Sept. 23, 2012 Pacific Coast - Wonder Cruise

[sandracox67]

Oh so cute! The Pillow case Minnie dress sounds darling! Oh to have a little girl to be able to make that cute kind of stuff...maybe on my next cruise . I've been meaning to make my dh and son matching hawaiian shirts (bought the fabric a year ago for dh - before ds was even a twinkle in my eye), but I doubt that will happen before the cruise, since I am also for some crazy reason making everyone in my family a crocheted hat, well not my BIL b/c he doesn't do matching...ha ha! I can sit and crochet while I'm nursing so I get a lot of hours in on the crochet...the sewing machine, not so much. I'm lucky I made my FE already, although it was kind of done poorly b/c I had a heck of a time figuring out how to sew on the pockets...they're on but they're pretty wonky.

You sound like my kind of gal! I've made many a Hawaiian style shirt for my husband. On embarkation day, he'll be the one in a tasteful shirt with the stylized Micky head (you know, the three circles) print, and I'll be the one in a LOUD red Micky print dress!

 

[peja]

WELCOME TO THE THE NEW COMERS!!!

I will be travelling with my DH, DD 7, DS 5 and my MIL...(in two separate cabins of course LOL!!!)

YIPEEE!!!! Its getting closer!!!

 

[atmail35]

Oh so cute! The Pillow case Minnie dress sounds darling! Oh to have a little girl to be able to make that cute kind of stuff...maybe on my next cruise . )

Ahem, what about your niece! I actually might sew the pillowcase dress since I can sew a straightline on a machine..only pillowcases or placemats or hemming a curtain!

I'm good with Friday as a cutoff too. If I go to ACMoore one more time, DH might get very upset!

 

[atmail35]

I also decided to make a pillowcase Minnie dress for my younger and shirt for my older to wear at embarkation, and bought the stuff. I'm not biting off more than I can chew. Why do you ask?

Wait is it cruising ettiquette to wear a special outfit on embarkation? I better go shopping!

 

[BigDisneyOE]

WELCOME TO THE THE NEW COMERS!!!

I will be travelling with my DH, DD 7, DS 5 and my MIL...(in two separate cabins of course LOL!!!)

YIPEEE!!!! Its getting closer!!!

Renata - my nearly 5 boys can't wait to meet your son.

Gail - sounds like a plan.

GromMom - it's nothing too exciting, something specific for under 8's and then everyone over that gets the same sort of thing, plus bought stuff.

Three weeks until we are off to Sydney for my brothers wedding. Bought him something online and got it engraved and nearly stuck the date of the USA holiday on it by accident.

 

[erbie]

Wait is it cruising ettiquette to wear a special outfit on embarkation? I better go shopping!

Any excuse, right?

A lot of the kids in particular will have Disney themed clothes. There were some very cute pillowcase dresses last time, so I thought I'd make some for my kids this time.

I don't know if I can post links, but here's one for a very simple pillowcase dress tutorial. http://sewlikemymom.com/easiest-pillowcase-dress-ever/ if it doesn't come through and anyone wants it, PM me and I'll email it to you. It's REALLY simple, and very cute.

 

[bbangel]

So Disney let me apply the AP discount in place of the Canadian discount I had booked with even though I was paid in full

 

[AussieMumma]

Ugh we are having major drama over here with trying to get sale fares for our flight to LA. Currently to fly in either the friday or saturday before the cruise (or any day that week before actually) we're looking at about $12000 for our six return airfares
There are sale fares starting Monday the 24th Sep (two days after we need) where it would only be $7200 for six return flights, it is just ridiculous that they aren't just two days earlier!!!
There is a USA travel expo at our TA's agency this weekend so we are keeping our fingers crossed that they can get a good deal for the dates we need, as our back up plan B is not one I want to have to go through with

 

[BigDisneyOE]

Ugh we are having major drama over here with trying to get sale fares for our flight to LA. Currently to fly in either the friday or saturday before the cruise (or any day that week before actually) we're looking at about $12000 for our six return airfares
There are sale fares starting Monday the 24th Sep (two days after we need) where it would only be $7200 for six return flights, it is just ridiculous that they aren't just two days earlier!!!
There is a USA travel expo at our TA's agency this weekend so we are keeping our fingers crossed that they can get a good deal for the dates we need, as our back up plan B is not one I want to have to go through with

Stone me that is a shed load of money. Works out at about $2K pp right? That's Oz or USD? I think we got 1/3 off fares with Air NZ in Oct last year for this trip and it was about $1200 pp or thereabouts (Oz). Could you fly out about 8 days before the cruise, would coming out earlier make any difference? How about partial points redemption on Qantas? Fingers crossed on the TA expo, we haven't used a TA in about a decade as we can get cheaper directly in the sales - I think TA's will consolidate down considerably in NZ in the next decade as people just don't use them any more.

For those that are dressing Disney... DH found at the bottom of his draw a t-shirt a mate bought him about 10 years ago in DL that he's never worn. It's of Dopey saying 'I'm with Grumpy', he reckons he's wearing it all cruise, I reckon he's sleeping in the half bath then!!

