10/02/04 Antigua Cruise

[@GoofyNut]

Mr Karaoke (I mean Andy) ... love your name and little sax guy.
We'll be in NYC on Saturday with MaryJo and Sarah doing a bus
trip and Radio City Christmas Show. Hope the weather will be nice.

Renee ... was that Haley's Halloween Costume? Love it!

Dave ... Too bad you couldn't E-mail Gary Delana and tell him about the UDEL win. He's a really nice guy if you get to talk to him when he's not on stage.

Hockey Nancy ... Our house is not talking about PSU at all this year for obvious reasons ... geez already.

OMG ... Bette & Kim .... is there anything we can do to help your cause - like be witness to all the stress they caused you guys.
Please tell Kim to keep happy memories in her mind when she gets that "choke the **** out of DCL" feeling.

Fiona ... Boy work reality really stinks doesn't it! I know what you mean.

Ave / Mary - Sure is hard to keep the Cat in the Bag when it comes to talking about the next cruise. They gave up at my job and just ask "OK, what dateis your next DCL cruise?"

BTW ... If we booked thru DU last cruise (10-11-03) were we to get a shipboard credit? Someone mentioned they got one...we didn't.

Gotta get back to work reality ... darn it!

 

[piglet33]

Kim and Bette - We are so sorry to hear that Disney did this. Did you tell them that you knew that someone else was staying in that room? That is just horrible that this happened. We are very glad that you two are not letting this keep you from cruising with us next year. Our table would not be the same without you guys.

Renee'

 

[ARLO1]

kim:

I'm so sorry for all that you went through but can I ask 1 question- was there a difference in price between the 2 rooms(I would think there was between an inside stateroom and a porthole room) and did disney at least reimburse that back to you??

I think disney could have at least offered some type of additional compensation to you and yours. Every one thinks disney is the all mighty genereous g-d, but its still definetely a business and they do treat it as such.

Arlene

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

OMG..Kim and Bette...can't believe that Disney dropped the ball on this one...like you said, it wasn't that you were demanding or expecting anything but it would have been the right thing for Disney to do in light of the circumstances...especially since there obviously was someone staying in the room that had mechanical problems (maybe Disney thinks that we are stupid..dah...the mechanics were staying in there!!)--definitely feel that you should send a letter higher up to the head of the cruise line....I'm sure you will get nothing out of it except your satisfaction. I'm sure someone could provide you with a name (that's why these boards are so useful!!)--Might also be helpful to post this thread somewhere else on the cruise board so that everyone and not just us reads it. Disney should at very least offer you the difference in price. We knew how upset you were at the Topsiders buffet and felt so bad for you.

I also was disappointed in alot of little details on this cruise but the great people we cruised with made up for it. I had ordered a stateroom gift for Sarah (the mickey pearls which are really nice) and would only tell her that she was getting a stateroom gift--at 6:00 pm, I finally went to Guest Services because I was charged on my Visa for the pearls the minute I put the order in...to make a long story short, pearls never arrived until 7:00 p.m.!! I thought the idea of a stateroom gift was to have it in the stateroom when we arrived (especially since it was in port since Friday due to dry dock).

 

[jeanniec]

Eric -- Thanks for the list. As for seating, I assume L is for late dinner, but what does M stand for? We're looking for tablemates, but I'm not sure exactly where to look. It was interesting to see that we have 7 nurses (including myself) out of 20 cabins on the initial list (35%). Wonder if there is any significance to that?? Also, a doctor and dental hygienist, too, so far. What a medically inclined group! Hope you enjoyed Shanghai Noon.

jeanneg -- nice to know that there will be some other North Carolinians aboard. Are you flying or driving? We haven't decided yet -- hate the drive, but it's so much easier to have them just take our luggage out of the trunk at the port instead of trying to get it on the airport bus.

RellingTwin -- Good idea about the NC and SC cruisers getting together some time next year. Also, I will be curious to find out what your SIL thinks of her NCL cruise out of Charleston. We did a Celebrity cruise out of Charleston last December. It was great to be able to drive just a couple of hours to be at the port. Very nice cruise, too. I'm more comfortable on Disney, tho. I guess that's because we have been Disneyholics for years. WE're DVC owners, too. Back to the NCL cruise, I looked into that, but my TA basically talked us out of it. She said the ship going out of Charleston was very old and she wouldn't recommend it. The fact that they had no verandahs (even in the suites) made up our mind not to go. I wonder if they will have a new cruise line using the Charleston port every year?

