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

[mmackeymouse]

Regarding your son who will be one week shy of 18 on the cruise...if he wants to participate in the adult stuff, it won't be a problem. I was 17 on my first cruise and did Palo, always went to the adult pool, Serenity Bay adult beach, cabana massages...the only thing I couldn't do was go in the adult "club" area because they had CM's carding at the doors...BUT on my Wonder cruise last month, they did not have anyone carding at the doors, ever. So he could definitely go there too. He won't have a problem doing any of the other stuff I mentioned either...he's actually in a good place because he can do the teen stuff if he wants, or the adult stuff, or a little of both!

I hate to come across as a keaner (that was a shout out to our Canadians in here). BUT I don't think we should necessarily put it out there that it is okay to break the rules.

One week shy of 18? Pfft, I have no problem with that. And, for me, at 17, maybe even 16, I would have much preferred to be in the adult areas. However, the rule is 18, not 17 if you are mature enough. I personally have no problem with responsible 17 year olds chilling in the adult section. But, where do we draw the line? After all, it's the rules.

Okay, that said, welcome to all the new thread members. Does anyone have any great ideas for a cruise theme? I put a couple out there on page 2 or 3, but they are kind of lame. It would be nice to get a theme/title going.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

I hate to come across as a keaner (that was a shout out to our Canadians in here). BUT I don't think we should necessarily put it out there that it is okay to break the rules.

One week shy of 18? Pfft, I have no problem with that. And, for me, at 17, maybe even 16, I would have much preferred to be in the adult areas. However, the rule is 18, not 17 if you are mature enough. I personally have no problem with responsible 17 year olds chilling in the adult section. But, where do we draw the line? After all, it's the rules.

Okay, that said, welcome to all the new thread members. Does anyone have any great ideas for a cruise theme? I put a couple out there on page 2 or 3, but they are kind of lame. It would be nice to get a theme/title going.

I respect your opinion and your point is totally valid about when to draw the line, but I only pointed out my experience to give that family and son the experience I had so they could judge for themselves what they want to do. I just think it would be a shame for him to miss out on doing things like sitting by the adult pool/beach or experiencing Palo over a lousy 7 days shy of 18. But who knows, we don't even know this person so maybe he'd prefer to be in the Stack and do the teen things anyway : ) I just know if it were me, I would feel better hearing from someone who was very close to 18 on a cruise and had no problem doing some adult things, so I would feel better about it myself. Just my own opinion though, to each his own.

Regarding your idea for a theme, I love it! I'm so bad at coming up with stuff like that though. I can come up with cute Fish Extender gifts and door magnets but when it comes to names/titles, I'm at a loss. Hopefully we have some other creative DISers in our group here?

 

[KC-Disney]

Hi all, it seems the thread is picking up. Welcome to all the new people that booked. This cruise will be fabulous. I am going to think about a theme as well. When we were on the Dec 13th western, we were involved in the fish extender and the magnet exchange. It was a blast. The boys sure enjoyed checking out to see what might be waiting for them. It was also fun to deliver to.

Hey cruise man, I am checking out the excursions as well. My son, 13.5 at time of cruise is going to do the parasailing at Castaway with me. I went last time, it was great.

We also did the stingray excursion at Castaway, it was really neat as well.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

Hi all, it seems the thread is picking up. Welcome to all the new people that booked. This cruise will be fabulous. I am going to think about a theme as well. When we were on the Dec 13th western, we were involved in the fish extender and the magnet exchange. It was a blast. The boys sure enjoyed checking out to see what might be waiting for them. It was also fun to deliver to.

Hey cruise man, I am checking out the excursions as well. My son, 13.5 at time of cruise is going to do the parasailing at Castaway with me. I went last time, it was great.

We also did the stingray excursion at Castaway, it was really neat as well.

My brother and I are looking to do some excursions this time too, though not sure if we are going to do them on our own or organized through DCL. I do know we want to do the personal watercraft ecotour (aka waverunners!) at Castaway Cay this time because on our cruise last month, it was too windy and it was cancelled (along with most other excursions).

Not sure what we want to do in St. Maarten, never been there before. I've been to St. Thomas and St. John, and would love to go back to Trunk Bay, but I have to determine if I think we have enough time to really enjoy a day there when you account for the time it takes to get to/from via taxi/water taxi...I've seen some of the DCL excursions that say you only have like 1-1.5 hours of beach time after you get there! That is crazy to me! I guess the only good thing about the cruise being so far away is that we have plenty of time to think these excursions out!