The kids have Jake & The Neverland pirates t-shirts we bought from the Disney Store last year to wear. I got a deal on the t-shirts but the shipping was something hiddeous (like three times the t-shirt price even tho' the actually shipping rate was really low).

And for me... nothing to wear. I might have to look for something in the stores when I get to the US.

 

[AussieMumma]

Stone me that is a shed load of money. Works out at about $2K pp right? That's Oz or USD? I think we got 1/3 off fares with Air NZ in Oct last year for this trip and it was about $1200 pp or thereabouts (Oz). Could you fly out about 8 days before the cruise, would coming out earlier make any difference? How about partial points redemption on Qantas? Fingers crossed on the TA expo, we haven't used a TA in about a decade as we can get cheaper directly in the sales - I think TA's will consolidate down considerably in NZ in the next decade as people just don't use them any more.

We can't fly out any earlier due to dh's bosses both being away that week before, but one of my Plan B options is for me & the kids to fly out on Monday the 17th (cheap fares) and then dh on Friday 21st (expensive fare), it would still save us a couple of thousand even with the extra nights in a hotel, I don't particularly like that option though as I will look like this by the end of the week
Problem with the fares is that Saturday 22nd is the first day of the school holidays here, so we've been waiting for a sale since the start of the year!
We don't always use our TA but she is fantastic and keeps an eye on airfares for us and can also beat the online price that the airline has by a few extra dollars USA hotels we book ourselves as they have those great cancellation policies, where if you book through the TA via their wholesaler they charge you a fee if you cancel or change a booking.

 

[glindamood]

Wait, we're cutting off the FE list on this Friday? I'd better hurry and do my posts so I can PM; my husband and I want in!

I will add you based on this but do PM me when you can - you are really close!

 

[glindamood]

Fish Extender Group The official cutoff is ind of day on Friday, July 20th. I will need a PM with your names, children's names and ages (first only but in case someone is trying to personalize), your cabin number if you have it and your email address. This is just a fun exchange of gifts between everyone - it is supposed to be fun so please don't stress over any of it. I will wait until Saturday to email the final list but we are up to 13 cabins at this point (which would be including your own cabin).

 

[sandracox67]

Wait is it cruising ettiquette to wear a special outfit on embarkation? I better go shopping!

I used to dress down for embarkation (since we'd be carrying luggage and whatnot) but it's so much more fun to dress up!

 

[sandracox67]

I will add you based on this but do PM me when you can - you are really close!

Thanks a lot! This should be my tenth post so I'll PM you right away.

 

[GromMom]

Oh so cute! The Pillow case Minnie dress sounds darling! Oh to have a little girl to be able to make that cute kind of stuff...maybe on my next cruise . I've been meaning to make my dh and son matching hawaiian shirts (bought the fabric a year ago for dh - before ds was even a twinkle in my eye), but I doubt that will happen before the cruise, since I am also for some crazy reason making everyone in my family a crocheted hat, well not my BIL b/c he doesn't do matching...ha ha! I can sit and crochet while I'm nursing so I get a lot of hours in on the crochet...the sewing machine, not so much. I'm lucky I made my FE already, although it was kind of done poorly b/c I had a heck of a time figuring out how to sew on the pockets...they're on but they're pretty wonky.

You sound like my kind of gal! I've made many a Hawaiian style shirt for my husband. On embarkation day, he'll be the one in a tasteful shirt with the stylized Micky head (you know, the three circles) print, and I'll be the one in a LOUD red Micky print dress!

Sounds awesome! Did you make it or get it at the disney store?

 

[GromMom]

Ahem, what about your niece! I actually might sew the pillowcase dress since I can sew a straightline on a machine..only pillowcases or placemats or hemming a curtain!

I'm good with Friday as a cutoff too. If I go to ACMoore one more time, DH might get very upset!

Heheee, I do have some ideas for her as well :-D

 

[jetskigrl]

Ugh we are having major drama over here with trying to get sale fares for our flight to LA. Currently to fly in either the friday or saturday before the cruise (or any day that week before actually) we're looking at about $12000 for our six return airfares
There are sale fares starting Monday the 24th Sep (two days after we need) where it would only be $7200 for six return flights, it is just ridiculous that they aren't just two days earlier!!!
There is a USA travel expo at our TA's agency this weekend so we are keeping our fingers crossed that they can get a good deal for the dates we need, as our back up plan B is not one I want to have to go through with

Oh yikes!!!! That is a lot of money!!! I'll keep my finger's crossed that the TA can come up with some better pricing for you!!

So Disney let me apply the AP discount in place of the Canadian discount I had booked with even though I was paid in full

Awesome!!! I'm so glad that you were able to get the discount.

Wait is it cruising ettiquette to wear a special outfit on embarkation? I better go shopping!

LOL - I'll take any excuse to shop We dressed alike on our MR cruise last April (for the first time). DD and I wore matching Mickey Tees and DH and DS wore matching Mickey Hawaiian print shirts. It did make for a a cute picture (that they took when we were getting on the ship) so that is the one I put in the DCL frame that I bought

For those that are dressing Disney... DH found at the bottom of his draw a t-shirt a mate bought him about 10 years ago in DL that he's never worn. It's of Dopey saying 'I'm with Grumpy', he reckons he's wearing it all cruise, I reckon he's sleeping in the half bath then!!

