1/14/07 Wonder Anyone?

[3dog2kidmom]

Anyone joining us on 1/14/07? We're in the 9-month range now!!!

 

[Hygiene99]

Anyone joining us on 1/14/07? We're in the 9-month range now!!!

Shelly, Ditch your 2 kids. We will tell our 4 to get lost! and We can go to Palo.

 

[3dog2kidmom]

Hoping to do just that! We want to book brunch on our sea day... since we're first time DCL cruisers, though, cross your fingers that there will be something left by the time we can book it.

Did I mention we're celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary?

 

[Hygiene99]

Hoping to do just that! We want to book brunch on our sea day... since we're first time DCL cruisers, though, cross your fingers that there will be something left by the time we can book it.

Did I mention we're celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary?

Some how I think you wil be ok !!!

Can you not book it just like everyone else ??

online at 60 or 90 days out ?

 

[Hygiene99]

Hi all .


Jetblue is almost there with booking dates, they are up to Jan 8th 06.

not to happy about song being taken back over by delta. only gives us 1 discount carrier

 

[Suflay1]

At least you HAVE a discount airline! We have AirTran, which was marketed as a discount airline in order to come into the Pensacola, Florida market, but it's hard to find any good deals now.
Still need to get passports and make the last payment for the trip (using Disney Visa, of course - gotta love those reward points). Then I can mark on my calendar the earliest date we can go online and start booking shore excursions, Palo, etc.

 

[3dog2kidmom]

We could use SW but they don't publish early enough to suit this obsessive planner. We usually fly American, and I'm looking at ~$350 each. OUCH.

 

[Hygiene99]

Just , stopping bye to say hi.

Have a cruise coming up in less than 90 days..
Getting real excited..

We are doing 3 cruises in a 9 month span

Peter

 

[Tikihula]

Hi Peter (and Jenn),
If I was within 90 days of a cruise, I'd be excited, too!!

Bev

 

[3dog2kidmom]

Applied for passports... we are getting closer!!! Next month we can book Palo! Peter (and Jenn) -- are you getting excited about your cruise this week???

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Shelly,

Glad you have gotten your passports started. I think Disney needs them by October 31, which I think is the day we can book Palo. We would like to do brunch too, so I hope there is space left at the 75 day mark! If not, we will be getting on the ship as early as we can!

Counting down!

Mary

 

[Bella8286]

Hey ya'll... just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Rebekkah and we'll be going on our first cruise ever Jan 14. It will be myself, DH, DD7 AND DS who will be 8 months at that time. We are taking this trip as my daughter's Christmas present so she will not find out until then. I am SO excited! I just read about the SPH rooms and was able to book one #5022 so we WILL have a window! By the way #5024 is still available if anyone is interested. I'm sure I will have lots and lots of questions. Hope to get to know and/or meet some of you!


Rebekkah ~ signature in the making...

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Welcome, Rebekkah,

We are traveling with DD7 and DD4, as well as extended family that includes a six year old girl cousin. Shelly (3dog2kidmom) also has a DD7. I know our DD's will be glad to know there will be other kids their ages!

That's great that you were able to get a SPH room! I wonder how full the ship is so far? Maybe we will all be able to get Palo ressies when we want them!

Welcome to the DIS and to our meet thread!

Mary

 

[flowerfacade]

We are in too. We went over the MLK weekend last year. My DS, now 5, has talked of it since then. He has been begging to go again. He does not know yet! He and DD, 10, will be finding out at Christmas.

It was lots of fun! It was a little cool and VERY breezy. We almost missed our CC stop, but did not in the end thankfully. I was seasick until I took some of their seasick stuff available at guest services. I couldn't even eat the first night, but after taking that I felt much better. This year we booked a room with a porthole since being able to see outside helps. Other than those little bumps the whole trip was just wonderful. Both kids loved it, and the kids' clubs too. DH and I were able to spend some adult time together too including going to Palo.

Laura

 

[3dog2kidmom]

WeLcOmE Laura and Rebekkah! Glad to "meet" you!

Laura, I sailed this year on MLK weekend too (Carnival out of Tampa) and experienced the same thing -- chilly and breezy. I hope it's a tiny bit warmer next year, but no worries... still MUCH better than Missouri in January!

DS9 and DD7 already know about this trip and are so excited!! We surprised them with Disney for Christmas last year, and we booked this almost as soon as we got home. I can't wait to go back to Disney, and we decided to make it land/sea since we are celebrating our 20th anniversary this fall. I mentioned to their teachers already that we are going to miss a week of school and that we would like their work ahead or to make it up and they were very agreeable. It's nice to see DD and DS will have so many "friends" their ages.

We are hoping to get Palo for brunch, too, or maybe we want to try for dinner. With only 4 nights to choose from, I don't know what night to try for - I really don't want to give up any nights in the dining room, but maybe Pirate night?

