smpowers77
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2013
My name is Stacy (37) and will be traveling with Dustin (38) and my daughter Peyton (7); these will be ages at time of the cruise.
I can't recall what prompted me to consider a Disney cruise for a family vacation but I liked the idea of feeling like I was getting a 2-for-1 in a single vacation. We could enjoy great time as a "family" but there would also be times that I am anticipating DD being in the kids club and Dustin and I getting to enjoy adult time. That was at least how I sold it to Dustin.
I had reached out to a co-worker who travels and cruises regularly for advice regarding which itinerary would potentially be better with a younger child. We knew we didn't want to travel (or pay premium) during peak season so after considering work travel and consulting my daughter's father we selected the November 8-15 7 Day Fantasy Western Caribbean Itinerary C. Her father isn't thrilled about missing school (since he's a teacher) so having Veteran's Day in there helped pacify him.
We booked on November 20, 2013, and although we haven't waited as long as those who booked opening day it has felt like a long time and we still have 233 days to go....but who's counting?!? The irony for me is that I didn't do much research leading up to booking the cruise (didn't know about this website) but it has more than consumed me since we booked.
Let me take a few minutes to introduce each of us!
Stacy (Me): I grew up in SoCal approximately 20 minutes from DL so I have been there more times than I can recall. I now live in Pacific Northwest. I am in finance/accounting by trade so details and planning are my kind of thing. I am a lover of information which is why I stalk the forums daily and keep record (spreadsheets) of anything I think might be valuable. This includes: expenses, excursions, what to bring, etc. I have been on one cruise before as a tag-a-long with my parents and their friends to Alaska on a Princess cruise. It required nothing of me except to show up and meet them in Vancouver, BC at port and enjoy the adventure.
Dustin: Lets be honest; he is along for the ride. He wasn't all that excited (at first) about taking a cruise for a vacation. He enjoys Disney and traveled to DW 3 years ago for a week and I took him to DL with my daughter and I last year at this time but the idea of being "stuck" on a ship would have never been his idea. Once he watched the DCL Planning DVD (by force) he realized there was a lot to do and agreed to do it. He enjoys being spontaneous so trying to be excited about a vacation a year in the making is not his thing.
Peyton: She is a typical 6 year old who is obsessed with Disney Princesses. Each year at Halloween I have the easiest job with costumes because I just take her to Disney Store and let her pick a princess to be. Last year she picked to be Elsa (before Frozen was released) just because it was the prettiest costume of them all. Frozen DVD was pre-ordered from Disney Store and I purchased Anna costume yesterday with $20 voucher. She has also been Sleeping Beauty, Ariel and Belle. My family still lives in SoCal so she has been going there each year since she was less than 2 years old. We are a tall family so I'm proud to say her first time on Space Mountain was when she was 2.
So that's who we are..
I was going to add a picture here but I'm new to this whole thing so not sure how to add images or "smiles". Sorry this first post appears a little dry.
The whole reason I decided to start at PTR is that I LOVE talking about our upcoming cruise but as I previously mentioned Dustin is not READY to be excited with me as its too far away and I don't want my friends and co-workers to kill me by talking about it all the time! I hope you will follow me on this adventure.
Next post I will include more details of what we have booked, stateroom info (changes) and other fun updates since booking! I'm hoping that I will be able help anyone else out traveling on their first Disney cruise as well as the veterans continue to provide me with their wealth of knowledge to help me as there are still many unknowns.
I can't recall what prompted me to consider a Disney cruise for a family vacation but I liked the idea of feeling like I was getting a 2-for-1 in a single vacation. We could enjoy great time as a "family" but there would also be times that I am anticipating DD being in the kids club and Dustin and I getting to enjoy adult time. That was at least how I sold it to Dustin.
I had reached out to a co-worker who travels and cruises regularly for advice regarding which itinerary would potentially be better with a younger child. We knew we didn't want to travel (or pay premium) during peak season so after considering work travel and consulting my daughter's father we selected the November 8-15 7 Day Fantasy Western Caribbean Itinerary C. Her father isn't thrilled about missing school (since he's a teacher) so having Veteran's Day in there helped pacify him.
We booked on November 20, 2013, and although we haven't waited as long as those who booked opening day it has felt like a long time and we still have 233 days to go....but who's counting?!? The irony for me is that I didn't do much research leading up to booking the cruise (didn't know about this website) but it has more than consumed me since we booked.
Let me take a few minutes to introduce each of us!
Stacy (Me): I grew up in SoCal approximately 20 minutes from DL so I have been there more times than I can recall. I now live in Pacific Northwest. I am in finance/accounting by trade so details and planning are my kind of thing. I am a lover of information which is why I stalk the forums daily and keep record (spreadsheets) of anything I think might be valuable. This includes: expenses, excursions, what to bring, etc. I have been on one cruise before as a tag-a-long with my parents and their friends to Alaska on a Princess cruise. It required nothing of me except to show up and meet them in Vancouver, BC at port and enjoy the adventure.
Dustin: Lets be honest; he is along for the ride. He wasn't all that excited (at first) about taking a cruise for a vacation. He enjoys Disney and traveled to DW 3 years ago for a week and I took him to DL with my daughter and I last year at this time but the idea of being "stuck" on a ship would have never been his idea. Once he watched the DCL Planning DVD (by force) he realized there was a lot to do and agreed to do it. He enjoys being spontaneous so trying to be excited about a vacation a year in the making is not his thing.
Peyton: She is a typical 6 year old who is obsessed with Disney Princesses. Each year at Halloween I have the easiest job with costumes because I just take her to Disney Store and let her pick a princess to be. Last year she picked to be Elsa (before Frozen was released) just because it was the prettiest costume of them all. Frozen DVD was pre-ordered from Disney Store and I purchased Anna costume yesterday with $20 voucher. She has also been Sleeping Beauty, Ariel and Belle. My family still lives in SoCal so she has been going there each year since she was less than 2 years old. We are a tall family so I'm proud to say her first time on Space Mountain was when she was 2.
So that's who we are..
I was going to add a picture here but I'm new to this whole thing so not sure how to add images or "smiles". Sorry this first post appears a little dry.
The whole reason I decided to start at PTR is that I LOVE talking about our upcoming cruise but as I previously mentioned Dustin is not READY to be excited with me as its too far away and I don't want my friends and co-workers to kill me by talking about it all the time! I hope you will follow me on this adventure.
Next post I will include more details of what we have booked, stateroom info (changes) and other fun updates since booking! I'm hoping that I will be able help anyone else out traveling on their first Disney cruise as well as the veterans continue to provide me with their wealth of knowledge to help me as there are still many unknowns.