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

[DisneyPinDiva]

Good evening everyone!
Just checking in before I go and watch "Medium"... Love that spooky stuff.

Welcome to the boards Eric!!! Wish I could get Joe to participate... he hates the computer... guess it comes from having to do a lot on it at work. As you know he'd much rather watch the History channel.....LOL

This will be our 5th Disney cruise and I'm still learning stuff. Should we request certain servers? Should we request a certain rotation? None of that ever occurred to me before. We just took what we got. I must say I think we've always had the leftover servers that no one wanted...... never had a team that was THAT outstanding and memorable.

 

[moocow35]

This will be our 5th Disney cruise and I'm still learning stuff. Should we request certain servers? Should we request a certain rotation? None of that ever occurred to me before. We just took what we got. I must say I think we've always had the leftover servers that no one wanted...... never had a team that was THAT outstanding and memorable.

I hear you on the leftover servers. This past February, I think I had them as well... My head server's every other word was excellent! But actually the experience was far from it. He should have just lightened up a bit and forgot about the "E" word! Years ago I had Timmy and Gemma, dinner could not have been a better experience! I've never requested anything special before either. Any input for this?

Robin

 

[kpros]

Hi Leslie

As far as dinner rotation goes, I know many people really want to be in a certain place (Animators, Parrot Cay) on a certain night. So lots of planning goes into picking the rotation. But even with all the "hot" information we got before the 10 day, the special nights changed and people had to revise there Palo plans or weren't where they really wanted to be. On our four previous cruises, we have always had ALP rotation. Not because we asked for it, it just worked out that way. I think you could make yourself crazy trying to figure out the 14 day cruise and what nights will be formal, semi-formal, pirate, etc. and try to make it fit a rotation.

I think the more important thing is to link reservations with people you really want to eat with. That worked very well for us on the 10 day. We enjoyed the group at our table.

As far as servers go - I think you can request servers. We never have. Our team on the 10 day was great. The server didn't have the greatest personality, but he did his job well(Ancell). The assistant server (Collin) was the best we have had on our 4 cruises.

Ken

 

[kpros]

Hi Robin

Our Head Server only showed up at the table 3 times during the week. The first night, Pirate night, and the last night. He didn't do anything. Now, on our May 2003 cruise, the Head Server was at the table every night to make sure everything was fine. He helped with a special Birthday surprise for someone at the table. He really appeared to care about how our service was.

So, I guess it all depends on who's around when you cruise.

Ken

 

[Scott H]

Sure put us on the list, we will see what they offer. On CC we enjoy hitting the snorkeling area early, before it gets crowded and murked up. Sadly the fish are well trained and expect a handout from folks there. Then we head over to the adult beach and swim out to a wreck located beyond the orange balls, it is a good swim but worth it as the wreck is in about 5-8 feet of water (varies with tide). Low tide makes it easy to find. Lots of good fish life there and they are not expecting a handout. After the swim back we hit the lunch spot there at Serenity Bay. Lynn thinks it is about a 35-40 minute swim, I think less, I really need to get a good compass heading to locate it during high tide. It is not on any of charts I have. Usually we see some trigger fish and barracuda on the swim out. At the wreck there are Sgt Majors, grunts, angelfish, spotted drum, all concentrated. Per my GPS the tides at CC on May 15 should be low tide at 7:10 AM and high tide at 1:12 PM (2.17 ft). What a geek I am with that info. It's early and I may try to post a photo or two of this site.

If there is no SCUBA diving on CC and anyone wants to join us for the swim we can set up a time to meet.

Not much luck in finding dive operators in Mazatlan.

Found three in Acapulco and here are their links

www.acapulcoscuba.com
www.swissdivers.com
Divers de Mexico at www.funfishingfactory.com

Divers de Mexico states that all their instructors are divemasters. This is good because you must be a divemaster before you can become an instructor, PADI system that is.

"Time for me to go home, get my 15 minutes of fame from the critters, walk the dog, and make dinner." Kara How true on the 15 min of fame, at least until they are fed.

Leslie LOL " As you know he'd much rather watch the History channel.....LOL" I'm doing both right now. I guess the History Channel is a guy thing, one of my undergrad degrees is in US History.

 

[Scott H]

Here be the wreck

 

[shellofclearh2o]

Great pictures Scott!
We are still planning on going...hope to have cruise paid by end of this month
As I will be broke by the end of the cruise, we will fly back home Sat night.
Happy New Year!

