August 22nd 2009 Western Carribbean Anyone?

[wayneg]

I have been so busy with work (and posting on UK threads) Last 3 weekends doing wedding flowers and thru week a lot of funerals.
We fly this Friday land in Orlando about 6pm will unpack quick bite to eat and sleep as we have to be up early Saturday to drive to Savannah/Tybee Island, GA. about 5 hours away to meet friends, they are driving down from North Carolina.
Renewed our Annual passes for Disney and Universal at the weekend, Seaworld and Busch still valid until end of year so we will be doing all the parks.
Taking a couple of laptops so will be checking posts.

 

[soccermom10]

Hello all. Well, after a lot of thought and discussions, my family decided to cancel the Disney Cruise and we booked with RCCL Liberty of the Seas for the same week. I never thought I would do it, but after seeing the difference in price and checking out everything they have on the ship, we decided to do it. We will definitely miss the "disney magic" & I'm a little nervous that we might regret it.....hopefully we won't

 

[stsomewhere]

Hello all. Well, after a lot of thought and discussions, my family decided to cancel the Disney Cruise and we booked with RCCL Liberty of the Seas for the same week. I never thought I would do it, but after seeing the difference in price and checking out everything they have on the ship, we decided to do it. We will definitely miss the "disney magic" & I'm a little nervous that we might regret it.....hopefully we won't

We hava sailed alot on RCCl. You will have agreat time. I was looking at that cruise before we booked the Magic. Your kids will really enjoy all that the ship has to offer. My DS loves the flowrider.

I am hoping that DCL won't be too boring for mine. But, they are determined to have a good time.

HAve a wonderful cruise.

 

[stsomewhere]

HEy everyone. Just checking in.
I know its been a busy summer for anyone. But, its been awhile before anyone posted.

DD went to horse camp last week s. She had a great time. She had some sad news. Her guiena pig died.

Dh and DS went to scout camp, too. They were very tired from all the walking.

We are suppose to go to a local waterpark today with boy scouts. DS doesn't know if he wants to go.

We booked Kalahari waterpark/hotel for Nov.2-4(SAndusky,OH). The kids have a break from school those days. I thought we got a pretty good price.
2 nights lodging, 2 breakfasts pp, pizza and pop, dinner buffet pp.,mini golf, arcade tokens for $299.
DS loves the flowrider. We think some of our friends are going to be joining us.
A mini vacation.

Hope everyone is having a great summer.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Hey all. Checking in. I know a lot of people are away on their trips.

We leave for our back-to-back Wonder cruises on Saturday. I am so ready to be pampered for a week.

Three weeks ago we had DH's youngest brother and family visiting us from England with their two kids. The kids are close in age to my DS & DD so they all kept themselves busy.

Two weeks ago we spent a week at the New Jersey shore. The water was freeeeezing!!!! Water temps in the high 50s to low 60s. I wore three wet suits to keep warm. It was like dressing to go skiing.

Had a lot of fog as well with the water that cold.

Still had a blast. The waves were great and I learned to surf!!!! I am now the proud owner of an 8 foot 6 inch surfboard.

My ankle wasn't happy at all. With the cold water it ached and got stiff. My physical therapist wasn't too happy about that and has tortured my foot since I got back.

My ankle is feeling better now and I should be able to dance at all the parties on the Wonder.

My only concern is that my foot is still swollen enough that I can't fit into my dress shoes.

Joisey Mom.....have an incredible time on the EB Repo cruise. That truly is going to be an amazing trip. And take pictures of Christiaan on formal night.

Soccermom10....totally understand about switching cruises. DCL is expensive and if RCCL has what you want then you did the right thing.

Boy, its chilly here in NJ. Haven't really had those dog days of August where we get the three "H's" in NJ (hazy, hot and humid).

Its going to be a shock for us hitting the hot temps and warm waters on the Wonder.

Yup....closing in on the year mark until this cruise. Can't wait to see the drydock changes the Magic will have in the fall.

 

[jhryb]

I am looking forward to joining all of you on this cruise. We just booked yesterday. My name is Jennifer and I am bringing along my DH Brett, my DD11 Emily (she will celebrate her 12th bday on the cruise), my DS10 and my sister Megan. My DH and I have one cabin and my sister will be sharing the cabin next to us with my kids (I haven't told her that yet - but since we are treating her, I doubt she will complain ). I wanted to get adjoining cabins (cat 8 or cat 9) - but they have all been taken. I will keep trying.
We just came off of the Eastbound Repo Cruise and it was amazing. We were on deck 2 and our claim to fame is that we never took the elevator once!
Tonight when I get home from work I will spend a couple of hours reading through this thread so I can get to know all of you.

