Updated (4/11): PTR Girl's Only 4 Day Dream - April 14-18, 2013

[luvslikepi]

I have been going non-stop since my little one was born July 25. My hubs deployed October 1 and won't be back for a few more months. I'm a working full-time, Phd student full time, Disney obsessed momma of beautiful baby girl and three fur babies. And I need a vacation. I will post a full intro once my brain has recovered from an insane work week.

I've been obsessed with taking a vacation, a cruise vacation because on those vacations I actually relax. I can't relax at DL or WDW because I'm constantly going.

Classes end April 11...I take my PhD quals the first week in June...so I've been begging for some kind of break between the end of classes and the official beginning of the end for dissertation. Today my dream was answered when Gramma said...you're right, we need a girl's only trip. The last one was to WDW in 2004! So we booked.

We have our flights, the cruise booked and a night at the MCO Hyatt booked. DISbaby has flown before (on shorter flights) so hopefully she'll manage this one well.

We are not actually planning anything for this....nothing is set in stone. I found when we went to Disneyland in December that was the best plan.

The only thing we'll have to do is try to get our dinner seating changed to the first...DISbaby goes to sleep relatively early and won't make it to a late dinner.

Can't wait to meet some fellow DISers and relax and will create a proper intro thus week.

 

[luvslikepi]

I managed to write 2 pages more for a paper due on Thursday then I told myself I had to write before I even thought about DisBoards today. So now I get to play.

Introductions!!!!

Below is a picture we took at Disneyland in December. I'm in the middle holding DISBaby, Gramma is on the right and Grammpa on the left. It's just the girls for this cruise...our first on Disney. I've been on Carnival twice, Gramma has been on Carnival and Royal...so this will be quite a treat.

We are taking this trip for several reasons. First, my husband who is currently deployed doesn't particularly like Disney nor does he want to take a cruise....party pooper in my opinion so this is a girls trip. Jason will be able to leave his location 10 days after our cruise so it will give me a chance to clear my mind and regroup after a very long deployment. Second, I will have finished my last semester of course work for my PhD 3 days before we leave. I need a vacation, even a small one, before I take my Quals and start dissertation work. I was supposed to go with my husband to Texas the first week in June for a vacation but the school scheduled Quals for the same week which means that vacation is no longer happening for me. He's going with DISbaby. So, I needed a vacation and was pretty much obsessed with a Disney Cruise and driving everyone nuts. Gramma decided we needed to do a Girls trip since we haven't gone anywhere since 2004. Thus, this cruise was booked.

DISbaby will be 8ish months old for this trip and this will be her longest flight so far. She did great on the flight to Orange County which was less than two hours. Our only hiccup was a diaper blowout (yuck).

We will be flying Delta into MCO and staying at the Hyatt the night before (April 13)...convenience is everything when traveling with a little one. If anyone wants to meet for a snack in the evening let me know.

The next morning we will, of course, be taking the DCL bus to the port. Our arrival time, picked in the online check-in, is 12-12:30. With DISbaby we're just going to go with the flow in the morning. She is an early riser...in fact this morning she was up at 5:20AM. I was hoping with the change in time I could keep her up later in the evening but she crashed early. She's not the worlds best napper during the day. Her curiosity gets the best of her and she constantly wants to explore.

It's my hope that we can change our dining from late to early. I hate eating late and as I mentioned DISbaby crashes fairly early in the evening. I don't want to miss out on rotational dining so my first stop on ship will be to change our dining time. (With any luck.)

We have no set plans. The only show I want to see is Believe and Pirates Night. We're not planning on using the nursery at this point but if I can get Palo brunch reservations we will. They were all booked up since we booked the cruise last minute. Gramma and I have been to Nassau before so we're just planning on playing on the ship. I'm training for the Castaway Cay 5K but I have not had a serious workout since I found out I was pregnant in December 2011...went from running to walking. Couch to 5K....yay!

I'm looking forward to meeting any fellow DISers on this cruise.

