Fantasy 10/20/2012 PTR!!

[Hogsbreath101]

At the suggestion of my travel buddy and soul sister we're starting a PTR specifically for this cruise ship/date. This is my 3rd DCL, (WDW 13 times) but my first PTR and well, I'm just gearing up for the fun and frivolity and frankly thought it only fair to warn our fellow travelers what you're in for !! We're two moms who met when our boys (Marines) deployed for Afghanistan and began a friendship forged in battle - literally. Throw in the rest of what life brings and we're ready to blow off some steam to DCL's It's A Small World horn! For the sake of this thread, DF1 will be me, and DF2 will be my “Darling Friend” who is graciously leaving her DH home for some much needed girlfriend time!

 

[Summerville]

Hi DIS Friends! This is DF2! I’m DF1’s travel buddy and soul sister! This will be my 3rd cruise, but my very first on DCL! And what a way to start! On the Fantasy! Yippee! My 1st cruise was with Norwegian (girlfriends trip) and my second was with Carnival (couples trip) and I have to say I wasn’t wildly impressed with either of them. So I’m really excited about cruising DCL as I hear it is top notch in the cruise business! I’ve been to Disney Land as a kid a couple times and Disney World twice as an grown-up. Once BC and once with the munchkins. Loved it every time! Something special about Disney that just makes the world go away for awhile!

Like DF1 said, we met about 1 ½ years ago when our boys deployed to Afghanistan, and the rest is history. It’s been a constant building of a long distance friendship with literally thousands of phone calls, emails and text messages! Lol – over 1200 alone since we started our planning process in March! So we are really excited to have spent the last 5-6 months planning our DCL adventure! Much better than the sanity and support calls during deployment!

Oh – and by the way – October 20th is also DF1’s birthday! Be sure to wish her a happy birthday on sailing day if you happen to see her!! And you’ll know it’s her if you see her lol! I’ve got that one covered!

 

[sssteele]

OK, what wild and crazy things do you have planned?

 

[Summerville]

OK, what wild and crazy things do you have planned?

DF1 half mentioned in an email that she was looking for someone who wanted to go on a Disney vacation with her. She had some DVC credits that needed to be used up. She really wanted to do something fun around her birthday this year... Now that her boys are grown she just wanted to let her hair down and be a "kid" again for a little bit!

We checked out the cruises and decided that the Fantasy was PERFECT since they had one leaving on her birthday!

Since it's just us (no kids and no adult supervisors) we laughingly said to each other "Hey - we can be goofy and do all those things our kids would roll their eyes at and say "Mom - Stop! You are embarrassing me!"

We started out by coming up with a "theme" for everyday. So keep your eyes peeled for the crazy ladies in the funny hats! That would be us!

More to come!

 

[Summerville]

So late March brought the booking of the trip!! October seems so far away at that point! Then came booking of airline reservations and the all important submission of vacation requests. Our Fantasy is starting to feel real!

Next step was to learn every nook and cranny of this incredible ship! We watched with envy as photos and TR's were posted about the inaugural cruises! DF1 mentioned that when she and the boys would go to DW they would dream and plan with the help of a book from Birnbaum’s. We looked to see if there was one for DCL as well and sure enough there was!

Bookstore price was a little much – especially since we were dreaming together – but long distance – Since we live in two different states. Sooooooo, Amazon.com is my friend! Purchased two books and shipped 1 to DF1 and 1 to me! Birnbaum's Disney Cruise Line 2012

Then we waited with great anticipation for their arrival!! We received them just prior to the weekend, so our occasional Sunday morning call was planned to pour over the pages together!! Oh the anticipation is building and building. That fantastic little tickle in your chest!!

At that point we still had 212 days to go!! (30 weeks + 2 days sounds like so much less time!) How will we ever survive that long!

 

[Hogsbreath101]

DF2 is too modest! She has all sorts of shinanigans up her sleave! First and foremost, everything involves rum, wwweeeelllllll not every.., well yes, everything involves rum! It makes it so much easier to embarrass our kids! We can't tell all because 1) you might avoid us and 2) somethings you just have to make up as you go. Still trying to figure out how to make the Muppet Treasure Hunt into a drinking game

 

[Summerville]

We were both so excited to begin this adventure and it was so far away! Neither of us have computers that seemed fast enough to fun the online ship plans and we were so excited to "explore" the ship online!

I decided maybe the best thing was to order the planning video from disney so we could visit the ship at will. So one was ordered mailed to DF1 and one was ordered and mailed to me!

Now I keep it in my dvd drive on my computer and when ever I need to get Pumped up and get my disney fix a click of the mouse is all it takes!

Did I hear someone mention RUM?? We did start a countdown in our emails - a spin on the old bottles of beer on the wall!
So today is offically SIXTY SEVEN BOTTLES OF RUM ON THE WALL!

 

[Hogsbreath101]

We are at 8weeks 3days ! As I told DF2, I'ma bit sick and tired of life getting in the way of my daydreaming! So my question for all those adults only out there, what are you daydreaming about? What excursions do you have planned?

 

[Lujackdisney]

Sounds like you guys are going to have a great time. I am traveling on the same cruise with husband, my Mom and 2 kids, 4 and 8. We are so excited! I used to work for Disney and currently live in Tampa so we go all the time. (I have stayed everywhere) We will be doing an excursion in St Maarten with Shoretrips for 3 to 4 hours and then shopping. My husband and I will be snorkeling in St Thomas(Disney excursion) and then take the kids on the tram to Paradise Pt. I guess we will see you around!

 

[Hogsbreath101]

Sounds like you guys are going to have a great time. I am traveling on the same cruise with husband, my Mom and 2 kids, 4 and 8. We are so excited! I used to work for Disney and currently live in Tampa so we go all the time. (I have stayed everywhere) We will be doing an excursion in St Maarten with Shoretrips for 3 to 4 hours and then shopping. My husband and I will be snorkeling in St Thomas(Disney excursion) and then take the kids on the tram to Paradise Pt. I guess we will see you around!

HI LUJACK!!! What great ages, 4 and 8. I took my kids when they were 13 and 15 and literally only saw them at dinner time. DF2 and I are doing snorkeling on St. Thomas as well, maybe we have the same excursion? We initially planned on just heading the beach on our own but the all aboard is 330 so didn't want to risk it. On St. Maarten we are doing the Lotterie Farm zip line! Cannot wait to do that! If you're kids participate in the kids club, look for us at Quiet Cove pool or bar. Trust me, you wont be able to miss us. We'll each be wearing a hat.

 

[Lujackdisney]

I noticed the better snorkeling is in St John and more to do than St Maarten, but that is a very short day so we decided to do a 1/2 day trip and squeeze in some stuff for the kids. My DD 8 is so excited about room service and she tells her Dad, "Don't worry, they put $1000 on your card to buy whatever you want!"... I think she is a little confused. That is my fantasy that there is a "they" that actually does that! We'll be looking for you!