 

[stsomewhere]

I am looking forward to joining all of you on this cruise. We just booked yesterday. My name is Jennifer and I am bringing along my DH Brett, my DD11 Emily (she will celebrate her 12th bday on the cruise), my DS10 and my sister Megan. My DH and I have one cabin and my sister will be sharing the cabin next to us with my kids (I haven't told her that yet - but since we are treating her, I doubt she will complain ). I wanted to get adjoining cabins (cat 8 or cat 9) - but they have all been taken. I will keep trying.
We just came off of the Eastbound Repo Cruise and it was amazing. We were on deck 2 and our claim to fame is that we never took the elevator once!
Tonight when I get home from work I will spend a couple of hours reading through this thread so I can get to know all of you.

Welcome Jennifer. My DS will be 11 during our cruise. He will be excited to hear that there is another boy.

 

[stsomewhere]

I hope that everyone had a terrific time on their vacations.
We did.
We went to the Upper Pennisula of MI.
We saw a black bear, moose, bald eagle and river otter in the wild.

The kids went back to school yesterday and are quite happy with their classes.

DH found out he still has vacation to use before the end of the year.
I want him to roll it into Thanksgiving or Christmas week and go on a cruise.

He wants to go visit my dad, who lives in Texas.

The kids want a cruise.
Maybe I will surprise them.

 

[bellebud]

hi all

long time, no post for me. we had such a busy summer. disney was great, but more crowded than i've ever seen it before (and we've been in the summer before, july 4th week). anyway, it was hotter in NY that week than florida, so the weather was fine for us there. I have us booked to go back the last week of january, CR MK view club level. DS7 is saying he doesn't want to go back though. He's tired of the crowds (like dh is - we got spoiled when we went to universal last easter w/ the front of the line thing!)
DD wants to go back to disney though (and so do I), but we know we're going again October 09 w/ my family, so I'm torn. There are so many other places to see/things to do.

in august we went to lake george (ny) and rented a house on the lake for a week and rented a pontoon boat for the week too (and I was so surprised how COLD it was on the lake early in the mornings! I managed a couple mornings w/ dh for the 7am fishings, and I've put on my list for next year mittens, hats, warmer coats and ear muffs! I'm not kidding either!) But what a really great vacation being on a lake is! This is the 2nd time we've done lake george, and we've decided it's just got to be a yearly thing. we already know which house we're renting next year - big enough for some of our families to join us.

the kids went back to school yesterday. we're half days this week. it's a nice slow start to the year (for me too!) DD8 is in 4th and DS7 is in 2nd. We love the teachers this year, so it should be a good year (if dd's social life doesn't have the ups/downs/twists/turns and loop-de-loops it did last year. Girls!!)

We have our new puppy Toby (a goldendoodle). He's SO adorable!! And our 1 1/2yo german shephard Odin loves him. I love being a mommy to a baby (be it human or animal).

i have to make a cruise box or something now to toss things in as i collect them for the cruise. it was so far away, it was hard to think about. but now it's less than a year!

and welcome to Jennifer and family!

 

[wayneg]

Just catching up with posts, had our 24 nights in Florida, fantstic time went sooooo quick, link to photos if anyone wants a look, a few of Geocaching that will probably bore you but plenty others. http://picasaweb.google.com/dclmad

If you still read this thread Jackie and family Sorry you are not joining us now, hope you enjoy the other cruise. We just did a 4 night RCCL, although many things we prefer on Disney some things are better on RCCL like the food, way better than Disney. Just got email today from RCCL about their new ship Ocean of the Seas, 220,000 tonnes, how does that float?

Welcome Jennifer, Brett and Family. will try get around to adding you to our list of cruisers on my website soon. Rather you than me reading thru all them posts.

Christi, how amazing seeing all the wildlife, nearest we got was a few nights at Animal Kingdom lodge, amazing opening your curtains to Giraffes, Zebras etc but far better seeing them wild.

bellebud ( whats your name? I don't think we know it ) I agree crowds this summer were crazy, Probably down to the free dining, we ate mostly offsite and they were so quiet, half as busy as last year but onsite sooo busy.
Only ate one meal onsite at Boma, I really liked the food there Karen and Matt didn't.

7 weeks from today back to Florida, can't come soon enough.

 

[stsomewhere]

Wayne

Which RCCL ship did you go on?

I am looking at 4 night Monarch or Majesty because it fits in with no school days.

The smallest RCCL ship I have been on is Enchantment (when the kids were small).

I am worried that they might be bored.

 

[wayneg]

Wayne

Which RCCL ship did you go on?

I am looking at 4 night Monarch or Majesty because it fits in with no school days.

The smallest RCCL ship I have been on is Enchantment (when the kids were small).

I am worried that they might be bored.

