August 17, 2013 - A Fantasy Cruise to Paradise

[shmoogrrrl]

How wonderful for you!
Guess what ...... we did consider those staterooms ourselves, then decided against them, when we went up to Cabanas and saw that you can see into part of them. We love to stand at the rail and people watching me? No, don't want that.
I corrected the FE participants list!

FE participants for August 17, 2013
gosshaus
shmoogrrrl
Tigerfan2k2
UltimateDisneyFan
mominva
dizneeat​

FE participants list with details​

Yeah, that doesn't bother me too much. As long as they don't throw things at me.

 

[mominva]

Sorry I haven't replied, iv'e been really busy

How was the beach?? Or are you still there??

We were unlucky I suppose with the seating in Enchanted Gardens, all of the other families who had the same servers as us all had the circular seating at the entrance while we had a normal table!

Have you seen any good videos about the Fantasy lately? I can't seem to find any! I would have thought that people would have been uploading videos because they've been on one of the first Fantasy cruises. Then again they're on holiday so...

Sarah

I've been busy too! I've been keeping up, barely, with the posts, but never seem to have time to get on here myself. We're back from the beach, which was great, and since then I've had to go to Des Moines for a business trip, then took 15 10-yr-old girls camping. I'm still catching up on my sleep! I get to stay home for 3 weeks, then off to California for a meeting.

My son is in his middle school play this weekend. They're doing Aladdin! I really like the music from that show (even after hearing it nonstop for 8 weeks now!). I wonder if they'll still be showing Aladdin when we cruise next year? If so, that'll be fun for us.

I haven't seen any videos from the MV yet - I've seen a couple of trip reports, but not much really. I thought people would be posting like crazy. Although I haven't looked in the past couple of weeks, so maybe there's more up there now.

Good luck in school!

 

[mominva]

BTW....we really DID switch our room. We are now in 9176. Just one room over. We were looking at pictures on-line, and Jeff thought it would be cool to be at the very point of the back. Not to mention that I think that balcony is big enough for a cocktail party.

Is that an invitation?

 

[shmoogrrrl]

Is that an invitation?

Hahaha! Possibly. I am sure the kids could play soccer out there!

 

[shmoogrrrl]

I posted this on the cruise form, but thought that I would post it too. It is my family's awesome DCL video. My son looks a lot like Justin Bieber, I think. Yikes.

http://funondeckcruise.com/video?id=1483


You can make your own, as well as enter the contest (Hey, free cruise!) here:

http://www.funondeckcruise.com/

 

[shmoogrrrl]

I was checking our sail, and I noticed that a category 8 has opened up. Those non-balcony rooms have been booked for a while.

I wonder if we will be a sell out?

Hope everyone is doing well!

 

[dizneeat]

I posted this on the cruise form, but thought that I would post it too. It is my family's awesome DCL video. My son looks a lot like Justin Bieber, I think. Yikes.

http://funondeckcruise.com/video?id=1483


You can make your own, as well as enter the contest (Hey, free cruise!) here:

http://www.funondeckcruise.com/

Loved it!

I was checking our sail, and I noticed that a category 8 has opened up. Those non-balcony rooms have been booked for a while.

I wonder if we will be a sell out?

Hope everyone is doing well!

Most of our summer cruises were a sell out. So it could VERY easily happen, especially with over a year to go.

Sorry I haven't responded earlier, but Tom and I went to DLRP for 4 days two weeks ago, last weekend we went to Italy for 3 days and once I got back I had enrolled in a weeklong course in Austria's lake district. DIS time was extremely limited, but I am back now!

FE participants for August 17, 2013
gosshaus
shmoogrrrl
Tigerfan2k2
UltimateDisneyFan
mominva
dizneeat​

FE participants list with details​

 

[shmoogrrrl]

Most of our summer cruises were a sell out. So it could VERY easily happen, especially with over a year to go.

Sorry I haven't responded earlier, but Tom and I went to DLRP for 4 days two weeks ago, last weekend we went to Italy for 3 days and once I got back I had enrolled in a weeklong course in Austria's lake district. DIS time was extremely limited, but I am back now!

No big deal at all. We are all busy with the end of the school year here. I usually can't wait for all the craziness to end, but really, summer is just as crazy.

