06/24/2006 - Special Western Cruise - Who Else!?

[musicgirl]

I have that site too. If you click on the Magic, it tells which ones are recommended by DCL. I wonder if these will be the ones they offer and/or have more by the time we get there in 6-06.

We're still waiting on friends to decide if they are going. I don't know what kind of excursions they would want to do. We are big into snorkeling so the catamaran reef sail in Costa Maya sounds interesting. But I have also heard good comments about the beach break party.

After snorkeling at Cozumel, I would love to go to Sally's Mini-golf. It looks great. I know some disers have actually done at meet here. And you can order drinks right from your hole!!!!

Dan, when are you going to tell them? Christmas? or even closer to the cruise? I don't think I could keep that secret. I just had to tell my ds. He loved the cruise and can not wait to get back. He often sighs when he sees a plane flying toward Orlando!!!

 

[dmensing]

Lorie:

There are so many cool looking excursions in Cozumel. We were looking at the Dune Buggies, but the catamaran ride and some of the local beaches look fun too. When you mentioned the mini golf, I looked it up online and we may have to squeeze that in too! Our family is very competitive when it comes to mini golf. I am considering booking the excursions outside Disney, but I guess it will depend on the difference in price and what excursions Disney offers.

I'm not sure when we will tell the kids about the trip. I know I get bummed out when I see how far away it is, so I can't imagine what it would seem to them if we told them anytime soon. I would like to wait as long as possible so they don't have to agonize like my wife and I are now! They have a suspicion already about what is going on. They have caught me reading the DIS boards and we have watched the cruise DVD. They know how I am about planning trips, so they know a cruise may be coming down the line.

Talk to you later!
Dan.

 

[musicgirl]

Dan, I know what you mean about the wait!!!! Why make them suffer!!!

It sounds like the excursions are a bit overpriced through DCL. One of the Cozumel excursions is the Chank. Park snorkeling for $45 per person and is for 3-4 hours. I have seen rates for $12 admission (time is not limited) to the park per person and $10 taxi for all three one way.

Let's see $135 through DCL or $56 on my own? Since it is only about 10 min. away, I feel pretty safe doing it on our own. There are also the 2 beaches I want to snorkel at with in 5 min. of the Park.

It really does pay to read the boards. Plus, I can disguise my addiction to the boards by pretending to gather more and more information.

 

[Crazy Momma]

Hello All,

I haven't been on the boards in Months. I did a scan and found you guys again. I've been busy planning our next Disney Trip. We are going over Thanksgiving. Are any of you going over Thanksgiving break? I'm planning on going to MVMCP on Nov 27.

I have been thinking about the excursions. We want to go snorkeling. I hope DS 9 (next year) will be ready to snorkel. The Easter Bunny bought him snorkel gear for his basket. He will be able to practice on the weekends when we go on our boat.
Mini golf sounds fun!! I like playing girls against the boys!!

Susan

 

[musicgirl]

Susan,

My group isn't going anytime soon. I'd love to be on my way right now-but wouldn't we all!!!!! It would be nice if we just had some warm temps. for Spring Break, in the 60's maybe!!!!

I hope your guy enjoys the snorkeling. I've heard that the snorkeling in Cozumel is pretty good. We loved it in St. Thomas, even my ds did. He was 11,12 then 13 on our trips. The first 2 times, he was a bit nervous.

If you get a chance, go to Typhoon Lagoon. They have a snorkel area that is pretty good. They keep it pretty cold for the fish, so prepare him ahead of time.

 

[musicgirl]

Well, it looks like we need a gentle bump being on page 3.

I did get my wish for a warm spring break, until today. It is snowing!!!!! Hello it is April.

My bil and his family are just getting back from their Carnival cruise this weekend. It will be interesting to hear about their trip. He's a country club manager and quite "fussy" about food. They've got 4 kids ages 13-6 and I know Carnival is not known for their family atmosphere.

My brother just got back from a Princess Cruise to St. Martin and St. Thomas. It was fun looking at their pictures and remembering our Eastern Magic. Although they didn't go on the exact excursion we took at St. Thomas, they ended up at one of the same beautiful places that we snorkeled at.

 

[PRINCESS VIJA]

Hi everyone!

We are planning to do this cruise next year!!! I am so excited! We were going to book in May, but had to cancel that one, so here we are!!!

I am excited to see a thread with our cruise on it, wow, you guys do plan far in advance! LOL!

I haven't read all the posts yet, but wanted to come over and say hi to my fellow cruisers!

It will be me, DH, DS (11) and DD (7). We went on the Disney Wonder back in 2003 and we were so sad because it missed CC. NOT fun, DS and I had tears in our eyes... So that is why I wanted to double dip CC, hopefully to make up for missing it last time. We went in December and that day was cold and windy Looking forward to fun in the sun!!!

 

[dmensing]

Princess:

Welcome to the thread! We need as many people as possible to pass the time until the cruise. Our kids will be similar in age as yours. Our DS will be 11 and DD will be 9.

Lorie, I wish we had snow on spring break! We went to Vermont to ski. The day after Easter was our first attempt to ski, but it was a mixture of rain and freezing rain. Luckily, Tuesday through Thursday were warm and sunny. Great conditions in the morning, but the snow was heavy and slushy in the afternoon. The kids liked it so much, they actually voted for another ski trip for February over a trip to Disney!

C'ya!
Dan.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Welcome Princess VIJA! Glad you are going to join us. My son will be 13 and daughter will be 6. So kinds close in age!

