people. Don't know much about hockey, but a fellow teacher's brother plays for a university in Vermont and is good enough to be drafted. Her family is extremely excited about that.

Here is my question: What is your favorite movie, or what have you seen lately that has been great? We saw two really good ones last week. The new Disney movie, Glory Road is excellent and Last Holiday was a riot! :rotfl2:

[DisneyPinDiva]

BROWNS??? Who are the Browns??? :confused3
Ah.. as you can tell.. we are football fans!! Even though we no longer live in Pittsburgh... we are Steeler fans for life! DH also likes the Packers since he is originally from Cheeseland.... but he's been with me longer than he ever lived there so he's a convert! ALso like the Olympics.
:cheer2: CONGRATS COLLEEN AND DH ON WWTBAM!! :cheer2:
Colleen... we must be twins separated at birth!! We also LOVE WWTBAM. We have been known to spend an entire day playing WWTBAM! DH has BLOWN the million point question 3 TIMES!!! I almost had 3 heart attacks in the audience!!! I've beaten him out a few times for the hot seat, but I always defer to him when he's number 2 because he has way more useless knowledge in his head than I do and has usually given me the answers along the way!! We should all wear our millionaire hats...LOL Also, do you know they send you a 1099 on that overvalued stuff!!!:rotfl2: We may have to get together sometime at MGM and have a 4 way competition!!! LOL

I'mWong: As for the Buccaneer shirt.. It's a McCalls Costume pattern # MP347 It's pretty basic, the shirt is a pull over so no buttons etc. Believe me I'm no seamstress!! I'm not worrying about it being perfect. I may make the pantaloons also, but rolled up jeans will work fine too. The pattern includes a lot of stuff, skirt, vest, sash, bandanna...(a pattern for a bandanna.. come ON) I"m just using muslin type material that I got on the Wal-Mart $1 a yard rack, so it's worth a shot. I'm not sure if they have this pattern year round because I got it at Halloween time last year... but you can check the catalog in your fabric store or Wal-Mart.

Favorite Movie? Hmmmm Gone with the Wind or Wizard of Oz. Also any Disney Movie. I don't go to the movie theater much... I'm a talker/commenter and I don't like to bother people so I wait till things come out on DVD..:thumbsup2 The only exception is when I'm on the ship. I usually see the new releasese then. I"m looking forward to Chicken Little, Narnia and a few others. Hopefully they'll still be showing on there and I'll stuff a sock in my mouth or something.... popcorn helps...;)

[sk8ingmom]

Yes the Browns! I grew up in Cleveland with season tickets. I was sitting on the 20 yard line for both Red Right 88 (interception in final seconds to lose the AFC championship game in '81 - let me just say I was VERY young!) & The Drive (Elway's infamous comeback...they show it like 3x a week on ESPN Classic).

Favorite movie - this is hard, I have genres:
Silly/Stupid Movies - Real Genuis, Office Space, Three Amigos (I was the Singing Bush for Halloween in college!)

Regular Movies - Gone With the Wind, Chicago, Usual Suspects, & Ice Castles (blind figure skater melodrama from the '70's)

Disney Movies - Pete's Dragon (I still want to live in a lighthouse), Sleeping Beauty, The Rescuers

My kids are REALLY excited about the new Disney movie, I think it's called "8 Below" about the sled dogs. DH7 LOVES LOVES LOVES dogs. We went to the Iditarod start last year & mushing is quite the sport up here - we see dog teams on trails along the side of the road.

CastawayStowaway - I'm sure shopping is a sport for some. Something got mixed up in my DNA - I'm a girl who loves football and hates shopping!!

[Mickey&JoshNut]

Okay...Leslie twisted my arm (ouch).....my Mom (Margaret) and I are joining you guys on the cruise!!!! This will be our third Disney cruise and this time I WILL be going in the pool (I've been on the Disney ships for a total of 18 days (one 4 day and the 14 day REPO) and have yet to go swimming!!!!!!!)

[DisneyPinDiva]

:welcome:
:cheer2: WELCOME ELAINE AND MOM!!:cheer2:

Yes, I did have to twist a little bit... but not too hard :woohoo:
Whooo hooo we are gonna ROCK the boat!

Pool?? They have a pool on the ship?? This will be cruise #6 and I think we've spent a total of maybe 45 minutes "relaxing" on deck. :rotfl: I think that will change this time though. ::yes:: Joe needs to relax.. he has a killer semester going and will need it... We may spend a lot of time on deck this cruise.... that is IF I can drag him out of the Rainforest Room!!

[sk8ingmom]

So deck 10 it is... at 5pm! Lime green clothing, coronas and flameable beverages. Got it.


This is too funny:

http://image.orientaltrading.com/otcimg/26_2172.jpg?resize(250x250)

Way on sale - I'm thinking about getting 1-2 dozen. We can ALL have flaming beverages !

[DisneyPinDiva]

Those are so cute!! I have to check out the Oriental Trading Co site a bit further again.... I get in trouble there though... they have so much fun stuff! They have lots of fun Pirate stuff too....pirate:

[Castaway Stowaway]

Welcome Aboard Elaine and Mom!! Wow, that was fast! Wasnt it just yesterday that you were telling us how much fun we were going to be having with Leslie!! Jealousy... its a powerful emotion. :lmao: I cant wait!! Make sure to pm Mortlives so you can be added to our ever growing roster.

Fave movies: The first Knight, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Grease( 1& 2), Titanic :scared1: Im sure there is more but alas, another bottle of 2 buck chuck.

Fave Disney movies: The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Lion King

Ok Next question, What kind of music do you listen to? I really like all music(including Josh Groben Elaine), but i really like country. the new stuff so its more like pop, and i like old r&b. Old Motown stuff like The delfonics, the Chi lites, the Manhattens. AAAHHh good stuff. But i also like Metallica!! I know im nuts. Oh and i like Green day. OOOOOhhh and Tim Mcgraw. MMMMmmm. The cds im really listening to right now are
Mariah Carey, Sugarland, Faith Hill, and Sarah Evans.

So as you can see im quite diverse!