01/02/10- Mickey's New Decade Brigade!

[secretkeeper]

Hi, I just found the DIS board. Im booked for this cruise and it will be my first with DCL, and a first for my DD (is this the correct??) who will be 9. We will be traveling with another family as well and I was just looking for some good advice for newbies. Never been to the Caribean and wanted to see if anyone can recommend some good excursions. Does this cruise have a pirate night??

Tristan

Welcome Tristan,

Another San Diegan here. This is our third cruise. You and your family are going to have a blast! Warning, these boards can be addictive.... I hope you and your DD enjoy Disneyland. We were up there the first weekend in October. The decorations are awesome, especially in California Adventure.


Dana

 

[Sorcerer Mom]

OK, I just spent the last few hours reading all the posts from this thread. I guess there will be a pirate night, just dont know which night! We booked Palo dinner one night but only got a late seating. We booked the Golden Eagle catamaran for St Maarten and the kayaking for St Thomas; hopefully they will be fun. My wife and I are going to Disneyland for my DD bday 2morrow, and hope to pick up several things for the cruise. Is it too late to jump in on the fish extender and magnet thing???

Hi Tristan and !

So jealous you'll be in DL - hope your DD has a great birthday. There is no place more magical to celebrate and that time around Halloween & Christmas are our favorite time to go.

According to my handy dandy cruise spreadsheet (yes, I over plan just a tad ), night should be on Day 4 which is St. Martaan. This will be our first time to the Caribean too...kudos to you for kayaking. Sounds like fun but, for me, waaaayyyy too much work (we avoid the canoes in DL for that reason)..I'm just a wimp but I bet that and the Catamaran will be a blast!! We opted for the Beach Bash for St. Martaan and the Capt. Nautica Snorkel in St. Thomas and are hoping to get in a tram ride in St. Thomas as well.


Have fun in Disneyland!

 

[secretkeeper]

How many families do we have signed up for the FE so far? I just wanted to get an idea of how many to start shopping for. Txs! Dana

 

[WDW Princess 71]

How many families do we have signed up for the FE so far? I just wanted to get an idea of how many to start shopping for. Txs! Dana

As of now we have 10 families signed up (13 staterooms). I'm glad you asked this question because I was just about to post the question about when we want to set the deadline for signing up. I was thinking November 15--this gives us about a month and half before the cruise, which gives everyone sufficient time to buy or make their gifts. I agree with you Dana, we need to know how many people to start shopping for- I've had my eye out on lots of things but I didnt want to start buying for fear of buying too much or too little, so that is why a deadline is important. If everyone could please post a response about my suggested deadline of November 15, whether you agree or have another suggestion, that would be great and once I get some feedback on here I'll confirm the final deadline. I also went through this thread and PM'd about 10 people who in the thread said they were interested in the FE to see if they officially wanted to sign up, but only 1 replied...hopefully if the rest are interested they will sign up soon, but this is another reason why it is important to have an official "closing date" in order to give us time to make/buy the right amount of gifts.

Also, I think we might have to have someone else organize our DIS meet onboard. Karen (TADsmommy) had volunteered way back several months ago because she is a travel agent herself and experienced DCL cruiser, but she hasn't been on this thread in months and I PM'd her a couple weeks ago to check in and see if she is still going on this cruise, but she hasn't replied, and now I'm worried, I hope everything is okay with Karen and her family. So, if Karen is no longer cruising with us, does someone else want to be in charge of organizing DIS meets or activities on board?

 

[secretkeeper]

As of now we have 10 families signed up (13 staterooms). I'm glad you asked this question because I was just about to post the question about when we want to set the deadline for signing up. I was thinking November 15--this gives us about a month and half before the cruise, which gives everyone sufficient time to buy or make their gifts. I agree with you Dana, we need to know how many people to start shopping for- I've had my eye out on lots of things but I didnt want to start buying for fear of buying too much or too little, so that is why a deadline is important. If everyone could please post a response about my suggested deadline of November 15, whether you agree or have another suggestion, that would be great and once I get some feedback on here I'll confirm the final deadline. I also went through this thread and PM'd about 10 people who in the thread said they were interested in the FE to see if they officially wanted to sign up, but only 1 replied...hopefully if the rest are interested they will sign up soon, but this is another reason why it is important to have an official "closing date" in order to give us time to make/buy the right amount of gifts.