We didn't get to visit Paris or Italy, but the countries of the European Union had Embassy open houses today, so we spent the day visiting a few. We hit the British Embassy, where Katie got to sign a banner for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, kick a soccer ball, and learn about James Bond. She was disappointed that there wasn't a blue police box for a Doctor Who picture. Hahaha! We also visited Denmark, Italy, Estonia, Luxemburg, Romania, Latvia and her favorite, Greece (She is obsessed with the Percy Jackson books). It was a lot of fun. They had displays, traditional music and dancing and food and drinks (Whiskey in UK, Wine in Italy, etc.....) We missed a LOT of Embassies though (sadly, Austria was on many blocks away from where we were, and we ran out of time!), so we will have to go back next year. I understand Belgium was full of chocolate and beer. Anyway, I grew up about 4 miles from Washington DC, and this was only the second time in my life that I visited any Embassy. Sad, really.

I bet we will be pretty darn close to a sell out, unless people change when the rest of 2013 and 2014 come out. We've changed this trip three times now, so we aren't going anywhere. Our old room (9674) is gone, so it looks like we have neighbors on both sides now.

I hope you all enjoyed your trips!

 

[dizneeat]

No big deal at all. We are all busy with the end of the school year here. I usually can't wait for all the craziness to end, but really, summer is just as crazy.

We didn't get to visit Paris or Italy, but the countries of the European Union had Embassy open houses today, so we spent the day visiting a few. We hit the British Embassy, where Katie got to sign a banner for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, kick a soccer ball, and learn about James Bond. She was disappointed that there wasn't a blue police box for a Doctor Who picture. Hahaha! We also visited Denmark, Italy, Estonia, Luxemburg, Romania, Latvia and her favorite, Greece (She is obsessed with the Percy Jackson books). It was a lot of fun. They had displays, traditional music and dancing and food and drinks (Whiskey in UK, Wine in Italy, etc.....) We missed a LOT of Embassies though (sadly, Austria was on many blocks away from where we were, and we ran out of time!), so we will have to go back next year. I understand Belgium was full of chocolate and beer. Anyway, I grew up about 4 miles from Washington DC, and this was only the second time in my life that I visited any Embassy. Sad, really.

I bet we will be pretty darn close to a sell out, unless people change when the rest of 2013 and 2014 come out. We've changed this trip three times now, so we aren't going anywhere. Our old room (9674) is gone, so it looks like we have neighbors on both sides now.

I hope you all enjoyed your trips!

Wow! You are already going towards the end of the school year? When do you stop school for the summer?
We still go on until the first week of July (going back the second week of September).

Next time there is Embassy open house you HAVE TO go to the Austrian Embassy - there should be beer and chocolate and yummy baked goods.
I didn't even know an Embassy had an open house. But it would be interesting to visit.

You changed your trip three times? We changed ours too. Our first plans included a coast to coast trip with 10 days of WDW, the cruise and another 18 days in California. We dropped the California part in the end, pushing that visit back to 2014 (and making it a 5 - 6 week vacation). Instead of California we added on the second cruise, which we are so looking forward to.

 

[shmoogrrrl]

Wow! You are already going towards the end of the school year? When do you stop school for the summer?
We still go on until the first week of July (going back the second week of September).

Next time there is Embassy open house you HAVE TO go to the Austrian Embassy - there should be beer and chocolate and yummy baked goods.
I didn't even know an Embassy had an open house. But it would be interesting to visit.

You changed your trip three times? We changed ours too. Our first plans included a coast to coast trip with 10 days of WDW, the cruise and another 18 days in California. We dropped the California part in the end, pushing that visit back to 2014 (and making it a 5 - 6 week vacation). Instead of California we added on the second cruise, which we are so looking forward to.

Our last day of school is June 15th, and she goes back the first Tuesday in September. We have a crazy summer though, so it will go by fast!

We actually didn't know about the Embassy open houses until the night before we went. It was really neat though, because you got to see the Embassies and find out more about the countries. To my curious nine year old, it was fascinating. My three year old? Not so much. Apparently they do it every year, so we will try to hit Austria next year. I wanted to go to Ireland, but the line was HUGE and we ran out of time.

A 5-6 week vacation sounds awesome. Will you do Disney Land while you are out there? We were originally booked on an August 2011 Dream cruise, but when they released the Fantasy dates, we decided that we'd rather do a seven day, so we transferred to June 2012. Well, my adorable and sweet little boy is being MUCH more stubborn about potty training than our daughter was, and we decided that we didn't go until he was potty trained, so that we didn't have to deal with the nursery, so we transferred it again to this date. He will be six weeks away from being five, so hopefully he'll be trained by then! Ha! Actually, he is working on it now, so I am hopeful that by the end of summer he will be. Once preschool ends (this week for him) he will be spending a lot of time running around the house in underwear.

