Pre Trip Family Cruise 8/22/10-8/26/10

[Dream426]

Hello everyone. I know it is early but I am so excited. I have been debating whether or not to start a pre trip report and since I am sitting up here watching tv by myself because everyone has decided to go to bed early I thought I would give it a shot. This is my very first pre trip report so bare with me. We will be doing the land/sea trip spending the first 3 days in Disney World at the wonderful Grand Floridian resort. Then hopping on the cruise for our last 4 days of our trip. So far there are 5 of us going on the trip. Not sure if anyone else will be joining us. Still in discussion. There will be:

Me: Gina 27 and a huge Disney fan.
DH: Jon 28 and another huge fan because of me.
My mother: Linda she would kill me if I put her age on here so I won't...haha
My father: Michael 64 and loves to go on vacation.
DH's mother: Peggy 60 and this will be her first time on the cruise.

Here are some pictures of us:

Some of DH and I:





My Parents:


DH's Parents:


We have invited DH's sister to come along with us and she is still deciding what she is going to do and who or if she will bring someone. We haven't been able to talk to her that much about it though which I will explain later.

This will be my 3rd Disney Cruise and DH's 2nd Disney cruise. It will be my parents 2nd Disney cruise as well. My first Disney cruise was with my parents as a 16th birthday present because I didn't want a sweet sixteen party so they said I could pick any vacation I wanted and of course I picked Disney. The cruise had just come out then (wow I can't believe how long it has been since they came out and how time flies) and I couldn't wait to go on it so I decided to pick that as well. DH and I went on July 2008 for our honeymoon and he was hooked from then on. This will be DH's mothers first cruise ever let alone with Disney.

Reason behind this trip:
DH and I have been wanting to plan to go back and could not wait. We would actually like to make this a yearly vacation but as of right now we do not have the money to do that. Things have been rough for our families this year. DH's father died unexpectedly in December 2008 and it has been rough for us and his family. His father was a good man who did so much for everyone. His mother is such a strong lady. She misses him terribly and has had a very very rough year. Right after that my grandmother went into surgery in April and basically went downhill after it and was in the hospital for 2 grueling months that I would never want to see anyone go through. My mother and I were very close with her and we lost her on July 4th 2009. It has been so hard and with all of us dealing with our losses we have not been in high spirits. So DH and I were talking one night how we would love to go to Disney again and on the cruise. So just for fun we got a hold of the Dreams Unlimited Travel Agency and asked for a quote for the Royal Suite on the trip for the land/sea package. She got back to us right away and we booked. Yes we are crazy...haha We are planning this as a surprise to give them on Christmas. They have no clue and I can not wait. I have made a book on shutterfly and explained in a Christmas story what is going on and where we are taking them. I bought all Disney things to put in the Disney box to give to them on Christmas. I got Disney ornaments, pens, Disney World travel guide, Disney Cruise travel guide, and the restaurant guide. I found the magnet thread on here that I went a little crazy with that I will put in. Here on ones that I have made so far:

















These girls are so talented with these graphics for the magnets and I have gone crazy with them...haha

I am so excited to give them this gift on Christmas. I don't know how I will keep it in this long. I know they will kill us for spending this much on them but DH and I feel we all need this vacation and really need to get away. My mom I am a little worried about because she absolutely hates to fly. I do also but she is really bad where she really panics. We will have to get her some valium or something although it didn't work when we went 11 years ago but we will figure something out. We will see how things unfold though and I will be sure to keep everyone updated on how the surprise was on Christmas morning. I will take some pictures soon of all the items I will be putting in the gift box. Now remember I am new at all of this so I hope everyone enjoyed my first installment.

[MicraPIP]

I'm really glad to see someone who's giving a similar Christmas present!!!


For the longest time my DD1 (she'll be 12 when we sail) as been bugging my wife and I for a DC for as long as I can remember, and we keep telling her that we have to save the money for it....

In order to save that much I thought that it be better to book a cruise so that there are no excuses!! So last Feb 2009 I started looking at cruises available... and I found the Christmas 2010 western carib on the wonder

Actually lucked out... My DD1 will be 11 years old on the day we sail (dec23) then on Dec 24 she will turn 12... if she was 12 the day we sail she is at the adult price... So in saving that I booked a Cat4 cabin!!

So I've been paying it off quietly ever since... and made my last payment this week

I can't believe that my DW still doesn't know!!

I usually give a "Family" gift at xmas (last year was PlayStation 3) so this year I'm going so say "sorry but this years family gift is still in the mail... I must have ordered it too late to get here for xmas." hehehe

The postman (a friend of mine) will be dressed in his uniform, after all of the other presents are opened, he will ring the doorbell and have a santa sack on his back. Inside the sack will be a whole bunch of disney related stuff I just ordered off ShopDisney.com
And then the big reveal!!!

Some of the stuff I've ordered are

Customized Xmas ornaments i.e. Steve 2010
Customized Passport Holders
PJ's for all 3 Girls
Hoodies for the girls
Customized Rolling Suit cases


I'm sorry to hear about your losses but this is the perfect way to reconnect with your family!!

Anyway looking forward to seeing the pics on Xmas morning!!

I will start a pretrip report probably right after xmas!!

Talk to you soon!!

[Dream426]

I can't wait to give this to them as I am sure you are as well. It is so exciting. I want to buy so much to put in the gift basket but I have to remember that I have a trip to pay for so I do have to watch my spending now...haha I love your idea of getting your friend involved and ringing your doorbell. That is really creative. You have some really cute ideas to put in it. Love the shirts and suitcase idea. It makes it so much harder to keep it in until Christmas.

[Dream426]

Well Christmas was a big success and our parents were surprised. They are so excited. I forgot my battery to my digital camera at home in my charger so I couldn't take pictures. I was so upset but their faces were priceless. My parents looked confused when they opened it and then my mom caught on and was like OMG what did you do. My mother-in-law was so funny. She thought we were going on the cruise with my parents and she was watching our dog. I was like no you are coming with us. They can't wait and are so excited. We were able to talk my sister-in-law into coming so she was added to our reservation and we already booked our round trip flights for the vacation. I can't wait to start planning what we are going to do. We have to start making our reservations and plan what excursions we want to do on the cruise. Hope everyone had a great holiday and Happy New Year!!

[Zookeeperof4]

We also have had a few rough years (losing our youngest daughter and my grandfather in under two years) and I am secretly trying to plan a land and sea for hubbys 40th Birthday. So I am reading TRs on the hush....LOL
cant wait to see how things go for you.

[Dream426]

Originally Posted by Zookeeperof4

We also have had a few rough years (losing our youngest daughter and my grandfather in under two years) and I am secretly trying to plan a land and sea for hubbys 40th Birthday. So I am reading TRs on the hush....LOL
cant wait to see how things go for you.

I am so sorry for your losses. I think planning a surprise trip like this is good for everyone to get excited for something and get away and enjoy themselves.