1/6/2007 Early Roll Call...Anyone Else Going???

[NYAna]

We also received our planning kit. Looks like we really have to plan now...

Soleilmagie, When did you receive the planning kit. I haven't received anything at all.

 

[NYAna]

Who's coming...

kris1973 (Kristin), DH, DD11, DD9
Soleilmagie (Stephanie), DBF, DS4 1/2, DD 2 1/2
NYAna (Ana) DH, one adult friend, 11yo girl, almost 2 boy
blues4, DH, DS8, DD 5 1/2
luv2cruzus, DH, DN25
The_Marchands (Brian), DW, DS8, DD17, DD7
akamaleficent, DH
lilofan, DW, three adult children DS30, DD28, DS26
SurfnTurf, DH, DS9, DD 4 1/2
CaptainJack, DW,DDs (twins)12
Bikinietmartini boy 9, girl 13, girl 14
supercalidisgirl (lilofan's DD)
tinkerbellmom1, DH, DS13, DS14

I hope I didn't forget anyone...

Soleilmagie! Great work! Thanks!

 

[soleilmagie]

Soleilmagie, When did you receive the planning kit. I haven't received anything at all.

I went to the mailbox on Monday, but it was Labor Day, so I must have received it at the end of last week. Did you book with a travel agent or with DCL? We used DCL, maybe that made a difference. That or the fact that we live in Canada. I read somewhere on the boards that they sent out docs sooner outside the US.

 

[lilofan]

Hi Tinkerbellmom
Welcome aboard. Just to answer one of your questions, about Palo. We love it and would never miss it. Be sure to make reservations for BRUNCH on one of the available days as many consider it the best meal served on the Magic. We will do both dinner and brunch.

Surfn Turf--Our cruises in January the water has been fine. However, we live
in Huntington Beach and most Floridians and Caribbeaners (is this a word?) would consider our water cold. As with most things, it depends on your perspective. It is certainly was warmer than anything we get here in "Surf City, USA." :
:MickeyMo

 

[soleilmagie]

We made our reservations for WDW! We will be staying at the ASMusic, the only All-Star we hadn't been to yet. We will stay there from January 1-6, then come back on the 13th for one night.

We got the CAA/AAA rate on a standard room for the first part, and the CAA/AAA rate on a preferred room for the last day. Seems like there were no standard rooms left with the CAA/AAA rate in any All-Star on that day. But it is still cheaper than the regular price!

Now what do we have plan next... rental car, excursions, Palo...

 

[cruisingsoon123]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the DIS. We're taking our first Disney cruise w/our 1 year old baby girl on 1/6/07. We're not sure what excursions to do in St. Martin and St. Thomas. There don't seem to be too many beach choices on the disney website. Do you know if there are more choices once you get onboard? We've cruised with Royal Caribbean and NCL in the past and there seem to be a lot more excursions on those ships. I'm thinking Disney doesn't post all the excursions.. is that right?

 

[supercalidisgirl]

Lilofan, did you ever reply to bschiffler regarding good deals at WDW resort post cruise?

 

[soleilmagie]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the DIS. We're taking our first Disney cruise w/our 1 year old baby girl on 1/6/07. We're not sure what excursions to do in St. Martin and St. Thomas. There don't seem to be too many beach choices on the disney website. Do you know if there are more choices once you get onboard? We've cruised with Royal Caribbean and NCL in the past and there seem to be a lot more excursions on those ships. I'm thinking Disney doesn't post all the excursions.. is that right?

Welcome again cruisingsoon123!

I don't think there are more excursion choices onboard, since you can book online before you cruise... but you still can go on your own.

I also added your family to the list on page 1, but I could't tell if you were a or a so I wrote cruisingsoon123 and spouse...

 

[The_Marchands]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the DIS. We're taking our first Disney cruise w/our 1 year old baby girl on 1/6/07. We're not sure what excursions to do in St. Martin and St. Thomas. There don't seem to be too many beach choices on the disney website. Do you know if there are more choices once you get onboard? We've cruised with Royal Caribbean and NCL in the past and there seem to be a lot more excursions on those ships. I'm thinking Disney doesn't post all the excursions.. is that right?

I found this elsewhere in the forum for a beach choice in St Thomas

I was just going through my pictures from our Eastern cruise. We were on the Magic last week. We went to Magen's Bay on St. Thomas. It was gorgeous, I highly recommend it. On the way the bus driver stopped on the hill above it and let everyone take pictures from the top of the hill above the beach. There are no waves, so the lounge chairs are inches from the water and the water stays shallow long enough for little ones to play. Food isn't included in the shore excursion, but there's a snack bar with pizza and burgers. We spent about $20 on food for three people.