Also, I think we might have to have someone else organize our DIS meet onboard. Karen (TADsmommy) had volunteered way back several months ago because she is a travel agent herself and experienced DCL cruiser, but she hasn't been on this thread in months and I PM'd her a couple weeks ago to check in and see if she is still going on this cruise, but she hasn't replied, and now I'm worried, I hope everything is okay with Karen and her family. So, if Karen is no longer cruising with us, does someone else want to be in charge of organizing DIS meets or activities on board?

I agree with setting a deadline. I think November 15th is fair the 22nd might be ok too since that is the kick off to holiday season and there might be some good sales on Black Friday to take advantage of. I'm easy. So far it seems like a small enough number of families that it is easily manageable if we have some late joiners. I always hate saying no if you get a last minute family that wants to be in on the magic but I understand we have to be realistic so we are not driving ourselves crazy with our own holiday and cruise preparations.

Dana

 

[toverly]

Middle of November sounds great to me too. I plan on making my FE gifts so, extra time is appreciated. Even then I was planning on a few extra for late comers. Whe n we finalize our list will we have a basic idea of how many in the cabins. Like a DH,DM and DS? That way if we have a boy gift or a girl gift we can plan or will we just be one per cabin. Either way is fine with me.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

Middle of November sounds great to me too. I plan on making my FE gifts so, extra time is appreciated. Even then I was planning on a few extra for late comers. Whe n we finalize our list will we have a basic idea of how many in the cabins. Like a DH,DM and DS? That way if we have a boy gift or a girl gift we can plan or will we just be one per cabin. Either way is fine with me.

Tish- yes, I have all the FE info in a spreadsheet with very specific details like you said, adults and kids names (for personalization if you wish), ages/genders of kids so you know what kind of gift to give since obviously a gift for a 4 year old girl would be diff than what you'd give a 13 year old boy, etc. Some people like to do their gifts that way, either separate gifts for each person or making one big "bag" of gifts but still including items in the bag that are specific for each person. Other people just do one gift per stateroom with a variety of things that dont really pertain to a specific age, gender, or number of people in the room. it is really up to the person, i just like to give everybody as much info as possible that way if they want to personalize, they have the info they need, and if they want to just do general gifts they can do that too.

 

[tiffanye77]

Mid November sounds wonderful to me as well. I, like everyone else, am fighting off urges to purchase and make. I can't wait to finally know what I am doing and getting it started.

 

[KC-Disney]

Sure, mid-Nov sounds good. I can hardly wait. Happy Halloween.

Karen

 

[WDW Princess 71]

Sure, mid-Nov sounds good. I can hardly wait. Happy Halloween.

Karen

Ok since everyone seems to be okay with "mid November" I think I'll give people just a hair more time and go with 11/22 as our deadline as one of you suggested. It still gives us plenty of time, and plus I'll be on vacation through 11/16 so 11/22 will be easier for me anyway to post reminders on here, sign last minute people up, etc. So 11/22 it is, last call for the FE's! I think we have a nice size group already, the more the merrier but even if it stays where its at now it will be very fun!

 

[secretkeeper]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!!

Mid-November is great for me. I'm ready to get going as well! DD & DH are in casts so DD is ready to help out with FE gifts since she is sidelined. We had so much fun on our last cruise. We got a little bit of everything. We had participants from Hawaii and Texas that gave regional gifts. We had fun giving chocolate Mickey lollipops one day and crystal roses that had fiber optics in them that changed colors on formal night (I was lucky enough to work with someone who had left overs from a big party she threw). We are trying to figure out what to do this time since we have to fly. Our last cruise was on the west coast so we weren't limited by weight restrictions. Also I was able to keep the lollipops cold with ice packs and I can't fly with those. I guess we will have to get creative!

Dana

 

[Sorcerer Mom]

BUMP

 

[mmackeymouse]

Okay ya'll.....this is your humble servant, Melissa.

Well, I've agreed to take over as the "Cruise Meet Coordinator" and I will do my best. If you have any ideas, feel free to PM me, and I will also brainstorm on my own.

