Life Stinks! Season Three! Finalized 11/11

[Zoiebear]

She is a very lucky lady to have you to do all of the technicalities for the cruise and she just gets to go and enjoy the fun!!!
Stacie

[Tink rules]

Originally Posted by Mozart

Well, I certainly can't claim to get the kind of deals that Erica gets on formal night dresses, but I'm pretty happy with this one. I picked up that new digital camera I mentioned I was going to need.

I got a Kodak Easyshare 10.1 mp camera with 12x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom. Don't ask me what that means, I just know that it takes better pictures than my old camera did. And the LCD screen on this one actually works.

As for the deal, well it was selling at Best Buy for $299, but by the time I got out of the store, I had talked the salesman into selling it to me for $229. I know, I know. You can't bargain at those types of places.

I say you can bargain anywhere, when given an angle to do so. And the sales rep screwed up and gave me an angle to bargain with him. He mentioned that they would match anyone's online prices. "Anyone?" I said. After getting the details on exactly what websites that meant, I informed him that I had seen that same camera as a buy it now on ebay for $230. After debating with him whether this qualified or not, he called his manager over, who quickly went back to read the rules regarding whose prices they'll match. After about 5 minutes, the manager came back and said "Give them the buy it now price."

And my wife said they wouldn't bargain.

WHAT??? You didn't get him to throw in an extra 2 G card for that camera???? I say go back and see what you can get it for... Check Amazon first...

[Mozart]

Originally Posted by Zoiebear

She is a very lucky lady to have you to do all of the technicalities for the cruise and she just gets to go and enjoy the fun!!!
Stacie

She would probably say that she's a little bit crazy. There's a reason I try to do special things for her. It's to make her forget about all the other things I've done.

Originally Posted by Tink rules

WHAT??? You didn't get him to throw in an extra 2 G card for that camera???? I say go back and see what you can get it for... Check Amazon first...

Why can't you be satisfied with the deal I was able to get? I was pretty pleased with myself and you come along and tell me I should have gotten more.

[Tink rules]

I'm very proud of you ... I really am...

I just wanted to make sure that you have enough cards to take pictures of your beautiful wife...

And Corrina...

Or Corralia...

Wait...it's the Magic...

That's CECELIA!!!!!!!

[Mozart]

Okay. So last time everybody kept bugging me to post some pictures, and since that seems to have become the thing to do lately on the TR boards, I figure I'll add just a few to get you going.

To start with, we go back to that magical year that was 2006. What makes it so magical? I really don't know. I just figured it would be a good place to begin.

Today, introductions:

The main cast at Jiko's:


Now for supporting cast members. They will only be making a cameo appearance in the actual trip report:

This is Dante, the Italian Greyhound. Picture courtesy of my new Kodak camera. Kodak - because life's moments are too precious to lose. (Just throwing in a little product placement so that I can maybe make a little money off this TR.)


And this is the real Mozart. Our chihuahua. Poor guy has been sick for a week now. He ruptured a disc on his spine and refuses to come out of his cage to do anything except eat and pee because of the pain. He only does that when we force him to:


And this is what I have to fight every night when I go to bed. These two spoiled dogs are going to get a real wake up call when they go to the doggie spa for almost 2 weeks.


More pictures to come once I decide which ones are worthy to be seen.

[anewmac]

aww your wife is adorable!

The "kids" are cute too!

and love the pics the camera takes!

[Tink rules]

Mozart...

I told you last time...

You're wife's a beauty!!!

I love the pics... (I didn't bother you too much now did I??)

Hope the little one is feeling better any day now...

[anc22]

Great pics

[Mozart]

I have 2 computer monitors on my desk at work. They are actually situated in such a way where noone else can see what's on them because of the way my cube was set up. Today I took full use of that little feature.

I did absolutely nothing. But I didn't do it alone.

Tink Rules, Zweihund, and anewmac were right there with me, along with quite a few more. We watched, glued to the screen, while a cruise ship 2,000 or so miles away sailed through a manmade canal that's travelled every day by hundreds of cargo ships. And we couldn't pull ourselves away.

Why? Why did we do this? Why does DCL make us lose all normalcy in our lives? Why are we doing things that make even our spouses look at us and go "You are SO weird."

I don't know. But I don't think it's this way with other cruise lines. Their fans wouldn't be as interested in everything that goes on with one of their ships. It's because DCL's fleet is so small. It makes us feel connected. It's not hard to imagine being on the Magic when you've already been on the Wonder. Doesn't work that way for RCL or Carnival. When you've been on one of those, you don't feel any affection for any of the others because they're all so different. DCL just feels like a tight knit little community where we love both of our ships. And unlike some other cruise boards, for the most part everyone here is civil to one another. We all want Main Street in our hometown, and DCL feels like it fits right in.

I hope the two new ships don't change that.

[jenn&nelsonrego]

I agree Mozart...

It's the reason why the Dis is so popular. We all become a a huge disney addicted family!

[anewmac]

COuldnt put it any better! Also glad I wasnt alone with.. not working LOL. 2 screens Im jealous.. keep trying to tell the boss I would get more work done that way but dont think he's buying it LOL

[Tink rules]

As a fellow viewer... very well put...I felt like a very proud Aunt yesterday... People don't get excited about other ships... we do... I think it's Magic... pixie dust and all that other wonderful stuff!!!

