20050514..May 14, 2005...Official Check in Disney's 1st 14 Day thru Panama Canal

[kaylin]

Well, I am back to work! I still did not win the lottery! When we first got married, we were actually on the ramen noodle & popcorn diet! Not by choice though! Hope everyone had a great holiday! I got a Christmas card from Jindy and her daughter sent my daughter something, so she is okay! Thats all I have heard though!
I am getting very excited about the cruise now that it is getting closer. Well, I have so much work to do! Wonder how many people broke their teeth over the holidays????? Why oh Why can't I win the lottery!

Kim

 

[karaeric]

Good morning all!

Shari, welcome to the boards! Glad you joined us. Even my DH has contemplated joining after meeting everyone on the 10-day cruise. He felt the same way you did...a little bit lost, but enjoyed the events that the DISers had planned. I haven't a clue how to make buttons, but I sure would like to have them again for this cruise.

Kim, thanks for the update on Jindy.

Travel Plans: We are flying Southwest, coming into MCO on Thursday evening, and trying to park hop Friday. Haven't yet decided where we will stay the night before the cruise.

We will not be staying at DL at all, so we are returning home on 5/28. Not as bit a deal for us, we can get to DL pretty easily.

 

[Q's My Princess]

My DH, DD (4) and I are booked on this cruise and are sooooo excited

We were wait listed until mid-October and were very excited when we got the call! I just found this wonderful message board and can't wait to make some new friends b4 the cruise!

A couple of questions:
What is the deal with the door sign?
Does anyone out there have any kids in the 3-6 year old range?
How does the kids club work?

Thanks in advance for all the assistance!

Laurie

 

[rcostello1]

OK I have been gone so now I'm gonna read the last month of messages...see you soon!

I enroll in the RA (retailers anonymous, or anonymouse in my case) in 2 weeks! Christmas is finally over!!! And inventory is tomorrow, which means it's REALLY over.

 

[kaylin]

The kids club is great! My daughter is really shy at first, so I was not sure how it would go! She did want to leave though! I had to make her eat dinner with us They give you a pager and will beep you when your child is ready to leave the club. The pager will give you a message too which makes it nice! Just don't get drunk like my hubby did and drop the pager in the toilet. I sat there off and on for 2 days drying it with the hair dryer. They gave us another one, but would have made us pay over $100 if it had not started working! They are excellent with the kids and make them feel very welcome! The pager also works on some islands up to a certain range.

Kim

 

[Q's My Princess]

OMGosh Kim....that is too funny!!


I'll have to tell DH about that one! So, you keep the same pager with you all during the cruise, even when DD is with you?

How old was DD during your last cruise? What was the longest she stayed in the Oceaneer's Club?

Thanks,
Laurie

 

[kaylin]

We have gone for the past two years. Kaylin was 5 on the first and then last year (6). Yes, you keep the pager with you the whole time. If your child is with you just leave it in the room. When you first get on the ship, you might want to go on up and sign your child up. They assign you a pager, then you don't have to worry about it. That way, once it opens up, they can go without a crowd. They do some really neat things, then at the end of the cruise, they put on a show for everyone & get a neat t-shirt. The club looks like something only Disney could imagine up. My husband would have stayed and played if he could have! They will have a blast!

Kim

 

[karaeric]

Okay, I SO have two funny stories to share about electronics dropping into the toilet! But I'll post those separately...

First, let me welcome you Laurie! Glad you found us. Tell us about yourselves!

Next, let me share some good info for those of you with kids...you can now sign them up for the clubs BEFORE boarding the ship. In the terminal, after you get your key to the world card (your room key for newbies), go to a desk set up at the end of the terminal to sign them up. It saves you time once you board to sign up for the other goodies, like Palo (dinner, tea, and brunch) and spa treatments.

 

[rcostello1]

OK finally caught up. I'm going to do my passport stuff next week after I get my hair cut. Don't want a shaggy picture for 10 years!

I just PMed Scott H about PrimeTime Shuttle, will see what we find out. As far as the other (space) shuttle, it would be cool if we can see a launch. The only one I've seen was I think, unique: We were at MK for MVMCP...right as Rudolph flew over and the fireworks were going, a streak of flame was going across the sky. Wish I had my camera at the ready! It was a great sight!

Did anybody else book tickets on US Airways? My flights have changed umteen times and who knows what time my flight leaves now. Is anyone taking bets on if they will still be flying in May? I'm going to whine and see if I can just get my paltry sum back. Otherwise I may eat the cost. JetBlue is looking much better at this point, even if it ends up costing more.