I know that there is so much going on the ship that getting together for everything, all the time, is probably not feasible for everyone, even myself. I may have to delegate events I may not be able to attend.

I hope everyone is doing well. I cannot even believe how close we are!

 

[WDW Princess 71]

Okay ya'll.....this is your humble servant, Melissa.

Well, I've agreed to take over as the "Cruise Meet Coordinator" and I will do my best. If you have any ideas, feel free to PM me, and I will also brainstorm on my own.

I know that there is so much going on the ship that getting together for everything, all the time, is probably not feasible for everyone, even myself. I may have to delegate events I may not be able to attend.

I hope everyone is doing well. I cannot even believe how close we are!

Hey Melissa- thanks for taking over as the Cruise Meet Coordinator. I think first before we plan all the subsequent activities, we should first all brainstorm to pick the first "meet and greet" of our cruise. Some people meet the first day, others wait another day to get settled in. On my last Wonder cruise we all met up I think around 10:00 PM in the promenade lounge on the first night, since earlier in the day we thought would be too hectic. This was nice, but I was thinking another option for us would be to meet on Day 2, since it is a Sea Day. Since it is a 7 night cruise I dont think it is as important as a 3 or 4 night cruise to meet and rush on the first day, IMO. But I definitely would love to hear from other people who have done more cruise meets on prior cruises (I've only done the one), to get ideas so we can all decide what is best.

Also, Sara, what is the status of the designs for the tshirts? Do we need to order them soon? How is it going?

 

[MonicaW]

Hello Everyone!

With our first snow in Canada, we just booked our very first cruise and chose the Disney Magic, departing Jan 2, 2010 for the 7-night Eastern Caribbean (and I hope this is the right thread).
Friends said that we just HAVE to join the FE gang so here we are!

I am posting now because I a so excited, but it will take me a while to read everyone's posts!

So... whoever is responsible, help!!!!!

FE: how do I get in on the action?
MEET 'N GREET: where and when are you meeting?
ST. MAARTEN: any tips on shore excursions (book on shore vs on ship?)
I hear the theme is !

Signing off as
EXCITED SAILOR and Crew of two!

Monica
Ontario, CANADA

 

[WDW Princess 71]

Hello Everyone!

With our first snow in Canada, we just booked our very first cruise and chose the Disney Magic, departing Jan 2, 2010 for the 7-night Eastern Caribbean (and I hope this is the right thread).
Friends said that we just HAVE to join the FE gang so here we are!

I am posting now because I a so excited, but it will take me a while to read everyone's posts!

So... whoever is responsible, help!!!!!

FE: how do I get in on the action?
MEET 'N GREET: where and when are you meeting?
ST. MAARTEN: any tips on shore excursions (book on shore vs on ship?)
I hear the theme is !

Signing off as
EXCITED SAILOR and Crew of two!

Monica
Ontario, CANADA

Hi Monica and welcome! You just joined in time, our FE deadline to sign up is 11/22. For all the details you need, please read post #91 in this thread. I am in charge of the FE list, so all you have to do is read that post and it tells you all the info you'll need to give me to sign up. You can PM (private message) me the info but you need to post like 10 times i think on the DIS threads before it allows you to PM, so if you cant PM then you can just post your information here on this thread if you want, and I'll sign you up!

Meet and Greet: we are actually just starting to plan that now. Melissa is in charge of that (mmackeymouse) and so stay tuned as we'll be planning a main meet n greet and other subsequent DIS gatherings throughout the cruise.

 

[MonicaW]

Just read about the pirate night (har har har!)

Gotta go out and check the sales before the Christmas stuff takes over the shelves. Thanks to everyone who posted about getting into costume for that event!!!!

Monica

 

[MonicaW]

Hey WDW Princess!

Please add us to your FE list. (Sorry I cannot PM you yet since I need to post 10x)

We are newbies coming from Canada and have heard soooo much that I couldn't pass up this opportunity! Would be a great way to remember our FIRST cruise!

Monica (mom, 49)
Mike (dad 56)
Kimberley (13)

Cheers!
Monica

 

[MonicaW]

thanks for the info re: post #91

will PM you with our info ........

Monica

 

[MonicaW]

Darn! Can't get a reservation at Palo's Oh well.... but there are sooooo many other things to do!

Monica