 

[dizneeat]

Our last day of school is June 15th, and she goes back the first Tuesday in September. We have a crazy summer though, so it will go by fast!

We actually didn't know about the Embassy open houses until the night before we went. It was really neat though, because you got to see the Embassies and find out more about the countries. To my curious nine year old, it was fascinating. My three year old? Not so much. Apparently they do it every year, so we will try to hit Austria next year. I wanted to go to Ireland, but the line was HUGE and we ran out of time.

A 5-6 week vacation sounds awesome. Will you do Disney Land while you are out there? We were originally booked on an August 2011 Dream cruise, but when they released the Fantasy dates, we decided that we'd rather do a seven day, so we transferred to June 2012. Well, my adorable and sweet little boy is being MUCH more stubborn about potty training than our daughter was, and we decided that we didn't go until he was potty trained, so that we didn't have to deal with the nursery, so we transferred it again to this date. He will be six weeks away from being five, so hopefully he'll be trained by then! Ha! Actually, he is working on it now, so I am hopeful that by the end of summer he will be. Once preschool ends (this week for him) he will be spending a lot of time running around the house in underwear.

We always take long vacation in the summer. Having to sit on a plane for over 10 hours we like to make the most of those vacations.
We are travelling for 4 weeks this summer, going to the Keys, then a few days at WDW, a back to back cruise and more WDW days.
How funny you wanted to cruise on the DREAM last August. We did 3 cruises back to back then and maybe we would have cruised together.

In 2014 on our California vacation we definitely want to do Disneyland. It has been a few years since we have last been and we are both longing to go back.

Good luck with potty training your son!

FE participants for August 17, 2013
gosshaus
shmoogrrrl
Tigerfan2k2
UltimateDisneyFan
mominva
dizneeat​

FE participants list with details​

 

[shmoogrrrl]

Austria is pretty far away, so I can imagine you want to stay as long as possible for that airplane ride. Airplanes scare me. September 11th didn't help, but I was afraid of them before that. I still fly (I flew to Disney in February for the race and we are going to Denver in July), but it isn't my favorite thing to do. How long is a plane ride from Austria to the East Coast of the USA?

I am so glad we switched our trip from this June to August 2013. My boy is doing okay with the potty training, but he is so stinkin' stubborn. I don't think there is any chance that he would have been fully and comfortably potty trained by the end of June. As it is, we are considering switching our dining from early to late. He is a sweet boy, but sitting still for a long time isn't really his thing at this point, and that Dine and Play Kids Club program (Where they come pick up the kiddies an hour in the meal) is sounding better and better. We'd get a bit of quiet time, and he'd get to run around and play instead of sitting around bored. My daughter did very well at dinner on our last cruise (She was three), but she is much calmer and honestly, she fell asleep just about every night. *laugh*

I joked that I was going to make her a scrapbook from all the pictures that we have of her sleeping in various DCL and Disney World places.

 

[dizneeat]

Austria is pretty far away, so I can imagine you want to stay as long as possible for that airplane ride. Airplanes scare me. September 11th didn't help, but I was afraid of them before that. I still fly (I flew to Disney in February for the race and we are going to Denver in July), but it isn't my favorite thing to do. How long is a plane ride from Austria to the East Coast of the USA?

I am so glad we switched our trip from this June to August 2013. My boy is doing okay with the potty training, but he is so stinkin' stubborn. I don't think there is any chance that he would have been fully and comfortably potty trained by the end of June. As it is, we are considering switching our dining from early to late. He is a sweet boy, but sitting still for a long time isn't really his thing at this point, and that Dine and Play Kids Club program (Where they come pick up the kiddies an hour in the meal) is sounding better and better. We'd get a bit of quiet time, and he'd get to run around and play instead of sitting around bored. My daughter did very well at dinner on our last cruise (She was three), but she is much calmer and honestly, she fell asleep just about every night. *laugh*

I joked that I was going to make her a scrapbook from all the pictures that we have of her sleeping in various DCL and Disney World places.

Flying is the only way to get "somewhere" Disney, so we just don't think about it, but sitting on a plane to go back and forth is hard. We fly out of our home town and from here it is a 50 minute flight to Frankfurt, the international flight from Frankfurt to Orlando is 9 hours and 50 minutes (I am generous and call it 10 hours ). In the summer flight price skyrocket and to make the most of it we stay for at least 4 weeks.