The kids have Jake & The Neverland pirates t-shirts we bought from the Disney Store last year to wear. I got a deal on the t-shirts but the shipping was something hiddeous (like three times the t-shirt price even tho' the actually shipping rate was really low).

And for me... nothing to wear. I might have to look for something in the stores when I get to the US.

Too funny. Earlier this year I got DS a t-shirt from Target with Mickey on it and the saying was "I'm with Goofy" Of course I think we saw two other kids the the same shirt on during the cruise.

Hum, I may just wear my Mickey t-shirt when we board again this time, LOL.

Fish Extender Group The official cutoff is ind of day on Friday, July 20th. I will need a PM with your names, children's names and ages (first only but in case someone is trying to personalize), your cabin number if you have it and your email address. This is just a fun exchange of gifts between everyone - it is supposed to be fun so please don't stress over any of it. I will wait until Saturday to email the final list but we are up to 13 cabins at this point (which would be including your own cabin).

Thanks so much for taking care of that!!! I finally decided on my gifts for the adults (and older kids, I think). I'm glad that we are stopping the FE now or I would never be able to do what I want to do, LOL. But this size is perfect.

Not much else to report here. I got sucked in on the sale on the DisneyStore site (25% off) and bought myself another Dooney and Bourke purse that I'm hoping will be a good size for walking around San Fran and San Diego. If anyone is interested, you can use the coupon code today (DISNEYPAL) if you have a Disney Visa. Otherwise I think it opens to the public tomorrow. Also, if you spend over $75, you can also use the SHIPTODAY code and get free shipping. But that probably doesn't work internationally. Anyway, I just thought I would throw that out there in case anyone is looking for matching Disney shirts before you get to LA.

 

[valbob89]

San Francisco Hop on Hop Off bus 1/2 off

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I live in San Francisco and get e-mails offers for local discounts. Just received an e-mail from Viewpon.TV The Daily View for a 1/2 price offer for the "Super Sightseeing Tours in San Francisco"
The phone number for the bus company is 415.353.5310

DETAILS:
Tour San Francisco like never before, with Super Sightseeing Tours!
This 2 hour tour departs several times a day, from 9am to 5:30pm.

Take the tour from beginning to end or make the experience last longer, by stopping at any of the 19 "Hop On Hop Off" hubs around San Francisco - each conveniently located at major destinations, throughout the city.

From Union Square to the Walt Disney Museum. The Golden Gate Bridge to the Civic Center - you'll have a truly wonderful San Francisco experience and explore the entire city, at YOUR own pace and schedule.

Happy Sightseeing!

Value: $30
Special Price - $15
RESTRICTIONS:
· Certificate must be used in full.
· Only one certificate per person
· Certificate valid only towards above mentioned service or product.
· Certificate is not redeemable for cash.
• Gift card does not expire!
· Certificate may not be used for gratuity.
· Certificate not valid with other offers or promotions.
· Viewpon TV is not responsible for closed establishments
http://www.viewpon.tv/offer/264/

 

[HBmomof2]

THere is a facebook page that was created with a bunch of pics & discussion about FEs

https://www.facebook.com/groups/167311023398247/

 

[BigDisneyOE]

Not much else to report here. I got sucked in on the sale on the DisneyStore site (25% off) and bought myself another Dooney and Bourke purse that I'm hoping will be a good size for walking around San Fran and San Diego. If anyone is interested, you can use the coupon code today (DISNEYPAL) if you have a Disney Visa. Otherwise I think it opens to the public tomorrow. Also, if you spend over $75, you can also use the SHIPTODAY code and get free shipping. But that probably doesn't work internationally. Anyway, I just thought I would throw that out there in case anyone is looking for matching Disney shirts before you get to LA.

Awesome, I missed the 4th of July 25% off sale at the store as I didn't hear back from the hotel fast enough to make sure I could deliver parcels there... now I know they are happy to store parcels for me I'm going to stalk the website waiting for the general public sale as I know there's stuff I want for the kids. I thought it would be nice to arrive in Carlsbad and have a few Disney themed gifts to open, okay it's Cars and Jake stuff but it means that there is absolutely no exit thru the guest shop at DL while we are there.

valbob89 - awesome discount, thanks so much for listing. We are getting some really good savings going on this trip as everyone is sharing stuff.

Gail - I'll let you know about postcard exchange today as I'm due to go into town to do some business. Pending my brain not frying out from four hours sleep last night, I'll get it sorted and PM you.

AussieMumma - I hear you on travelling with the kids alone, two of your children could be really helpful but the other two are still of the age they need to be helped and if one thing goes wrong it all goes to custard. And that's just the flights! You'd be exhausted after a week by yourself with the kids in the USA, it's supposed to be a holiday for you too. I tried Air NZ out of AKL for you in case you could pick up a cheapie across the Ditch but that's working out at over $10K NZD for you guys, so that's not going to work. Fingers crossed with the TA