Peter and Jenn are sailing tomorrow, lucky ducks... Bon Voyage!!

 

[Bella8286]

Hi Mary, Laura and Shelly! It sounds like DD will have some friends to hang out with on the ship! I'm glad you all have sailed at this time of the year b/c I'm sure I'll have lots of questions as to what kind of clothes to pack. Also, how soon do you find out or do you know what night is what theme? We want to try to get ressies for Palo but I don't want to miss dinner the first night and I definately want to take the kids with us on pirate night. (We are too excited about getting to dress up!) I've been reading about magnetic door signs. Did you all do this in the past? Also, since we're going to have the baby, do you have any tips on some good shore excursions that we could do with him as well. I keep hearing (ppl we know) say that the Bahamas isn't worth seeing but I want to do at least one excursion. Okay that's all of my questions for now! Thanx


Rebekkah ~ signature in the making...

 

[flowerfacade]

Let's see if I can remember all this. Day 2 is Pirate Night. I think we didn't find out our dinner rotation for sure until we boarded though I called Disney before that and they told what I'd "probably" get. I didn't care for the food on Pirate Night, and the really big deal is on deck after nine. On Pirate Night, pirates "attack" the ship with fireworks and all. However, we got fireworks but no "attack" because of the wind, and it was whipping. The fireworks were great (of course) and my DD loved the dance party too. It was a little late for DS, then 4, and it may be late for him again this year. He goes to be fairly early, but we are going to try the late rotation this year in hopes we are not so rushed to go to dinner and can see more characters and the shows we missed last year.

In the Bahamas, well, there isn't so much to see, but I am glad we did it last year. My DD wanted to go to a foreign country so we filled that request too. We went to the Straw Market and haggled some, mostly for DD's benefit. DH and DS did not like the closeness or the haggling and went out to watch the water and the people.

We also went on a horse and buggy ride around the town. We enjoyed that, but it was somewhat nerve-wracking to ride around with the cars and their idea of driving is frightening. But we did see some of the major sites and DS loved the whole horse and cart experience and we got some fun pictures.
After that, they were tired and we did look in a few shops. I picked up an inexpensive oil painting that now hangs in my kitchen.

We might go off at Naussau this year, but it won't be a whole day event. We are just going to play it by ear. I did get some very colorful photos of the kids and such around the water there. I do understand that Paradise Island can be lots of fun, but I am just not into all that.

As far as Palo ressies: I was worried that my kids would feel left out especially if we missed a dining rotation. We missed Parrot Cay, but we were in there anyway on Pirate Night. My kids LOVED the kids' clubs. They were thrilled to go there the night we went to Palo...so much for guilt. Palo was quite enjoyable and I hope we get to go again. We also went for brunch which DH enjoyed more but that was because of the crab legs. I liked dinner best, but both were wonderful and our server was awesome.

The weather was iffy in that it was pretty windy most days. It was sunny though except our sea day (figures). But that day we had to go into the Miami Harbor because of a medical emergency (the Coast Guard came and took some poor person off, and their family). If we had stayed in the Bahamas the weather was sunny. We didn't complain though. It was still fun and we were thankful that we were all well. I mostly wore shorts and did wear long sleeved tshirts through the day. The rest of my family did not; they were all into short sleeves and shorts and/or bathing suits. At dinner, I wore long pants and long sleeves. It was cooler at night. I think it is all relative. People from the North and Midwest were quite comfortable.

Hope that helps!
Laura

OH! The smartest thing I did was pre-pack my kids' clothes into the Ziploc bags by outfit and day. There was no discussion about what went with what. That was very important with DD. We had no arguments about what went with what and when to wear what. We also had her hair braided the 1st day, and so we didn't have to fix that either! When it was time to put things away to come home, the Ziplocs came in handy for wet or damp things.

 

[Bella8286]

Thanks Laura for all of that info. The kids clothes in a bag is a great idea as picking out clothes with my DD is a fight every night! Gotta love those 7 year olds! I hope to get Palo reservations too. If not for dinner, maybe at least for brunch. Did your family dress up for pirate night? I was also thinking that DD would love the dolphin encounter excursion. Has anyone else done this? I went to the website for the place that does them and from what I can understand, my DS can still participate for free as long as he's with a paid adult since he will only be 8 months at the time. Is anyone familiar with the age requirements?

 

[flowerfacade]

We did dress up for Pirate Night. We got our pirate stuff for about 75% off after Halloween.
Never have done the dolphin encounter...but I am not sure your 8 month old will be thrilled with the water temperature. Let us know what you decide and find out!

 

[Bella8286]

So I guess we wouldn't be the only ones dressed up then! I will let you know about the dolphin encounter... if nothing else, either me or DH can go and pay $20 for the observation deck with him. Oh yeah, I'm glad you mentioned the water temp. How is it in the pools and on the beach in January?