I did make two purchases for the trip this weekend. Baby sunscreen and a lightweight umbrella stroller. All we have is a sport stroller and I'm not even going to try to take that on the ship.

Hope it's a nice one, had good reviews on Amazon and was under $50.

I also found some recent navigators here: http://disneycruiselineblog.com/201...-dream-4-night-bahamian-cruise-february-2013/

 

[angel's momma]

Hi

So nice that you get to have a girls only cruise. Yay that you are finishing up your PhD. DISbaby is adorable. We were hoping to be at the Hyatt because we've read that other MAW families stayed there, but we'll be somewhere else (it's already booked, so I'm not sure why they can't tell me yet, but we find out 2 weeks before the trip).

Thank you for the Navigator link

 

[luvslikepi]

Poor DISbaby caught a cold....being in daycare her doc said to expect at least one cold a month. Poor thing...but she's happy and playing so she's not in too bad of shape.

We tried out the new stroller this weekend and I think it will work great for the ship. It's light, highly maneuverable and DISbaby sat comfortably in it for a while.

 

[luvslikepi]

Our meet group on the board was interested in planning a meet or two...so I planned the first one. Embarkation day(April 14) we will be meeting between 2:30-3:15 (or longer) at Vista Cafe (Midship, Deck 4). It seemed a popular location for meets and according to pictures has ample seating. I will be using the below template to make a sign so people know where we're at as they filter in and out. Anyone coming try to wear something DISgreen. I'm going to try and make some special treats for anyone who drops by but seeing as I'm essentially a single mom right now that might not work...going to my best.

Also just checked our online reservation and our stateroom has been assigned....8654 it's Aft near the elevators. I couldn't find any reviews for the specific room but others near it have pretty good reviews.

25 Days to Go!!! So very excited!

 

[angel's momma]

Sorry DISbaby has a cold, hope she's feeling better. She is so adorable

Thanks for setting up the meet.

 

[luvslikepi]

Wow....how much do I love Gramma right now?

Me: Let me know what I owe you for the cruise fare.

Gramma: You don't owe me anything, it's your "done with PhD classes" present.


That woman is getting a serious on board wine package.

DISbaby is getting better, slowly, and she's actually starting to stay up later...yay!! She's so darn cute, it's unbelievable. We got a good one, I'll tell you that much. Looking forward to meeting you and yours onboard!

 

[angel's momma]

What a wonderful present, and a wonderful Gramma.

Glad DIS baby is starting to feel better. Yay that she's staying up later

Looking forward to meeting your family as well.

 

[luvslikepi]

Plans so far:

Flying Delta to Atlanta to MCO.

Staying one night at the Hyatt MCO.

Using Disney Transportation to Port Canaveral from MCO. We have a port arrival time of 12:30-1 so I think we'll try to be aboard the bus by 11:15-ish.

Embarkation Day: We need to switch from late to early dining. DISbaby probably won’t last much beyond that late dinner. She’s eating some full-on solids. She loves Gerber Puffs and has eating halved steamed peas, boiled potato bites, really soft or dissolvable foods. So I’m hoping to supplement her formula/cereal with some food items during dining. Her daycare will start feeding her “real” foods too next week, once she hits 8 months (on March 25.) I’m torn between dining at Cabanas or dining at the whatever other restaurant is doing lunch on April 14. (I can never remember which one).

DISMeet: Planned for Vista Café on Deck 4, Midship at 2:30pm to last until 3:30 or whenever everyone meanders around. I do have a special DISboards gift for all DISboarders who show up. It’s small but I think it will be fun.

Sail Away: This is where we don’t exactly know what we’ll be doing. DISbaby did great with noise at Disneyland but has not done well with noise at Buffalo Wild Wings or at a family Superbowl party in the last few months. Unexpected noise seems to startle her. So depending on her we may be enjoying the Sail Away party on-deck or we may be enjoying it quietly from our balcony.

