Well I decided to just go for - I went and bought an inexpensive sewing machine and went to town!!! I think your shirts are awaesome!!! And I am excited about doing our FE!!!
and 
game, and just everything. It is great! 
Terrie- I started sewing much the same way as you. I wanted pillows to match my sofa and the nice lady at the furniture store said the fabric was MUCH cheaper than the pillows and pillows were easy to make.
Newbie question- when do we start to do reservations for the kids clubs, palo etc and where do we do that???
Have a great day!!!
Nikki AKA dopeygirl76
Terrie - great shirts. The only thing I sew is a button on a shirt. And I'm not very good at that either. So to take on a shirt, you are very brave and I admire that.
Must do's????? Yes, I would say parasailing. It is great. Be sure to check the navigator so you know where and when activities are taking place. You can go to what you want and if you don't want to go, you don't have to. Plus, just relax and enjoy yourself. The whole cruise itself is a must do!
Well, gotta get to work. Have a great day!
but I thought I also hear that the area is netted off and therefore, Jaws will not be attacking 
Don't laugh...I am totally convinced that if I go in the ocean I will be immediately eaten by a shark! 
But if it is netted off I will give it a go.
The booking windows for Palos & excursions are :Thank you Nikki and Chris!
When I booked I was told 75 days prior. Can anyone else confirm?
Parasailing sounds like fun!!! I would LOVE that. I thought I had once heard that you can go snorkeling at CC. Normally this would terrify me, I am afraid of the ocean
Terrie
) and our thread has doubled in that time! What busy little beavers!
Thanks to DISboards and my love for all things Disney I picked up sewing...well sort ofI stumbled on the DISboutiquers thread a couple of years ago and was utterly fascinated by all the custom clothes they were making for Disney trips. Mostly boutique style children's clothes that you'd find on Ebay for hundreds of dollars
The fact that I do not know how to sew, did not own needle and thread was completley besides the point
So I announced to DH that I was going to make matching shirts for the trip we were taking with my parents to WDW
DH was like...but you don't sew
(so what) and you don't have a sewing machine
(irrelevant) do you even know how to operate one
(not the slightest idea but I still don't see what that has to do with anything) uhm..okay, have fun...
So I ran to the store bought the pattern that says "easy"
Easy for who is what I want to know...an architect, NASA engineer or perhaps someone who is familiar with quantum physics
Anyhow, I signed up for a class and my first day of sewing literally began with the words...so how exactly do I turn the machine on?
Here are the matching Finding Nemo shirts I made.
I still can't sew on my own or figure out a pattern by myself. I am toying with the idea of making matching shirts for the cruiseDH said he'd wear what I make as long as it wasn't girly...DUH??? Like I'm gonna make him a Princess shirt or something with Tinkerbell...
Terrie
Ok my must do list definitely includes Palo we loved the brunch and dinner we had there last time. We also loved Bingo - do they have it on the member cruise??? If so you'll know where to find DH and me we totally got addicted last time around.
They do have snorkeling at CC, or they did as of Dec. 2008, about which I have what I consider a long but hilarious story. Please don't let my experiences scare you into not trying what many people find to be an amazing experience.
When we went on our DCL cruise it was DH's first overall cruise and my second cruise - the first being on Carnival. So when I cruised on Carnival I was about 14 years old - quite so some time ago. Well I loved snorkeling because I adore wildlife. So I convinced DH we had to do it on CC because I was determined to see the hidden Mickeys underwater. Well our day on CC was very windy and cold - to the point they cancelled almost all excursions. But since the snorkeling is right off the beach and doesn't involve open water it was still an option. In the afternoon as we were headed back to the boat a short break in the clouds gave us some sunshine and warmth so we said what the heck lets give snorkeling a go. So we retrieved our gear - which was a process in itself because we both have very odd sized feet so finding something that fit was quite a challenge. Case in point I can wear a kids size 3 up to a womans size 7 depending on the shoes. Anyway we get our gear on and waddle to the edge of the water and start wading into the shallow water. At 4 foot 11 it doesn't take that long before water is high on me so at about 3 feet I start snorkeling and place my head in the water. After a few moments of trying to explain to my coordination challenged husband how to breathe through the snorkel while watching in the water without kicking anyone or running into anyone I realized that we've wondered out far enough that I can't touch ground. This should be fine since our gear includes a life vest. But lucky me, I get a life vest the keeps deflating by itself. So every couple of minutes I'm trying to re-inflate it. We're now in the middle zone where we are quite a distance from shore - maybe 50 feet or so, but not really out too deep maybe about 8-10 feet. So we keep looking underwater to see the fish and lo and behold I start seeing little blue fish maybe 2 to 6 inches in length, pretty harmless. I'm trying to capture pictures of them with my underwater camera but the buggers move pretty fast. As a matter of fact I'm seeing them but Erik hasn't caught a glimpse of them yet. However as this goes on I'm starting to realize I'm feeling kind of nervous about the whole snorkeling thing. When I snorkeled before they showed us a picture of what not to go near or touch. Disney just has these signs that warn you that there could be dangerous creatures inhabiting the water -now logically I know this is to cover their legal behinds. But apparently somewhere between 14 and my 30's I've lost my ability to think logically because I'm starting to worry about what's in the water. Must have been that marine biology class in college! I realize that the lifeguard tower - which is floating on the water to the right - kind of separating the snorkeling portion from the swimming area I guess. Well on said tower he's got a bunch, like 10-20 blow-up life vests just hanging there. So I tell Erik