 

[KC-Disney]

My brother and I are looking to do some excursions this time too, though not sure if we are going to do them on our own or organized through DCL. I do know we want to do the personal watercraft ecotour (aka waverunners!) at Castaway Cay this time because on our cruise last month, it was too windy and it was cancelled (along with most other excursions).

Not sure what we want to do in St. Maarten, never been there before. I've been to St. Thomas and St. John, and would love to go back to Trunk Bay, but I have to determine if I think we have enough time to really enjoy a day there when you account for the time it takes to get to/from via taxi/water taxi...I've seen some of the DCL excursions that say you only have like 1-1.5 hours of beach time after you get there! That is crazy to me! I guess the only good thing about the cruise being so far away is that we have plenty of time to think these excursions out!

Tell me about Trunk Bay. How do you get there and what is there to do? Is it one of DCL's excursions? Did you check out any shopping at both places?

 

[WDW Princess 71]

Tell me about Trunk Bay. How do you get there and what is there to do? Is it one of DCL's excursions? Did you check out any shopping at both places?

Trunk Bay is absolutely beautiful and definitely lives up to its reputation as one of the top beaches in the world. 2/3 of St. John is national park, meaning it is largely undeveloped and very natural, not sprawling resort-like, say like Atlantis in Nassau, for example. So I did love the natural beauty of Trunk Bay and the underwater snorkeling trail, but since it is so remote there isn't any shopping right there or any restaurants/bars. The beach stretch of sand is actually very small, you'll get a good idea by searching for images of Trunk Bay on google.

I'm sorry I don't know exactly how to get to Trunk Bay from where the ship docks in St. Thomas. There is a DCL excursion there but I don't really know anything about it. I actually went there a few years ago in college when I visited a friend who was lucky enough to live in St. John! I do remember taking a water taxi from Red Hook in St. Thomas to St. John, and then we drove from there. I think I've heard others say on these boards they've gone through Red Hook too. I believe there is another water taxi option from another location too...either way, once in St. John you will then need to take a land taxi to Trunk Bay. That's why I want to try to figure out how long the ride will take to determine how much beach time we'll have to determine if its worthwhile or not, or we might just stay in St. Thomas. That is where all the shopping is if you are interested in that. St. John has very little in the way of shopping...does have several great restaurants and little bars though! That was the good thing about when I went, since my friend lived there I got to see it through a local's eyes, and I had a great time. We've lost touch since college but I'm going to try to contact her again sometime soon to get some further advice about what to do for our day in St. Thomas/St. John!

 

[mmackeymouse]

Hi all, it seems the thread is picking up. Welcome to all the new people that booked. This cruise will be fabulous. I am going to think about a theme as well. When we were on the Dec 13th western, we were involved in the fish extender and the magnet exchange. It was a blast. The boys sure enjoyed checking out to see what might be waiting for them. It was also fun to deliver to.

Hey cruise man, I am checking out the excursions as well. My son, 13.5 at time of cruise is going to do the parasailing at Castaway with me. I went last time, it was great.

We also did the stingray excursion at Castaway, it was really neat as well.

Yeah, it would be definitely nice to get a theme in the works. How bout The Biggest Cruisers, like the Biggest Loser......get it?

Sigh. I am normally a fairly creative person. Yet, when it comes to a theme, I am just blanking miserably. Mickey Mouse and the Disney Hallows......Harry Potter? Anyone? Buehler.....buehler....

Caribbean Roller Coaster Ride?

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Tans (After Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, though I suppose there are Brothers among us so...)

Okay, I am gonna quit now. Lol.

Not sure what we want to do in St. Maarten, never been there before. I've been to St. Thomas and St. John, and would love to go back to Trunk Bay, but I have to determine if I think we have enough time to really enjoy a day there when you account for the time it takes to get to/from via taxi/water taxi...I've seen some of the DCL excursions that say you only have like 1-1.5 hours of beach time after you get there! That is crazy to me! I guess the only good thing about the cruise being so far away is that we have plenty of time to think these excursions out!