Port Adventures – NONE!!! We are planning on enjoying the serenity of the ship while in port. We will explore Castaway Cay as we’ve never been there. Both Gramma and I have been to Nassau before. We did a Pirate Museum/Island Tour. The Pirate Museum was cool, any kid who likes Pirates would like the museum. I remember going down the Queens Staircase. My friend and I were the only ones who traversed down them and our tour van picked us up at the bottom. All the other travelers were a bit older and didn’t want to risk it but I enjoyed seeing Fort Fincastle and the stairs.

On Board: I will be using our nice little umbrella stroller on board. I hope that DISbaby and I can spend some time doing the Midship Detective Agency. She loves screens (I know I’m a terrible mom who let’s my little one play with Fisher Price apps on my iPad/iPhone) so I think she’ll like the enchanted artwork. We’ll be bringing her Nemo and Squirt toys as well as her baby Lady and a few other generic toys for her entertainment.

I hope to visit the bars to say hello to a few bartenders that have been highly recommended by some of the DISmom’s but I’m not planning on drinking very much (if at all while cruising).
Things I still need to do/get:

I’m still in the process of losing the pregnancy weight. I gained 40 lbs…booooooo and DISbaby was still tiny when she was born. I was at 190, I’m down to 165 as of yesterday. 15 more lbs to pre-baby weight, 25 to goal weight. So, I really don’t have a good wardrobe as of right now. I’ve got to go through my closet and drawers to see what fits/what doesn’t and then buy accordingly. And I HATE clothes shopping…hate it….I’m the kind of clothes shopper that will find something I like that fits and buy 3-4 items of that in different colors and sizes.

DISbaby also needs some more warm weather clothes. And swim diapers. If anyone can recommend a good swim diaper I’d be very appreciative.

I haven’t even started to pack but things have been piling up to pack on my dresser. I need to make my list soon. 23 days isn’t too early to start, right?

Yesterday we booked a day room at MCO Hyatt for our return trip. Our return isn’t until after 6pm so it would be much better to have a quite private place for DISbaby (and us) to chill out until our flight home. That piece of mind is worth the $99.

Also made some magnets!! Yay! I had been debating making them but figured I'd go for it. You can view the compilation of them:

 

[wiigirl]

OMG...you kido is SO cute!

 

[luvslikepi]

OMG...you kido is SO cute!

Thank you! She is seriously the happiest baby I've ever seen. We got a good one.

 

[SigalTchelet]

Also just checked our online reservation and our stateroom has been assigned....8654 it's Aft near the elevators. I couldn't find any reviews for the specific room but others near it have pretty good reviews.

25 Days to Go!!! So very excited!

Hi there-this website has great deck plans-you can click on your room number and see exactly what your room looks likeL http://cruise.cruiseadvice.org/c/deckplan.php?SailDate=&ShipID=392656&DeckNumber=8#dp

 

[luvslikepi]

Our cruise docs came on Friday, March 22. I was a little surprised to see them since I'd read most people get them 10-14 days out. More exited now. Gramma is really excited too I think, she's been reading up on the Dream.

Friday after work Gramma and I went clothes shopping for DISbaby. All she has right now is winter clothes. (It's actually 25' this morning. Not fair Mother Nature....it's supposed to be spring). We went to Carter's. Everything in the store was 50% off. I bought several pairs of baby shorts, skorts and really cute tops/onesies. I also bought a pair of baby sunglasses....DISbaby doesn't really like them. I also started trying to get her used to her hat...which she doesn't like either. This is going to be interesting.

As I mentioned before DISbaby has, as of late, not enjoyed loud, sudden noises (crowd cheering). So I also purchased some Baby Smuffs. I hope they help with noises and that she'll wear them:

I MUST go get some clothes for myself after Easter and start the packing process. I did find some bright green infinity scarfs at a store and had to get one to wave for sail away.

 

[luvslikepi]

I ordered some "Smuffs" or Sound Muffling headbands for Lilly from a local company just in case she has sound issues on board.