about my deflating life vest and that I'm going to go ask the lifeguard for a new one since he's waaayyyyy closer then going back to land and trudging up to the supply shack. I slowly make my way over and ask the lifeguard and explain that my life vest keeps deflating and wondering if those are extras. He advises me to try turning some piece or other to see if that helps or says I should return mine to the shack! Now I'm not a pushy person, as I've mentioned I'm rather shy. So just going over and asking this question is difficult for me. If I were someone else I would have pushed harder for one of the vests there. But I didn't know if they were other malfunctioning vest or if there was some reason he wouldn't share. So since I'm a decent swimmer I try his suggestion on how to prevent it from deflating and head back over to where Erik is. By the time I get there I realize his solution didn't work and I still have to re-inflate the dumb life vest. So now I'm trying not to freak out about the vest or the fact that the little blue fish are making me nervous because I have no clue what they are but I try to keep this to myself. Erik is finally getting the hang of the snorkeling process and starting to enjoy himself since he's no longer trying to trudge through sand in ill fitting fins. Up ahead I see an urn and figure well I'll go get a picture of that. So I swim over and go under and start snapping a picture. Well out swims another little blue fish - again maybe 6 inches long and I'm like ohh I get a nice shot of him and the urn. So while I'm paying attention to him another fish swims out of the urn - this one like 10 inches long and I realize both are swimming straight at me and my mask. It's at this point I freak out and try swimming in Erik's direction. Which is about 20 feet away. But I refused to turn my back on the invading little blue fish so I'm glancing above water to find Erik - calling to him but he can't hear me and then glancing back in the water to see the fish following me. I finally get to him and I'm like that's it, I have to go now, I'm going back to the beach now, get me out of here! Needless to say everyone has heard from my husband about how I'm frightened by harmless little blue fish. I've also sworn off snorkeling ever again as I've realized that I'm just a little too afraid of what's in the water with me and watching it through goggles is not a smart move, for me. So moral of the story - no I don't think jaws will be joining you for a swim - but if like me you freak out over little blue fish (or what they represent which for me is apparently the fear of what else is in the water with the little blue fish) then other excursions may work better for you. I will say this, it's not an expensive excursion so personally, especially if you've never done it before I say give it a go. If you freak out like I did then you're not out much money and can at least say you've done it once. Compared to most other snorkeling experiences Disney really does try to make it a very safe excursion - I'm apparently just a little too paranoid for that to make me feel safe.
Funny story. I'm kinda the same way. First time I went snorkeling was bascially the last time I ever want to do it again. I really didn't want to go, but DH and my two DD's did. So they went and rented the equipment. The three went off and had a great time while I had a great time all by myself on the beach with my friend, Margarita. When they came back, the girls really wanted me to go, so I said ok. Now mind you, my feet are smaller than DH's so I had no fins because he only rented for him and the girls. Didn't think it would be a problem. But man, was it a big problem! I went out and saw the hidden mickey and stuff, but I never want to go again. I swallowed so much salt water, and couldn't keep up with the girls and by the time I got back to shore I was so tired and mad that they left me behind I don't care if I ever snorkel again! Plus, I am not a big fish/ocean creature person. As long as there is something between me and whatever is out there, like glass, I'm fine. But me personally with fishy things, no way. I just like to sit and listen and watch and enjoy a nice cold beverage .
I've only been snorkeling once and it was wonderful and terrible all at the same time. We went to Australia and did an excursion to The Great Barrier Reef! I had zero intentions of entering the ocean and being amongst...FISH I was quite content to stay in the boat and view the scenery through the glass 
Then DH decides he is goin to do a guided dive AWAY FROM THE BOAT!!! I was horrified because in my head...that was it... he was going to die, having been eaten by a shark! So off he goes as does the rest of our party and leave me, on a boat, in the ocean, no land in sight, no one to talk to and my overactive imagination sprinkled with a dash of paranoia for good measure So alone with my thoughts, never a good thing I begin to contemplate my future without DH. I'm on the other side of the world and visiting one of the great wonders of the world 
Its going to be bad enough coming home with what's left of DH in a box 
and will I one day regret not experiencing a "wonder of the world". How stupid am I going to feel and when the heck else am I gonna get to go to Australia. It's not like I could say, oh I'll do it next time I decide to bite the bullet and if I am going to die then at least it will be doing someting that's cool 
I get on my gear and sloooowwwwly go down the ladder steps from the safety of the boat to my impending "death by shark". It takes about 10 minutes before I am able to convince myself to pry my hands off the ladder and actually swim away from the boat. I could see how amazing it was down there but was not really able to enjoy it since I could not allow myself to focus on the beauty of it all. The whole time I was in sheer terror and kept looking around for the shark that certainly going to be my demise 
I think I lasted about five minutes away from the boat. In hindsight it was probably more like two minutes but they were the longest two minutes of my life I'm okay with that though, at least I can say I did it. Maybe I didn't conquer that particular fear but I faced it and that's gotta count for something DH made it back unscathed 
Parasailing sounds awesome. I've thought of trying it at MK since I hear they don't drop you in the water. Is it the same on DCL???
Terrie
Would I do it again? You betcha!
and
...now...who wants the 
