April 22, 2013 5-night out of Miami

[duckman17]

Thinking about coming on last minute!

 

[1153rsmith]

Thinking about coming on last minute!

Come on aboard! We just joined last week.

Hoping for fair winds and smooth seas.

 

[1153rsmith]

Good Morning everybody,

I hope everyone is doing well. We are on mail watch waiting for our documents to arrive. We still haven't told the children. I need to soon though, so they can help us with the Fish Extender gifts and so they don't wonder why we are asking if their water shoes and swim suites still fit.

Since there are several first time cruisers on this cruise, I wanted to make sure you were aware that you can turn in up to 2 items "officially" to guest services when you get aboard to have the characters sign them. These items will be signed during the cruise and returned to your stateroom on the last night of the cruise. So far, we have done pillowcases and photo matts. I am not sure what we are going to do this time, but I am sure my kids will think of something.

We usually take the item and put it, along with a sharpie or fabric marker and some candy in a large ziplock bag. The candy is a reward for the characters taking time to sign. Once we get aboard, I drop them off at guest services.

Here are pictures of our pillowcase and matt.

You can still take items around to the meet-n-greets to have them signed, but this is very handy.

Have a great day.

Randy

 

[mom3girls2000]

Hi, everyone,

My DH just booked us on this cruise, is it too late to join the FE group?

Do you have a page/group on Facebook too, or just here on the DIS?

This will most likely just be DH and myself, unless our 20yo DD changes her mind LOL.

This will be DH's and my 3rd Wonder cruise; if DD joins us, it will be her first on the Wonder. We took her on the Dream for her first cruise .

 

[my3lilonkeyz]

Jen (Rudolph4) is running the FE we are doing, I would contact her and see if theres a way to squeeze you in still I think the more the merrier I know she closed it the other day but had asked some others if they would like to go.

 

[mom3girls2000]

Jen (Rudolph4) is running the FE we are doing, I would contact her and see if theres a way to squeeze you in still I think the more the merrier I know she closed it the other day but had asked some others if they would like to go.

Yay we have been added !

I wonder how many more will take advantage of the new promo?

Now I'm off to start reading through the forum lol. Can't swear that I will finish today, but I will start

 

[1153rsmith]

We finally told the kids, so now we can get some help on the FE's. They are super excited.

I just hope they stay that way on the long drive down from NC and the even longer drive back.

We can do the drive to WDW pretty well, but another 3-4 hours tacked onto that is going to be tough.

We may spend the night on the way down in the Port St. Lucie area though.

Have any of you driven to the port of Miami? Is it fairly easy to get to?

 

[my3lilonkeyz]

We too are driving down, but we are coming from Pittsburgh, PA. Also we have 3 drivers (my uncle and his fiance are going on their first Disney cruise as well) and plan on driving straight through and just staying the night in Miami. We have driven to WDW and the kids did great so I am hoping for a similar experience this trip.

 

[1153rsmith]

We too are driving down, but we are coming from Pittsburgh, PA. Also we have 3 drivers (my uncle and his fiance are going on their first Disney cruise as well) and plan on driving straight through and just staying the night in Miami. We have driven to WDW and the kids did great so I am hoping for a similar experience this trip.

Yes, normally, I do all of our driving because my wife can smock or cross stitch while we travel, but I can't read or do anything in a moving vehicle. However, on this trip, I may get her to drive some so I can get a break. Google Map has our trip at about 12 hours driving time, not counting any stops.

Lauren, My son has already asked me if there were going to be any girls his age in our FE group LOL!

 

[my3lilonkeyz]

Yes, normally, I do all of our driving because my wife can smock or cross stitch while we travel, but I can't read or do anything in a moving vehicle. However, on this trip, I may get her to drive some so I can get a break. Google Map has our trip at about 12 hours driving time, not counting any stops.

Lauren, My son has already asked me if there were going to be any girls his age in our FE group LOL!

Lol Mickey was telling her friend She hopes there's kids her he there, specifically boys...They are something else at this age.

We enjoy the drive down, and the kids seem to like seeing different states. It's about a 21 hr drive I believe but between 3 of us it should be ok, and DH will do the bulk of it since he enjoys driving. My concern is my 4 yr old this time, I just gotta make sure tablets and portable DVD players are charged.

 

[1153rsmith]

Lol Mickey was telling her friend She hopes there's kids her he there, specifically boys...They are something else at this age.

We enjoy the drive down, and the kids seem to like seeing different states. It's about a 21 hr drive I believe but between 3 of us it should be ok, and DH will do the bulk of it since he enjoys driving. My concern is my 4 yr old this time, I just gotta make sure tablets and portable DVD players are charged.

I know what you mean. As far as the drive goes, I am buying a few new dvd's and will dole them out along the way as something new to do.

My children have no idea of what it was like to travel when I was younger. The only thing you could watch was the scenery.

Most of the time, my children don't even know where we are.

 

[my3lilonkeyz]

My daughter has a hard time comprehending no cell, no real internet, no ipods, or any other "fun" stuff. She thinks I grew up deprived LOL.