We went on the Sovereign again, 2nd time. Its been transferred to another part of the company later this year and leaving the RCCL fleet. She is an old ship but still was great to get away from the busy parks for 4 nights, only cost $400 each for outside cabin.
When she goes from Port Canaveral Monarch takes over, similar ship but about 3 years younger.
Last time we were onboard Matt found plenty to do, he was around 12 years old then, now he is 14 he is not interested in the activities so does more or less same as us. The island owned by RCCL is great, as good as Castaway Cay, loads of Iguana roaming free. I think there were some pics in the link I posted.
Totally different experience to Disney, shouldn't compare but RCCL are good value.

 

[stsomewhere]

We went on the Sovereign again, 2nd time. Its been transferred to another part of the company later this year and leaving the RCCL fleet. She is an old ship but still was great to get away from the busy parks for 4 nights, only cost $400 each for outside cabin.
When she goes from Port Canaveral Monarch takes over, similar ship but about 3 years younger.
Last time we were onboard Matt found plenty to do, he was around 12 years old then, now he is 14 he is not interested in the activities so does more or less same as us. The island owned by RCCL is great, as good as Castaway Cay, loads of Iguana roaming free. I think there were some pics in the link I posted.
Totally different experience to Disney, shouldn't compare but RCCL are good value.

Thanks for the info.
My kids like the larger ships because of ice skating, rock wall, flow rider, etc.
I prefer smaller ships myself.
Its good to hear that your son had a good time.
My Matt is 10. I am sure he will have a good time.

Christi

 

[wayneg]

Just seen this about next dry dock upgrades

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/business_tourism_aviation/2008/09/disney-to-add-f.html

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Hi All,

Glad to see everyone had a terrific summer and we're now back to posting here again.

I had an amazing time on my back-to-back Wonder cruises. I was on the cruises where we got diverted to Port Everglades because Port Canaveral was shut. Four hour bus ride to get back/forth.

But not us because we stayed onboard!!!!!!

Had some truly incredible experiences - mostly due to the impact of tropical storm Fay. Did get my three visits to Castaway Cay in one week but every single one of the excursions we had booked for Castaway Cay were cancelled all three times. I told Captain Henry that must be some kind of record.

Funny....I'm typing this while hurricane Hannah is bearing down on us here in NJ.

The CMs on the Wonder were just amazing. I told them they need to switch to the Magic next summer.

Can't wait to hear from Joisymom how her Panama Canal cruise went. I must say its been discouraging to read that so many kids misbehaved on that cruise. I can imagine that 15 days on a ship was just too long for them.

I read the thread about the Magic drydock changes and it sounds like the Magic is getting the same changes made to the Wonder and they are....well...quite wonderful. The toddler splash zone near the Mickey pool is adorable and I can't say enough about the improvements to the adult pool area.

So we are less than a year to go.....its going to go by so quickly. I've already written down some notes about things I need to buy for this cruise. I need a new carry-on bag and the kids will need bigger snorkel gear.

 

[wayneg]

Welcome back, I never get chance to read cruise forums so not heard about kids misbehaving, will have to try find that.
We were lucky on Sovereign, still left and returned from and to Port Canaveral and the captian missed most the bad weather at sea.
Did you enjoy Toy Story the Musical?
This Easter our server on Wonder was VJ, wish he would move over to the Magic for next year, best we have had.

 

[wayneg]

Jennifer, added you to the list of Red Hot Chili Cruisers. http://www.astersflorist.co.uk/ link bottom left.
Please check I have you all correct, whats DS's name? linked you to your Towns website let me know if there is a better one.
Wayne

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Toy Story got mixed reviews. I liked it but the rest of my family did not.

It is not a typical DCL show at all. Its more on the dark side with not a lot of humor. In fact, its the exact opposite of Hercules.

There were original songs but nothing memorable.

The costumes and sets were simply amazing. The acting/singing was fantastic.

The character Sid gets a lot of "screen" time and has his own song that is very intense and loud.

I'm glad I saw it - it was not a waste of time. But I think Pixar designed it more for a Broadway type of audience as opposed to a cruise ship audience.

I was told it was the Pixar people who created it, not DCL.

DH said Toy Story 2 should have been made into a musical and not Toy Story 1.

 

[wayneg]

We loved it, our fave show we have seen on either ship. We never liked Hercules, never seen the movie and didn't like the show.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

It was interesting that most of the DISers on our Wonder cruise didn't like Toy Story. They felt there wasn't any laugh-out-loud moments like in Hercules. And the jokes in Hercules were real-life up to date (the reference to Britney Spears and keeping your legs together was just priceless) We also heard that little kids were holding their hands over their ears because it was so loud.

What I thought was really telling about people's reaction to Toy Story was that the Golden Mickeys got a standing ovation whereas only a few people gave Toy Story a standing ovation. In fact, it got a polite applause from the audience. Not an overwhelming reaction.

Interesting how people are having different reactions to Toy Story. Its such a universally loved movie.