If you're looking for a beach, Magen's Bay is the place.

Also, If you get the latest Passporter, it has all the excursions and some helpfull tips, I will have to check to see if there are more than whats listed in the excursion list for the port!!

 

[lilofan]

Supercal (etc)
Yes, Angel Princess, I did.

 

[CaptainJack]

We just got back from the cruise yesterday and are going again on the January 6, 2007 cruise with all of you. The cruise was great and the whole family enjoyed themselves. Here are our list of must do's on the cruise:

1. Anyone with kids between the ages of 10 and 15 need to definitely check out the Ocean Quest lab on Deck 2. My girls (age 12) practically lived either there or at the Oceaneer Lab. (Quest is THE Best chill out place for 10-14--according to my DD).

2. Anyone with children need to make sure that they participate in the Disney Sea University finale on Thursday at 5 pm. The kids are on stage with Mickey and Minnie. And, DCL gives each kid a graduation hat with Mickey ears and t-shirt that the child gets to keep. My girls took a sharpie and had the counselors and other kids autograph their shirts.

3. If you want to see the island at St. Thomas, go on the island tour.

4. All guys should at least take a coat and tie for formal night, whicch is on Sunday evening. I took a suit and was glad I did. We got some great pictures from that night (especially the one with the Captain of ths Ship).

5. We did not take anything to dress up in on pirate night (which is Tuesday night) and I regret that we did not. Next time we defintiely are. In fact, I know that Wal-Mart is selling a pirate eye patch and fake earing now for Halloween for one dollar. Much, much cheaper than on the ship.

6. Pictures with Captain Jack on the ship. Captain Jack was only available 2 times for pictures on the ship--Tuesday night. Definitely go and get pictures with him and make sure you get there early. (He acts EXACTLY like the Captain Jack in the movie).

7. Complete your registration documents online. It made checking in at the Port so much easier and faster.

8. Anyone who is not already a Disney Vacation Club member and is contemplating on becoming one, wait, if you can, until the cruise. They appeared to be running a really good deal on the ship.

9. At Castaway Cay definitely eat breakfast at Topsiders. You get a great view of the Flying Dutchman from up there.

10. Meeting the first day of the cruise--We had one at Promenade at 2:30 pm on the first day of the cruise which was great. I then could names and faces together for the remainder of the cruise.

11. If your children at the same age as mine (11-12) take Walkie-talkie radios for eveyone in the family--DH, DW, and kids. We did not and needed them to keep track of where everyone was. (And, make sure you take plenty of batteries--the batteries on board were VERY expensive).

12. Before the cruise, go and buy Airborne at the local drugstore and take it every day of the cruise. I did not run into anyone that seemed to have a cold. Yet, I came home with one. And, both my DD and the woman at the next table at breakfast on Saturday were both sniffling.

13. If you like Chocolate, plan on going to the midnight dessert buffet which was on Thursday night.

14. If you would like something autographed (picture, pillow case, mouse pad, etc) by the characters. Drop it off at Guest Services early in the week and they will assure that it gets autographed. (One of the little girls that figure skate with my DDs wanted an autographed picture of Minnie Mouse. So I downloaded one from the internet, printed it on photo paper, and we had that autographed).

15. Definitely take rain ponchos-the ones that cost about a dollar or two at Wal-Mart and take with you when you leave the ship. It rained at some point in St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay. The small ponchos are easy to carry and can be discarded when you are done with them.

16. For families with smaill children, purchase an autograph book and pen at Wal-Mart before you get the cruise terminal as it is much cheaper than at the terminal or on the ship.

17. Disposable cameras--take them and let your kids use them. We took disposable cameras for the girls that they could take with them and use to take pictures of their friends. Write their names and cabin number on them and if they lose them they will undoubtedly get turned into Guest Services and make their way back to the cabin.

18. Make a door poster for your cabin door. It made it very easy to know which door was ours. And, the girls thought it was very cool because our signs were pictures from Pirates of the Caribbean 2.

 

[soleilmagie]

10. Meeting the first day of the cruise--We had one at Promenade at 2:30 pm on the first day of the cruise which was great. I then could names and faces together for the remainder of the cruise.

Do you think we should hold our own meet there?

 

[CaptainJack]

Do you think we should hold our own meet there?

I think so. There was virtually no one other than our group there at the time. And, the locatio is central for everyone.

 

[lilofan]

Great Post Captain Jack. I agree with everything you say. We loved dressing up for Pirate Night and looking nice on formal. Looking forward to meeting DIS people on this cruise.