I am more concerned with my 4yo, the other 2 are VERY well behaved but he got a severe head injury from a baseball last June and needed surgery, stitched, had a concussion, the whoel nine yards. After he came home from the hospital his behavior has been a little on the not so good side (Dr. is still unsure if this wasdue to the concussion or if he just hit a "stage"). I am not sure how he is going to react to the drive or the kids club so I am a little nervous with him I think once we get there everything will be fine but those little things creep into our head and you worry.

 

[Docmom]

We're driving from Naples so not too far. Lived in Miami and have family there - the drive to the port isn't bad unless it's rush hour then I-95 can be a parking lot. There are hotels around the port but that area of Miami is a mixture of really expensive and not safe areas. I would recommend you stop a bit farther north - Ft Lauderdale or even West Palm Beach area and drive down to the port in the morning AFTER rush hour. Also be aware that there are a lot of nutty drivers in Miami and many from other countries that make their own rules while driving...ie a red light doesn't necessarily mean stop. Also be careful who you honk at; someone tried to merge into our lane (literally into our car) on the highway once and my husband honked the horn to alert them we were there (in a very obvious red SUV). The guy chased us off the highway when we exited and was cursing and waving his arms at us; we thought we were about to be shot.

 

[Rudolph4]

So we are "closing" the gift exchange portion of the FE to allow everyone to get their gifts organized. We are still happy to have new joiners for our meet - details to follow on this thread so keep checking!

Looking forward to a fun cruise!

Jen

 

[1153rsmith]

So we are "closing" the gift exchange portion of the FE to allow everyone to get their gifts organized. We are still happy to have new joiners for our meet - details to follow on this thread so keep checking!

Looking forward to a fun cruise!

Jen

Jen, since we are driving down, I will do a sign for us to use to identify our meet-n-greet location. I will try to incorporate the Lime Green Mickey head logo. If I can get it done early enough, I will try to post the graphic here so everyone will know what to look for.

Also, at embarkation, most likely my family will be wearing lime green t-shirts with a Wonder cruise graphic on the front and mardi gras beads. If you see us, introduce yourself. I would love for the children to be able to meet at least a couple friends for their first night in the Edge.

 

[Rudolph4]

Jen, since we are driving down, I will do a sign for us to use to identify our meet-n-greet location. I will try to incorporate the Lime Green Mickey head logo. If I can get it done early enough, I will try to post the graphic here so everyone will know what to look for.

Also, at embarkation, most likely my family will be wearing lime green t-shirts with a Wonder cruise graphic on the front and mardi gras beads. If you see us, introduce yourself. I would love for the children to be able to meet at least a couple friends for their first night in the Edge.

Randy,

Thank you for taking on the sign-making!! We'll look for your family during boarding!

jen

 

[Jenny522]

Just popping in to say hi and happy one month to go!! Been MIA for a bit... Not doing the FE (please don't be offended!) but we'd love to meet up with everyone!!

Can't wait to get out of this cold, snowy Jersey weather (yes, still!!)

See you real soon!!
Jenn, Jeff, Julia (15) and Dylan (13)

 

[mom3girls2000]

Hi, everyone,

Just popping on to say hi. This cruise will just be myself (Maxine is my real name but PLEASE call me Max) and my DH Mark.

This will be our 3rd time on the Wonder out of Miami. We are driving down from our FL house (near Tampa). Neither one of us likes to drive very much but we <3 what's at the other end of the drive. We'll be staying at a hotel the night prior to the cruise and leaving our car at the hotel while we cruise.

We also have a home in Philadelphia, PA. We're not quite snowbirds yet, we are just practicing LOL. We are flying down to Tampa in early April, our niece is getting married in Georgia on the 6th, and we are resigned to driving to Columbus

We will try to get to the meet-&-greet, thank you for the idea of a sign, that will make it easy to find the group, and thank you to Randy for volunteering to make the sign!

I think I am reading the FE list correctly when I see that there's only one other family cruising with no kids ...? Wondering (lol) if you have main or late dining (we currently are signed up for late dining) and if you'd like to connect our reservations for dinners? We might try to switch to main dining, but I know it might not be possible ...

 

[1153rsmith]

Ok folks, the only way I could find to post a pdf was through google docs, so let's see if this works
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByL8qFJhJ9qvbHRhYkJTRlB3QzQ/edit?usp=sharing

Here is the sign. Do you think a regular size sheet of paper will be big enough? If not, I can make it bigger.

Let me know if you can't see it.

Also, if anyone is making cruise magnets and wants a mickey head itinerary map, let me know. A Disigner friend of mine made me one. I will be glad to share.

 

[Rudolph4]

Ok folks, the only way I could find to post a pdf was through google docs, so let's see if this works
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByL8qFJhJ9qvbHRhYkJTRlB3QzQ/edit?usp=sharing

Here is the sign. Do you think a regular size sheet of paper will be big enough? If not, I can make it bigger.

Let me know if you can't see it.

Also, if anyone is making cruise magnets and wants a mickey head itinerary map, let me know. A Disigner friend of mine made me one. I will be glad to share.

Looks good to me!