As for St. Maarten, we all have such a list to do. I am thinking of renting a car, or if it is just a couple of us, taking a taxi. A few things on our "to-do" list is Maho Beach for the Planes, a trip to Marigot, Horseback Riding near Le Galion Bay. Obviously, we'd like to do a little bit of shopping in Philipsburg. We thought about hitting one of the beaches, but there is just so much we would like to do, not sure if we'll have the time. Of course, I am not super concerned with beaches on St. Maarten and St. Thomas, as we will be on the mother of all beaches later in the cruise anyway.

At the same time, if God forbid, we miss Castaway Cay, I would hate to have gotten no beach time out of the trip.

As far as St. Thomas is concerned, we are just not sure yet. We do want to hit some of the shopping areas. We also have toyed with the idea of doing a full day excursion to Trunk Bay for some prime beach time. But, as you mentioned, it may occupy all our time, and we may not get to do as much shopping as we'd like. We also thought about taking a taxi to Coral World, and then just walking over to Coki Beach. Godfrey Tours does a great little tour for just $25 a pop. They will take you downtown to do some shopping, then they give you a tour of the island, to the Mountain Top, Bluebeard and Blackbeard's Castles, Sir Francis Drake's Seat, then they will take you to your choice of beach. Unfortunately, they only give you 2 hours at the beach, and I am not sure that is enough for us.

It seems like the more time that goes on, instead of narrowing things down and crossing things off my list, I just keep adding things to think about.

Well I am off to bed to snuggle with Luke, my sweet labradoodle pup.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

What about something playing off of the New Year for the theme/name of our cruise? I think it is cool that we are the first Magic cruise of 2010, so a name to build off of that would be neat.

 

[mmackeymouse]

What about something playing off of the New Year for the theme/name of our cruise? I think it is cool that we are the first Magic cruise of 2010, so a name to build off of that would be neat.

Yeah, I was thinking the exact same thing, but for the life of me, I just cannot think of anything that pops.

 

[KC-Disney]

What about something playing off of the New Year for the theme/name of our cruise? I think it is cool that we are the first Magic cruise of 2010, so a name to build off of that would be neat.

I like that idea to, as it is the first full cruise of 2010. A New Year is always exciting and full of promise. So it would be suitable to have something like that. ?? 2010 Year of the Magic ?? That's corny, I am not creative but I like the ideas.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

I like that idea to, as it is the first full cruise of 2010. A New Year is always exciting and full of promise. So it would be suitable to have something like that. ?? 2010 Year of the Magic ?? That's corny, I am not creative but I like the ideas.

2010 Year of the Magic is a great start. If you think about a lot of people would probably call all of the Disney World themed years (Remember the Magic, 100 Years of Magic, Year of Million Dreams, etc) corny, but I happen to LOVE every one of them. I get excited goosebumps when I see the commericals advertising the themes. So your suggestion is nice I think. I was also trying to think of something like "A MAGICal New Year" maybe? I'm sure we'll come up with something cool eventually!

 

[mmackeymouse]

I am glad we are finally getting somewhere. Both the suggestions are great ideas. Of course, they could be used for any year really. I am trying to think of something maybe specific to 2010.

Things that rhyme with ten: pen, hen, kin, Shin (from Wendy Wu, SUCH a cutie ) Nope, nothin.

I wish we knew exactly when the new ships started sailing and where the Magic and Wonder are going to be stationed. We could be kicking off the farewell tour or 2010: Farewell to the Caribbean.

The New Decade Brigade?

Mickey's Magical Marauders?

Aaaaaagh, something will come to us.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

I am glad we are finally getting somewhere. Both the suggestions are great ideas. Of course, they could be used for any year really. I am trying to think of something maybe specific to 2010.

Things that rhyme with ten: pen, hen, kin, Shin (from Wendy Wu, SUCH a cutie ) Nope, nothin.

I wish we knew exactly when the new ships started sailing and where the Magic and Wonder are going to be stationed. We could be kicking off the farewell tour or 2010: Farewell to the Caribbean.

The New Decade Brigade?

Mickey's Magical Marauders?

Aaaaaagh, something will come to us.

I was just going back to the first page of the thread and saw your post and realized you were the one who first mentioned playing off 2010, but not as just a year, as the start of a new decade. I totally didn't even realize/think about that, but I think that is a great idea!

I was doing the same thing, trying to find words that rhymed with 'ten' but I'm not getting anywhere. But at least we have some ideas flowing! Your "The New Decade Brigade" is a cool one.

 

[mmackeymouse]

I was just going back to the first page of the thread and saw your post and realized you were the one who first mentioned playing off 2010, but not as just a year, as the start of a new decade. I totally didn't even realize/think about that, but I think that is a great idea!