We have late dining too!
And for the kids club ... we sailed with friends last summer and their kids went to the club every night, as they LOVED it! They sometimes had to leave while still eating dessert and happily left dessert behind.
Made for very relaxed dinner for the adults - not that Molly and Philip weren't well behaved, but they were eager to leave and have adventures of their own. Your kids will love the club!
I love the idea of a photobook of your daughter sleeping at Disney and on the cruise - what a neat idea!

FE participants for August 17, 2013
gosshaus
shmoogrrrl
Tigerfan2k2
UltimateDisneyFan
mominva
dizneeat​

FE participants list with details​

 

[Woobie]

I have to admit, I skimmed most of this thread (vs reading carefully). I booked a dummy date while on our double dip Dream cruise last Aug. I moved it to this date as soon as dates opened. So...

It's me, DH, DS (14 at sail date), DS (12 at sail date) and DD (just turning 6 at sailing). It's our 6th or 7th cruise (though not for all of us lol). We've FINALLY convinced our friends to join us. They have a DS (14 at sailing) and DD (5 going on 6 at sailing).

I am ABSOLUTELY doing the FE. It will be my 3rd time (though my FE isn't official). I'm already starting to create items. I love to craft, so pulling me in this far out will be necessary.

Woobie

 

[shmoogrrrl]

I have to admit, I skimmed most of this thread (vs reading carefully). I booked a dummy date while on our double dip Dream cruise last Aug. I moved it to this date as soon as dates opened. So...

It's me, DH, DS (14 at sail date), DS (12 at sail date) and DD (just turning 6 at sailing). It's our 6th or 7th cruise (though not for all of us lol). We've FINALLY convinced our friends to join us. They have a DS (14 at sailing) and DD (5 going on 6 at sailing).

I am ABSOLUTELY doing the FE. It will be my 3rd time (though my FE isn't official). I'm already starting to create items. I love to craft, so pulling me in this far out will be necessary.

Woobie

Hi there! Welcome! I'm Kathy, and my husband and I will be on our fifth cruise, our daughter will be on her third (11 at sale date) and first cruise for our son (4, almost 5 when we sail). We aren't too active here, since it is so early, but it is a fun little group so far. I am sure it will grow as we get closer.

We are opposite of you all! My husband and I sailed for the first time on our honeymoon in 2000, but our other four cruises have been with friends. We were not able to get them to come this time, so it will be our first trip since our honeymoon without friends with us.

Look forward to chatting with you.

 

[dizneeat]

I have to admit, I skimmed most of this thread (vs reading carefully). I booked a dummy date while on our double dip Dream cruise last Aug. I moved it to this date as soon as dates opened. So...

It's me, DH, DS (14 at sail date), DS (12 at sail date) and DD (just turning 6 at sailing). It's our 6th or 7th cruise (though not for all of us lol). We've FINALLY convinced our friends to join us. They have a DS (14 at sailing) and DD (5 going on 6 at sailing).

I am ABSOLUTELY doing the FE. It will be my 3rd time (though my FE isn't official). I'm already starting to create items. I love to craft, so pulling me in this far out will be necessary.

Woobie

Welcome to the cruise!
I am really glad you chose this cruise! We are going to have so much fun.

And I am more than pleased to hear that you will join us for FEs as well. I put your name on the list here and will add you to my online list with details right way. Would you please send me a PM with your first names (and ages of kids even though you posted them here, I just don't want to mess anything up) and your stateroom number if you already know it.
We are working on our FE gifts year round, and I have boxes for the individual cruises to add things at home! We just LOVE FEs and Disney cruises!

FE participants for August 17, 2013
Woobie
gosshaus
shmoogrrrl
Tigerfan2k2
UltimateDisneyFan
mominva
dizneeat​

FE participants list with details​

 

[AvaandJoshmom]

This will be our first Disney cruise! It will be me, DH, DD 7, DS 5 and DS 4. We are so excited!

 

[Woobie]

This will be our first Disney cruise! It will be me, DH, DD 7, DS 5 and DS 4. We are so excited!

Warning: You will be addicted! Where in MI are you? I grew up in MI.

 

[dizneeat]

This will be our first Disney cruise! It will be me, DH, DD 7, DS 5 and DS 4. We are so excited!

Welcome!

You are going to love it! Disney cruises are a lot of fun .... and ....... well, they ARE addictive!

 

[AvaandJoshmom]

Warning: You will be addicted! Where in MI are you? I grew up in MI.

We are in the suburbs of Detroit.