09/05/09 LABORless MAGICal Meanderers

[TLHB70]

Does anyone know much about the area for the 11 year olds? If you have children this age are you letting them check themselves in and out? I am a little nervous about letting DD (11) wander the ship aimlessly. Am I over reacting? I know the ship is out in the ocean, but I guess I am just over protective.

DD is so excited about this. For our other Disney cruises she has been in the club or lab. Once they turn 11 they no longer go to the club. DD will turn 11 on this cruise. She cannot wait to be out of the club age.
The area for 11 to 13 year olds is geared just for that age. They have a Wii, several computer games, and a virtual ship game. They can be the captain of the virtual ship (computer screen.....it is neat) and make it set sail from a dock and then try to dock it coming in from sea. There is no way for the parents to sign them in and out like the clubs. There is a worker there, but the kids just come and go as they like. The workers do offer organized activities, though, at set times. DD was in this age group and went there on our last cruise, and they had a High School Musical party. They watched the movie then did karaoke, made banners, etc. The kids love this place.
I took some pictures of DDs in this area. Give me a few minutes and I will try to find some to post.

 

[rlreags]

I was looking at the area on the disney web site. It looks like so much fun and she is really excited. Thanks for the information. She really enjoys so much about everything we do on these cruises and is really excited to have this freedom.

 

[TLHB70]

I thought I had more pictures than this. DD reminded me that she made me delete the other two because of the sarcastic smile that she gave me in the picture. She was not too happy that mom was in there with her taking pictures. I took three. This one has her back to me. She was fine with that one. The other two I made her look and smile. She gave me a sarcastic smile in each of those and I deleted the pictures. Sorry.
This one shows the virtual ship. DD was captain and I snapped a picture.

 

[TLHB70]

I was looking at the area on the disney web site. It looks like so much fun and she is really excited. Thanks for the information. She really enjoys so much about everything we do on these cruises and is really excited to have this freedom.

Yes, DD is too. My older DD didn't go in too much on the last cruise. She stayed with us most of the time at the pools. Honestly, we stay together as a family most of the time. For this upcoming cruise, though, younger DD is ready to hang out in this area. I have already told them that they will be leaving notes in the room every time they change location. Thankfullly since our room is on deck two, it is not far from this area so they are close to leave notes. We will see how it goes. They may end up with us most of the time for this cruise too.

 

[TLHB70]

I just got this to work - you have to go to track shipments & then "track by reference". You enter your DIS reservation number & the zip of either you or your TA. I found my TA's zip on my invoice & used that. My docs were delivered to her this am, so I should see soon.....

Thank you. I will go try it now.
Our TA still hasn't returned my call or email. I am so frustrated! He has not been a good TA. I have had to babysit my entire reservation the whole time. DH says it has not been worth the OBC. I told him in the email that I am a member of a forum with other people on our cruise and that they have received their documents. Hopefully he will be watching for them.
I will go try to track now!

 

[mcarr1635]

Hi fellow cruisers with 8-9-10 year-olds

• Queen of 2 Princesses - Angel - DD Brooke (9)
• Disney Minnie - Elizabeth - DS Preston (9, will turn 11 on the cruise, Sept 11)
• TLHB70 - ______ - DD Caitlin (10, will turn 11 on the cruise, Sept __)
• Thunder Mountain Momma - Karen - DD ______(8)
• DeeRest - Rebecca - DS Beau (8)
• Mcarr1635 - Marlene – DD Shannah (9)
• Ms Mary - Mary – DD Meghan (8, will be 9 on Oct 2)
• LiseG - Lise – DD Sabrina (8, will be 9 on Sept 21)
• clubfig4 -Debbie - DD Shelby 10

Lise,
for putting this list together.
I was going to make one, but you did it for me!

Marlene

P.S. Actually Shannah is my DGD. Her dad and mom (Brian and Jennifer) are cruising too.

 

[TLHB70]

I tried it again. It gave me this same message:
UPS could not locate the shipment details for your request. Verify your information and try again.

It is red over the shipment reference number. Did you put the DIS reservation number in that slot? Or did you put it in the account number slot?

ETA: I just retried and put the reservation number in the UPS account number slot, above the country and zip code. It is still giving me an error message. I am apparently not doing this correctly.

 

[BeckyThane]

I tried it again. It gave me this same message:
UPS could not locate the shipment details for your request. Verify your information and try again.

It is red over the shipment reference number. Did you put the DIS reservation number in that slot? Or did you put it in the account number slot?

ETA: I just retried and put the reservation number in the UPS account number slot, above the country and zip code. It is still giving me an error message. I am apparently not doing this correctly.

Here's the original post. Hope this helps!

About 2 weeks before your cruise follow this UPS link.
http://wwwapps.ups.com/WebTracking/reference?loc=en_US

In the shipping reference put your cruise confirmation #. In the zip code put your zip or if you used a travel agent put their zip.