Has anyone checked prices lately? I did today and a Cat 6 for 4 is up to $8552.44 on the web site. That is about $1400 more than we paid! And it is still over a year away. Wow! It makes me feel better about waiting to think of all the $$$ I am saving.

 

[musicgirl]

Welcome aboard Princess!!! Happy planning! It sounds like you deserve some cc double dipping.

Dan, sorry to hear about the non-snowy skiing. It sounds like you had fun though!!! My family back home in NE ohio got quite a bit of snow. 14 inches in Lake county and My sister was without power for 4 days due to the snow!!!!

I love the weather now. It's sunny and 75.

I recently read on the regular board about an excursion in costa maya. You go in kayaks that are clear so that you can see all the underwater life!!! sounds pretty cool. Snorkeling without getting wet!!!!

 

[musicgirl]

I haven't checked recently, but I normally do keep track. It makes me feel like I got a discount!!!! Can you imagine what a difference it will be this time next year?

It really does pay to book early. Maybe I should book my next one for 2007 or 2008!!!!

 

[PRINCESS VIJA]

Thanks for the welcome!!!

Wow, what a jump in price from yesterday, Yesterday I booked it at $7800 (I got a discount on top of that booking with someone - Thank Heavens!) But it went up a lot overnight! I am so thankful I even booked yesterday vs. today. I'll have to keep an eye on it too, that is interesting how much it goes up. I bet this will be a sold out cruise. Has anyone cruised on a sold out sailing? How crowded did it feel? We sailed in early December and it wasn't sold out. Just wondering what to expect.

 

[Disney Doc]

Just checking in... we'll be in 6072, 6074. Parents in one cabin, nearly 17-year-old boy/girl twin children in the other. Did 7-day Western in July '04 - couldn't pass up 2 CC days! (and no sadness here with missing Key West)

 

[musicgirl]

Cool, we're getting more and more!!! Welcome Disney Doc!!!

Has anyone followed the passport threads? I really don't want to purchase a passport for the 3 of us. All the printed govt. stuff is way too confusing and everyone is stating this and that.

I did call DCL and ask what the deal was. For now, we are not required to have them. She said that DCL would notify us if passports will be required.

Oh well, I'm not running to get mine at this time. I would rather wait and see. It's not that I have anything to hide, it's just that for the three of us it is $270. I budget everything very carefully.

And even though I would love to spend my time vacationing everywhere, this will probably be our last cruise for awhile. DS going to college in a few years and it might be nice if we saved a little money for him. By the time we start up again, the passport will probably need to be renewed.

I know, I shouldn't complain about national security, but why so much? I think it's a way for them to make some extra money!!!! Ok, we won't go into any politics.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

I read that about the Passports too. I think I will go ahead and get them for the kids, we already have ours. It looks like we will end up in Canada this summer so they could use them then too.

Welcome Disney Doc! We will be neighbors. We have rooms 6068 and 6066. Our family has one and my parents in the other. Glad to have a Dis family so close!

 

[dmensing]

Hi guys & gals,

I just wanted to bump the thread and vent my frustration on my search for my passport. After reading all the recent information about the new passport policies, we decided to renew our passports and get the kids passports early next year. I have an expired passport that I want to renew, but I can't find it!
I saw it a couple of months ago and probably put it somewhere I knew I wouldn't lose it (the kiss of death!).

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well.

C'ya!
Dan.

 

[musicgirl]

Dan,

Sorry to hear of your frustration. I know I get so irritated when I can not find something.

I'm actually in the same boat (ha ha), but I'm looking for an application letter for a scholarship to send with my letter of recommendation for a student. GRRRRR!
The student gave me his portion and I can not find it. I know it is somewhere safe. It's just that it is safe from me!!!!

Well, I better get off the boards and start looking!!! Good luck in your search! We'll see who's first!!!! Ready Go!

 

[Disneycrazymom]

I light of your searches you'll enjoy this story. Last Aug before our cruise DH and I had passports. We put them in our home safe. The night before we were to leave DH went down to get them out, only to find that he could NOT remember the combination! Now he had put it on his Plam but the battery had died and he lost all the info, so at like 1am before our early morning flight DH is laying on the floor in the office trying desperatly to break into our own safe! He did finally get it open but it was quite an adventure!

 

[dmensing]

I light of your searches you'll enjoy this story. Last Aug before our cruise DH and I had passports. We put them in our home safe. The night before we were to leave DH went down to get them out, only to find that he could NOT remember the combination! Now he had put it on his Plam but the battery had died and he lost all the info, so at like 1am before our early morning flight DH is laying on the floor in the office trying desperatly to break into our own safe! He did finally get it open but it was quite an adventure!

Ouch! I'm sure you can laugh now, but I can imagine the frustration at that time of night and right before the cruise. I don't feel so bad now about not finding the passport!

Thanks for the laugh!
Dan.

 

[musicgirl]

I'm glad that he was able to get in and that you can remember that time with a smile!!! Perhaps when we are all at that point we should stop to think "someday I'll laugh about this"!!!!!

Well Dan, did you find the passports? I found the letter about 30 min. after my post. It had fallen in the passenger door slot of my car. DS sits there in the morning, enough said?!!!!

It's really hard not having a cruise to look forward to this summer. We've been very spoiled the last 3 years and we are very thankful. We're not even going on vacation this summer except to an DH's uncle's home on Lake Michigan for a weekend. I guess that means we'll have to live it up when we get to 6-06!!!!!!


I was going over my excursion info, AGAIN today. It helps keep the dream alive!!!! I can pretend can't I?????