I was doing the same thing, trying to find words that rhymed with 'ten' but I'm not getting anywhere. But at least we have some ideas flowing! Your "The New Decade Brigade" is a cool one.

Haha Thanks!

I did see that January 2nd, the date we are sailing is the 50th anniversary of the date that President Kennedy announced his intention to run for President. No relation to cruising at all, I know, but grasping at straws here, people!

Lol.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010 This is an interesting read, especially abouit Two thousand ten versus Twenty ten, but I did not really see anything in it that stood out as something to be incorporated into a theme.

 

[dhluvsDisney]

Firstly, another crazy Canuck here! We booked the cruise on this year's Jan 3 cruise. We so enjoy going on the magic! We are travelling with a 12 DS, 19 DD, 20 DS (turning 21 on the cruise). My kids have always had a great time on the ship. As a matter of fact, my DD fell in love with a wonderful young man aboard the ship and they are going to be getting engaged.

As for the one week shy of 18 question, it really also depends on the person. My DS was 18 and DD was 17 and they both participated in the Stack at the time, because they had so much more fun than with the adults. This past Jan my DD who was 18 had the ability to go and participate in the teen program or adult program (not both). She wasn't sure and ultimately decided on the adult one. sometimes the kids have more fun in the teen program. Just depends on the kid and the level of maturity and what kind of fun they are looking for.

 

[mmackeymouse]

Firstly, another crazy Canuck here! We booked the cruise on this year's Jan 3 cruise. We so enjoy going on the magic! We are travelling with a 12 DS, 19 DD, 20 DS (turning 21 on the cruise). My kids have always had a great time on the ship. As a matter of fact, my DD fell in love with a wonderful young man aboard the ship and they are going to be getting engaged.

As for the one week shy of 18 question, it really also depends on the person. My DS was 18 and DD was 17 and they both participated in the Stack at the time, because they had so much more fun than with the adults. This past Jan my DD who was 18 had the ability to go and participate in the teen program or adult program (not both). She wasn't sure and ultimately decided on the adult one. sometimes the kids have more fun in the teen program. Just depends on the kid and the level of maturity and what kind of fun they are looking for.

Why, hello! Welcome to our quaint little group!

I am so excited to have you here, as you have definite insight into what our cruise will be like, since your cruise this year is the same as ours next year.

How did you find the weather? How about the water on CC?

 

[dhluvsDisney]

We had absolutely perfect weather! It was hot, hot, hot! The only slightly cooler was leaving Port Canaveral. We were lucky enough to have no rain as well, and no motion on the open seas. Couldn't have asked for more!
The CC water temp was great as well!

 

[mmackeymouse]

We had absolutely perfect weather! It was hot, hot, hot! The only slightly cooler was leaving Port Canaveral. We were lucky enough to have no rain as well, and no motion on the open seas. Couldn't have asked for more!
The CC water temp was great as well!

That is so exciting! Hopefully the weather will be quite similar to this year's. (knock on wood)

How did you like St. Croix? We thought about maybe doing St. Croix this fall, but we opted for the January one instead.

 

[cantsitstill]

Hey again all - thanks for the ideas about Mitch being "just" about 18 - but we're not that concerned actually. We would've liked him to join us for Palo, but I've looked up threads about it and DCL seems to be pretty set on the being 18 before going - even if it's the day before they're 18! He really only wanted to be able to listen in the piano bar since last year he went in with his Dad and wasn't kicked out. I'm sure that's the only place he'll want to go again - he just loves Jazz, etc. and looks older than he is. He mainly hangs around us and I love it! My younger son is another situation altogether - he's off with the teens ALL....THE.....TIME! lol
And here's another vote for "The Decade Brigade" - I think it fits great! Maybe "The New Decade Brigade"? I don't know - that kinda sounds like there was an old one first.....lol Hmmmm....maybe more ideas....

 

[mmackeymouse]

And here's another vote for "The Decade Brigade" - I think it fits great! Maybe "The New Decade Brigade"? I don't know - that kinda sounds like there was an old one first.....lol Hmmmm....maybe more ideas....

Dawn of the Decade Brigade? I suppose the decade we are in now would be considered the "old" one.

It would be football bowl season, maybe something playing on that?

I dunno. Hope you all are doing well. I can hardly wait for the cruise.