This board is great. Makes the wait much easier, knowing that there are so many others anxiously awaiting our departure next October.

 

[Viking]

Jeanniec,
"M" stands for Main Seating, the early munchtime session
BTW, there's even more medical personnel in our group: Before I went into the aviation business I was a professional paramedic and I'm still a volunteer instructor at our ambulance service. Next year will be my 25th year in that field. I started it as a volunteer when I was 15, became a pro at 21 and returned to volunteer status at 30.

 

[Viking]

Kim & Bette,
sorry to hear about your trouble. When we heard about DCL not being able to give deliver the balance-sheet to our stateroom we went to guest services after the immigration ordeal at 6am and had it printed. They did it immediately and everything was perfect to the last cent. I usually write down all our expenses in the evening und add it up then. This way I just have to check the total and only have to go into details when there are differences.
Nevertheless the told us that we will have a statement sent to our homeadress - We're still waiting for it.

 

[piglet33]

yes, this is Haley on Halloween. She was a pink poodle and loved every minute of it. She is walking like crazy now and has been ever since we got home from the cruise. Boy is it fun trying to keep up with her!

 

[jeanneg]

Kim and Bette: so sorry about all your trouble. I'm just learning of the situation right now, but from what you posted, it sure doesn't seem that Disney treated you fairly....maybe someone needs a dose of their own pixie-dust. I would send a nice little letter to a higher authority and see what happens.
BTW, thanks so much for forwarding the photos. I have very poor dial-up service and so had a great deal of difficulty opening them up so I've been doing it a little at a time. Those I've seen so far are great!

Jeannie: For the October cruise, we're definitely flying. There's only so much time DH can take from work and so I anticipate we won't leave until Friday evening and then just stay overnight at the MCO Hyatt. We're also sailing in August with all (or at least 3)
of our kids and for that trip we'll drive down. All 6 of us can take some time at the wheel so it'll be easy. I am the absolute super-queen of packing light so luggage is never really an issue.

We did not plan to do 2 cruises less than 2 months apart. The rates for October if you booked on the ship were so good that DH and I decided to take a little honeymoon. Then we found out that many of our friends from the 7/5/03 Western had rebooked for 8/7/04. Ultimately, they convinced us to make the reservation "just in case...." Afterall, we could always cancel. Now, I am emotionally involved with both sailings and decided, what the heck, we'll bite the bullet in other areas and do both. Unfortunately, we will probably not be able to cruise again in 2005, but I'm not going to think about that now. Who knows, maybe I'll end up becoming a Mouseketeer also......

 

[papa]

First of all, I am not a cardiac nurse. Bear with me...I have PVC"s and PAC's. Why? I don't know. My family practice doctor said that I could have been having them all my life and they are just now showing up. That is wrong. I had heart surgery several years ago for a problem and that never was addressed. I had to ask him for a Cardiology consult because this was where it was going to end. ?????????What is it with my doctor?

PVC is "Premature ventricular contraction" and a PAC is a "Premature Atrical (?) contraction.

That is that.

Hope everyone has a nice night and nice day tomorrow. The leaves are falling all over the place here. We wait for the wind to blow them away and it always does.

I am so sorry about the way your room was taken away from you. Kim and Bette I am looking forward to sailing with you and Minnie next year. "Give them H ll" At least a letter to a higher up.

Take care, Kathy with a K

 

[Cheese Please]

Kathy,

Here is lots of pixie dust coming your way so that all those letters amount to nothing more than just a bunch of letters. You will be in our prayers as well.


Kim,

Sorry to hear about all the frustration you went though on the cruise and after the cruise with DCL. But glad you will be sailing with us again on Cruisetoberfest III.

Cathy,

As a matter of fact we did meet Gary Delana off stage on Castaway Cay one time. We even talked about UDEL. You are right he is very nice...both on and off stage. He just likes to joke about the Blue Hens at UDEL. I bought a UDEL T-shirt with the Fighting Blue Hens mascot on it and "FEAR THE BIRD" in BIG JAGGED Letters. I was tempted to get one for Gary for our cruise next year.

Eric and Anja,

As much as I would like to say "stealing" your stateroom was revenge for Germany's victor of the US in women's soccer, that stateroom was on my reservation before the world cup games even started. But we will let you come visit your "old room" if you need to next year.

Dave

 

[papa]

I want to thank everyone for all of their kind wishes for Kathy. We both are looking forward to the cruise with you all next October.