She doesn't seem to mind wearing it as much as she minds her hat and sunglasses. You can see the soft inserts that go over the ears on the second photo. I'm hoping that it will help if she has sound sensitivity on board.

I also wrote to DCL requesting to be wait-listed for the first seating and got this wonderful, pleasant reply:

"Dear Sarah,

Thank you for choosing a Disney Cruise Line vacation!

I would be happy to assist you.

I can confirm that the reservation has been added to the waitlist for
early dining in our full service dining rooms. Please be assured that
our dining specialists will do their utmost to accommodate your family.

The dining schedule is finalized the day of sailing. Guests will find
their dining tickets with their seating times, table assignment, and
rotation schedule in their stateroom on embarkation day.

As a reminder, Disney Cruise Line Dining is sure to satisfy the
appetites of the entire familythanks to fresh, expertly prepared dishes
made available 24 hours a day. Featuring diverse menus inspired by some
of the world's most intriguing destinations, and restaurants that are
distinctly themed and brimming with charm, Disney Cruise Line invites
all to enjoy the finest dining at sea.

Disney Cruise Line Dining includes:

"Rotational/Full service Dining
"Casual Dining
"Adult Exclusive Dining
"Quick Service

I hope this information has been helpful. If you require further
assistance with any other inquiries, please feel free to contact us.

We look forward to sailing with you!

Have a Magical Day!

JD
Email Communications Agent
Disney Cruise Line"

Also found this by Tri-Circle-D in another site's tr section and loooooooved it so I had to steal it:

 

[angel's momma]

Yay for getting your documents. Glad you found clothes for DISbaby. The pictures are adorable. Hope you can get your clothes soon, and can get first seating. We would like late seating, but are having trouble getting our coordinator to request it for us.

 

[luvslikepi]

Yay for getting your documents. Glad you found clothes for DISbaby. The pictures are adorable. Hope you can get your clothes soon, and can get first seating. We would like late seating, but are having trouble getting our coordinator to request it for us.

If you have your cruise reservation # I would just call or email DCL directly. It sounds like your coordinator is being difficult and that is ridiculous. There's no harm in trying. Heck, you could even say "we wanna trade with so and so..." and maybe they'd just switch our two families.

I managed to get some things for me during lunch but I am really picky when it comes to shorts. They must be Bermuda shorts that actually go to my knees. I don't know what's wrong with my brain but I cannot stand wearing shorter shorts. I'm so excited. I've got to start packing the piles that are growing in my bedroom.

I did manage to find a very bright, lime green infinity scarf at the campus bookstore where I work so I will be wearing that on embarkation day.

 

[angel's momma]

I thought the same thing about trading. I did call DCL a month ago to add the request, but they couldn't do it because MAW holds the reservation (kind of silly since it's just a dining time request). I emailed the cooordinator then, and she assured me we already had late dining, but she was wrong (I didn't realize it was on our online reservation), so I emailed her this week when I found out, and she said "I'll see what I can do." It only takes a phone call, and it would have been much easier a month ago when I first asked. She never got back to me, and it's not changed, so I guess I'll have to go & request it myself the first day, but it's frustrating because it could have already been done & now I have to take cruise time to take care of it.

Glad you found some clothes. The lime scarf is fun. Our piles are taking over too, and I need to get them packed.

 

[angel's momma]

 

[luvslikepi]

Happy Easter!!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[luvslikepi]

After my morning panic attack regarding classes (My goal is to have my final two assignments completed by April 11) I did some online shopping for the cruise.

Today I purchased a "costume" ($9.99) for DISbaby:

I'll probably have her wear a striped skirt instead of the pants but I loved the onesie.

I will be wearing my captain Jack hat with some piratey garb. But I have yet to take the time to figure out exactly what I will be wearing.

I also purchased a 32gb memory card for the camera ($20.38 on Amazon with Prime Shipping). I've been using a 256mb card and it's just not working for the amount of pictures I take lately.

Brief update and there probably won't be many more before the cruise. I need to go panic more over my classes now.