 

[NYAna]

That was great info Captain Jack! Thanks so much. Sounds like you planned everything very well.

So is everyone already paid up? October 18 is getting really close. One last payment and we are ready to go!

 

[akamaleficent]

captian jack - so glad you had fun on the recent trip. was traveling difficult due to recent security increases?

glad to hear from all these new people, what fun!!

as far as excursions and beaches go, i have heard that it is better to find your own way to the beaches by cab or water taxi, it takes less time than traveling with a large excursion group. my family went to trunk bay that way and we had a great time. of course my sister, the ultimate disney planner, knew exactly what to do. i am leaning towards not as much time and not having to do any thinking of my own on a honeymoon.
i think a meet during embarktion would be great, any one up for one on pirate night to see each other's costumes? captain jack would know if that's even feasible..... there may be too much going on that night.

dessert buffet is a must, drink some coffee so you can stay up, i remember being really tired that night, but worth it all the same.

i will pay off our cruise soon, by paid off, i mean half may still be on the credit card but according to dcl it's paid off, and am looking forward to making ressies

we are thinking about asking for some of the excursions, spa stuff etc as wedding gifts. any ideas on how others can get ship board credit for you?

 

[CaptainJack]

captian jack - so glad you had fun on the recent trip. was traveling difficult due to recent security increases?

glad to hear from all these new people, what fun!!

as far as excursions and beaches go, i have heard that it is better to find your own way to the beaches by cab or water taxi, it takes less time than traveling with a large excursion group. my family went to trunk bay that way and we had a great time. of course my sister, the ultimate disney planner, knew exactly what to do. i am leaning towards not as much time and not having to do any thinking of my own on a honeymoon.
i think a meet during embarktion would be great, any one up for one on pirate night to see each other's costumes? captain jack would know if that's even feasible..... there may be too much going on that night.

dessert buffet is a must, drink some coffee so you can stay up, i remember being really tired that night, but worth it all the same.

i will pay off our cruise soon, by paid off, i mean half may still be on the credit card but according to dcl it's paid off, and am looking forward to making ressies

we are thinking about asking for some of the excursions, spa stuff etc as wedding gifts. any ideas on how others can get ship board credit for you?

I do not believe that there is any way for persons to purchase a credit on the ship for you, BUT they can purchase Disney Dollars at any Disney Store, which can be used on the ship.

 

[soleilmagie]

captian jack - so glad you had fun on the recent trip. was traveling difficult due to recent security increases?

glad to hear from all these new people, what fun!!

as far as excursions and beaches go, i have heard that it is better to find your own way to the beaches by cab or water taxi, it takes less time than traveling with a large excursion group. my family went to trunk bay that way and we had a great time. of course my sister, the ultimate disney planner, knew exactly what to do. i am leaning towards not as much time and not having to do any thinking of my own on a honeymoon.
i think a meet during embarktion would be great, any one up for one on pirate night to see each other's costumes? captain jack would know if that's even feasible..... there may be too much going on that night.

dessert buffet is a must, drink some coffee so you can stay up, i remember being really tired that night, but worth it all the same.

i will pay off our cruise soon, by paid off, i mean half may still be on the credit card but according to dcl it's paid off, and am looking forward to making ressies

we are thinking about asking for some of the excursions, spa stuff etc as wedding gifts. any ideas on how others can get ship board credit for you?

A Pirate meet is a great idea! Perhaps we could even have a group picture taken, I remember seeing one on the Picture of the day thread. I don't know how to arrange it however.... but if someone knows, it will be someone from the DIS!

For your wedding gifts, others just have to fill in this form: http://adisneycruise.disney.go.com/media/dcl_v0202/en_US/media/myCruise/GiftOrderForm.pdf
The address and phone number are written on the form, fax number is (407) 938-4288.

 

[soleilmagie]

I think so. There was virtually no one other than our group there at the time. And, the locatio is central for everyone.

Should we make this official?

DIS Meet : January 6, 2007, Promenade Lounge (deck 3), 2.30pm

 

[tinkerbellmom1]

I do not believe that there is any way for persons to purchase a credit on the ship for you, BUT they can purchase Disney Dollars at any Disney Store, which can be used on the ship.

I would call DCL directly and ask what their policy is on giving a gift of an onboard credit. We're on your cruise, and it is our second one. Both cruises we have sent ourselves and our kids onboard credits from our dogs to help with souvenirs and fun. Disney adds any amount to your onboard account and leaves a card in your stateroom saying who the present was from.

You may need to give people your resie #, but go for it! The Disney Dollar thing will work, too! Probably easier, but I love the little cards from DCL.

Happy Upcoming Honeymoon! See you then!