We were in contact with Cathy today and we are working on the new logo for the cruise. Cathy came up with what I think is the perfect saying for this cruise."Making Magical Memories" What does everyone think about this for our Motto?? Also Stacey is drawing a new and different Mickey that I hope everyone will really like.

Mike

 

[Viking]

Originally posted by Cheese Please
Eric and Anja,

As much as I would like to say "stealing" your stateroom was revenge for Germany's victor of the US in women's soccer, that stateroom was on my reservation before the world cup games even started. But we will let you come visit your "old room" if you need to next year.

Dave

Thanks Dave,
we appreciate that. What about sending your ressie# to us? I promise I won't use it for tampering with your stateroom but I have to send my voucher to DCL in the next days and I wanted to send a accompanying letter requesting an upgrade and linking our tables again.
BTW, how can your team dare to beat the unbeatable Vikings?

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Kim & Bette -- So sorry to hear that Disney is not doing anything. It's inexcusable really. Although the size of your cabin may have been the same the porthole would have made a huge difference. I know that you both were upset about it but also know that you didn't yell and scream at anyone either -- maybe this was a mistake (although I hate to say it). Did they doublebook the cabin and don't want to admit it? Why would they say it was offline for mechanical reasons and then there's someone in the room? Doesn't make sense. Our room was changed and we found out when we got our documents -- no one had told us or our TA that it was changed. Our TA was told that it was changed because our original cabin was offline due to mechanical problems as well. We didn't get an upgrade but the same type cabin so we didn't have an issue with it.

Is your TA going to respond or just leave it?

Am definitely glad that you're still cruising next October with us though.

Fiona

 

[bettemom]

Hi Fiona .

Check your pm please

 

[@GoofyNut]

Yoo Hoo ... Rosemary, are you out there ... and We miss you posting. Please stop in once and a while and let us know how we can Richie to change your dates to cruise with the rest of the "family"

Fiona ... How is Jim doing?

Kathy ... why the heck do they scare the p**p out of you and then say, nothing to worry about! I've had the same line and anymore I try and stave off the extra tests as long as possible.
I told Art about the logo idea and he thinks that would be neat.

Mike ... Art sat down and concentrated on the GPS and loading more maps and when I came home last night he was like a kid with a good report card ... Come here look quick! Then he couldn't get reception in the house and went out in his truck in our driveway and played with it some more. You boys and your toys!

Kim & Bette ... I sure hope that your TA can get something bettr for your besides a lame excuse. It is scary to think you picked your room for over a year and have it right up to check in and poof - gone with no legitimate reason.

Here I sit thinking about Bernie and his wonderful "vacation" and all the places he got to go and experience ... like the cockpit of your plane and the DCL cast's party, etc. Just dawned on me ... he didn't go parasailing with Bette did he? Has he shown his pictures to his "parents"? That was absolutely so much fun.

Gotta run --- had to check in and keep us on page UNO!

Cathy with @ C

 

[Viking]

Mike,
I'll just put the new motto in the header of the next edition of The List. I like it and as long as there isn no majority for another one, we'll keep.
But we could also use Friends of the FFFF as a motto

 

[@GoofyNut]

Don't worry ... as one of the 4 F's we were just as amazed as you that we could pull it off. It really wasn't a pretty sight when we broke down in the middle of that intersection and three of us had to get out and push that darned car of the road!

Mike ... was that car made in Germany?

 

[Viking]

Be careful, Cathy! Jokes about German cars are the only cause for capital punishment over here
But following your group's name you should have taken one propelled by natural gas

 

[Viking]

Back to a cruise topic:
Did anybody in the States or Canada hear about that British cruiseship Aurora? It's a ship of about the same size as the DCL-ships. They had an outbreak of the Norwalk-virus and were not allowed to enter Piraeus, which is Athens' harbour (Greece). The ship then diverted to Gibraltar, which is British property, but then the Spanish closed down the border between Gibraltar and Spain as a quarantine-measure, thus preventing about 3000-4000 Gibraltese commuters from getting to their workplaces. They have still had about 400 people affected from the disease on board, there are still 55 seriously ill. Today the cruiseline admitted that two passengers, bothe well over 70, have died and the bodies are stored on the ship. The cruiseline stated that the deaths are not in connection with the virus, but caused by heart-attacks The ship is meanwhile sailing back to Britain.
Now I can really value all those warning/instruction signs on the Magic emphasizing hygienic behaviour.