This will track your documents. It will give you up to date delivery information. If you used a travel agent it will be sent to them and they will have to get it to you. Most of the stuff that is in the pack you can do online ahead of time now.

 

[TLHB70]

Here's the original post. Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for trying to help me. I just tried again and followed the directions. My error message keeps coming up above the shipping reference number. For some reason it is not recognizing my reservation number. It has to be the correct reservation number because it is the one I use on DCL's web site. I do not know what else could be wrong.
Our TA is in his office all day today. I told DH that we need to pay him a visit.

 

[disney minnie]

Previous Cruisers - are we allowed to bring our own floats for Castaway Cay? We have two floats that we bought the kids this summer that haven't been opened.

If yes, can I use their machine to blow them up?

 

[UGAFan0829]

Morning, fellow cruise mates!!!
Just wanted to join in on the doc dance! Ours were waiting on the front porch when I got home yesterday! Woohoo!
This weekend's goal is to get my pirate costume, print our door signs, get out the luggage, pick up the last few small things that we need, and then start packing!!

 

[Hoagie Pie]

Previous Cruisers - are we allowed to bring our own floats for Castaway Cay? We have two floats that we bought the kids this summer that haven't been opened.

If yes, can I use their machine to blow them up?

Yes, you can bring your own floats. We bring our own sand toys and snorkel equipment. I don't know if they will let you blow up the floats. I always did that myself. Is anybody doing the Key West Trolley? Still no docs for us. I am hoping that is when I find out my cabin number!

 

[beachlover101]

Yes, you can bring your own floats. We bring our own sand toys and snorkel equipment. I don't know if they will let you blow up the floats. I always did that myself. Is anybody doing the Key West Trolley? Still no docs for us. I am hoping that is when I find out my cabin number!

We will probably do the Key West Trolley, just not through Disney. If you book it as an excursion you can not get on and off when you want too. We will get our tickets once we get off the ship. My dh and ds are going diving in Grand Cayman. Is anyone going horseback riding?

Does anyone else have a teenage son? My ds is 14. I am looking for someone for him to hang out with. It seems like he is always outnumbered by girls. Although he doesn't always mind that.

 

[WDW Enabler]

Well we started making the FE gift bags today...

Wow this was a huge amount of work... It only took 2 orders from online and 4 runs to local stores. We kept feeling like there was not enough stufffor each person or age group. We are not sure if all the parents will let the children have everything that we put in the bags, but that is their choice.

Just being happy that we are mostly done.

Now to work on the practical stuff like packing and pirate costumes... This vacation is taking alot of work.

Now a question for the previous cruisers.... What do you think of some practical items in the FE gifts?

 

[DeeRest]

I live in St. Louis and I haven't received my DCL or WDW docs either.
I'm trying to be cool about it, but its hard when reading about everyone else's doc dance going on....

I am off to work on my FE and go shopping tonight for more gifts. On the outside, I am cool, calm and collected....on the inside...I am doing this .

We are soooo close to castoff...this is my first cruise so you guys will be able to recognize me...I will be the one walking around in awe once we get there! I told my crowd we are leaving the hotel at 10:15am, so we will be one of the early birds there too.

 

[Hoagie Pie]

Well we started making the FE gift bags today...

Wow this was a huge amount of work... It only took 2 orders from online and 4 runs to local stores. We kept feeling like there was not enough stufffor each person or age group. We are not sure if all the parents will let the children have everything that we put in the bags, but that is their choice.

Just being happy that we are mostly done.

Now to work on the practical stuff like packing and pirate costumes... This vacation is taking alot of work.

Now a question for the previous cruisers.... What do you think of some practical items in the FE gifts?

You might laugh, but we LOVE practical. On one of our cruises, a FE gift (the first day) was q-tips, cotton balls and band aids with a cute little rhymning note about forgetting the little stuff. We loved it and used it.

Thanks for the info about Key West. I am taking the trolley tour on my own because the family is doing something else, and I like to get on and off. I LOVE that we have so many first-time cruisers. It makes it fun for everyone. You will not be disappointed with one thing and it will be a magical vacation!

 

[WDW Enabler]

Who in the group are cruising for the first time besides us?

First Timers
WDW Enabler
DeeRest
Disney minnie
idrivealumina
beachlover101
aussieinvasion

 

[disney minnie]

Preston is coming home today, so I am frantically putting together some FE stuff and packing bags. I hope to have everything off to storage this afternoon! I still have stuff to pack, but the stuff that he would question is done.

Yes, we are first time cruisers.

 

[idrivealumina]

who in the group are cruising for the first time besides us?

First timers
wdw enabler
deerest
disney minnie

we are!!!

 

[beachlover101]

we are!!!

This is our first Disney cruise, but our eighth cruise. We love the Royal Caribbean line, but from what I hear this is gonna be even better. Especially since I feel like I am going to have alot of new friends there with me.
I panicked this morning when I heard on the news that there is a tropical storm out there. Has anyone heard anything about it?