Of course having been on the cruise in May... while I wish everyone a safe and happy journey... all I wanted to do was stare at the screen and yell...

Hey... GET OFF MY SHIP!!!

[Mozart]

Everyone gives tips on how to make your cruise better. Here’s a few obvious ones for experienced cruisers, but first time cruisers may be interested. These are all for before the cruise, during the planning stages.

Don’t overpack is a tip you hear constantly. Here’s a hint…everyone overpacks. It’s impossible not to. So don’t sweat it. Just plan on 2 suitcases per person and you should be able to get everything into those. Unless that is…(see the next hint.)

Don’t plan on passing out 273,000 fish extender presents and think you won’t have to ship some of them ahead of time.

Book Palo’s early. Looks for ways to cheat such as the Romance Escape at Sea package if possible. If you’re going on a particularly competitive cruise, take into account how many openings there will be and how badly you want to do each Palo’s option. High Tea will fill the quickest, followed directly by brunch. If you want to do those, go straight to them at midnight, in that order. And try to convince as many people on your cruise meets thread as you can that bookings don’t open until 3 AM. Like I said…cheat.

When you’re logging in to make your Palo’s reservations, you may get an error message that says you haven’t paid for your cruise in full. Log out of the DCL website and then log back in and everything should be fine after that. Of course, by the time you do that everyone else will have booked their Palo’s reservations and you’ll be left out.

Book everything yourself in order to get any available DCL stateroom credits or discounts, then transfer it over to a travel agent for their shipboard credit. This way you’re doubledipping on stateroom credits. In addition, overplanners tend to need control of their reservations as long as they can, but that $100 to do nothing is impossible to resist. It feels like people are handing you stuff for free. It’s almost like being a Marine.

Find ways to spread out the time. Set aside items you know you will not need between now and the cruise and pack them. Just doing an item or two each week will make the cruise seem to get there faster as you watch the stack of items get bigger and bigger. Plus there’s the added bonus of less laundry to do.

Write a trip report to kill the time. SOMEONE out there will be interested in finding out every little detail of how your planning is going.

Get the passporter. Life-altering book.

If you get the Passporter, make sure you get the online cruise tips sheet as well. It’s full of interesting solutions people have come up with onboard. Like, how to make iced coffee while you’re on board, whether it’s better to go to WDW or DCL first, how to find the disboards, etc.etc.etc… Now I’ll warn you…there’s some weird tips in there. It takes all kinds. I really want to point out a few of those, but I’m afraid that their writers might just read these boards. That might not go over too well.

Look into a gift basket from Shirley at The Perfect Gift. She comes with a stellar reputation. And imagine your DH’s response when he gets those roses you sent him.

Research your cruise and decide what night you want to skip the main dining room to go to Palo’s. Do you want to miss Pirate Night, or one of the main dining rotations, formal night, semi-formal night(who would skip lobster?) etc… This is more crucial than you think at first. Read the menus and pick out your least favorites, then hope and pray you get the dining rotation you want.

Read the trip report board (I know, that’s a pretty obvious one), concentrating on reports that are on the same itinerary as yours. There’s actually some pretty decent people on here, and some wonderfully written reports. Dreamfinder’s is incredibly informative, and all the 9/27 cruisers are certainly entertaining. Plus, there’s some guy who writes a report called Life Stinks. He’s fabulous.

If you’re cruising in the fall, everyone starts getting nervous at the words “Tropical Storm.” Don’t sweat it. A) DCL will take care of things. Maybe your cruise will get shortened a day, maybe you’ll have to go out of a different port. But you will be okay in the grand scheme of things. A day on DCL is better than a day not on DCL. Even if you have to go to Nassau instead of Castaway Cay. B) My attitude towards life is that if I can’t change it, there’s no point in my worrying about it. Que sera sera. Take that attitude towards it and you will be fine. C) If the forecasters say the storm is going directly where you’re cruising, remember that there’s a large margin of error for predicting these things. If the forecasters say it’s going somewhere other than where you’re cruising, they’re really good forecasters.

Okay, that’s all I’ve got right now. I’ll post more if I can think of anything good.

[jenn&nelsonrego]

Originally Posted by Mozart

If you’re cruising in the fall, everyone starts getting nervous at the words “Tropical Storm.” Don’t sweat it. A) DCL will take care of things. Maybe your cruise will get shortened a day, maybe you’ll have to go out of a different port. But you will be okay in the grand scheme of things. A day on DCL is better than a day not on DCL. Even if you have to go to Nassau instead of Castaway Cay. B) My attitude towards life is that if I can’t change it, there’s no point in my worrying about it. Que sera sera. Take that attitude towards it and you will be fine. C) If the forecasters say the storm is going directly where you’re cruising, remember that there’s a large margin of error for predicting these things. If the forecasters say it’s going somewhere other than where you’re cruising, they’re really good forecasters.

My thought on Hurricanes and Tropical Storms?

It's a ship. It moves. :

[anewmac]

Originally Posted by Mozart

Don’t overpack is a tip you hear constantly. Here’s a hint…everyone overpacks. It’s impossible not to. So don’t sweat it. Just plan on 2 suitcases per person and you should be able to get everything into those. Unless that is…(see the next hint.)

Don’t plan on passing out 273,000 fish extender presents and think you won’t have to ship some of them ahead of time.

GEEE I wonder who he could be talking too,.... ::coughs:: Arin and I? maybe