 

[Debbie H]

We will be staying at the GC too for about 4 or 5 days after. I think our transfers take us from the boat to the hotel though.

 

[nasmith]

Checking in again - I guess this makes post number 3 - I've tried to keep up with most of the posts (Lurking...).....This will be cruise number 2, although we haven't taken cruise number 1 yet! Our "trial" cruise is Feb. 6 4-day....Veteran Disney World and Land travelers however.......

Scott H - I would LOVE to find the wreck with you- Great picture! - I suppose my DH would like to go to - He's SCUBA certified, and would love to go diving as well.....I'm thinking of getting shorty tropical wetsuits....How warm is the water going to be on the trip? Is that info in the GPS too?

Laurie - My Son will have just turned 5 on the Cruise. We've signed up for late dinner, because, honestly, I don't think he will ever want to leave the Oceaneers' club! When we go to WDW, all he does is pester us to go to Neverland (the kids club at the Poly).....

I'm truly behind in planning for this cruise (at least compared to everyone here!) - but loosely, we are planning to drive to the port on Friday (arrive late); and after the cruise we will probably rent a car and head to San Diego for a few days to visit friends (We used to live in SD).

Quick question about Formal wear..... How many formal nights do you think they'll have?? Do all the Men wear tuxes? Do you own your tuxes, or rent them (how much)? Do you think it would be appropriate for my Husband to wear his Navy Dress Mess Uniform , or should I get him a tux?? What do little kids wear to Formal night?? Thanks!! Jill

 

[JenKatt]

About formal night, hubby had worn both a tux (rented) and a dark suit. Both were fine. About the mess dress. He'll look sharp but for how uncomfortable they are, I would leave it at home (I've never worn mine outside military duty). But that's just me...

Count Jeff and I in for any sort of SCUBA....

 

[kaylin]

Good morning everyone! Thought I would write now. I looked at the schedule and guess I should have brought my sleeping bag! The traffic is starting to get really bad! I hate this time of the year. I keep thinking about the cruise while I'm stuck in traffic! I watched that movie "Open Water". Very stupid, but makes me not want to go scuba diving, since it's true! I'll stick to the shore and watch you all! Well, have a great day!

Kim

 

[Scott H]

Lynn took those and she is the better photographer. I noticed the picture is gone , I must have done an unwitting boo boo, sorry.

The Atlantic side will be in the upper 70's to low 80's. A shorty 3mm suit usually works for most folks in the South Atlanic, I am a ninny and will have a full 5mm suit. I usually wear out a short a year teaching in a pool, and have found that Divers Outlet has good prices and oft times some pretty good sales. The Pacific side will be cooler, low 70's at best. If I had the room I would be packing my dry suit.

Movie "Open Water" was kinda true, there is a whole lot more to that story that the movie did not address. The "Jaws" of the new century. Peter Benchley (sp?) author of "Jaws" is a great crusader for sharks these days.

Any body need a size 54 reg tux, 2 jackets and two pr pants and some shirts? I think it will be cheaper for me to buy a new one as opposed to getting my old one altered.

 

[spros]

Hi Everyone:

I am the DW of kpros and am trying to take a more active part in the DIS Board. I enjoy reading what everyone writes about but often don't know what to write. So, this morning I thought I'd just jump in with both feet and say hi to all of those I met on the 10-day. I had to drive into the office yesterday (1.5 hours in the rain) but it was for a non-work related reason (a pre-planned day at the spa with some co-workers). Life gets back to reality today. I like to scuba and wouldn't mind diving at CC; however, I also liked the ideas of the wave runners (although I think they are a bit pricey).

For those of you I haven't met, I'm really looking forward to the 14-day cruise. We've always had to wait 18 months between cruises so it's hard to believe the next one is so close. If scuba doesn't work, please count me in on the swim.

I hope everyone has a great day.

 

[karaeric]

Good morning everyone!

Okay, so far I have 10 folks interested in SCUBA at Castaway Cay (My 4, Ken & Shari, Scott & Lynn, Jenn & Jeff). I will call DCL today to see if that is enough for them to reinstate that excursion. I too will be wearing my 3mil wetsuit - guess that makes me a ninny too!