And we got a new digital camera, but went for the ultra portable rather than ultra-megapixels. We got the Canon SD300. I carried it around in my bag for a month before I finally had to give it up for the Christmas present it was. I had to test it out to make sure it worked It worked in NYC, DC, VA...

 

[karaeric]

Okay - my "electronics in the toilet" story. This happened about three years ago, shortly after we had brought home a new kitten. One day, DH and I were on the phone, and he had to use the loo. Instead of haning up, he just decided to kill two birds with one stone - ah, the beauties of being married...

Suddenly, in the middle of the conversation, I heard this klunk, klunk, sploosh....buzzzzzzzzz.

I shook my head, thinking that what I had just heard couldn't have been what I thought it was. I called the house back, and after a few rings, DH answered.

I asked what had happened, and he explained that Kobe, the new kitten, chose that moment to climb up "Dad's" back. Needless to say, it surprised DH quite a bit, and he dropped the phone in the toilet.

We got a new phone after that...

 

[erickara]

All I can say is that the phone dropping in the loo wasn't my fault and wasn't all that funny at the time.

 

[Scott H]

A lot could be done with those stories but I will be good, darn it I hate it when I am good.

Pets will be pets, yesterday our young Malamute was sitting on a lawn chair reaching up and eating icecicles. What a duffus, but she is our duffus.

I also didn't win the lottery and must endure here at work.

 

[karaeric]

Hey Scott - I was looking into which ports might offer scuba on this trip and didn't really find much. Have you looked into this at all? I came up with Castaway Cay, Curacao, and Cabo as being the only choices for scuba on this trip. I tried looking on cruisecritic.com and the padi web site, but didn't really find much that helped.

Any thoughts from anyone?

 

[Scott H]

Is DCL offering SCUBA on CC?

So we have Mazatlan and Acapulco. It wil be chilly Pacific water with a good chance the vis would be less than the Atlantic side. Will see what I can find.

 

[kpros]

Is DCL offering SCUBA on CC?

So we have Mazatlan and Acapulco. It wil be chilly Pacific water with a good chance the vis would be less than the Atlantic side. Will see what I can find.

They were offering SCUBA on CC in May of 2003 when we went then. We booked it well in advance and didn't dive anywhere else. Then when we got to CC, they cancelled it because not enough people signed up. I haven't seen it listed since then. I know it ticked me off having them cancel it at the minute since we didn't dive anywhere else. It appears they had a contractor come over from one of the other islands, so I'm sure that the contractor didn't want to come over unless he had a full trip.

Ken

 

[karaeric]

Huh...well, they used to offer scuba at Castaway Cay. Maybe it's a seasonal thing? I wonder what would constitute a "full" excursion. I am guessing that we could fill that up with just DISers. We have four divers just in my family on this trip.

If we think we want diving there and we have enough interest from this group, maybe we can contact Disney to let them know before they set all of the excursions for this cruise. I would be willing to spearhead the motion if I get enough "ayes." That probably means at least 10 people, don't you think?

 

[Scott H]

Ken, I kinda remember that but it was never available when we have cruised. Bummer. I will reluctantly offer my SCUBA services to DCL to start a program for DCL on CC. It would be a tough job but some one has to do it. The dive sites near CC I would guess would be off the south end of Abaco, maybe to the West of CC. I can see that such a CC excursion would be tough to fill as CC has a whole bunch of stuff to offer.

 

[karaeric]

The dive sites near CC I would guess would be off the south end of Abaco, maybe to the West of CC. I can see that such a CC excursion would be tough to fill as CC has a whole bunch of stuff to offer.

However, for some of these specialty cruises, there is a very large percentage of return cruisers. Other than the Waverunner tour around the island, they really haven't added much in the way of excursions in a long time. I am hoping that they would be willing to consider suggestions (SCUBA!) if enough requests come in.

 

[kpros]

Kara And Scott

I think Shari and I would be up for SCUBA at CC if they offered it. We are currently planning to do the watercraft tour but I'd vote for SCUBA if it was available.

Ken

 

[karaeric]

Kara And Scott

I think Shari and I would be up for SCUBA at CC if they offered it. We are currently planning to do the watercraft tour but I'd vote for SCUBA if it was available.

Ken

Thanks Ken, I'll put you and Shari on the list. Scott, would you and DW be interested? Anyone else?

Have a good evening all. Time for me to go home, get my 15 minutes of fame from the critters, walk the dog, and make dinner. Talk to you all tomorrow!