Formal wear: I feel very strongly, based on our experience with the 10-day, that this cruise will have two formal nights, and likely two semi-formal nights. For us, we are cruising three times in 12 months, so it made more sense to buy the tux rather than rent. DH looks so handsome! Anyway, both DH and my father will have their own tuxes on this trip. We brought two sets of vests, two shirts, and that worked out great. For semi-formal night, he wore a silk jacket and nice slacks. On the 10-day, we did see one gentleman in his military dress - but he was Marine, I believe.

 

[erickara]

Good morning everyone..

I am new to the boards and was told by my wife to introduce myself. I am the second half of karaeric or first of erickara (profound huh??).

Will hopefully be able to keep up with everyone and am glad to be a part of a great bunch of people.

May Panama Cruise
Nov. 7-night Cruise
Dec '06 Holiday Cruise

looking forward to all.......

 

[karaeric]

Hi Everyone:

I am the DW of kpros and am trying to take a more active part in the DIS Board. I enjoy reading what everyone writes about but often don't know what to write. So, this morning I thought I'd just jump in with both feet and say hi to all of those I met on the 10-day...

For those of you I haven't met, I'm really looking forward to the 14-day cruise. We've always had to wait 18 months between cruises so it's hard to believe the next one is so close. If scuba doesn't work, please count me in on the swim...

Shari, I am so glad to see you here! You helped me convince Eric to join. Leslie, you should tell Joe that Shari and Eric have joined our madness!!

As far as servers are concerned, the 10-day was the first time I didn't have execellent service for meals. Our server was Ivan. He was pretty lackluster for the first several days, but opened up and was more fun toward the end of the trip. Our assistant server was good, not great, but nice. The head server, Rishi, was at our table every meal, at least once, and sometimes twice. That was another first for me. Of course, so was having the head of all food service for the Magic showing up at our table several times. Daniel is English, and we had some English folks at our table, so we really got the attention! It was nice.

As for dining rotations, we have always requested late seating, and always received LAP. I personally like that rotation, though for the 10-day that put us in Parrot Cay for both formal nights, Oh well, you can't win them all, as Ken said.

 

[kpros]

Good morning everyone

Kara, thanks for looking into the SCUBA on CC. If you have trouble with DCL, maybe we should call Stacey in as a consultant. She was able to make DCL jump when she made requests.

Here is our schedule for the pre and post cruise days. DW Shari and arrive in Florida on Wedneday the 11th. We will be staying at the Port Orleans French Quarter. We have Epcot Segway tour reservations for Thursday morning and Dive Quest reservations for Thursday afternoon. Friday will be spent at Downtown Disney. Then of to the Port on Saturday.

Does anyone have any great restaurant suggestions for Friday night? It's been almost 6 years since we were last at WDW and really don't know much about the various restaurants.

Dreams Unlimited told me yesterday that Disney is now (or will be by May) providing free transportation from MCO to the WDW hotels. It's called "Magical Express". Does anyone know anything about this. It's just from MCO to the WDW hotels - not to the port.

As far as the post cruise goes - we are looking forward to not having to pack everything for a return airline trip. We are just an hour and half from the port. So the trip home will be much less work then usual.

Ken

 

[Scott H]

Ken, If you a member of PADI Diving Society there is a Dive Quest discount, also a DVC discount if that would apply. Segway is a fun experience.

Cold water ninnies unite!!!! I am even thinking about a tropical dry suit. Will see what DUI has to offer this fall at the dive show in Las Vegas.

Kara, thanks for checking it (SCUBA) out for us. I doubt if it would help but tell them you can provide and instructor and divemaster.

 

[Q's My Princess]

After seeing those pics, I wish DH and I knew how to scuba! Thanks for sharing those great pictures!

This is our family's first cruise and although I am an internet junkie, I was wondering if the unlimited internet access is something I will really use? For those of you who have cruised b4...did you go with the unlimited and how often did you use it?

Thanks everyone!
Laurie

 

[rcostello1]

We will definitely be doing the unlimited internet pkg. I have budgeted double the 7-day price. There are 5 of us in the room so we'll share the cost. I so wish they would set up a wireless access point in the Internet lounge or in Cove Cafe (or both!) so we could just surf from our own computer. It would be SO MUCH BETTER. I mean come on, it is soooo simple to do, even with the setup they have. DCL is definitely behind on wireless access for guests. **soapbox off**